Author: Bezos

Source: smart investors

Smart vote for selected reasons：这It's Amazon.Com Inc CEO Bezos.One of the most classic speeches, Zhang Xiaolong, the father of Wechat, vice president of Tencent, once said bluntly that he was impressed by Bezos's speech at Princeton University in 2010. The data comes from the Internet.The "smart investors" are sorted out and shared with you.

Zhang Xiaolong, Vice President of Tencent:

“I have always had a deep memory when I read this article earlier.

Once in a product discussion, a colleague came up with a clever way to lure users to click and increase the number of clicks and downloads. I blurted out, 'Don't mislead users like this. For product people, kindness is more important than intelligence.'

Although we will intentionally or unintentionally take advantage of the weakness of human nature to hit the crux of users' needs, we should not overdo this intelligence, but we need to talk to users from a frank point of view instead of setting them up.

Just like choosing friends, everyone may think that kindness is more important. Similarly, it will be the same for users to choose our products.We hope that our products can become friends of users, not just tools for each other.”

Only those who make good choices survive.

Kindness is more difficult than intelligence.

When I was a child, I used to spend my summers on my grandparents' farm in Texas. I help repair windmills, vaccinate cattle and do other chores. Every afternoon, we watch soap operas, especially our years.

My grandparents joined an RV club, a group of people driving Airstream trailers who traveled around the United States and Canada together. I join them every few summers. We hung the RV behind our grandfather's car and joined a vast team of more than 300 Airstream explorers.

I love my grandparents, I admire them, and I really look forward to these trips. It was a trip when I was about 10 years old. I sat on the bench in the back seat as usual. My grandfather was driving and my grandmother was sitting next to him, smoking. I hate the smell of smoke.

At that age, I would find any excuse to do some estimates or do some math. I can calculate trifles such as fuel consumption and grocery expenses. I heard an advertisement about smoking. I can't remember the details, but the main idea of the advertisement is that every puff of a cigarette reduces life expectancy by a few minutes, about two minutes. Anyway, I decided to do some arithmetic for my grandmother.

I estimated how many cigarettes my grandmother smoked every day, how many puffs of each cigarette, and so on, and then came up with a reasonable number with satisfaction. Then I stabbed my grandmother sitting in front of her in the head, patted her on the shoulder, and proudly declared, "if you smoke a cigarette in two minutes, you will live nine years less!"

I remember clearly what happened next, which I didn't expect. I was expecting cleverness and arithmetic skills to win applause, but that didn't happen. Instead, my grandmother began to cry. My grandfather had been driving silently. He parked his car by the side of the road, got out of the car, opened my door and waited for me to get off with him.

Am I in trouble? My grandfather is a wise and quiet man. Could it be the first time that he has never said anything harsh to me? Or will he let me go back to the car and apologize to my grandmother? I have never encountered such a situation before, so I have no way of knowing what the consequences will be. We stopped by the RV. My grandfather looked at me and was silent for a moment, then said softly and calmly, "Jeff, one day you will understand that kindness is more difficult than intelligence."

Choice is more important than talent.

Talent and choice are different. Cleverness is a gift, while kindness is a choice. Talents are easy to come by-after all, they are born with them. The choice is not easy. If you are not careful, you may be seduced by talent, which may damage the choices you make.

How are you going to use these talents? Are you proud of your talents, or are you proud of your choices?

Sixteen years ago, I came up with the idea of founding Amazon.Com Inc. At that time, I was faced with the reality that Internet use was growing at a rate of 2300% a year. I have never seen or heard of anything that is growing so fast. The idea of creating an online bookstore covering millions of books excites me because it doesn't exist in the physical world. I was just 30 years old and I had only been married for a year.

I told my wife, MacKenzie, that I wanted to quit my job and do this crazy thing, which is likely to fail, because most startups are, and I'm not sure what will happen after that. MacKenzie told me that I should take a chance. I always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

I was working in a financial company in New York. My colleagues were a group of very smart people. My boss was also very wise. I envied him very much. I told my boss that I wanted to start a company that sells books online. He took me for a long walk in Central Park, listened to me carefully, and finally said, "it sounds like a good idea, but it would be a better idea for those who don't have a good job at the moment."

This logic made sense to me, and he persuaded me to think about it for another 48 hours before making a final decision. Come to think of it that way, it was a tough decision, but in the end, I decided to fight it out.

I don't think I will regret my failure after trying. I have made a decision but haven't put it into action at all. It always bothers me. After careful consideration, I chose the unsafe path to follow my inner passion. I am proud of that decision.

How will you use your talents? What kind of choice will you make?

Are you guided by inertia, or do you follow your inner passion?

Will you stick to the rules, or will you dare to innovate?

Would you choose an easy life or a life of dedication and adventure?

Will you succumb to criticism, or will you keep your faith?

Will you cover up your mistakes, or will you apologize honestly?

Will you hide your heart for fear of rejection, or will you forge ahead in the face of love?

Do you want to be calm, or do you want to fight the storm?

Will you choose to give up in the grim reality, or will you move on without hesitation?

Are you going to be cynics or down-to-earth builders?

Do you want to be smart at all costs, or do you choose to be kind?

I want to make a prediction: at some point when you are 80 years old, you are the only one quietly telling your life story to your heart, and the most fulfilling and meaningful part of it will be filled with a series of decisions you have made.

Finally, it is the choice that shapes our lives and creates a great life story for yourself.