4. How to Make Things Happen

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast"

— Alice in Wonderland

by Shuzhimi@RynW1988

Color coding guide for this work

Acknowledgments to editor C / art editor Shuzhimi@Chaney

a. Body text / statements in black

b. Axioms / theorems in red

c. Explanations / supplements in blue italics

d. Corollaries / conclusions in orange

e. Facts / data / news in green (due to the locality of information and the author's level, not all sources are provided)

f. Conjectures / assertions, and emotions / commentary / rumors / anecdotes / metaphors / analogies and other colloquial and literary expressions in purple

g. Theoretical innovations in gray with highlight

4.0 Citation Statement for This Chapter

4.0.0 This chapter uses ByteDance's (hereinafter "Byte") early history as a running example throughout

The lack of more diversified examples is partly due to the author's limitations; partly, technology-driven, truly globalized companies (Douyin and TikTok combined DAU exceeding 2 billion) founded by Chinese contemporaries are extremely rare

4.0.1 Accuracy not guaranteed — the author has never worked at Byte; this is hearsay

4.0.2 Thanks to Shuzhimi@xibo for the encouragement: "Hearsay — can I write about it?"

4.0.2.1 He himself wrote the most important work in the field of math competition methodology, "My Competition Reflections"

4.0.2.2 I asked him: "If you weren't a national team member / IMO gold medalist, would you still write?" He said:

a. That's a non-essential consideration. If you only consider reader impact, of course you should write regardless. The actual situation is about the convergence value of infinite-order influence

b. Where exactly it converges, everyone has their own judgment. People with similar ideas might gather and share. I also want people to know I wrote it

4.0.2 This chapter contains extensive citations from YM's public and unpublished statements

These will be marked in teal

4.1 What Is Making Things Happen

4.1.0 Making things happen means the elite amplify their original contributions by organizing resources, ultimately changing the world — this is the task line

4.1.0.1 The highest-efficiency method for accomplishing this task is called the Making Things Happen Method

"To 'make' is to act innovatively"

4.1.0.2 The main body of this chapter discusses how to profoundly change the world, hereinafter the Mahayana Making Things Happen Method

4.1.0.3 The final section of this chapter discusses how to make incremental innovations that change the world, hereinafter the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

a. It should be noted that the two are fundamentally different and cannot be transformed by scaling the concept of "world" up or down

b. The former's starting point is essentially solving problems; the latter's starting point is satisfying current market demand and capturing era dividends

4.1.1 This chapter only discusses the Making Things Happen Method of the elite (whom others don't yet recognize as elite)

4.1.1.1 Going from 0 to ε is many times harder than going from ε to 1, especially for the Mahayana Method

Intuitively, the Mahayana Method targets the ultimate goal directly, while the Hinayana Method aims to be recognized by the world as quickly as possible upon reaching "1"

4.1.1.2 "How successful people achieve greater success" is a widely circulated field of study; restating it here adds little value

The elite's capabilities grow exponentially; this chapter only discusses the Making Things Happen Method for the first four years (hereinafter "the undergraduate years")

4.1.2 This chapter assumes the reader has read the foundational work Zero to One and

4.1.2.1 A sufficient number of biographies, history books, textbooks

*Steve Jobs, Jack: Straight from the Gut, The Facebook Effect, Negotiation, A World History, Campbell Biology…

4.1.2.2 A sufficient number of psychology and productivity readings

*The Introvert Advantage, A Compass to Fulfillment, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Attention Curve, The Road Less Traveled…

4.1.3 This chapter only discusses the Making Things Happen Method for the No. 1 position

4.1.3.0 The elite are by no means limited to the No. 1 position

a. The No. 2 to an elite No. 1 must also be elite (see below)

The Chairman and the Premier — both are top-tier elite

b. This limitation exists because the No. 2 / No. N positions require composite abilities that are not a single research object academically

A large part of the No. 2's job nature is to work well with the No. 1

4.1.3.1 The intrinsic requirements of the No. 1 position

a. The primary contributor to The Idea

- The Idea refers to the most important original idea that makes an organization's existence meaningful — the one that brings it from nothing to something

- The Idea must contain a natural science / social science fact that has not yet been widely understood or applied

- Called a "secret" in Zero to One*

- Ideally, the No. 1 is the originator of The Idea, making their authority uncontested

