Where angels fear to tread

By Joseph Rebeiro | Oct 27, 2011

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At his keynote address at TechVenture 2011, Nick Yang Co-Founder of KongZhong, provided his astute insights about entrepreneurship. He drew from his own experiences of founding his technology company KongZhong and taking it to IPO in just 2 years.

Things can change very quickly
At the height of the dot.com boom, China was still relatively backward at that time, and the regulatory environment in China was murky at best.  Nevertheless, upon graduating from Stanford University with a Masters in Electrical Engineering in 1999, Nick went back to China to start his first internet venture.

Considering the dot.com bust that was to follow soon after, he was in for a very tough time.  “Things can change very quickly.  The winds of change can bring you up very quickly and slow you down just as quickly too,” says Nick Yang.  His entrepreneurial acumen forged in these tumultuous period of flux, is tuned to getting the timing right – capturing the opportunity at the right moment, and also knowing when to let it pass, if you miss it.

Failure can only make you stronger
In May of 2002, Nick founded KongZhong, a company focusing on wireless value added services, such as ringtones, mobile content, games, and communities. It was a difficult time to raise capital. For many investors the dot.com bust had left a bad taste for internet companies. But Nick managed to garner USD 3 million, with Draper Fisher Jurvetson being his first investor, to get the business going.

In 2 years of operations, KongZhong became the leader in this field in terms of user numbers and revenue. In July 2004, exactly 2 years and 2 months KongZhong listed on NASDAQ. It remains a growth record for companies from China listing in any exchange.  At the age of 28, Nick became the youngest President for a listed company in the US stock exchanges.

Nick Yang debunks the traditional notions on business success with the following tips:

1.    Skills, Abilities and Capabilities
We hear the mantra “Be Passionate and Persistent” and we believe that’s it.  But it’s not!  It’s never just passion and persistence.  It is skills, abilities and capabilities. That is the most important requirements for successful entrepreneurs. And the way to acquire those traits is to learn from people in the know, and people who have already done it.

Persistence is important, but not in the common understanding of it. We must not confuse “persistence” with “stubbornness”. One should be persistent in the goals that we have set for ourselves, but not in the way we pursue that goal.  If the methods that we are using are not getting us there, then we should change it immediately.  There is no point persevering at a method that is getting us nowhere.  It is “stubbornness” and not persistence.

2.    Accept good advice humbly, and be grateful for it
The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said:
a.    When good advice is given, heed it.
b.    When you are criticized, do not be angry. Instead be happy and thank those who criticize you.
Nick Yang advises us to think about this, for in understanding and practicing it, we will become better and more powerful.