經營一家公司需要付出什么？對于這個問題，創業者一定會收到來自各方的建議——朋友、合伙人、導師和投資者等。有些建議是有用的，但有些卻沒有價值。我們應該聽從哪個人的哪條建議？這個問題非常棘手，創業者往往很難弄明白。我在最初創建網上訂餐平臺OpenTable時就曾經歷過這種困惑。現在我也經常看到我指導的創業者們為這個問題所困擾。以下是我的一些建議，希望能幫助創業者們在難以回避的信息拉鋸戰中，找準自己的方向。

創業是一場馬拉松，而不是短跑

你的目標在于增加成功的機會。創業之路異常的艱難。創業者必須做出犧牲。不要夢想著一夜成功（或許會有一兩個這樣的情況），大多數成功者背后的故事，都要比我們想象的更加跌宕起伏。成功不會一蹴而就。有時候，創業者會經歷上下起伏，會產生左右搖擺，會有前進也會有后退。OpenTable用了11年時間才成功上市。你的目標應該是每天前進一兩步，并清楚你會遭遇挫折。我最喜歡的一種說法，是將創業比喻成在南極爬山。成功的攀登者不會去想峰頂；他們只關注接下來的20英尺，就這樣一步步地向上攀登。創業需要時間。你必須能夠經受住暴風驟雨的考驗，并抓住偶然間降臨的好運氣。

不要迷信專家

要聽聽導師們怎么說，但你要記住，你是唯一一個在這個特殊的時間點創建這家公司的人。此前的例證都不能完全復制到你的公司。而且，以前有效的做法并不意味著現在依舊有效，反之亦然。我從不相信專家。認為某個人（包括我）是專家，是愚蠢的想法。在某些方面，確實有的人知道的比其他人多，但通常情況下，你將遇到的導師們的世界觀，只適合某家處于特定歷史時期的公司。一旦情勢改變，他們那些曾經頗有見地的觀點，將會被淘汰。我認為，許多“專家”都是某一個時期的產物。當然，你從導師身上還是能學到許多知識，但不要把他們的只言片語奉為真理。

不要做“乒乓球”

要以寬廣的胸懷對待他人的反饋意見。要從中總結經驗教訓，但不要變成沒有立場的“乒乓球”。我喜歡與謙虛自信的創業者合作。我喜歡有自知之明的創業者。他們能夠接受反饋，并且認識到雖然自己聰明，但僅靠自己不可能成功。（任何事情的成功都有一定的運氣成分。）此外，創業者必須激發出自信心。再強調一下，他們能夠接受反饋，但不會一聽到別人的不同想法，就像乒乓球那樣跳來跳去，失去自己的立場。他們有自己的觀點。這是他們對這個世界的理解，他們將圍繞這種理解來打造自己的公司。

走出辦公室

始終以行動為導向。創建公司并不是坐在白板前面，設想客戶的需求和公司的發展大計。創業者要“走出辦公樓”，與客戶互動。客戶真正想要什么？你應該如何向他們推銷？如果客戶面臨的問題或痛苦足夠大，他們會愿意購買不完美的產品。所以，創業者應該盡快開發出一款具有最低限度可用性的產品，然后去弄清楚誰愿意花費多少錢購買這款產品。將你的產品放到市場當中，去向你的客戶學習。

保持高度專注

我經常說這句話，所以創業加速器Impact Engine投資的一家公司，還專門為我做了一件印有這句話的T恤衫。我喜歡在最開始非常專注于一種盈利模式、一個客戶群體和一種解決方案的初創公司。隨著公司規模的擴大，你可以將資源分配到更多項目，但在最開始，創業者首先應該確定如何賺錢（即盈利模式），以及如何利用賺來的錢擴大規模（即增長模式）。許多初創公司之所以失敗，正是因為他們試圖根據多種客戶類型擴展多個銷售模式。

不要擔心，保持斗志

盡可能爭取足夠多的“上場擊球”（譯注：棒球術語）次數。大多數創業努力會失敗。你的大多數想法也會失敗。要增加成功的機會，最可靠的方法是保持盡可能長的生存時間。而要實現這個目標，最好的方式是節儉。本杰明?富蘭克林曾談論過節儉與勤奮。要審慎花錢，但不能采用一種抑制增長的方式。你的經營時間越久，獲得“上場擊球”的機會也就越多。但愿你能夠抓住其中的一次機會，一鳴驚人。我的朋友、創業家克里斯?格拉德溫說得好：“要想經營你的生意，首先你必須留在商界。”一旦確定了盈利模式和增長模式，并且業內有套利機會，你便可以大膽投資。任何公司都有一種自然增長率，而資本可以幫助加快這一速度，但在某些情況下，邊際資本會被浪費，無法發揮作用。

