本集简介
双语字幕
仅展示文本字幕，不包含中文音频；想边听边看，请使用 Bayt 播客 App。
在Cox，您的互联网和手机服务价格五年内不变。
At Cox, your Internet and mobile price won't change for five years.
这五年里，您会迎来五个新年、五个情人节、五个独立日、五个万圣节、五个感恩节，还有五个转瞬即逝的夏天。
That's five New Year celebrations, five Valentine's Days, five Fourth of Julys, five Halloweens, five Thanksgivings, and five summers that go by too fast.
无论发生什么，我们的五年价格锁定保障都会让您的费用保持不变。
Through it all, your price stays the same with our five year price lock guarantee.
Cox，领先一步。
Cox, a step ahead.
需订阅双千兆网络和无限流量手机套餐。
Requires two gig speeds and gig unlimited mobile.
价格锁定不包含税费。
Taxes and fees excluded from price lock.
手机流量超过20GB后，网速会降低。
Mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs.
我负责过一亿美元的发布活动。
I do a $106,000,000 launch.
我妈妈看到了，这真的很有意义。
My mom got to see it, which is really cool.
她四个星期后就去世了。
She dies four weeks later.
那时候我就想，我该怎么继续走下去呢？
It was just like, how am I supposed to show up right now?
所以我把这些推文当作写给自己的提醒。
So I rate these tweets as notes to self.
我以前从来没听你公开这样说过。
I had never heard you talk like that publicly before.
是的。
Yeah.
我在想，我现在最需要听到什么？
I'm like, what do I need to hear right now?
我就想，那我就写下来吧，意思就是我必须继续坚持下去。
And I was like, I'll write that, which is like I just have to keep fighting.
人们往往会用你愿意承受多少痛苦，来衡量你有多爱一个人。
And people will judge how much you love someone by how much you choose to suffer.
我觉得，你失去的那个人，大概并不希望你这么痛苦。
I don't think the person that you lost probably wants you to suffer.
从创业的角度，我学到的一课，放到生活中也一样：当我们感到不满或不安时，总会说，‘这日子真没法过了’。
One of the lessons that I've learned from an entrepreneurship perspective translated into life is we will get these moments of dissatisfaction or discomfort and be like, I'm life sucks.
我得改变点什么。
I need to change something.
但我的情绪不适，并不能成为我改变现状的充分理由。
But my emotional discomfort is not an adequate reason to change what I'm doing.
所以，要想在事业上成功，还有很多别的能力是必须掌握的。
And so there's all these other skills that are still required to be successful in business.
但如果非得把十四年的创业经验浓缩成一句话，我首先会说：你得想清楚，你更在意的是自己的未来，还是别人对你未来的看法。
But if I can compress fourteen years of business advice, the first thing I would say is you have to decide whether you care more about your future than what other people think about your future.
因为，你心中某个版本的自己，必须死去——创业之初，一切归根结底，都是关于恐惧。
Like, someone's version of you has to die because everything at the very beginning of entrepreneurship comes down to one thing, which is fear.
感到害怕其实很正常。
And it makes sense to be afraid.
因为我们渴望确定性。
It's because we want certainty.
但唯一能知道答案的方法，就是先开始做。
But the only way to know is to start.
我学到的第二件事是，快速打造一家百万美元的公司，和打造一亿美元的公司，路径根本不一样。
The second thing I've learned is that the fastest way to build a 10,000,000 business is not the fastest way to build a $100,000,000.
因为专注和耐心才是持久的竞争优势，正因它们违背人性。
Because focus and patience are the two enduring competitive advantages because they're so anti human.
所以创业者往往就是在这里一飞冲天，而我接下来要
And so this is where entrepreneurs will skyrocket, and I'll
详细解释一下这个观点。
unpack unpack that that concept.
这个观点。
Concept.
那么，你如何看待AI时代下的你的事业？
So how are you thinking about your business in the world of AI?
我非常支持AI技术。
I'm a big AI advocate.
但很多人用错了地方，比如把思考和决策全丢给AI，这简直是自毁前程，只会让你越来越笨。
But people are using AI in the wrong places, like outsourcing thinking and decision making to AI is a really bad decision because you will just get dumber.
这是我目前最宝贵的资产，我得让它保持最敏锐的状态。
This is the best asset I've got for now, so I want to keep it as sharp as I can.
最后，我要说的，是我能给出的最赤裸裸的真相：我这辈子做过最棒的财务决定就是——
Finally, this is like the the absolute raw truth I could possibly give, which is the single best financial decision that I ever made, and that is
在本集开始之前，我想请大家帮个忙。
Guys, I've got a favor to ask before this episode begins.
算法会优先把你们关注的节目里最精彩的内容推到你的信息流里。
The algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed.
所以，当我们的节目出了最棒、最受欢迎、评分最高的集数时，我希望你能第一时间看到。
So when we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know.
你只需要点一下关注按钮，就能轻松知道这些信息。
And the simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button.
而且，这也是你能够为我们做得最简单、最容易、还不用花钱的事，帮我们把节目做得更好。
But also, it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make the show better.
如果你现在正在用的这个应用上，花一分钟点个关注，我会非常感激。
And I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app you're listening to this on right now and hit that follow button.
真的非常、非常、非常感谢你。
Thank you so, so, so much.
亚历克斯，我觉得我们得从AI聊起，因为这事儿现在谁都惦记着——我觉得我的听众是这样，我接触的每一位创业者也都是这样，不管他们处在哪个阶段。前几天我在纽约见了Uber的CEO阿达拉，我们聊的全是AI。
Alex, I I feel like we have to start with AI because it is front of mind for both, I think, my audience, but also for entrepreneurs that I speak to at every step in the journey, whether they are I was with Adara, who's the CEO of Uber the other day in New York, and he that's what the conversation was about AI.
我也会跟那些想做软件公司、却找不到护城河的初创创始人聊天。
But then I speak to startup founders who are trying to build a software company and can't find a moat that is defensible.
这些对话，无一例外都绕不开AI。
Those conversations are about AI.
作为创业者，你是怎么看待和应对这件事的？
What is your how are you approaching this as an entrepreneur?
我们怎么用AI把那些原本属于业务核心的、需要创意的工作做得更好、更快？
How can we use AI to do the things that are the art the normal functions of the business at a way better, way faster, etcetera?
我看到很多创业者或者刚起步的人，正在用AI把一堆没意义的事干得飞快。
What I'm seeing a lot, especially with founders or people who starting out, is they're using AI to do a lot of dumb things really fast.
他们想打造的公司，模型很快就会把它们吞掉，甚至已经让资深用户觉得这事儿变得太简单了。
And they're trying to build companies that the models are going to swallow up pretty much immediately anyways or already have for super users and it's just going to like become easier.
我想问问那些现在疯狂用AI的创业者——当然，拥抱新技术没错——但你们的收入真的增加了吗？
And the question that I would ask for the entrepreneurs who are, AI maxing right now, and again, I think it's very good to adopt new technology, is are you making more money?
就问最简单的一个问题：你现在赚的钱变多了吗？
Just the very simple, are you making more money now?
就算你砸钱买token，花得停不下来，你还是得问问自己：收入真的上去了吗？
And even though you're token maxing and spending all this money on tokens, it's like, are you making more money?
前几天我看了个生意，他们雇了十一个虚拟助理，干的是一些数据清理的活儿，具体我记不清了。
And I had a business I looked at the other day, they had 11 VAs that were doing, I can't remember, some sort of like data cleaning work.
虚拟助理？
VAs?
是的
Yeah.
虚拟助手
Virtual assistants.
就是海外一些低技能劳动力在做这些工作。
So low skilled labor overseas that was doing work.
我记得他们每个月付给这11个虚拟助手的费用大约是1万1千美元。
And I think it was something in the neighborhood of $11,000 a month is what they were paying for these 11 VAs.
他们干得不错，一切都很顺利。
And they were doing a good job and it all worked.
但他们后来花了35万美元，想开发一个AI系统来取代这11个虚拟助手的工作。
And they then spent $350,000 to try and create an AI system that would replace what these 11 virtual assistants were doing.
这意味着他们在这些助手身上原本三年多的开销，全砸进了一个根本不是业务瓶颈的环节。
But that means they spent three plus years of costs on what these 11 virtual assistants were doing, and it wasn't even the constraint of the business.
这只是一个能自动化的流程，但并不意味着该自动化——因为它根本不是限制他们增长的关键。
It was just a process they could automate, not that they should automate it because it's not the thing that's limiting their growth.
所以他们还需要更多客户。
And so they still need more customers.
那根本不是问题所在。
And that wasn't the thing.
这不过是他们报价流程中的一环，但并不是瓶颈。
This was like part of their their quote process or something, but that wasn't the limitation.
他们缺乏足够的需求。
They didn't have enough demand.
对。
Mhmm.
人们把AI用在了错误的地方。
People were using AI in the wrong places.
他们本不该去创办AI公司，却偏偏要这么做。
They're trying to start AI businesses when they shouldn't start AI businesses.
他们应该把AI用在自己的业务里。
They should use AI in their business.
他们试图把自己包装成AI公司，但实际上你应该宣传的是客户真正关心的东西——解决问题的方案和最终成果。
They're trying to advertise as AI businesses when you should just advertise the thing that your customer cares about, which is the solution to their problem, the outcome.
这一点从来都没变过。
None of that's changed.
但因为你对AI太兴奋了，就以为客户也会跟你一样兴奋。
But because you got really excited about it, you think your customers are going be excited about it.
但其实很多人对AI都挺害怕的。
But most people are a lot of people are afraid of AI.
所以这甚至不一定是个优势。
So it's not necessarily even a positive.
而且它也没让你赚到更多钱，而这才是最关键的问题。
And it's not making you more money, which is the final question.
当你听像埃隆·马斯克这样的人说，未来工作可能会变成可选的时候，确实是这样。
When you listen to someone like Elon Musk, he says that work will become optional Yeah.
在将来。
In in the in the future.
我坐在这儿，跟几位AI专家聊了聊。
And I sat here with a couple of experts on AI.
他们给我讲了讲这东西到底是怎么回事。
They they they kind of explained to me what it is.
简单来说，这种机器里面有很多神经网络，拥有大量参数，就像人脑里的连接一样。
And from a very simple simplified perspective, this machine that has these neural nets in it, which have lots of parameters, basically connections like the human brain does.
训练的时候，这些参数会不断强化。
And when they train it, the parameters become reinforced.
那些做出正确判断的连接会被保留，错误的则会被剔除。
The the ones that made the right decision and the ones that made the wrong decision are, like, basically cut out.
