Experiences of successful people 1 extraordinary teenagers
At the age of 12, I became interested in learning English. Every morning, rain or shine, I will ride my bike for 40 minutes and go to a small hotel near the West Lake in Hangzhou to learn English. This study lasted for 8 years. At that time, China was gradually opening to the outside world, and many foreign tourists came to Hangzhou for sightseeing. I often give them a free tour guide, show them around and practice English at the same time. These eight years of study have profoundly changed me. The knowledge brought by foreign tourists is quite different from what I learned from teachers and books. I began to have a more global vision than most people.
Another thing that fundamentally changed me happened in 1979. I met a family from Australia. There are two children in this family. We played together for three days and later became pen pals. 1985, they invited me to go to Australia in summer vacation, so I went in July and stayed for 3 1 day. Before I went abroad, I thought China was the richest and happiest country in the world. When I arrived in Australia, I found that my previous thoughts were not correct.
suffer repeated setbacks
I took the college entrance examination three times before I was admitted to Hangzhou Normal University, which was the worst university in Hangzhou at that time. In college, I had the honor of being the president of the student union, and later became the president of the student union of Hangzhou College. But at that time, my future was basically defined by middle school English teachers. When I graduated, I became the only university teacher among more than 500 graduates. My salary is RMB 100 to 120 yuan per month, which is equivalent to USD 12 to USD 15.
During my five-year teaching career, I have always dreamed of working in a company, such as a restaurant or other places. I just want to do something. From 65438 to 0992, the business environment began to improve. I applied for many jobs, but no one wanted me. I once applied for the position of secretary to the general manager of KFC, but I was rejected.
Then at 1995, I went to Seattle to translate for a trade delegation. A friend showed me the internet for the first time there. We searched the word "beer" on Yahoo and didn't find any information about China. We decided to create a website and registered the name China Yellow Pages.
I borrowed 2000 dollars to start this company. At that time, I knew nothing about personal computers and email, and I didn't even touch the keyboard. So I said I was blind, riding a blind horse. We competed with China Telecom for about a year, and the general manager of China Telecom expressed his willingness to invest $6,543,800+0,850 in our joint venture. I have never seen so much money. Unfortunately, China Telecom has five seats on the company's board of directors, while my company has only two seats. They rejected every event we raised, just like ants and elephants, and there was no chance at all. I decided to quit my job and go it alone. At that time, I got an offer from Beijing to run a company aimed at promoting e-commerce.
Entrepreneurial dream
My dream is to set up my own e-commerce company. 1999, I called 18 people to have a meeting in my apartment. I told them what I thought. Two hours later, everyone began to pay. We pooled $60,000, which was the first pot of gold to create Alibaba.
I want to build a global enterprise, so I chose a global name. Alibaba is easy to spell, and the story of open sesame in Arabian Nights is well-known and easy to remember.
At that time, Alibaba was basically a three-no enterprise, with no funds, no technology and no plan, but we finally survived. We spent every penny very carefully, and the company office was chosen in my apartment. 1999 was funded by Goldman Sachs and invested by Softbank in 2000, and the company began to expand.
We got where we are because I believe in one thing: global vision, local can win. We design our own business model, and we mainly focus on how to help small and medium-sized enterprises make money. We never copy the American business model like many Internet entrepreneurs in China. We pay attention to product quality, and we must click to get it. If you can't get it, it's rubbish.
I said Alibaba made 100 1 mistakes. We're expanding too fast. After the internet bubble burst, we had to lay off employees. By 2002, our cash will only last 18 months. Many users of Alibaba's website are using this service for free, and we don't know how to make a profit. So we developed a product to connect exporters in China with buyers in the United States. This business model has saved us. By the end of 2002, we had achieved a net profit of $65,438+0 and finally crossed the break-even point. Since then, the company's operating performance has improved every year, and now Alibaba's profitability has been quite strong.
Experiences of Successful People 2 When Li Ka-shing was three years old, his family came down. Later, his father became seriously ill and died soon. Li Ka-shing, who has just been in middle school for a few months, dropped out of school. In the war years, the life of orphans and widows in the Li family was very difficult. Li Ka-shing, the eldest son of the family, has to help his mother bear the burden of family life. A teahouse owner sympathized with them and took Xiao Jiacheng, who was 16 years old, as a waiter for hot tea in the teahouse. The teahouse will open before dawn and will not rest until midnight. Xiao Jiacheng also complained about his bad life, and even hoped that one day the Japanese gun would go off and kill him. It was not until an accident that he stopped feeling sorry for himself.
I was so tired that I accidentally spilled boiling water on the ground when I was on duty, which made the guests' clothes wet. Li Ka-shing was very nervous. He waited for a slap from the guest and a reprimand from the boss. But what he didn't expect was that instead of blaming him, the guests excused him again and again, pleaded for him and asked the boss not to fire him.
It doesn't matter. I think this child has a bright future. Remember, you should be careful in everything you do in the future. How can you not concentrate?