不要自欺欺人

要在精益創業法與不切實際之間找到平衡。你必須以公正的心態看待自己的公司。你真的認為一切順利嗎？在定向越野比賽中，人們將這種情況稱為“折疊地圖”。當你在越野過程中遇到一座山時，你會用指南針標記它的位置，以便以后找到它。但當你試圖在地圖上找到它時，你卻會分不清方向，這時你會騙自己你在地圖上看到的那座山就是你面前的這座山。但你內心很清楚，這并非事實。創業者也會落入這樣的陷阱。他們知道公司存在問題，但他們欺騙自己，認為一切順利。雖然你不應該放棄自己的夢想，但你應該誠實地對待自己看到的結果，并做出相應調整。

Undoubtedly, as an entrepreneur, you’re going to get a lot of advice from a multitude of sources—friends, partners, mentors, and investors—about what it takes to run a business. Some of it will be useful and some of it won’t. Knowing who and what to listen to can be tricky not to mention overwhelming. I experienced this confusion firsthand while founding OpenTable, and I see how it affects the entrepreneurs I mentor today. So here’s my best advice for navigating the information tug of war that inevitably happens when you start a business.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

The goal is to increase your chances of success. Being an entrepreneur is hard. It takes sacrifice. There are no overnight successes (well, maybe one or two), but for most successes out there, the real backstory is much more tumultuous. Success is almost never linear. Sometimes there are ups and downs, rights and lefts, forwards and backwards. OpenTable took 11 years to go public. The goal is to take one or two steps forward every day, with the understanding that there will be setbacks. My favorite analogy is comparing entrepreneurship to mountain climbing in Antarctica. Successful climbers don’t dwell on the peak; they focus on the next 20 feet, and then the next, and then the next. Building a business takes time. You need to be able to weather the storms and take advantage of serendipity.

There’s no such thing as an expert

Listen to what mentors have to say, but remember that you are the only one building this business at this particular point in time. No example before you is an exact replica of your business. And just because something worked in the past, or didn’t work in the past, doesn’t mean that it will or won’t now. I don’t believe in experts. The idea that anyone (including me) is an expert is silly. There are people that know more than others about a particular topic, but often times the mentors you will encounter have a worldview that fits a particular time and business in history. But once things change, their view, which used to be insightful, will likely be obsolete. To me, many “experts” are a product of a time. With that said, there’s obviously things you can learn from mentors, but their word is not gospel.

Don’t be a ping pong ball

Be open to feedback. Learn, but don’t be a ping pong ball. I prefer to work with entrepreneurs that have what I consider humble confidence. I like entrepreneurs that are somewhat self-effacing. They take feedback well and realize that while they are smart, they can’t do it alone. (And that some luck plays into everything.) With that said, entrepreneurs must evoke confidence. Again, they take feedback well but don’t bounce around on ideas. They have a point of view and they own. It’s their unique take on the world, and they are building their business around it.

Get out of the building

Always be action-oriented. Building a business isn’t about sitting around a white board and hypothesizing about what customers might want and how to grow your business. It’s about getting “out of the building” and interacting with customers. What do your customers actually want? How should you sell to them? If the problem or pain is big enough, they will buy an imperfect product. So get to a minimum viable product ASAP and find out who will pay and how much they will pay. Get your product into the wild and learn from your customers.

Be maniacally focused

I say this so often that one of Impact Engine’s portfolio companies made me a shirt with this slogan on it. I like startups that are extremely focused on a single revenue model, a single customer segment, and a single solution, to start. Once you’re bigger, you can divert resources to more than one initiative, but in the beginning, it should be all about figuring out your revenue model and growth model. How do you make money: revenue model. How do you scale that money: growth model. I’ve seen several startups fail because they are trying to scale multiple sales models to multiple customer types.

Don’t worry, be scrappy

Get as many “at bats” as possible. Most entrepreneurial efforts fail. And most of your ideas will also fail. The best way to increase your chances of success is to be alive as long as possible. The best way to do that is to be frugal. Benjamin Franklin talked about being frugal and industrious. So be wise with your money, but not in a way that suffocates growth. The longer you can stretch your runway, the more chances you have at bat. And hopefully one of those chances leads to a hit. My friend and entrepreneur Chris Gladwin says it so well, “to be in business you have to be in business.” Once you have the revenue model and growth model figured out and there is arbitrage in the business, then you can invest aggressively. Businesses have a natural rate of growth that capital can help accelerate, but at some point the marginal capital is wasted and inefficient.

Don’t bend the map

Balance lean startup methodologies with being unreasonable. You have to be unbiased about your business. Do you really see it working? In orienteering, they call it “bending the map.” When you come upon a hill during a hike, you mark it with your compass to find it later. But when you try to find it on the map you get disoriented, and you trick yourself into believing that the hill you see on the map is also the hill you see in front of you. But deep down, you know that it’s not. Entrepreneurs can get caught in that trap as well. They know something isn’t right but they fool themselves into believing things are working. While you shouldn’t give up on your dreams, you need to be incredibly honest with the results you are seeing and adjust accordingly.