【CEO故事】11位顶级CEO自述：真正决定一个人价值的，是那些艰难时刻的选择

这个世界上大部分的选择存在于两个没那么好的路径、事情或者东西之间，如果一个好一个不好，那就不是选择；而对于我们大多数人来说，人生的大部分时候，还没什么机会在两个足够好里挑一个。

痛苦、犹疑和艰难是人生的常态。这11位CEO，他们有的已经长成了庞大的上市公司，有的是这个市面上增速最快的公司，是风头无二的独角兽，有的拥有创业者的明星光环，有的则是看准了一个市场空白正在努力拓展着自己的疆域。

感谢他们不一定选择改变世界，但都选择了改变自己与适应世界的改变。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

01

“我创业不是想证明什么，也不是为了财富，而是这个事情本身有意思。”——车好多杨浩涌

创业以来，我做得最艰难的选择就是58和赶集的合并。

有一天，我收到一条姚劲波的短信，说人生苦短，咱们聊聊。我本来想回复且行且珍惜，但最后还是选择了删掉它。

从创立赶集网开始，十年来我带着它一路成长，几乎把所有的时间都花在了这上面，就像我自己的孩子一样，所以我当然是很不舍的。

但那个合并有很多资本的力量在后面，我自己也有很多纠结，但最终还是选择合并了。

合并后那半年，我主要解决合并产生的问题，一边做一边也会反思——一个公司做了10年合并了，其实还是有些难过的。另一方面，我在处理问题的过程中，也慢慢觉得当这种联席CEO意思不大，可能也要自己做一点事情。

我开始思考，到底是休息还是做投资，还是去找一个有意思的事情去做一做，但我没有完全想清楚。

那段时间其实挺痛苦的。我之前是很有目标、很有信心地做事情，合并后，我也不知道自己要做什么。我有一阵子对生物、医学这类东西挺着迷的，但我发现研究还是要有一个目的，不能为了研究而研究。

后来我发现自己其实还是挺渴望不确定性，可能还是创业比较适合。然后我就想，自己创业的动力来自什么？既不是想证明什么，也不是为了财富，是我觉得这个事情本身有意思。

当时我也在做投资，所以借着看项目的机会，一个一个去扫。正好当时瓜子出来融资，我觉得这件事足够有意思，就选择去做了。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

这个选择成了我创业以来最庆幸的选择。我非常喜欢我现在每天的状态，总在解决问题，做很有意思的事情，这种感觉非常好。

02

“要做出更好的选择，唯一的方法就是把自己变强。”——车和家李想

2008年金融危机期间，是我创业18年至今最为纠结的阶段。

当时，汽车之家发展得非常好。但我们发展得越好，我们的现金流就越差。因为我们做的是广告业务，广告有3个月的账期。当时汽车厂商遇到了经济危机，拖着广告费不给。我们也没什么办法，因为这是他们财务的一个政策。但我们的现金流就很难受。

我印象很深的是，地震的时候，很多同行都给灾区捐钱，捐20万、50万、100万的都有。但当时我们账上什么钱都没有，我自己卡上也只有一万多块钱了，那真的是最惨的时候。那时候大家还说李想是什么80后亿万富翁，其实狗屁都不是。

当时我手下还有200多个员工，他们的工资也是一笔不小的数目，我只能到处借钱来发工资。

后来，我见了几十家VC，也没有融到钱。有一些VC给了我们投资协议，但最后都没有投，因为那时候很多基金的LP也都不打钱了。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

公司的现金流出现了问题，融资也没融不到，所以公司内部的股东对我有很大的意见。有一次，我们几个股东跟我们都坐在一张桌子上，有一部分股东就指着鼻子骂我们，说要把我和另一个合伙人踢出公司。

我当时觉得非常地委屈，因为我所能做的努力都去做了，但我们团队没有融资的经验。他们不会认为这是经济危机产生的负面的影响，他们只会认为李想无能，所以李想融不到钱，李想拖累了我们的发展。

这件事后来也就那么扛过去了，因为我们不签字，他们从法律上也没有任何办法把我们踢出公司。

后来，我选择了把汽车之家55%的股份卖给了澳洲电讯。好处是我们可以更好地发展下去，而且又有足够的资金了。坏处是放弃了相当的控制权，这就是一种选择。

当时大家都认为我们做了一个非常好的案子，既解决了现金流的问题，又解决了内部矛盾的问题。后来汽车之家上市涨到了50、60亿美金，今天又涨到了100多亿美金。大家说，你们当时这个选择卖亏了。但我认为不是，我要对所有的选择负责任。

这个选择是我当时能做的最好的一个选择。之所以没有做出更好的选择是因为当时的能力不够。所以，要想做出更好的选择，唯一的方法就是把自己的能力变得更强。

03

“有50个人拒绝了你，还是要选择相信第51个人。”——滴滴出行程维

创业者必须要走一条向上的路。向上的路就意味着你要不断做没做过的事情，面对没有面对过的挑战，所以面对挑战是常态。同时，这也是幸运，有机会改变世界是年轻人最幸运的事。

滴滴可能是中国互联网有史以来融资最多的公司了，但我们也经历过没人相信、都是拒绝的一段时间。

2013年我们融C轮的时候，因为有竞争和其他因素，导致那个时候没有人相信我们。我在中国走了一圈，没有人愿意投资我们。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

然后我就去美国，走了两三个城市，甚至都没有多少人愿意见我们，约好的会议都被取消了，纽约答应给offer的投资人以各种理由放弃了，实际上是很失败的。

我记得从纽约去旧金山那天，正好赶上感恩节大堵车，天上下着雪，去机场开了三个小时，严重拥堵导致误机。我改坐凌晨的航班赶到旧金山，只是为了见了一个投资人。但这个投资人后来还取消了行程，我最终也没有见到他，只能无奈回国。

当时我的心情很灰暗。公司里的同事很关心地问融资进展怎么样，虽然实际情况非常困难，但也不能说不行，因为大家会失望。所以我还是只能告诉大家没问题，国内还有一些新的投资人有机会。