我再说一遍，我只是简化了说法——这些数字大脑正变得越来越庞大。
I'm again, I'm simplifying These brains, these digital brains are getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
根据这些专家的说法，我简直难以想象，总有一天，它们能完成现在人类做的大部分认知工作。
It's it's like almost inconceivable to me based on what they've said to me, these area experts, that at some point, it isn't able to do a lot of the cognitive work that people are currently doing.
所以我真正想问的是，在智能变得廉价的世界里，价值到底还留在哪里？
My question really here is, like, where does the value remain in a world where intelligence is cheap Yeah.
而且在资源丰富、水平更高的世界里，再加上机器人也正迎面而来，情况又会怎样呢？
And abundant and higher, one could say, and also in a world where robotics are coming over the horizon too?
那价值到底在哪里呢？
Like, where is the value?
我觉得是责任。
I think stakes.
比如，AI可以给出所有的建议，
For example, AI can give all of the
但最终做决定的必须是人。
recommendations in the world, but someone has to own the decision.
所以目前来看，未来也许会变，但AI还不是任何国家的公民。
And so as of right now, maybe it will in the future, AI isn't isn't a citizen of any, you know, any country.
它也不缴税。
It doesn't pay taxes.
所以总得有人来承担责任。
And so somebody has to be responsible.
责任问题？
To liability?
对。
Yeah.
没错。
Yeah.
另一方面，也有收益。
And upside on on on the flip side.
从媒体的角度来看，换个场景，比如MrBeast拍了个视频，有人说他被AI取代了。
And to take this into different domains from the media perspective, imagine Jimmy, so mister beast has a video and they're like, mister beast is getting replaced by AI.
他并没有被AI取代。
He's not getting replaced by AI.
因为如果他拍个视频说要发500万美元，但钱是假的，兰博基尼也是假的，那就没什么实质意义了。
Because if he had a video that said $5,000,000 and the $5,000,000 wasn't real and the Lamborghini wasn't real, there'd be no stakes.
对。
Yeah.
现在下棋的人比以往任何时候都多，热度空前。
Chess, right, has become more popular now than it's ever like than it's been in recent history.
但机器人下棋早就赢过人类了。
But robots can beat humans at chess.
对啊。
Mhmm.
可没人真正在意这个。
But no one cares.
我也会想到一级方程式。
I think about the f one as well.
你还是想让刘易斯·汉密尔顿开着车。
You'd still want Lewis Hamilton in the car.
你要是把他从车里换下来，
You take him out of the car.
那你就不会再看F1了。
You stop watching f one.
没错。
Right.
所以人类需要有赌注。
So humans want stakes.
这就牵涉到责任问题，总得有人来担责。
And so there's the compensation side of it, which is that somebody's going to be responsible.
总得有人承担资金风险。
Someone has to risk the money.
总得有人为这个代币买单。
Somebody paid for the token.
总得有人拥有这家有限责任公司。
Somebody owns the LLC.
总得有人拥有这一切。
Someone owns this.
因此，判断力、承担风险和潜在回报——无论是金钱还是责任——都有其价值。
And so there is value in the judgment and the assumption of risk and upside, which can be money or just the responsibility.
从媒体的角度来看，我们还是得在节目里制造出真正的利害关系。
From a media perspective, we still have to introduce stakes into the into the show.
当然，剧情部分会存在。
Now, of course, there's gonna be the fiction world.
但那些虚构的情节会受到更大的冲击。
They're gonna be much harder hit.
但如果你要做一档真人秀，真实感必须到位。
But if you're trying to do a reality TV show, the real part has to be there.
我觉得你特别有意思的一点是，你花很多时间思考。
One of the things that I find really interesting about you is you spend a lot of time thinking.
在人工智能盛行的时代，很多人都把思考的任务交给了那些前沿模型之类的工具。
And in a world of artificial intelligence, a lot of people are now deferring their thinking to these frontier models like or whatever.
我们以前也聊过这个，但我们都认同一点：在AI时代，知道该问什么问题、思维清晰、具备批判性思维、做出决策，会变得极其重要。
And we've spoken about this before, but one of the things we both agree is that knowing the right questions to ask, clarity of thought, critical thinking, making the decision is gonna be one of the things in the world of AI that's critically important.
所以我想问你，你是怎么产生好点子的？怎么培养好点子？怎么给自己留出足够的思维空间去琢磨问题？
So my question to you is, like, how are you having good ideas, cultivating good ideas, giving your space your sort of mental space to be able to think about problems?
对。
Mhmm.
你平时是怎么做的？
What's your practice?
我从两个角度来谈这个问题。
I'll I'll text this from two different angles.
首先，我觉得现在把思考完全交给AI仍然是个很糟糕的决定。
So first is, I think outsourcing thinking to AI as of right now is still a really bad decision.
只要你用过一段时间AI，就会发现它能同意任何说法。
If you it's like I think anybody who's used AI for any period of time knows that you can get it to agree to anything.
在做决定的时候，这一点真的很让人担忧。
And that's frightening when it comes to making decisions.
每次我觉得AI好像进步了一点，
And so every time I'm like, you know, think it has gotten a little better.
我就会给它一个特别明显的判断题来测试。
I'll just give it like a really obvious decision to make.
我会说，好吧，咱们打开一个爪子。
I'll go, okay, let's open up a claw.
咱们打开OpenAI。
Let's open up OpenAI.
把所有这些都打开，然后我问它们同一个问题。
Let's look like let's open all of them up and I'll ask the same question to all three.
结果它们的回答全都不一样。
And they're just all over the place.
所以我就想，好吧，这还是得靠我自己判断。
And so I'm like, okay, this is still back to my judgment.
对吧？
Right?
第二点是，如果你把决策权完全交给它，你自己就会变笨。
Number two is that if you do delegate your decision making to it, you get dumber.
现在确实有不少研究，你也知道，有些嘉宾在播客里聊过这个，但我很清楚，目前它是我最好的工具，所以我得尽量保持自己的判断力不退化。
Now, there's all this research, sure you've had people in the podcast who've talked about it, and it's like, I for sure like this is the best asset I've got for now, so I want to keep it as sharp as I can.
别把最困难、最需要动脑的工作外包出去，不然你很快就会变得迟钝。
Do not delegate the hardest work you have, the hardest thinking work you have because you will just get so weak so fast.
最近三四个月，我一直在琢磨一个新想法：当你把眼光放长远，会发生什么？
A new idea that sprung into my mind over the last, I'd say, three to four months that I've kind of been chewing with is this idea of what happens when you go long.
就是长期思维，以及如果你把时间跨度拉得更长，今天该如何重新构建事物。
So long term thinking and how you build differently today if you just extend the time horizon.
这样你甚至能超越竞争对手，只要你不跟别人一样短视。
And then how you can, like, beat competition Yeah.
创始人总是想着五年内退出，但你有没有想过，如果以五十年为单位来思考呢？
Just by like, instead of thinking in terms of, okay, you know, founders, they always always think in terms of five years and then exit.
对。
Yeah.
如果你以五十年为尺度来规划，你的基础决策会有什么不同？
But what happens if you think in terms of, like, fifty years?
你会做出哪些不一样的基础性选择？
What are the different decisions you make in terms of the foundational blocks?
没错。
Yeah.
这就是为什么我用这些模块。
And this is why I have these blocks.
因为我之前在YouTube上看过你用模块做演示。
Because I saw you do something on YouTube with some blocks before.
对。
Mhmm.
你能解释一下这种长期思维的概念吗，比如在We
Could you explain this idea of sort of long term thinking in terms of We
我们在个人创业者中做这个练习，因为它太有力量了——假如我说，嘿，用一系列模块给我搭一座最高的塔。
do this exercise in personal entrepreneurs because I think it's so powerful, which is if I were to say, hey, build me the tallest tower using a series of blocks.
如果我说，你只有五秒钟，就在这里。
If I say, you have five seconds, you're right here.
而且你只有这么点时间。
And that's all you got.
你就会想，哦，该动手了。
You're like, oh, it's time.
手别碰了。
Hands off.
如果我说，假设我们手头的积木比五秒内能搭完的要多一些。
If I said, now let's assume we had a little bit more blocks than I could build in five seconds.
然后我说，好吧，如果你有五分钟呢？
And I said, okay, what if I said you had five minutes?
你会搭得不一样吗？
Would you build it differently?
要是给你五天呢？
What if I said you had five days?
要是给你五年呢？
What if I said you had five years?
而且你的积木是无限的。
And you have unlimited blocks.
没错。
Right.
对。
Yeah.
所以，由于你考虑的时间跨度不同，建筑的地基也会完全改变。
And so what happens is the foundation completely changes based on the height of the building because of the time horizon you're thinking in.
是的。
Yeah.
很久以前，我的一位导师告诉我这一点，我一直记得很清楚：最快赚到一千万美元的方法，和最快赚到一亿美元的方法，根本不是一回事。
I had a mentor tell me this a long time ago and it like really stuck with me, which is the fastest way to build a $10,000,000 business is not the fastest way to build a $100,000,000 business.
甚至最快赚到一百万美元的方法，也和最快赚到一千万美元的方法不一样。
Even in the fastest way to build a million dollar business, not the fastest way to build a $10,000,000 business.
比如，你完全可以很快把一家个人工作室做到年入百万。
Like you could probably build a one person agency to a million dollars a year pretty quick.
一个客户就够了。
One client.
没错。
Right.
对。
Yeah.
就是你能特别快地把它做起来。
It's just like it's just you could do it really quickly.
但要达到一亿，你的想法就得不一样了。
Getting to a 100 though, you you think about it differently.
所以我觉得，正如你所说，作为创业者，从思维角度来说，你还能保留的一个重要优势就是看得更长远。
You would and so I think to your point, one of the still outstanding competitive advantages that you can have as an entrepreneur from a thinking perspective is just thinking longer.
是的。
Yeah.
这一直是我心里最看重的事。
It's really been front of mind to me.
挺有意思的是，当我开始想，为什么会这样呢？
It's funny because when I start thinking about do know why it is?
因为我在人生这个阶段对自己说，是的。
It's because I told myself in this season of life Mhmm.
我会一直经营我现在做的生意，就是我们的控股公司Steven.com，永远做下去。
That I was going to do the business that I'm running now, which is our holding company called steven.com forever.
我立刻发现，自己做出的决定完全不同了。
And I immediately noticed that I made a different set of decisions.
我开始关注那个所谓的‘工厂’，就是，是的。
I started thinking about the factory, I called it, which is Mhmm.
你知道，埃隆的例子说，做原型很简单。
You know, Elon's example of it's building a prototype is easy.
但建一个能生产汽车的工厂，难度高五十倍。
Building the factory that builds the cars is 50 x harder.
