16 posts tagged with "leadership"

Early career focuses on continuous learning, gaining specialized expertise, and building foundational leadership skills, while late career shifts toward creating strategic impact, mentoring the next generation, and leaving a meaningful legacy that shapes industries, communities, or personal networks.

1. Start with the customer​

• 1.1 Surface yourself to internal and external buyers and sellers through online and offline platforms
• 1.2 Conduct customer interviews and gather feedback regularly
• 1.3 Empathize with customer pain points and act as a proxy for customers
• 1.4 Predicting and producing what the customer loves is hard, but we can always invent and simplify our product to a better state
• 1.5 Prioritize features and initiatives that provide the most customer value
• 1.6 Measure success with customer satisfaction metrics (e.g., NPS, CSAT)

2. Sharpen your communication skills​

• 2.1 Be genuinely interested in people and actively wonder what they are doing/needing/feeling
• 2.2 Practice and rehearse clear, concise writing and speaking until you're fully prepared for interviews
• 2.3 Adapt your communication style to suit your audience
• 2.4 Continuously seek feedback to refine your communication skills
• 2.5 Leverage storytelling to make complex ideas more relatable and engaging
• 2.6 Use examples, metaphors, and narratives to simplify and humanize technical or abstract concepts
• 2.7 Apply communication frameworks like Thank/Reflect/Wish, PREP (Point/Reason/Example/Point), AIDA (Attention/Interest/Desire/Action), and STAR (Situation/Task/Action/Result)

3. Focus on high-leverage, prioritized activities​

• 3.1 Score and identify tasks with the most significant impact on key objectives
• 3.2 Use frameworks like Eisenhower Matrix or OKRs to prioritize tasks
• 3.3 Automate or delegate low-impact tasks
• 3.4 Review priorities regularly to ensure alignment with goals
• 3.5 Build flexibility into your schedule by leaving space for unplanned activities, and compensate for intense periods with planned downtime

4. Accelerate learning through high-value channels, execution, and accumulation​

• 4.1 Learn by doing, sharing, and documenting: Take on new projects, challenges, and record key lessons
• 4.2 Seek feedback from peers and mentors after each task, and incorporate it into a personal knowledge base
• 4.3 Engage in inter-person communication to uncover hidden, tacit knowledge that is often only discovered through direct interaction
• 4.4 Embrace failure as part of the learning process, fail fast, and capture insights to avoid repeating mistakes
• 4.5 Iterate and adapt: Build on past successes and failures while questioning assumptions, as what worked before may not hold true today

5. Ask high-value questions​

• 5.1 Challenge assumptions and conventional wisdom with first principles
• 5.2 Guide strategic decisions by focusing on questions that reveal hidden insights and drive long-term impact
• 5.3 Search for who is asking what questions globally to identify the most important questions
• 5.4 Answers are cheap in the age of LLMs. Prioritize asking the right questions

6. Strategic thinking: from small wins to big wins​

• 6.1 Understand the history, status quo, and predict the future with long-term vision
• 6.2 Break down large goals into smaller, actionable tasks
• 6.3 Do not shoot for a moving target – maintain focus on clear, stable goals
• 6.4 Collect data and establish benchmarks to evaluate success
• 6.5 Identify areas where short-term wins can unlock long-term success
• 6.6 Celebrate quick wins while keeping an eye on long-term goals
• 6.7 Regularly review progress and adjust strategies as needed

7. Build allies​

• 7.1 Network widely to broaden your influence
• 7.2 Help others succeed to build trust and reciprocity
• 7.3 Collaborate across teams to expand your impact
• 7.4 Stay in touch and offer support consistently
• 7.5 Build trust through personal, in-person connections
• 7.6 Exchange value in every interaction
• 7.7 Stay active in key professional circles
• 7.8 Nurture relationships for long-term mutual benefit

8. Stay resilient, optimistic, and pragmatic​

• 8.1 Focus on identifying the right problem and finding effective solutions when challenges arise
• 8.2 Maintain a positive mindset, especially during setbacks (Reframing, expressing gratitude, etc.)
• 8.3 Balance optimism with a realistic view of the situation by synthesizing

