leaf

In growth-oriented learning projects and abandoning expected returns, project organizers decide the growth potential of the project.

The market is ruthless, but not evil. They seek and summarize rules from the cruel and relentless market changes, achieving a balance between short-term interests and long-term returns, thus becoming winners. Even in the internet era that disrupts all old rules, these business principles still apply.

Project thinking:

First, we must have an open mindset; second, we must continuously learn and accept new things;

Third, we must be brave to practice business thinking and management models;

Fourth, we must collaborate with others in the direction of our attempts.

Projects are always accompanied by risks.

The more profitable a project is, the more risks it initially carries, which tests the investor's insight. When people choose projects, they often prefer to look at the risks first—if there are many unpredictable factors—based on their judgment, they will settle for seemingly safer projects. However, such projects are precisely the ones that do not make money.

Second, the temptation of short-term gains overcomes people's rationality.

People generally have insufficient resistance to short-term temptations and rarely consider whether this business can still be profitable two or three years down the line. In other words, most people find it difficult to predict the long-term trends of a product.

Projects are often cloaked in layers of disguise:

1. There is an eye-catching effect, and people pay high attention.
2. There is a commercial color, and the level of capital investment is high.
3. There is an illusion of an "application market," and the future prospects are widely discussed.

In the organization and implementation of projects, various problems often arise. For example, the game of various schemes, conflicts of interest within the team, functional conflicts between different departments, issues of personnel collaboration, allocation of funds, and conflicts between individual employee personalities and team culture, etc. These problems always exist, regardless of what project you undertake; they accompany the entire process. Therefore, you must consider thoroughly and develop contingency plans to prevent them from affecting the project's implementation progress.

1. You must simultaneously possess a fear of "high returns" and a dialectical thinking of "decisive investment."

For entrepreneurs, this may be a rare quality. Nowadays, if you walk down the street, you can easily find a bunch of "dreamers" who are dreaming of getting rich. Their biggest dream is to make money—if they can get rich, they would rather the world undergo a nuclear war. Therefore, "high returns" are the only thing these people care about, making it impossible for them to analyze the essence and risks of a project rationally. Once they are tied to the project, when risks occur, they won't even have the chance to jump off the vehicle.

At the beginning of project planning, the attitude towards risk should be "prevention + solution." You cannot avoid or turn a blind eye to it—there is simply no "zero-risk" project in this world.

Project planning is merely an expectation of the future, a rough estimate, and there will always be discrepancies in actual operations. These unpredictable factors constitute the risks of the project, making your investment project sometimes seem "not so correct." Therefore, do not assume you have chosen the wrong project just because you see risks.

Subjective information:

(1) Financial risk—Is the money you prepared enough?

(2) Personnel risk—Are you satisfied with the recruitment situation?

(3) Management risk—Can you manage the restaurant's employees?

(4) Cognitive risk—Is your understanding of this industry sufficient?

Objective information:

(1) Geographic risk—The choice of location determines life and death.

(2) Market risk—The recent overall situation of the market and economy.

(3) Competitive risk—Is the nearby market already saturated?

The fundamental purpose of identifying project risks is to find opportunities, seeking breakthroughs based on reducing and eliminating potential adverse consequences. Risks are visible to anyone, but opportunities can only be recognized by a few. When you can see a shining point that excites you amidst numerous risks, congratulations, you have found the right project.

Think of Buffett's timeless saying: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." Good investment projects must possess future trends; projects that only have present value will eventually be eliminated. This is a truth, but it only applies when few people see it.

The long-term motivation of project managers is a key element that determines what level you are at in project management—some people who start their own businesses only focus on money, thinking that making money is enough, but this utilitarian mindset cannot sustain them. When you have invested in many projects and achieved certain results, or when you start holding management positions in a company, you will inevitably pursue the realization of your self-worth in your work. A good project should have such characteristics to help us achieve this life goal.

What kind of person is suitable for projects?

1. Good character

This is the top priority and the foundation for being able to work together until the end. Once you discover that the other person's character is poor, trust may collapse. For those starting their own businesses, there are not many formal systems and regulations to constrain a person's behavior; coming together relies on fate, passion, and drive. If you have to constantly find ways to monitor and guard against the other party, this cooperation loses its meaning.

