This is an era where success studies are rampant。Successful people often only talk about the way to success，Not mentioning the pain of setbacks。For success，Most entrepreneurs flock to it。Actually，Compared to the superior success study，For them，Down-to-earth frustration science may be more valuable。

This book was carefully compiled and created by Tencent Technology over a year，In-depth interviews with 17 well-known startups，Shared lessons of blood and tears worth US$1.8 billion，Revealing the biggest pitfalls that are most likely to cause you to fail in the entrepreneurial process。

Compared with the success stories under the spotlight，Lessons and setbacks are of greater value to entrepreneurs。The book summarizes eight major lessons in the entrepreneurial process for reference。The first five of these eight lessons are lessons from the management level，The last three are management-level lessons。Generally speaking，Management is subordinate to operation，Business is about choosing the right things to do,Management is about doing things right。To start a business, you must choose the right thing，Also do things right，Both are indispensable。

1. Tonight’s Hotel: Blindly copying foreign models, ignoring national conditions and not being grounded

Business model is the first problem that entrepreneurs encounter when planning a business in the early stages。

In the entrepreneurial boom of China’s Internet in the past 10 years，Silicon Valley has always been a source of inspiration for Chinese entrepreneurs。They are used to taking advantage of the trend time difference between Silicon Valley and China，Copy the business models of popular Silicon Valley startups to China。While successful replication is expected，You also need to consider the risk of encountering acclimatization in the Chinese market。

Among the startup companies that have become popular in recent years，Tonight’s hotel special price for booking the remaining hotel rooms，It is still Airi Rental for short-term renters，and light blog diandian，They are all trying to copy the American model and fail midway because they are acclimatized，I have no choice but to find another way to move on。

In the early days of Hotel Tonight special offer, I learned from the popular Hotel Tonight company in the United States。Hotel Tonight only operates 3 hotels in each city in the United States，This boutique hotel model ensures that each hotel can receive a large number of bookings，Thus strengthening the right to speak。Initial development stage of tonight’s hotel special offer，Similarly adopts the method of only making a few selected hotels in each city，But the actual effect is very different。Why？

Tonight’s hotel special price model ignores the huge differences in the Chinese and American hotel markets。Nearly 80% of hotels in the United States are chain stores with well-established brands，It is easier for users to perceive the intensity of discounts，And in China，Budget hotel chains such as Home Inns and 7 Days Inn account for less than 20% of the 188bet online sports betting market，Mostly independent hotels，When consumers are unfamiliar with it，Huge discounts will make consumers question their experience。

Tonight’s hotel special price model also ignores the gap in traffic conditions between China and the United States。The popularity of automobiles in the United States is high，The strong price factor can easily drive users to drive to distant places to stay in hotels，Especially in the vast western and central regions of the United States。Looking back at the Chinese market，Not everyone has a car，And there is traffic congestion in big cities，This kills the urge for most users to drive to a cheap hotel far away。They care more about having familiar hotels around them，And expect a more diverse range of comparisons。

Even entrepreneurs with rich product experience sometimes fall into the same trap。Xu Chaojun, who had successfully run the school network, founded Diandian.com，Trying to copy the glory of foreign light blog site Tumblr，But things went counterproductive，Dandian ultimately failed to meet market expectations，Other Chinese imitators have also disappeared。The reason behind this is also the user differences caused by the different economic and cultural backgrounds between China and the United States。Tumblr-style light blogs represent niche culture，But in the United States，High standard of living、There are many users who have many holidays and like to share，Tumblr also has international market support，Dandian.com in China does not have these conditions。In addition, the two social platforms Weibo and Douban have squeezed the living space of light blogs，One year after starting the business, Diandian.com fell into a difficult situation。

2. The needs defined by yourself are not necessarily the real needs

Finding the real needs of target users is the first step to starting a business。Market research at the initial stage of entrepreneurs lacks rigorous data analysis，But judge based on intuition，Even judging the market based on one’s own needs，There are often big errors in this process。