- If not, the No. 1 generally needs to be the first person in the organization to recognize its enormous value — colloquially, "the standard-bearer"

- The elite have The Passion. The Idea generally intersects with it, though they may not be 100% aligned

- The Passion must have a non-empty intersection with the world's needs

- But they can't be completely unrelated either — complete irrelevance means you're studying the wrong field

b. The soul of the Storyline

- There is no greater source of power than a good story

- A story is a self-interpreting logic package; a story cannot be suppressed or deleted

- Listeners will analyze, verify, extrapolate, and spread it on their own; a story self-reinforces as it circulates

- Viewing an organization as a narrative, the No. 1 must be the soul of that storyline

c. The mutual friend of most elite people

- From a human perspective, a company is a group of elite people who decide to do extraordinary things together (with helpers)

- Clearly, whoever is the mutual friend of most elite people will have the best communication efficiency as No. 1

4.1.4 The First Principle of the No. 1 Position

4.1.4.1 The first principle of the No. 1 position is the willingness to put one's name to a goal/vision, hereinafter "The Heart of Signature"

Making contributions doesn't require being No. 1 — in almost every field there are unsung heroes who have made indelible contributions

4.1.4.2 Never underestimate the Heart of Signature (the primary essence of "entrepreneurship")

a. "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion" (Rudy Tomjanovich)

b. Intuitively, "isn't it good to be able to sign your name?" In practice, many elite hesitate and retreat because they lack the "Heart of Signature"

c. Willingness to take on challenging things, to guide and backstop everyone — that's not easy

4.1.4.3 Two examples of the Heart of Signature

a. Pony

- The main developer of QQ was not Pony himself. While the team was developing, Pony was finding markets for QQ and selling pagers to keep the company alive

- In fact, the QQ notification sound to this day comes from a Motorola pager

b. The founder of a bike-sharing platform

- She was originally an automotive journalist who met M. during an interview. In one conversation, M. expressed the desire to do this thing

- This journalist had absolutely nothing to do with bicycles before, but no one among M.'s acquaintances was willing to do it

- She was willing to step up as one of the founding team members and held her ground through round after round of changes

- "Her willingness to do it back then was worth $200M (by the finale she walked away with about $400M)" (another M)

4.2 The Elite

4.2.1 Core qualities needed for making things happen (in order of importance)

4.2.1.1 Following the macro trend is first

a. Heroes can create the times, but for a specific moment, place, and person, the probability is close to zero

4.2.1.2 Judgment is second

a. Judgment is a lifelong cultivation; it is de facto the Top 1 Driver (the previous item is trivial)

"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing"; "I often dream about making decisions"

4.2.1.3 Adversity quotient is third

a. We live in a world where someone who works 1+e⁻¹ and is lucky e⁻¹ takes home 500%. A winner's mindset has a statistically significant win rate

b. A winner's self-suggestion encourages them to always persist an extra e⁻¹, thereby surpassing their current level

4.2.1.4 Organizational ability is fourth

a. Big things require collaboration with many elite people; a grand vision will unite hearts

b. Two main task lines: first, screening for elite people with a similar mindset to yours; second, spending more time with them to further align thinking

4.2.1.5 Courage is fifth

a. Bearing responsibility requires courage, facing reality requires courage, resisting temptation requires courage, and thinking boldly also requires courage

"Courage is not bold ignorance — it's firmly doing what you truly believe is right"

"It's dangerous going forward or backward, but being paralyzed with fear is the most dangerous" (Free Solo)

4.2.1.6 Diligence is sixth

a. First, leading by example; second, success lies in details; third, maintaining form

"Rarely do successful people not work extremely long hours: the GE CEO worked 100-hour weeks for at least a decade. Buffett often went to pick up the Wall Street Journal at 4 AM to get it earliest"

b. "Diligence is not a form but a state of mind: enjoying the process of pushing limits, maintaining passion and curiosity, persevering relentlessly"

4.2.1.7 Intelligence and rationality are seventh

a. The core of intelligence and rationality is learning ability, including agility in self-cognitive progress and empathy in dealing with people

"Being smart and patient is somewhat contradictory, but those who possess both are truly outstanding"

"I've always viewed IQ and genius as a car's horsepower, while the final output depends on rationality. Many people drive 400-horsepower cars but only produce 100 horsepower of power" (Buffett)

