In less than half a month, three business leaders have talked about the "trough of life" in public.

On the evening of August 11th, in his annual speech, Lei Jun did not talk about XIAOMI, but told three stories that he had fallen into the trough, namely, the Jinshan period product "Pangu" was unsalable, he personally "stood in the shop to sell goods"; it was hopeless to compete with Microsoft Corp and "lie flat" for half a year; the founded B2C e-commerce Zhuoyue net was forced to sell itself, did not catch up with the Internet tide, but also missed the e-commerce tide.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group founder Yu Minhong and Sohu.com Ltd founder Zhang Chaoyang just finished talking about the stars and the meaning of life in "Dialogue under the Stars" on July 31st.

Also born in the 1960s, they slowly embarked on the entrepreneurial road after graduating from famous schools, cutting through difficulties and leading enterprises to go public. In the blood boiling for more than 20 years, these three bosses have experienced countless highlights and troughs.

At the current node, the bosses recall the trough of life, which does not surprise the outside world. From the perspective of the external environment, the epidemic has continued in the past six months, the global economy is facing severe challenges, and the market generally lacks confidence in the short term. In 2022, the era of horse-racing enclosure in the entire Internet market has passed and entered a stage of relative stability and balance. XIAOMI, New Oriental Education & Technology Group and Sohu.com Ltd, who are at the helm of the three bosses, all encountered some difficulties more or less. At present, the market capitalization of XIAOMI, New Oriental Education & Technology Group and Sohu.com Ltd is 300.986 billion Hong Kong dollars, 34.448 billion Hong Kong dollars and 678 million US dollars respectively.

The bosses who run away for half their lives and fight in the business world are still on the front line, and the difficulties they face have never been reduced, but they have made a lot of sense. Compared with the past, it seems that there is less passion and Ling Yun's ambition for "to achieve a great cause", and more exploration of the meaning of life. The experience and experience after years of washing and polishing may also inspire entrepreneurs and young people who are confused today.

The boss began to talk about the "trough".

In life, highlights are difficult to sustain, but troughs are common. If we sum up the past troughs of the three business leaders, we will find that in the early days, Lei Jun's trough missed the general trend; Yu Minhong's trough was trapped by infighting; and Zhang Chaoyang's trough may be lost.

Lei Jun was born in a teacher's home and graduated from Wuhan University. He was appreciated by Jinshan founder Qiu Bojun in 1992 and joined Jinshan. In 1996, he encountered the first real trough in his life.

Closed for three years, Lei Jun led the development of Pangu components officially on the market in April 1995, originally thought to be able to sell and make a profit, "the victory banquet is ready", unexpectedly the product is unsalable. In 1996, in order to sell Pangu software, Lei Jun, general manager of Jinshan Mountain in Beijing, personally went to the front line to "station shop to sell goods," but in the process of selling goods, he found that Pangu was just working behind closed doors, compared with this software. on the contrary, people are more interested in basic software such as "getting started with computers."

At that time, there was no hope of winning in the competition between Jinshan and Microsoft Corp. In April 1996, Lei Jun took the initiative to resign to Qiu Bojun, but he was refused. finally, he asked Bojun to give Lei Jun a half-year long holiday. During these six months, Lei Jun completely relaxed. Indulge in clubbing, dancing and forums.

After returning to Jinshan, when Lei Jun was still focused on internal restructuring, Internet companies such as NetEase, Inc, Tencent, Sina and so on had already appeared. Lei Jun consciously missed the Internet tide, but found the opportunity of B2C e-commerce. Zhuoyue Network was established in Jinshan in 1999, but it struggled to support until 2004, and it was really unable to get financing. Finally, it was forced to sell to Amazon.Com Inc, and Zhuoyue became the later Amazon.Com Inc China.

He concluded that Zhuoyue failed because it was "founded after the bursting of the Internet bubble and before the full rise of e-commerce". As a result, Lei Jun has always believed in "complying with the trend."

XIAOMI, who is not mentioned in Lei Jun's trough story.It is also under internal and external pressure.. In Lei Jun's annual speech last year, XIAOMI's mobile phone shipments first reached the second place in the world in the second quarter of 2021 and fell back to the third place in the world in the second quarter of this year.

Market share is only second. Since 2022, the entire mobile phone market has been in the doldrums, while XIAOMI has been severely punished in India and Italy in the overseas market, which accounts for half of the revenue.

Maybe that's why Lei Jun said something new in this annual speech. "Worked in the science and technology industry for more than 30 years, all is a long setback and suffering.He sighed in the trailer video.

Compared with Lei Jun, Yu Minhong, who has published a number of books and held numerous speeches across the country, is even more familiar with the highlights and troughs of his life.

Born in the countryside, Yu Minhong took the college entrance examination for three years before he was admitted to Peking University. He went to college on state financial aid, and was suspended from school for a year because of excessive stress and overwork.

