The author | Zhang Yi
Edited | Wang Yisu
In tech circles, skiing seems to be becoming a "compulsory course" for elite socializing.
After Gu Ailing won the championship and brushed the screen, her growth background also quickly attracted attention, and her mother Gu Yan was not only an executive in the technology venture capital circle, but also a member of the Peking University short track speed skating team and ski coach as early as college.
In addition to Gu Yan, many overseas Chinese in the US Bay Area, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and Chinese science and technology venture capital circles have a special love for skiing.
Some enthusiasts call skiing "white opium", and even the big guys in the technology circle can't "quit".
"Better than me to program is not as good as I am to ski, better than I am to ski than I am to be better at programming."
On January 29, as a well-known ski enthusiast in the science and technology circle, Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Group, revealed on the social platform that he has loved skiing for many years. "I'm not tall on skiing, I'm just bold." In the interview video, although Zhou Hongyi is extremely modest in his words, there is still a hint of "Versailles".
▲Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Group
There are many tech guys who love skiing. It is rumored that going to Chongli Ski Resort may meet Li Yanhong and Zhou Hongyi, in the Nanshan Ski Resort may see the figures of Lei Jun and Qiu Bojun, and Yabuli in the northeast is a skiing holy place for entrepreneurs to gather.
In the ski resort, there are not only the "fast and furious" that Zhou Hongyi likes, the "human sophistication" of Hillhouse Zhang Lei's "snow field story", and the "philosophical moment" of Lei Jun's skiing to realize the true meaning of the Internet...
Why is there such an obsession with skiing in tech circles?
Ski aesthetics and the philosophy of business warfare
"Skiing, especially skiing, is like starting a business, there are always harder peaks, steeper cliffs for you to conquer. Each more difficult one conquers will bring you great pleasure. ”
When it comes to skiing, Pang Linyong, the founder of Stanford Robots, is always boiling with blood.
Pang Linyong has multiple identities in the WeChat video account certification, a doctorate in computer and mechanical engineering from Stanford University, a master's degree in university of science and technology of China, an academician under Wu Xiaoping, a silicon valley serial entrepreneur, and a part-time ski instructor.
▲ Pang Linyong video number
"I was born in Urumqi, I have been dealing with snow since I was a child, there are no sleds and snow fields, we are just slippery plows." Pang Linyong told "Business Data Faction" about the origin of skiing. After going to Stanford University for a doctorate, he began to ski, and in the years after his work, he met with a group of friends almost every weekend to "compete", and soon he became one of the top few in the Chinese ski circle in Silicon Valley at that time.
Over the years, business and technology have been changing rapidly, and Pang Has become a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur in the field of hard technology. Entrepreneurship and skiing seem to be carved into dna.
"Imagine what it's like to fly down a snowy mountain." Pang Linyong was immersed in the sense of picture.
Challenge and conquer, the ultimate aesthetic of skiing is actually highly similar to the philosophy of business warfare.
Similar to Pang Linyong, Zhou Hongyi also enjoys the challenges of skiing.
"At the beginning, the goal was very low, maybe I just didn't want to wrestle, but after I slowly learned to skate, I thought about whether I could move from the red road to the more advanced road." Every time I go to the slopes, I want to try every piste, even though you might fall into a mess. This is a process of constant self-competition. He once said.
In 2004, when Zhou Hongyi took hundreds of Yahoo China employees to South Korea for skiing, due to the speed of skiing and the unstable brakes, he hit a stone pillar. This incident caused a great shadow in my mind, and I had not skied through the snow for ten years. However, in the end, it was the charm of "white opium" that overcame the shadow of the accident, and he returned to the ski slopes again.
Entrepreneurship, like skiing, is always devoid of fun and tension, and it is too idealistic, and there are ups and downs to have more active vitality. In fact, this logic and industry development cycle are also similar, such as the Gartner curve, AI, chips and other emerging industries need to go through peaks and peaks to enter the long-term development stage.
Entrepreneurship does not have "quiet years", but "forever" to climb the peak.
In addition to the soul resonance between entrepreneurs and the spirit of skiing, investors also feel the same. Skiing not only represents a challenge, but more fascinatingly is how to win the challenge.
"After many years of investment work, I gradually realized that skiing and investing have many similarities, and they need to grasp the balance at all times, both to stare at the feet and to see the distance, to grasp the rhythm in one by one, and to speed up with a certain trend, and the most important thing is to maintain the calmness of the heart." Hillhouse Capital founder Lei Zhang wrote at the beginning of the first chapter of the book Value: My Thoughts on Investing.
This kind of relaxed "power control" in the past two years, the Internet industry bubble burst, a wailing background, more worthy of deep thinking - all the way to the wild, too fast, often hit the head and bleed.
Ridario also used skiing as a metaphor for business management in the Principles: managing your subordinates is like "skiing together." Just as a ski instructor instructs students on skiing, you should be in close contact with your employees and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your subordinates in your actual work. Make the right adjustments through trial and error, and slowly, you will be able to see what tasks they can and cannot accomplish independently.