4.2.2 How to become more elite

4.2.2.1 Pursue the ultimate, be pragmatic and bold, be open and humble, be candid and clear, always stay Day 1, be diverse and inclusive

a. Hereinafter "The Six Mirrors," quoted from the 2021 version of "ByteStyles," see appendix "ByteStyles"

4.2.2.2 The elite can use these six mirrors to correct themselves and become increasingly elite

4.2.2.3 The elite can use these six mirrors to evaluate others and identify the (non-)elite

Popular culture has other characterizations of the elite, such as "if not me, then who?" This shares a similar spirit with "be pragmatic and bold" among the Six Mirrors

For narrative conciseness and as a tribute, this chapter fully quotes the "ByteStyles" version

4.2.3 One must have original contributions

4.2.3.1 The elite must serve original dishes to the world — whether in original productive forces, original production relations, original non-production/life relations, original thought, or original culture

"Being a scientist who discovers is acceptable; being an engineer who invents is acceptable; being an organizer who restructures is acceptable. Entrepreneurship / stewardship is acceptable; philanthropy / public welfare is acceptable; creating art is acceptable; innovating in thought is acceptable; advancing institutions is also acceptable" (Chapter 0)

4.2.3.2 This chapter only discusses making original contributions to productive forces, i.e., technology entrepreneurship

a. If you want to restructure production relations, advance thought, or build influence organizations — the principles are the same

4.2.3.3 In 2504, for outstanding tech startups, The Idea generally comes from a paper (hereinafter "The Paper")

a. The ability to organize and restructure social resources is trivial from a societal perspective. If The Idea comes from a social science concept rather than The Paper, the track is most likely highly crowded

b. More importantly, during the undergraduate years, if something can be accomplished through social resource restructuring alone, from Mars's perspective, it probably shouldn't be you doing it

- In 2504, residential property management companies need 24h monitoring and security guards anyway. So leveraging their common areas (mostly basements) for personal storage and safe deposit box services could be a commercial opportunity

- But this opportunity belongs to existing large branded property management companies. In fact, Vanke Service alone manages approximately 780 million square meters

c. The only exception to the above is when The Idea is an M's willingness — they will provide resources for you to make it happen

In this case, you are not purely the No. 1; this requires composite abilities, which this chapter does not cover

Below we discuss the Making Things Happen Manual (practical steps will be highlighted, same hereafter), starting from The Paper

4.3 Reading / Writing The Paper

4.3.0 Have a frontier domain for deep research / insight

4.3.0.1 Deep research / insight means

a. Statically, you have put in the work in this field and have your own understanding of frontier knowledge that has not yet formed market consensus, or even been published

b. Dynamically, this understanding needs to be structural / dynamic; you should have some ability to predict the future in this field

- What are the big problems in this field? Are there any fundamental breakthroughs?

- Where is it currently stuck? What are the fundamental obstacles? Consequently, what is the most promising route?

- In the long run, what is definitely achievable? What is impossible to achieve?

4.3.0.2 You don't need to be a scientist / researcher, but you must read papers

To search is to research; to have taste is to have mastery

4.3.0.3 Enter this field's community, communicate and learn frequently, and selflessly contribute to the community yourself

Great winds arise from the tips of grass; great enterprises originate from interest groups

4.3.1 The Paper provides scientific "existence proof" for The Idea

4.3.1.1 The Idea is often proposed before The Paper; it needs a scientifically sound foundation

4.3.1.2 The Idea frequently comes from linear extrapolation "imagination" based on existing theories / technologies and user feedback, having some precursory nature

Version-defying business ideas often come from user complaints; era-defining trading insights often come from client calls

4.3.1.3 Existence is generally a big problem

"The most important knowledge about the atomic bomb is that it can be built" (Yang Zhenning)

"I've seen many people who broke the law, but I've never seen anyone who could break the laws of physics" (Musk)

4.3.2 The Paper generally only resolves "existence," not the specific path

4.3.2.1 If existence is not resolved, the expected time to solve the problem is strictly positive infinity

4.3.2.2 Once existence is solid, you're within range of brute-force miracles

4.3.2.3 The Paper generally does not provide specific solution steps for the problem

a. If it does, the problem isn't hard enough, and The Idea isn't sufficient to sustain a great company

b. If it does, even if you're among the earlier readers of The Paper — given the undergraduate stage, this probably isn't something you should be doing

