“透視創業家”是一個在線社區，一些美國創業界里最有智慧和影響力的創業大咖會在這里及時回答關于創業和職場的問題。今天為大家分享的是Reincubate的創始人兼CEO艾丹·菲茨帕特里克。

這些年我先后創辦了幾家公司，創業是一段充滿挑戰但又富有回報的旅程，我在這個過程中學到了一些來之不易的經驗。我發現許多針對創業者的建議往往過于絕對化，陷入了非黑即白的模式，而真相往往是更為微妙的。有些基本的元素——比如一些價值也是非常重要的，但往往會被忽略。下面是我在創業歷程中學到的一些意義最為重大的經驗。

建議有時是沒用的

市面上有成千上萬的書本和博客都會從方方面面教你怎樣創業，你也可以直接向一些成功企業家請教他們的經驗，但是他們的建議并非總是適合你的實際情況。說到底，從長期看來，自學才是更有價值的。

很多大企業都有一些類似的計劃，鼓勵員工直接將他們的建議告訴創業者。但是在一家公司里有用的流程，未必對另一家公司也有用，特別是如果這兩家公司所處的階段不同。我在其他人的故事中發現過價值，也在分享自己的故事的過程中發現過價值，而不是直接尋找詳細的答案。

企業家并不是另一種人

我并不是一個“天生特立獨行的人”，生來也不帶著“企業家的基因”。和我認識的許多其他企業家一樣，我也曾以為，企業家精神是給其他人準備的。我曾以為企業家都帶有王者之氣，可能我是電視看多了。現在我認為，很多未來的企業家可能還沒有認識到他們的潛能。首先你要知道人人都能成為一個企業家，這樣才能使你認識到你的潛能。

專注是一種最難的修行

作為企業的創始人，你必須在企業的成長過程中擔負起企業轉型的職責。在這個課題上，我讀過的最好的一句話，是要明白“做企業”和“做事情”的價值。一開始創業的時候，兢兢業業的做事是很重要的。但隨著企業發展到下一階段，企業家一般需要專注于企業本身。吉姆·柯林斯在其著作《從優秀到卓越》中闡述了很多“專注于企業”的特質。

過去幾十年，創業越來越受到人們的追捧，也被人們奉為一種生活方式。如果過于擔心失敗，就很難不被分心。比如，你可能聽說某人加入了某個名聲大噪的創業俱樂部，從某個知名風投那里拉來了融資，或是認識某個火到不行的創業大咖。但是你花在追趕競爭對手上的時間，和花在試圖進入某一個場合上的時間，本來是可以用在打造一個產品和一項業務上的，那才是你應該擔心自己會錯失的東西。

價值如果制定得好，可以對構建企業產生巨大幫助

在Reincubate創業之初時，我們把整個團隊帶到國外度假，花了一個下午的時間坐在一起想公司的價值。這次感覺貌似很好的會議最后得出了一系列陳詞濫調，它們后來很快就被遺忘了。一直到我讀到凡爾納·哈尼什的《掌握洛克菲爾的習慣》時，我才真正理解了核心價值的力量與用途。

我想到了哪些東西在企業里對我最重要，然后想辦法讓大家理解我為什么要構建它，從而催生出了一套重新定位的價值，它們在企業的戰略、產品、招聘和運營決策中起了很大作用。這本書已經成為企業最有價值的投入之一。

與沒有競爭關系的伙伴之間的關系可能是極為寶貴的

創業是一段孤獨的旅程，當面臨一個新問題的時候，要找到見解并非總是那么容易。創業者可能會被財務、管理、戰略和士氣等各種問題包圍。你的親人、合作伙伴和朋友，很少能中立地看問題，他們通常迫切地想給你提建議，或者告訴你究竟應該怎樣做。不負責任的建議是很容易給出的，尤其是在一些危險的問題上。

我幸運地發現了一個非盈利性學習組織——企業家組織（EO）。我通過EO認識了整個論壇的所有創業者，我現在經常和他們一起分享我的得失，從他們身上學習，根據他們衡量我的績效指標。對我來說，它既可以釋放我的壓力，也給我提供了一個寶貴的學習和獲得靈感的資源。

沒有事先驗證過的大規模產品投資往往容易出錯

我曾花了100多萬美元建立一家公司，然而卻失敗了，因為我起初沒有測試它的生錢能力。除此之外，還有一些更簡單的失誤也能導致企業損失大量寶貴的時間，其至可以拖慢企業的發展——比如幾乎沒有做測試，便一次性而不是一點一點地更換一個重要的網站。我在商業上最成功的項目總是來自那些先花時間做出簡單原型產品的項目。

每次招聘都想招到完全適合的人是不可能的

心理學上的鄧寧—克魯格效應指的是人們缺乏足夠的技能了解自身的不足。如果這個問題解決得太晚，那么對于員工、他們的同事以及整個公司都是不公平的，所以解決這個問題是很重要的。本·霍洛維茨的著作《創業維艱》為解決這個問題給出了很多有見解的思考。

在團隊成長的過程中，我學到了兩個有用的技巧。首先是要盡可能多、盡可能快地對新招聘進來的員工給予信任。新員工被招聘進來后，我不會給他們簡單的任務，而是會分配給他們更富有挑戰性的任務，并且希望他們能從第一周就產生成果。這會使他們產生一種自主感和成熟感，同時會直接展示他們自身能力的不足。第二個技巧是，在員工進步的每一個階段，都簡單地反思一下：現在我對他們已經了解了這么多，我還會再次聘用那個人嗎？

除了以上建議，我的創業歷程還給我帶來了很多其他重要的經驗，而且我相信，以后我也會總結出更多經驗教訓。創業最令人興奮的一點就是你未來還將學到很多東西——當然同時也會帶來各種挑戰。我很期待學到新東西，也愿意將我的經驗分享給需要幫助的人。（財富中文網）

本文作者Aidan Fitzpatrick是Reincubate公司的創始人兼CEO，該公司是iOS、iCloud和應用數據評估技術的市場領頭羊。他也是企業家組織（EO）的英國地區主席。

譯者：樸成奎

The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What’s something you wish you knew before starting your business?” is written by Aidan Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of Reincubate.