However, when New Oriental Education & Technology Group was founded, he stepped on the trend of studying abroad. In 1993, he founded New Oriental Education & Technology Group, and in 1995 he invited Xu Xiaoping and Wang Qiang as co-founders, but around the year 2000, the problem of interest distribution within New Oriental Education & Technology Group broke out constantly, and the "brothers" invited back by Yu Minhong and Yu Minhong's relatives appeared irreconcilable contradictions.

Internal interests are inextricably linked, in order to continue cooperation, Yu Minhong once took the initiative to give up the post of president of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, and resigned from the position of chairman, could not join the board of directors for about a year, just as an ordinary New Oriental Education & Technology Group teacher.

Finally, in 2006, New Oriental Education & Technology Group went public and became the first listed education and training company in China. in the next decade, New Oriental Education & Technology Group started from studying abroad to K12, from offline training to online training, and became the position of the two giants of offline training in the future.

However,After more than ten years of upgrading, he finally entered the darkest moment.. In the past two years, New Oriental Education & Technology Group has been hit hard one after another. first, under the epidemic, offline training across the country pressed the pause button. Last year, the "double reduction" hit, and the entire K12 industry was in the process of policy adjustment. Yu Minhong has repeatedly mentioned the anxiety and struggle in New Oriental Education & Technology Group's business transformation.

He summed up New Oriental Education & Technology Group, who hit rock bottom at the beginning of this year, as follows: "the market capitalization has fallen by 90%, business income has decreased by 80%, employees have laid off 60, 000 people, and nearly 20 billion have been paid out in cash, such as tuition fees, employees' dismissal of Noble 1, teaching sites, and so on. "it was only in June that the unexpected popularity of Oriental selection initially showed the results of New Oriental Education & Technology Group's transformation.

"Charles and I have one thing in common. Our companies have encountered great difficulties, and they are not the best companies in the industry. Yu Minhong said bluntly in a recent live conversation.

Zhang Chaoyang, known to the outside world as the trough of his life, was deeply depressed for many years. When he returned from studying in the United States, he founded Sohu.com Ltd in 1998, led Sohu.com Ltd to appear on the market in 2000, won the right to sponsor the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and put the advertisement "watch the Olympic Games, get on Sohu.com Ltd" on Beijing's public transport, which can be said to have made great progress.

In the early days of the development of the company, Zhang Chaoyang also experienced the struggle of the board of directors. Foreign board members constantly told Sohu.com Ltd's business and Zhang Chaoyang what to do. Zhang Chaoyang did not sort out the affairs of the board of directors until 2003. However, compared with the struggle of the board of directors, and the struggle of Zhang Chaoyang and personal "spiritual crisis", it can only be said to be "negligible".

When Sohu.com Ltd was advancing by leaps and bounds, the rich and famous Zhang Chaoyang began to indulge in Vanity Fair, driving Party, buying yachts, shooting fashion magazines and other events from time to time, butBeneath the surface, Zhang Chaoyang felt a great nothingness and began to have a spiritual crisis.He claimed that "life experience is too intensive and brain-burning", so he fell into depression and twice closed-door adjustment.

However, isolation allowed Sohu.com Ltd to be defeated in the battle for Weibo Corp, and later, whether it was the video platform war that began around 2013, or Sohu.com Ltd added to social networking and live broadcast in 2019, Sohu.com Ltd returned without a big victory and slowly left the "center of the stage."

What do the bosses rely on to get out of the trough?

Some of the factors that cause career troughs are controllable and some are uncontrollable. But when it comes to corporate management and finance, bosses set a safety threshold.

In a video posted by Weibo Corp, Lei Jun said, "once the company failed to pay wages and I was so anxious that I couldn't sleep for many nights." So that later, I had to leave a sum of cash in the company's account, that is, do not move when the sky collapsed, that is, to ensure that I could be paid 18 months' salary. "

In the education and training industry, which is characterized by the prepaid model, when countless institutions have been criticized by parents for their difficulty in refunding fees under the "double reduction", New Oriental Education & Technology Group has made a smooth transition, also because Yu Minhong has experienced a wave of suspension and refund under SARS in 2003. he made up his mind that if the company suddenly closed down one day, the money on the account must be able to refund tuition fees and pay employees' severance wages. So last year, after the "double reduction", New Oriental Education & Technology Group spent nearly 20 billion on tuition refund and employee severance payment, which still did not bring much danger.

And in the social, long video platform playing inseparable, Sohu.com Ltd has been more cautious about burning money competition. The conservative Sohu.com Ltd also made a profit as a result.

But,What is more important than getting out of the trough of your career is how to get through the trough of your own spirit.. It can also be seen from the experience of the bosses that it is still up to you.

During the six months of "lying flat", Lei Jun said he had completely relaxed, but whether it was clubbing, disco-dancing or forums, he was looking for opportunities.

Clubbing bar disco found that the bar business was very hot, Lei Jun directly investigated to see if he could open a bar. Even if it is a bubble forum, Lei Jun also has goals and pursuits, will seriously prepare every post, often can send hundreds of posts every day, posts more than also become the moderator. It was through the bubble forum that Lei Jun got to know Ma Huateng and Ding Lei.

