Classic cases: Tencent, JD.COM, Didi, Meituan, Baidu, Gree and Airbnb.
Investment philosophy: "keep the right and use the strange", "weak water 3 thousand, but take a ladle", "peaches and plums don't say anything, next time there is a way"
Investors said: "Ultra-long-term investment is my belief. The first point is to make the fund into an ultra-long-term structural fund; Second, the concepts of the invested company and the investment fund should be exactly the same. "
First of all, four turning points in life
I went through four turning points when I became an investor.
First, primary school almost failed in junior high school. Because of my poor academic performance at that time, the minimum admission score for junior high school entrance examination for primary schools was 140, and I took 14 1, which was just more 1. Probably began to work hard from the second year of high school; This is the first time I began to feel hard, and I was particularly impressed.
Second, I think I am studying in Renmin University. Many of my good friends now met when I was studying at the National People's Congress. Among them, some are friends, some are close partners, some are engaged in some public welfare undertakings together.
Third, I work in the endowment fund of Yale University. In the painful process of finding a job, I rediscovered myself and what kind of people I worked with in my first job. I think these two things have a great influence on me. In fact, I had to do it as soon as I joined the Yale Foundation as an intern. I looked for several other job opportunities, but they were all rejected.
Fourth, it is entrepreneurship. Between working for the company and starting a business, I choose to start a business. At that time, I had a good job and had a good relationship with John Thain, CEO of new york Stock Exchange, so he appointed me as the first representative of NYSE in China. This is a very good development opportunity, and I can continue to do it, but then I decided to start a business. In 2005, I founded Gaoying Capital.
Second, we should do things well.
Now I often think about it repeatedly and find that my biggest feature is that I love tossing, I am not satisfied with the status quo and I love challenging myself. Today, the company is so large, but I have always said that starting a business twice and starting a business forever. Just as I like adventurous sports, I also like to toss about my career. Besides, I'm never satisfied with the status quo. Some people may think that you have tens of billions of funds, so it is enough to collect management fees, so don't bother. But I don't want to do this. I want to do my best, or I won't do it.
I feel that I have considered the problem thoroughly and comprehensively, and I like to ponder many things over and over again. I like planning ahead very much. In fact, I started planning long before I started my business. I worked in the fund first, and then went to other institutions. These institutions often send me back to China, giving me a time transition zone to consider and arrange my affairs, and I have made every step more solid.
In fact, it is very important to choose what kind of people to work with. I'm very picky about this. I like to find people who are familiar with me based on long-term trust. The core colleagues around me are either classmates of the National People's Congress or former colleagues. My career started with such a small group of friends.
Third, I admire two people most.
There are two people I admire most, one is Buffett and the other is Svencen. I have a chance to get close to these two people. What I admire most is Buffett's investment ability. In addition, I admire him for being a man with strong empathy. English is empathy. I like this kind of empathy very much; Empathy can help him better understand young people, people who are different from him and management. So today I often tell my manager that I need to have empathy, which I learned from him.
Buffett can always think from the perspective of others. For example, suppose that from a strict point of view, it is not the best to have a management, but he can always stand in the perspective of others and assume that he is in that environment, and analyze that this situation is caused by one reason or another. He is not only from his own perspective, but also from the perspective of investors. I don't think it's easy to think from the perspective of others, because everyone is used to thinking from their own perspective.
I think this kind of empathy is a very good quality for investment, life, even family and interpersonal relationship. I also often communicate with children to make them think. What is it like if you think from someone else's point of view? Empathy is very important, which can help people to resonate better.
Speaking of Svencen, what I admire most is that he has a very strong sense of morality and responsibility. It can be said that he is the best person I have ever met who combines loyal duties with rational honesty. These two people will always be my role models and the people I admire most.
Svencen also taught me many things, such as long-term value investment, institutional investment, asset allocation, understanding of risks and so on. Many domestic companies, such as social security and China Investment Corporation, regard his book as a must-read. I think these methods can promote the institutionalization of investment in China; It is helpful for system thinking and system construction. However, there are many restrictions on how to use the effective border in China, so many things need to be done to better integrate with the situation in China.
Fourth, three opportunities in the future
For the Internet/mobile Internet, I think there are many opportunities, and it is very important to integrate the industry as a whole. But I am more optimistic about Internet finance, and use the Internet to integrate the entire financial industry chain and financial products, from insurance to mortgage loans to consumer finance. Many combined things have just begun now, and there are still many opportunities in the future.
Our Liu Qing capital has invested in several companies in this field. For example, a 5 1 credit card, which is like an American mint, manages everyone's financial management and credit cards. We have just started to invest in this aspect, and I believe there are many more below.
Among the investment opportunities in the next five years, I am optimistic about innovation first, the huge consumption opportunities brought by the middle class second, and the financial and asset management industries third. The current demand is far from being met, especially asset management. I think there will be many good business models.
Fifth, everyone can fight.