4.3.3 Two examples of The Paper

4.3.4.1 The Idea of the ND era came from a Bell Labs battery manufacturing patent

- The patent couldn't be used directly — the batteries bulged and couldn't be mass-produced. If it could be used directly, Sony/Panasonic would have bought it long ago

- After Dr. Z acquired the patent, he led the team to forcefully solve the mass production problem

4.3.3.2 Byte's The Idea came from a then-unpublished book, Practice of Recommender Systems

- YM contacted the author for a digital copy; the author declined since it wasn't published yet, seriously delaying Byte's recommendation capability progress

- YM relied on imagination and wrote the first version of the recommendation engine himself, then recruited the author

4.4 Think Through The Idea

4.4.1 The Paper makes The Idea "something that is theoretically possible but has not yet happened in practice"

4.4.1.1 Always strive to solve problems fundamentally

"Can we do something that surpasses current industry standards, surpasses current product definitions — something more innovative and more valuable?"

4.4.1.2 Do the right thing, not the easy thing

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast" (Alice in Wonderland)

4.4.2 The Idea must pass the Mars Test

4.4.2.1 From Mars looking at Earth: should this be done? Should you be the one doing it? In the long run, what will this thing ultimately look like? Would you rather live in a world where this thing happens, or the opposite?

4.4.2.2 Even for large companies, most cannot pass the above Mars Test

That is, their existence is due to some historical advantage, not because the world losing them would be efficiency-losing

4.4.2.3 Suffice it to say, efficiency-losing things cannot stably exist in the ultra-long run

4.4.3 Don't start by stitching together initial resources

4.4.3.1 Initial resource combinations are random and have no reason to be the logical starting point of a long-term plan

4.4.3.2 The Idea's validation requires you / your team to have original endogenous growth capability; exogenous resources may distort this judgment

a. "Cognition → Judgment → Resource allocation → Execution → Result validation → Cognitive improvement" is hereinafter called the "Practice Flywheel"

b. The Practice Flywheel grows endogenously; exogenous resources can break this flywheel, causing strategic distortion

c. Exogenous resources aren't even free. Being pulled by them forces you to commit matching resources, and during the undergraduate years, precious resources should be used to validate the Practice Flywheel

4.4.3.3 Not taking shortcuts is the gold standard for business models

a. Shortcut environments and practices cultivate fake capabilities

4.4.4 An example of The Idea

4.4.4.1 Deep information reuse agents

a. AI has caused easily searchable information to depreciate sharply. Meanwhile, the total value of information is exogenously determined by demand — correspondingly, deep information will appreciate dramatically. The way to obtain the latter is through in-depth interviews. In 2504, after a project is completed, deep information becomes localized because its value is sealed within the overall report (finding / reading the entire report is too costly)

b. This information is reusable. One possible approach: use AI to aggregate deep information from many completed independent projects into an agent, and open it to pro users for paid chat interactions

4.5 Spend e⁻¹ of Your Time Recruiting and Cultivating Dream Colleagues

4.5.1 Find the second elite person

4.5.1.1 "Thiel's Law": A startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed (Zero to One)

Breaking up with the wrong co-founder is roughly equivalent to a divorce

4.5.1.2 The second most important person in the company must also be elite, preferably someone you know well who complements you on 4.2.1

a. Otherwise this company is your one-man show — only you are making original contributions, in which case you'd be better off self-actualizing at a company with certainty, which is definitely stronger than starting your own

4.5.1.3 The second person joins not for the making-things-happen / economic reasons, but because of their emotional connection with you. This is actually the elite version of W_ir→W₀. There is no universal technique for this step; many founders get stuck at not finding the second elite person

4.5.1.4 A direct corollary is: don't graduate from college too easily; see Chapter 0

4.5.2 Dream Colleagues

4.5.2.1 Dream colleagues are those who replicate your mindset as much as possible, with high achievement motivation and low ego

4.5.2.2 What are dream colleagues like (before joining the company)?

a. Curious, able to proactively learn new things, new knowledge, and new technologies

b. Optimistic about uncertainty, never setting boundaries on what they do

c. Not content with mediocrity. Dedicated to bringing fundamental progress to the world

d. Not arrogant, capable of delayed gratification. Most people's degree of delayed gratification is so low they never get the chance to compete on talent

e. Must have good judgment on important choices, not swayed by short-term options