是的。
Mhmm.
我开始 obsess 于这个‘工厂’，在这个比喻里，它其实也相当于我们打下的基础，是的。
I start obsessing over the factory, which in in part in this analogy could also be seen as the foundations that we lay Mhmm.
为了确保它能长期持久地运行。
To make this durable over the long term.
说到埃隆，我看他做SpaceX和特斯拉的决策——我也是SpaceX的投资者——他明明可以向福特买电池，却决定从零开始自主研发全新的电池。
And then speaking of Elon, I look at the decisions he made with both SpaceX, which I'm an investor in, and Tesla, where he was like, you know, I could have bought the batteries from Ford, but I'm gonna make a completely new battery from scratch.
明明可以用别人的充电设施，他却坚持从零建设全美范围的充电网络。
You know, I could have used other people's electricity charges, but I'm gonna build the entire charging network across The United States from scratch.
这个人想的完全是长远的事。
And this is someone who's thinking long term.
于是，他们最终建立起最持久的竞争壁垒。
And what happens then is they have the most durable moat
是的。
Yeah.
七年之后。
Seven years from now.
而这正是企业价值的真正所在。
And and that's so this is that becomes the value of the business.
实际上，这一切都是因为着眼于更长远的未来才产生的副产品。
And actually, it was all a byproduct of just thinking over a longer time horizon.
创业者和初创公司创始人，你知道的，我们总想着赶紧退出，尽可能多地融资。
Entrepreneurs and startup founders, as you know, we like rush to like get the exit, raise as much money as we
市场契合度。
market fit.
没错。
Yeah.
你那儿的建筑看着有点不稳啊。
And it looks like you're you're in an unstable building there.
是啊。
Yeah.
确实看起来是这样。
It looks like that.
风挺大的。
Strong wind.
对吧？
Right?
没错。
Right.
我一吹就倒了。
I could blow that over.
即使在退出过程中，如果公司发展很快，你就会希望：拜托，别走。
Even during the exit process, if it's a fast company, it's like you're kinda like, just please stay.
对。
Yes.
一切都别出问题。
Just everything stay fine.
谁也别走。
No one leave.
你明白我的意思吧？
You know mean?
大客户一个都不会走。
Like, no big accounts go away.
你就像是屏住呼吸等六个月，只盼着能顺利撑过去。
Like, you're just like holding your breath for six months and being like, please just go through.
要是连续一两周账单下滑，他们就会问：‘怎么收入突然少了？’
And then if it goes down to this for like a week or two and they're like, hey, why are the billables down?
你会说：不，这只是暂时的。
You're like, no, it's a a momentary.
这本来就在预料之中。
It was expected.
我是不是已经把更新后的四凯斯发给你了？
It was actually in our did I not send you the updated four ks?
这整个事儿挺复杂的。
Like, it's a whole thing.
我会处理那些图纸。
And I'll do with the drawings.
可能稍微简单一点。
It might be it might be a little bit easier.
但如果你要盖一栋一百层的大楼，地基得挖得深得多。
But like, if you were to build a 100 story building, you'd have to dig way deeper.
往上建的时候，材料也得用不一样的。
You'd have to have a much you'd have to build diff with different materials going up.
所以从一百层和一层的对比来看，中间得做一百个不同的决定。
And so there's a 100 decisions that get made that if you're doing a 100 stories versus one, you choose differently.
真正难的地方在于，人都想两全其美。
And so where it gets really tough is that people, they want to have it all.
比如说，我想要盖一层楼那么快的速度。
And so say, I want to have the speed of building a one story building.
但等盖到一层的时候，又说，其实我想盖十层。
But then they get to one story and say, well, actually, want to get want to have a 10 story building.
可那时候地基已经不行了。
But the foundation wasn't right.
所以创业者常常就是这样，一开始冲得飞快，然后就卡住了。
And so this is where entrepreneurs will, they'll do this, they'll skyrocket here and then they plateau.
有时候，不幸的是，正确的做法其实是往后退两步，重新打牢基础，再往上走。
And then sometimes, unfortunately, the correct step is that you have to take two steps back, rebuild the foundation then it goes up again.
所以我觉得你说得对，专注和耐心才是持久的竞争优势，因为它们太违背人性了。
And so I think to your point, focus and patience are the two enduring competitive advantages because they're so antihuman.
对。
Yes.
太违背人性了。
So antihuman.
简直跟Instagram背道而驰。
So anti Instagram.
这个月我没什么好宣布的，因为我正在干些无聊的事，比如招人。
I've got no announcement to make this month because I'm doing boring shit, like hiring.
就像贝佐斯那样。
Like Bezos.
我到现在还在想那个决定。
Like, the the decision I still think about this.
他当时决定，要把物流体系变成自己的护城河。
Like, the decision that he made that he was just like, I'm going to have a logistics company be my competitive moat.
他一开始只是做个在线书店。
He's a like, he started as a bookstore online.
可后来他居然说，不。
And to go from there to like, no.
我们要自己拥有卡车和仓库，把仓储和配送做到无人能及。
We're gonna own the trucks and the warehouses and be better at warehouse and delivery than anyone else.
这才是我们做互联网生意该走的路。
That's what we're gonna do with our online Internet business.
现在有谁能撼动亚马逊？
Like like, who can unseat Amazon right now?
真的很难。
Really tough.
有趣的是，就在那个关键时刻，创业者会来找我们这样的人，说现在真的卡住了。
What's interesting as well is that is that particular moment there where the entrepreneur gets this, they they come to people like me and you in the street, and they say Right now.
他们觉得自己过不去这个坎儿。
They are I can't get past here.
我被卡住了。
I'm bottlenecked.
对。
Yeah.
那他们本来该做点什么才对呢？
What what is it that they should have done?
有太多创业者来找我了。
So many entrepreneurs come up to me.
他们可能做到五十万、一百万收入的时候，就跑来问我：我不知道下一步该怎么走了。
They might hit, I don't know, 500 k revenue, 1,000,000 revenue, and they come up to me and they go, I don't know what to do.
我该怎么从这儿冲到一千万呢？
How do I get to 10,000,000 from here?
是的。
Yeah.
我觉得你意思是，他们其实早就该从零开始就决定打造一种不太一样的公司？
And I think in part what you're saying is they they should have made a decision earlier on to build a slightly different type of company from zero?
我想说的是，那些年收入百万的企业主在冲击千万时，缺的是什么——他们要是早知道，就会在产品市场匹配阶段多待一阵子，确保进来的客户愿意持续花钱，不管是定期回购。
I'll say what the million dollar business owner is missing when they're trying to get to 10 is what they would have done differently is they would have stayed longer in the product market fit phase or trying to make sure that the customers who come in keep wanting to spend money with them, which they either do periodically.
比如你买了一款喜欢的汽水，就会一直买。
So like if you buy a soda that you like, you keep buying it.
这不叫订阅，就是你习惯性地反复购买。
It's not like you're on a subscription, but you just buy it regularly.
另一方面，也有真正的订阅收入，像你的奈飞会员那样。
On the other hand, there's subscription revenue, which is truly recurring, like your Netflix subscription, whatever.
但他们知道，只要客户一接触这个生意，就会留下来，钱会源源不断地来，这才是能积累的关键。
But they know that when that customer comes in contact with the business, they're going to stay and that money's gonna keep going, which is what allows it to stack.
所以从最根本上说，如果每个客户来了就再也不走，这生意只会一直增长。
And so if we think at the most basic level, if every time you get a customer they never left, then the business will do nothing but grow.
每新增一个客户，收入要么保持不变，要么持续增长。
It will either stay the same or it will grow whenever you get a new customer, it just keeps growing.
要达到每人一百万美元的难度在于，从零做到一百万其实可以非常快，甚至十倍增长也一样。
And the difficulty of get the the the $1,000,000 per person is that getting to a million dollars you can do really quickly or 10.
我知道外界会觉得：‘什么？这怎么可能？’
And I know that the the the world is like, hi, I can't believe that.
我向你保证，只要你真正搞懂了，这事真能迅速做成，因为它根本不需要太复杂的操作。
I promise you you can do it if you just learn enough But that can happen really quickly because it just doesn't take a lot of moving parts to make it happen.
要做到一亿美元，或者十亿美元的收入，我还没到十亿，但我有信心知道该怎么做。
Getting to a 100 or getting to a billion dollars revenue, I haven't gone to a billion yet, but I I feel confident I know what we need to do.
百万美元级别的创业者，总想在一年内塞进十亿美元的销售业绩。
The million dollar entrepreneur is trying to fit a billion dollars of new sales in in one year.
对。
Mhmm.
问题就在于，到了明年年底，那些帮他们赚到百万美元的客户早就流失了，因为产品不够好，他们又得重新去市场上拉新客户，再赚下一个百万。
And that's the problem is that at the at the end of next year, because all the customers they signed up to make their million dollars are gone because they aren't good enough, they have to go back to the market, market and sell and get another million dollars of customers.
所以他们觉得，要是想一年赚两百万，就得拉两倍的客户，这没错。
So they think, oh, if I if I wanna get to $2,000,000 a year, I have to go sell twice as many customers, which is true.
但如果我们拿两家公司来做个对比，比如公司A和公司B。
But if we had to compare two companies, let's say we have company A and company B.
好的。
All right.
我们有公司A和公司B。
We got company A and company B.
两家公司每年各自都卖出一百个产品。
They both are selling a 100 new widgets a year.
明白。
Okay.
假设公司B把这一百个客户全丢了，但作为创业者，他们还想把业绩翻倍。
Let's say company B loses all of the 100, but they want to double because it's an entrepreneur.
他心想，我得继续增长才行。
He's like, I got to grow.
所以第二年，他卖出了200份。
And so he sells 200 people, year two.
那么，假设他第二年收入达到200万美元，而这里他只有100万美元的收入。
Well, then let's say he's got $2,000,000 in revenue, and he's got $1,000,000 revenue here.
到了第三年，他卖出了300份。
And let's say year three, he sells 300 units.
但又把那200个客户全丢了，因为他没什么黏性，结果收入还是300万美元。
Lost all 200 again because he has no stickiness, and so he makes $3,000,000.
明白了。
Okay.
不错。
Cool.
现在，假设这家公司第一年卖了100份，收入一百万美元。
Now, let's say this company a sells a 100 year one, they make a million dollars.
而且他们留住了全部100个客户。
They keep all 100 customers.
明白吧？
Okay?
但假设这家公司每年新客户数量保持不变，同时保留老客户。
But let's say that that company keeps the same number of people they're selling new.
今年有100个新客户进来，但他们原来的100个客户也都没丢。
So a 100 new customers come in this year, but they keep their old 100.
