PayPal創辦人教你創業

網路新創事業無疑成為當今全球商業潮流中的顯學。 去年席捲書市的 "從0到1"，作者彼得.提爾，為繼蘋果賈伯斯、臉書祖克柏，Tesla馬斯克之後，又一位被奉為圭臬的科技創業家。彼得提爾的創業心法，教人勇於追求藍海，突破保守。本文整理出幾項彼得.提爾的創業論精隨，供有志於新創事業的你參考和省思。進入本文前，請先想想如何表達以下單字：

a) 預見

b) 表面上

c) 志趣、看法相同的

When the co-founder of PayPal, who also a) presaged the potentials of Airbnb, Facebook, LinkedIn and SpaceX, speaks, entrepreneur wannabes would 1) do well to listen up. Peter Thiel is the new talk-of-the-town in Silicon Valley after his book "Zero to One" shot up to the top of the bestsellers lists, and his advice to startup companies is; first and foremost, do not copy your competitors. If there is one thing in common among Bill Gates, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg, it's that they all tried and succeeded in doing something that's never done before, Thiel argues.

當PayPal共同創辦人開口說話，創業後輩們最好仔細聆聽，尤其是此人還曾慧眼獨具出資提拔Airbnb、臉書、LinkedIn、SpaceX等當紅企業。彼得提爾是矽谷最新話題人物，他所寫的"從0到1"竄上暢銷書排行第一名，而他對創業者耳提面命的第一項建言就是: 不要抄襲你的競爭者。如果說在比爾蓋茲、賴瑞佩吉、和祖克柏之間有任何共同點，那就是他們都試圖也成功做出了別人沒做過的東西。

In his book "Zero to One", Thiel encourages young people to dare to be different. One of his favorite questions to job interviewees is: "What is one thing that you believe is true and important, but most people don't see or seem to understand? b) Beguilingly simple, this question is actually hard to answer. It requires the candidate to have a fresh idea on things others take for granted. Not just that, it further dares the person to voice something not in line with the conventional wisdom, to have the courage to be different.

在"從0到1"這本書裡，提爾鼓勵年輕人要敢於與眾不同。他最喜歡給面試者的一個問題是: "說出一件你個人覺得很重要，可是大多數人似乎都沒發現或不瞭解的事情"。看似簡單的問題，回答起來卻很困難。因為受試者必須對一般人覺得理所當然的現象提出創新的看法。不止如此，他還必須有勇氣說出違背主流觀點的想法，敢於獨排眾議。

If you chose to create your business because you want to2) be your own man, Thiel is definitely on your side. From the book "Zero to One", he describes a startup as "the largest endeavor over which you can have definite mastery" in the entire world.

如果你決定創業，是因為你想要做自己的主人，那麼提爾會告訴你，你的決定完全正確。"從0到1" 這本書中，他將新創公司形容為這世界上"你所能完全掌控的最大志業"。

From the public's point of view, a monopoly is by no means a good thing. But in entrepreneurship, monopoly is exactly what you aim to achieve. You create a monopoly by offering a unique product or service, and, in providing something nobody else can provide, you are able to command a bigger profit margin. Thiel believes a company that enjoys a monopoly is always a happy company. Opposite to that is a business in constant competition with c) like-minded competitors. Copycats are not in a position to raise their profits; hence they are easier to fail.

從公眾利益的角度看，獨佔幾乎永遠不是件好事。但在創業者的眼中，獨佔卻是最大目標。只要能拿出別人沒有的獨特產品或服務，就能夠取得獨佔地位，享受更大的利潤。提爾認為擁有獨佔能力的公司絕對是一家快樂的公司，反之，如果與心態類似的競爭者廝殺逐利，就很難快樂得起來。只會模仿他人的公司無法提高獲利率，也容易失敗。

口語詞彙

1)   Do well to 最好是，對...有好處

You will do well to start conserving water and bring out the buckets, because the drought's getting worse and the authority is ready to cut household water supply.

你最好開始省水並且拿出水桶來，因為隨著旱象惡化，當局已經準備要限制家戶用水。

2)   Be one's own man 獨立自主

Be one’s own man 就是表示自己對自己下達指令，做主的意思。

As the ruling party went into a power vacuum, its representatives in Congress strove to be their own man. 隨著執政黨內部出現權力真空，國會裡的黨籍議員只能努力掌控自己的命運。

參考資料：Inc.com

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