OKcoin Xu Mingxing: Having money does not mean having a good team

NetEase Technology News: Having money does not mean having a good team. This is what OKcoin CEO Mingxing Xu said in 2014 based on the mistakes he made.

Xu Mingxing said that in 2014 he mistakenly believed that having enough money was equivalent to having a good team, but after OKcoin raised tens of millions of US dollars, as the money came in, the company's problems became more and more.

Xu Mingxing concluded that a good team consists of two key components: the first is to have several very good partners, and the second is that each partner must be able to form a very capable team in each field. But these are not something that can be obtained with money.

Xu Mingxing's biggest fear in 2015 is that practitioners in this industry are too radical and forget about risks. The Bitcoin industry belongs to the Internet financial industry, which has many risks and practitioners must always pay attention. Xu Mingxing advises entrepreneurs in this industry to not forget the party discipline and national laws, to take small steps and move fast, and not to be too radical.

In 2015, what excited Xu Mingxing the most was that more and more people were falling in love with Bitcoin, a currency with "natural credit."

The following is the transcript of Xu Mingxing’s speech:

Xu Mingxing: Good afternoon, everyone. This is my first time to participate in a NetEase event. The pressure is very high. First, I have to give a presentation on the essentials, and second, if I exceed the time limit, I will take up other people’s time.

We have two brands. One is called OKCoin, which is a professional Bitcoin wallet and payment platform. We make Bitcoin very easy to use. You only need a QR code and a mobile phone number, and there is no technical concept. We have a Bitcoin trading platform. We are the largest Bitcoin trading platform in China. We also have a company in Singapore, which is a USD Bitcoin trading platform.

The biggest mistake I made in 2014 was whether I had equal access to money with my colleagues in the company. At the beginning, my partner and I raised several million dollars to start the company. There were many twists and turns in the process, and sometimes it was very tiring. Later, we found that after we raised tens of millions of dollars, more and more problems arose as the money flowed into the company. At this time, we reflected on what the problem was, so we had a lot of discussions in 2014.

What is a good team? A good team has two key components. The first is to have several very good partners. The second is that each partner must be able to form a very capable team in each field. What is a partner? It is easy to say that there are partners. 3W and Garage Coffee both look for partners, but I think partners need to meet several conditions. First of all, the partners must be smart enough, because we are facing unknown areas in entrepreneurship. We must have such wisdom to explore the unknown and constantly explore our own products and experiences.

The second is to have a lot of passion. I already enjoy life, or just want to live a normal life every day, and it is difficult to have no entrepreneurial passion.

Third, you have passion. I think it will be difficult if your partners do not agree with the company’s products and business.

In addition, the partners must have sufficient capabilities; it will be difficult if they do not have sufficient capabilities.

What is more important is mutual tolerance. Your partner may identify with your product and your company, and may be smart and capable, but there may be problems in getting along with each other.

Finally, the founder must have enough personal charm to manage your partner team well. Therefore, forming a very strong partner team is a very important thing for the success of a startup team. There is an example that Lei Jun's several major partners are very powerful, and each of them can manage two floors. With partners, you have to form your own team, and you can't do it alone. I think this team also needs some key factors. First, I think it is still necessary to be smart. There are many positions in a startup company. You must be smart enough and be able to think. Second, you must have enough ability, and third, you must be down-to-earth. If our team is just discussing business models every day, thinking about the company's decisions every day, how to make new decisions, and how to find shortcuts, I think it is also wrong. After making a decision, we need to implement it down-to-earth. In addition, we must be positive. The entrepreneurial team must think that we will do better today than tomorrow, make more money today than tomorrow, and have a higher position the day after tomorrow than tomorrow. Of course, diligence is also indispensable.

We used to think that we could find more people if we had a lot of money, but when you find someone, I find an executive from a big company. First of all, his ability is enough, but he wants to enjoy a comfortable life. Does he want to do this kind of entrepreneurial thing? After finding the person, whether he agrees with the company's products and the company's founder, so I think it is very difficult to form a team. But this is something that must be done. No startup company can be done well by one person. Everyone has their own abilities. I am from a science and engineering background. I am not good at marketing or hype, but I want to find people who can complement me. We must try. Many people are exhausted. We may lose a lot of money every month if we find the wrong person, but if you stand still, I believe your company's expenses and losses will be greater.

You must spend time looking for a partner in your various friend circles and social circles. It may be difficult to find one in a hundred. When you find such a partner, you must have an evaluation mechanism to determine whether it is suitable. We are in a startup company for the common benefit, and everyone must contribute their own abilities to this benefit. If there is no positive evaluation mechanism, many mediocre people will occupy important positions, and such a company can close down.

Founders need to be willing to share their abilities. In the past, we raised a lot of money and thought we should spend it slowly. Now the money we raise is VC money. VC money is for us to find the right team. We must learn to share. Of course, founders also need to have the charm of a partner. Anyone who is interested in me today can contact me.

The fear of 2015, there is a saying, young people, we can all have dreams, we can dream, today's era dreaming is a good thing, while dreaming we must not forget our party discipline and national laws. Because I am engaged in the Internet financial industry, this industry has many risks. A few young people made an APP and went out to find project investment, but the 200 million was gone very quickly, and if it is not done well, they will go to jail. So we should take small steps and run fast, don't be too radical.

Finally, let me tell you about the excitement in 2015. This is the address of Bitcoin. What is Bitcoin? Credit on the Internet is a kind of credit created by mathematical algorithms and computing power. There are many kinds of credit. Everyone here has their own credit. The credit of gold is a physical property. Gold cannot be eaten or worn and has no value. Its physical properties make people all over the world believe in it. If you don’t use RMB in China, you will be arrested. In 2015, we call the credit of RMB and US dollar humanistic credit, gold physical credit, and Bitcoin is another kind of credit. What is very exciting in 2015 is that more and more people like this natural credit. You can analyze whether natural credit or social credit is more reliable. Social credit means that a few people can invest 4 trillion yuan after holding a meeting without discussing it with us. Physical properties mean that you can keep gold at home without financial management.

I was chatting with the grandmother of one of my employees and found out that the 90-year-old lady was trading stocks. She asked me what I was doing and I said I was trading Bitcoin. She said that I went to the United States to see my son and said that exchanging money was too troublesome and that this thing should have been available a long time ago.

Question: You have just talked so much about the business model and profit model. How do we participate in it and what are the thresholds?

Xu Mingxing: I think Bitcoin is a way to improve the efficiency of global asset circulation and reduce costs, because it is a credit based on the Internet, and it also has the characteristics of gold, so it can be circulated quickly and at low cost on the Internet. For example, if we want to remit 100 yuan from China to the United States today, we first need to access the bank, which will access the branch in each city, then enter the central bank center, then transfer to the interface of ICBC, and then to the local landing bank. There are dozens of links in the middle, and the cost is very high. Bitcoin can greatly improve the circulation efficiency and reduce costs. I think this is its core value.