Naval Ravikant是硅谷著名的风险投资人和企业家,他投资过数百家公司,包括Twitter、Uber、Postmates、Yammer等,其中投资的Uber获得了上千倍回报。他最著名的创业项目是AngelList,被业内奉为股权众筹平台的鼻祖,该平台主要是为初创公司和天使投资人牵线搭桥。
有时候读Naval的东西很有意思,他曾分享过一篇很火的Twitter,在国外创投圈广为流传,这篇推文叫“How to get rich (without getting lucky)", 意思是“如何可以(不依靠运气)致富”。
这篇推文的名字跟塔勒布的《随机漫步的傻瓜》是有异曲同工之妙的。随机漫步的傻瓜,核心思想是讲金融行业里充斥着大量的连续数年业绩很好却是因为运气的宠儿,其实他们都是随机性的产物,并非真正有本事,随着时间的推移,他们早晚会被淘汰。
这让我想到知名互联网学者刘兴亮曾发过的一条微博,天使投资里面分理论派和运气派:
理论派就是有一套投资的完整逻辑,却什么独角兽都没有投中。
运气派就是碰巧投中了几个独角兽,却为什么投中的逻辑都没有说出来。
大部分基金是完美融合了理论派和运气派:也说不出来逻辑为什么。
很多时候,有的事情其实是靠运气才得以完成,但自己却误以为是靠自身能力做到。所以Naval在“如何变富”上加了个限定语:不依靠运气。
以上闲扯,下面进入正题。我将Naval的40条原文列出,并通过整理翻译成中文,这些语录中不乏对创业的一些经验。如果你英文还不错,可以忽略中文翻译,直接看英文。以下,Enjoy:
1.Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.去寻求财富,而非金钱或地位。财富是在你睡觉时都能帮你赚钱的资产,金钱是我们转换时间和财富的工具,身份是你在社会等级体系里所处的位置。
2.Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.要明白一件事,光明正大地获得财富是可能的。如果你从内心鄙视财富,那么财富也会躲着你。
3.Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.别去理会那些热衷于玩身份游戏的人,他们通过攻击那些创造财富的人以获得自己的“身份”。
4.You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity — a piece of a business — to gain your financial freedom.你不会通过出租自己的时间变得富有,你必须靠打造商业模式获得财富自由。(时间是有限的,靠出卖时间赚钱很容易看到天花板。唯有能够创造复利的劳动和资产,才是最好的商业模式。财富自由的标准就是不用为生活而出卖自己的时间。)
5.You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale.要想发财,你要提供人们想要但是还不知道如何获取的东西,并且将它规模化。(找到未被满足的客户需求,然后以规模化、产品化地满足它。这永远是创业的方向。)
6.Pick an industry where you can play long term games with long term people.选择一个你可以长期从事的产业,寻找一批可以一起长期共事的人。
7.The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven’t figured this out yet.互联网极大地拓宽了一个人的职业空间。大多数人还没有意识到这一点。
8.Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.玩复利游戏。无论是财富,人际关系或者是知识,所有你人生里获得的回报,都来自复利。
9.Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy, and, above all, integrity.选择智商高、能力强的合作伙伴,但更重要的前提是,他必须是一个正直诚信的人。
10.Don’t partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling.不要和愤世嫉俗者和悲观主义者合作,因为他们会任由坏事发生,以此证明他们的负面看法是正确的。
11.Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.学会销售,学会构造(产品)。如果你同时掌握了这两样,你的成功将无可阻挡。
12.Arm yourself with specific knowledge, accountability, and leverage.用独到的知识,可信赖的品质,以及自身影响力来武装自己。
13.Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else, and replace you.独到的知识是那种不能轻易通过培训而获得的知识。这是因为,如果能被轻易学会和教会的知识,那么其他人同样也可以,并且以此取代你。
14.Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now.独到的知识是在你追求真正的好奇心和激情时获得的,而不是在追逐当下最热门的。
15.Building specific knowledge will feel like play to you but will look like work to others.构建独到知识的过程对你来说就像是在玩,但对别人就像是在工作。
16.When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.独到的知识不是在学校里教会的,而是通过学徒制言传身教。
17.Specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative. It cannot be outsourced or automated.独到的知识通常有很高的技术含量和创造性,因此它不能被外包或自动实现。
18.Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage.成为可信赖的人,用自身名誉承担商业风险。社会也就会回报你权利、资产和影响力。
19.The most accountable people have singular, public, and risky brands: Oprah, Trump, Kanye, Elon.能被信赖的人都具有独一无二的、世人皆知的、敢于冒险的个性特征,如奥普拉、特朗普、坎耶、埃隆。