4.5.2.3 During the undergraduate years, besides working on products, the second most time YM spent was recruiting and having meals with colleagues — recruiting every week, even at classmates' weddings, striving to meet elite people and recruit them

4.5.3 Replicate your mindset

4.5.3.1 During the undergraduate years, spend significant time communicating / eating with the core team

4.5.3.2 The goal is to align thinking and replicate your mindset outward

4.5.3.3 Essentially, if your mindset is replicated to someone, then in a specific scenario, their decisions and execution are the same as if you did it yourself

a. People can generally only maintain direct emotional connections with about 150 others (Dunbar's number). So hire very carefully, transfer roles when possible, don't fire

b. Getting the first 150 people in the company to share your mindset is, in the long run, the least-effort management

4.6 Delegate to Dream Captains, Form the Standing Committee

4.6.1 Dream Captains are dream colleagues whose capabilities are sufficient to independently lead a core team / business unit

4.6.1.1 Such people are more precious than jade, but they do exist

a. They have the capability to independently sustain a listed company, but for the achievement motivation of building something greater, they gave up ego

b. It should be noted that this choice is financially rational for them; see Zero to One specifically

4.6.1.2 They have both a sense of crisis and diligence

4.6.1.3 They don't need a particularly strong resume when joining. After the company grows large enough, new Dream Captains need to be cultivated internally

4.6.2 Dream Captains will form a Standing Committee. The Standing Committee only sets strategy and is democratic

4.6.2.1 Fully delegate — hand matters over to the Dream Captains

4.6.2.2 Train them for management; the No. 1 only manages these people

a. Dream Captains actually don't need managing, so the No. 1 can be relatively free

b. The No. 1 should continue doing three things: learning and thinking about management science for rapid company scaling; learning and thinking about how to create more social value; learning and thinking about strategic directions for new businesses, and further personally recruiting

4.6.3 In the company, only discuss matters — not interests, not ranks

4.6.3.1 Dream Captains will set their own goals; give them as many sufficient resources as possible

Note that the company itself is also a product: input resources, output a platform for everyone to realize creativity and gain original experiences

4.6.3.2 Quantify everything, review every six months, no favoritism, no personal feelings

a. Context, Not Control — communicate and persuade with empathy and context

b. The harshest thing you can say in the company is, "How could this be?"

4.7 Brute-Force Miracles for Rapid Iteration, Pragmatic Romance for Stunning Products

4.7.1 The philosophical foundation of brute-force miracles

4.7.1.1 Key concepts are sparsely / power-law distributed in real-world data

4.7.1.2 Ideas that exponentially improve efficiency are often hidden in long-tail data — you have to dig them out

4.7.2 Rapid iteration

4.7.2.1 No wishful analysis, no self-congratulation

4.7.2.2 Update rapidly, fail fast, quantify everything, don't drag things out

Either succeed or promptly abandon and start over — "fail fast, move on"

4.7.3 Creating stunning products requires sensitive empathy and expansive imagination

4.7.3.0 Empathy is the foundation — without it, you can't feel user needs; imagination is the sky — without it, you can't create stunning products; the line in between is logic and tools

4.7.3.1 Don't overuse methodologies / abstract concepts — you'll lose sensitive empathy

Encourage every colleague to go home for holidays and ask five friends and family: what products are they using? Why?

4.7.3.2 Don't over-focus on "expectations" and "labels" — you'll lose expansive imagination

"Expectation could be a burden"; "Why must our company grow 100% next year?"

4.7.3.3 Be pragmatically romantic; be romantically pragmatic

a. Having empathy is being pragmatic; having imagination is being romantic; facing reality and changing it is being pragmatically romantic

b. Doing the right thing is being pragmatic; short-term speculation is not. Brute-force miracles are pragmatic; getting to the root is pragmatic; grasping the essence is pragmatic; respecting users is pragmatic; recognizing the world's diversity is pragmatic. Thinking independently through the noise is romantic. Having vitality is romantic; facing the future is romantic; embracing uncertainty is romantic; keeping possibilities open is romantic