2. Complementary advantages

The definition of partners is simply finding those who can help you. This means that the attributes of partners must be complementary to your strengths, whether in personality, skills, or expertise, which also lays a good foundation for long-term cooperation in the future. If the partners you find are in the same field as you and lack knowledge in other areas, such partners are essentially a duplicate of you, which can easily lead to conflicts in work. As the saying goes, "everybody has strengths and weaknesses"; choosing a partner who can make up for your shortcomings will give you a significant advantage.

3. Good at communication

In fact, many execution problems stem from communication barriers. Especially in a team, poor communication can easily lead to project failure. Communication is about eliminating misunderstandings from the source, using clear and precise language to express your thoughts and opinions, and minimizing the need for others to interpret and understand. This not only saves time and effort but also makes people feel that you are a person with strong execution and decisiveness. Do not be afraid to argue with your partners; sometimes, arguing is a good thing, as it allows everyone to express their ideas, which is better than complaining about each other afterward.

4. Sense of responsibility

Projects cannot always go smoothly; making mistakes is normal, but taking responsibility for those mistakes requires courage. Especially when a significant mistake affects the entire team, it requires the determination to bear everything. When making money, everyone is harmonious; but what about when losing money? I have seen more than one or two entrepreneurs complain about their partners being irresponsible, shifting all the blame when mistakes occur, and wanting to walk away cleanly with their share. In fact, the phenomenon of partners withdrawing midway is not uncommon, as long as the division is clear as agreed before partnering. But the most concerning are those who neither want to take responsibility nor feel guilty; such people may suddenly become "small-minded" when faced with interests. Projects and entrepreneurship are like marriage; everyone must fulfill their part of the responsibility, and the ability to persist through hard work relies on a strong sense of responsibility and an attitude of "I trust you immensely."

First team: The core team of the project. Members are few but elite, usually no more than 10 people. These individuals are the elite soldiers of the team, holding significant authority. They manage different functions of the project and are relatively stable in the team composition, making them less likely to leave; they are managerial talents.

Second team: The expansion team of the project. Also known as the branch team, they are like soldiers under a general—they work for a member of the core team, are the specific executors, mainly responsible for the detailed daily work of the project, and possess outstanding professional skills, making them technical talents.

When a core employee in the team leaves, we are forced to bear the following costs:

1. Time cost due to position vacancy

Since each member of the team usually handles a specific link, the departure of a core employee in that link will force the team’s operations to be interrupted. Finding a suitable replacement is often very time-consuming. Not to mention whether a suitable person can be found; even if one is found, the time cost from recruitment to training to becoming proficient is too high.

2. Cost of business secret leakage

When a core employee leaves, the most worrying aspect is the leakage of the company's business secrets. The departing employee will also take away a large number of customer resources and channel advantages. If these resources are obtained by competitors, it will undoubtedly exert tremendous pressure on the company's market, significantly impacting the enterprise and related projects.

3. Spiritual cost of reshaping team morale

When certain core employees with leadership roles in the team leave, it directly affects the morale of the entire team; members' emotions will be impacted, and their focus will shift from business to "the reasons for members leaving," which in turn affects the team's unity and cohesion.

4. Increased crisis control costs

The loss of core members directly alters the strength comparison with competitors, tipping the scales of victory in favor of the opponents. The departure of two or three people may not be a fatal loss, but if it is a "collective" resignation like that of Skyworth, it will undoubtedly deal a huge blow to the enterprise. The loss of talent is a headache for every enterprise and project team, especially the loss of key personnel, which is a significant issue for project organizers.

Core principles for retaining key employees:

1. Sense of identity and belonging

2. Strengthening their "participation" in key projects is very important.

3. Establishing quantifiable performance goals.

4. Enhancing the sense of security for key talents.

Employees face a daily issue of security in the enterprise: how can I keep my job? Providing security for employees means helping them complete their work, ensuring they receive the rewards they deserve, and gaining a sense of achievement. Each time an employee achieves success, their sense of security is further enhanced, which also reflects in their loyalty.

5. Trust and full empowerment

Managers must play the roles of guides and leaders, providing encouragement and support to employees, helping them achieve their goals and realize themselves.

