25-year-old Yang has changed the world, what is 45-year-old Yang doing

Dr. Wu Jun, the author of "Top of the Wave", once described Yang as "immortal", because Yahoo, which he founded at the age of 25, opened an era. The book reads:

"A hundred years from now, if people only remember the two people who contributed the most to the Internet, then these two people are likely to be Yang and David Filo. Their contribution to the world goes far beyond creating Yahoo, the world's largest Internet portal, but more importantly, setting the rules of the game that the internet industry has followed today – open, free and profitable. Maybe in a hundred years Yahoo will no longer exist, but people will compare them to Edison, Bell, and Ford."

Back 20 years ago, before Mr. Yang and his friend Ferro founded Yahoo, the Internet was just a toy for a bunch of geeks. The emergence of two startups in 1994 changed everything. Netscape's first browser, introduced in October 1994, brought the Internet into the lives of ordinary people, and Yahoo's free search service was just as important. If it weren't for Yahoo, the internet would probably be a luxury for the wealthy for a long time.

In addition to creating the Internet era, Yang Also profoundly changed the capital market. In 1995, Yahoo was swept out of Stanford University because it was taking up too many school resources, so Yang and Ferro came to Stanford University's Dune Road venture capitalists across the wall to seek financial assistance. Originally, the two did not have much hope, but the final result surprised everyone. Sequoia Capital exchanged $1 million for a 25 percent stake in the small company with only two people and a few broken computers, and more importantly, the company had no revenue.

This investment is also an epoch-making event, which means that in the Internet age, capital begins to sell rights, and personal wisdom and huge amounts of capital enjoy the same status. Since then, grassroots entrepreneurship has surged in Silicon Valley, and a large number of ambitious young people have begun to seize the tide. This is the beginning of wall Street's decline, the dawn of the rise of Silicon Valley.

The past is like smoke, 25-year-old Yang Jerry changed the world, 45-year-old Yang Jerry Is doing?

A few weeks ago, during the "Innovator Alliance's Journey into Silicon Valley" organized by Geek Park, Yang held a special cocktail party to entertain China's tech elites from afar. At the cocktail party, many Chinese CEOs said that Yang was an idol of his youth and was excited to see the idol. However, Yang Zhiyuan was unusually humble and friendly. During the period, everyone spoke freely, and Yang Zhiyuan also answered many questions with great interest.

Here are some of the highlights.

About entrepreneurship

"Starting a business is a lonely journey, and I'm lucky to have many partners to walk with me," Mr. Yeo said. He specifically mentioned his entrepreneurial partner, Ferro, and said the two had maintained a close relationship for more than two decades. Ferro remains with Yahoo to this day, and although he is a member of the board of directors, he is said to have no real power within the company and still works in cubicles.

Yang also mentioned the entrepreneurial environment in Silicon Valley. It means that in Silicon Valley, everyone is accustomed to failure, you fail once, the next time you start a business again, there will still be people who will invest in you. This may not be the case anywhere else in the world. "Everyone here says, you are so smart, you failed once this time, and you will certainly not fail next time." He concluded by saying that "the experience of failure is more important than the experience of success".

Leave Yahoo and enter the venture capital industry

In January 2012, Mr. Yang resigned from all of Yahoo's remaining positions and quit Yahoo altogether. Yang then founded AME Cloud Ventures, which is understood to mean "rain" in Japanese, implying that "accurate and readable data will be the blood of the future economy". AME has invested in more than 50 startups to date, the most well-known of which are Evernote, Wattpad and Tango. At the cocktail party, Yang also introduced some of these startups to Chinese guests.

Yang told everyone that when Yahoo was at home, he most longed to have more contact with entrepreneurs, and doing venture capital made him realize this wish. Today, he is most happy to see a new generation of entrepreneurs grow up. Yang Jiyuan did not forget to quip: "When you succeed, don't forget my little role."

Alibaba and Jack Ma

Mr. Yang's Yahoo missed many opportunities, such as giving up $1 million to buy Google in 1998, and proposing to take Facebook for $1 billion in 2006, but Yahoo's $1 billion in exchange for 40% of Alibaba's shares in 2005 was Yang's most beautiful battle at Yahoo, a deal that had a profound impact on the fate of both Yahoo and Alibaba, and completely changed the ecology and direction of China's Internet.

Recalling his decision to invest in Alibaba, Mr. Yang said he "valued Jack Ma as a person who had great perseverance and did not give up until he reached his goal; at the same time, he was very patient and strategic." Yang said that he had great respect and admiration for Ma Yun from the beginning, and tried his best to invest in him, "As long as he can accept our investment, we will have a chance in China."

Chinese companies enter the United States

Mr. Yang said it was now a golden opportunity for Chinese companies to enter the United States. "In the past, it was all about bringing Silicon Valley things to China, but now it's bringing Chinese things over." Many companies in Silicon Valley today are curious about China, but at the same time they don't know much about it, and they are even a little afraid. In the future, Chinese companies should actively seek cooperation with Silicon Valley companies, "because there is a spirit of cooperation on the West Coast of the United States."

Finally, Yang Zhiyuan also sent a message to Chinese CEOs that they must speak with products and make world-class products. "A lot of Chinese companies today are in the U.S., like OnePlus and Cheetah, and the average user doesn't realize they're a Chinese company because as long as the product is good enough, no one cares where it comes from." Everyone wants the good things in the world, and no one wants bad things wherever they come from."

45-year-old life insights

25-year-old Yang Jerry Young Zhizhi, now 45 years old he has two sideburns, in the face of a group of CEOs who are much younger than himself, he also expressed some of his life insights:

"Career is important, but at a certain point, you will find that career is only a part of life, it can occupy 90% or even 99% of your life, but it cannot be all." 」 There are still other pursuits outside of your career, and the bigger your career is, the more important it is."