我天生就是很乐观的人。我觉得只要有一点希望，其实就都是机会。所以我还是选择相信我们做的正确的事，努力到无能为力，上天一定会给你开一扇窗子。

结果我们回中国后，见了第一个投资人就搞定了。所以说要永不放弃，不放弃希望，如果有50个人拒绝了你，还是要选择相信第51个人会成功。

滴滴成立只有五年多的时间，但这段旅程就像电影一样，剧情跌宕起伏，充满了太多艰难而重要的选择。第一天我们决定出发，冷启动，激烈竞争多次亮剑，直面政策挑战，坚持独立发展。还包括滴滴的全球化，以及我们的愿景从出行平台变成智能交通的引领者和全球最大的汽车运营商，这意味着我们要进入汽车的产业链中……我们一路上做了很多关键的选择。

两年前，我们做了一个很重要的选择。笃定不断创造用户价值是滴滴放第一的价值观。

我们早期从0到1的阶段是规模驱动的，那个时候是狭路相逢勇者胜，我们必须跑得快。但后来我们很坚定地做了选择，我们必须是用户价值驱动的，眼中盯着用户，思考不断创新提升用户价值，解决问题。

虽然现在还有很多挑战，体系还没有非常成熟，但是情况在一点点地好转，我们走在了一条正确的道路上，我觉得这个选择长远看来是决定滴滴命运的。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

我相信未来可能还会有更多的艰难。最重要的事情还是知道自己要去哪里，怀着自信和感恩的心。就像之前我们面对无数的艰难都走了过来一样，未来的艰难也没有什么不可以面对的，它其实就是让我们变得更强的路上的一些挑战和过程而已。

04

“如果你还有选择，那就去放大它。”——客路林照围

创业以来，我最艰难的时刻是2016年。

当时团队从香港、深圳、台北这三个办公室，快速扩展到新加坡、马来西亚、韩国等近十个国家和地区，同时打多个用户市场，业务十倍速增长。但融资一直不到位，A轮B轮融资之间隔了近两年，运营和流动资金一度吃紧。到了2016年中，发工资都有压力。

那一年我接触的机构都数不清了，至少四五十家。当时在线旅游创业持续低迷，投资人的顾虑很多，我完全可以理解。

但我不太能理解的是，那一年连续被放了三次鸽子。最惨的一次，签署环节投资人突然消失，我和COO给他们发了一个月短信，本该接上的运营资金断了，两个月后他们投了竞争对手，并针对我们业务做了部署。

没过多久，一个聊了很多次的企业在了解完我们的模式和数据后，迅速组建团队做了一样的业务。

那几个月简直是度日如年。焦虑不像洪水扑面而来，更像离岸流，每次快上岸的时候又把你卷走，周而复始，不知道什么时候到头。那段时间我掉了不少头发，早知道就创业开始就应该用防脱洗发水。

当时我和COO一边找钱，一边全亚洲飞，给团队信心。让人振奋的是，团队战斗力十分强劲，每个地方都打了几场胜仗。

2016年底，公司业务的规模化持续爆发出来，大中华区、东南亚和日韩的区域联动逐渐清晰。2017年，我们连续完成BC两轮近1亿美元的融资。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

现在回头看，我要感谢创业四年来最难的2016，它给了我一个提醒：如果一个公司和你模式类似，有什么东西永远抄不走？这些东西就是你的护城河，如果你还有选择，那就去放大它。

在我这里，答案是团队，创新与诚信。

作为CEO，幸福都是短暂的，艰难才是常态，未来一定还会有更多艰难时刻，要保持敬畏之心。只要这点不变，我们在未来每个岔路口，就都会选择同一个方向。

05

“凡是杀不死我的，必使我更强大。”——猎豹移动傅盛

网上有人称我是“创业导师”，还有人叫我“思想家”，我实在无心做这些。创业本身是一个极度孤独和极度焦虑的过程，所以每当我有一些经验总结，我都特别愿意拿出来跟大家分享，希望可以帮助更多同行者。

我最艰难的时刻有很多，早期和金山合并的时候，珠海的一些老员工不信任我。

当时真的是生死挣扎，外部对手四面围剿，内部团队还没有拧成一股绳。有天晚上，团队一个核心骨干成员给我写了一封离职邮件。从收到那封邮件开始，我的胃就开始疼，本来我的胃口很好，但那次真的很疼，一直疼到半夜。反复想怎么办，怎么能留他下来。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

我的合作伙伴告诉我：傅盛我发现了，全世界通过合并成立的新公司，90% 以上都失败了。只有苹果这样的公司才能逆转。我当时看着他，说：你为什么不早告诉我？如果你早告诉我，也许我就不这么无知者无畏了。

当时我也没有什么选择，我的选择只能是往前走。其实很多时候，靠的是一腔孤勇，刀山火海也只能往前走。

创业真的很孤独，你会面临很多困难，你不知道跟谁倾诉，甚至都不能表现出来。你告诉员工，员工会丧失斗志；你跟家人说，家人会劝你干脆别这么累；你反映给投资人，投资人早吓跑了。

这些创业过程中遭遇的所有困难，都变成我的财富。我特别喜欢尼采的一句话：“凡是杀不死我的，必使我更强大。”

去年，我又做了一个艰难但坚决的选择——all in AI。我肯定有更轻松的选择，但我相信十年之后机器人将走进千家万户。那时候，猎豹有机会成为AI领域的领跑者，实现公司的新使命—— 让世界更聪明。

06

“全世界都怀疑我的时候，我选择了相信自己。”——乐信肖文杰

创业以来，我最正确的选择就是在最后关头坚持上市。

对每个公司来说，上市都是最重要的里程碑之一。但乐信在临近上市前期，政策突然发生了变化。

那天我在从香港飞到北京的飞机上，一下飞机就看到这个消息，立马打开来看。看完以后整个人都觉得不大好，因为这个政策出得太细了，导致我们上市的所有合规评估全部都要重新做一遍。