20.Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth. — Archimedes只要给我一个足够长的杠杆,一个可以立足的地方,我就能撬动地球。——阿基米德
21.Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media).财富增长需要使用杠杆。商业杠杆来自资本、人力和复制起来边际成本为零的产品(如:代码和媒体)。
22.Capital means money. To raise money, apply your specific knowledge, with accountability, and show resulting good judgment.资本就是金钱,想要融资,那就运用你的独到知识,配合你的责任感,展示出你良好的判断力。
23.Labor means people working for you. It’s the oldest and most foughtover form of leverage. Labor leverage will impress your parents, but don’t waste your life chasing it.人力指的就是为你干活的人,它是最古老也是争夺最激烈的杠杆。人力杠杆会让你父母因为你手下有许多人为你工作而感到骄傲,但你不要浪费生命去追求这一点。
24.Capital and labor are permissioned leverage. Everyone is chasing capital, but someone has to give it to you. Everyone is trying to lead, but someone has to follow you.资本和劳动力是许可影响力。每个人都在追逐资本,但总得有人给你才行。每个人都想要领导其他人,但总得有人愿意跟着你才行。
25.Code and media are permissionless leverage. They’re the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep.代码和媒体是不需要许可即可使用的影响力。它们是新贵人群背后的影响力,你可以通过自己创建的软件和媒体,在睡觉时都仍然能为你干活。
26.An army of robots is freely available — it’s just packed in data centers for heat and space efficiency. Use it.有一支机器人军团可以自由使用——它们被放置在数据中心只是为了更有效地利用空间和发挥作用,一定要用好它。
27.If you can’t code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.如果你不会写代码,那你可以写书和博客,或者可以录视频和音频节目。
28.Leverage is a force multiplier for your judgement.自身影响力能将你的判断力加倍放大。
29.Judgement requires experience, but can be built faster by learning foundational skills.判断力需要经验,可以通过学习基本技能的方式很快建立起来。
30.There is no skill called "business". Avoid business magazines and business classes.没有一种技能叫作“商业”的能力,尽量远离商业杂志和商业课程。
31.Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics,mathematics, and computers.去学习微观经济学、博弈论、心理学、说服术、伦理学、数学和计算机科学。
32.Reading is faster than listening. Doing is faster than watching.(学习上)读比听快,做比看快。
33.You should be too busy to "do coffee" ,while still keeping an uncluttered calendar.虽然你忙得连喝一杯咖啡的时间都没有,但要保证日程井然有序。
34.Set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate. If fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate, ignore it. If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it.你应该为自己设定一个有抱负的个人时薪数,并且坚持执行。如果解决一个问题比你自己做更快更省钱,就不要做。如果外包一项任务的成本低于你的时薪,那就把它外包出去。
35.Work as hard as you can. Even though who you work with and what you work on are more important than how hard you work.尽管你跟谁一起工作、做什么工作,要远比你的努力程度更加重要。但还是要倾尽全力去工作。
36.Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.努力成为在这个领域最厉害的人,并不断定义和调整,直到实现这个目标。
37.There are no get rich quick schemes. That’s just someone else getting rich off you.这个世界上并没有快速致富的方法,那只不过是卖致富策略的人想从你身上赚钱。(割韭菜)
38.Apply specific knowledge, with leverage, and eventually you will get what you deserve.运用你的独到知识以及自身影响力,最终你会得到你应该得到的东西。
39.When you’re finally wealthy, you’ll realize that it wasn’t what you were seeking in the first place. But that’s for another day.当有一天你变得富有时,你会发现这并不是你最初想要的东西。但在这之前,你应努力做好当下的事。
40.Summary: Productize Yourself.总结一句话:要将自己精雕细琢为一个产品。
看完后,你觉是鸡汤还是能践行的方法论?
文章来源:刘峥时间(ID:liuzhengshijian)公众号