Ski slopes are also business grounds
The big guys in the technology circle not only like to ski, but also prefer to ski in teams, and a natural social circle of science and technology venture capital was born.
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun's ski fever originated from Xiaomi co-founder Wang Chuan's "Crazy Amway".
Wang Chuan once broke the news: "Lei always feels that the Spring Festival and the seven-day holiday on the eleventh day are too wasteful of time, so we take a three-day holiday and hold a strategic seminar on the next four days." Later, I pulled him to ski all over the world, and if he didn't come back for seven or eight days, everyone could spend the Spring Festival at home completely. ”
For the holiday skiing, Lei Jun, a "trapeze artist", has traveled all over the world. The most enjoyable thing is that in 2017, Chinese New Year's Eve skiing in Switzerland, two plates of dumplings cost 1360 yuan, and one dumpling cost 68 yuan per unit.
After Lei Jun became obsessed with "white opium", not only did the Spring Festival holiday of Xiaomi employees become longer, but also in skiing, Lei Jun also realized the widely circulated Internet proverb - "Standing on the wind outlet, pigs can take off".
As a cargo expert, Lei Jun not only spares no effort to amway skiing, but also "bundles Amway" with Xiaomi's products and skiing.
▲Image source: Lei Jun Weibo
On the snow field, Lei Jun has sold his own TS ski goggles, walkie-talkies and other products. In 2017, Lei Jun and Fu Sheng were skiing in Switzerland, and Fu Shengfa joked on Weibo that Lei Jun "skied and did not forget to fiddle with Xiaomi mobile phones". Turning to Lei Jun's recent Weibo, it is even more to promote the deep integration of Xiaomi 12 series products with the ice and snow world.
The ski resort also witnessed the birth of one legend after another in the field of science and technology in China.
The capital circle circulates that Hillhouse Capital Zhang Lei has repeatedly negotiated cooperation on the snow field.
Among them, the most talked about is the "Changbai Mountain Dialogue", the new energy vehicle dark horse Weilai.
▲ Zhang Lei, founder of Hillhouse Capital, comes from the Internet
One day in 2014, when Zhang Lei and his friend Li Bin were skiing in Changbai Mountain, Zhang Lei asked Li Bin: "You have done a good job on the Internet, what else can you create greater value?" And Li Bin also gave his own answer, in the case of PPT, with the way of oral description to impress Zhang Lei on the spot. In 2015, in the A round of financing disclosed by Weilai, Hillhouse led an investment of 100 million US dollars, and followed up with two rounds of investment, and participated in a strategic investment.
The perfect diary's flywheel growth also stemmed from a snowball talk.
In 2019, at the Hokkaido II Ancient Snow Resort, perfect diary founder Huang Jinfeng and Zhang Lei had dinner after skiing, Zhang Lei said to Huang Jinfeng: "China must have a chance to give birth to a new L'Oréal." ”
This sentence opens the development switch of the perfect diary. In 2020, Perfect Diary acquired, launched sub-brands and other actions frequently, and continued to evolve in the direction of beauty giant "L'Oréal", expanding the field of beauty products, as well as the brand pool, and constantly creating momentum for the launch of the parent company Yixian E-commerce.
The ski circle of friends has also made zhang lei, an enthusiastic enthusiast, a "matchmaker" in the venture capital industry.
In 2014, ski sports community platform GoSki was preparing to seek financing, and one of the company's partners released a financing message in the investment circle through a friend of the fund, which happened to be seen by Zhang Lei, so he introduced it to Wang Mengqiu of Qingliu Capital. In the end, Clearstream Capital invested in the GoSki Angel Round.
The ski resort has fun and affection, and there is a slight sympathy for the hero. So, here, there seems to be more sincere trust, and it is easier to cooperate successfully.
epilogue
"I played 12 games on the playing field and I was completely discouraged." In the circle of friends, Pang Linyong, a part-time ski instructor, often shares her daughter's growth. Talking about his daughter's skiing career, Pang Linyong is also very proud. "She went on to join the palisades Tahoe ski team, finishing first at a Northern California Ski Skills Race the year before and third in an alpine ski race last year."
The spirit of challenge in the science and technology circle continues, and one generation is stronger than the next.
The List of U.S. national teams selected for the Beijing Winter Olympics was released, and the Alpine Ski women's three men and two from the Palisades Tahoe Ski Team are worthy of the best alpine ski team. I'm also an amateur coach for their 4- to 9-year-old Mighty Mitr Rats, and maybe my students will go to the Olympics in the future, haha. Not long ago, Pang Linyong sent a circle of friends.
Someone asked Zhou Hongyi, "What is the magic of skiing?" Zhou Hongyi said: "It can be summed up not by its magic, the magic is that you don't know why you are enchanted." ”
Entrepreneurship, investment, and skiing are always impacting the next peak, and perhaps this is the spiritual resonance.