在那个时候，我的第一反应是放弃，因为已经不可能了。但后来，我还是坚持选择上市。

做出这个选择之后，我非常焦虑。因为时间非常有限，很多事情不一定能做完，我没有把握能百分之百搞定，那种前途未知的感觉非常差。

但我只能埋头干活，根本顾不上多想。我在香港和深圳来回跑，一边与投行反复沟通，一边回公司开会。有一天晚上跟我们CFO曾岩和资本市场的同事在香港拿着投行列的单子，excel上一条一条，都是很小的字，上面写着下一周我们必须完成的工作有几百条。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

除了要重新完成一次业务和法律上的合规审查外，我还要主导路演，反复向投资人解释和证明乐信的合规。直到上市前一天，我还在纽约见了7家机构，一直到凌晨4点钟，我才结束旧金山的路演，到达纽约的酒店。

好在有志者事竟成，我们成了2017年最后一个在美国上市的中概股公司。

那几天，我每天只能睡三四个小时。以至于在纳斯达克敲钟的时候，我已经不太激动了，我只想赶紧敲完赶紧回来，实在太累了。说实话，11月份做试水路演时参观交易所，看别人敲钟倒计时的时候，都比我自己敲钟兴奋。

后来缓过劲来的时候，我才真正意识了到这场硬战的意义——全世界都怀疑我的时候，我选择了相信我自己。

07

“如果是你选择的是一个坑，那可能就是深渊。”——荔枝赖奕龙

创业19年来，我做得最艰难的选择就是过早地进入了移动互联网。

我在2002年就进入了移动互联网，提早了十多年。这是个漫长的煎熬——十年，人生有几个十年。

在这十年中，最难度过的时刻就是等待中国3G出现的时候——2006年到2008年这三年，眼看着3G要出来了，但它又老不出来。

同时期，日本的3G出来了，公司都做得很好。有家日本公司，创始人跟我差不多同年，做的也是依托于3G的互动社区，在我们最落寞的时候，他们的市值做到了50亿美金到100亿美金。

我们处于同样的年龄，选择了同样的方向，但成绩却大不相同。

那个时候我们公司还只有五六十个人，各种艰难，拉不到融资，还被很多投资人和同事质疑。有投资人直接跟我说，“你们这个行业不可能赚钱的，你们最后会成为一个骗子”。 还有同事说，跟着我奋斗了4年还没有看到希望，耽误了他们的前程。

很多人遇到这种情况可能会换方向，但我已经进入了这个行业，我不想轻易放弃这个大方向。我一方面非常坚信移动互联网一定会到来，但另外一方面也怀疑还能撑多久。因为当时公司帐上的钱已经不多了，都是通过各种方法去做一些跟自身业务不相关的外包赚钱来养活自己。

那段时间，我其实不太敢面对员工。一方面，我要鼓励他们继续往前走，告诉他们这个方向是对的。但另外一方面，我给不了他们回报。我也看不到希望，其实我自己也身处在黑暗时刻。但是我还得装出坚强乐观的样子，其实很多员工根本也不知道我的情况。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

最痛苦的时候，我干什么事都不开心，情绪变化很大，有时候暴怒，有时候就沉默寡言。好在我意识到了这个问题，开始关注自己的精神状况，花了一年的时间走了出来。

后来，我终于在煎熬中等来了3G，但其实已经意义不大了，因为很快4G又来了。我就开始做荔枝。直到这个时候，我看到了上升的势头，才觉得自己真正迈过了这个难关。

如果说有一个机会让我修正我的选择，那么我不会太早入移动互联网，因为一个行业早进了10年是一个很大的问题。大家都说要找风口，但我觉得风口并不是那么重要，如果风起来的话，你还能追得上。如果是你选择的是一个坑，那可能就是深渊，像个黑洞一样，把你湮没在里面，你很难爬出来。

08

“我没有别的办法，只能选择相信自己。”——VIPKID米雯娟

创业以来，我最艰难的选择是在起步的时候坚持了下来。

那是2014年，市场上没有人相信1对1直播的在线英语教学模式，更不用说针对儿童的了。不管是用户，还是合作伙伴，以及投资人，完全没有人相信这个事情。

在这种情况下，我没有别的办法，只能选择相信自己，坚持下来。

我们的前20个老师都是我自己一个一个“磨”进来的，学生也是在朋友圈里一个一个招的，然后要做很多努力，把这个大家都不看好的产品模式搭建起来。

说服北美老师加入不是一件容易的事，因为北美的老师对在线怎么教这件事完全没有概念，他们会担心自己不会中文怎么教中国的小朋友，以及时差等问题。

所以我那时候每天做的事情就是在skype上说服老师，跟他们说，我们来负责做好内容，他们只需要跟孩子多用表情、肢体语言沟通就好。

说服家长报名也很难。我们最开始的几个学生都是投资人的小孩，七拼八凑好不容易招了四个，才开始了第一期的实验班的课程。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

直到有一天，我们有一个学生家长是网络红人，她在微博上发了孩子的学习的经历，粉丝全在问这是什么课，怎么报名？我们才开始真正获得增长。在那之前招生是非常艰难的。

但与此同时，我也很庆幸通过创业认识了一群有教育梦想的伙伴，大家一起做着一件有意义的事情。所以我相信，在教育的事业上我们能够越走越远。

09

“人生之间，有些选择就像带了一对翅膀，会影响到很远的地方。”——小鹏汽车何小鹏

我觉得创业有点运气的成分，时势造人。因为创业最重要的是方向要好，要足够大，以及你要在合适的时间进入。

创业以来，我有很多庆幸。最庆幸的选择是蒙对了赛道，找对了人。第一次创业，我做了UC，蒙对了移动互联网这个赛道，同时找对了俞永福，我觉得这是整个UC能够做成功最核心的因素。