There are no eternally correct choices, nor are there projects that will never incur losses. Even projects like "cosmetics supermarkets," which have solid markets, stability, and a large consumer base, can suddenly change their investment and marketing strategies due to changes in business models. At that time, slow-reacting investors will inevitably find themselves, like Grelick, suddenly realizing they are not making money despite having made the right choice.

Second, be prepared for "losses" when profits are at their peak.

To continuously adapt to the market and ensure our projects remain profitable, what preparations should we make? Regardless of how many countermeasures or analyses and judgments about the future you have, there is a fundamental principle that investors must always keep in mind—be prepared for losses. If Grelick had realized seven or eight years ago that his business could not always be reliable, he would have had the opportunity to take proactive measures.

If key talents are continuously lost within a team, it indicates serious issues in talent management. If you cannot retain excellent talents, team members will lack a sense of belonging to the enterprise, lack respect for you, and naturally, they will not have a sense of recognition for your project. The loss of talent is fatal for any enterprise—insufficient talent reserves lead to vacant positions.

When project operations are interrupted, plans cannot be completed according to the normal schedule, ultimately leading to the failure to achieve business objectives. For a project team, the loss of key personnel, especially technical and market sales talents, has a severely detrimental impact on the team. On one hand, their departure will create significant job vacancies; on the other hand, these talents possess certain resources, technologies, channels, clients, and company secrets. If these important resources fall into the hands of competitors, the blow to your project will be catastrophic.

Finding a balance between "short-term gains" and "long-term gains" involves human nature and strategy.

What do we need to do to achieve long-term gains? This seems to be a cliché topic. In the operation of projects, whether to quickly realize "short-term gains" or to gain more returns in the growth of "long-term gains" has been a topic of ongoing discussion without a definitive conclusion. Peter Lynch said, "Short-term trading over two or three months can yield lasting profits." He tends to operate different short-term projects, while Buffett believes, "Real money-making investments require us to hold them for the long term." Both have their merits, but what insights do they offer to investors?

Everyone knows the importance of finding balance in the middle; the development of enterprises and project investments must consider both long-term and short-term aspects. However, in reality, we find that there are not many investors who can balance short-term and long-term gains well. Sometimes, people are eager to cash out without seeing the project's strong growth potential. Other times, we patiently wait for investments to bear fruit, only to exhaust our energy and finances over the long years. Overall, people tend to prioritize short-term gains, fearing that future risks will bury current profits. This is a sign of insecurity.

Managing a project or an enterprise is like crossing a river; do you choose to build a bridge for convenient future travel, or do you choose to take a longer detour like most people? Taking a detour does not require spending money and effort; it only takes a few days to reach the destination. However, building a bridge requires massive investment and a long time commitment, and it may take years before any returns are seen. However, once the bridge is built, not only is the distance greatly shortened, but it will also bring you substantial returns and benefits. This is the trade-off between short-term and long-term gains.

To achieve a balance between the two, investors must invest tremendous effort; the decisions made must meet current goals while also considering the development needs of the next few years, decades, or even longer. If you can achieve the latter, you are no longer just an investor but a truly great entrepreneur.

These two aspects are both coordinated and contradictory:

Some projects have very attractive short-term benefits, but they may harm the long-term interests of the enterprise. Investing in such projects does not fundamentally solve the enterprise's problems and may even jeopardize future development. For example, some companies may invest part of their funds in the virtual product market when their main business is struggling; while the paper profits grow rapidly, the main business may face a more severe financial crisis.

Some long-term projects also have very promising future expectations, but the current investment requires a certain degree of sacrifice, as it may be in a phase of "only investment without output." Such decisions carry significant risks and place our investments in an awkward position of "long-term lock-in." This is undoubtedly a tricky issue; it is not easy for managers to coordinate between these two interests due to their limited vision and goals.

At all times, both short-term and long-term interests must be considered; one should not sacrifice the project's and enterprise's future for the sake of achieving short-term goals, nor should one sacrifice short-term interests for long-term benefits by taking unnecessary risks. Short-term and long-term interests are not always in opposition; for most issues, we can find solutions. If the contradictions between the two cannot be reconciled and one side must make sacrifices, we can try to find a balance point to minimize losses. During stable project operations, there is not necessarily an option of "having to give up investment."

Design is often based on demand, and the underlying entrepreneurship may be more business-oriented. I discover who has what needs, then I provide some services to meet those needs and sell our services. These services may be creative or not; for example, I sell screenshots of Apple’s notch screen to those who want to show off.

