There are billions of mediocre products in the world, and no one can experience them all in a lifetime. The vast majority of these are subpar; people don't need mediocre products. What people need are a few truly excellent ones. Creating excellence requires focus, and focus means saying no to good things because they hinder your ability to create something great.

2017 - The Second Half of the Internet: Skyward, Grounded, Globalized​

• Skyward: True high technology, along with traditional ABC — AI, Big Data, Cloud
• Grounded: Not just being grounded but going underground — merely connecting consumers is not enough; WeChat has already solved this problem; moreover, the barriers to connection are low, and you must delve into all aspects of the industry chain.
• Globalized: Countries are not boundaries; more likely, they are sources, currencies, and cultural habits. For instance, the boundary for Toutiao is language. The competition between China and the U.S. spans five to ten years. Collaboration among enterprises is necessary. Software talent is scarce in Southeast Asia.

2014 - New Business in the Era of Connectivity​

2012 - My Entrepreneurial Story​

After graduating from Tsinghua University with an EE degree, I went to the University of Delaware for my PhD. My advisor was not particularly available, and I saw the wave of social media online. In 2004, I gave up my PhD to start a business and contacted two classmates to become partners. We pooled together 300,000 RMB, rented a three-bedroom apartment in Haifeng Garden on Xueqing Road, with each of us having a room and working in the living room. We developed many products.

In August 2004, we launched our first SNS, Duoduo You, and by August 2005, our daily user growth was in double or even single digits, requiring us to invite friends and classmates. The problem was: wanting to target everyone made promotion difficult, leading to low density. The lack of focus stemmed from inexperience; we didn’t know what was important and what wasn’t.

In August 2005, we changed our approach and made three new attempts, one of which launched on December 8, targeting college students, expanding from Tsinghua, Peking University, and Renmin University to other schools. We started with the student festival of the Tsinghua Electronics Department, subsidizing ticket sales, spending 3,000 RMB to acquire about 5,000 users, with a customer acquisition cost of approximately 0.6 to 1 RMB per person. By the end of December, we were still wavering between this and another project. At this time, the team was still three people.

The difficulty of cloning lies in the feeling that you can differentiate yourself slightly; when your understanding of the product is not deep enough, you don’t know why it does what it does, nor do you know which differences are critical. ==Subtle differences can have significant implications.==

Competitors numbered in the dozens, with people in China and around the world cloning FB, such as 5Q, Zhanzuo, etc.

Why did the campus network succeed? Good luck (Tsinghua) and simplicity.

In 2006, we sold to Qianxiang Interactive for possibly 2 million due to financing issues.

1. The investment letter's lock-in period was a pitfall; the other party signed but did not invest. I recommend checking out Venture Hacks and Founders at Work.
2. I didn’t realize how big this could be; I only wanted to raise 1 million USD, but that was far from enough. I needed to meet people with sufficient insight.
3. I probably didn’t meet enough VCs.

After the handover, in 2007, I started working on Hainai and Fanfou. There were several important reasons for leaving:

1. External: In September 2006, FB launched the most significant revision in SNS history: Feed. The importance of Feed can be compared to the search box of search engines. This created new opportunities.
2. Internal: ==Time is always scarcer than money==.

Building a company to a certain level can be achieved through individual or team effort, but to reach a top-tier level, like IBM, Microsoft, Google, or Facebook, requires the enhancement of the entire society and comprehensive national strength. Not everyone can achieve that well, partly due to Tencent.

Tencent's dominance, with QQ and QZone, restricted the development of other mainstays. Some businesses belong to the mainstay, while others are branches; the mainstay provides nutrients to the branches, but mainstays can compete for nutrients with each other.

In July 2009, regulatory issues arose, leading to the shutdown of a batch of Weibo accounts. At this point, waiting indefinitely was not an option; the deadline was six months, after which we had to move on.

In January 2010, we launched Meituan, completing it in 20 days, and it was the earliest to go live. Speed was crucial; LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman once said that if a product version doesn’t embarrass you, it’s because you launched it too late. Additionally, you need to clearly understand the scale of the problem you are solving.

Let’s talk specifics about the market.

Great products can only emerge when there is a massive market and demand. User numbers:

• Billion-level: FB, Google
• Hundred-million-level: BAT, future Meituan
• Ten-million-level: Meituan in 2012

Generally, entrepreneurship either solves a new problem or uses new methods to solve an old problem. If you view market demand abstractly enough, there are only a few types of problems in the world, and many things can be done repeatedly. Marc Andreessen believes that we consider the things we are willing to do or invest in, and if they fail, we try again in three years, six years, or nine years. For example, cash flow and payments are old problems: PayPal in 2009, Square in 2012. Other examples include gaming, information retrieval, and business transactions.

