2024-04-07 03:00:49
Young people are crazy about starting businesses, but “old entrepreneurs” also have unique “entrepreneurial competitiveness”. The classic figure is Zhang Zhongmou.
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed TSMC founder Chang Chung-mou, pointing out that he founded TSMC, a semiconductor manufacturing leader that is indispensable to the global economy, at the age of 55, an “uncommon entrepreneurial age”, and discussed what other middle-aged entrepreneurs can learn from Chang Chung-mou thing.
The article mentioned that the most valuable technology companies in the world are often founded by very young entrepreneurs in dormitories, garages, and restaurants. For example, Bill Gates founded Microsoft at the age of 19, and Steve Jobs founded Apple at the age of 21. , Jeff Bezos founded Amazon at the age of 30, and the recently famous Jen-Hsun Huang founded Huida at the age of 30.
Ben Cohen, a columnist who focuses on business success, conducted an exclusive video interview with 92-year-old Zhang Zhongmou. Zhang Zhongmou not only had a refreshing 90-minute conversation, but also drank a glass of Diet Coke. When talking about the origin of his middle-aged business, Zhang Zhongmou said bluntly, “I couldn’t have done this earlier. I don’t think anyone can do it sooner.” Do it early, because I was the first to do it.”
He turned 55.
Then he started the most important company in the world today.
New @WSJ column: I spoke with Morris Chang about the founding of TSMC.
— Ben Cohen (@bzcohen) March 31, 2024
Two success factors for middle-aged entrepreneurs
Zhang Zhongmou reviewed his experience in entrepreneurship and believed that “young people are more innovative in science and technology.” He also responded to the characteristics of middle-aged entrepreneurship. There are two major elements in the overall observation:
1. Tenacious work ambition
Zhang Zhongmou, who was born in China and immigrated to the United States in 1949, entered the semiconductor industry in 1958 and joined Texas Instruments.
Zhang Zhongmou, the first-generation semiconductor technology expert, was considered a “tenacious” manager at the time. His vigorous and resolute leadership dominated everything on the chip production line, which put his career on the fast track and led him to 1972. In 2010, he was promoted to deputy general manager of Texas Instruments Group. In 1983, he left Texas Instruments and joined General Instrument Company as chief operating officer, continuing to lead the most advanced semiconductor company at the time.
Zhang Zhongmou is a well-known workaholic. He will even make sales calls during his honeymoon, and he has no patience with those who have different views on work from him. Today, TSMC’s $40 billion investment in a new Arizona plant is hampered by labor issues. Zhang Zhongmou bluntly said that the attitude of some young employees of TSMC in the United States towards work is difficult for him to understand.
He further pointed out that when he was young, he had never heard of the term “work-life balance”. He only knew that “if there was no work, there was no life”. life.).
2. Understanding, deconstruction and reconstruction of business models
After Zhang Zhongmou worked in the U.S. semiconductor industry for 30 years, he received support from the Taiwan government to create a semiconductor company. However, with his understanding of the industry and Taiwan’s resources, it was impossible to create a company like Texas Instruments and General Instruments. That was from design to If you want to successfully build a great company, the only way to build a handful of chip companies is to create a completely new company with a business model that can take advantage of the country’s strengths and make up for its many weaknesses. This is “wafer foundry” The origin of the pattern.
“TSMC is a business model innovation,” Chang said. “For this type of innovation, I think older people may be more capable than young people.” He also bluntly said that the idea behind TSMC is also his long-term professional career The result of a personal philosophy formed throughout his career, “to be a partner to our customers,” this entrepreneurial spirit remains the cornerstone of TSMC’s development today.
Pierre Azoulay, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, analyzed, “These business challenges are usually not solved by young people in their 20s, because you need to have a clear and thorough understanding of the company’s customers. Only by solving the problem can we imagine the solution.”
▲ Zhang Zhongmou bluntly said that the idea behind TSMC is also the result of his personal philosophy formed during his long career. (Source: Science and Technology News)
Zhang Zhongmou said that after returning to Taiwan in middle age, he had no intention of chasing money. “In fact, I held a very small share in the company I founded. However, I became quite rich because a small share of the stock multiplied by a large Numbers are wealth.” Zhang’s approximately 0.5% stake in TSMC is currently worth approximately US$3.5 billion.
As for this legendary founder, how does he define personal success? “In my mind, the greatest success in 1985 was building a great company, and the lesser success was at least doing something that I loved doing and wanted to do,” he said. “I just happened to make it happen. , the highest degree of success in my mind.”
So for Zhang Zhongmou, how to define TSMC’s success? Having retired, he was obviously relieved because he no longer had to think about this issue, “I’m done!” Zhang Zhongmou quoted General MacArthur’s farewell speech to Congress in 1951, “I am a veteran. ”, “I am still here, but I am fading away” (I don′t die. But I′m fading away).
(This article is written by vision magazine Reprinted with permission; source of first image:Unsplash）
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