When you suddenly lose the qualification to go abroad, when you have an invention, when you face being sued by thousands of people, when you have a "five-handed car" to sell, when you don't know the law and you open a law firm, what will you do ... when faced with these "barriers" in life? Let's see how Tang Jun did it.
My successful "4+ 1" theory
It is often said by my classmates that when I was a sophomore or a junior, I found that I still didn't know the future, and I was suddenly confused-and I often thought about how to make myself successful. How to surpass yourself?
I once put forward a theory of "success 4+ 1". Practicality is also a few elements that college students need to have when they go to society:
The first is wisdom. Is knowledge wisdom? No, the ability to use knowledge is wisdom, so going to college is not just reading books. What major to study is very important, but what is more important than this is to cultivate your own learning ability. Few students get excited when they see complicated equations. Should I still learn? Study! It may not be your interest, but you must force yourself to cultivate perseverance and learning ability. At least half of the jobs you don't like after entering the society. Can you not do it if you don't like it? Society is not that simple. Society is not what you think. Do it if you want, and don't do it if you don't want. A student who just stepped out of school, you have no core competitiveness. Social competition is fierce. You should first do a good job in the position you don't like, so that you have core competitiveness, and then change it.
Opportunities are also important. Many people attribute their failure to unfair opportunities. In fact, everyone was similar in college, but after ten years, why is there such a big difference? Let's rethink, is every opportunity fair? Opportunities are definitely unfair, and opportunities are definitely only given to those who are prepared.
Diligence is also important. I have no other skills, only diligence, and I have been diligent! Many people ask me: Tang Jun, how did you become the president of China in seven years from an ordinary software engineer-an engineer who wrote code? This has never happened in the history of Microsoft, nor has it happened in foreign companies in China. Smart? You can tell from the way you look at me that I am not a smart person. But what you can't see is that I have been diligent for several years and decades. I have no other secret, only by diligence. A little cleverness and ten efforts are enough. Leaders don't hate hardworking people. Diligence is more important than anything else in a person's career. College students here must bring back two words tonight-diligence-diligence will affect your whole destiny.
Another important one in "4+ 1" is "* * *". Do everything with enthusiasm. If you can put your heart and soul into everything, your chances of success will be much higher.
At the same time, you should try to change your "personality" in college. What is a university? University is a "small society". When you step into the school gate, you enter the stage of changing your personality. If you can't change your weakness, you are far from success. What is a good character? There is no fixed definition. In fact, it is those recognized personalities: enthusiasm, love, integrity, frankness ... If these are reflected in you, will others dislike you? Why does personality determine success? Because opportunity is linked with character.
There are three kinds of opportunities, one is given by others; The second is to fight for it; The third is operation. When every opportunity comes up, what makes it yours? It depends on your personality. We need to cultivate a good character so that people around us can agree with you. You should treat everyone sincerely and treat everything around you with integrity and care.
A graduate student who works in front of the Ministry of Education every day.
Because of my personality, I lost a very important opportunity in college-although I won the first place in the exam, I didn't get the qualification to go abroad. But I didn't give up the opportunity that might belong to me.
Because overseas places in universities are often useless, I called various schools to ask if there were any overseas places. Fortunately, I actually found a school-Beijing Broadcasting Institute. When I found this opportunity, I quickly made the Broadcasting Institute my second choice. The graduate teacher of Beijing Broadcasting Institute asked me: I think your exam results are very good. Why did you come to Guangzhou Broadcasting Institute? I said I was here for the broadcasting industry in China. (Laughter)
He doesn't understand: such a good school, such a good score, is not in this school, but wants to come to the broadcasting college? We can accept you, but you have to remember one thing: this is only a postgraduate class, and you can't get a master's degree. I made a confession at that time: for the broadcasting industry in China, it is not that important to have a degree. The purpose of my coming is very clear! (Laughter)
After transferring all the information to Beijing Broadcasting Institute, I began to strive for the opportunity to go abroad. If I can't go abroad, I will become a student who has only attended a master's class and has no diploma. I asked the teacher: I heard that the number of graduate students going abroad has not been used up. He said: Yes. But it's expired. Aren't you here to broadcast? What does it have to do with going abroad? I solemnly say: China's broadcasting industry is very backward, and we need to go abroad to learn some advanced concepts and technologies. (Laughter)
Although it has expired, I am going to report this situation to the Ministry of Education immediately. I took the information and ran to the study abroad department of the Ministry of Education. They said that the work has been finished and has been reported to the leaders of ministries and commissions. There can be no exceptions.