第二次创业，我投了小鹏汽车，因为我非常看中智能汽车的AI互联网赛道，抓住了这个时间点。

除了运气，创业路还有很多不确定性，这种不确定性带来了很多困难和煎熬的时刻。

我创业以来最艰难的选择，是UC跟阿里巴巴整合的那一次的选择。

UC就像我的孩子一样，无论发生什么，我都没想过放弃。

所以一开始我一直不想见马云总，俞永福见过好几次，我都不去见。因为我知道他很能说，我就怕我被他说服了。

后来我见了他几次，我觉得的确很厉害，跟其他的大佬不同。他很懂人性，他知道你担心什么，你期望什么，他有很高的格局观，我觉得这些都是让我们很舒服的事情。

但我当时还是很纠结，自己是独立上市，还是跟谁上市，自己未来做成一个什么样的情况，当时想了两个多月，最终才决定。

我觉得这有点像自己生了一个女儿，但女儿要出嫁的那天的感觉。既有开心，又有一点点恍然和惆怅，是一种复杂又纠结的感觉。因为你不知道明天会怎么样，但是肯定希望明天、后天会更好。

从最后来看，我觉得这个选择是正确的选择。我觉得阿里是一个非常好的公司，我在里面学到了很多知识，也帮助我们的同学们有了更大的成长，我觉得这是好事情。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

小鹏汽车的选择，会影响未来的十年，这是肯定的。人生之间，有些选择就像带了一对翅膀，会影响到很远的地方。

10

“为了让公司活下来，我们必须裁员。”——优剪熊国平

创业以来，让我最庆幸的选择是在末路关头带领着公司及时地转了型。

我们公司最早做的是美业的SaaS，我自己投了大几百万，投资人也投了一些钱。但SaaS非常烧钱，不到一年时间，账面上就只有100多万了。我算了下公司近40个员工的开支，撑不了几个月了。

我焦虑了很久，把创始团队叫到我的办公室，说，为了让公司活下来，我们必须裁员。

这是我创业以来做得最为艰难的选择。作为公司创始人，做出这个选择其实是一件非常痛心的事情。因为当时是我把大家召集起来干这件事情，前面跟大家讲得非常好，结果做了一年发现不是这样的，让人家走，我的内心非常过意不去。但我知道，如果我不这样做的话，我们公司就会死掉，而且很快。

所以我们把近40人的团队砍到了只有一个后台、一个前端、一个产品兼UI，再加少量运营和美发行业的人，加上我们创始团队总共10多个人。相当于是我们非常心痛地把一些老员工直接送走了。

当时走的这批人，我个人给了他们少量的期权承诺。虽然他们离职了，但是他们的期权我会保留着，如果未来这家公司做成了，也有他们的一点点心意。我也尽我所能地帮一些人找了下家，但还有一些人只能让他们自己去找。

裁员完成以后，我最坏的打算就是把剩下的几个员工再减掉，只剩下创始人，公司也就没有太多开支了，摸索好方向重新来过。结果创始团队几个人说，“我们不能保证其他的，因为我们也有家庭，但我们可以坚持一年左右不拿工资。”这让我特别感动。

做SaaS的时候我们开了一家美发店，本来是做SaaS测试，生意并不好，后来我们决定借用SaaS用心经营这家美发店，试了一段时间后慢慢跑出来数据，公司决定从做美业的SaaS转型做数据化驱动管理的连锁美发店，终于走上了正确的方向，一年多时间做到了210家店。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

如果说给我一次修正自己选择的机会，我希望在创业开始的时候多花点时间在项目论证上，就不会像现在这样做SaaS做那么久之后又转型做优剪，以至于损失了一批老员工。

11

“一个人可以走得很快，而一群人才能走得很远。”——有赞白鸦

创业以来，我最庆幸的事情是在2015年的时候被一个传统的VC骗了。

那时候，我们大的业务方向是做平台业务，所以花了很多钱朝着这个目标努力。

当时有一个机构看到我们，觉得这个事情很好，决定投我们一亿美金。Term sheet签完了，ICP也定了，但在最后一刻的时候，他们自己反悔了。而且关键问题是，他们反悔的时候还不告诉我们，还哄着我们，像模像样地把我们约过去调研。

后来我们才知道，签字的时候，他们就已经反悔了，后面只是做了做样子。我们就是标准地被人忽悠了。我当时心想，“去你大爷的，老子好好去赚钱，回头做你的LP折磨你丫”。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

被忽悠之后，我们的现金流就比较吃紧，只够花半年了。我立马就去找老股东求救，内部做了一轮融资。但大部分股东都说，这件事不能让创始团队知道。但我觉得，我们刚刚开始创业，如果这种小坎都迈不出去，以后怎么办？

我还是选择了告诉大家，“不行了，兄弟们，我们被人忽悠了，没钱了，快挂了。我们一起看怎么解决。如果觉得没法一起熬的人，你们该撤退就撤退了”。

但是也没有人走，所以我就拉着大家去太白山徒步，大家一起在野外走了五天。

其实那五天是比较痛苦的。每天早上六七点钟就起床，背着四五十斤重的包，登山、爬坡，在悬崖边上行走，一直走到晚上七八点钟，连续走十二个小时，然后扎账篷、做饭、吃饭……累得跟什么似的，然后第二天接着走。有人直接累哭了。

但每个人首先都得靠自己，因为大家的体力都是透支的，没有人能背着你走，你必须靠自己。但光靠体力是不够的，一个人可以走得很快，而一群人才能走得很远。这也是我带他们去徒步的原因，我希望他们自己领悟到这个道理。

回来之后，我们就开始开会讨论解决方案。那时候，我们已经可以很冷静地思考问题了——我们不应该是一个平台业务，而是一个服务性质的业务。定下来之后，我们就去看同类的上市公司是怎么做的。通过这样的方式，我们找到了上市公司的经营模型，然后就一直不断地往前走。 CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

如果没有发生这件事情，我们就真的就烧了一个亿美金。等到我们把一亿美金烧完之后才意识到问题，那就万劫不复了。

就像你往一个错误的方向走着走着摔了一跤，起来看看发现走错路了，那你就换一个方向。但是如果你没有摔那一跤，你就一路撞到头最后撞到墙上了，但撞到墙上的时候成本就高了，你可能就回不来了。

翻译：

11 top ceos: What really determines a person’s value is the choices made in difficult times

​​Most of the choices in this world are between two paths, things, or things that are not so good. If one is good and the other is not good, it is not a choice. And for most of us, for most of our lives, we don’t get to choose between two that are good enough.

