Duan Yongping's Business Ideas: Analysis of Three Core Concepts

1. Do the Right Things, and Do Things Right

Concept Meaning: Choose the Right Direction and Execute Effectively

"Do the right things, and do things right" reflects the dialectical unity of strategic choice and execution efficiency. First, "do the right things" means identifying the correct direction and goals, choosing strategies that have long-term value, and avoiding actions known to be wrong or meaningless. As Duan Yongping emphasizes, if the direction is wrong, it should be corrected promptly, even at a cost, because the cost of correction is minimal at this point. Secondly, "do things right" means executing well once the right direction is determined. This includes focusing on product and service quality, optimizing operational details, and continuously correcting deviations to ensure things develop according to the expected goals. Duan Yongping mentions that many people know persistence is important, but more important is persisting in the right things; if the direction itself is wrong, no amount of persistence and effort will be fruitful. Therefore, this concept requires entrepreneurs to both find the right path and walk it steadily.

• Do the Right Things: Focus on strategic correctness. When choosing a business, prioritize long-term value and focus on what users truly need, rather than short-term gains. Duan Yongping's experience is to prioritize businesses that withstand the test of time, making decisions that remain correct five or ten years later. When something is judged as "wrong," avoid or stop it decisively, "don't do things you know are wrong." This ability to make choices ensures that the company does not waste resources on the wrong path.

• Do Things Right: Emphasize execution effectiveness. Once the correct direction is chosen, focus on doing the process and details well, including team execution, product quality, and user experience. Duan Yongping advises entrepreneurs to tolerate trial and error but not tolerate directional errors, correcting deviations in practice promptly. He believes that "doing the right things will save a lot of trouble"—with the right direction and meticulous execution, many problems will not arise.

Practical Cases: Application from BBK to OPPO and Vivo

Duan Yongping has fully applied the concept of "do the right things, and do things right" in founding and investing in companies.

Strategic Opportunity: In the early stages of his career, Duan Yongping was adept at capturing the right opportunities. For example, when he took over the Japanese-Chinese Electronics Factory in the late 1980s, he keenly observed market demand: at the time, Nintendo's Famicom was popular but expensive. He judged that the public needed a high-quality and affordable game console, which was the "right thing," and led the team to develop the "Little Tyrant" game console, which matched Nintendo's performance but was cheaper. He then innovatively added a keyboard to the game console, turning it into a learning machine, and heavily invited Jackie Chan to endorse it. Once launched, the Little Tyrant learning machine became a nationwide hit, proving that he chose the right track and executed it well. This case demonstrates his accurate choice of the right thing (products that meet consumer educational and entertainment needs) in business decisions and successful execution through excellent product quality and marketing.

Timely Transformation: During BBK's development, Duan Yongping also demonstrated the ability to adjust strategies according to the situation. In the late 1990s, BBK ventured into the VCD business. In 1998, Duan Yongping realized that the VCD market was fiercely competitive and risky (such as the later DVD patent fee crisis), so he did not stubbornly hold on but supported the company in timely transitioning to new fields. Around 2002, the domestic DVD industry faced a patent fee impact, causing many brands to disappear instantly. At this time, former BBK executive Chen Mingyong seized the opportunity in mobile communications equipment and fully developed OPPO phones; Shen Wei also transitioned from BBK's existing cordless phone business to start developing mobile phones. This strategic shift exemplifies "doing the right things"—foreseeing the bleak prospects of the DVD business and decisively investing in the then-emerging mobile phone field. Facts have proven this decision to be very correct: OPPO and later Vivo quickly grew into leading domestic smartphone brands.

Meticulous Execution: After determining the direction, Duan Yongping and his team paid great attention to the quality of execution. For example, OPPO and Vivo's rise in the fiercely competitive mobile phone market largely relied on successful channel and marketing execution. Duan Yongping built one of the nation's strongest offline dealer networks early on, and the extensive dealer resources accumulated during the BBK era paved the way for OPPO and Vivo. These brands focused on third- and fourth-tier city markets, adopting down-to-earth marketing strategies (such as celebrity endorsements and music phone concepts) to effectively reach consumers and achieve product sales. This solid market and channel cultivation reflects the execution power of "doing things right," helping OPPO and Vivo quickly establish themselves during the transition from feature phones to smartphones.

Error Correction Culture: Duan Yongping also advocates a culture of admitting and correcting mistakes within the company. He believes that even if the initial judgment is wrong, as long as the direction is corrected in time, the loss is controllable. For example, at the product level, if a product is not recognized by the market, BBK companies will quickly stop losses and adjust strategies instead of insisting on unrealistic promotions. This pragmatic error-correction style avoids greater losses from wrong decisions, keeping the company on the right track.