9. Influence without authority​

• 9.1 Build credibility by demonstrating expertise and delivering results
• 9.2 Persuade through data and clear reasoning
• 9.3 Leverage relationships to gain support for your ideas
• 9.4 Be collaborative, listen to others, and align their goals with yours

10. Be assertive and open-minded​

• 10.1 Speak up confidently in meetings and discussions
• 10.2 Seek feedback and adjust your approach if needed
• 10.3 Advocate for your ideas but be willing to change if presented with better information
• 10.4 Actively listen to others by mirroring, mentalizing, and showing genuine care
• 10.5 Recognize the role of emotions in interactions and continuously improve your emotional intelligence (EQ)

11. Compete with focus and advantages​

• 11.1 Build a strategy based on specific market needs or niches you can dominate
• 11.2 Identify and leverage your unique advantages (skills, location, resources)
• 11.3 Focus on areas where you can outperform others with specialized knowledge or capabilities
• 11.4 Anticipate future trends and invest in building advantages ahead of time
• 11.5 Stay focused on your strengths and avoid unnecessary distractions
• 11.6 Realize people can be both allies and competitors at the same time

12. Mentor and grow others​

• 12.1 Share your knowledge and expertise to help others succeed
• 12.2 Offer guidance and feedback to team members regularly
• 12.3 Create opportunities for others to take on new challenges
• 12.4 Foster a culture of learning and development in your teams
• 12.5 Leverage media and public platforms to inspire and educate others at scale

13. Stay approachable and flexible​

• 13.1 Remain accessible and responsive to buyers and customers at all times
• 13.2 Be open to feedback and discussions with colleagues, buyers, and customers at all levels
• 13.3 Maintain a friendly, open demeanor that encourages collaboration
• 13.4 Adapt to changing situations without becoming rigid in your approach
• 13.5 Stay calm and open-minded when unexpected challenges arise
• 13.6 Be proactive so that the schedule is more favorable to the initiator

14. Lean in but avoid burnout​

• 14.1 Take initiative, but know your limits and learn to manage expectations
• 14.2 Set boundaries to protect your personal time
• 14.3 Regularly evaluate your workload, delegate where possible, and schedule regular downtime

15. Physical and mental well-being fuel everything else​

• 15.1 Make a checklist to monitor personal status regularly
• 15.2 Maintain a regular exercise routine for MIIT, HIIT, Strength, and Flexibility exercises
• 15.3 Prioritize sleep and proper nutrition
• 15.4 Practice mindfulness or meditation to manage stress
• 15.5 Take regular breaks to recharge, both mentally and physically
• 15.6 Foster an environment where people love to live and work
• 15.7 Learn to navigate your brain willfully through Relaxed, Focused, and Overheated states, and avoid Overheated states

16. Be creative and stand out​

• 16.1 Seek inspiration from different fields and industries
• 16.2 Challenge assumptions and ask "what if" questions
• 16.3 Experiment with different methods and technologies

Recognition is Humanity's Primary Pursuit​

The "still-face experiment" is a psychological experiment in which a caregiver (usually a mother) and her infant engage in normal face-to-face interactions, such as smiling, talking, and making eye contact. Then, the caregiver suddenly changes her behavior, maintaining a still, expressionless face (the "still-face"), and stops responding to the infant's actions. This change typically leads to noticeable stress responses in the infant, such as anxiety, agitation, or crying. After a period, when the caregiver resumes normal interaction, the infant usually gradually returns to the behavior exhibited at the beginning of the experiment.

Infants who are long neglected by their caregivers may develop a crisis of existence, which can cause lasting emotional and psychological harm.

Cold Family Relationships Build Emotional Walls​

The quality of relationships determines the quality of life, and childhood relationships can have a lasting impact on one's quality of life.