这样一来，他们就有了200个客户，收入达到200万美元。
So now they also have 200 customers and do $2,000,000.
到了第三年，他们继续保留原来的100个客户，再加上第二年的100个。
And then year three, they keep their same 100 and then the 100 from year two.
所以现在总共有300个客户，因为又新增了100个，收入也达到了300万美元。
So now they have 300 total customers because they got a 100 new, and they have 3,000,000.
这两个生意，从账面上看，你的那个创业朋友跑来跟你说：嘿，我这两个都是300万美元的生意。
So both of these businesses on paper, your entrepreneur friend comes to you and says, hey, I've got a $3,000,000 business, and I've got a $3,000,000 business.
你会投资哪一个？
Which one do you invest in?
对。
Mhmm.
其实你我每天都在这么做，整天都选这个，不选那个。
Now, you and I do this every day, we're like, all day we do this one, not this one.
因为明年，他得再去拉600个新客户。
Because next year, he's got to go and sell 600 new customers.
这里你就能从财务数据里看出来了——我告诉你，获取300个新客户的成本，远高于获取100个新客户的成本，对吧。
Now, where this gets you can start seeing this in the financials because I can tell you that the cost of getting 300 new customers cost significantly more than the cost of getting a 100 new customers Mhmm.
再加上那200个老客户还在持续付费。
And having 200 customers that are existing and still paying you.
是的。
Yeah.
所以你的利润空间会被压缩，这就是为什么盲目追求增长会出问题。
And so you're gonna see that in the bottom line getting compressed, and this is where, you know, growth at all costs becomes a problem.
但这位创业者花时间搞清楚了怎么让那100个客户都留下来。
But for this entrepreneur, he spent the time to figure out how to get all 100 customers to stay.
如果他碰到你的渠道或者我的渠道，突然间我们就说，太好了。
Now if he encounters your distribution or my distribution, and then all of a sudden we say, great.
我知道我能靠这个带来一万新客户，那这个生意就能值十亿美元，因为我们先解决了最关键的问题——收入能留下来。
Now I know that I can bring this thing 10,000 new customers, then this thing becomes a billion dollar business Because we solve the most important part first, which is that the revenue stays.
所以当人们赶着做产品的时候，往往做不出够好的东西。
And so when people build in a rush, they don't build a good enough thing.
结果就是，你增长得特别快。
And so as a result, you scale really quickly.
这时候懂营销和销售反而可能有风险，因为你越擅长营销和销售，收入增长就越快。
This is where knowing marketing and sales can be dangerous because the better you are at marketing and sales, the faster you can grow revenue.
但你会达到一个临界点，销售速度就卡在那里了。
But you get to a point where you you have a certain velocity of sales.
我一个月最多只能卖一百个、两百个，或者五十万个客户，不管具体数字是多少。
I can only sell a 100 people or 200 people or 500,000 people a month, whatever it is.
到了这个时候，你就只能不断找新渠道，因为你这辆大巴的后头有个洞。
And at that point, you either have to always be seeking more distribution because you have a hole in the back of your bus.
但一旦销售停了，生意就立马崩盘。
But the moment the sales stop, the business craters.
我觉得这种情况比真正拥有粘性业务的情况更常见。
And I would say that that is more common than the alternative, which is that you actually have a sticky business.
还有人会在街上找我聊，当他们做到一百万美元收入的时候，他们会说：我的客户特别喜欢我。
The other thing people talk to me about when they come up to me in the street, when they hit that moment, where they're doing about 1,000,000 in revenue is they say, you know, my customers love me.
他们一直回头来买，但我实在没时间了。
They keep coming back, but I've ran out of time, basically.
是啊。
Yeah.
这其实挺有意思，因为很多人说‘我没时间了’的时候，我第一件事就会问：你的利润率是多少？
This This is an interesting one because a lot of times if I have the same response where someone says, hey, I'm running out of time, the first question I'll ask is what's your margin?
如果利润率太低，根本请不起人。
If they have really thin margins, they can't afford to get help.
这只是一个表象，不是根本原因。
That's the symptom, but not the root cause.
展开剩余字幕（还有 480 条）
根本原因在于他们的产品定位错了，价格和交付价值之间严重不匹配。
The root cause is either that their offer is incorrect and that what they're offering at the price and the terms of their delivery are too low compared to each other.
你给的东西太多，收的钱却太少。
You're offering too much for too little.
对。
Mhmm.
或者，你缺乏有效的营销和销售方式，没法让客户真正看到你的价值，从而愿意付高价。
Or you don't have a marketing or sales motion that allows that value to be demonstrated to someone so they'd be willing to pay a premium.
说到定价，确实是这样。
On pricing then Yeah.
你是怎么看待定价的？
How do you think about pricing?
定价是主观的，还是客观的？
Is it a subjective thing or is it an objective thing?
我会去看看市场上别人都怎么定价，然后照着定？
I do go look at the market and see what everyone else is charging and then decide that?
还是说我觉得自己值多少钱？
Or is it what I feel like I deserve?
我觉得我们所感受到的
I think what we feel
在定价上，我们觉得自己该得多少其实最不重要。
we deserve matters the least in that in that.
我觉得关键在于客户愿意付多少钱。
I think it's all about what the customer is willing to pay.
对于新创业者来说，最难的一点就是他们用自己的钱在卖产品。
And so one of the hardest parts for for newer entrepreneurs is they sell out of their own wallet.
你这话是什么意思？
What do mean?
比如有个修车特别在行的人，他会说，这也没多难啊。
And so it's like if I have somebody who's really good at fixing cars, they're like, well, it's not that hard.
你就是拧几颗螺丝而已。
You just, you know, do a little screws here.
我是不会为这种事付钱给别人的。
Like, I wouldn't I wouldn't pay anybody for that.
我自己干，不收钱。
Like, I do it for free.
话是这么说，但我真不想干。
It's like, yeah, but I don't want to do it.
我愿意多付你钱来干，因为我根本不想修车。
And I would pay you a lot to do it because I don't want to fix my car.
因为你做起来容易，就觉得谁都容易。
And so because it's been easy for you, you think it's easy for everyone.
因为你觉得谁都容易，就不愿意多收钱。
And because you think it's easy for everyone, you're not willing to charge a lot for it.
于是他们陷入一个恶性循环：定价太低，利润空间不足，结果只能干更多活。
And so they get into this vicious cycle of undercharging and having not enough margin, and then as a result having to do more of the work.
如果活越来越多，他们又舍不得拒绝。
And then if they get more work coming, they don't wanna say no.
所以他们把自己手头的工作堆得满满的，根本没有余力，也没时间去培训别人。
And so then they basically fill up their entire plate so they have no excess capacity, but that they can't they don't have the time to train anyone.
他们没时间去面试。
They don't have the time to interview.
他们既没时间也没钱去招下一个人。
They don't have the time or the cash, right, to to forward the next person.
所以当有人跟我说‘我快忙不过来了’，我就会问：‘你现在的利润率有多少？’
And so usually when someone's like, I'm overwhelmed, if I say, do you have a lot of margin?
如果他们说：‘当然有啊，我利润率都到70%了，老兄。’
Then either, yeah, you're running 70% margin, dude.
那就赶紧雇人帮忙吧。
Like, hire some help.
如果他们说没有，那问题往往出在更早的环节——产品定位不对、销售方式有问题，通常是因为定价太低。
If they don't, then it's two or three steps earlier where the offer's wrong, the sales motion's wrong, which typically they're mispriced.
你是不是经常遇到这种情况？别人跟你说：‘亚历克斯，我试过招人，结果他们搞砸了，所以我再也不敢相信别人能像我一样做好，客户也只认我。’
Do you get it all the time when people say to you, you know, Alex, I tried to hire someone and they fucked up and so I can't I can't trust anybody to do it as well as I can and the clients love me.
我觉得这是自尊心在作怪。
I think it's ego.
对。
Yeah.
我们都想显得特别，也喜欢被需要的感觉。
I think we wanna be special and I think we like to be needed.
但企业存在的目的，不是来满足你的情感需求。
And I think that it is not the business's job to solve your emotional needs.
没错。
Mhmm.
企业的责任是服务好客户。
The business's job to serve the customers.
没错。
Mhmm.
所以我们并没有自己想象的那么独特。
And so we are not as unique as we think.
如果你能回到过去，给自己上一课，只讲十分之一的内容就够了，毕竟你清楚自己当初犯过的错，也知道哪些做法才是真正有效的。
If you could go back in time, could teach yourself a tenth of time because you know all the mistakes that you made and the right things that actually ended up working.
所以，这就很棒了。
So it's like, great.
不用像第一次学的时候那样花十倍的时间，干脆回到过去，像教别人一样，把正确的方法教一遍。
Instead of taking 10 times as long you did to learn it the first time, go back as though you were teaching it the right way to somebody else.
这样一来，你就能大大缩短教会别人做这份工作所需的时间。
And so you can collapse the time it takes to teach someone how to do the job.
但大多数创业者找的，其实都是那种千里挑一的人才。
And most times, what founders are looking for is a unicorn.
对吧？
Right?
他们会觉得，我只有两个员工，所有事都得自己扛。
They're like, okay, I have two employees and I do everything.
所以，我得找个人，能像我一样，把所有事情都包揽下来。
And so, I need to hire someone who's just going to be like me and just do everything else.
事情没那么简单。
It's like, it's not going to work that way.
我有个很喜欢的比喻，就是独角兽的角。
So, I use this little analogy that I like, which is, so we have our horn of the unicorn.
这可太离谱了。
This is going be so bad.
好吧，
All right,
来吧。
here we go.
我们有了那个‘好吧’。
So, we've got our Alright.
来吧。
Here we go.
再添点蹄子， maybe 一点尾巴。
We'll it a little hoof, maybe a little some tail.
来吧。
Here we go.
再来看。
And here we go.
我们还得加点闪亮的元素。
And we need to have some some sparkle.
对吧？
Right?
因为这是独角兽专属的嘛。
Because it's the unicorn special.
明白了。
Okay.
那里有点小瑕疵。
It's got a little dunk there.
但他们想用独角兽来替代自己，可实际上根本不存在独角兽，这点我们都清楚。
But they're trying to replace themselves with the unicorn, but there aren't unicorns and we know this.
所以他们一轮又一轮地面试，最后却始终找不到人，因为根本找不到独角兽。
So they go through interview and interview interview, and then they never find anybody because they can't find a unicorn.
但如果你在想，我上哪儿去找长角的动物呢？
But if you're like, how do I find an animal that's got a horn?
那你不妨去找个犀牛。
Well, you could go find a rhino.
好吧。
Okay.
我这儿就有只犀牛。
I've got a rhino.
