Chapter 539 Interview

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"That's just one of the reasons. The most fundamental reason why I am where I am today is that I know my strengths and weaknesses very well. ”

"Can you elaborate on that?"

Jacques Vaughn wondered.

"Of course... I'm only 23 years old, and although I had good grades when I was a student at Stanford, that's just relative to the average person. In terms of electronic technology, I am not as knowledgeable as Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, Tim George, Ruby Corporation's CEO, and Katherine Lincoln, CEO of the Kwok Group, Stephen Bryan, Phoenix's CEO, and Johnson Mark, CEO of Pacific Energy, and Unocal's CEO Rebecca Mack in terms of understanding and experience in the financial sector. ”

“… All of the above are my weaknesses, I understand them, and I know them in my heart. If I want to succeed, I have to try my best to avoid these shortcomings and play to my strengths. My strength lies in the fact that I know exactly what kind of people I should choose to manage my company. In addition, when I encounter something I don't understand, I like to brainstorm and use the strengths of others to make up for my weaknesses. ”

Jacques Vaughn nodded knowingly, and after a moment of silence, "I know that there are two words in the East, namely 'knowing people and being good at work' and 'listening to them to understand everything', and Mr. Guo's words should express this meaning." ”

"Mr. Vaughn is really knowledgeable!"

"You have won the award, I just want to know more about Mr. Guo and facilitate the interview with you. ”

"I appreciate people who are well prepared for everything they do. That way they will hold on to the opportunity when it comes. After a pause, "Mr. Vaughn, if you wish, I am very honored to invite you to work on LinkedIn News, and the salary and position will meet your requirements." ”

"Thank you very much Mr. Guo for your attention, but I am enjoying my time at Time Magazine and have no intention of resigning. ”

Guo Shouyun shrugged, "That's a pity." ”

"Mr. Guo, is it convenient to talk about your adoptive father?"

Guo Shouyun's face showed a trace of memory. After a long time, he nodded, "My adoptive father is a very nice man. Although he himself was not highly educated, he possessed the qualities of honesty, kindness and tenacity, and attached great importance to education. I remember what he used to say to me: Reading is a shortcut to change your fate! Unfortunately, he died prematurely. ”

"I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, go ahead!"

"Have you ever thought about finding your biological parents?" asked Jacques Vaughn with a nod.

"I thought about it, but then I thought about it. ”

"Why?"

"I was picked up by my adoptive father when I was an infant and have been growing up ever since. I don't have the slightest memory of them in my memory. I don't want to, or even subconsciously refuse to understand and accept a complete stranger family again. … Maybe that's what God has arranged for me to do without giving me a whole family. ”

Let's change the topic and what made you choose to start your own business. ”

"You mean LinkedIn?"

"Hmm!"

"It's also accidental. At that time, Internet entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley was in full swing. Stanford is a talent pool in Silicon Valley, and almost all computer science students talk about entrepreneurship every day, and in this atmosphere, even those who have no intention of starting a business can't help but try. I was the same, and I was young at the time, and I always thought I could be a big man in the future. So I instigated my roommate Alexander at the time to set up the predecessor of LinkedIn, the 'Excellence Network'. ”

"As it turns out, you are indeed a new legend now. Plus, you're only 23 years old now, which is still very young. ”

"My age does make me a young person, but after all that I've been through, I'm mentally older than 23. ”

After glancing at what he was going to ask, he said, "After the NASDAQ crisis, the entire Internet industry in Silicon Valley was in a depression, what made you think the industry had a lot to offer in the future? In addition, Google was not profitable at the time, and its position in the search industry was not as good as that of Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite and ebCraler." What made you choose Google? over other companies. ”

"I'll answer your first question first. Mr. Warren Buffett has a quote that I remember deeply: I am afraid when others are greedy, and I am greedy when others are fearful. Although this sentence is specific to the investment field, I think it can also be used in business and life. In addition, I am convinced that the birth of the Internet has its inevitability, and although it has experienced a bubble, it is also a good thing to some extent. It squeezed out the dross, and more than 80 percent of what was left was 'real gold'. It's just a pity that I don't have enough money, otherwise I would be willing to buy every Internet company in Silicon Valley that has survived the NASDAQ crisis. ”

"As for why I'm bullish on Google over Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite and ebCraler. Because they are both EB portals and not pure search engine companies. And I've always felt that in the early days of the company, it was more important to focus than to expand horizontally. Since its establishment, Google has been deeply engaged in the field of search and has accumulated sufficient technology and experience. ”

In contrast, Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite and ebCraler just make search their side business, and portals are their main business. Although the portal was good, I couldn't buy Yahoo with my financial resources at the time. According to the '28 rule', if you can't be the first in the field, then even if you become the second, it will be difficult to make a profit. ”

"Also, Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin are very good Internet engineers and I believe they can succeed. ”

Jacques Vaughn nodded, "In addition to business, you are also a very good writer. And he is by far the world's most profitable author. How do you feel about that?"

"I don't think much of it. I just did what I liked, and as for the result, it was God's arrangement. ”

"A lot of people have a lot of controversy about the "Fifty Degrees" series you wrote, what do you think?"

"Rowling wrote "Harry Potter", you can't think that deep down she wants to be a wizard, Mario Puzo wrote "The Godfather", you can't think that he wants to be a mafia, Philip Rose wrote "Portnoi's Complaint", you can't think that he only thinks about masturbation every day...***!" Guo Shouyun secretly said in his heart, almost habitually saying certain words.