Art is more about self-expression.

"Creating something is not about 'I think they might need this,' but rather 'I think this is interesting.' Then, when others use what you created and feel the same way you do, they say, 'I think this is interesting.' From this perspective, a product is like a storage device for emotions; the creator puts in their emotions, makes a thousand copies, and users take them out from the product."

Entrepreneurship in schools habitually teaches us how to answer questions, how to discover entrepreneurial opportunities, how to identify needs, and how to solve needs, always forcing us to serve users who are far from us, thinking about how to take money from their pockets. For young people, this is wrong; it forces us to learn too much about human nature and engage with a complex and useless worldview, much of which we may never need to encounter in our lives, all of which misleads us with noise. In the end, most of the time, people think too much and care too much, to the point where they end up creating something they don’t even like. The biggest mistake young people make is creating products for some mysterious group.

Schools teach this way partly because traditional entrepreneurship in China leans more towards design and business, and partly because young people in the past did not possess creative abilities.

However, there are now so many creative skills to learn; we can learn design, programming, and marketing, and excel in technology. Young people should be the ones posing the questions. We should not be obsessed with resource integration and probing human nature; we should focus on learning creative skills and building new things, especially passion projects that we love. Engage in projects that seem trivial, do things that interest and excite you, even if they may seem useless. Find what you believe in and love; there is no right or wrong, no results, no comparisons.

In the article "How to Start Google," Paul Graham shares with 14- and 15-year-olds that entrepreneurship can be divided into three steps:

1. You need to learn and excel in a certain creative skill. How to choose and master this skill? The answer is to only work on projects that interest you. Do not try to guess whether artificial intelligence or gene editing will be the most valuable technology in the future. Jobs learned calligraphy in his teens; no one thought calligraphy was useful, but it influenced Jobs to leverage graphic design to outcompete others. Of course, you don’t need to learn only one skill; understanding multiple skills is beneficial. Once you have learned, you need to excel through continuous practice. If you start coding at 15, by the time you decide to start a business at 22, you can be very proficient in anything.

2. The second step is to build an idea that interests you. In fact, once you are proficient in a skill, you will find it easier to discover ideas. As you observe the world, you will see some missing elements that are not immediately obvious. You begin to see what technology can be used to fix them, and each one is a potential idea. In 2002, Zuckerberg saw management issues at Harvard and thought, "I can code a program to solve this problem in one night," leading to the birth of Facebook, which was just a "project" at that time. Apple and Google also started as projects. Projects are not only the best way to learn technology but also the best source of entrepreneurial ideas. If founding Apple, Google, or Facebook is clearly a good idea, then others would have done it long ago. You don’t need to think about starting a company from the beginning; it doesn’t have to be grand; just follow your intuition to find interesting things, like Facebook did, and engage in projects born out of curiosity—things that excite you, whether it’s a website or an app. Many people like things that most others consider mere toys; about 90% of programmers start by developing games, including myself. You are not trying to start a company; you are just following your intuition to find interesting things. If you are young and proficient in technology, your unconscious intuition for interesting things will be better than your conscious ideas about what makes a good company.

3. The third step is to find co-founders and continuously improve your project together. How to find partners?

4. You can find them by working on projects with co-founders. The co-founders you need are those who excel in what they do and work well with you, and the only way to judge this is to work with them. At the same time, you need to perform as well as possible in school so you can get into a good university, as that is where co-founders and ideas are found. It’s not that Stanford or MIT will teach us entrepreneurship; rather, they set a high enough bar for selection, containing more outstanding individuals, leading to better platforms and connections with more excellent people. Continuously refine and iterate to create world-class products, sending signals to the universe about young people, allowing more people to use your products and be willing to pay for them. Use your work as an amplifier for your thoughts, building your influence, and letting more seniors and excellent peers recognize you and want to know you through your "works" and "projects."

In conclusion, design and art themselves are not right or wrong; however, the noise in design is too loud. I hope to provide young people with an "artistic" perspective, encouraging them to pose more questions and listen to their inner voices, to build new things.

For young people, I hope they stop thinking about how to answer questions; the world is vast. Ask yourself about your inner philosophy, beliefs, and passions to gain the greatest joy.