Li Ka-shing took this sentence to heart, and from then on, he took caution as his life creed. Over time, he actually developed a vision that a person's occupation, personality characteristics, living habits, and ways of dealing with people can be guessed at once. All this played a great role in his later career.
Subsequently, Li Ka-shing quit his job as a waiter and started as a salesman in a plastic factory until he worked as a business manager. Three years later, at the age of 20, he is going to do something big. Starting from scratch, he rented a small dark factory by a stream near Victoria Harbour, bought an old printing machine and founded the Yangtze River Plastic Factory. Subsequently, after repeated investigations, he thought that there was a great market demand for plastic flowers, so he produced them in large quantities, which brought him considerable income. Li Ka-shing, 30, has become a multimillionaire. While plastic flowers sell well all over the world, Li Ka-shing is keenly aware that more and more people flock to this industry, and the good days will soon pass. If we don't adjust them, the consequences will not only spill on our clothes. Some people think that he is too conservative, but he thinks that this is an essential quality in business, that is, prudence and foresight.
Then he found real estate. In the mid-1960s, the situation in the Mainland made Hong Kong people panic, and rich people fled one after another, scrambling to sell their industries cheaply. The building under construction in Li Ka-shing was also forced to stop. If calculated according to the real estate price at that time, he was completely wiped out. But he calmly responded and carefully analyzed the situation. I believe that stability will be restored in the Mainland and Hong Kong will prosper further. When others sold a lot of real estate, Li Ka-shing did the opposite and spent all his money on buying real estate. Friends have advised him not to do stupid things. He said: Don't dare to buy until you are sure you won't lose money. Men are still afraid of risks?
Li Ka-shing succeeded again. In the early 1970s, Hong Kong's real estate prices began to pick up, from which he made double profits. By 1976, the net output value of Li Ka-shing Company has reached more than 500 million yuan, making it the largest Chinese real estate industry in Hong Kong. Since then, Li Ka-shing has risen steadily and become the richest Chinese in the world.
The Experience of Successful People 3 The First Bucket of Gold: Hanka
In the initial state of an enterprise, the goal is a hidden and hazy consciousness. Because you are still weak, you are not sure about the ever-changing market and enterprises. No matter what kind of confidence you have, the goal is at most a lofty ambition of a startup, so it can't be quantified and defined.
Liu Chuanzhi: When the "traitor" was cheated.
From 65438 to the early 1980s, the computer revolution rose all over the world, and Silicon Valley became a hot topic for technical researchers in China. The scientific and technological personnel inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences have long been eager to move out of the high wall and deep courtyard to start a company.
Coach Liu Chuanzhi returned in early February and became the chairman of Lenovo's board of directors. "Lenovo is my life, and it is my unshirkable responsibility to come out when necessary." Liu Chuanzhi gave up his heart. Although he is over 65 years old, his passion has not diminished.
From 65438 to the early 1980s, the computer revolution rose all over the world, and Silicon Valley became a hot topic for technical researchers in China. The scientific and technological personnel inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences have long been eager to move out of the high wall and deep courtyard to start a company. Zeng Maochao (currently chairman of Legend Holdings), then director of the Institute of Computing, has been privately encouraging his employees to set up a company. Liu Chuanzhi, who is in his forties, offered to start a business. "When I was 40 years old, I chose to start a business because there was no road ahead."
June+10 in 5438, with three core members as the core, Liu Chuanzhi and Zhang Zuxiang authorized the establishment of the new technology development company of the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (the predecessor of Lenovo), with Liu as the deputy general manager. Zeng Maochao gave Liu Chuanzhi the communication room of the institute, gave him 200,000 yuan of start-up capital and gave him a lot of unwritten support: unrestricted recruitment of staff of the institute, access to the technical achievements of the institute, and employees can use their original offices, telephones and all resources of the institute.
Although there is a lot of support, from the winter of 1984 to the spring of 1985, the biggest headache in the company is not knowing what to do. Liu Chuanzhi later recalled, "I really didn't know what to do at that time, so I did what I could, even if I earned some money to pay my salary." As a result, all employees, including Liu, became "profiteers" and "board owners", pulling flatbeds in Zhongguancun to sell sportswear, electronic watches, roller skates and refrigerators.
Later, because I heard that buying a color TV can earn 1000 yuan, Lenovo also earned it. At that time, there was a saying that "there are more scammers than color TVs." Although Liu Chuanzhi carefully told them to watch TV before paying, they did watch TV, but when the money was remitted, the other party disappeared, and Lenovo was cheated by 6.5438+0.4 million yuan. The company suddenly became more difficult.
By 1985, all kinds of businesses that may bring income to the company have been tried almost once. The most important thing is to bring the "Chinese character system" led by Ni Guangnan to the company, and the product was later called "Hanka". At that time, most computers were imported, all in English, and they had to be equipped with Chinese cards. After modification, the profit of each computer is as high as 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. Lenovo sold at least 65,438+000 units in six months, bringing the company a gross profit of about 400,000 yuan.
