百度总裁的新老板，竟然是这位85后：他的6条成功法则

念念不忘、坚韧不拔、逆向思维

用英语怎么说？

去年，陆奇辞去百度总裁职位，

加入Y Combinator公司，

担任这家美国孵化器的中国区CEO。

而1985年出生的Sam Altman，

是Y Combinator董事长。

最近，他写了一篇总结成功经验的文章。

写作过程中，他六易其稿，

并向十几位大佬征询意见。

读完之后，相信你会受益匪浅。

01

Compound yourself （复利成长）

A medium-sized business that grows 50% in value every year becomes huge in a very short amount of time. You also want to be an exponential curve （指数曲线） yourself. 

You don't want to be in a career where people who have been doing it for two years can be as effective as people who have been doing it for twenty （和工作二十年的人做的一样好）—your rate （速度） of learning should always be high. 

As your career progresses, each unit of work you do should generate more and more results. There are many ways to get this leverage （杠杆，比喻放大效应）, such as capital, technology, brand, network effects （网络效应）, and managing people. 

I think the biggest competitive advantage in business—either for a company or for an individual’s career—is long-term thinking. One of the notable （重要的）aspects of compound growth （复利增长）is that the furthest out （最遥远的） years are the most important. 

In a world where almost no one takes a truly long-term view, the market richly rewards （丰厚回报） those who do. Be patient, and be pleasantly surprised （惊喜）.

02

 Have almost too much self-belief （自信）

Self-belief is immensely （极其） powerful. The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion （到了幻想的程度）. If you don’t believe in yourself, it’s hard to let yourself have contrarian （与众不同的，逆向思维的） ideas about the future. But this is where most value gets created. 

I remember when Elon Musk took me on a tour of  the SpaceX factory many years ago. He talked in detail about manufacturing every part of the rocket, but the thing that sticks in memory （念念不忘） was the look of absolute certainty on his face when he talked about sending large rockets to Mars. 

Most highly successful people have been really right about the future at least once at a time when people thought they were wrong. If not, they would have faced （虚拟语气） much more competition .

03

Learn to think independently

Thinking from first principles （第一性原理，基本原则） and trying to generate new ideas is fun. The next step is to find easy, fast ways to test these ideas in the real world.

One of the most powerful lessons to learn is that you can figure out （想出） what to do in situations that seem to have no solution. The more times you do this, the more you will believe it. Grit （坚韧不拔） comes from learning you can get back up （重新站起来） after you get knocked down （被击倒）.

04

Get good at “sales”

You also have to be able to convince （说服） other people of what you believe. 

All great careers, to some degree, become sales jobs. You have to evangelize （传教，推广） your plans to customers, prospective （潜在的） employees, the press （媒体）, investors, etc. 

This requires an inspiring vision, strong communication skills, some degree of charisma （魅力）, and evidence of execution （执行，落实） ability.

Getting good at communication—particularly written communication—is an investment worth making. My best advice for communicating clearly is to first make sure your thinking is clear and then use plain （简单的）, concise （简洁的） language.

The best way to be good at sales is to genuinely believe in what you’re selling. Selling what you truly believe in feels great, and trying to sell snake oil （蛇油，狗皮膏药） feels awful.

Getting good at sales is like improving at any other skill—anyone can get better at it with deliberate practice （刻意练习）. 

05

Make it easy to take risks

Most people overestimate （高估） risk and underestimate （低估） reward. Taking risks is important because it’s impossible to be right all the time—you have to try many things and adapt （适应，改变） quickly as you learn more.

When people get used to a comfortable life, a predictable （可预测的，稳定的） job, and a reputation of succeeding at whatever they do, it gets very hard to leave that behind. It’s easy—and human nature—to prioritize short-term gain （优先考虑短期收益） and convenience over long-term fulfillment （成就，满足）.  

06

Focus

It is much more important to work on the right thing （做对的事） than it is to work many hours. Most people waste most of their time on stuff that doesn’t matter. 

Once you have figured out what to do, be unstoppable （无法阻挡，坚持不懈） about getting your small handful of （为数不多的） priorities accomplished quickly. I have yet to （尚未） meet a slow-moving person who is very successful.

文章来源：Sam Altman博客

今天的文章，难度我打5颗星。Sam Altman提到的道理，也可以应用到英语学习上。学好英语，能带来长期的获益，也能提升“销售”能力。我们要自信能学好英语，也要专注地学。我们更要独立地去思考，主流的学习方法是否正确。

△可长按图片保存

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