Gong Haiyan, who once founded Century Jiayuan.com, is a senior entrepreneur。10 years ago，The reason why Gong Haiyan founded Jiayuan was that she could not find a partner，Via Jiayuan，Not only did she find happiness herself，Also allows millions of Century Jiayuan members and lovers to finally get married。10 years later，When Gong Haiyan uses this thinking path again to think about the next entrepreneurial direction，She thought of her pain point in English—poor speaking，Decided to start a business and enter the foreign language training market by starting from my own pain points again。But this second entrepreneurship based on solving "self-needs" failed。

Gong Haiyan initially wanted to enter a market with greater economic benefits than the marriage and love market，Find a typhoon outlet that is more likely to break through。But after really investing in this market, I found many difficulties，First, New Oriental founder Wang Qiang thought there was a problem with the direction and gave up investment，Later in product design、The company encountered multiple difficulties in operation。After that, Gong Haiyan gave up oral English education with foreign teachers，Choose the basic education market instead。

To find out the real needs of users，You may wish to refer to the concept of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) advocated by "Lean Startup"，means "minimum viable product" - the fastest to use、The simplest way to build a usable product prototype，This prototype should express the final product 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino effect you want，Then pass the market test，Quickly iterate and adjust products。

3. Dianping: Past experience can be wealth or "baggage"

The past successful experience of entrepreneurs represents the summary of a period of time，But it will fall into fixed mindset and path dependence。Well-known angel investor Paul "Paul Graham once summarized the development curve of a startup: In the early stages of a startup，Startup companies are often on a rapid upward curve，And at this time, entrepreneurs have not hit a wall yet，In "ignorant optimism"；But after experiencing the initial rapid development，Startup companies will face more and more problems，The company begins to enter the "Valley of Entrepreneurial Despair"，After hitting the wall many times, entrepreneurs will enter "informed pessimism"。Dianping’s second venture is a typical representative of this entrepreneurial curve。
Dianping.com founded in 2003，In the first 7 years of business，Always tepid，Until I encountered the mobile Internet，Just started to rejuvenate。2010，Dianping begins to transform towards mobile Internet，The biggest change in Dianping’s business is the change from the past advertising business，Started to get involved in local life services such as group buying。Thanks to Dianping’s years of accumulation，Already have a lot of business information，Therefore, it is considered by the outside world to be the company most suitable for providing local life services。

In fact, the models are very different。Dianping has always been dealing with merchants，In the past, I wanted merchants to advertise on Dianping，This is a content or media mode。Although group buying also deals with merchants，But I hope merchants will come here to sell things。These two modes seem to be consistent，But the actual implementation is very different。Dianping after entering the group buying field，Still following the original method of running a slow company，There is no way to quickly expand the city in the first time，And I think users in third- and fourth-tier cities have no need for group purchases，But later I found out it was wrong。Consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities don’t like to review reviews or search for restaurants，Doesn’t mean consumers don’t want to save money。

4. Kaixin.com: Great changes in the environment lead to a crisis of standing still

The fatal crisis of entrepreneurial enterprises often lies in the failure to adjust in time when the market changes，Thus abandoned by the user。The once popular Kaixin.com、This is the case in Weiluo City。

At the beginning, Kaixin.com relied on “stealing food”、“Parking Space Game” is popular all over China，Seize the white-collar market，Become a social networking site as famous as Renren in the SNS market。After Dankaixin became famous，Encountered two obstacles: the dispute between "True and Fake Kaixin.com" and the launch of Sina Weibo。Whether it is the popularity diversion of copycat Kaixin.com，Still online on Sina Weibo，This has greatly damaged the vitality of Kaixin.com。Meanwhile，Insufficient innovation within Kaixin.com，After the smash hit，No innovation beyond 2009。

Velocity, which specializes in coupon business, also encountered a rollercoaster-like dilemma。With the advent of the mobile Internet era，Velocity’s traditional core business of printing paper coupons is gradually being replaced by mobile apps，Faced with such sudden changes in the environment，Velocity failed to adjust and launch new business in time。This makes the 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino failure of Weiluo City almost inevitable。The heyday of Weiluo City，The number of terminal devices in Beijing once exceeded 1,500 at its peak。But later，There are only two digits left in the network。With the disappearance of terminal machines，Weiluo City Company has also shrunk from more than 2,000 people at its peak to less than 200 people before the merger with Dida Tuan。