它们可有角呢。
They've got the horn.
然后你又说，我还得找匹马。
It's like, And then I need a horse.
马我可以去找到，但还得弄到那种闪亮的效果。
I can go find a horse, and then I gotta find the sparkle.
所以我去抓些萤火虫来当闪亮的部分，再找一匹马来当马。
So I'll get some fireflies for the sparkle, and then I'll get a horse for the horse.
所以与其指望有人必须过着和你一模一样的生活，经历完全相同的挫折，才能懂你所有独特的经历，其实不用这样。
And so just like that, instead of saying, oh, I someone has to live my exact life and have gone through the exact exact same trial and tribulations to figure out all the unique things that I know, it's like, no.
他们想在一个人身上找的东西，其实分开找三个人更容易找到。
They try to find in one person what they can more easily find in three.
这其实也是在谈感情建议，对吧？
This is relationship advice as well, isn't it?
没错。
Right.
你要求伴侣同时做你的一切：你的教练、你的导师、你的治疗师、你最忠实的粉丝。
Demanding your your partner be all things to you, your coach, your, you know, your guru, your therapist, your biggest cheerleader.
是的。
Yeah.
说的就是这个意思。
That's exactly that.
我觉得在某种程度上，这背后有一种自我膨胀，总觉得我太特别了，没人能做我做的事。
It's it's just and I think in some ways there's an ego element that I think is very reinforcing, is that I'm so special, no one can do what I can do.
我觉得这是一种很诱人的谎言，我们偏偏喜欢相信它。
And I think that's a very attractive lie that we like to believe.
我想，这种想法背后其实也藏着不安和恐惧，尤其是那些早期创业者，一想到雇人，就得承担给他们发工资的责任。
I guess there's also inherent in that insecurity and fear that you see in these early entrepreneurs that if I hire another person, I now have the responsibility of paying them.
现在只有我一个人，一切都简单。
Right now, it's me.
这样更安全。
It's safe.
我能掌控一切。
I can control this.
但要是请了别人，人家还有房贷、有家庭要养。
But if I bring on other people, they've got mortgages and families.
没错。
So Yeah.
现在想想，真让人害怕。
Now now it's terrifying.
所以我给自己找了个理由，说我试过了，但谁也信不过。
So a good way to justify my fear to myself is by saying that I tried I can't trust anybody.
根本找不到靠谱的人。
I couldn't find anybody good.
看来最后还是只能靠我自己了。
I guess it's just gonna have to be me, myself, and I.
如果你真这么想，那就去干吧。
And I think if that's what you want, like go for it.
对。
Yeah.
我觉得，如果这就是你想要的，未来会有越来越多的独立创业者。
I just like I I think I think there's I think there's gonna be a lot more solopreneurs, you know, in the in the coming future.
其实现在就已经不少了。
There already are.
我觉得这其实是个目标问题。
I think it's a it's a goal question.
什么意思？
It's what
你想要什么？
do you want?
你刚开始招人的时候犯过哪些错？
What mistakes did you make when you start hiring?
我的标准太低了。
Oh, my bar wasn't high enough.
明白了。
Okay.
我觉得在
I think at
最基础的层面，这份工作到底是要做什么？
the most basic level, like, what is the job?
假如把其他所有东西都去掉，剩下的是什么？
Like, if you remove everything else, what survives?
我觉得坚持标准才是关键。
And I think holding the standard survives.
因为如果你是负责人，那就得由你来决定什么才算够好。
Because if you're the one responsible, then you have to be the one who determines what is good enough.
对。
Mhmm.
在我看来，每个部门里职位最高的人，标准也应该是最高的。
It's my view that in every given department, the person who's highest up should have the highest standard.
如果有人对ACU的要求比我更高，那他就该来管，而不是我。
And if somebody ever gets to a point where they have a higher standard for ACU than I do, they should run it, not me.
你有没有发现，别人问你的问题类型发生了变化？
Well, have you seen a change in the types of questions that you're being asked?
毕竟世界变了，现在大家更关心个人品牌、创业这些事。
Because because the world has changed, people are more interested in personal branding or business or whatever else.
人们最近问你的问题有新的吗？
Are people asking you new questions?
没有。
No.
其实也没有。
Actually, I don't yeah.
我想想。
Think
你平时都被问些什么问题？
What are the questions that you get asked?
经常有人来问我，比如我打算做这么一件事，你觉得怎么样？
I get asked a lot of, like, hey, I'm thinking about doing this this thing.
你觉得呢？
What do you think?
我打算开一家这样的公司。
I'm thinking about starting this kind of business.
我正考虑开一家播客公司。
I'm thinking about starting a podcast agency.
你觉得怎么样？
What do you think?
我觉得我怎么想其实不重要。
I'm like, it doesn't matter what I think.
我就直接问下一个问题，就是
Like, I'm like and so I'll just ask the next question, which
那你到现在都做了些什么？
is like, well, what have you done so far?
你什么时候问过这个问题？
When did you ask that?
因为十次里有九次，对方都会说，其实我就是想想，还没开始做呢。
Well, because the answer nine times out of 10 is, well, I mean, I haven't I was just thinking about
就这些。
it.
好吧。
I'm like, okay.
那什么都没发生。
Well, then nothing's happened.
那些说想做点什么却一点都没行动的人，到底怎么想的？
What's going on there with those people that come up to and they say they're thinking about something, but they haven't done anything about it?
我猜他们是想跟我聊聊生意上的事。
I'm guessing that they wanna talk to me about business stuff.
所以这是他们唯一能扯上生意的话题。
And And so this is the only business related thing that they can talk about.
这大概就是他们总提起这个的原因。
And so that's probably why they talk about it or they bring it up.
或者他们想感觉像是在做一种有进步感的拖延，指望我给个答案，帮他们跨过启动那道坎。
Or they want to feel like in some ways it's kind of like progressive productive procrastination or that I'm going to somehow give them one answer that's going to like finally get them over the hump of starting.
但大多数人开始做一件事，是因为一开始感觉这事太模糊了。
But most people start because one, starting feels like this very amorphous thing.
我当时本该问一句：你有没有遇到过完全不知道该怎么下手的事情？
When it like, I was supposed to say like, have has there ever been something that you don't know how to do?
每当我面对那些不知道怎么开始的事，总觉得模糊不清。
Well, whenever I approach them that I don't know how to do, it always feels amorphous.
就像一个庞然大物，完全找不到切入点。
It's like this big thing and I don't know where to start.
我该怎么抓住它的一角呢？
Like, how do I grab onto a piece of it?
所以我后来去处理过一些模糊的事，比如创业——其实‘创业’这个词本身啥也不是，你得把它拆成一个个很小的具体行动。
And so having gone and attacked like these amorphous things like start a business, which actually means nothing, you have to break things down to much smaller steps of action.
所以对我来说，创业最基础的四件事就是：注册一家有限责任公司、开个银行账户、能收钱，然后去问个陌生人愿不愿意付钱让你帮个忙。
That's why for me the most basic thing to start a business is like get an LLC, open a bank account, have the ability to process money, and then ask a stranger if you can do something for them in exchange for money.
只要你做完这四件事，恭喜你，你已经是个创业者了。
As soon as you do those four things, congratulations, you're a business owner.
你已经超过95%的人了，而且你的身份也从‘想当老板的人’真正变成了‘创业者’。
You've already beaten like 95% of people who and you've also changed your title from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
我觉得，当客户向你购买产品时，和他们只是免费使用你的内容相比，他们的身份会发生根本性的转变。
And I think that is one of the most just like when when a customer buys from you versus just consuming your free stuff, their identity completely changes.
他们现在成了客户，这意味着他们以后更有可能再从我这里买东西，而不是那些从来没买过的人。
They're now a customer, which means they're far more likely to purchase future things from me than somebody who's not bought something.
所以，续费和升级总是比拉到第一个新客户容易得多。
That's why, you know, ascensions and renewals are much easier than getting somebody by the first time.
对吧？
Right?
对。
Mhmm.
因此，对我们这些创业者或者想当创业者的人来说，关键就是先赚到第一块钱。
And so I think to the same degree for us as entrepreneurs or people who aspire to be an entrepreneur, it's like go make the first dollar.
一旦你尝到了那种感觉——原来我真的抓住了这件事的边角，
And then as soon as you have that taste of like, oh, this isn't I I actually grabbed the corner of this thing.
我就明白了。
I I I understand.
我只需要让他们掏钱，让我做点什么就行。
I just gotta get them to give me money to do something.
对。
Mhmm.
或者我可以先做出个东西，然后让他们买，之后就得琢磨怎么多生产一些。
Or I can build something and then have them buy it from me, then I have to figure out how to build more of them.
是吧？
Right?
如果是有形的东西的话。
If it's a thing.
但归根结底，就这么简单，其他都是瞎折腾。
But, like, that's it at the most basic level, and everything else is just is is confusion.
如果你能回到当初
If you could go back
如果能回到创业起步的时候，在亚历克斯耳边悄悄给他一些建议，让他少走弯路、赚得更多，你会说些什么？会分哪些层次来告诉他？
to the starting blocks and whisper something in Alex's ear when he was starting up, advice that would have made the journey easier, more profitable, whatever, What is what are the sort of layers of advice you would have given him at this starting blocks?
所以我其实
So I've actually
一直都在想这个问题。
thought about this a lot.
如果我能回到过去，看到年长一些的自己，假设二十年后的他现在就站在这间屋子里看着我，我希望他会什么也不说——因为那就意味着一切顺利了。
If I went back in time and I saw an older version of myself, if he appeared in this room right now, let's say twenty years from now is looking at me, my hope is that he would say nothing because it would mean that it worked.
但如果我回到过去，发现我根本没迈出那一步，没能跨出那道坎，那时我会说：你得想清楚，你到底更在意自己的未来，还是别人对你的未来的看法。
Now if I I was going back and let's say that I hadn't taken the step and I hadn't been able to make the jump, what would I say in that instance is you have to decide whether you care more about your future than what other people think about your future.
你必须让某个版本的自己死去。
Someone's version of you has to die.
要么是你真正想要的那个自己，要么是别人期望你成为的那个自己。
It's either your desired version of you or someone else's desired version of you.
但你要和自己相处的时间，远比他们长得多。
And the thing is you're going to be with you a lot longer than they are.
我觉得，创业之初的一切，归根结底就一件事：恐惧，而且这恐惧很合理。
I think everything at the very beginning of entrepreneurship comes down to one thing, which is fear and justified.
害怕是很正常的。
It's it makes sense to be afraid.
风险确实很大。
Like there's a lot of risk.
有太多不确定的因素。
There's a ton of unknown.