Starting a couple of my own companies over the years has set me on a challenging, but deeply rewarding journey, and I’ve learned a handful of hard-won lessons along the way. Advice for entrepreneurs is often reduced to absolute statements and black-and-white “do’s” and “don’ts,” but I’ve found the truth is more nuanced. Some fundamentals—such as values—are critical, yet often overlooked. Here are the lessons that have meant the most to me on my entrepreneurial journey:

Advice can be unhelpful

There are thousands of incredible books and blogs on the many aspects of building a business, and while it can be tempting to shortcut learning on your own by asking other entrepreneurs what to do, their advice might not always fit. After all, learning on your own is more valuable in the long run.

A number of large companies have programs offering advice from their staffs directly to startups. But processes that work well in one company may not work in another, especially one that’s at a different stage. I have found value in seeking out stories of others’ experiences, as well as sharing my own, rather than looking for explicit answers.

Entrepreneurs aren’t a different breed

I’m not an “intuitive maverick,” born with “the entrepreneur gene.” Like many business owners I’ve met, I used to think that entrepreneurship was for other people. I thought that business owners were domineering personalities. (Perhaps I watched too much TV.) I now believe that many future entrepreneurs don’t yet know their own potential, but understanding that anyone can become an entrepreneur can help you realize what you’re capable of.

Focus is one of the hardest disciplines

As a founder, the role one must carry out in a company changes as the company grows. One of the best phrases I’ve read on the subject was the value of working “on” rather than “in” the business. At the start, it can be important to work on delivery, but to grow to the next stage, an entrepreneur typically has to focus on the business itself. Jim Collins’ book Good to Great illustrates a number of these on-the-business characteristics.

Entrepreneurship has gained increasing profile over recent decades and has come to be celebrated as something of a lifestyle. It’s hard not to get distracted by the fear of missing out. For example, you might know someone who’s involved in the glitziest startup clubs, raising investment from the most popular firms, and connected to the splashiest founders. But as with time spent chasing competitors, time spent getting into a scene is time lost from building a product and a business. That’s what you should fear missing out on.

Values—surfaced well—are a huge help to building an organization

Fairly early on in the journey of building Reincubate, we took the entire team abroad on a company holiday and spent an afternoon coming up with company values. This feel-?good session produced a set of platitudes, which were quickly forgotten. It was only upon reading Verne Harnish’s Mastering the Rockefeller Habits that I came to truly understand the power and utility of core values.

I surfaced what mattered most to me in the business, and worked to understand and communicate more readily why I was building it. This led to a refocused set of values, which have been instrumental in decision-?making around strategy, product, recruitment, and operations. That book has been one of the most valuable inputs for the business.

Relationships with non?competing peers can be incredibly valuable

Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, and it isn’t always easy to find perspective when faced with a new problem. Entrepreneurs can be beset with challenges around finance, management, strategy, and morale. Family, partners, or friends are rarely neutral, and they’re often eager to advise or tell one exactly what to do. Advice is easy to give without accountability, especially on loaded topics.

I was fortunate to find the nonprofit learning group, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). From EO, I gained a forum of peers who I now share my ups and downs with, learn from, and benchmark performance against. For me, this has been both a critical release and a valuable source of learning and inspiration.

Big, unprovable product investments tend to go wrong

I spent over $1 million trying to build a company that failed. I didn’t test its ability to monetize early enough. Even simpler missteps—such as replacing an important website all at once with little testing, rather than bit by bit—can cost valuable time and can set back a company’s progress. My most commercially successful projects have always sprung from the back of simple prototypes, assembled in a few days.

Getting a perfect “fit” with each new hire is impossible

The Dunning-?Kruger effect describes a cognitive bias where individuals lack the skills to understand that they are out of their depth. Addressing this too late is unfair to the employee, their colleagues, and the company, so it’s important to tackle it. Ben Horowitz’s book, The Hard Thing about Hard Things, has a number of insightful reflections on getting this right.

I’ve learned two useful techniques to follow as the team grows. The first is to award new hires with as much trust as possible and as rapidly as possible. Rather than giving them simple tasks, I set more challenging ones and expect them to deliver in their first week. This gives them a sense of autonomy and mastery (two of the three attributes illustrated in Dan Pink’s book, Drive) and gives a real demonstration as to the current limit of their capabilities. The second technique is a simple reflection at each stage as they progress: Would I hire that person again, knowing what I know now?

Aside from these, there have been many other important lessons for me, and I am sure there are more to come. That promise of future learning—and the challenges that will come with it—is one of the most exciting parts of entrepreneurship. I’m looking forward to that learning, and to sharing my experiences with others where I can help them in turn.

Aidan Fitzpatrick is the founder and CEO ofReincubate, the market leader in iOS, iCloud, and app data access technology. He is UK President of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).