Churchill said: The further back you can see into the past, the further forward you can see into the future. History and futurism are crucial.

Taking Wang Xing's historical perspective as an example: social networking and group buying both belong to the internet, which belongs to IT, and IT encompasses many other things. For instance, three of China's Four Great Inventions are IT-related. What can you do with IT? Generation, transmission, storage, processing, and display of information. For example, in transmission, current fiber optics and mobile communications have established the underlying communication, and now we can only work on upper-layer SNS. From a long-term perspective, IoT is reliable; it’s just a matter of time.

Specifically regarding Meituan's position: E-commerce can be categorized into product e-commerce and service e-commerce. Digitalization is unstoppable, but specific services cannot be replaced by digital means. Meituan is service e-commerce.

Regarding the number of competitors: marathon runners aiming for gold medals do not concern themselves with how many people are competing.

Copywriting is the simplest and most direct way of impressing your customers. Persuasive copywriting = three means of persuasion + copywriting. Three means of persuasion are emotion, logic, and credibility.

1. Capturing readers' emotions​

An excellent copywriting creates emotional resonance with customers. And emotions push people to act. If your copywriting hits the bottom of the consumers' hearts, customers will spend much time and money on your products.

2. Cultivating creative thinking​

More than rhetoric, creative writing deals with real problems. Using real-world practices to improve your creativity:

• Writing more in various styles.
• Reading more fiction and digging into people's emotions.
• Jumping out of the comfort zone, learning something new, and asking harsh questions against yourself.

3. Considering different requirements for different assignments​

4. Telling stories and secrets to customers​

Telling a secret is a beautiful way to ignite customers' interest -- Most people are curious about things behind-the-scenes. Doing this improves the click-through rate (CTR).

5. Applying sweet talk​

Straight compliments satisfy customers' self-esteem. People like to feel unique. This method originates from the three types of persuasion by Aristotle.

6. Valuing less of the grammar​

It does not mean you can completely ignore the grammar. Our ultimate goal is to convey the message to customers. Sometimes, concise and crisp expressions are the most important, instead of grammar.

To increase product sales and leave a good impression on potential customers, copywriting plays a crucial role. How can you improve your copy? In Andy Maslen's "Persuasive Copywriting," six key copywriting methods are introduced that may inspire you.

Create Emotional Resonance with Readers​

Good copy can evoke emotional resonance with customers. Emotions play a critical role because they drive us to take action. Therefore, once the copy touches the hearts of consumers, they are likely to spend significant time and money on the product.

Read and Write More to Foster Creative Thinking​

It is undeniable that some rhetorical techniques used in writing can be beneficial. However, creative writing requires the ability to address potential issues, which is more important than merely using fancy writing techniques. If people can refer to the methods mentioned below, they will surely find their creativity flowing.

• Writing more articles across various fields can cultivate creativity.
• People should read novels and delve into the emotions and thoughts of the characters.
• Stepping out of the comfort zone to learn knowledge that is not directly related to oneself, while asking some probing questions to help reshape oneself, is essential.

Consider Different Requirements for Different Tasks​

Sometimes, certain companies provide relevant requirements for copywriters to reference. If there are no specific requirements, authors should research to clarify writing points and reflect them in the text. Additionally, especially for beginners, it is crucial to keep paragraphs short and clear, and to pay attention to the tone of voice used for different tasks.

Tell Stories or Share Secrets with Consumers​

This is a great way to pique customer interest, as people are irresistibly drawn to captivating stories. Moreover, most people are curious about behind-the-scenes secrets. By adopting this approach, customers are less likely to resist the temptation to learn more. Thus, they will click on the headline to discover the story or secret behind the product.

Offer Compliments or Use Wise Methods Found in Greek Mythology​

Straightforward praise satisfies customers' self-esteem. Additionally, they enjoy feeling special and unique. This falls under one of Aristotle's three modes of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos), specifically "pathos," which fulfills customers emotionally.

There's No Need to Rigidly Follow Grammar Rules​

This does not mean that grammar can be ignored. The ultimate goal of copywriting is to provide effective reading for customers. Frankly, sometimes people do not even notice these minor grammatical errors; on the contrary, such writing can make the copy clearer and easier to understand.