Children coping with a harsh upbringing may unconsciously develop these four defense mechanisms:

1. Avoidance: This is a defense mechanism born out of fear. Individuals choose to minimize emotions and relationships due to the harm caused by emotional and interpersonal connections. Such individuals feel most comfortable in superficial exchanges, tend to over-rationalize life, escape into work, strive for self-sufficiency, and pretend they have no needs. They often lack close relationships in childhood and hold low expectations for future interpersonal connections. These individuals may constantly be on the move, unwilling to settle down or be tied down; sometimes they may be overly proactive to avoid showing vulnerability; they manage to make themselves the strong ones others depend on but never seek help from others.
2. Deprivation: Some children grow up around self-centered adults whose needs are ignored. Such children naturally learn the lesson that "my needs will not be met," which can easily transform into "I do not deserve to have." Those troubled by a deprivation model may feel worthless even after achieving remarkable success. They often carry the belief that there is some defect deep within them that, if known by others, would cause them to be abandoned. When treated poorly, they tend to blame themselves.
3. Overreactivity: Children who grow up in dangerous environments often have an overactive threat detection system deep within their nervous systems. Such individuals interpret ambiguous situations as threats and perceive neutral faces as angry ones. They are trapped in an overactive mental theater, feeling that the world is full of danger. They overreact to situations without understanding why they do so.
4. Passive Aggression: Passive aggression is an indirect expression of anger. It is a way for someone who fears conflict and struggles to handle negative emotions to avoid direct communication. Such individuals may grow up in a family where anger is frightening, emotions are unresolved, or love is conditional, learning that direct communication leads to withdrawal of love. Thus, passive aggression becomes a form of emotional manipulation, a subtle power game to extract guilt and love. For example, a husband with passive-aggressive tendencies might encourage his wife to go out with friends for the weekend, seeing himself as a selfless martyr, but becomes angry with her days before the outing and throughout the weekend. He will use various withdrawal and self-pitying behaviors to make her feel like a selfish person while portraying himself as the innocent victim.

The Dual Nature of Defense Mechanisms​

These defense mechanisms do not always have negative impacts; they can be a form of overcompensation that leads individuals to extremes, and those who go to extremes may find it easier to achieve worldly success—many successful politicians, for instance, learn from childhood that life is a battle against injustice. Darkness gives them status, power, self-esteem, and resilience.

However, these benefits do not mask the problems caused by these defense mechanisms:

1. Irrational hostility. They may believe that "all criticism and opponents are not only wrong but also evil."
2. Individuals can be ensnared by their mechanisms. They may find themselves unable to control irrational actions.
3. Old mechanisms become outdated. Old habits cannot adapt to the new era (conceptual blindness), such as fighting a modern war with the mindset of cold weapon warfare from World War I, leading to heavy casualties.

Repairing Issues? Communication is More Effective than Introspection​

For various reasons, trying to repair the defense mechanisms stemming from a dark childhood through self-reflection often yields poor results. Communication with an external perspective is a more effective choice.

This is where empathy shines. Empathy is crucial at every stage of "knowing a person," and it is especially necessary when accompanying someone through trauma.

Empathy Sounds Easy but is Hard to Practice​

If empathy is merely "I feel for you," it indeed sounds easy. However, empathy is a combination of a series of social and emotional skills. Some people are naturally good at these skills, but everyone can improve through practice.

Empathy involves at least three related skills:

1. Mirroring
2. Mentalizing
3. Caring

Mirroring Emotions​

People experience emotions in every moment of wakefulness through interactions with the external world. These emotions can be pronounced or subtle. The generation of emotions begins with sensations from every part of the body, transmitted through nerves to the brain, where they are monitored and recognized.

Historically, emotions were once considered a bad thing. For thousands of years, philosophers believed that reason was separate from emotion—reason was the cold, prudent driver, while emotion was the uncontrollable wild horse. This understanding is flawed.

In reality, emotions carry information. When not out of control, emotions are flexible mental abilities that help you navigate life. Emotions assign value to things: they tell you what you want and what you do not want. You pursue out of love and distance yourself out of disdain. Emotions help you adapt to different situations: when you find yourself in a threatening situation, you feel anxious, prompting you to quickly seek danger. Emotions also inform you whether you are moving toward your goals or away from them.

Thus, to understand a person, we should not only understand what they are thinking but also how they feel. These feelings are reflected in the other person's face, eyes, demeanor, and other parts of their body.