4.8 Commercialization and Resource Acquisition

4.8.1 Find an elite person who knows commercialization

4.8.2 Find an elite person who knows internal management

4.8.3 Find an elite person who can communicate amiably with various resource providers and coexist maturely with all aspects of society

4.8.4 The above are at most two people. If you happen to be competent in one role, adding one or two more to the No. 1/No. 2 positions makes at most three people total

In 2504, these capabilities are contained within being candid and clear with resource providers and the public; we won't elaborate — these are more the techniques of an elite No. 2 or No. 3

4.9 Stay Calm and Keep an Ordinary Mind

4.9.0 What's difficult is not working concurrently, but working with multiple moods concurrently

4.9.0.1 You cannot control outcomes; you cannot control moods. Under controllable circumstances, allow yourself mild happiness and sadness

4.9.0.2 When you're not fired up, strive to get fired up; when you're super fired up, strive to stay calm

4.9.1 Face mistakes and errors with an ordinary mind; face yourself with an ordinary mind

4.9.1.1 Realize it, correct it, learn from it, forgive it

4.9.1.2 Be an ordinary person, and you can do extraordinary things

4.9.2 Face competition with an ordinary mind

4.9.2.1 Besides competitors, no one will scrutinize your problems so carefully. 80% of articles criticizing you are flawed, but often 20% are enlightening for us

4.9.2.2 Don't compete for the sake of competition — a competitor-oriented way of thinking is not fundamental

4.9.3 Face success and failure with an ordinary mind

4.9.3.1 Don't misattribute — don't treat external causes as internal causes, don't mistake luck for ability

4.9.3.2 Find the real reasons for success or failure

4.10 Ready for Undergraduate Graduation

4.10.0 Once you've completed all the above, you're basically on the national team — time to go compete

4.10.1 From Day 1, have a Global perspective on business and company architecture

4.10.2 Buy into local values, build local influence

4.10.3 Build up a globalized community of dream colleagues, and at this point, the undergraduate years are complete

"This generation of entrepreneurs has a greater global vision than the previous one, receives international information earlier, and has greater opportunities for globalization"; "If I were YM, I'd be even more aggressive about internationalization, then use global resources to compete in the Chinese market" (Huang Zheng)

4.10.4 It turns out that dream colleagues are an advanced trait of the elite, regardless of skin color, race, language, or culture

This concludes the Mahayana Making Things Happen Method. Below we discuss the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.11 I Don't Want to Profoundly Change the World! — The Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.11.1 The first principle of the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method: do not assume the company's long-term vision is the scientifically fundamental solution to the problem

4.11.1.1 Respect the static and predictable demands of the market; respect users' sense of gain rather than problem resolution

4.11.1.2 Respect era dividends, respect existing resources, respect rolling development

4.11.2 Hinayana Making Things Happen Method Operating Manual

4.11.2.0 Absolutely do not think about big things

4.11.2.1 Cross-section or longitudinal-section current market demand, find a not-yet-fully-exploited but potentially fast-growing market, and create a product for it — hereinafter "the idea"

4.11.2.2 Build a prototype product — B2B products must be e times better than existing ones; B2C must be e² times better

4.11.2.3 Find a senior / M to give you orders

4.11.2.4 Find a department professor to endorse (note: this is where science and papers come in — everything before was market-driven)

4.11.2.5 Raise to Series B, and the company won't die within 18 months

4.11.2.6 This step is the most critical — the company internally splits into the Angel Side and the Devil Side

a. The Angel Side only meets with people on the liability / resource side, telling grand visions, reinforcing and spreading the storyline, upgrading the narrative from "the idea" to "The Idea"

b. The Devil Side only meets with people on the asset / operations side, focused on studying: based on the company's current factors, what's the minimum closed loop in the market? What can generate orders?

c. These two sides barely speak to each other, until the IPO

4.11.2.7 After IPO, donate to the school, industry associations, and hometown. Set up a family office — colloquially "Hinayana Reaching the Shore"

4.11.2.8 After Hinayana Reaching the Shore, the two sides begin to merge. But the operators become professional managers who handle both the Angel and Devil sides. You then rule from above, going all-in on studying "Chapter 3: The Maintaining Position Method"

4.11.3 Effectiveness evaluation of the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.11.3.1 IPO is guaranteed; company lifespan follows the average of listed companies