他们根本不知道后面会发生什么。
There's so much stuff they don't know.
但我想说的是，你此刻的处境，其实和每个刚开始创业的人一模一样。
But the only thing I can also say is that it also puts you in the exact same position as every other person started an entrepreneurship.
他们当时也不懂。
They didn't know.
唯一能懂的方式，就是动手去做。
And the only way to know is to start.
你要相信，你不会在出发时就看清整座山的路，但只要你一步步往上走，雾总会散开。
And to have faith that you will not know the way up the mountain, but as you walk up the mountain, the fog starts to clear.
雾会一直都在，但你总能看清眼前几步路。
And the fog will always be there, but you'll always be able to see a couple steps in front of you.
所以你的责任就是只走眼前看得清的那几步。
And so your responsibility is to only take the steps that you can see in front of you.
就这么简单。
That is it.
等你走完这几步，下一步自然就清楚了。
And then once you take those steps, the next steps will become clear.
我觉得问题就在于，人们总想把一切都弄明白。
And I think that's where there's an obsession with knowing the entirety.
这是因为我们渴望确定性。
And and it's because we want certainty.
我们希望只要做了这些事，就一定能成功，但事实并非如此。
We wanna know that if we do all of these things, it's going to work, and you don't.
你想要的确定性，是这个世界根本给不了的。
You want certainty from a world that will give you none.
如果你对这种不确定性感到难以接受，那创业可能并不适合你。
And if you're uncomfortable with that, entrepreneurship might not be real.
对。
Yeah.
但我说这话的时候，甚至有点后悔，因为当初我刚开始的时候，其实特别怕冒险。
But I I even say that, and I almost I almost I almost regret saying that because I was so risk averse when I started.
现在大家看到你的内容，或者看到你现在的样子，觉得你自信又出色，上播客也游刃有余，但我敢打赌，你第一次上播客的时候，回看录像肯定觉得尴尬到想钻地缝。
Like, people see the content now or they see you now and you're so confident and and great on podcasts and like but I'm sure the first podcast you did, you like look at it and you just absolutely cringe.
是吧？
Right?
我曾经发过一个视频，是我做的第一份内容，后来再看，简直不忍直视。
I had a video that I put out that was like the first content that I made that I was like reacting to my own first content, and it's horrendous.
太糟糕了。
It's horrible.
但关键是你得愿意接受自己看起来很傻的样子。
But the thing is is that you have to be willing to be cringe.
你得接受自己看起来很尴尬这件事。
You must embrace cringeness.
你不会显得很酷。
You will not be cool.
看起来不会好看。
It will not look good.
你会做得一团糟。
You will suck.
每个人都会知道你做得差，你自己也清楚。
And everyone will know you suck, and you will know you suck.
但问题是，我更在意别人眼中的我，还是真实的我？
But again, it's do I care more about their version of me or my version of me?
我是愿意让自己不断成长，还是因为想守住现状而不敢行动？
And am I willing to be a work in progress or am I unwilling to do it because I want to keep my current station in life?
但关键在于，你现在处在局部高点，而如果你跟我年轻时的自己对话，你肯定想达到比现在更高的水平。
But the thing is is that you're at a local maximum, and there's a desire in you probably, if I'm talking to my younger self, to be at a higher maximum than I am right now.
我觉得自己有能力做得更多，但又害怕冒险去动摇自己好不容易建立起来的这点东西。
I feel like I'm capable of doing more, but I'm so afraid of risking this tiny little bit that I've built for myself.
但现实是，你唯一能确定的，就是如果你继续走现在的路，你永远得不到你想要的。
But the the the reality is that the only guarantee that you have and of all the past in front of you is that you stay on the current path, you will not get what you want.
对。
Mhmm.
所以，只要你愿意行动，还有机会得到想要的；但如果你原地不动，那就一点希望都没有。
So there is a chance that you get what you want if you move, but there is zero chance if you stay.
我觉得正是这些想法让我最终下了决心——我知道，如果我不去试，这辈子都会对自己不满意。
And I think those were some of the thought processes that actually got me to take action was knowing that I for sure guaranteed 100% would be dissatisfied with my life if I had not taken the shot.
然后我详细地设想了备选方案。
And then playing out plan b with excruciating detail.
我觉得这也是恐惧的一个关键点：恐惧只存在于模糊不清中，从不在具体的事情里。
And I think that's also one of the big ones for fear Is that like fear only exists in the vague and never in the specific.
困惑也是这样。
Also, so does confusion.
对吧？
Right?
所以我的恐惧是，我会去做这件事，然后失败。
So the fear is I'm going to do this thing and I'm going to fail.
‘失败’这个词太模糊了。
Fail is not specific.
然后所有人都会讨厌我。
And I'm and then everyone's gonna hate me.
最后我还会被孤立，甚至死去。
And then eventually, I'm gonna get ostracized and die.
我们总是把事情想得最糟，因为人类就是这样进化来的。
Like, we catastrophize everything because we're evolutionary beings.
对吧？
Right?
我们就是哺乳动物。
We're we're we're we're mammals.
但如果你真去想想，失败到底是什么意思？失败究竟代表什么？
But if you really think what is failure like, what does failure even mean?
我去找人买，人家拒绝了我。
I I I ask someone to buy and they say no.
这算失败吗？
Is that failure?
如果我再去问另一个人呢？
What if I ask another person?
如果我问一百个人呢？
What if I ask a 100 people?
好吧。
Okay.
再说，如果我问一百个人呢？
Well, what if I ask a 100 people?
一百个人全都拒绝了我。
All 100 people say no.
我可以调整自己提供的东西吗？
Am I allowed to change what I'm what I'm offering?
当然可以。
Yes.
明白了。
Okay.
再找一百个人，说不定其中有一个人会答应。
So you get another 100 people and maybe one of them says yes.
明白了。
Okay.
但在那一百个人都拒绝你的时候，假设你还辞了工作，没了收入，那该怎么办？
But even in that period of time where you had the 100 people who all said no to you and let's say you quit your job and so you have no income.
明白了。
Okay.
这时候，你有哪些选择？
What are what are the options available to you?
你能不能去朋友家借住一晚？
Can you talk can you go and sleep on a friend's couch?
你能不能回老家暂住？
Can you go back home?
夹着尾巴认输？
Eat your tail between your legs?
只有当你放弃的时候，才叫夹着尾巴认输。
Well, it's only tail between your legs if you stop trying.
如果你回家对爸妈说：我想攒点钱，好延长自己的缓冲期，继续追求这个目标？
If you go home and say mom and dad, I wanna save up some capital so that I can I can extend my runway so that I can go after this big goal?
爸妈说不定会支持你。
Mom and dad might be cool.
朋友也可能帮忙。
It might be friends.
或者十个朋友一起合租，分摊房租。
It might be or maybe 10 friends going together and and because I split a bedroof.
我那时候和六个人住在一起，和另一个男生合租了一间卧室。
So I had a house with six people in it, and I split one of the bedrooms with another guy.
每月房租四百块，地上铺个床垫，但我根本没怎么在家待过。
I paid $400 a month, and I had a mattress on the floor, and I was never there.
我只是想尽一切办法把生活开销压到最低。
It was just like I tried to keep my living expenses low as possible.
我觉得最关键的一点是，很多人不愿意为了长远目标，牺牲眼前的舒适和面子，结果就被自己的生活方式绑住了。
And I think one of the big ones especially is that people are unwilling to sacrifice their short term lifestyle and appearances in order to achieve their long term goal, and so they're handcuffed to their lifestyle.
对。
Mhmm.
如果你真想省着过，你会惊讶于自己其实能用很少的钱生活。
And so you'd be astonished at how little you can actually live on if you try to live on little.
这其实也印证了长期思维这个观点。
This goes to back to the long term thinking argument as well.
没错。
Yes.
就像你想想十年后的自己和现在的区别一样。
Just like if you think about your status in ten years versus today.
没错。
Yes.
我愿意接受这段低谷。
And I'm I'm willing to take this dip.
你之前提到的一点特别有意思，我突然意识到，很多人可能并不了解像你这样的人——你说过，往上走的每一步都充满不确定性。
One of the things you said was really interesting, and I I it's dawned on me that most people might not realize this about people like you, which is that you said there's uncertainty all the way up.
是的。
Yeah.
我想象一下，有个18岁的创业者正在听亚历克斯·霍尔莫齐的分享。
Now I imagine imagine an 18 year old entrepreneur listening to Alex Hormozi.
他可能会觉得，这家伙一路以来全都胸有成竹。
They're gonna be thinking, oh, he's got everything figured out all the way up.
他已经彻底摆脱了不确定、恐惧、困惑和模糊感。
And he's no longer living with uncertainty, fear, confusion, ambiguity.
他不再需要费劲去想怎么解决问题，因为他好像什么答案都有。
He's no longer having to think hard about how to solve a problem because he's got all the answers.
对。
Mhmm.
但按照你描述的，我脑子里想象的是一连串几乎永无止境的门，每扇门上都写着一句晦涩难懂的话。
But actually, as you described it, in my head, I I imagined all of these this sequence of almost never ending doors that all just have a cryptic message on on them.
你以为自己推开了一扇门，结果发现后面还有十扇，每扇门上都写着‘杰里’，你又推了一扇。
And you imagine you go through one door and there's 10 more, and they all have Jerry, you go through one.
然后你心想：好吧，这扇应该对了。
And you're like, okay, this is the right one.
可紧接着又出现十扇新门，门上全是模棱两可的字句，你得再选一扇继续往前走。
And then there's 10 new ones that all have a vague language on them, and you've got to pick which one to go through next.
你推开了，好吧。
You go through okay.
结果撞上了这扇门。
You bounced off that one.
真糟心。
Shit.
你栽了。
You took an L.
亏了一笔钱。
Lost some money.
你又推开一扇门。
You go through another one.
行吧。
Okay.
这次选对了。
This is the right one.
结果又冒出二十扇。
And then there's 20.
实际上，你越成功，可选择的余地反而越大。
Actually, your optionality is increasing with the more success you have.
所以门越来越多，要做的决定也越来越多，不确定性也越来越大，但大多数人根本没意识到这一点。
So there's more doors and more decisions to make, more uncertainty, which most people don't realize.
但正如你所说，我突然想到，操。
But actually, as you're saying, I was thinking, fuck.
这正是我目前正在经历的事情。
This is exactly what I'm going through now.
昨天晚上我跟一个同事熬到很晚，就在琢磨该选哪条路。
I I was up till the early hours of the morning with one of my colleagues yesterday night, and we're just figuring out which door to
走过去。
walk through.
这其实挺有意思的，因为你刚起步的时候，别人给的建议往往特别具体。
So this is really interesting because the earlier you are in your journey, the more specific the advice is.