5. Letao and Dim Sum: High risks of large-scale transformation

I talked about the dangers of being complacent，But continue to adjust market positioning、Refactored product，The risk is also very high。This makes entrepreneurs suffer from the double torture of "waiting for death" and "seeking death"。Grasping the balance between "change" and "unchanged" is the key to success in starting a business。

There are many successful people in the vertical Internet market，For example, Ctrip in the tourism market、Soufun.com for the real estate market, etc.，The prerequisite for the success of a vertical market is that the size of the market segment is large enough、High degree of standardization and certain industry barriers。Entrepreneurs’ judgments about vertical markets are prone to bias，Some vertical markets often seem to have opportunities，But in fact it is just a temporary blank，Once a target for horizontal integrators，The market space for entrepreneurs will be lost。For example, the shoe e-commerce company Letao was once one of the representatives of vertical e-commerce，With Tmall、JD.com expands further，Become a large platform with stronger horizontal expansion capabilities，It was forced to start transformation。

Letao’s transformation choice is to change from a channel system to a buyer system，And it has undergone major internal structural adjustments again and again、Replacement of the entire supply chain and disguised layoffs。There is nothing wrong with the direction of building your own brand，But it’s too extreme in execution。The original shoe e-commerce platform was axed，Newly born private brands lack strong matrix support。In fact, you could have implanted your own brand on the basis of the original platform operation，Raise slowly，Distribute through all major channels at the same time。Also，Letao’s approach of launching 5 brands at once is too radical。Shangxian’s young operation team cannot control 5 brands。Looking at some traditional footwear companies with rich experience，It is not easy to build a brand，Building 5 brands at the same time is fanciful。That’s it，Letao disappeared。

When entrepreneurs choose a direction，It is feasible to enter a relatively blue ocean entrepreneurial field。But this field and its own abilities、Whether the resources that can be mobilized during the entrepreneurial process are matched is more important to consider。Entrepreneurs often ignore subsequent resource support capabilities，Once it is discovered that this direction is not advisable，You can only choose transformation。The company’s repeated transformation means that the overall system risk will come at any time。

Dianxin is the first graduate of Innovation Works，Once shrouded in various entrepreneurial auras。It is the first registered company in the Sinovation Ventures family，It is also the first entrepreneurial project to graduate。As the first startup to enter the mobile operating system market，Dim sum will soon encounter the red sea of ​​ROM。Dianxin hopes to cooperate with major manufacturers such as Samsung，But in the end, only second-tier mobile phone manufacturers such 188bet sports betting app download as Sharp agreed to test the waters with it。Meanwhile，Dim sum has not established its own core fan base，Product version iteration speed is also very slow。In the end, he found that making ROM was not what he was good at，Immediately returned from hardware cooperation production to mobile software Android system tool optimization。In subsequent transformation，Dianxin is faced with the choice between ROM and Android system tools again，Finally chose the direction of Android system tools，Package and sell the earliest mobile OS product line。In order to further improve your commercial level，Early 2013，Dianxin accepts strategic investment from Baidu，Entering the security market。

6. Fanke: Excessive expansion and loss of management under rapid growth

Compared to the difficulties of a startup，There is another type of company as an Internet segment industry (such as e-commerce、Pioneers of group purchase，Taking advantage of the rise of China’s economy and consumption，Relying on rounds of financing and other factors to have a perfect start，But behind the steep growth curve are various dangers: large-scale cash burning leading to huge losses，The company’s personnel are expanding rapidly，Quality is mixed，Being superstitious about the power of marketing and ignoring more basic quality issues... the company is like a rocket that shoots straight into the sky and suddenly loses power and plummets，Under rapid expansion，The risk of losing control increases sharply。

Vancl Eslite and Lashou.com are typical cases.