“… In the same way, I wrote the series "Fifty Shades Darker" because I was in high school and I thought it was easier to attract readers. ”

"You started out in a tech business, why did you suddenly get interested in the entertainment industry?" Jacques Vaughn nodded.

"You're probably asking about the Matrix, right?"

"Yes!"

"In the beginning, I just wanted to make a film of what I had written. ”

"But you can work with other studios. ”

"That's true. But I prefer to be in charge of it all myself. Moreover, I was young and vigorous at the time, and I felt that I could succeed in writing and that I was quite successful in starting a business, so I felt that I could do anything. As soon as his mind was hot, he went regardless of it. ”

"It's a good thing you went to Hollywood, otherwise there would be no Hollywood film and television head matrix company now. ”

Guo Shouyun smiled, "If it were me now, I wouldn't be making the same choice." ”

"Why?"

"Because of reverence. The more you know about an industry, the more you understand, the more concerns and awe you will have. That's why older people are more conservative and cautious, while younger people are more fearless. The same thing can be said to be two very different choices for two people of different ages. ”

"Mr. Guo, listening to you say this, combined with your age, it is really full of disobedience. ”

"Normal. Sometimes I feel that I should live more than what I should be at my age, but there are some things that you can't forget or erase when you experience them. Guo Shouyun sighed.

The combination of the two lives, his combined age is sixty years old, how can he still have the mind of a young man. When I was first reborn, I was fearless but I understood too little, and I was not afraid to wear shoes with bare feet.

"That being said, you went into the energy industry and the financial industry!"

If you think about it, these are the industries I entered before 2002, and after that, I rarely got involved in new industries, and even when I did, it was mostly investment-oriented, rather than running as a main business.

Jacques Vaughn thought about it for a moment, and it was true.

As for Tesla cars, because there is no finished product, it is now only a research and development institution at best, and it is not a company at all, so not many people know about it, and even fewer know that it belongs to Guo Shouyun.

"What made you make such a big change? If it's an experience, as you said before, it should be gradual, not sudden. ”

"Something did happen. However, when it comes to my personal privacy, I won't say much about it here. ”

Molly's car accident is a sad thing that Guo Shouyun is reluctant to mention even now.

"What was your motivation for getting involved in the energy industry?" Jacques Vaughn asked with a nod.

"Make money!"

"Make money?"

"Hmm... As I said before: I am afraid of others being greedy, and I am greedy when others are fearful. At that time, California's energy crisis hit Pacific Electric Power & Gas Company and Southern California Gas Company, two major utility giants, and the former was even on the verge of bankruptcy. This opened my eyes to the opportunity. ”

"First, I analyzed the causes of the power crisis in California. It is not a natural disaster that is not majeure, but man-made. Enron used its natural gas supply network to artificially raise the price of natural gas, as well as the wholesale price of electricity, to cause the crisis. As long as Enron is resolved, California's power crisis will go away. ”

"Secondly, I analysed the outlook for the electricity market. Energy is the foundation of economic development. As long as the U.S. continues to grow, the demand for energy will continue to rise. In addition, with the popularization of the Internet, people are spending more time on computers, which will increase electricity consumption. Moreover, along with the reduction of fossil fuels, new energy sources such as tides, wind power, and solar lamps will be the future. ”

"So, no matter how you look at it, the future of electricity is bright. It just so happened that I had such a great opportunity again, how could I miss it. ”

"What about Unocal Oil?" Jacques Vaughn continued, nodding.

"Oil is the lifeblood of modern industry. After the NASDAQ crisis, the economies of major countries around the world are improving, the demand and consumption of oil have increased, and the rise in oil prices can be expected, so I certainly have no reason to give up. ”

"But you didn't choose to buy the bottom when the telecom industry was in crisis?"

"I have limited capital, and after choosing the two capital-heavy industries of power and oil, I have no extra funds to invest in the telecommunications industry. ”

Jacques Vaughan nodded knowingly, "Many people say that you accurately foresaw the Argentine financial crisis, made huge profits by operating gold futures, and laid the foundation of your career, do you agree?"

"Half of it!"

"Why half, and not all?"

"That harvest solved my lack of capital. But the foundation of my career is my head, not just money. If you have money, you can have a successful career, and I don't think there will be so many bankruptcies in this world. ”

"Can you give us an overview of how you predicted the Argentine financial crisis?"

"Careful data calculations, plus some intuition!"

"Intuition?"

Guo Shouyun smiled and nodded.

"I trust my instincts, and it hasn't failed me so far. ”

"Have you had this instinct since you were a child?"

"Mr. Vaughn, I think you're misunderstood. The intuition I am talking about is not a foreknowledge of wizards, but a decision made deep down after reading a lot of detailed and reliable data, and I think it is the most correct decision. This is the result of a lot of math rather than a sci-fi result of random guesswork. ”

"I wish I could have Mr. Guo's intuition!" After a pause, "In 2001, Mr. Guo and Citi launched a bet that shook the country, but then it died down. Can you elaborate on that?"

"Citi and I just had different views on the gold market at the time, and there was no fundamental contradiction. So after 9/11, the market's reaction made it unnecessary for the bet to continue. ”

"From 9/11 to October 2002, you almost disappeared, rumored to be your fiancée in London...!"

"Mr. Daun, I don't want this interview to involve my personal affairs, please understand!" Guo Shouyun interrupted.

Looking at the palpitating seriousness revealed in his calm expression, Jacques Vaughn couldn't help but lose the interview he had won so hard, and quickly nodded.

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