Masters of emotional mirroring can quickly experience the emotions of the person in front of them and can rapidly reproduce those emotions in their own bodies. Those skilled in emotional mirroring respond to smiles with smiles, yawns with yawns, and frowns with frowns. They unconsciously adjust their breathing patterns, heart rates, speaking speeds, postures, gestures, and even vocabulary levels to align with the other person. They do this because a good way to understand what another person feels in their body is to experience that emotion in your own body to some extent. Those who have received Botox injections and cannot frown may find it more difficult to perceive others' concerns because they cannot physically reproduce that emotion.

Masters of emotional mirroring have higher emotional granularity, allowing them to finely distinguish different emotional states and experience the world more precisely. They can accurately classify similar emotions: for example, anger, frustration, stress, anxiety, worry, and agitation.

Masters of emotional mirroring build a broad emotional vocabulary through reading literature, listening to music, and reflecting on relationships, enabling them to draw upon it skillfully in life, much like a painter having a wider palette of colors.

Mentalizing Emotions​

Most primates can more or less mirror each other's emotions, but only humans can explain why the other person is experiencing their current emotions. This is also known as "projective empathy." When we connect our own memories with another person's current situation, we see more than just "this woman is crying"; we see "a woman who has suffered professional setbacks and public humiliation."

More advanced mentalizing helps us recognize the complexity of emotional states—people can experience multiple emotions simultaneously, and this complexity allows us to detach from empathy and make judgments.

Caring for Emotions​

Many con artists are skilled at interpreting people's emotions, but we wouldn't say they are empathetic because they do not genuinely care for others. A child might see you crying and hand you a Band-Aid, but they cannot mentalize that you are crying because you had a tough day, nor can they know what you truly need at that moment.

Effective caring involves stepping outside of one's own experience and realizing that what you need in the same situation may be completely different from what I need. This is challenging; the world is full of "good people," but there are far fewer "effectively kind people." For instance, while some may need alcohol to cope with anxiety, others may need a hug.

Using the skill of caring for emotions, when you receive a gift from someone, write a thank-you note that focuses not on how you will use the gift but on the giver's intentions—what drove you to think this gift was suitable for me, and what you were thinking.

Similarly, cancer patients prefer "those who hug you, praise you, but do not make you feel like you are attending a funeral. Those who give you gifts unrelated to cancer. Those who just want to make you happy, rather than trying to fix you, reminding you that this is just another beautiful day with many interesting things to do."

Levels of Empathy​

People with low empathy may think:

• I find it difficult to know what to do in social situations.
• If I am late to meet a friend, it usually does not bother me too much.
• People often tell me that I overdo it when I am making a point in discussions.

People with high empathy may think:

• Even if it does not involve me, interpersonal conflict is a physical pain for me.
• I often unconsciously mimic the gestures, accents, and body language of others.
• When I make a social mistake, I feel extremely uncomfortable.

In any field, truly creative thinking is simply this: a naturally exceptionally sensitive human being. For them, a touch is a blow, a sound is noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a hint of joy is ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this fragile being a strong necessity for creation, constantly creating, creating, creating... Due to some strange, unknown inner urgency, they only truly live when they create.

-- Pearl S. Buck

High empathy sounds exhausting, but isn't it also moving? :)

How to Train Yourself to Increase Empathy?​

1. Contact Theory: Organize a group of people to do things together to build bonds and promote mutual understanding. A community is a group of people with shared projects.

2. Observation and Performance: When people closely observe those around them, they become more empathetic. Actors are particularly good at observing and mimicking people; if you want your child to be more empathetic, encourage them to take drama classes at school.

3. Literature: Plot-driven books like thrillers and detective stories are less effective; what works are complex, character-driven novels like "Beloved" or "Macbeth."

4. Discovering and Labeling Emotions: Occasionally pause to use Marc Brackett's mood map and the RULER (Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate their emotions) method to identify, understand, label, express, and regulate emotions. Teams led by emotionally intelligent bosses report feeling inspired 75% of the time, while teams with lower emotional intelligence report only 25%.

   

5. Experiencing Suffering. Many truly empathetic people have experienced suffering but have not been crushed by it; they do not develop excessive defense mechanisms but instead expose their vulnerabilities to life and speak openly like heroes.