David Schneider, ServiceNow's President of Customer Ops, shares his sales performance metrics for SaaS companies that are aiming for hyper-scale. For the last 5 quarters:

• • Total Contract Value Attainment
  • Total Managed (ACV, Renewal, PS)
• • Net New ACV Attainment
  • Sales Quota Achievement
  • Q/Q Growth
  • Y/Y Growth
• • Cumulative Total New Customers
  • New Customers (incl. losses)
• • ACV Repeat Customers % to Net New
• • Cumulative Total Net Customers
  • New Customers
• • # Reps On-Board
  • Average Productivity per Sales Rep
  • Sales Rep Annualized Attrition Rate
  • Total Sales Annualized Attrition Rate

You need enough chips to play the game — hire a sufficient number of high-caliber talents who care about quality and are smart enough. You must repeatedly emphasize the company's culture of valuing quality, forming formal routines to check large pieces of work and fix what needs fixing.

Tactically, there is a best practice — reduce the difficulty of doing the right thing. The Stripe tech team makes various trade-offs to ensure that any engineer can improve any part of the system. Encourage a sense of ownership.

There are dedicated internal tools to check the level of internationalization, which may seem tedious but is worth the time. It goes back to the company's culture; when an individual contributor says, "I spent some time on i18n last week," they should assume that leadership values this enough to respond, "Of course, you took the time to do this, great job."

"Open a ticket for the relevant team, and someone will handle it" is a good practice, but if you can push this system to resolve tickets faster and better, you can motivate people to open tickets.

The company provides dedicated channels, such as mailing list aliases, to report product quality bugs. There are dedicated teams to triage these tasks or assign them to the appropriate groups for fixing, along with established routines to inform the entire company about the bug fix rate.

Before making significant API changes, both internal and external testing should be conducted. Regularly ask, "Who has a real Stripe account on hand? Can we update to the beta version and try it out?" People need to set aside dedicated time for this and document it thoroughly — imagine having a group of picky customers; while you may not be able to use your product as deeply and broadly as users do, this approach is much better than guessing.

Discovering that "a piece of payment code hasn't been touched in 5 years, and I don't know how it works, and there are no tests" is rare but valuable for the engineering team.

None of the above is high-tech, nor is it a sufficient condition to guarantee quality. Stripe never settles for the current level of quality and does not passively say, "Our standards are high," but rather maintains a proactive approach to continuously improve.

Julie Zhuo, Vice President of Product Design at Facebook, provides practical advice for those aspiring to be excellent managers based on her experiences from her first role as a manager in The Making of a Manager.

Focus on Improving Overall Team Output Rather Than Daily Activities​

When Julie first became the design director at Facebook, like many new managers, she thought her job was to hold meetings, check on progress, and provide feedback. Over nearly a decade, she gradually realized that a manager should enable the team to achieve better output and focus on broader issues like collaboration efficiency. Excellent managers should not be limited to daily activities but should lead their teams in pursuing outstanding results and progress.

Andy Grove's first lesson for managers states that a manager's output = the output of their own team under their influence + the output of adjacent teams.

Provide Feedback Objectively and Incorporate Multiple Perspectives for Reference​

Giving feedback to team members is an essential part of a manager's job. This can be challenging, as criticism can sometimes hurt feelings. To address this, Julie proposes two methods. The first is to provide timely feedback on recently completed tasks, ensuring that the focus is on the issue rather than the person, whether through email or face-to-face. The second is to introduce multiple perspectives, allowing team members to understand viewpoints from others beyond just the manager, which can often be objective and valuable.

Hold Meetings with Clear Goals and Expected Outcomes​

Meetings often come across as lengthy, unnecessary, and bureaucratic, especially when their purpose is unclear. To ensure efficiency, it is essential to have a structured process and clearly defined expected outcomes. Expected outcomes can include information presentation and sharing or making a specific decision. The latter is more complex and requires the participation of all individuals directly affected by that decision. Managers should ensure that relevant information is presented completely and objectively, and that everyone's opinions are heard and respected.

Plan Ahead for Hiring Decisions​

Recruitment is a significant responsibility for managers. It is not simply about quickly finding someone to fill a vacancy without considering the candidate's skills and experience; it requires planning ahead. At the beginning of each year, Julie analyzes and lists the positions that need to be filled. She summarizes the following questions for managers looking to create their own hiring plans to consider.

• Considering the team's primary tasks and budget, how many new employees can you realistically hire?
• What skills does the existing team need most? Which skills are already well represented?
• How many years of relevant work experience do new hires need?
• What personalities or traits can enhance the diversity of the existing team?

Julie Zhuo is the vice president of product design at Facebook. In her book The Making of a Manager, Julie draws on her own experiences as a first-time manager and provides practical advice for those who want to become good managers.

