Learning from other people’s stones

1. Choose first, then act

Looking at Lei Jun and Zhang Yiming, I think their achievements depended partly on the opportunities of their era. Individual effort matters, but a trend can make the same effort much more powerful. Bitcoin is an example I keep returning to. Its success seems obvious in hindsight, yet it depended on earlier changes in civilian cryptography, lessons from failed digital-money experiments, and growing interest in online privacy. I see it as a product of its time. Before a trend takes shape, a person or company may need to prepare patiently.

2. Build experience before the moment arrives

Reading about Lei and Zhang again, I noticed their repeated attempts to start companies and the setbacks they encountered. They did not simply stop at failure. They examined what happened, began with small workable products, listened to users, and revised them. Doing that again and again can sharpen a sense for products and organizations. Real feedback comes from real work; no amount of theory can replace trying.

3. Reflection makes improvement possible

I first liked Xiaomi because its phones were affordable for students, especially secondhand. I tried its speakers, pens, and fitness bands. I was also a fan of ByteDance’s Neihan Duanzi. Users there could help decide what posts or comments deserved wider attention. I liked feeling that users had a hand in shaping the product.

To me, products like these make people feel at home: the company serves users, and users contribute in return. I remember many Neihan Duanzi users moving toward Douyin after the former app was shut down. Whether my memory of the numbers is right or not, the sense of shared identity made an impression on me.

Imagine eating seven buns before you are full. Could you skip the first six next time and eat only the seventh? Of course not. The joke captures something serious: success rests on earlier trials, thought, and revision, not one sudden insight.

The title comes from an old saying about using stones from another mountain to polish one’s own jade. I find teachers everywhere. Lei Jun has spoken about learning from Tong Ren Tang’s commitment to materials, Haidilao’s service, and retailers such as Walmart and Costco on efficient operations. I want to keep learning in that spirit.