The single biggest reason why start-ups succeed | Bill Gross | TED · TED
Bill Gross通过分析100多家初创公司，发现团队执行力是决定成败的核心。适合练习商业分析与创业思维。
I'm really excited to share with you some findings that really surprise me about what makes companies succeed the most,
我非常激动能够与大家分享一些让我感到惊讶的研究结果——这些结果揭示了真正决定企业成功的关键因素。
what factors actually matter the most for startup success.
哪些因素对初创企业的成功最为关键？
I believe that the startup organization is one of the greatest forms to make the world a better place.
我认为，初创企业是让世界变得更美好的最有效的方式之一。
If you take a group of people with the right equity incentives and organize them in a startup,
如果你找一群拥有合适股权激励机制的人，并将他们组织起来成立一家初创企业，
you can unlock human potential in a way never before possible.
你可以以前所未有的方式释放人类的潜能。
You get them to achieve unbelievable things.
你可以让他们完成一些令人难以置信的事情。
But if the startup organization is so great, why do so many fail?
但如果这些初创企业本身都非常优秀，那么为什么还是有那么多企业最终失败呢？
That's what I wanted to find out.
这正是我想弄清楚的事情。
I wanted to find out what actually matters most for startup success.
我想弄清楚，对于初创企业的成功来说，究竟什么才是最重要的因素。
And I wanted to try to be
我想尝试成为……
systematic about it, avoid some of my instincts and maybe misperceptions I have from so many companies I've seen over the years.
需要采取系统化的方法来处理这个问题；同时，也要避免那些源于我个人直觉的判断，以及那些可能因多年来观察过多公司而产生的误解。
I wanted to know this because I've
我想知道这个，因为……
been starting businesses since I was 12 years old when I sold candy at the bus stop in junior high school,
我从 12 岁就开始创业了。那时我还在初中，就在公交车站卖糖果。
to high school, when I made solar energy devices, to college, when I made loudspeakers.
从高中开始，我就开始制作利用太阳能的装置；到了大学阶段，我又着手研发扬声器。
And when I graduated from college, I started software companies.
当我从大学毕业时，我创办了几家软件公司。
And 20 years ago, I started Idealab, and in the last 20 years, we started more than 100 companies,
20年前，我创立了 Idealab；在过去的20年里，我们共创立了100多家公司。
many successes, and many big failures.
取得了许多成功，也遭遇了许多重大失败。
We learned a lot from those failures.
我们从那些失败中收获了很多宝贵的经验。
So I tried to look across what factors accounted the most for company success and failure.
因此，我试图分析那些对公司成败影响最大的因素。
So I looked at these five.
于是我仔细研究了这五个选项。
First, the idea.
首先，是这个想法本身。
I used to think that the idea was everything.
我过去常常认为，想法才是最重要的东西。
I named my company Idealab for how much I worship the "aha!"
我将我的公司命名为 Idealab，因为我对那种“啊哈！”的顿悟时刻充满崇敬之情。
moment when you first come up with the idea.
就是你第一次想到这个想法的那一刻。
But then over time, I came to think that maybe the team, the execution, adaptability, that mattered even more than the idea.
但随着时间的推移，我逐渐意识到：也许团队协作、执行能力以及适应能力，比创意本身更为重要。
I never thought I'd be quoting boxer Mike Tyson on the TED stage, but he once said, "Everybody has a plan,
我从没想过自己会在 TED 的舞台上引用拳击手迈克·泰森的话。他曾说过：“每个人都有自己的计划。
until they get punched in the face."
直到他们被人一拳打在脸上为止。
And I think that's so true about business as well.
我认为这一点在商业领域也同样适用。
So much about a team's execution is its ability to adapt to getting punched in the face by the customer.
一个团队的执行能力，在很大程度上体现在其能否适应客户带来的各种挑战（即那些看似“打在脸上”的负面因素）。
The customer is the true reality.
客户才是真正的核心所在。
And that's why I came to think that the team maybe was the most important thing.
这就是为什么我逐渐认为，团队可能是最重要的因素。
Then I started looking at the business model.
然后我开始研究这个企业的商业模式。
Does the company have a very clear path generating customer revenues?
该公司是否拥有一个非常明确的路径来创造客户收入？
That started rising to the top in my thinking about maybe what mattered most for success.
在我对成功的思考过程中，这一点逐渐变得愈发重要——它或许就是决定成功与否的最关键因素。
Then I looked at the funding.
然后我查看了相关资金情况。
Sometimes companies received intense amounts of funding.
有时候，公司会获得大量的资金支持。
Maybe that's the most important thing?
也许这才是最重要的东西？
And then of course, the timing.
当然，还有时机选择的问题。
Is the idea way too early and the world's not ready for it?
这个想法是不是为时过早了？这个世界还没有准备好接受它？
Is it early, as in, you're in advance and you have to educate the world?
现在还早吗？也就是说，你行动得有点过早了，需要去“教育”全世界（让人们了解某些事情）？