Conclusion​

In summary, emotions are embodied, and empathy is not an intellectual activity but training your body to respond in an open and interactive way. The "rational brain" cannot persuade the "emotional body" to escape its own reality; thus, the body must personally experience different realities. Those with empathy can provide this physical presence.

Perception influences emotion, and emotion also affects perception. For example, when feeling afraid, our ears focus on high and low frequencies—the frequencies of screams or roars—rather than the medium frequencies of normal human speech. Anxiety narrows our attention and reduces our peripheral vision; happiness expands our peripheral vision.

Those who feel safe due to the reliability and empathy of others see the world as a broader, more open, and happier place.

And suffering is the badge of honor for practitioners of empathy. Playwright Thornton Wilder once described such a person's remarkable presence in the world: "Without your wounds, where would your power be? It is your regrets that make your low voice tremble into people's hearts. Even angels cannot persuade those suffering and clumsy children on earth, but those crushed by the wheels of life can. Only wounded soldiers can serve love."

The Problem​

We, engineers, often boast about leadership without a clear definition of what we are saying. We boast with authority - X years of experience, intimidating titles from prestigious companies, and quotes from big names. We boast with emotions - close friends achieving financial freedom, leaders making a huge impact, and how exciting business is taking off. We boast with logic - the team should be united, we are a team, and then we should be united.

It is OK if boasting is a personal matter. However, unfortunately, flattery lives in the nature of hierarchical corporate life, especially for those from East Asia. Meanwhile, people in the United States tend to say good things to each other so that both parties can feel better. Praises are literally everywhere.

As a result, leadership is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.

The Definition​

Here are the definitions to distill the clarity from those chaotic ramblings of the mass.

What is leadership?

Leadership is organizing people to solve challenging problems.

What does it really mean?

1. Leadership is people-centered. We should solve problems for the people, by the people, and of the people.
2. Problems should be challenging. Those problems could be personal, regional, or world-class. However, if they are not challenging enough to the protagonist, requiring it to break through the status quo and brining shiny changes to itself or to the environment, we will not admire such person and say it is a leader.
3. Leadership without execution sums up everything to zero. It is not a capability but a trophy. We either have achieved it or not.

What is technology?

Technology is a scientific way of solving problems.

What does it really mean?

1. Technology applies science. It organizes knowledge based on facts, and with testability and predictability. For example, introduce tests to programming, and then programming becomes more scientific than just an art.
2. Technology takes pragmatism. Technology serves a purpose - solving problems for people. Designer does not equal to artist. Engineer does not equal to programmer.
3. Technology itself creates value by transforming low-value input to high-value output.

What is innovation?

Innovation is creating something new.

What does it really mean?

1. The market is efficient, and the competition is everywhere. You are not alone with technologies. There is no reason that a powerful technology belongs only to you. Technology is not an economic moat, and we could hardly rely on a single technology that is losing comparative advantages over time.
2. People won't buy things to replace what they already own that solve their problems well.
3. Innovation bears costs and risks. Try more and befriend failures.

Well, what is technology leadership?

Technology leadership is organizing people to solve challenging problems with technologies, usually through innovations.

How to evaluate the performance of a technology leader? Each company or individual has its own answer with engineering rubrics. And those rubrics usually focus on a specific role - IC (Software Engineer, Product Manager, Designer) or Engineering Manager. Is there a grand unified framework to evaluate the potential business impact that a technology leader could make? Here are the requirements:

1. full coverage
2. actionable
3. referenceable to building a formidable team

Answers from myself and my Friends​

• Decisiveness: strategy, tactics, and making fact-based decisions faster. Play progressively from small wins to more significant wins for the individuals and organizations. Gathering information, diagnosing to gain insights, making guiding policies, and taking coherent actions. Differentiating facts from opinions and making sure that options are believability-weighted. Exploring innovations in the entire process, and innovation means making changes to do things 10x better. Making initial decisions fast within the time window, reflecting on results, and then iterating through the hierarchy of lifetime/years/quarters/weeks.