Overall, Duan Yongping has practiced "do the right things, and do things right" by choosing the right strategic path (such as targeting industries like educational electronics, audio-visual playback, and mobile communications that align with trends) and executing to the extreme (such as product quality control, channel cultivation, and flexible error correction). This concept reminds entrepreneurs that success comes from both correct direction and execution—choosing the right track, identifying user pain points, and diligently delivering products and services.

2. No "Great" Ambition

Focus on the Present: Why Advocate "Not Seeking Quick Success"

"No great ambition" literally means having no grand aspirations. Duan Yongping advocates this view not as a lack of progress but as emphasizing pragmatic focus on current specific goals rather than aiming too high and trying to achieve everything at once. He admits that he has "no great ambition" since childhood and never thought of doing something earth-shattering. In his view, entrepreneurs should invest passion in doing well what is in front of them rather than imagining unattainable grand ideals: "You should do what you love step by step." This reflects a pragmatic and cautious attitude: focusing on achievable goals and accumulating success step by step rather than rushing for quick results.

Duan Yongping believes that excessive pursuit of "great goals" can easily lead to seeking quick success, adopting aggressive or even risky strategies to achieve grand visions, and possibly ignoring business rules and long-term stability. For example, some entrepreneurs, full of "great ambition," want to quickly build a business empire, focusing only on immediate benefits in every decision, resulting in decades of going in circles without long-term planning, no sense of right and wrong, only driven by interests. In contrast, "no great ambition" does not mean having no goals but not being confused by flashy visions, maintaining calm and rationality, and focusing on specific things that can be done well now. Duan Yongping advises young people to look further ahead, not always thinking about overnight success or achieving everything at once, but accumulating long-term competitiveness, "seeing further will definitely be different."

Additionally, "no great ambition" also implies not blindly expanding. Duan Yongping remained restrained when his career was going well, not being overwhelmed by victory to set bigger and further ambitious goals. For example, he once said he "did not want to make the company bigger or think about going public." For Duan Yongping, it is good enough for a company to reach a certain level; there is no need to scale for the sake of scale. He values the health and longevity of the company more than reaching the so-called peak in the short term. This mindset aligns with the philosophy of value investors like Buffett: great companies are often built through long-term accumulation and management, not by boasting. Duan Yongping sees stability as a virtue, believing that as long as the direction is right and the pace is steady, the company will naturally develop and grow.

Steady Growth: Cases of the Concept Supporting Enterprise Development

The steady philosophy of "no great ambition" has been reflected multiple times in Duan Yongping's entrepreneurial journey, bringing healthy growth to the enterprise.

Avoid Aggressive Expansion, Steady Progress: In the mid-to-late 1990s in China's business world, many entrepreneurs created wealth myths with courage, but many also "watched him build high buildings, watched him collapse"—rising quickly and falling rapidly. Duan Yongping is a clear stream among them. In leading BBK's rise, he paid great attention to grasping the pace and controlling risks. For example, BBK lost twice in the 1996 and 1997 CCTV King of Ads bidding to competitor Aidu, which won the title by spending huge advertising fees aggressively. Aidu was famous for a while but soon fell due to a broken capital chain in less than two years. In contrast, Duan Yongping did not go all-in to follow the trend of burning money due to losing advertising opportunities but maintained steady operations. As a result, BBK accumulated in branding and won the CCTV King of Ads in 1999 and 2000, making "BBK" a household name with the theme song advertisement sung by Jet Li, entering a prosperous period. This stark contrast shows that "no great ambition" does not mean no pursuit but not rushing for a moment: Duan Yongping would rather miss one or two opportunities than ensure the company's financial stability and not take risks the company cannot bear. The steady strategy ultimately allowed BBK to laugh last and achieve more lasting success.

Appropriate Achievement and Retreat, Avoiding Greedy Advancement: Another famous move of Duan Yongping's "no great ambition" is choosing to retire at the peak of his career. Around 2001, BBK was thriving, and many expected him to continue leading the company to grow bigger or even go public. However, Duan Yongping began splitting BBK into three independent companies according to business segments as early as 1999, with each having its own leader. He only retained about 10% of the shares in each company and no longer managed each business in detail. This split was extremely rare at the time but reflected his "not seeking to control everything" mentality. By 2000, at the age of 39, Duan Yongping officially announced his retirement and moved to the United States. In outsiders' eyes, it was hard to understand why he did not pursue victory but retreated in a high tide; for Duan Yongping, this was a true reflection of "no great ambition, nothing to pursue." He kept his promise to his wife, retiring after pushing BBK to new heights, pursuing family life and personal interests instead of staying in the business world for more fame and fortune. This decision not only reflected his life values but also ensured the company's stability: he selected successors for the three major businesses and gave them equity incentives, keeping each part of the business vibrant after independent operations. This restrained exit avoided the risk of unlimited expansion by one person that could lead to management loss of control, allowing BBK companies to focus more on their respective fields. Later, OPPO and Vivo continued to grow under new leadership, proving Duan Yongping's choice was wise and farsighted.

