我剛開完一個(gè)顧問委員會的會議。會上，我們討論了初創(chuàng)公司在未來幾個(gè)月可能面臨的市場動蕩和挑戰(zhàn)。估計(jì)我們短時(shí)間內(nèi)還看不到“大好時(shí)代已死”這句預(yù)言再次應(yīng)驗(yàn)，但初創(chuàng)公司已經(jīng)普遍被告誡要勒緊褲腰帶。一些有識之士則認(rèn)為目前是初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的“瓦特尼時(shí)刻”。瓦特尼是科幻片《火星救援》的主角，片中他獨(dú)自被困火星，而且“不知道下一船食物何時(shí)才能到。”

種種說辭讓我回想起2008年末寫過的一篇博客。一晃2650個(gè)日夜過去，我所經(jīng)歷的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司創(chuàng)始人也換了好幾代，但我那篇博客看來經(jīng)受住了時(shí)間的考驗(yàn)。因此，我想在此重溫舊文，提醒創(chuàng)業(yè)者，越是面臨瞬息萬變的環(huán)境，越要堅(jiān)持初心。

———

2008年11月16日

親愛的被投企業(yè)創(chuàng)始人：

你們好，我叫克里斯，我的工作是為投資你們的人提供資金。換句話說，我是風(fēng)投背后的金主。我們可能見過，但我肯定記不住，畢竟你們這樣的公司我投了成百上千個(gè)。也許在風(fēng)投年會上我們聊過，也有可能我去過你們公司，可能我做背景調(diào)查時(shí)給你們打過電話。你們有可能想不起我，我就是那個(gè)在正裝襯衫里面穿紅色T恤的人。你們談話時(shí)我會認(rèn)真做筆記，閑暇時(shí)會講一些稀奇古怪的故事。對，我就是這樣的。

不管你們對我有沒有印象，我現(xiàn)在寫這些是因?yàn)橛悬c(diǎn)擔(dān)心你們。上一次經(jīng)濟(jì)滑坡時(shí)，我們這些有限合伙人聽說過太多管理團(tuán)隊(duì)撐不下去的案例。常見的一種抱怨是：“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這家公司的CEO只適合牛市”。還有類似這種評價(jià)：“那個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)很會做高增長業(yè)績，可市道不景氣的時(shí)候就……”

我和一個(gè)風(fēng)投朋友談到這種現(xiàn)象，他說得很清楚：“管理就是一直練習(xí)對抗混亂。”他認(rèn)為：“有序往往會變成無序，要恢復(fù)秩序就得花費(fèi)精力。這是宇宙不變的法則，也是管理的鐵律。”他接著說，所以，“市道差的時(shí)候會更容易出現(xiàn)混亂無序，就要付出更多精力管理。”

我認(rèn)為，并不夸張的說法就是，精力與時(shí)間是呈函數(shù)關(guān)系的，人如果管理不好時(shí)間，混亂就會如影隨形。就像上世紀(jì)50年代美國熱門情景喜劇片《我愛露西》有一集，主人公露西和好友埃塞爾在巧克力廠工作的情景：傳送帶一加速運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，巧克力糖就跟不上速度，放不上去了。

實(shí)際上，任何一家企業(yè)都少不了這幾個(gè)部分：創(chuàng)意、人才、資金和時(shí)間。在這些要素之中，時(shí)間是最不可變、最難以控制，也是最專斷獨(dú)行的。時(shí)間一旦逝去就不會再來！

只有一種武器能反擊這個(gè)殘忍的壓迫者：專注。

在市場好的時(shí)候，創(chuàng)業(yè)者未必那么刻意專注，因?yàn)轭l頻創(chuàng)造的佳績可以抵消混亂對士氣的挫傷。另一方面，如果一個(gè)管理團(tuán)隊(duì)不論順境還是逆境都能應(yīng)對，必定會專心致志，因?yàn)樗麄冎罆r(shí)間才是真正寶貴的，一旦創(chuàng)造佳績的速度慢下來，失控就不遠(yuǎn)了。要明確應(yīng)該做什么，不該做什么，迅速做出選擇并且開誠布公。