• Execution Engine: Building the system to deliver more and then in higher quality, instead of being proud of a few deliverables. Attention to detail. Nudging the cross-functional teams to your unique vision. Balancing speed, quality, and scope according to the customer’s requirements.

• Domain Expertise: pursuing un-teachable special know-how. been there/done that. The market rewards uniqueness.

• Product-sense: developing the intuition on what a great product is. Perceiving the market and industry with data. Building and operating the product with proper processes. Synthesize with other elements in the big picture. Invent and simplify. Plan and manage change. Customer-obsession.

• People and Culture: Work with others: shaping the world together with people. Lead by example. Teamwork. Making people happy and then productive. Sort people and projects often / be professionally judgemental. Incentivize people with intrinsic and then extrinsic motivations. Orgnization = People + Culture. Being both capable and warm. Telling a story that inspires your own passion first. Empowering people to achieve more. Self-driven. Listen to people and inspire people to share. hiring and coaching team. humility, low ego. best idea wins. growth mindset.

• Synergy & Resourcefulness: aligning or connecting resources. 1 + 1 > 2. optimizing the web of customers, distribution channels, products, people, technology, and capitals. playing the reputation game in a long term. turning more people into stake owners and aligning to shared goals.

Ordinary people have few opportunities to make decisions in life and work, and it is also difficult to practice and improve their decision-making skills. Most people's decisions rely on intuition, while rational decisions depend on processes. The book "Decisive" proposes a four-step process for rational decision-making — to increase the probability of making the best decision, we need to 1. broaden options, 2. test assumptions with facts, 3. step outside ourselves to see ourselves, and 4. prepare for wrong decisions.

1. Broaden Options​

People mistakenly think that making a choice is as simple as answering multiple-choice questions on an exam, selecting one from three or five options. However, the world is vast, and options are not limited to just a few. For example, an advertising design company may develop multiple design proposals simultaneously and combine useful elements into the final design outcome after each round of feedback. This not only increases work efficiency but also saves time costs in decision-making. Additionally, one can refer to the base rates of others' choices in similar situations. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, closely monitored competitors throughout his career to adjust decisions in a timely manner. As decision-makers, we should find the best solutions by creating more options and referencing others' choices.

2. Test Assumptions with Facts​

If practice is the only criterion for testing truth, then conducting experiments before making final decisions can relatively accurately estimate whether an idea will work. Many companies have evolved from hiring employees solely through interviews to requiring them to go through short trial periods, precisely to avoid the limitations of interviews and increase decision accuracy. A friend of mine tried staying overnight in a house before buying it and discovered that he could hear the train's horn, thus avoiding a significant mistake at a low cost.

3. Step Outside Ourselves to See Ourselves​

When decision-makers become too immersed in their own viewpoints, they often overlook external perspectives. Therefore, to assess the potential outcomes of a decision, one should investigate the objective circumstances underlying the decision. Consider evaluating options from a broader temporal and spatial perspective, such as Andy Grove pretending to be the new CEO entering through the front door and cutting the memory chip business; Kai-Fu Lee hypothesizing that tomorrow's headlines will report on his two choices — one being emotional but unjust, the other just but unfeeling, and then choosing to be just as a leader; Jeff Bezos imagining himself at 80 looking back, using the "regret minimization framework."

4. Prepare for Wrong Decisions​

When considering the outcomes of decisions, you should contemplate both the best and worst-case scenarios to understand your position. If the situation approaches the worst outcome, you can respond in a timely manner. Additionally, you can establish signals that make you aware of your actions, thereby weakening the inertia of behavior and correcting decisions promptly. Notably, to increase the speed of decision-making, Bezos believes that decisions are inherently unequal and should never be treated equally — reversible decisions should use lightweight decision-making processes.

Who Does Xiaomi Learn From​

• Tongrentang: Aiming for a century-old enterprise, Tongrentang is the best example. Its characteristic is high product quality, even though the prices are not cheap.
• Walmart & Costco: Innovation in business models, lowering prices, with most products priced at less than half of similar existing products. A research and development system that hires a small number of the best talents, where one person is worth fifty. Eliminating traditional marketing and channel costs: removing market expenses from marketing, focusing solely on word-of-mouth marketing. Simplifying sales channels, focusing only on direct sales. Although the prices are low, the sales volume is extremely high.
• Haidilao: What is word-of-mouth? Exceeding user expectations.