So I began to work in the Ministry of Education every day-only at the door of the department, of course. I arrive earlier than the director every morning. He started work at 7: 30 and I arrived at 7: 00. I greet him every morning: good morning. He came out for dinner at noon, and I said, Director Li, please have a full stomach. He was surprised because he had forgotten me for a long time. After dinner, I will say: it's still early at noon, so take a rest. After work at night, I will say: it may rain tomorrow, don't forget to bring an umbrella. But he still ignored me. I continued to do this on the second, third and fourth days.
People are not afraid of cruelty, they are afraid of being remembered. I'm violent, okay? Break the law. Is it useful for me to write letters? It's no use. I'll just go to him and take a hard line with him, okay? No What is the most primitive way of human communication? It is very touching, and it is "to care about the heart and move people with emotion." People have one heart, and the heart has the same reason. No matter how high a person grows, he is almost moved. All you have to do is express it in your own way.
Many days have passed, and he can't stand it, even I can't stand it: I go to work so early every day and get off work so late. On the fifth day, he asked me, Comrade, what are you doing? I replied: I am from the Broadcasting Institute. I ask you about graduate students going abroad. In the afternoon, seeing that I was still standing there, he also began to say hello to me: Come up with me! With this sentence, I knew there was a door.
I will give him new information this afternoon. That's it: through hard work, I turned an opportunity that was out of reach for outsiders into mine. With what? By diligence, perseverance and enthusiasm.
When there is an opportunity to leave you, why not try Tang Jun's way? Many people don't know what to do when they encounter such obstacles. Stay away from it? That opportunity must be far away from you. Direct collision? Must be a broken head. I can't hit it or run away. What the hell should we do? Go around!
I am closely related to "macroeconomics"
Yesterday, I had a meeting with several major Japanese securities companies and talked about some macroeconomic issues. They were surprised: I didn't expect Tang Jun to know nothing about macroeconomics. I said I didn't know, but I experienced it myself. (Laughter)
1985-1990, I went to study in Japan. At that time, in Japan in the early 1980s, no one looked up. But suddenly one year, Japan's economy suddenly took off. 1985 What happened in history? I said: nothing. 1985 Nothing really happened in the world and Japan. But one detail happened: a person came to Japan. (Laughter)
I then asked him: When was Japan's economic collapse? 1990. 1990 What's the matter? We are all confused ourselves, but we really don't know why the Japanese economy collapsed at once. I said, mind you, a man left Japan. (Laughter)
I said: Let me ask you again, when did the American economy take off? He said, 1990, 1990 where are you? I said, you should be able to guess. Let me ask you again, when did the American economy go downhill? 1997. You didn't 1997 leave the United States, did you? I said, you still have some brains.
I said: Let me ask you, when do you think China's economy should start to grow at a high speed and steadily? He said, 1997 is almost over. Did you go back to China that year? Just kidding: you are still like a securities analyst, with brains.
I often joke that I dare not leave China now. Although I know that nothing will happen without China, if anything happens without, I really can't stand it. After five years in Japan and seven years in the United States, I returned to China. Looking back, it's interesting.
So I often joke that Bill Gates was very worried about a similar economic downturn in Microsoft after I left, so he quickly gave me the title of "Honorary President of Microsoft for Life".
A small invention saved a well-known company and made itself.
/kloc-when I came back from America 0/2 years ago, I made a small invention. I was very excited at that time, but when communicating with many domestic enterprises. They all said: this thing has no technical content at all. But I didn't give up. I believe this thing will be popular. I just talked about one in Japan, and they are very interested. So everyone saw a machine called "big head sticker" in the street today.
