What is Entrepreneurship
In a group chat of ASR manufacturers, someone shared about Alibaba's launch of the DingTalk real-time translation device. At that time, many manufacturers providing voice ASR services said such devices would have a huge market.
However, I held a different opinion. I believed that devices that add functionality by separating from the mobile phone hardware ecosystem would eventually be overtaken by phone manufacturers. This is because mobile phones, as the entry point for future AI services, need to serve as terminals for multimodal data collection.
This is a very simple issue. The reason DingTalk could be launched is mainly due to the miniaturization of the microphone module, allowing it to complete audio collection, audio processing, and ASR output in a palm-sized device. But mobile phones already have microphone modules. Manufacturers only need to increase (and inevitably will increase) investment in this area, and users wouldn't need to carry additional devices to meet their needs.
But at that time, those ASR service manufacturers believed this wouldn't happen, reasoning that current phone manufacturers can't even get voice assistants right.
Later, at Apple's Fall 2025 keynote, the demonstrated AirPods Pro 3 could achieve clean audio pickup and work with the iPhone 17 to perform real-time translation. I was amazed by the audio pickup capability shown in the demo, indicating that Apple already has the capability to become a multimodal data collection entry point and has the potential to become an AI Agent platform.
Immediately, someone retorted, saying its real-time translation only supports a handful of languages, so what's so impressive or amazing about it?
Over the past few years, I've seen many "independent developers" promoting their "products" on social media. The vast majority talk about how advanced their technology is and how it rivals international standards, but I've almost never seen them talk about what value they've created for whom.
Of course, a few among them might suddenly have an "epiphany," realizing that products should be "value-first," that they should first figure out which problems of which users they are solving. But in practice, they still fall into "technology worship," weaving a story detached from reality, imagining "users" in some parallel universe who would chase their technological narrative.
And it's been less than 10 years since the last wave of entrepreneurship. Even these independent developers who have struggled through hardships to gain this "enlightenment," the truths they've realized are just the "common sense" of the previous wave. If they had seriously written a business plan, conducted extensive market research, and interacted with real, living users, they wouldn't be dreaming such fantasies. These so-called AI entrepreneurs seem more like a group of technology-obsessed dreamers rather than collaborators who are close to the business and in dialogue with users.
True entrepreneurship is an adventure of building products oriented towards users, with the goal of creating value for them. What cannot create value can only be called a "thing," and such an adventure can only be called "suicide."
What is Business
If "entrepreneurship" always carries a wishful vision and fervor, then "business" is about staring at the cash flow every day with a pounding heart.
The goal of doing business is to "make money," so all means taken around this goal are justified, whether it's manual labor or live streaming.
The most frightening thing is the mindset of "I have a great product idea, how about... and finally I can make money." This is actually a mismatch of goals and means. The goal of a good product is to serve users well; making money is a branch, not the trunk.
For example, AI-wrapped chatbots assume users want to use AI services, not that users are willing to pay for AI. At this point, the poor "independent developer" toils away creating a bunch of add-ons and optimizations, but these efforts don't solve the core problem—how to get users to pay.
I often criticize those selling courses, precisely as a counterexample. I used to think that these course peddlers weren't actually bringing real improvement in ability to their users. This is actually a conflict between entrepreneurial thinking and business thinking.
If we shift our perspective, their goal is to make money, and selling courses is just a means. To achieve their goal, they don't need to consider whether the delivery is "useful"; they only need to consider closing the deal and completing the delivery. If "useful delivery" can turn their profit flywheel, they will be willing to ponder it. Otherwise, they don't need to waste time.
In essence, "the course being useful" is just one of the feasible means. If the pool of potential users who can be converted is large enough, they don't need to seriously deliver something useful.
Was Mimeng's writing useful? I think it was utterly useless. But she could continuously close deals, so she didn't need to consider "usefulness" at all—she only needed to keep creating new anxieties and satisfying users' anxieties. And stirring up anxiety happens to be the cheapest and most efficient means to close deals—in a society overflowing with meritocracy and social Darwinism, this is a huge pool of traffic delivered by the wind. As a business, if it makes money, that's enough.
What is a Career
A career represents a person's lifelong achievement.
My knowledge of economics largely comes from Dalio's educational video How the Economic Machine Works.
Recently, I saw him vigorously promoting his new book. Watching him stand in front of the camera, wearing a simple T-shirt, his aged body long out of shape, I couldn't help but sigh at how time ages us.
But then it occurred to me, his persistence is what truly moves me. Whether promoting his new book or continuing to elaborate on his views on U.S. bonds, the man who once changed the world's financial landscape is still speaking out with immense passion and professionalism.
He is no longer merely "selling" some value or commodity; he is shaping a personal brand with his own values at the core. He has transcended the realm of a "businessperson," continuously dedicating himself as if to a lifelong career.
This kind of persistence and passion Dalio shows is the attitude one should have towards their own career. And I, in the past, always judged his output with a "traffic" mindset, which was truly very immature.
Whether his theories are correct or not is not important; what matters is his dedication and sense of responsibility towards his own career.
His body being out of shape and skin sagging is not something to lament; what is truly regrettable is myself. His face is his brand, his ideas are his product, where he is, Bridgewater is there. He himself is his most core career; this is his value consistency.
I once failed to see this; I was fixated on his age and appearance. And now I realize that perhaps that was me being trapped in superficial prejudice all along, a prejudice that is truly unworthy and ugly. Pointing fingers is for the gods; getting your hands dirty is for the lowly.