A business model of high quality, low price, and optimized efficiency can only be executed by those who have made money and are not short on cash. Affordable, high-quality smartphones are merely a means to acquire customers, drawing users into mobile internet platforms and e-commerce platforms (+ smart hardware).

Internet Thinking = Seven-Character Formula (Focus on Extreme Word-of-Mouth Fast) + Sense of Participation (Mass Line)​

• Focus on Extreme: Centering on smartphones, TVs, and routers, doing it oneself, serving as the entry point for the ecosystem, while other companies handle other products within the ecosystem.
• Word-of-Mouth? Exceeding user expectations, even bringing the product into a friendship. This is the core of internet thinking.

De-Management​

Pursuing super flat structures, where leaders understand all the details, enabling quick responses and decisions. Pursuing super flat structures, where leaders understand all the details, enabling quick responses and decisions.

Comments​

Prerequisites

• Platform-level products, making the platform affordable, allowing monetization through applications at the platform level.
• Having top-tier talent and capital during the bootstrap phase.
• Achieving likability in branding.

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​

	Entertainment	Information	Communication	Business
Web	Browser games, Board games	Portals	Email, IM, VoIP	Qunar
Search	MP3 search		Qunar
Social	Zynga	Twitter, FB	FB	Meilishuo, Sesame Street
Mobile	Mobile games	Toutiao	WeChat	Meituan
IoT	?	Dropcam	?	?

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.

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.

Imagine you are on the most dangerous battlefield in Iraq, as a commander making decisions that affect the lives of soldiers. How would you lead your team? In the book "Extreme Ownership," the authors, who served as task force commanders in the Navy SEALs, share their observations and experiences on the battlefield to provide insights for other teams striving for success.

Dare to Take Responsibility for Failures​

One of the authors, Jocko Willink, took full responsibility after a major incident involving friendly fire that resulted in soldier casualties, yet he was able to keep his job. This was because his superior understood a key principle: great leaders never shirk responsibility. Instead, they actively seek criticism and meticulously document ways to improve. If leaders avoid responsibility, their subordinates will follow suit.

Understand the Importance of the Mission​

On the battlefield, when Willink was informed by his commander that his elite unit would be working alongside the newly formed Iraqi army, he privately questioned the army's capability and loyalty, as well as the correctness of the orders. However, he gradually realized that this move would facilitate the smooth withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. He then communicated the mission and its purpose to his troops, ultimately accomplishing the task successfully.

Leaders should fully understand the significance of each action and communicate it to all team members before executing the mission. When there are doubts about the orders received, it is wise to pause and think carefully rather than hastily spreading concerns. Alternatively, you can seek clarification from superiors.

Actively Collaborate with Allies​

“Cover and move” is one of the most fundamental strategies of the Navy SEALs, meaning that sometimes you need to seek collaboration with allies. The book's other author, Leif Babin, once placed his team in an avoidable extreme situation by failing to use this strategy. Leaders need to look at the bigger picture and seek strategic support from other teams within the organization rather than constantly opposing them.

Clarify Priorities to Improve Efficiency​

On the battlefield in Ramadi, Babin faced a situation where his team was deep inside enemy territory, with no backup, and one team member was injured and exposed, while bombs were placed at the exit. However, after clearly identifying and addressing the three main priorities—ensuring safety, approaching the injured, and counting personnel—he was ultimately able to lead the team out of danger successfully.

The battlefield is often complex, and leaders must remain calm and seek the best solutions. Therefore, the principle of “prioritize and execute” is crucial. Leaders should first identify the highest priority tasks and focus on resolving them before shifting attention to the next priority.

Identify and Mitigate Risks in Advance​

Before conducting a rescue mission, Babin thoroughly considered various scenarios, such as ambushes with explosives and armed guards, allowing him to act smoothly and successfully mitigate risks.

