Startup founders need to be like Buddhist monks, says Lei Jun’s top VC

Photo credit: Pixabay

These days, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun is best known for – surprise – being a Xiaomi founder. But he’s also the board chair of Shunwei Capital, one of China’s top VC firms. Lei, as you might imagine, is a bit busy to run a VC firm, so Shunwei’s day-to-day is in the hands of its CEO Xu Dalai. And with Xu at the helm, Shunwei has become one of China’s top VC firms, with portfolio companies including YY and iQiyi under its belt.

Xu recently stopped by a Sina startup event to share some of his wisdom with founders, and we’ve translated the most interesting bit of his comments below.

Advice for founders: be like a Buddhist

“My summary of doing a startup is that it’s like Buddhist religious practice.

“First, startup founders must give up a lot of worldly possessions. Before starting up, you might have had a good job with good pay and benefits. Why would you give that up to do a startup? You must have the determination and guts to make that sacrifice.

“Second, startup founders must keep their minds focused squarely on their business. There’s a lot of noise in the outside world; we must focus our minds only on the thing or dream we’re trying to accomplish.

“Finally, founders must be faithful, and think clearly about what their own ‘Mount Everest’ is.

“Startup founders want to change the world, and the things you do to change the world are often subversive. When you want to disrupt an industry, the vested interests in that industry are going to attack you, so founders must spend more time doing ‘religious practice:’ working hard to complete your goals.

“Once, somebody asked me what was the biggest moment that stuck with me when I was in the process of starting up Shunwei Capital. It was when I went home. My son was being difficult, and as soon as I got home he said, ‘Go on an international trip, don’t come home again.’

“Although he was just a child, it made me very sad, and founders will definitely encounter moments like this. But I hope you founders can stay strong and keep moving, and see it through to the end.”

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Advice for investors: listen

Xu offered some advice for investors, too:

“I think the most important thing investors need to do is listen. When a founder encounters a problem, telling their partners might not be appropriate, telling their spouse might not be appropriate, so they should go to their investors to talk. I hope all of my colleagues at Shunwei can be listeners for startup founders.”