I started this WeChat Official Account because I moved to Singapore, but my partners are in China and the U.S. The opportunities for discussion and mutual encouragement became fewer, and I was also worried that if I didn't think and learn by myself, so I opened this account. At least every day I can think about something or read something, ensuring that laziness doesn't defeat me. But due to the recent launch of a new project and business trips to the U.S., time has been scarce, so every day I just skim Web3 articles and let the machine do the translation, maintaining some information input. As a result, classmate Li He said the public account content was too shallow; although it wasn't originally intended for others, with my competitive personality, I felt like I should slightly improve it.
So, today I won't translate~
Last night, we interviewed one of our material artists. I felt the young lady's thinking was relatively clear, and as a fresh graduate, her quality was good. She had interned with us for half a year before going back to Japan to continue her studies. Recently, after graduating and returning to China, she began job hunting and entered our interview process. After the interview, I said to the hiring manager, Ms. Jin, "This young lady is pretty good." Ms. Jin replied, "Hmm, she seems to have quite a few offers."
If this were the first few years of my entrepreneurship, I would definitely say, "Alright, I'll try to persuade this young lady, paint her a picture, sell her on the company's prospects, and trick her into joining." But after so many ups and downs in my entrepreneurial journey, my thinking has changed. I consoled Ms. Jin, saying, "Haha, let her make her own choice. If she's too restless, she'll leave in a few days anyway, which is meaningless. Suitability is more important than being good."
We've already presented our most genuine side to her, and the rest is up to her decision. If she thinks it's suitable and chooses us, we hope to give her a good platform; if she has a better choice, we also hope she has a bright future.
It's a trivial matter, but it triggered some of my thoughts. When we're young, we always try to reach for things that are out of our grasp; as we mature, we gradually begin to reflect on who we are, what kind of life suits us, and what way makes us most comfortable. As stated in "Principles": "Discover your own personality, live a life adapted to your personality, and that is the happiest."
Speaking of finding people for the company, it's not necessarily true that you need an all-star team, or even that you need one from the start. Once, I had dinner with a CEO of a company that was one of the most star projects in the 2010 wave of mobile internet. During the meal, he said that at the time their office was next to Toutiao's, and every time talented individuals would first go for interviews at his company rather than Toutiao. But as Toutiao's business improved, they gradually attracted the most outstanding talents. So, those who seem unattainable today don't mean they will always be unattainable.
The right approach is to first find those suitable for yourself, willing to settle down and work hard, and focus on doing a good job with the business.
In fact, business isn't that difficult; it's just about breaking down big problems into smaller ones that can be solved with basic arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—calculus isn't even needed. Slowly sit down, look for patterns, refine methodologies, constantly review and iterate, and you'll always find a way out. Once the business reaches a new level, attract more advanced partners to solve harder problems and continuously improve.
In short, keep a steady mindset, life is long, no need to rush～