Developing a comprehensive plan helps to identify and reduce risks in advance, increasing the chances of success. Additionally, leaders should promptly inform team members of relevant contingency plans. While focusing on manageable risks, they must also be aware that some risks cannot be avoided.

Only Live "Day 1" = Without Growth, There is Death​

The office building where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos works is called "Day 1." Over the years, no matter which other building he moves to, he always brings this same name with him. Therefore, he has a lot of authority on this term.

Someone might ask, what is "Day 2"? Day 2 is stagnation, followed by irrelevance, then suffocating, painful decline, and finally, death.

This is why Bezos believes that every day should be Day 1; without growth, there is death. So how do we prevent "Day 2"? There are four foundations.

A True Obsession with Customers​

There are countless business strategies, but why focus on "obsession with customers"? The benefits are numerous, with the biggest being: Customers are always dissatisfied, even when they say they are satisfied. Customers often don’t know what they truly want: they actually want something better. If you want to serve customers well, you must create products and services in their name. For example, the Prime service was not something customers asked Amazon for, but the results proved it was indeed what they wanted.

Maintaining "Day 1" requires patience; you need a lot of experimentation and to accept failure. Planting seeds and growing saplings takes time, but once you see what makes users happy, double down on it.

Resisting Proxies​

As companies grow larger, we often tend to rely on proxies or intermediaries. This form of dependency can take many shapes and is very much "Day 2." Here are two examples:

1. Relying on processes as proxies for results. Good processes serve you, allowing you to better serve customers. You must never serve the process. Why? When you serve the process, you only focus on doing the process correctly, regardless of the outcome. When failures occur, only inexperienced leaders say, "We followed the process," while seasoned leaders say, "We found an opportunity to improve the process." Constantly ask yourself, does the process own us, or do we own the process?

2. Relying on market research and customer surveys as proxies for customers. When you invent and design products, relying on research can be dangerous; "satisfaction increased from 47% to 55%" is a vague statement that can be misleading.

   1. Good investors and designers deeply understand customers; they invest significant energy in developing intuition and study numerous fascinating anecdotes rather than average data from surveys. They exist to design.
   2. Bezos does not oppose public testing and surveys; they help you identify blind spots, but as a provider of products and services, you must prioritize your vision and unique value over customer feedback. Exceptional customer experiences begin with intuition, curiosity, playfulness, courage, and taste—qualities that user surveys cannot provide.

Embracing External Trends​

The trends of the world favor those who align with them and doom those who resist. These trends are not hard to identify, but strangely, large companies often struggle to embrace them. One such trend today is machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Over the past few decades, many tasks could be solved with precise rules and algorithms; next, with machine learning, we can tackle tasks that cannot be described by exact rules.

Much of what happens in machine learning occurs at the foundational level, out of sight, but you can at least call them very simply via APIs.

Fast Decision-Making​

"Day 2" companies make high-quality decisions, but their decision-making speed is very slow. To maintain the energy and vitality of "Day 1," you must make "high-quality and high-speed" decisions. This is important not only because "speed" matters in the business world but also because having an atmosphere of "fast decision-making" is more enjoyable.

How can you achieve fast decision-making? Bezos does not have a complete answer, but here are some thoughts:

1. Decisions are inherently unequal; never treat them all the same. Reversible decisions should use lightweight decision-making processes.

2. Most decisions can be made when you have 70% of the information. Waiting until you have 90% may be too late. Also, in either case, you must quickly identify and address bad decisions. When you are highly responsive, making mistakes is cheap, while being slow is costly.

3. Use a management style of "==I disagree, but I commit to executing well==." This saves a lot of time spent on disputes.

   1. When no one knows the outcome, ask, "I know we have a disagreement, but are you willing to take a gamble with me? I disagree, but I commit to executing well?" The answer you get is likely to be, "Sure."
   2. The party that disagrees does not commit out of indifference but from a genuine and sincere disagreement, allowing the other party to reconsider your "disagreement" while still acting quickly due to your commitment.

4. Identify misalignments early and escalate them immediately. Sometimes, goals between teams conflict, and disputes at the same level cannot be resolved, wasting a lot of time and energy. In such cases, escalating will make decision-making faster and easier.