Focus on Core Strengths, Reject Blind Diversification: No great ambition also means not being tempted by non-core "big opportunities" and focusing on one's strengths and passions. After BBK's success, Duan Yongping did not rashly enter unfamiliar industries or engage in excessive diversification attempts but focused his attention and investments on consumer electronics and the internet, where he had cognitive advantages. For example, his later investments in companies like NetEase were based on understanding and recognizing these industries, not because he had money to invest in hot but unfamiliar industries. This doing what one can strategic restraint prevented many potential failures due to spreading too thin, ensuring that assets and energy were used in the most confident areas. This focus on the present and acting within one's means is a valuable quality that many overly ambitious entrepreneurs lack.

In summary, "no great ambition" does not mean having no goals but a pragmatic and steady mindset. It helped Duan Yongping avoid risks due to excessive expansion or pursuing false fame, enabling the company to solidify its foundation and grow healthily step by step. For entrepreneurs and internet practitioners, the lesson of this concept is: do not be overwhelmed by distant exaggerated dreams, but focus on achievable goals and take each step steadily. As Duan Yongping said, not seeking quick success, doing what should be done now, can lead to greater achievements in the long run.

3. Be a Person of Integrity

The Value of Integrity in Business Environment

"Be a person of integrity" emphasizes upholding integrity and moral bottom lines in business activities. Duan Yongping regards integrity as one of the core competitive advantages of a company, pointing out that it is a common trait of all great companies and a missing element in troubled companies. In his view, integrity is an invisible force that can bring long-term trust capital: whether it is customers, employees, or partners, long-term cooperation is based on trust, and trust comes from the integrity of the company and its leaders.

Integrity in business first manifests as being responsible to consumers and trustworthy to partners. Duan Yongping emphasizes that companies cannot take "making money" as the sole purpose, let alone resort to unscrupulous means for profit. He says: "Cheating and deceiving are absolutely not to be done," and if a company has no sense of right and wrong and only focuses on immediate benefits to deceive customers or partners, it often ends up suffering the consequences, even collapsing without knowing why. On the contrary, a company operating with integrity may give up some unjust profits in the short term but gains reputation, which is the greatest intangible asset in the long run. Honest operations can bring consumer word-of-mouth, brand reputation, and trust from regulatory agencies and partners, all of which will eventually translate into tangible competitive advantages over time.

Duan Yongping also believes that integrity is a long-term wisdom. He often quotes Buffett's philosophy to illustrate the importance of integrity: reputation takes years to build but can be destroyed in an instant. Truly smart entrepreneurs do not use "small tricks" to gain short-term benefits because constant scheming leads to unease and is not worth it. On the contrary, maintaining integrity allows one to have a clear conscience, focusing on the business itself rather than guarding against internal and external suspicion. In a business team, the leader's integrity can also establish a "sense of right and wrong" in the corporate culture. When employees see that the company's decisions align with ethics and laws, they are more willing to commit loyally; when partners agree with the company's integrity principles, cooperative relationships become more stable. This trust network brought by integrity is not easily bought with money but can significantly reduce transaction costs and improve operational efficiency. It can be said that the reputation accumulated by integrity is like compound interest, growing continuously over time and becoming the foundation for the company's sustainable development.

Duan Yongping's Integrity Practice: Investment Philosophy and Business Decisions

Duan Yongping leads by example in investment and business decisions, integrating integrity into his philosophy and actions:

• Adhere to Honest Investment, Choose Trustworthy Targets: As a renowned value investor in China, Duan Yongping tends to invest in companies with excellent business models and integrity cultures. He has explicitly stated that he mainly invests in Apple in the US stock market, holds Moutai in the A-share market, and prefers Tencent in the Hong Kong stock market. These companies are all leaders in their respective fields and have long practiced responsible principles for users and shareholders. Duan Yongping emphasizes that a company's corporate culture and business model are key to determining its investment value. Apple has won global user trust with its ultimate products and honest brand image; Tencent has always focused on product compliance and user experience, being relatively restrained in business; Moutai has established a century-old brand with quality and integrity. The commonality of these companies is as Duan Yongping summarizes: "Integrity and honesty—this is the commonality of all great companies and the biggest funnel for problematic companies." Duan Yongping's choice of them is, to some extent, a choice of honest operation and steady development companies. One of his investment tenets is "not doing business I don't understand, and not investing in unethical companies," and he will only hold long-term if he is convinced that the company's management is trustworthy.