Fancl Eslite founded in 2007，Once a typical example of Fast Company。When “I am a mortal” and other mortal objects are all the rage，Fanke ushered in crazy expansion from 2009 to 2010，But what followed was a huge management and control loophole: hundreds of millions of backlogs were reported as losses、Destroyed or sold at a low price；Due to excessive category expansion，Vancl’s early clear clothing brand positioning gradually became blurred，Supplier and quality management are out of control；Surge in personnel，But many employees have nothing to do... After receiving a new round of funding from investors such as Lei Jun，Fanke started a "Xiaomi-style revolution"，But there are increasing signs，Fanke can no longer regain lost ground through conventional means。
Lashou.com’s rapid fall is similar to Fanke。As a company that once occupied the top spot in the domestic group buying market in the early days，It took less than two and a half years from the establishment of Lashou.com to the submission of its listing application，But after experiencing huge financing and rapid development，It is to expand scale and performance to impact listing，Cause internal management chaos，Expanding market share entirely by burning money，Falled quickly after being blocked from listing，Falled out of the first camp in the domestic group buying market。

7. Red Boy: “Brotherly loyalty” creates hidden dangers of internal strife in the team

Startup company receives venture capital (Venture Capital，VC for short)’s favor is undoubtedly a gratifying step in gaining recognition，But the relationship between company founders and between investors and company management has also become more complicated。There are conflicts between investors and management，And the imbalance of equity distribution within the founders，Both will increase the uncertainty of entrepreneurial enterprises，The famous e-commerce company that started out as a mother and baby product is a typical example。
Xu Peixin、188bet online sports betting Li Yang、Good brothers Yang Tao and Ma Jianyang founded Redbaby together，Formed a CEO+3 management structure，The four have complementary personalities，Xu、李、Yang、The collaborative capabilities of Ma’s four-person Redbaby core team have also become an important condition for venture capitalists to believe in Redbaby。After introducing multiple rounds of financing，From 2006，Conflicts between the founders of Redbaby began to sprout。After receiving venture capital，Xu Peixin’s voice gradually increases。At this time，Li Yang、Xu Peixin’s strategic differences are also becoming increasingly prominent。Continue to focus on the maternal and infant products market，Let’s introduce cosmetics、3C（China Compulsory Certification，China Compulsory Product Certification) and other categories to do comprehensive B2C (Business to Customer)？Li Yang insists on the former，Xu Peixin insists on the latter。

After the conflict between the two could not be reconciled，Venture investors support Xu Peixin，Yang Tao also chose to side with Xu Peixin，The board of directors decided to let Li Yang and his wife Wang Shuang leave。After the other two founders also left due to internal reasons，Only Xu Peixin, who is considered to represent the will of capital, is left in the founder team。September 2012，Suning announced the acquisition of Redbaby for US$66 million，The red child becomes Suning’s mother and baby channel。

8. Giant Whale: A model that relies too much on partners will cause problems sooner or later

Many entrepreneurs suffer from insufficient financial preparations in the early stage of starting a business、Choose entrepreneurial partners due to environmental factors etc.。Choosing entrepreneurial partners is also a technical job，If you choose poorly，It will lead to the failure of entrepreneurship。The giant whale rose because of Google China，Also declined because of Google China。

Giant Whale by Yao Ming、Yao Ming’s agents Zhang Mingji and Chen Ge jointly participated in the establishment，The investment scale of the three parties reaches 20 million yuan。With the huge star power of Yao Ming and the persuasiveness of authentic music，The giant whale soon met the “noble man” again—Google China，Both parties jointly launch Google Music Search。This cooperation not only enabled Giant Whale to obtain an investment of US$15 million，More importantly, let the giant whale obtain huge resources and income。

After investing in Google China and reaching music search cooperation，The giant whale is completely on the lap of Google China，Losing Google China Technology、Traffic、After resource support，The giant whale has always had illusions about Google，Failed to come up with a product with selling points，Not reflecting new development ideas，As a result, I have been unable to reverse the crisis after falling into passivity。2010，Google announces its withdrawal from China，Let everything stop suddenly。

Another company had a similar experience。As a search engine company founded by Google elites，Yunyun originally wanted to rely on the big tree of early investor Sina to enter the field of social search。originally，Under the circumstances that the search market pattern has been roughly determined，There is something wrong with doing social search "Quixotic adventure，The resources of Sina Weibo cannot fully meet the Yunyun team’s hope of becoming bigger，Yunyun’s founding team had no choice but to leave in the end。