指尖阅读 — 你的生涯你做主（二十二）

当读者吮吸着知识的甘霖时，那醉人的书香会萦绕在他身边，一切困惑，一切疲倦都被这神圣的香味驱走。因为书香使人振奋，使人喜悦，使人不觉得劳累，莎士比亚曾经说过：“生活里没有书籍，就好像生活里没有了阳光；智慧里没有书籍，就好像鸟儿没有了翅膀。”

欢迎大家继续和我一起来读《the start-up of you》。

The Market Realities

The realities of the world you live in is the final piee of the puzzle. Smart entrepreneurs know a product won't make money if customers don't want or need it, regardless of how slick its form and function ( think of the Segway). Likewise, your skills, experiences, and other soft assets - no matter how speical you think they are - won't give you an dege unless they meet the eeds of a paying market. If Joi were bilingual in an obscure African dialect as opposed to the language of the world's third-largest economy (Japan), it wouldn't contriute to a compelling advantage for working wiht technology companies. And keep in mind that the "market"is not an abstract thing. It consists of the people who make decisions that affect you and whose needs you must serve: your boss, your cowrkers, your clients, your direct reports, and others. How badly what you have to offer, and if they need it, do you offer value that's better than the competition?

It's often said that entrepreneurs are dreamers.True, But good entrrepreneurs are also firmly grounded in what's available and possible right now. Specifically, entrepreneurs spend vast amounts of energy trying to figure out what customers will pay for. Because ultimately, the success of all businesses depends on customers willing to sign on the line thatis dotted. In turn, the success of all professionals - the start-up of you -depends on employers and clients and partners choosing to buy your time.

In 1985, when Howard Schultz(current CEO ofStartbucks) was preparing to launch coffee bars in America modeled after those already in Italy, he and his partners didn't just launch the stores on a whim.They first did everything in their power to understand the dynamics of the market they were entering. They visited five hundred espresso ars in Milan andVerona t learn as much as they possibly could. How did the Italians desgin their cafes? What were the local coffee - drinking habits? How did the baristas serve coffee?What did the menus look like? They scribbled observations in notbooks. The videotaped the stores in action. This kind for market research is not a one-time thingk entrepreneurs do when a start-up first launches, either.David Neeleman founded his own airline, JetBlue Airways, and served as CEO for the first seven years. During that time he flew his own airline at least once aweek, worked the cabin, and blogged about his experience: "Each week I fly on JetBlue flights and talk to customers so I can find out how we can improve our airline, "he wrote.

Schultz and Neeleman had tremendous vision when they founded their start-ups. Yet from day one they focused on the needs of their customers and stakeholders. For all their smarts and vision, they knew well what VC and friend Marc Andreessen likes to say: Markets that don't exitdon't car how smart you are. Similarly, it doesn't matter how hard you've worked or how passionate you are about an aspiration:if someone won't pay oufor your services in the career marketplace, it's going to be a very hard slog.You aren't entitled to anything.

Studying the market realities doesn't have to bea limiting, negative exercise. There are always industries, places, people,and compnies with momenturm. Put yourself in a position to ride these waves.The Chinese economy, the politician Cory Booker, environmentally friendly consumer products:each is a big wave. Being in a positon to ride them - making the market realities wor for you as opposed to against you - is key to achieving breakout professional success.

当我们走出大学校门的那一刻，我们就要认识到现实社会是残酷的，在社会这个大市场中，不被社会接受和采购的“产品”是不可能赢得市场认可，同样也是无法销售出去的。

我们只有不断的认清市场，不断挑战市场风暴，才可以不断获得市场的接受和认可。