​Pain, hesitation and difficulty are the norm of life. These 11 ceos, some of them have grown into a huge listed company, some of the fastest growing companies in the market, are the limelight of the unicorn, some have the star aura of entrepreneurs, and some are looking at a market blank and trying to expand their own territory.

​Thank them for not necessarily choosing to change the world, but for choosing to change themselves and adapt to changes in the world. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​01 “I started it not to prove anything, not for wealth, but because it was fun.” — Lots of cars Yang Haoyong

​In 2016, Yang Haoyong stood on his desk to mobilize employees to start an important project

​The most difficult choice I have made since starting my business was the merger of 58 and Ganji.

​One day, I received a text message from Yao Jinbo, saying that life is short, let’s talk. I wanted to reply and cherish, but finally chose to delete it.

​Since I founded Ganji.com, I have grown up with it for ten years and spent almost all my time on it, just like my own children, so of course I am very reluctant to give up. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​But that merger had a lot of capital power behind it, and I had a lot of entanglements myself, but in the end I chose to merge.

​In the half year after the merger, I mainly solved the problems caused by the merger, and I also reflected on it while doing it – a company has been merged for 10 years, in fact, it is still a little sad. On the other hand, in the process of dealing with problems, I gradually feel that it is not much fun to be a co-CEO, and I may have to do something by myself.

​I began to think about whether to rest or invest, or to find an interesting thing to do, but I didn’t fully think it through.

​It was a pretty painful time. I used to do things with a lot of purpose and confidence, and after the merger, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was fascinated by biology and medicine and all that stuff for a while, but I realized that research still has to have a purpose, not research for research’s sake.

​Later, I realized that I really crave uncertainty, and maybe entrepreneurship is better for me. And then I thought, what motivates me to start my own business? It’s not to prove anything, it’s not to get rich, it’s just that I find it interesting.

​I was also making investments at the time, so I took the opportunity to look at the projects and scanned them one by one. At that time, melon seed came out to raise money, and I found it interesting enough to choose to do it.

​This choice has become the most fortunate choice I have made since starting my business. I really like where I am on a daily basis, always solving problems and doing interesting things, and it feels good.

​02 “The only way to make better choices is to make yourself stronger.” – Car and home, Li thought

​Lee wanted to start a business the first year

​During the financial crisis in 2008, I was the most troubled stage in my 18 years of entrepreneurship.

​At the time, the Autohome was doing very well. But the better we get, the worse our cash flow gets. Because we are in the advertising business, advertising has a three month credit period. At that time, the car manufacturers encountered the economic crisis, and the advertising money was not paid. There’s nothing we can do about it, because it’s part of their financial policy. But our cash flow is suffering. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​I am very impressed that when the earthquake, many colleagues have donated money to the disaster area, donating 200,000, 500,000, 1 million. But at that time, we had no money in the account, and I only had more than 10,000 yuan on my card, and that was really the worst time. At that time, people still said that Li thought he was some post-80s billionaire, but in fact, he was nothing.

​At that time, I had more than 200 employees, and their salaries were also quite large, and I had to borrow money everywhere to pay them.

​Later, I met dozens of VCS, but I didn’t get any money. Some VCS gave us investment agreements, but they did not invest in the end, because at that time, many fund LPS did not deposit money.

​The company’s cash flow problems, financing has not been able to raise, so the company’s internal shareholders have a lot of opinions about me. At one point, several of us shareholders were sitting at a table with us, and some of the shareholders pointed their noses at us and said they would kick me and another partner out of the company.

​I felt very aggrieved at that time, because I had done all the efforts I could, but our team had no experience in financing. They will not think that this is a negative impact of the economic crisis, they will only think that Li Xiang is incompetent, so Li Xiang can not raise money, Li Xiang is a drag on our development.

​It was just a matter of getting over it, because if we didn’t sign, there was nothing they could legally do to kick us out of the company. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​Later, I chose to sell 55% of Autohome to Telstra. The good thing is that we can develop better and have enough money again. The downside is that you give up a lot of control, and that’s a choice.

​At the time, everyone thought we had made a very good case, solving both the cash flow problem and the internal conflict problem. Later, the auto home listing rose to 5, 6 billion dollars, and today it has risen to more than 10 billion dollars. People say you lost money on that option. But I don’t think so. I’m responsible for all my choices.

​It was the best choice I could have made. The reason why I didn’t make a better choice was because I didn’t have the ability at the time. Therefore, the only way to make better choices is to become more capable.

​03 “If 50 people reject you, trust the 51st.” — Drop out the travel dimension

​Cheng Wei poses for a photo with visiting Didi driver Wang Ming and his family

​Entrepreneurs must take an upward path. The way up means that you have to keep doing things that you have not done before, facing challenges that you have not faced before, so facing challenges is the norm. At the same time, it is also lucky, to have the opportunity to change the world is the most fortunate thing for young people.

​Didi may be the most funded company in the history of the Chinese Internet, but we also experienced a period of time when no one believed in it and everyone rejected it. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​When we raised the C round in 2013, because of competition and other factors, no one believed in us at that time. I walked around China and no one wanted to invest in us.

​Then I went to the United States, walked two or three cities, not many people were even willing to meet us, the scheduled meetings were cancelled, the investors who promised to offer in New York gave up for various reasons, in fact, it was a failure.

​I remember the day I went from New York to San Francisco, it was the Thanksgiving Day traffic, it was snowing, it was a three-hour drive to the airport, and the traffic was so bad that I missed my flight. I took an early morning flight to San Francisco just to meet with an investor. But the investor later cancelled the trip, and I did not meet him in the end, so I had to return home.