At that time, others thought that Lei Jun was running away, and some even felt sorry for him, but Lei Jun didn't think so. "as long as you have a certain amount of self-control, entertainment is also a good way to learn. "he said in his speech.

Compared with Lei Jun, Yu Minhong and Zhang Chaoyang revealed more mental experiences to the outside world.

Yu Minhong once revealed that he had suffered from mania and had taken more than 3000 sleeping pills in 15 years. While on a business trip in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, he looked at the open window on the 20th floor and wanted to jump. But because I had a child, I knew I couldn't jump, so I put on a down jacket and walked in the street with minus 30 degrees for four hours.

He said frankly, "I am more used to troughs, or maybe I am more used to nothing, because I have nothing for too long." So, I think it's all right as long as I don't lose my life. At the worst, I go back to the countryside, and my family still has a homestead. So, I'm not worried about the trough. "

Zhang Chaoyang's first reaction to the question of "how to get out of the trough" was "very difficult".

His experience is that after resuming the college entrance examination, he began to study, and after being admitted to Tsinghua University, he fell into the competition for the exam. after graduating from college, he was thrown into the United States to study in the United States without knowing anything. Perhaps confused, let him in the highlight of Sohu.com Ltd in 2008, into a spiritual crisis, and twice closed adjustment.

"if you don't have a complete understanding when you are young, for example, if you want to pursue the approval of others in your life, what kind of recognition is correct? What is the meaning of life? I wouldn't think about it at that time. "he said.

Although Zhang Chaoyang has continued to appear in public since 2013, he thinks his mission and responsibilities have been slowly found. It was not until around 2016 that Zhang Chaoyang slowly regained his spirits.

Over 50 years old, the boss can't stop.

Compared with those business leaders who left the front line and retreated behind the scenes, Yu Minhong, Zhang Chaoyang and Lei Jun, the three post-60s bosses, are all running around in the front line of business, which can be said to be commendable.

Through countless troughs, the three bosses who have already achieved financial freedom are not all without thinking about retirement, but they also understand that it is very difficult to have a real retirement.

After leaving from Jinshan in 2007, Lei Jun retired for a period of time, while making angel investment, while systematically reflecting and summarizing the past experience. Deep down in his heart, the goal of life is to achieve "Dacheng", not "Xiaocheng". It was only when he set out at the age of 40 that he became XIAOMI and Shun for capital.

By March last year, Lei Jun announced at a press conference that XIAOMI would invest 10 billion US dollars in building cars over the next decade, with an initial investment of 10 billion yuan, and that he would personally lead the team to "start a business for the last time in his life." On the day of the annual speech, which was also the 500th day for XIAOMI Guan Xuan to enter the electric car industry, Lei Jun announced the latest progress of XIAOMI Automobile, with the goal of entering the first camp of the auto self-driving industry in 2024.

Yu Minhong, the oldest of the three, said publicly in a live broadcast as early as 2020 during the epidemic that he had plans to retire and that New Oriental Education & Technology Group would hand it over to younger people. However, things did not go as he had hoped.

In a dialogue with Zhang Chaoyang, he also said bluntly: "the boundary between retiring or not lies in whether you work more for New Oriental Education & Technology Group or for yourself." If it hadn't been for New Oriental Education & Technology Group's change, I would have only 20% of my energy on running the company, and the rest on doing what I want to do. "

Under the "double reduction", Yu Minhong had to lead New Oriental Education & Technology Group to make a U-turn, in which New Oriental Education & Technology Group made an online transformation to do Oriental selection, a live platform for agriculture, and started a new business. In his opinion, 60 is still the age to start a business again, and the so-called entrepreneurship is not to start from scratch, but to be able to innovate and break through the limitations. Now, Yu Minhong can't stop.

Zhang Chaoyang believes that there is no concept of retirement in life. He says he "doesn't believe in the word retirement." After Zhang Chaoyang came out of the spiritual crisis and reorganized his values, the meaning of life began to become more and more clear. "people must work, which is your responsibility to the individual, the family and the society. "he mentioned in the live broadcast.
Under the leadership of Zhang Chaoyang, although Sohu.com Ltd's goal of "returning to the center of the stage" has not yet been achieved, he has made a profit from successive years of losses. According to the latest financial report, Sohu.com Ltd's revenue in the second quarter of this year was 195 million US dollars, with a net profit of 12 million US dollars, exceeding market expectations. Among them, the online game section contributed $157 million in revenue, accounting for 80% of the total revenue. Sohu.com Ltd, a Buddhist, seems to be living a good life.

In addition to "eating his old money," Zhang Chaoyang has also been messing around over the past two years, seems to have found an interest, taking English classes and physics classes, and leading Sohu.com Ltd to bet on the live broadcast of knowledge.

With the disappearance of the dividend of the Internet industry, the rules of the game in the whole market are changing, and everyone has to adapt to the change of the environment. On the climbing road of life, there are stages of climbing to the top, the hardships of climbing, and more of the suffering of the trough. But in any case, the three bosses told us with action that it doesn't matter to "lie down" and have a rest when you are too tired. After a rest, you still have to "toss about".