• Long-term Cooperation and Trust Building: Duan Yongping's business network and investment cases also reflect the trust he has earned through integrity. Known as the "Chinese Buffett" in the industry, he has maintained a low profile for many years but has an excellent reputation, with many successful entrepreneurs later regarding him as a mentor. Behind this is Duan Yongping's consistent integrity. For example, his relationship with Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng stems from integrity and appreciation. Early in Huang Zheng's entrepreneurship, Duan Yongping appreciated his character and ideas, and when Huang Zheng founded Pinduoduo, Duan Yongping readily agreed to invest. What is even more commendable is that when Pinduoduo's prospects were unclear, and Huang Zheng himself admitted, "I don't know if I can make money," only that user growth was fast and agricultural product circulation improved significantly, Duan Yongping said he was willing to treat this investment as a public good: "Growing so fast means I'm doing a good thing. If it makes money, I'll donate the profits as a public good." His investment in Pinduoduo was more out of trust in Huang Zheng's character and the significance of his career rather than a profit-driven behavior. This openness and goodwill eventually reaped huge rewards—Pinduoduo successfully went public later, and Duan Yongping also fulfilled his promise to donate part of the proceeds. This example reflects his extension of integrity to investment philosophy: putting aside the mindset of making quick money and first considering the essence and long-term value of things.

• Integrity in Dealing with People, Establishing a Win-win Culture: Within the company, Duan Yongping reflects integrity and fairness through institutional design. In the later stages of BBK's development, he did not monopolize the credit but allowed the company's core executives (such as Chen Mingyong, Shen Wei, etc.) to hold shares and independently develop businesses like OPPO and Vivo. This trust in partners and the benefit-sharing mechanism reflects his honest dealing with people and growing together philosophy. Because he gave subordinates full trust and benefit returns, these partners also operated the brand with maximum loyalty and effort, ultimately achieving mutual benefit—Duan Yongping himself also continued to benefit from holding shares. It can be said that he established a virtuous cooperation ecosystem with integrity: everyone believes Duan Yongping will not infringe on their interests, so they are willing to follow long-term; in turn, his delegation and trust stimulate the management team's enthusiasm. This integrity-based culture became an important reason for the success of each company after the BBK empire split.

• "Right Business, Right People": Duan Yongping's investment insights are often summarized as "finding the right business and following the right people." Here, "right people" refers to people of integrity. When choosing investment targets, he attaches great importance to the character and integrity of entrepreneurs. For example, he respects Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook's team for insisting on user experience first, appreciates Tencent's Pony Ma for balancing products and social responsibility, and admires Buffett's decades-long honesty and trustworthiness to shareholders. Duan Yongping has mentioned in interviews many times that he does not participate in short-selling and other speculative behaviors because that is equivalent to betting on others' failures, which does not align with his values. He prefers to invest funds in companies he truly believes in and is willing to support long-term, growing together with them. This investment approach itself is also a manifestation of integrity: not making money against one's conscience, only earning money one believes in.

In summary, Duan Yongping regards "being a person of integrity" as the foundation of his career. He adheres to integrity in business decisions, believing that integrity is the most practical strategy: only with integrity as the guiding principle can a company navigate steadily in the long river. For entrepreneurs and internet practitioners, the lesson of this concept is profound: in the short term, not speaking of integrity may gain temporary benefits, but in the long run, the trust created by integrity will translate into immeasurable value, becoming part of the company's sustainable competitiveness. "Integrity" is not only a moral requirement but also a wise choice in the business world—it allows entrepreneurs to be worthy of their future and ultimately brings greater returns to the business.

Conclusion: Duan Yongping's three core concepts—"do the right things, and do things right," "no great ambition," and "be a person of integrity"—may seem simple, but they have been repeatedly tested in his entrepreneurial and investment career, providing guidance for the long-term success of enterprises. For entrepreneurs and internet practitioners, these concepts inspire us: direction determines success (find the right direction and stick to it), haste makes waste (focus without distractions and accumulate), integrity builds the foundation (win the world with integrity). As Duan Yongping himself said, these principles of following common sense and long-termism may not be novel, but they are often the key to going far and steady. By adhering to "right" things and "right" paths, one can remain invincible in the ever-changing business waves.