Later, I made something similar to a photo sticker, but with higher technical content-the "scorer" in karaoke. It is often said: Tang Jun, it was originally invented by you, no wonder it is not allowed! When I made this invention, I made many mathematical models. At the same time, I will make a system to score with my own standards: if I sing a song myself, or even move myself, give me 90 points; Generally, singing will give you more than 70 points, and poor singing will give you 30 points. I can write as many points as possible at the end of the song. So this is actually my standard. If your singing effect is closest to mine, you can get high marks. So you want to get high marks? Very simple, imitate Tang Jun's voice in KTV. (Laughter)
However, with the invention of the patent, it is meaningless to sing it down by yourself, so it should be put into the market. At that time, I was still a student, with no funds and no market. What shall we do? I should find a buyer. Later, I sold the patent to a little-known company at that time, and it is said that it is still a little famous now, called "Samsung Company". (Laughter)
At that time, the company with the highest market share was the pioneer company in Japan, with a market share of 27%, followed by Samsung, but the market share was only 2.3%. I cooperate with my boss, of course he won't talk to me. So I cooperated with the second child and experienced some twists and turns. They finally decided to give me 80 thousand dollars. I told them: China people don't care about money! Whether it's 80 thousand or 70 thousand. Actually, my psychological price is $50,000, and this business has changed my life.
Later, I learned that Samsung was about to close down, but because of my patent, the market share rose from 2.3% to more than 10%. More importantly, it sold the patent right to Pioneer Company. The first patent alone cost $5 million. More importantly, in the future, Pioneer will pay $3 for each patent! Why is there Gates today? Gates just made a DOS, but IBM had to spend 20 million dollars to buy it. 20 million dollars is very tempting for a young man. But Gates is much smarter than me. He didn't sell it. Instead, sign a contract: every time you use DOS, you will be charged $5. Now I understand the gap between Gates and me. But I was very moved when I took the money. The poor student suddenly became a millionaire!
Selling cars, negotiating, running a law firm, tough attitude.
When I got the money from Samsung, I said to myself: Now that Tang Jun is worth $80,000, he can no longer drive a car with $600. The first thing is to replace the "five-hand car" that I bought for $600 when I first arrived in America-I bought a "one-hand car" for $65,438+$0,000. What about the old car? Sell it. Otherwise, it is a waste of resources.
I spent 8 yuan to wash the car, take photos and put up advertisements. It simply says: the car is very good, and the price is interviewed. An American came over and asked, what about this car? I said, good. He asked: Why do you want to sell? I said, see that new car? That's mine. I don't want to sell my car because it is broken, but because I have a new car. He asked: How good is the performance of the car? I said: don't worry, take it back and drive it for three months without paying. After driving, come back to pay if you feel good, and send the car back if you feel bad. First of all, hold him down in momentum. He has never heard of this way of selling cars: how can he not pay for three months? The performance must be very good! Otherwise, you wouldn't be so confident. He asked: How much is it? I said China people don't care about money! He said there must be a price. I said, it's very simple. You can have as much as you say. As long as you bid, even if you don't pay, I will let you drive back! He said: I'm really sorry. I think this car is quite good in all aspects. Let me make an offer first. What about 900 yuan? I thought to myself: 600 yuan when I bought it. I opened 1 for many years, with an appreciation of 50%! Actually, I really want to cut it below 600. Finally, I paid 900 yuan to keep my promise (laughs).
At that time, besides my own software company, I had another company called "Hollywood Entertainment Film Company". (Is the name big? No way, the "leather bag company" must have a big name! )
Because I have been a cross talk fan since I was a child. At that time, I wanted to invite all the top crosstalk performers from China to tour the top ten cities in the United States, so that Americans could experience crosstalk. It was called "International Acupuncture" at that time. China people need visas to go abroad, so I entrusted the most famous lawyer in Los Angeles to apply for these visas. He said there was no problem. The result is 10 days before the performance. When I booked all the venues and sold all the 30,000 tickets for the performance of 15, something unexpected happened: Jiang Kun suddenly told me that I hadn't got my visa yet. I suddenly collapsed. No, I care about money. At most, I lost the venue fee and lost hundreds of thousands of advertising fees. But there is one thing I can't afford to lose, and that is credibility! What Americans like to do most is to sue, which is fraud!