Zeng's wife, Hu Xilan, a researcher at the Institute of Computing Technology, saw an unforgettable scene from her upstairs in the summer of 1985: under the scorching sun, Liu Chuanzhi and others (now the executive vice president of Legend Holdings) carried their shoulders and moved in a bunch of microcomputers from the gate of the compound. Liu Chuanzhi was sweating profusely and his clothes were soaked, while Qin Li rolled his trousers on his thigh, panting. Recalling the scene that day, Liu Chuanzhi later said, "Our first bucket of gold was earned by selling skilled labor."
The experience of successful people 4 Gates dropped out of school and founded Microsoft in only 20 years, becoming the richest man in the world. Since then, this man, praised by Americans as "the man sitting on the top of the world", has never stepped down from this position, and he has been sitting for 12 years.
The internet is still full of charm.
In fact, Gates' life as the richest man in the world is full of twists and turns. Before the Internet bubble appeared in 1998, Gates' wealth had reached nearly 1000 billion dollars. In 2000, the internet craze began to fade, Microsoft's share price fell by nearly 63%, and Gates' worth also shrank by nearly half. Although Gates still maintains the position of the richest man in the world, the gap with the second place is getting smaller and smaller. At that time, people predicted that with the bursting of the internet bubble, Gates would give up the throne of "the world's first" sooner or later.
However, things did not develop as people imagined. Since 2003, the strong economic recovery in the United States has driven the recovery of the Internet industry. Not to mention the rising stars such as Google, which has repeatedly created miracles, Microsoft's performance in the stock market is also very eye-catching, and Gates' wealth has once again risen. In the past year, Gates' wealth has increased by nearly 8%.
Don't put your eggs in the same basket.
Warren Buffett once commented on Bill Gates: "If he sells hamburgers instead of software, he will also become the king of hamburgers in the world." The implication is that Microsoft didn't make Gates, but its business talent made him the richest man in the world.
For financial management, Gates naturally has his own set. Because of his confidence in the future of Microsoft, Gates still invests most of his wealth in the company's stock. Although he is no longer the CEO of Microsoft, as the chief architect of Microsoft, he still dominates the development direction and strategic planning of the company. But smart, he will also cash out some stocks and sell them at a good price. According to the stock market transaction records, Gates sold 6,543,800+shares of Microsoft in the open market last month, with a profit of nearly $27 million.
Of course, a smart person like Gates would never put his eggs in one basket. Long before the Internet bubble burst, the visionary Gates began to diversify his investments. Gates set up an investment company on 1995. It is understood that the portfolio value managed by the company is10 billion US dollars, a large part of which is invested in the bond market with stable income, mainly national debt.
Gates is optimistic about the digital and biotechnology industries that represent the new economy, but he does not exclude the traditional economy when investing, especially the heavy industry sector with stable performance. Gates once acquired a 7.8% stake in Newport News Shipbuilding Company through his own investment company, and later these shares almost doubled; His investment in the Canadian national railway company also brought him rich returns. In less than a year, his share price rose by about 1/3. In addition, Gates also likes to invest in public utility companies with strong market risk resistance. Gates' interest in scientific innovation also makes him take medicine and biotechnology industry as an important investment direction.
Claiming to make good use of every penny
Someone has calculated how to spend money like Bill Gates. The conclusion is: You can buy a 3 1.57 space shuttle, or a 344 Boeing 747, a 268 Titanic, and a 1.56 million Rolls-Royce Bentley continental luxury car. But in fact, the extremely rich Gates and his wife live a frugal life. The only luxury is their $53 million mansion on the outskirts of Seattle. But according to people who have been to Gates' house, the furnishings in the mansion are quite simple, not as magnificent as most people think. Gates once said: "I want to spend every sum of money I earn very valuable, and I won't waste a penny."
In the past few years, Gates has donated a lot of his personal wealth to charity. According to statistics, Gates has so far donated nearly $29 billion to global charities, making him the most generous rich man in the world. At present, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation named after the Gates is the largest private charity organization in the world. Its fund scale is three times that of the old Ford Foundation and 10 times that of the Rockefeller Foundation. When celebrating his 50th birthday in London on June 5438+065438+1October last year, he told the reporters present that the huge wealth under his name was not only a great right but also a great obligation for him personally, and he was prepared to donate all this wealth to the society instead of leaving it to his children as a legacy.
The world's evaluation of Gates is mixed. Some people say that he is a successful entrepreneur, others say that he monopolizes the industry and bullies the weak; Some people say that he is "the most generous philanthropist", while others say that he is a hypocrite-his charity is only the most expensive public relations activity in history; Some people say that he is the richest man in the world. Some people say that he will only greedily cash in the stock market and squeeze money from Microsoft users ... but as Americans say, "Whether you love him or hate him, you can't ignore him-this is the charm of Bill Gates."