如果你还没开公司，那第一步对每个人来说都一样：你得先注册一个实体，开个银行账户，方便资金往来，还得有办法收款。
Because if you do not have a business, the first step is the same for everyone, which is you must start an entity and then you have to have a bank account so that you can exchange money and you have to have a way or manner of collecting that cash.
当然，你也可以做纯现金生意，但现在大多数人都是用信用卡。
Now, of course, you could have cash business, but would say most people use credit cards now.
所以你得有个支付处理器、一个银行账户，再注册一个实体。
So you have a processor, a bank account, and an entity.
不管你打算做什么生意，这都是第一步。
It doesn't matter what business you start.
这一步是必不可少的。
That is the first step.
等生意做大了，资源自然会多起来。
Now as the business grows, you have more resources.
这时候，生意的性质也变了。
The the nature of the business is different.
摆在你前面的选择，一下子多了好几倍。
And so the number of doors that are ahead of you are actually multiplied by a huge factor.
对。
Mhmm.
所以现在的情况是，刚起步的时候，反而是你最清楚该做什么的时候。
And so right now, it's actually never easier to know what to do than when you start.
这跟你知不知道没关系。
And so it has nothing to do with you not knowing.
当然了，我们刚刚不就说了吗。
Of course, you know, I just we just said it.
关键是要弄清楚，你为什么迟迟没有行动。
It's everything to figure out why you're not doing it.
更具体地说，是哪个声音在影响你，让你害怕让对方失望，或者害怕被他们评判。
And more specifically, whose voice you're listening to that is not yours that you are afraid of disappointing or afraid of their judgment.
如果你能认出这个声音，甚至给它起了个名字。
And if you can identify that voice because and you've actually put a name on it.
不是那种模糊的‘别人会怎么想’。
It's not like, oh, what are people gonna think?
根本不是什么‘别人’。
It's not people.
很可能就只有两个人。
It's probably like two people.
如果你给它起了名字，你就会想，哦，就只是詹姆斯和贝蒂？
And if you name it, you're like, oh, it's just James and Betty?
对。
Yeah.
所以这事儿是真的挺严重的。
So this is really real.
当我准备卖掉吉姆洛奇的时候，那真是一个特别艰难的决定。
So one, when I was about to sell Jim Lodge, I really I I it was actually a very hard decision for me.
难到极点了。
Super hard.
我决定退出的时候，差点没退出，就是因为圈子里有个人——也不是特别熟的朋友，但当我真正弄清楚我在乎谁的看法时，我发现我担心他觉得四千六百万美金根本不算什么钱。
And when I exited, one of the reasons I almost didn't exit was because there was somebody that I knew in my circle, not even like a super close friend, that I realized when I got really clear on whose voice I cared about, I thought that they didn't think that $46,000,000 was enough money.
觉得这事儿不够正经。
That they wouldn't think it was legit.
我是认真的。
I'm dead serious.
不是。
No.
那时候我觉得，那就是我的底气。
It it was like that was my that was my legit.
我当时就觉得，这其实是……
It was my it's like
听你这么说，还挺有意思的。
It's just funny to hear.
他不会觉得我这事儿是正经的。
He's not gonna think he's not gonna think I'm legit.
直到我问自己，我要是因为他就不干了，让他牵着我走吗？
It was only when I was like, am I gonna not do this and let him control me?
因为这说白了就是这么回事。
Because that's what it is.
他们就是想控制你。
They control you.
当你用这样的话来说的时候，感觉负担重多了。
And I think when you say it in those terms, it feels like much heavier.
就好像我在让妈妈、叔叔、兄弟，或者同事约翰来左右我。
Like, I'm letting my mom or my uncle or my brother or the the coworker, John, control me.
因为我太在乎这个人的认可了。
Because that's how much I care about this guy's approval.
我得更在乎自己的认可才行。
I care I have to care about my approval more.
我想说得更详细一点，因为我觉得这很重要。
I wanna say this in more detail because I think it's it's important.
你眼前看到的这个人，根本不是当初敢冒险创业的那个人。
The person that you see in front of you is not the person who who took the leap to start the business.
我为这个决定纠结了整整六个月。
I belabored that decision for six months.
我早就准备好了标准答案，别人一问：‘你现在职业上打算怎么办？’我就照着说。
I had almost like a pre canned answer and people were like, oh, so what are doing with your career?
我当时想的是，先去读商学院，将来再自己创业。
I like, oh, know, consulting like to do business school and then someday start my own business.
这话我都说得滚瓜烂熟了。
It was like, I could say it in my sleep.
但当我真正用第一性原理仔细想想，‘将来创业’这句话到底意味着什么？商学院到底能怎么帮到我？
But the someday start my own business, when I tried to think a little bit more first principles, I was like, okay, well, in what way is this business school going to help me start a business?
我查了商学院毕业生的起薪，好的学校毕业，年薪能到十二万美金。
And when I looked at the starting salaries of business school, it was like $120,000 a year after you went to a good business school.
可我自己算了一笔账，每年学费六万，这两年还完全没法赚钱。
And I thought to myself, well, it cost me $60,000 a year and I can't make money during that period.
这么一算，我等于铁定要损失十二万。
So, I'm gonna lose 120 for sure.
而当时我每年的收入是六万美金。
And at the time I was making $50.60000 a year.
所以，这两年的机会成本加起来，差不多是二十四万。
And so, was like, it's $240,000 is my call it my opportunity cost in two years.
我觉得，我能不能把攒下的钱，在两年内做到月入一万美金？
Do I think that I can take the money that I saved up and in two years get to $10,000 a month?
我想，我应该能做到。
I was like, I think I can do it.
所以，这也是我最终没去读商学院的原因之一。
And so that was part of the reason that I ended up not going to business school.
当时商学院的考试里有个问题：布斯商学院的MBA如何帮助你实现短期和长期目标？
And it was because of a question on the business school test was how will a Booth MBA help your short and long term goals?
我坐在那儿想了整整三天，都没想出答案。
And I just sat there for three days trying to answer it.
后来我才意识到，我不确定它到底能不能帮到我
And I realized I like, I don't know if it will help my
长期目标。
long term.
挺有意思的。
Interesting.
所以，说实话，他们提这些问题其实挺好的，逼着我去认真思考。
So, I mean, it's good that they have those questions because they actually forced me to answer it.
再说回那六个月，我差不多每两天就读完一本书，真不是夸张——我那工作有忙季和淡季，淡季的时候我基本就泡在书里。
Now, back to the the the six months, I read I I was probably reading, no joke, a book every two days because I the job that I had had high seasons and low seasons and during low seasons, I basically just read books.
读的几乎全是自我提升类的书。
And they were almost all self help books.
读了这么多之后，我回头一看自己的生活，发现根本没任何变化。
And I got to this point after reading however many of them that I look back at my life and realize it was exactly the same.
我当时就想，要是不行动，我的生活只会原地踏步。
And I thought, oh, if I don't do anything, my life's not gonna change.
于是我产生了一个想法：只要一直读这些书，生活自然就会变好。
And so I had this idea that if I just keep reading these books, somehow my life was just going to change.
这算是我当时一个很重要的顿悟。
And that was like one of the realizations that I had.
我有个朋友，和我一样在白领岗位上，每天晚上我们都会打电话聊两三个小时，讨论怎么创业。
I had the friend who was also in a white collar job like I was, and every night we'd probably get on the phone for two to three hours and talk about how we were gonna start a business.
我那时候买了一块宜家的地毯，是仿牛皮的。
And I had this IKEA carpet that I bought that was a cowhide carpet.
因为我总在小公寓里来回踱步，琢磨创业点子，地毯上被踩出了一条明显的痕迹。
And the spot where I'd walk back and forth was like worn out on the cowhide because of how much I would just pace in my small flat, just going back and forth, just talking about the ideas that I had to start a business.
每次我想开始干的时候，都会告诉我爸我想创业。
Every time I wanted to start it, I would tell my dad I want to start the business.
他总说：你别太不切实际了。
And he would be like, let's not be unreasonable here.
他说：你已经有份不错的工作了。
He's like, you've got a good job.
他说：你这不是正按部就班地走着吗？
He's like, you're following the plan.
你三年就念完了范德堡大学。
You did Vanderbilt in three years.
成绩还那么好。
You had good grades.
你本来打算在这儿待两年的。
You got you were gonna do two years here.
然后去常春藤盟校里顶尖的MBA项目深造。
Then you go to one of the top Ivy, you know, MBA schools.
你这路走得很稳啊。
Like, you're good.
别以为这就不算数。
Don't like this is part of it.
这本来就是计划的一部分。
This is part of it.
对吧？
Right?
我太胆怯了，居然得开车横跨半个美国，才敢给爸爸打电话，告诉他我辞职了，要创业。
I acted with such cowardice that I had to had to drive halfway across the country before I could call my dad to tell him that I that I had quit my job and that I was going to start a business.
因为我知道，要是当着他的面说，他一定会劝我打消念头。
Because I knew that if I had done it while he was there, he would talk me out of it.
因为他之前已经劝过我好几次了。
Because he had already talked me out of it a bunch of times.
他为什么要这么做？
Why was he doing that?
我最近几天稍微了解了点他的背景。
I I learned a little bit about his background over
最后这段时间。
the last
几天。
couple of days.
我有些照片，我是说。
I've got some photos, I mean.
没错。
That's right.
狗。
DOG.
我觉得他的故事里其实藏着一些背景，是的。
And I think that there's context in his own story which Yeah.
这让整个画面更完整了。
Completes the picture.
不管别人怎么看我的成功，越想越觉得，我父亲的成就其实更大。
So whatever people see of my success, I think in a lot of ways what my dad accomplished, the more I think about it is bigger.
我父亲在伊朗革命期间逃了出来。
My dad fled during the Iranian revolution.
对吧？
Right?
然后他去法国想当医生，可他一句法语都不会。
And then he went to go to France to become a doctor, but he didn't speak French.
所以他只能硬着头皮去读医学院，连有机化学都得在听不懂的语言里学。
And so he had to go try to go into medical school and take Orgo in a language that he didn't understand.
结果连续两年都没通过。
And so he failed two years in a row.
他哥哥建议他去比利时，从头开始，换个地方生活。
And his brother was like, go to Belgium, start fresh, go to a new place.
于是他顺利读完了医学院，后来在医学院认识了我妈妈，两人一起回到了美国。
And so he ended up getting all the way through medical school and then he met my mother in medical school and then they came back to The US.
但他的医学学位在美国不被承认。
Now his medical degree didn't transfer to The US.
所以他得再申请美国的住院医师培训，或者类似的东西。
And so he had to get a US fellowship in order a residency or whatever.