Some people say that I am not only a successful investor, but also an excellent leader. But I think these two roles are different, and there are often contradictions. A good investor should have strong questioning ability, and a good manager should have stronger affinity and management ability.
My leadership style is influenced by two aspects: one is the ancient culture of China, especially the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi; The second is Internet thinking and Internet spirit.
From the perspective of China's philosophy, it is more like Laozi's "governing by doing nothing". From the real organizational behavior, I think the Internet model has brought about a subversion, which I call the decentralized management model. Just like fighting at the front, I think, for example, Ren should be the person who heard the gunshots to make the decision, instead of the person who heard the gunshots calling the company commander, then the battalion commander, then the battalion commander, and then the head of the regiment to make the decision. Decentralized decision-making mode can greatly improve the combat capability of squad leaders and frontline soldiers.
The second is to significantly reduce the company level. There are few levels in our company. I am on the first floor, six partners are on the first floor, and all employees are on the first floor. There is only one layer of partners between each employee and me. In this case, the hierarchy will be greatly reduced. At the same time, carefully select every employee. Added "decentralization" and "reducing levels" so that everyone can fight.
But in the process of management, I will also encounter many challenges. First, temptation. There are many things to do in China. How can I choose the one that suits me in temptation? "Weak water is 3,000, but a scoop"; Second, the challenge is the cultivation of talents. This process took longer than I expected, but now we have found a good way. People have to spend energy to choose, and after being elected, they have to spend a lot of time carving according to lofty culture and values. Curiosity, honesty and independence are the corporate culture of Gao Yan Capital.
When I have time, I will do some sports, such as surfing and snowboarding. These sports can fully show my personality and require me to concentrate on sports. Just like you are on a snowy mountain, what else can you think of? I often go surfing in summer, four times a week, go out at eight o'clock, come back to take a shower at nine o'clock, and go to work at half past nine. It's easy in summer and skiing in winter.
Sixth, Zhang Lei's investment philosophy.
Gao Yan Capital represents a very different investment institution, covering the earliest venture capital, private equity investment, listed company investment and post-listing M&A investment. We are the only institution that does the whole industrial chain in China, which is not common in the world.
Because there is no distinction between private equity in the United States and the equity of listed companies, the entire industrial chain of equity is actually the best, most successful and most successful in the United States. For example, Buffett not only buys shares of Coca-Cola and listed companies, but also makes venture capital and even private equity investment himself. In essence, this is what investment should do. Don't decide whether to invest in venture capital or listed equity.
In fact, in the ever-changing China, one year is equivalent to 10 years and 20 years in the west. The most important thing is not the format of equity, but what kind of business model and people are the most important. In the internal training of Gaoling Capital, the first talk is about people and business, what kind of people we want to invest in, what kind of business model we want to invest in, and the combination of people and business is the first criterion for us to choose a company.
Why can't most people meet this standard? Some people say that I either do venture capital or do listed equity investment. I think there is only one belief, which is the first principle of our investment. What is this? We don't have to do anything. You don't have to do anything. This is the first philosophy of our investment. When you say you don't need to do anything, you have a chance to do what you think is most important. We are practicing this principle in the process of investment.
The scale and return of our investment in the world are also very high. Many people know that I am from Yale school, and many people know that Yale investment fund has given me ideas on how to invest. When I translated The Road to Innovation by Institutional Investors, I had a deep understanding of investment. In fact, I have worked in many industries before, and I didn't find what I wanted to do until later.
The most difficult thing to invest in China is the impetuous market. Every day, people will tell you what happened in the market. How do I keep calm in the impetuous market? It is my first investment concept, "Governing the country with righteousness, fighting with strangeness, and defending righteousness with strangeness." When you can be positive, you can bear all kinds of temptations and challenges.
Why use odd? One would rather be a contributing failure than an unconventional success. Why? Don't want to make mistakes. At this time, all kinds of people can't break through all kinds of restrictions to "use strange things" after "protecting rights" If you think differently from others, you can find your own way.
To invest in China, it is more important to know how many things can be put in your bowl. So the second point I want to say is, "There are three thousand weak waters, but take a ladle." Your daily effort is to make your ladle bigger, stronger and deeper, instead of drinking and eating all the dishes in the pot and table all day. There is such a theorem in investment. Chinese and western cultures are the same. For foreigners, it is my piece. Do you feel anxious when you see someone else throwing something good? With this philosophical support, you will find my piece, something you think is meaningful.
Only by keeping a low profile can you concentrate on doing your own thing. You were very high-profile in your early years In the words of God, "If you want to destroy it first, make it crazy first". Keep a low profile and make good investments. Really good resources, really good investors and good investment projects will find you slowly.
The most dangerous thing in this industry is that you are driven by money. Either you make a lot of money quickly and don't know what to do, or you are in a hurry and don't know what to do, so driving for money is the most dangerous idea. Money is not important, it is the last natural income and cannot be a goal. You must have knocked you down because of passion.
We are "heterogeneous", have independent thinking, do not care about the market, and do not care about other investment institutions.