​At that time my mood was very dark. Colleagues in the company are very concerned to ask how the financing is going, although the actual situation is very difficult, but can not say no, because everyone will be disappointed. So I can only tell you that there is no problem, there are still some new investors in China have opportunities.

​I’m a very optimistic person by nature. I think as long as there is a little hope, it is actually an opportunity. So I still choose to believe that we do the right thing, hard to do nothing, God will give you a window.

​We went back to China, we met our first investor and it was done. So never give up, never give up hope, if 50 people reject you, choose to believe that the 51st person will succeed. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​Didi was founded just over five years ago, but the journey has been movie-like, full of twists and turns and too many difficult and important choices. The first day we decided to set out, cold start, fierce competition many times sword, face the policy challenges, adhere to independent development. It also includes the globalization of Didi and our vision from a mobility platform to a leader in intelligent transportation and the world’s largest car operator, which means we have to enter the automotive industry chain… We made a lot of critical choices along the way.

​Two years ago, we made a very important choice. Firmly creating user value is the first value of Didi.

​When we went from 0 to 1 early on, it was scale driven, and that was when the brave won, and we had to run fast. But then we made the choice very firmly, we must be user value driven, eyes on the user, thinking about continuous innovation to enhance user value, solve problems. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​Although there are still many challenges, the system is not very mature, but the situation is improving little by little, we are on the right road, I think this choice will determine the fate of Didi in the long run.

​I believe there may be more hardships ahead. The most important thing is to know where you are going and to be confident and grateful. Just like we have come through countless difficulties before, there is nothing we can’t face in the future, it is actually some challenges and processes on the way to make us stronger.

​04 “If you still have a choice, amplify it.” — Kelu Lin Zhaowei

​KLOOK Road travel Lin Zhaowei and team: “2017 Shenzhen Annual meeting Party. I used to take selfies with the team on my phone at every annual meeting, and by the fourth year of the company, it took 16 photos to capture all of them.”

​My hardest time since starting my business was in 2016.

​At that time, the team rapidly expanded from three offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Taipei to nearly ten countries and regions such as Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, while playing multiple user markets, and the business grew tenfold. However, financing has not been in place, and there has been A gap of nearly two years between round A and round B financing, and operating and working capital were once tight. By the middle of 2016, payroll was under pressure.

​I lost count of the agencies I approached that year, at least 40 or 50. At that time, online travel startups continued to be depressed, and investors were concerned, which I completely understood.

​But what I don’t quite understand is being stood up three times in a row that year. In the worst case, the investors in the signing process suddenly disappeared. COO and I sent them a text message for a month, but the operating funds that should have been connected were cut off. Two months later, they invested in a competitor and made a deployment for our business.

​Before long, a company that had talked many times quickly formed a team to do the same business after understanding our model and data.

​Those months were like years. Anxiety isn’t like a flood. It’s more like a rip current that sweeps you away every time you get to shore, over and over again, never knowing when it’s going to end. I lost a lot of hair during that time, and I should have used anti-hair shampoo when I started my business.

​At that time, COO and I were looking for money while flying all over Asia to give the team confidence. The exciting thing is that the team is very strong, and every place has won several battles.

​At the end of 2016, the scale of the company’s business continued to break out, and the regional linkage of Greater China, Southeast Asia and Japan and South Korea gradually became clear. In 2017, we completed two consecutive rounds of BC financing of nearly $100 million. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​Looking back now, I want to thank the most difficult 2016 in the four years of entrepreneurship, which gave me a reminder: if a company is similar to your model, what things can never be copied? These things are your moat, and if you still have a choice, amplify it.

​In my case, the answer is team, innovation and integrity.

​As a CEO, happiness is short-lived, hardship is the norm, there will be more difficult times in the future, to remain in awe of the heart. As long as this does not change, we will choose the same direction at every fork in the road in the future.

​05 “Whoever does not kill me will make me stronger.” — Cheetah moves Fu Sheng

​2013 Annual Cheetah Conference

​Some people on the Internet call me a “startup mentor,” others call me a “thinker,” and I really don’t want to do that. Entrepreneurship itself is an extremely lonely and anxious process, so whenever I have some experience, I am particularly willing to share it with you, hoping to help more fellow travelers.

​I have a lot of difficult moments, early and Jinshan merger, Zhuhai, some of the old staff did not trust me.

​At that time, it was really a life and death struggle, external opponents were surrounded by four sides, and the internal team had not yet twisted into a rope. One night, a key member of the team wrote me a resignation email. From the moment I got that email, my stomach started to hurt, I have a good appetite, but it really hurt, it hurt until midnight. Wondering what to do, how to keep him. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​My partner told me: Fu Sheng I found that more than 90 percent of new companies formed through mergers around the world fail. Only a company like Apple can reverse that. I looked at him and said, Why didn’t you tell me? If you’d told me, maybe I wouldn’t be so ignorant and fearless.

​At that time, I had no choice but to move forward. In fact, most of the time, relying on a cavity of lone courage, mountains and fires can only move forward.

​Starting a business is really lonely, you will face a lot of difficulties, you don’t know who to talk to, you can’t even show it. You tell your employees, they lose morale; You tell your family, and they will advise you not to be so tired; You tell the investors, they run away.

​All the difficulties encountered in the process of starting a business have become my wealth. I particularly like Nietzsche’s quote: “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.”

​Last year, I made another difficult but determined choice – all in AI. I’m sure there are easier options, but I believe robots will be in every home in 10 years. At that time, Cheetah had the opportunity to become a leader in AI and fulfill the company’s new mission of making the world smarter. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​06 “I believed in myself when the whole world doubted me.” — Le Xin Xiao Wenjie

​Lexin is listed on Nasdaq

​Since starting my business, the best choice I made was to insist on going public at the last minute.

​Going public is one of the most important milestones for every company. But Lexin in the near listing of the early stage, the policy suddenly changed.

​I was on a flight from Hong Kong to Beijing the other day, and as soon as I got off the plane, I saw the news and opened it immediately. After reading the whole person did not feel good, because this policy is too detailed, resulting in all the compliance assessment of our listing all have to be done again.

