Bill Gates’ Entrepreneurship Story
——Success sometimes comes earlier than the conditions are ripe
In 1973, a man named Colette from Liverpool, USA The young man was admitted to Harvard University in the United States. The person who often sat with him in lectures was an 18-year-old American young man. In his sophomore year of college, this young man asked Colette to drop out of school to develop 32-bit financial software, because the problem of carry path conversion has been solved in the newly compiled textbooks.
This suggestion surprised Colette. Because he came here to study, not to play. Let's talk about the Bit system. The professor only taught a little bit. To develop 32-bit financial software, it is impossible without completing all the university courses. He politely declined the young man's invitation.
Ten years later, Colette became a doctoral candidate in Bit in the Department of Computer Science at Harvard University; it was also the same year that the young man who dropped out of school entered the list of billionaires in the US "Forbes" magazine. In 1992, Colette continued his studies and received a doctorate; that year, the American young man's personal assets reached US$6.5 billion, second only to Wall Street tycoon Buffett, making him the second richest person in the United States. In 1995, Colette believed that he had enough knowledge to research and develop 32Bit financial software; and the young man had bypassed the Bit system and developed Eip financial software, which was 1,500 times faster than Bit and was used in two applications. He occupied the global market within a week, and this year he became the world's richest man. A name that represents success and wealth - Bill Gates, also spread to every corner of the world.
In this world, there seems to be such a truth: for something, if you wait until all the conditions are mature before taking action, then you may have to wait forever.
Li Ka-shing: Don’t be a person who surrenders
- Only those who do not surrender in difficult situations can have the possibility of success
Li Ka-shing first opened " "Changjiang Plastic Factory", the factory was in trouble due to poor capital turnover and serious product backlog. Friends advised him to sell the factory and work in other factories, but Li Ka-shing rejected these suggestions.
He analyzed the reasons for the failure, mainly due to poor coordination between production and sales and acting too hastily. He decisively reduced production and sent out capable workers to sell products. He himself also traveled all over Hong Kong carrying the product. Because of his good reputation and excellent technology, he received advance payments from some agents and overcame this difficulty.
Later, Li Ka-shing discovered that the technical requirements for the production of plastic flowers were not high and there was a potentially huge market, so he resolutely turned to mass production of plastic flowers. Soon the market opened up and plastic flowers entered thousands of households, bringing considerable income to Li Ka-shing.
Colleagues were jealous of his success and deliberately took photos of the harsh environment in the factory to undermine his career. In the end, it attracted more agents, who believed that this dilapidated small factory was well organized and its production was in compliance with regulations. The quality of the products is trustworthy and orders have increased significantly. At the same time, it also attracted some foreign businessmen. From these foreign businessmen, Li Ka-shing learned that Europe and the United States liked plastic flowers the most, so he produced plastic flowers in large quantities and sold them to the European and American markets. The factory's annual profits soared to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.
The 30-year-old Li Ka-shing has become the "Plastic Flower King", and the plastic flowers produced by his factory are sold all over the world. This original teahouse waiter only took more than ten years to become a famous multi-millionaire in Hong Kong. The reason why he was successful was that he never bowed his head in any difficult situation, which was how he achieved his later success.
Zhang Xinzhe: I sing because I like it
- Liking is the ladder to success
When Zhang Xinzhe was still in his sophomore year, he was already famous for his singing. . At that time, he obsessively figured out singing skills all day long, worked hard to practice singing, write lyrics, study music teaching materials, and improve his musical accomplishment. In contrast, he doesn't pay much to his profession.
One day, the then musician Li Zongsheng came to him and asked: "Why are you so fond of music?" Zhang Xinzhe disagreed with this question, and he blurted out: "Because I like it. "It was this sentence that made Li Zongsheng full of confidence in Xinzhe Chang. He believed that with this love, Xinzhe Chang would be able to succeed in the music industry.
So he decided to cooperate with Zhang Xinzhe, and sure enough, Zhang Xinzhe quickly became popular in the Chinese music scene.
Similarly, when a reporter asked Einstein "Is your success due to your talent?" Einstein said wittily: "There are many talented people, and the key to success depends on you." Love and diligence for the career you are engaged in. "Lovers are just another expression of love.
It turns out that liking is the ladder to success and inner motivation.
