Y: Why can't online education subvert New Oriental?

I once gave an example at the 20th anniversary of New Oriental. The Great Hall of the People has gone through three stages for me. The first stage is when I was studying, I rode by. At that time, the police stood guard and never let anyone in. I think one day I will go into the Great Hall of the People and have a look. 1986 or so, the Great Hall of the People is open to the public. I stood in line for three and a half hours and went into the Great Hall of the People to look at them one by one. Ten years later, I was elected as a member of the People's Political Consultative Conference of China, and I sat there listening to the speeches of state leaders.

On the 20th anniversary of New Oriental, colleagues suggested holding a celebration in the Bird's Nest. I said the bird's nest is a place for birds, although there are many people. We must put it in the Great Hall of the People. I designed a link myself to speak on stage. So I finally gave a speech in the Great Hall of the People.

I want to use this little example to tell you that you can design your life. If you don't even have a humble dream in your life, it will be a kind of sorrow.

When it comes to innovation, I think two elements are particularly important.

First, in fact, you must listen to other people's opinions repeatedly, and then make your own judgment.

Two years ago, two things happened in New Oriental:

The first thing is that countless people have told me that the mobile Internet will definitely subvert New Oriental. In China, the slogan of hundreds of newly established companies is "Subvert New Oriental within one year".

New Oriental also has many different opinions, saying that it has entered the state of learning anytime and anywhere, and most of the learning will be completed through the terminal, so it is no longer necessary to come to the classroom.

And I insist that the most correct direction of education must be the perfect combination of online and ground. Someone flew in from new york today, and you are sitting here listening to my speech. Isn't it a perfect combination of online and ground? You can watch my speech anywhere by opening the video, but why go to the scene? It is important to see Yu alive.

At that time, some people in New Oriental suggested Mr. Yu that we shut down all the more than 800 teaching centers in New Oriental overnight, let 3 million students surf the Internet at the same time, and all the 20,000 teachers in New Oriental taught online. Technology can be supported. I think from left to right, this thing will definitely cause a sensation in the world, but I am worried that the world sensation will make New Oriental disappear. I'm not worried that I will become poor, but this thing is wrong. Finally, New Oriental still insists on the combination of online and offline.

You can go back and check. In the past two years, there have been at least hundreds of articles in the media calling me backward and ignorant, but I still persisted. I synthesized everyone's judgments and finally came to a conclusion. New Oriental must accept the teaching reform, content reform and intelligent teaching system brought by the Internet as assistance to make offline teaching in New Oriental more efficient.

The final result proved that I was right. 90% of those online education companies have closed down, while the annual income of New Oriental has increased by more than 30%, and the annual income has increased by more than 654.38+0 billion RMB. Sometimes you can't just listen to concepts. I think there is something wrong with the new concept, which shows that most of them follow the trend instead of thinking independently. This is the first thing.

Secondly, as we all know, China stock market was in full swing two years ago, and many people came to persuade me to privatize New Oriental and go public in China. At that time, the share price of New Oriental was only 19 yuan, and the whole market value was less than $4 billion. If you return to China, it will be worth at least 200 billion. Therefore, the management of the company almost advocates getting it back.

You know, external pressure is easy to deal with, but internal pressure is difficult to deal with. Let me see, there are still two problems that can't be solved. First of all, China stock market is a casino. All gambling is extreme. You should be prepared to experience the gap between the highest point and the lowest point. You should accept the Himalayas and the deepest Mariana Trench in the ocean. This gap is terrible. I don't think New Oriental should do this.

In addition, if New Oriental wants to play on the international stage in the future, it must always have a foot on the international stage. And I always thought I was one of the best CEOs of listed companies in China in the United States.

So in the end, my strategy is that New Oriental will not go public in China, and the interests of management will be compensated by other means. However, this does not mean that New Oriental will completely give up the opportunities in the domestic capital market, and we have to set foot on the China stock market. Now, New Oriental Education Online has been split and landed in the domestic capital market.

In the past two years, I made three correct decisions:

First, New Oriental adheres to the combination of online and offline.

Second, New Oriental adheres to the road of both domestic and foreign investment.

Third, Comrade Sheng Xitai and I jointly set up Hongtai Fund to serve youth entrepreneurship.

There will be many mistakes in life decision-making, but you always have to step on some points and focus on the key points.

I think the key point of life is to step on it. First, the marriage problem must be stepped on. I won't tell you if I step on it. It is full of bitter tears. Second, the most important thing is to step on the right career; Third, make friends with the right feet; Fourth, people over the age of 50 should embark on the right path of life.

These four points are right, and basically you will be fine all your life. I stepped on the wrong place, too, but overall it was good.

I have another sentence: in fact, life is going on a road full of difficulties and obstacles. As we all know, the maximum angle of skiing is 35 degrees. Once last winter, when skiing, I rushed down from a slope of more than 30 degrees at high speed. I didn't get better and fell. I twisted my whole ankle. Take sleeping pills every day in the hospital bed, and the pain will disappear after three months.

I went skiing in Hokkaido, Japan this year, and now it is translated into New Snow Country, which is a nice name. After I went there, I sat there for 15 minutes and didn't dare to go down at all. I still feel the feeling of breaking my foot two years ago. But I know that if this slope doesn't go on, I will never ski again in my life. Hesitated 15 minutes, I gritted my teeth and thought, at most, I will break another leg, but this time I have to go down. As a result, I found myself alive after sliding down, and nothing happened. My fear of skiing was overcome at once.

We have to make many choices in our life, and the first step is always the hardest. I was shocked when I came out of Peking University, and I didn't know what I could do. Someone told me that Mr. Yu, I dare not take the first step at all, because I don't know what will happen next. Actually, I understand. Just like when I first started to do New Oriental, there were only 13 students, and I had no idea what would happen later.

But the fact is that there must be a second step behind the first step. How can we see the second step without taking the first step? You must overcome your fear and make a choice.

Three years ago, I was chatting with a friend. He was already a bureau-level cadre at that time. He worked in that position for 20 years and felt particularly bored. He thinks he has two choices. The first option is that after six months, he may be promoted and then continue to climb. This road is extremely peaceful for him, and it is no problem to retire from the ministerial level in this life; Second, I graduated from the top universities in China and am extremely interested in science and technology projects. He can resign from public office and choose a very good science and technology project to invest.

The post of minister is also the goal pursued by most people. At that time, I asked him, are you excited to look back at life when you are old? The pursuit of a person's life is the happiness and excitement brought by recalling everything you have done. Just like if you find a woman or a man all your life, how can you love her/him all your life if she/he doesn't make you feel excited and happy? Tell me about these two choices, which one will excite you? He said that I didn't feel excited when I became a minister. He said that I came out to invest and witness the growth of a project, so that I could live up to my life.

He said I have no money. I said, how much money do you need? He said I need an investment fund, at least10 million. I said I would help you find the money. Later, he resigned from public office and set up a fund. Now he has done the second phase and is doing it in full swing.

I want to use this example to tell you that life is like this. If you dare to choose the first step, you can enter the second and third steps. Even if you have nothing, what are you afraid of? As long as it is your own choice, there is no regret in life. The real regret in life comes from that you never choose, or you don't take the initiative to choose.

After the listing of New Oriental, several old classmates who didn't choose to go back to China to start New Oriental together told me at the party that Lao Yu thought he didn't go back with you, and now he regrets it very much. I said, is there "homesickness" in this world?

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