I met another obstacle: facing jail. There are only ten days left and I can't do anything. But after all, I stayed in the United States for two years, and I know something about American society: the United States is a political society, and their congressmen play a very important role. At that time, I got all the names of 56 representatives and senators. Do what? Write to every member of parliament. Of course, if I indicate at the end of the letter that I have not received a reply within two days, I will copy the letter to newspapers such as The New York Times.
Many people wrote back to me and said that they were very concerned about these things. There are also some members who directly call and send telegrams to the White House, the State Council, Immigration Bureau and China Embassy to inquire about this matter. Because the president is most afraid of the Senate and the House of Representatives. So the President also sent a fax to the Embassy of China asking about it. If you are an ambassador to China and receive so many inquiries about the same thing at once, he must think that this company has a long history, even the American national machine has been used by him, and the background must be very strong! (Laughter)
As a result, all the visas were taken away soon. I did what the biggest lawyer who spent 19000 dollars failed to do. Then I can do what he can. So I immediately spent 100 dollars to register a company-"the first immigration law firm in America". It makes people feel that there is a second and a third. Make the name louder. (Laughter)
But America is a competitive society with a mature lawyer market. The lawyers introduced by others are all doctors of law from Harvard and Yale. What is Tang Jun? Doctor of Computer Science. Is anyone talking to you? So I took a high-profile and strong way.
Lawyers always charge by the hour, 300 dollars an hour. So, if he is short of money, just call me and talk for an hour, and you have to prepare a check for 300 yuan. But sometimes you talk a few times and spend a lot of $300, which may not be possible.
So I don't play like them. I take a completely transparent approach. How transparent is it? Write down the visa fee: 600 dollars from student visa to work visa! Clear price tag is more convincing than fuzzy price tag. In addition, for customers, success rate is more important than price. Grasping this mentality, I adopted a high-profile way: no charge if I don't succeed!
More importantly, the advertising wording of other law firms is usually vague: the success rate of our law firm is "higher". And I said: At present, the success rate of this law firm is 100% (I made one in total and it succeeded, don't you think it is 100%? )。
I didn't expect to attract a large crowd. I only rented three telephone lines, and I couldn't connect them at all. The line is always busy and customers start to complain. I quickly told the subordinates of another software company: don't do software yet, come and answer the phone for me!
The unified telephone answering mode is: when a customer wants to talk to a lawyer, reply "Our lawyer is very busy, so your case can only be handed over to us in writing." There is only one lawyer in total, of course, very busy! On the one hand, it gives people the impression that our business is good. Of course, I dare not meet them at all. What am I doing? I’m reading a book. Although American law books are so thick, they are all in English. I have no choice but to bite the bullet.
What is the most important thing in college? Not academic performance, but learning style. What society needs is also people who know how to learn and have the ability to learn. In particular, we should learn how to learn quickly and grasp the key points.
What am I reading with such a thick lawyer book? Directory. Just remember the directory. Since it is impossible to remember the details of every case clearly, as long as you can turn to the corresponding page as quickly as possible when trying a case, then you can cram for the last minute.
Finally, more and more people asked me to handle it here, and it became very successful at once, even more successful than my main business. I suddenly felt a sense of loss: I was born in software, but the software didn't do anything, but I succeeded in becoming a law firm. The biggest idea of this law firm is high-profile advertising, which captures the mentality of consumers.
I like challenges. Although the law firm is doing well, it is not my pursuit. What is my pursuit? Do software. But I don't think I can do much software. A small company with 30-40 people has no sense of accomplishment. 1994, at the peak of my career, I chose to give up. Although I have three jobs in Los Angeles, I feel that I have no pursuit of being three "small companies". I want to see the bigger world outside. At that time, it happened that the "marriage matching machine" invented in Japan caught the attention of Microsoft. After receiving two work calls from Microsoft, I gave up three companies in Los Angeles without hesitation and ended my busy and idle "little boss" life. But when I joined Microsoft, I was just a software engineer. Many people don't understand, give up the position of president of their own company and become engineers? I think people should be able to go up and down.