4.11.3.2 Since the company's DNA is not fundamentally problem-solving, by Thiel's Law, the probability of subsequently becoming a great company is low

4.11.3.3 But the No. 1 can definitely reach e⁻¹W_H, and the No. 2 can reach W_P

A typical No. 1 metric combination: owning e⁻¹ equity of an RMB 10B company, diluted to 70%e⁻¹ post-IPO

4.11.4 N examples of the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.11.4.1 The author attended a university full of entrepreneurial vitality and personally witnessed high double-digit to triple-digit alumni achieving Hinayana Reaching the Shore

4.11.4.2 The Hinayana Making Things Happen Method creates value and contributions in a specific time and place; those who complete the full cycle are unquestionably elite

4.11.5 "Hinayana Warm-Up" Operating Manual

4.11.5.0 Hinayana Warm-Up refers to the technique for solving "I don't even have 'the idea' / don't know how — how do I make things happen?"

4.11.5.1 Obtain a scarce supply in some industry — the standard is that it's indispensable in someone else's "the idea"

4.11.5.2 Use the above to enter a company — do enterprise services or go work there directly

4.11.5.3 While executing the above, be observant — figure out the structural characteristics and real pain points of the current industry

4.11.5.4 Understand and secure the resources indispensable for entrepreneurship in this industry and the currently existing commercial opportunities

4.11.5.5 Execute the commercial opportunity from above, and use this win-win experience to obtain all the resources from the previous step

a. It should be noted that 4.11.5.1 and 4.11.5.4 are different. In the former, you're still an outsider with only resources; in the latter, you've at least secured a full team and a commercial opportunity

b. If you have no resources at all, 4.11.5.1 can be the trust of some M. That is, among M's acquaintances, you're the most suitable person to play this role, but you don't have the capability to independently lead and close the loop

c. This step is indispensable

- You must personally experience it — someone else's company is a free business school for this track

- You need to win something first to earn respect / followers, to get M's support — colloquially, "make an appearance"

4.11.5.6 Form the minimum viable form to solve 4.11.5.3 (hereinafter "a circle"), and get your track and your company

4.11.5.7 Use "a circle" to raise funding, and secure an M's support

4.11.5.8 Note that at this point you've entered 4.11.2.5, and can begin running the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.11.5.9 While running, keep building good karma and continuously stockpiling ammo; compete with same-track rivals on speed and momentum

4.11.5.10 If you don't fall behind for a round or two, largely you can then rely on inertia, being propelled forward by macro trends / M

4.11.6 An example of Hinayana Warm-Up

QH data, see Mr. JY's resume for details; elaboration omitted. This concludes the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.12 Two Methods Q&A

4.12.1 About the Mahayana Making Things Happen Method

4.12.1.1 From Mars's perspective, shouldn't The Idea be executed by whoever wrote The Paper?

a. That works, and that's "the ideal scenario"

b. This chapter covers events from roughly 2012–2015. In that era, scientists hadn't read Zero to One (published in 2015), and entrepreneurs rarely read papers. In 2504, these two are often the same person

4.12.1.2 What's the approximate proportion of elite people — ε, e⁻¹, or 1-e⁻¹?

a. Among the general population, the proportion of elite people is indeed ε

b. But in the sample of people the elite know, this ratio is quite high, no less than e⁻¹

The essential reason is that non-elite people have too little originality in their views; excessive work communication is efficiency-destroying

c. The above means you should immerse yourself among the elite as much as possible; every additional one you meet is a net gain

YM was recruiting even at classmates' weddings. In fact, among peers attending elite people's weddings, 1-e⁻² are elite

4.12.1.3 Is a higher proportion of elite people always better?

a. Before the 2000s, no. Back then, elite people couldn't have low ego — they'd block each other

Imagine a small space filled with inflating balloons

b. In the 2020s, the new generation of dream colleagues can miraculously achieve high achievement motivation with low ego

"You've got to build a product with 100M DAU in your lifetime (hereinafter '100M DAU'), like some weather app — that works too!"