我們是同戰(zhàn)壕的戰(zhàn)友。你們的成功會幫助我獲得成功（當(dāng)然沒管理合伙人多，他們占大頭），而且我會全力支持你們。你們是創(chuàng)新經(jīng)濟(jì)的心臟，你們在夜以繼日地奮斗。請保持專注，謹(jǐn)慎前行。記住，你們面對的是人類最可怕的敵人：時(shí)間。

請奮勇前進(jìn)吧。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

克里斯

克里斯?杜弗斯現(xiàn)任Venture Investment Associates董事總經(jīng)理，此前曾代表基金會投資基金（TIFF）和普林斯頓大學(xué)投資風(fēng)投機(jī)構(gòu)和私募基金。

譯者：Pessy

校對：夏林

I just got off an advisory board call on which we were talking about the squirely markets and the challenges that startups will face in the coming months. While I’m guessing we’re unlikely to see another “Good Times R.I.P.” anytime soon, startups are generally being asked to tighten their belts. Some clever cat suggested that it’s “Watney Time,” for start-ups, invoking The Martian‘s botanist protagonist. “You don’t know when the next shipment of food is coming.”

All of this austerity talk got me thinking about a blog post I wrote in late 2008. The 2,650 days since I wrote the original seem like an eternity ― and comprise several generations of start-up founders ― so I thought I’d repost as a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same . . .

———-

11/16/08

Dear Portfolio Company Founder,

Hi, my name’s Chris and I fund the folks who fund your company. I’m the money behind the money. I can’t remember if we’ve met, after all, I’ve got several hundred cats just like you in my portfolio. There’s a chance that we talked at your backer’s last annual meeting; maybe I visited your space; or perhaps I called you for a reference check. You may not remember me, but I was the dude wearing the red t-shirt under my dress shirt. I took good notes during your talk and told daffy stories during the breaks. Yeah, that’s me.

Anyhow, I wanted to drop you a note since I’m a bit worried about you. The last time the economy slumped, we limited partners heard endless tales of management teams that just couldn’t stay ahead of the game. “We discovered we had a bull market CEO on our hands,” was a common refrain. “Those guys were a great growth team, but when the going got tough…”

So there I was, talking to my VC buddy about this phenomenon and he made a clarifying point: “Management is always an exercise in battling entropy,” he opined. “Order tends to disorder and the application of energy is required to restore order. It’s an immutable law of the universe and it’s a law of management.” Consequently, he continued, “in tough times, the disorder comes at you a whole lot faster and requires a lot more energy to manage.”

I don’t think that it’s too much of a stretch to say that energy is a function of time, and people who are cavalier about time become magnets for disorder. It’s like Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory: the conveyor belt speeds up and there’s just no place for all those blasted bonbons to go.

Indeed, the ingredients of any business are: ideas, people, capital, and time. And of those elements, time is the most immutable, the most obstinate, the most tyrannical. They’re just not making any more of it!

You have but one weapon against this cruel oppressor:focus.

In boom times, entrepreneurs don’t have to focus as acutely because the creation of good stuff outstrips the slouching to disorder. The great all-weather teams, on the other hand, have to focus because they realize that time is really expensive and that when the creation of good stuff slows, entropy lies in wait. Choose what to do and what not to do. Just choose quickly and be explicit about your choices.

We’re all in this together. Your success becomes my success (less, ahem, the GP carry) and I’m rooting for you. You guys are the beating heart of the entrepreneurial economy. You guys rock nonstop. Stay focused and be careful out there; you’re facing the greatest enemy of all: time.

Forging ahead,

Chris

Chris Douvos is a managing director with Venture Investment Associates and, before that, invested in venture capital and private equity funds on behalf of The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF) and Princeton University.