創(chuàng)業(yè)偶像打造正能量產(chǎn)業(yè)
Happier創(chuàng)始人娜塔莉?高根
????娜塔莉?高根懂得追求快樂——在更年輕的時候,她為快樂而生。高根一家是前蘇聯(lián)的猶太難民,她13歲那年,一家四口拎著幾個手提箱,揣著600美元現(xiàn)金逃離了前蘇聯(lián)。她轉(zhuǎn)輾于歐洲的各大難民營,最后終于到了美國,在這里她對幸福的追求才真正有了起色。她以班級第一的成績畢業(yè)于衛(wèi)斯里大學(xué)(Wesleyan University);曾供職于麥肯錫(McKinsey & Company)和微軟(Microsoft);婚后育有一女。按理說,高根已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)了美國夢,但她仍不快樂。 ????如今,高根是新創(chuàng)公司Happier的首席快樂官(Chief Happiness Officer)。她不僅改善了自己的情緒,更努力把這種積極的情緒傳遞給別人。她說,快樂的秘訣在于真正懂得快樂是沒有終點的,但你永遠(yuǎn)都能變得更快樂。這就是她的新應(yīng)用程序Happier所傳達的信息,高根稱其為一個“口袋里的情感書架”。用戶可以上傳一切能讓自己開心的東西,從記錄日常生活中點滴成功的帖子(“我拿了個特棒的停車位!”)到最喜愛的食物或地方的照片。任何時候需要高興起來的時候,只要打開更快樂應(yīng)用程序就可以享受朋友們上傳的所有快樂時刻。 ????高根說,自從二月份發(fā)布這個程序以來,用戶們分享的快樂時刻已經(jīng)超過了一百萬個。但這個應(yīng)用程序還只是萬里長征的第一步。高根說,她想把快樂事業(yè)打造成一個媒體公司和生活方式的品牌,類似奧普拉或瑪莎?斯圖爾特所做的事業(yè)。除了Happier電視和Happier視頻,高根還設(shè)想針對其他Happier產(chǎn)品的許可經(jīng)營,如服裝、汽車甚至一家Happier航空公司。受到風(fēng)投公司Venrock和Resolute.vc等投資者的青睞,高根“腰纏”240萬美元的本錢,正沿著使世界更快樂的方向行進?!吧钍菬o數(shù)瞬間的累積,”她說?!拔覀冞x擇創(chuàng)造、收集每一個快樂的瞬間。” ????《財富》雜志(Fortune)對高根進行了采訪,話題涵蓋了她的應(yīng)用程序、美國夢以及快樂怎樣改變生活。 ????《財富》:許多人用Facebook或Twitter等主流社交媒體來發(fā)一些負(fù)面甚至是有危害的信息,但你卻認(rèn)為Happier不一樣?為什么? ????高根:大量研究表明,F(xiàn)acebook使人變得痛苦。Happier的正式顧問——哈佛大學(xué)(Harvard)的尼古拉斯?克里斯塔吉斯博士研究了許多調(diào)查,顯示社交媒體增加了人們的痛苦,所以我認(rèn)為這是我們最大的賣點。我完全理解為什么Facebook讓人覺得痛苦。目前這個階段,我們都從不同方面創(chuàng)造著一個了不起的自己——我們的假期美妙愜意、生活春風(fēng)得意、朋友倍兒棒。然后人們會把自己的真實生活和朋友們在Facebook上極度夸大、刻意包裝的生活相對比。 ????而在Happier,出發(fā)點是一切都是正面的,所以你無需炫耀??鞓窌r刻是另一類社交內(nèi)容,它更小更私人化。它不需要一張很酷的照片,也不需要吸引眼球。它可以是像“我剛拿了個很棒的停車位!”或是“下班回家后孩子給了我一個擁抱。”這樣的小事。發(fā)表積極信息的時候,人們用不著沮喪,也不用覺得要像在Facebook上一樣,非要弄出點什么動靜來。 |
????Nataly Kogan understands the pursuit of happiness—in her younger years, she lived for it. As a Jewish refugee from Soviet Russia, Kogan escaped her native country at the age of 13 with a handful of suitcases and $600 in cash for her entire family of four. Jumping between refugee camps across Europe, Kogan finally made it to the United States where her pursuit of happiness really took off. She graduated top of her class from Wesleyan University. She worked at McKinsey & Company, then at Microsoft. She got married and had a daughter. On paper, Kogan had achieved the American Dream. But still, she wasn't happy. ????Kogan is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of startup Happier. She not only finds herself in better spirits, but spends her days trying to pass the feeling along to others as well. The secret, she?says, is understanding that you can't actually be happy, but you can always be happier. That's the message conveyed with her new app, Happier, which she describes as an "emotional bookshelf in your pocket." Users upload anything that makes them happy, from posts chronicling their small daily success stories ("I got a great parking spot!") to photos of their favorite foods or places. Anytime you need a pick-me-up, simply open your Happier app and enjoy all of the happy moments posted by your friends. ????Since its launch in February, users have shared over one million happy moments, says Kogan. The app is only the first step along the way, however, and Kogan hopes to build the business into a media company and lifestyle brand, similar to Oprah or Martha Stewart, she says. In addition to "Happier TV" and "Happier Videos," Kogan envisions licensing Happier products, like clothes, cars, or even a Happier Airline. With a $2.4 million seed round under her belt from investors like Venrock and Resolute.vc, Kogan's march toward making the world a happier place is well underway. "Life is made of moments," she says. "Choose to create and collect the happy ones." ????Fortune interviewed Kogan about the app, the American Dream, and how happiness is changing lives around the world. ????Fortune: Many people use mainstream social media sites like Facebook or Twitter to post things that are negative or even hurtful, but you think Happier is different? Why? ????Kogan: There is a tremendous amount of research that shows that Facebook makes people miserable. Dr. Nicholas Christakis (Harvard) is a formal advisor to Happier, and he's looked into a lot of research of social media making people miserable and I think it's one of our strongest selling points. I totally get why Facebook makes people miserable. It's a stage now where we are all creating these versions of ourselves that are awesome—we have great vacations, look great, have awesome friends. And then what people do is compare their real life to this very braggy, curated life that your friends are posting on Facebook. ????In Happier, the expectation is everything is positive, so you don't need to show off. A happy moment is a different type of social content, it's smaller, it's more personal. It doesn't need a cool photo and it doesn't need to be impressive. It can be as tiny as "I just got a great parking spot!" or "My kid gave me a hug after work." You don't need to feel bad when you're posting positive things, nor do you need to feel like you need to make a big deal out of it like you would on Facebook. |