The story of "Nordic style" furniture
- Familiarity is the shortcut to success
In the summer of 1993, 25-year-old Danish youth Li Ximeng began to sell furniture in Shanghai Gold mining. But this international student from Fudan University had been struggling for more than half a year and got nothing. When he was desperate, his old classmate reminded him: "Aren't you good at playing the saxophone? Why don't you use it to make a living first?" That afternoon, Li Ximeng was at Carmen Nightclub in Shanghai. I found a job and earned 300 yuan per night performing.
After having enough food and clothing, he began to reflect on the reasons for the failure of his business. He felt that just as he could only make a living by playing the saxophone, he should start from an industry he was familiar with. He recalled that when he just graduated, he went to Africa to interview a well-known timber dealer. The dealer once said with confidence that the timber in Africa was no worse than that in Northern Europe, but the price of African timber was just not high enough. He quickly found the address of the lumber dealer and sent a fax to the other party, who quickly responded. Then, he called almost all the lumber factories in Shanghai and finally secured a $2 million contract. A month later, the business was successful and he made a lot of money.
Since then, Ximeng has set her sights on products from her hometown of Denmark. He found that as Shanghai further opened up, more and more foreigners moved into Shanghai, and many families moved to new homes. If high-quality Danish furniture was introduced into the homes of Chinese people, it would definitely fill the gap in the market. He contacted a batch of high-quality samples from Denmark to Shanghai for trial sales, and the results were satisfactory. Soon, a series of furniture called "Nordic Style" quickly occupied the market in Shanghai and even Beijing, Shenzhen, Dalian and other places. By the end of 2000, Li Ximeng had created assets of 900 million yuan.
It is easy to find gaps in the market by starting from a familiar industry, and it is possible to achieve success in a short period of time.
Yang Lei’s entrepreneurial story
——Success depends on character
With the launch of Smartphone, CEO Yang Lei has gradually become known to more people. He was one of the first people to bring "text messaging" to China, and was the first to propose the concept of "the fifth media of wireless entertainment". In the past 11 months, he not only brought Lingtong to profitability, but also increased the company's market value by more than 20 times. In just 4 months, he brought Linktone to the Nasdaq stage and wrote the glory of "the first wireless entertainment stock".
Character determines a person's success. Yang Lei has a very tough character. He will try his best to do something. Even if he fails, he will not be depressed. Based on his experience in running his own company and financing, he does not think it is difficult to go public.
When he first came back in September 1995, the company’s market share in China was zero. By July of the following year, the company was already number one in the Chinese market, accounting for 70%, followed by the next five companies. The family was divided 30%. By 1997, Yang Lei had more than 10 million US dollars in business to handle. But until then, he had never been to the headquarters and didn’t know what the product looked like. He is good at explaining a very complicated matter clearly in simple words. People in the circle call him one of the "China's salesmen".
During the more than two weeks of the listing road show, Yang Lei and three assistants visited more than 20 cities in Asia, Europe and the United States, flying 48,000 kilometers, and held more than 100 investment briefings. Negotiated with more than 200 institutional investors. 90% of the institutions participating in the investment briefing subscribed for Linktone's shares, of which 100% were subscribed by Asian institutions. In the end, Linktone's share issuance was oversubscribed by 18 times, and the stock issuance increased from the original US$10 to US$12 to US$14. Dollar.
Open another door to success
——Dare to pursue new success
On this day, 49-year-old Bernie Marcus As usual, I go to work in the company carrying my beloved briefcase. In his career of more than 20 years, he worked diligently and conscientiously to reach the position of professional manager today. As long as he works like this for 11 more years, he can get his pension safely.
However, he never imagined that this would be his last day working in the company.
Like all unemployed people, heavy household expenses forced Bernie Marcus to find new sources of livelihood. During those days, he often went to a street coffee shop in Los Angeles and sat there for hours to resolve the pain, confusion and tremendous mental pressure in his heart.
One day, Bernie Marcus met his old friend Arthur Blank, who was also fired. They comforted each other and worked together to find a solution.
"Why don't we start a company ourselves?" This idea was like a flame, igniting the suppressed passion and dreams in their hearts. So, in this coffee shop, they planned to establish a new home warehousing company, formulated a management system of "owning, selecting, and serving", and then began to set up a business. It was the spring of 1978. Twenty years later, their little-known company developed into a Fortune 500 company with 775 stores, 150,000 employees, and annual sales of US$30 billion. It is the world-famous American home warehousing company and has become a global retail company. A miracle of industry development.
