"Business Studies from Maker Entrepreneurship Mentor Cheng Tianzong" Reading Club: Be the Maker of Your Own Life
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I still remember that in September 2010, a group of people with vision and enthusiasm for the Internet, information and new ventures gathered together through the organization of HPX, and the G5 Reading Club came into being!
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I still vividly remember the first reading meeting held at the Brown Cafe opposite Taipei University of Technology. Everyone was discussing which book to read. He also enthusiastically shared his various opinions and thoughts on the use experience. In the blink of an eye, this reading club named G5 (later upgraded to G5+ Reading Club) has been established for ten years!
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Time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Ten years is enough time to turn an ignorant kindergarten child into a well-educated college student, and it can also allow a young man who has just entered the workplace to gradually be promoted to an indispensable middle- and high-level executive in a company; some even have partners get married and start a family, or obtain an EMBA to further their studies and move towards higher goals in life.
Although some members have temporarily left the team, we are glad that old friends are returning to the team one after another, and new partners continue to join, making G5+ Reading Club a legend in the HPX community.
Recalling the past three years ago, in order to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the establishment of [G5+ Reading Club] (https://www.facebook.com/groups/g5plus/), we organized a series of celebration activities, such as the August camping event led by [Dou Lide] (https://www.facebook.com/ferraridow) (think about how romantic it is to read with a campfire under the clear sky), and [Sidney] Chen] (https://www.facebook.com/sidney1221) proposed inviting teacher Cheng Tianzong to lead us to study the book “[Maker Entrepreneurship Mentor Cheng Tianzong’s Business Science] (https://goo.gl/WcJefB)”, which is quite meaningful.
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In order to smoothly promote this project, we first spent a few weeks reading the book “[Maker Entrepreneurship Mentor Cheng Tianzong’s Business Science] (https://goo.gl/WcJefB)” and also listed the questions we wanted to ask Mr. Cheng Tianzong for help; at the same time, we asked Sidney Chen helped to make the connection, and finally decided on August 5, 2017. It is a great honor to invite Teacher Cheng to come and give guidance.
On August 5th, Mr. Cheng also invited his friend Mr. Weng Pudong, who is currently teaching at the School of Management at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, to come with him. It was an unexpected surprise for the G5+ partners.
We already know Mr. Cheng’s background to a certain extent. We also know that he has held important positions such as President of HP China, President of TI Asia, Vice President of Foxconn Group, and CEO of FIZH. He is a professional manager with 40 years of experience.
Mr. Cheng started by briefly introducing his origins in the maker circle. Later, due to fate, he officially joined the Chinese maker movement in 2013, assisting and guiding maker entrepreneurs. He is currently one of the most respected entrepreneurial mentors in mainland China. He has assisted more than 500 traditional hardware companies to invest in the “Internet +” transformation, or enter incubators and accelerators, obtain angel funds and Series A financing, and enter the Chinese and overseas markets.
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Partners took the opportunity to ask questions. Here are just a few key questions and answers excerpted to share with you:
Someone asked the teacher, how to develop in the enterprise for a long time? And promoted to supervisor? Teacher Cheng said that there is a slang saying: “If you stand under the theater for a long time, it will be yours.” As long as you choose the right industry and company and can stay for a long time, the position will be yours sooner or later.
From mid-level supervisors to senior supervisors, you should pay attention to three key points. The first is to stand under the theater for a long enough time and be patient. The second is that it is very important to follow the boss. When the boss rises, he will also promote you. Third, in multinational companies, promoting managers is often not about promoting those with the highest ability, but about promoting the most suitable ones.
You must speed up your pace and keep up with the trends of the times. Remember that if you go with the trend, you will get twice the result with half the effort, instead of going against the trend and forcing others to do something difficult. To figure out the direction of the company, professional managers must be able to adapt to different environments, integrate into different corporate cultures, establish unique values and beliefs, and persist in following their own path.