It's worth noting that the No. 1, because of the Heart of Signature, cannot have low ego — they must be confident and rational

c. Thus, in terms of outcomes, during the undergraduate years, it's achievable to have 20% of the first 150 people be elite, each with the potential to create 100M DAU. They can cooperate, with fewer than e⁻¹ having high ego

- Byte once had over 30 Dream Captains, who sustained a company with 2B global DAU

- Having three such people is enough to sustain a USD 10B market cap company; having six who can cooperate can reach 100B

4.12.2 About the Hinayana Making Things Happen Method

4.12.2.1 Why don't dream colleagues apply the "Hinayana Making Things Happen Method" / "Hinayana Warm-Up"? It's simple, easy, and highly rewarding

a. They're busy fundamentally changing the world; their ego is too low to think of various Hinayana schemes

b. Achieving 100M DAU is easier at a big company, with equally rewarding returns at the same order of magnitude and a higher ceiling

4.12A The Greatest Works

4.12A.0 Effectiveness is not necessarily the highest pursuit of making things happen; correctness is not necessarily the ultimate limit of intellectual exploration

This is not the end; it is not even the beginning of the end; it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning (Churchill)

4.12A.1 The Six Mirrors are a higher-order principle deeper than the entire "Non-Elite W₀ to Reaching the Shore" / "Chapters 0/2/3"

It answers "what kind of success (what kind of person's success) is more valuable in the long run"

4.12A.2 The original Google motto "Don't be evil" is reportedly an equally or even more profound higher-order principle

4.12A.2.1 Regrettably, the author does not know any early Google employees and has not had the chance for firsthand academic interviews

4.12A.2.2 This work could of course deliberately under-cite and over-paraphrase, but labeling hurts efficiency and contradicts "ordinary mind" and "transmitting the dharma without error"

4.12A.3 This article's citations of YM go up to 2020 at the latest; each version has its era's giants; DeepSeek's greatness and pioneering significance are no less than Byte's

4.12A.4 By Axiom Zero, we look forward to more impossible things being believed by a new generation of elite before breakfast each day

Curing cancer, eliminating discrimination, AGI beyond language, homes beyond Earth…

Appendix: ByteStyles — Appendix to the Elite Version of "4. How to Make Things Happen"

| Pursue the Ultimate | Be Pragmatic and Bold |

|---|---|

| Continuously raise the bar, delay gratification | Direct experience, deep into facts, no self-congratulation, focus on results |

| Find optimal solutions in a broader scope | Breakthrough with accountability |

| Don't let problems slide, think about the essence | Break conventions, try multiple possibilities, iterate rapidly |

| Go the extra mile — always do one step more | Compared to showcasing achievements, focus more on external results and feedback |

| Discipline yourself in the present for long-term results; avoid complacency over minor achievements, so you have the possibility of taking the next step | Dare to think and dare to do, fear no difficulty, make breakthroughs, take responsibility, boldly try new ideas, and agilely correct the path in the process |

| Be Open and Humble | Be Candid and Clear |

|---|---|

| Sunny disposition, trust partners | Dare to express true thoughts face to face |

| Glad to help and ask for help, collaborate on big things | Can admit mistakes, no pretense, no face-saving |

| Think big, think from a higher vantage point | Seek truth from facts, expose problems, oppose "managing upward" |

| Outwardly sensitive and humble, small ego, open to feedback | Accurate, concise, direct, organized and focused |

| When facing questioning, defending and arguing may be human instinct, but it doesn't effectively solve problems | Encourage no pretense — express true thoughts candidly; point out problems directly without considering the other party's work status |

| Encourage good-faith assumptions; seek inward first; keep the big picture in mind; keep ego small and don't be driven by face and emotions — this often leads to clearer judgment | Expression should have detail and be grounded; additionally, candid expression should also be clear, hitting key points, summarizing essentials — improving the company's signal-to-noise ratio |

| Always Stay Day 1 | Be Diverse and Inclusive |

|---|---|

| Self-driven, no boundaries, not afraid of trouble | Understand and value differences and diversity, establish a Mars perspective |

| Resilient, face reality and change it | Build diverse teams, welcome talents from different backgrounds |

| Embrace change, stay optimistic about uncertainty | Proactively challenge yourself with different ideas |

| Always think as if it's the company's first day | Create an inclusive, welcoming work environment |

| Promote startup culture: be resilient, fear no difficulty, face reality, become part of the solution | The starting point of diversity and inclusion is attention to and valuing of people |

| Often we're doing things no one has done before — requiring self-driven growth with no boundaries | Build a rich and inclusive community culture; build the teams and talent of an international platform |

The Elite Version