The miracle began with a sentence 20 years ago: You are fired!
Madonna’s success
- If you want to be successful, it is not enough to have a strong sense of professionalism
“I have a strong sense of professionalism. But having a strong sense of professionalism alone is not enough.” , without intelligence, nothing will happen. I am not surprised by my success, because I think it is natural. Before, I never said that my plan was to learn to dance first, then to sing, and then to be a singer. Actor. I am thinking that I should find a suitable position and I want to work. It is this simple and simple request that has always inspired me and inspired me to move from one level to another. < /p>
I don’t think music and movies are irrelevant. Singing on stage is like crying in front of the audience. You have to be ready to accept criticism from the audience and create an atmosphere. , make the audience resonate with you. The same is true for acting, but the expression is different. I like to make TV, and TV is a small movie. After I made my first TV movie, I was very excited and determined to make a movie. . My next goal is to make a decent big movie. Although the future is unpredictable, I am working hard in this direction.
I like to act but be a rock star on the side of the road. , I don’t like it. My personality is maturing, and I have the talent of a comedian. In 20 years, I believe I will become a movie star, and I will work hard to realize this wish.”
This is what Madonna said in an interview with a reporter when she first debuted. Twenty years later, Madonna is not only a diva-level figure in the world of music, she has also done it all by making good movies and even publishing books.
"Continue to walk the next mile"
- To succeed, you must persevere
Silver Ryder is an American writer and war correspondent. The author stated that the advice he received was to "keep walking the next mile." He also recounted his own experience:
"During the Second World War, several people and I had to go from one place to another. He parachuted out of a damaged transport plane and crash-landed in the woods at the border of Myanmar and India. The only thing he could do at that time was to walk 140 miles to India with heavy steps, which had to be carried by the August heat and monsoon. We walked a long way over mountains and ridges under the incoming heavy rain. "
"I only walked for an hour, and the nail of one of my boots pricked the other foot. By the evening, both feet were blistered. Bleeding, the size of a coin. Can I limp through 140 miles? Can others be in the same situation, or even worse? We think it's over, but we can't stop walking. Finding a place to rest at night, we had no choice but to walk the next mile. ”
“When I turned down other jobs and started writing a 250,000-word book, it was almost. I didn’t want to do it anymore, and finally I forced myself to only think about how to write the next paragraph, not the next page, and certainly not the next chapter. For six months, I did nothing but write paragraph by paragraph. I did it, and it turned out to be written. "
"A few years ago, I took on the task of writing a radio script every day, and so far I have written 2,000 scripts a day.
If I had signed a "write 2,000 scripts" contract at that time, I would have been intimidated by the huge number and even turned it down. Fortunately, I only wrote one script, and then another, and over time, I really wrote so many. . ”
Continuing to do it step by step is the only smart way to achieve any goal.
Zeng Brothers: Imperial Examination Passes on Good Reputation
- Success requires a positive attitude
One day, Zeng Gong and his brothers were studying. Suddenly, someone handed in a note from outside, saying that it was peeled off the outer wall. Zeng Gong looked at it, smiled softly, and handed it over. Zeng Ye, the eldest brother, turned out to be a poem on the note: "Once a year, there is a grand ceremony to kill two talented people from the Zeng family. There are two swallows in the eaves, one flying away and the other coming. "It turned out to be a mockery of Zeng Gong and Zeng Ye who failed the exam many times.
Zeng Gong was pacing back and forth on the ground, with a lot of thoughts. He calmly told his brother: "This note is to spur us on. whip. "From then on, the two brothers became even more determined. They got up to study every day as soon as the rooster crows. They didn't leave home for two years. They just studied and encouraged each other tirelessly.
Their hard work paid off. Three years later, the brothers Both passed the exam. Soon after, they both passed the provincial exam and left a good reputation in the imperial examination.
If Brother Zeng Gong felt ashamed because of this mocking note, he would have lost face. How could Zeng Gong, one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasty" who later became one of the "Eight Great Masters of Chinese Literature in the Tang and Song Dynasties", appear after continuing to take the imperial examination? Success does not mean the end of struggle
German engineer Rudolf Diesel once made a sensation in Europe with his invention of the diesel engine, which dwarfed all power engines at that time. He once signed a diesel engine trial production contract with Diesel. The Augsburg Machinery Manufacturing Factory received a large number of orders for diesel engines. Diesel became famous all over the world and became a millionaire by selling his invention patent rights. Unfortunately, the diesel engine was far from mature and needed to continue to be researched and improved. Diesel was busy making money and had no intention of studying anymore. Science cannot tolerate falsehood and deception. The diesel engines produced by the Augsburg Machinery Factory ran poorly during use, and Diesel tried his best to maintain the diesel engines. Reputation, but refused to spend efforts to improve its quality and performance. As a result, the reputation of diesel engines plummeted, and Diesel soon went bankrupt. He threw himself into the English Channel and ended his life.