Talking about the key to success in starting a business, Mr. Cheng pointed out: The secret to an ever-lasting business lies in strategy, management, values and culture. The principals involved in entrepreneurship must hold a large share and cannot rely solely on professional managers, because they usually do not have entrepreneurial spirit and will only bring forward their own professional experience. The biggest strength and weakness of professional managers is that they are good at compromise and not particularly desperate. In essence, they are indeed different from entrepreneurs.
Teacher Weng also added some of his own views on entrepreneurship. He believes that entrepreneurs should not be in a competitive relationship with their former bosses and should not disobey their former bosses. However, they should not abandon their martial arts skills because of the loss of one thing or the other. Instead, they should pursue mutual complementation and a win-win situation.
Someone asked about the key points that must be paid attention to in the workplace. Teacher Weng said that one must be honest in everything he does. He used his own business as an example. He could accept any mistakes made by his employees, but only intentional mistakes and malicious mistakes were unacceptable.
Many people start to cover up their mistakes because they are afraid of being fixed. In the long run, this will have a negative impact on the company. Therefore, regarding corporate governance, Teacher Weng clearly pointed out that if there are things that cannot be done, they must be made clear at the beginning and strict requirements must be met.
Some partners also asked, how to deal with the resignation of colleagues? Teacher Cheng told everyone that 90% of people who leave their jobs do not get along with their bosses. If they work with the right boss, they will not submit their resignations. Therefore, most people who submit their resignations will choose to leave; therefore, Teacher Cheng does not advocate using additional promises (counter offer) to retain talents, so as not to affect the mood of other colleagues.
When faced with colleagues resigning or being poached, we might as well think about it from another perspective. After all, does it mean that if we leave, we will have one less competitor? Or go out and get another ally? If your subordinate wants to resign, you can help analyze it from his perspective. If you really can’t comfort him, why not let him leave with gratitude! Since you can’t stop it, just be a favor and expand your network to have one more friend in the industry.
It is better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
When talking about the future of young people, Teacher Cheng also told everyone sincerely that it is important to choose the right industry and company, and to make your own life plan. He suggested that everyone might as well think calmly and see if they want to live a comfortable life, or do they want to receive more and more salary? Can you also accomplish something meaningful at work?
Teacher Cheng does not think that Taiwanese people do not have “wolf nature”, but that era in Taiwan has passed, and the other side of the Taiwan Strait is just on the wave.
He sincerely suggested that young friends today should recognize the facts of the current environment and think about whether they should accept the reality or just complain. If you choose to accept the environment we are in, please calm down and find out your strengths and weaknesses. Should you choose to start a business or go abroad to seek opportunities? In short, you should try to find various possible opportunities from the advantages you have.
Both teachers mentioned that the current environment is most suitable for starting a business, but most people don’t want to take risks, so young friends should be brave enough to take on tasks. After all, no matter how bad the times are, there are companies making money, and on the other hand, there are still companies going bankrupt during the good times, so don’t be too ambitious but be realistic and take active action!
Some friends asked how to enrich themselves? I really like what Teacher Cheng shared in this paragraph. The teacher said that many people only see the shortcomings of others, as if this is an innate ability, but if shortcomings are visible in their eyes, they will not make progress. Many people on the Internet are scolding people, but this environment will not make us better!
I believe, the most important task of a department head is to “select the best talents, give them trust, fully empower them, and then provide their subordinates with all the resources and support they need to succeed.”
People will always have blind spots. The important thing is that when you see the shortcomings of others, you must be able to self-examine and learn to improve. We should learn to see the advantages of others, learn secretly, and keep up with the progress, so that we will naturally make progress! For example, during interviews, he found that many lower-level supervisors would only try to find out the shortcomings of the interviewees to highlight their abilities. This kind of arrogant behavior is not a good thing for the company.
As a supervisor, you should try to amplify the strengths of your employees.
In the era of “employing people based on their talents”, every employee is a valuable treasure. It is actually a pity not to pay attention to other people’s strengths. The responsibility of a supervisor is to try to amplify the strengths of employees rather than change their shortcomings. After all, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. As long as the employee’s shortcomings do not affect the work, and try to maximize his strengths! For example, finding a careful assistant for a careless middle-level manager can allow him to develop strategies or implement projects without worrying about red tape and redundant company forms and systems.