可没人愿意收一个中东人，口音那么重，刚毕业，而当时身边全是美国本土的医生。
But no one would take a Middle Eastern guy who had a super thick accent, who was fresh out of medical school and there was all these US based people here.
所以那两年，他一直在跑X光片。
And so for two years, he ran x-ray slides.
他终于拿到了住院医师的职位，后来回到巴尔的摩——也就是我老家——他决定不加入我妈妈和她父亲合开的诊所，而是自己单干，这胆子可真不小。
He finally gets a residency, and then he decides when he comes back to Baltimore, which is where my where where I'm from, that he's going to instead of join the practice that my mother had with her father, he was gonna go out on his own, which is pretty ballsy.
对吧？
Right?
他当时一无所有，连个外国人的身份都没用上。
He didn't have foreigner didn't have anything.
于是他去打听了一下，自己建个手术中心大概要花多少钱。
And so he asked to find out how much a construction cost for building your own surgery center.
那时候大概要二十五万美元。
It was like $250,000 then.
那可是一大笔钱。
So it's a lot of money.
他根本拿不出这么多钱。
He didn't have that.
他就去研究了所有关于设立手术中心的法律要求。
And so he looked at all the legal requirements for what what it entails to be a surgery center.
然后跑去家得宝，自己动手搭了个完全符合标准的手术中心，还通过了检查，终于在自己的诊所里开了个手术中心。
And then he went to Home Depot and built a surgery center that met all the specs and got it inspected so that he could have his own surgery center in his practice.
就在他的诊所刚有点起色的时候，我父母离婚了。
Then right as his practice is starting to work, my parents got divorced.
他们换了门锁，因为他那边另搞了一套。
They changed the locks on the door because he had like a separate thing.
他的病人来了都不知道该去哪儿。
His patients show up and they didn't know where to go.
那场离婚闹得很难看。
It was an ugly divorce.
于是他自己另起炉灶了。
And so then he's he's starting his own.
那时候他跟我聊过这事。
And this is when he was talking to me then.
现在说说后来的事。
So fast forward now.
他说自己行医都二三十年了，诸如此类的。
He's like, I've been in practice for, you know, twenty, thirty years, whatever.
他说，那些年，他根本没当回事。
He's like, those years, I didn't even think about them.
我当时就觉得，自己好像进展得太慢了。
I think I was like, I feel like I'm not moving fast enough.
我觉得我得把那些事都做了才行。
I feel like I need to need to do these things.
他说，嘿，现在回头看，一两年根本算不了什么。
And he's like, dude, a year or two years now, he's like, it's nothing.
他说，等你到了我这年纪，根本都不会记得那些事了。
He's like, when you're mine, you're not gonna think don't even remember it.
说实话，我特别想证明自己能独立做成这件事。
The the honest truth of the matter is that I really desperately wanted to prove that I could do it on my own.
你想向谁证明这一点？
Who did you wanna prove that to?
我不知道。
I don't know.
每个人。
Everyone.
我，他，还有全世界。
Me, him, the world.
我记得那时候一想到中彩票就吓得要命。
I remember being terrified about the idea of winning the lottery.
听起来确实有点怪。
Sounds really weird.
上大学的时候，我买过一张超级碗的票，因为票价贵得离谱，好像十亿美元似的。
When I was in college, I bought a Super Bowl ticket because it was like a billion dollars or something.
就想，算了，图个乐子吧。
Was like, let's do it for fun.
就在号码要公布前的那一瞬间，我整个人都吓坏了——万一我中了怎么办？
And I remember having this this moment right before the the number was gonna get called of sheer terror of what if I win?
因为我想，如果真中了，我就再也证明不了自己能靠本事做成这件事了。
Because I was like, I will never be able to prove that I I have the medal, that I can do it.
现在当然有人会说，要是有人给我十亿美元，我当然乐意收下，毕竟说实话，我已经有了这些成就，早就靠自己打下了这份基业。
And so and of course, people would say that now if someone wants to give me a billion dollars, I'm happy to use it because to be fair though, because I already have this, I already have the status and the track record that I built this.
所以这也是为什么我刚开始创业的时候，根本没去贷款。
And that's also the reason that like when I started my business, like I didn't take a loan.
我完全是用自己存的钱，因为我想这完全属于我，而且我心里清楚。
Like I used my own money that I had saved because I want it to be mine and I knew I would know.
我觉得我爸爸的出发点确实完全是为了我好。
And I think, yeah, my dad had absolutely perfect intentions.
他给我的建议，在大多数人看来，应该算是很不错的了。
He gave me what I believe to be, for vast majority of people, probably pretty good advice.
对。
Mhmm.
但那些建议并不适合我当时的目标。
It just wasn't the advice that I needed for the goals that I had.
有意思的是，像我们这样做商业内容、经常聊创业的人，
There's an interesting thing because people like me and you make business content and we talk about entrepreneurship a lot.
我常常在想，会不会误导了一些本该听那些建议的人。
I I often wonder if we're leading some people astray in the context of some people actually should take that advice.
有些人根本不该去当创业者。
Some people shouldn't become entrepreneurs.
那怎么才能知道，广义上的创业是否适合自己呢？
And how does one know if entrepreneurship in its broad definition is for them or not?
或者，其实进公司上班，找一份好工作，才更适合他们。
Or like working in a company, having, you know, having a great job is for them.
挺有意思的。
It's funny.
我以前做这个节目时，曾问过镜头外的制片人：你觉得我开心吗？
We we were I was doing this show once and I said to the producer who was just off camera, I said, do you think I'm happy?
这个人可是每天跟我打交道，六年七年来，亲眼看着我在厨房桌上工作。
So this is this is someone who gets to see has seen me for six or seven years behind the scenes every day since we're on my kitchen table.
他陪我走遍世界的每一个角落，见证过我最好的时光，也经历过最糟的时刻。
He's been there with me every corner of the world, the the best and worst of times.
我就问他：你觉得我开心吗？
I went, do you think I'm happy?
他回答：是的。
He went, yes.
他答得很快。
He said it quickly.
接着我问他：你愿意过我的生活吗？
And then he and then I said, would you want my life?
他拒绝得特别坚决。
And he he couldn't have said no more violently.
以至于简直
So much so that it
都让人觉得冒犯。
was almost offensive.
他当时说：你过得挺好的，我问你愿不愿意过这样的日子？
He was like, you're having I went, you want would you like my life?
他直接说：不愿意。
He goes, no.
他当时笑得不行。
And he was like and and he was like laughing.
他根本不想要我的生活，但同时，因为他七年来看过我台前幕后的全部，他相信我是快乐的。
He would not want my life, but at the same time, thinks and believes, having seen me behind the scenes for seven years, that I'm happy.
这里面其实藏着一点东西，那就是人生旅程的主观性。
And in there, I think you have something, which is the the sort of subjectivity of of of journey.
这真的是你的旅程吗？
Like, is this your journey?
现在听这些的人，该怎么判断自己该不该创业呢？
How does one know listening to this now if they should be an entrepreneur or not?
那我来分享几个角度，
So I'll give
因为做决定大概是我们大多数人花时间最多的事。
a couple of frames because decision making is what probably both do with a lot of our time.
第一个问题是：你的目标是什么？
So one is what's the goal?
我到底希望发生什么？
What do I want to have happen?
这里每个人说的都差不多。
Everyone says the same things here.
他们说，我想拥有自己做决定的自由。
They say, you know, I want freedom to make my decisions.
我想获得财务上的自由。
I want, you know, financial freedom.
我们必须说得具体一点。
We have to be specific.
就像恐惧只存在于具体的情境中，目标也必须具体，才能真正成立，也才能让你做出准确的决定。
And so just like fear only exists in the specific, goals have to exist in the specific in order for them to be real and for you to make accurate decisions.
对。
Mhmm.
而且这一点
And this
所以我对语言、可观察的具体事物特别较真。
is why I'm so obsessive about language and, like, observables and things like that.
那到底我真正希望发生的是什么？
So what is one is what do I what do I actually want to have happen?
第二点，这会怎样改变我每天的实际生活？
And then number two, what does that change about my actual daily life?
说到第一点，有意思的是，我刚才跟你说过‘自由’。
On this first point, funnily enough, I said to you freedom Mhmm.
但马上我就意识到，世界上最有束缚感的人
And then I immediately realized that the least free person in the world
老兄，这个说法挺到位的。
Dude, this gets okay.
这话说得真好。
This is great.
所以我一直在想这个问题。
So I think about this.
就是有选择的自由。
It's the freedom to choose.
但我觉得很多人停在了‘自由’这儿。
But I think people stop at freedom.
人们几乎把独立、保留所有选项、最大化人生可能性当成一种执念。
There's this almost fetishization of independence and keeping your options open and options maxing for your life.
但生活中最美好的部分，都藏在你做出选择、跨过一扇门之后——而当你这么做了，那些你本可以走的其他门，就永远关在身后了。
But all of the best parts of life come on the other side of exercising an option and walking through a door, but in so doing leaving the other doors that you could have walked through behind.
所以，过上你想要的生活，关键在于做出承诺，但你不可能拥有所有你想要的人生。
And so the secret to getting a life you want is making a commitment, but you will not get all lives you want.
因此，总得有那么一刻，你站在悬崖边上，必须做出取舍。
And so at some point, you have to sit at the precipice and you have to make a trade.
如果你说，我更想要这个，而不是那个，就意味着我清楚自己得不到那个，但我还是选择要这个。
And if you say, I want this more than something else, it means I know I'm not gonna get this, and I choose to say that I want this more.
我觉得，很多人就卡在了这个十字路口，这占去了大部分时间——不只是刚开始创业时，就连你已经在创业了，也一样。
And I think this is where people just sit at the crossroads, and that is what takes the majority of time, Not just getting into business, but also when you're in business.
人们总在纠结，到底想创办什么样的公司？
People will sit at the crossroads of like, what type of company do I wanna build?
想做什么样的产品？
What type of product?
想经营什么样的生意？
And what type what what type of business do I want?
我们就这样原地不动，我看很多人卡住，根本原因都是没做决定。
And we sit there, and I when I see people get stuck, it's almost always unmade decisions.
因为没做的决定，能拖上一辈子。
Because unmade decisions can last forever.
对。
Mhmm.
但如果你处在不断试错、不断反馈的循环里，迟早能找到方向。
Whereas, if you're in if you're in a trial loop of feedback feedback feedback, like you'll figure it out.
你会往前走的。
Like you'll move.
关于 Bayt 播客
Bayt 提供中文+原文双语音频和字幕，帮助你打破语言障碍，轻松听懂全球优质播客。