It is impossible for people to make mistakes, and scientists are no exception. It is not easy to achieve something, but it is even more difficult after becoming famous. Whether you can continue to struggle and constantly surpass yourself is even more difficult than success
Madame Curie is indifferent to fame and fortune
- treat fame and fortune correctly after success
Marie Curie was poor for most of her life, and the arduous process of extracting radium was completed under crude conditions. Marie Curie refused to patent any of his discoveries, and used the Nobel Prize and other prizes for future projects. After the Curies discovered radium, when the million-franc, brilliant gold medal smiled at her; when success, honors, and congratulations came like a flood, it showed that they had noble qualities. : No boasting, modest and selfless! A newspaper reporter came to interview her and wanted to report her deeds. She replied firmly: "In science, what is important is the 'things' studied, not the 'personality' of the researcher. '. Several friends advised them to apply for a patent for the production of radium. Marie Curie made this decision on behalf of her husband: "This should not be done." This goes against the spirit of science. We should not use this for profit. "They gave this great discovery to the industrial and medical circles for widespread use without seeking any personal gain.
The huge Nobel prize was not a big deal for the always poor Marie Curie. She ignored it and gave away a large amount of bonus to Polish college students, poor girlfriends, laboratory assistants, female students without money, teachers who taught her, and relatives who supported her. Many friends blamed her for not giving this money. She left her property to her children, but what she left to her children was her independent and unruly spirit and her noble moral character that despised utilitarianism.
The story of the Watsons
— —Success requires correct guidance
As a parent, especially as a father, his actions have a great impact on the next generation.
The story of Watson Sr., the founder of IBM in the United States, and his successor Watson Jr. is even more illustrative.
When the elder Watson founded IBM, IBM did not make computers. Its main product was drilling machines. When the company's drilling machines occupied a large share of the international market, the younger Watson became a wealthy family. The son, hanging out with some playboys, picked up some bad habits, became a problem boy, and was almost expelled from middle school. Because the old Walson is an upright person, has aided many public welfare undertakings, and enjoys high prestige in society, teachers and old Walson's friends often compare their father and son, hoping that the younger Walson will not damage his father's reputation. This made little Watson's bad habits restrained and he did not dare to slip too far. Later, the old Walson guided the young Walson to develop in the direction he was interested in, allowing the restless young Walson to learn to fly a plane, and risked his life by sending him to join the army and participated in the war against Japanese militarism. Baptized by artillery fire. After several years of rigorous training in the army, young Wollson was finally molded into a disciplined and responsible young officer. After retiring from the army, he joined IBM and his business continued to improve. A few years later, the world's first computer was developed, and when people could not see its commercial value, he made a bold initiative to start production. Computer products. Old Walson felt that his son had surpassed him, so he retreated and gave up his seat to young Walson. And little Watson lived up to expectations and built IBM into the world's leading computer company.
The miracle brought by the Bird of Paradise
- Selflessness is a shortcut to success
In 1858, a wealthy family in Sweden gave birth to a daughter. But unfortunately, soon after, the child contracted an unexplained paralysis and lost the ability to walk.
Once, the girl and her family took a boat trip. The captain's wife told the children a story about the captain's bird of paradise. She was fascinated by the captain's wife's beautiful description of the bird and wanted to see it for herself. So the nurse left the child on the deck and went to find the captain. The child couldn't bear to wait like this. She asked the waiter on the ship to take her to see the Birds of Paradise immediately. The waiter didn't know that her legs couldn't walk, so he just took her to see the beautiful bird. As a result, a miracle happened. Because of the extreme desire, the child held the waiter's hand selflessly, stood up slowly and started walking. It didn't take long for the child to recover from his illness.
When the girl grew up, she devoted herself selflessly to literary creation, and finally became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was Thelma Lagerlof.
Selflessness is a shortcut to success. Only in this case can people transcend their own constraints and release their energy.