Continuing the question just now, someone asked how business executives should deal with black letter attacks? Teacher Cheng shared his own approach, which is that if the report is not reported under real names, he will not handle it. Everyone is required to be named and responsible for everything, and he also instructs supervisors at all levels not to listen to subordinates whispering. If the boss has such an aboveboard attitude, the department’s atmosphere will naturally change accordingly.
Never assume that there is something wrong with your employees when you see a black letter. The kind of supervisor who immediately thinks there is something wrong with his employees is often the person who only sees the shortcomings of others.
If you are attacked by someone writing a black letter, the best way to deal with it is to talk to your boss or supervisor one-on-one and let the boss listen to your opinions. The most useful way to clarify the truth is to let the facts and data speak for themselves. If your boss or supervisor can’t stand it, try to change departments or find another job.
After talking about corporate governance, some students asked about the future development of wearable devices. Mr. Cheng believes that there are still opportunities for wearable devices, but in the future they must operate independently of smartphones and cannot be attached to the mobile phone ecosystem in order to become mainstream in the market.
When it comes to product development, Mr. Cheng attaches great importance to customer needs. He believes that there are three levels of needs: necessity, want, and nice to have. Only true necessity can establish a long-term relationship between supply and demand.
Mr. Cheng also mentioned the distinction between Internet companies and traditional hardware companies. He believed that if Internet companies continue to develop in the long term, when their scale reaches a certain level, they will become water, electricity and gas, which are the infrastructure needed for everyone’s life. At this time, it is likely to be taken over, controlled or forcibly split up by the state. Large Internet companies such as BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) often do not specifically segment their users because they often have hundreds of millions of users.
But hardware companies are different. The advantage is that they can be highly differentiated and meet user and market needs. As long as they narrow the scope and target specific groups for product development, prices can be raised, and large Internet companies such as BAT will not be interested. Therefore, we need to think about integrating the Internet and hardware to create new application scenarios.
Only by starting from a niche can you find the needs.
It’s like designing a sneaker for everyone who likes sports. It doesn’t make sense. All people who like sports are composed of many niches, such as mountain climbing, playing ball, river tracing, etc. Each sport has different needs for shoes. Only by starting from a niche can we find the real needs of the market.
It is very important to find the right demand. If the demand of a niche market can be divided from 0 to 10 points, but if the entrepreneurial team can only achieve 0.1 points, it will not be able to satisfy the market. Only by narrowing the scope can we find the needs and pain points of consumers. For wearable devices that have been popular for a while, the industry often rushes into production and sales without understanding the real needs of the market. This is the main reason for failure.
People who can solve problems are often those closest to the problem.
The two teachers mentioned that many companies will use SWOT analysis (strong Weak crisis analysis) or Five Forces Analysis to clarify the dynamics of competitors, but these two tools are not necessarily suitable for new ventures. Teacher Cheng said that five forces analysis is only suitable for large companies such as GE and Microsoft.
Teacher Weng also suggested that small companies do not need to do SWOT analysis. If you want to do this, you should first confirm how many competitors there are in the market? The best way is to conduct a one-on-one SWOT analysis to find the most suitable entry point.
This “[Maker Entrepreneurship Mentor Cheng Tianzong’s Business Studies] (https://goo.gl/WcJefB)” reading session lasted from 10 am to 2 pm. I am really grateful to the two teachers Cheng Tianzong and Weng Pudong for their generous sharing, which has benefited our G5+ partners a lot! I would also like to thank the relevant members for their joint efforts in arranging this unique and meaningful reading club, opening a beautiful chapter for the seventh anniversary of G5+ Reading Club.
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★ Featured picture source: G5+ Reading Club
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Further reading
- I read “The Yield of Thinking”: Strengthen the four thinking skills and develop business thinking
- I read “First-class people read, where do they draw the line?” : Deep Thinking Techniques for Elite Reading: Don’t draw lines on existing beliefs, but absorb the unknown
- I read “Narrative Arc: Pulitzer Prize judges teach you to write good and popular interview reports”: My review of the interview writing career
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