Focus on improving the outcomes of a team instead of daily activities​

When Julie Zhuo just became a manager of Facebook's design team, she thought her job was to hold meetings with team members to follow up on their progress at work and provide feedback. It takes almost ten years for her to realize that a manager should strive for improved outcomes from the team and focus on broader issues such as how to help her team to work more effectively together instead of daily activities.

Andy Grove, in his book High Output Management, believes that a manager's output = The output of his organization + The output of the neighboring organizations under his influence.

Be activity-specific and bring in multiple perspectives when giving feedback​

Providing feedback to team members is indispensable to the job of a manager. But sometimes your criticism might hurt someone's feelings. Julie suggests two solutions for this situation. One way is to keep your feedback activity-specific. You can provide feedback specific to a task just completed by email or face-to-face communication. This way guarantees the criticism is only for the work someone has done, not the person. The other way is to bring in multiple perspectives. Besides your own opinion, you can share with the team what others think.

Start meetings with purpose and end with outcomes​

Meetings are usually considered as bureaucratic and a waste of time, especially when being held without a purpose. An agenda is not enough to make a productive meeting. In addition, the meeting organizer needs to have a clear idea of the outcome. The outcome could be to present and share information or to make a decision. In the latter situation, everyone who is going to be impacted directly by the decision should attend the meeting. The manager should ensure all the relevant information is presented objectively, and everyone's voices are heard and equally respected.

Plan in advance before making recruitment decisions​

Hiring should not be taken as finding someone to fill a vacancy as soon as possible regardless of the skills and experiences. It should be planned in advance. At the beginning of each calendar year, Julie creates a list of vacancies that needs to be recruited for. She suggests a few questions for managers to consider before tailoring their own recruit plans.

• How many new recruits can you realistically hire based on your team's priorities and budget?
• What skills does your team need more? What skills does your team have in abundance?
• How much experience should they have?
• What personalities or attributes could strengthen your team's diversity?

Imagine that you were a commander in one of the most violent battlefields in Iraq, and your decisions often had a significant impact on others’ lives. How would you lead? In the book Extreme Ownership, the authors, also former Navy SEAL task unit leaders, share their experience and insights of the success of Navy SEAL units, providing useful references for any organization that wants to succeed.

Take responsibility for failures​

Jocko Willink, one of the authors, held all the responsibility for an accident where a soldier lost his life in friendly fire. By doing this, he managed to keep his job because his superiors knew good leaders take responsibility for mistakes and actively look for ways to improve. If the leader makes an excuse to pass the buck, his subordinates will then do the same.

Understand the importance of your mission​

On the battlefield, when Willink was told that his elite team would be fighting side-by-side with the newly created Iraqi army, he doubted the capacity and loyalty of the Iraqi army as well as the correctness of the command. But later, he gradually realized this action could help the US forces to withdraw from Iraq. Then Willink passed his conviction onto his team, and then they finally accomplished the mission successfully.

Leaders should fully understand the importance of every mission and make sure every member is on the same page before carrying it out. If you consider the order received as questionable, think twice before speaking out against the plan. You may also try to seek explanations from your superiors.

Cooperate with your allies​

“Cover and move” is one of the most fundamental Navy SEAL tactics, which indicates sometimes you need to cooperate with your allies. Leif Babin, the other author, failed to employ this tactic and put his team in extreme danger, which could have been avoided. Leaders should keep an eye on other teams that could provide strategic support instead of competing with them.

Stay effective by setting priorities​

In Ramadi, Babin’s team was deep in enemy territory without backup. One team member was wounded and exposed. There was a bomb at the exit. Attention was required for a few problems at the same time. Babin calmly assessed the scenario, sorted out the top three priorities, and managed to escape from the dangerous situation.

In the battlefield where complicated situations often occur, leaders have to stay calm and find the optimal solution. That’s why “prioritize and execute” is thought as a useful principle. It is essential for leaders to decide on the top priority and then focus on it. After the problem is solved, you can move to the next priority and take action.

Identify and mitigate risks in advance​

Before an operation to rescue an Iraqi hostage, Babin fully considered the potential target around the hostage, including explosives and guns, and moved forward as planned, mitigating all the risks.

Creating a comprehensive plan helps to identify and mitigate risks in advance and improve the possibility of success. Besides, leaders should keep members informed of these contingency plans. Concentrate on the risks that can be controlled and be aware that there are always some risks that can not be mitigated.

1. build and ship the product
2. find the product-market fit
3. grow users as fast as you can consistently to achieve market leadership and defensible moats
4. build an executive team and an organization that can operation without the founder
5. go through the IPO and become an enduring public company