​At that point, my first instinct was to give up because it was impossible. But then I insisted on going public.

​After making this choice, I was very anxious. Because time is very limited, a lot of things may not be done, I am not sure that I can be 100% done, that kind of future unknown feeling is very bad.

​But all I could do was keep my head down and not give it a second thought. I went back and forth between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, communicating with the investment bank and returning to the company for meetings. One night in Hong Kong with our CFO Zeng Yan and colleagues in the capital market holding a list of investment ranks, excel, one by one, are very small words, written on the next week we must complete hundreds of work.

​In addition to re-completing a business and legal compliance review, I also had to lead a road show and repeatedly explain and prove Lexin’s compliance to investors. I met with seven agencies in New York until the day before the IPO, and I didn’t arrive at my hotel in New York until 4am after my San Francisco roadshow.

​Fortunately, where there is a will, there is a way, and we became the last Chinese company to go public in the United States in 2017. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​In those days, I could only sleep three or four hours a day. So that when the Nasdaq bell rang, I was not too excited, I just want to finish and hurry back, it is too tired. To be honest, when I visited the exchange during the testing road show in November, I was more excited to watch others ring the clock than I was to ring the clock myself.

​Later, when I recovered, I really realized the significance of this hard fight – when the whole world doubted me, I chose to believe in myself.

​07 “If you choose a pit, it’s probably an abyss.” — Litchi Lai Yilong

​At the end of 2016, after the Litchi team found a voice live business model, they went on a group trip and left this important photo

​In my 19 years as a startup, the hardest choice I’ve ever made was to jump into the mobile Internet too early.

​I got into the mobile Internet in 2002, more than a decade early. It was a long ordeal — ten years, and life has a few decades.

​In this decade, the most difficult moment to spend is waiting for the emergence of China’s 3G – the three years from 2006 to 2008, watching 3G to come out, but it is not old.

​At the same time, Japan’s 3G came out, and the company did very well. There is a Japanese company, the founder is about the same year as me, do also rely on 3G interactive community, in our most lonely time, their market value of $5 billion to $10 billion. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​We are the same age, we have chosen the same direction, but the results are very different.

​At that time, our company only had 50 or 60 people, all kinds of difficulties, could not get financing, and was also questioned by many investors and colleagues. I’ve had investors tell me directly, “You can’t make money in this industry, you’ll end up being a fraud.” Some colleagues said that they had struggled with me for four years and had not yet seen hope, delaying their future.

​A lot of people may change direction when they meet this situation, but I have entered the industry and I don’t want to give up this general direction easily. On the one hand, I strongly believe that the mobile Internet will come, but on the other hand, I also doubt how long it will last. Because the money on the company’s account was not much at that time, it was through various methods to do some outsourcing unrelated to its own business to make money to support itself.

​At that time, I was actually afraid to face the staff. On the one hand, I want to encourage them to keep going and tell them that this is the right direction. But on the other hand, I can’t give them anything in return. I don’t see hope either. I’m in a dark moment myself. But I had to pretend to be strong and optimistic, and a lot of the employees didn’t even know about my situation.

​The most painful time, I do anything unhappy, mood changes a lot, sometimes angry, sometimes silent. The good thing is that I realized the problem, began to pay attention to my own mental condition, and took a year to come out.

​Later, I finally came to 3G in the middle of suffering, but in fact, it has little meaning, because soon 4G came again. I started making lychees. It wasn’t until this time that I saw the upward momentum that I felt I was truly over the hump.

​If there is an opportunity for me to revise my choice, then I will not enter the mobile Internet too early, because an industry that is 10 years early is a big problem. Everyone says to find the vent, but I think the vent is not so important, if the wind is up, you can still catch up. If it is a pit that you choose, it may be an abyss, like a black hole, in which you are buried, and it is difficult for you to climb out. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​08 “I had no choice but to believe in myself.” — VIPKID Mi Wenjuan

​In VIPKID’s early office, Mi Wenjuan and her colleagues watch students taking classes online through a screen

​The hardest choice I’ve made since starting my own business was sticking with it when I started.

​It was 2014, and no one in the market believed in a 1-on-1 live online English teaching model, let alone one for children. Whether it is users, partners, or investors, absolutely no one believes this thing.

​In this case, I have no other choice but to choose to believe in myself and persevere.

​Our first 20 teachers are my own one “grinding” in, the students are also in the circle of friends one by one, and then have to do a lot of efforts to build this product model that everyone does not look at.

​It is not easy to convince the North American teachers to join, because the North American teachers have no concept of how to teach online, they will worry about how to teach Chinese children, and the time difference.

​So what I did every day was convince the teachers on skype that we were responsible for the content, and they just needed to communicate with the children more expressions and body language.

​Persuading parents to sign up is also hard. Our first few students were the children of investors, and we managed to recruit four before we started the first experimental class.

​Until one day, one of our students’ parents is an Internet celebrity, she posted her child’s learning experience on Weibo, and the fans all asked what is this class and how to sign up? We’re just starting to really grow. Before that it was very difficult to recruit students. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​But at the same time, I am also very fortunate to know a group of partners with educational dreams through entrepreneurship, and we are doing a meaningful thing together. So I believe that we can go further and further in the cause of education.

​09 “Some choices in life are like wings that affect far away.” — Xiaopeng He

​He Xiaopeng, Chairman of Xiaopeng Motors (center) Xia Heng, co-founder and President of Xiaopeng Motors (left) He Tao, co-founder and vice-president of Xiaopeng Motors (right)

​I think there’s a bit of luck involved in starting a business. Because the most important thing is that the direction is good, it is big enough, and you have to enter at the right time.

​I’ve had a lot of good luck since I started my business. The happiest choice is the right track, the right person. The first time I started a business, I did UC, understand the mobile Internet circuit, and found the right Yu Yongfu, I think this is the most core factor for the success of the entire UC.

​For the second time, I invested in Xiaopeng Automobile, because I am very fond of the AI Internet circuit of intelligent cars, and seized this point in time.

​In addition to luck, there is a lot of uncertainty in the entrepreneurial road, and this uncertainty brings a lot of difficult and painful moments. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​The most difficult choice I have made since I started my business is the choice I made when UC integrated with Alibaba.

​UC is like my child, no matter what happens, I never think of giving up.

​So at the beginning, I always did not want to see Ma Yun, Yu Yongfu has seen several times, I do not go to see. Because I knew he could talk, and I was afraid I’d let him talk me into it.

​I’ve seen him a few times since, and I think he’s really good, different from other big guys. He understands human nature, he knows what you’re worried about, what you’re hoping for, he has a very high perspective on the landscape, and I think those are things that we’re very comfortable with.

​However, I was still very entangled, whether I would go public independently, or with whom, and what kind of situation I would make in the future, I thought about it for more than two months, and finally decided.

​I think it’s kind of like the day you give birth to a daughter, but she’s getting married. Both happy, but also a little light and melancholy, is a complex and tangled feeling. Because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but you must hope that tomorrow and the next day will be better. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​In the end, I think this is the right choice. I think Ali is a very good company, I have learned a lot of knowledge in it, but also to help our students have greater growth, I think this is a good thing.

​The choice of Xiaopeng Automobile will affect the next ten years, that’s for sure. Between life, some choices are like a pair of wings, will affect far away.

​10 “In order for the company to survive, we have to lay people off.” — Xiong Guoping

​Xiong Guoping: I am especially grateful to our founding partners, but I couldn’t find a complete photo of the founding partners, so I took a photo this time

​Since starting the business, the most fortunate choice for me is to lead the company to turn in time at the last moment.

​Our company was the first to do the beauty industry SaaS, I invested a lot of millions of myself, investors also invested some money. But SaaS is very expensive, less than a year, the book is only more than 1 million. I calculated the expenses of the company’s nearly 40 employees, and it won’t last a few months.

​After a lot of anxiety, I called the founding team into my office and said, in order for the company to survive, we have to lay off people. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​It was the hardest choice I’ve ever had to make. As the founder of the company, making this choice is actually a very painful thing. Because I was the one who gathered everyone together to do this thing, and told everyone very well in front of it, the result was that after a year of doing it, I found that it was not so, and I felt very sorry to let people go. But I knew that if I didn’t do this, our company would die, and soon.

​So we cut the team of nearly 40 people down to only one back office, one front end, one product and UI, plus a small number of people from the operations and hair industry, plus more than 10 people in our founding team. It is quite heart-wrenching for us to send some of our older employees straight away.

​The people who left, I personally gave them a small amount of option commitments. Although they have resigned, I will keep their options, and if this company is successful in the future, I will have a little bit of their will. I also helped some people find new homes as best I could, but others were left to find their own.

​After the layoffs were completed, my worst plan was to cut the remaining employees again, leaving only the founders, and the company would not have too much expenses, and find a good direction to start over. As a result, several of the founding team said, “We can’t guarantee anything else because we have families too, but we can go a year or so without taking a salary.” It was very touching to me.

​SaaS when we opened a hair salon, was originally to do SaaS test, business is not good, then we decided to use SaaS intentions to operate this hair salon, tried for a period of time slowly ran out of data, the company decided to do the beauty industry SaaS transformation to do data-driven management of chain hair salon, finally embarked on the right direction, It has 210 stores in just over a year. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​If you give me a chance to revise my choice, I hope to spend more time on the project demonstration at the beginning of the business, and I will not do SaaS for so long and then transform to do excellent cutting, so as to lose a group of old employees.

​11 “One person can go fast, while a group of people can go far.” – A white raven

​There is praise team Taibai Mountain hiking

​The most fortunate thing I’ve done since starting my own business was to get scammed by a traditional VC in 2015.

​At that time, our big business direction was the platform business, so we spent a lot of money working towards that goal.

​At that time, an organization saw us, thought it was a good thing, and decided to invest 100 million dollars in us. The Term sheet was signed, the ICP was set, but at the last minute, they backed out. And the key thing is, they don’t tell us when they back out, and they coax us into asking us out for a survey.

​Later we learned that when they signed, they had already gone back on their word, and then they just made a show of it. It’s standard that we’re being lied to. I was thinking, “Fuck you, I’ll make money, and I’ll do your LP and torture you.”

​After the scam, our cash flow is tight, only enough to last six months. I immediately went to the old shareholders for help, and did a round of internal financing. But most shareholders said the founding team could not know about it. But I think, we just started a business, if this small can not get out, how to do in the future?

​I chose to say, “No, guys, we’ve been ripped off, we’re out of money, we’re dying.” Let’s see what we can do. If you don’t think you can do it together, you should retreat.” CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​But no one walked, so I took everyone to Taibai Mountain hiking, we walked in the field for five days.

​In fact, those five days were more painful. Get up at 6 or 7 o ‘clock every morning, carry a bag weighing 40 or 50 pounds, climb mountains, climb hills, walk on the edge of the cliff, walk until 7 or 8 o ‘clock in the evening, walk for 12 hours, and then tie the tent, cook, eat… Tired as hell, and then the next day. Some people just cried.

​But everyone first has to rely on their own, because everyone’s physical strength is overdrawn, no one can carry you, you must rely on your own. But physical strength alone is not enough, one person can go fast, while a group of people can go far. That’s why I take them hiking, and I hope they learn that for themselves.

​When we got back, we started a meeting to discuss the solution. At that point, we were able to think very calmly – we should not be a platform business, but a service business. After settling down, we will go to see how similar listed companies do. In this way, we found the operating model of the listed company, and then we kept moving forward.

​If this had not happened, we would have literally burned a hundred million dollars. We don’t realize the problem until we’ve burned through the $100 million, and it’s over. CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

​It’s like if you’re walking in the wrong direction and you fall, and you get up and you find out that you’re going the wrong way, then you change directions. But if you hadn’t taken that fall, you would have hit your head all the way and ended up hitting the wall, but when you hit the wall it would have cost so much that you might not have been able to come back.

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