????我想我能比自己的助理打字更快（她可能會不同意,，并且向我提出挑戰(zhàn)）,。但是，如果讓助理替我去參加董事會會議,，而我則呆在辦公室里打字,，我想,，我的創(chuàng)業(yè)者們恐怕會不太高興,。
????因此，盡管在絕對意義上我可能比助理打字更快,，但我的本職工作是作為一個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資家，將絕大多數(shù)時(shí)間用于和創(chuàng)業(yè)者共事,，這才是更重要的,，是我相對于她來說更擅長的事。
????這個(gè)簡單的例子來自于大衛(wèi)?李嘉圖發(fā)現(xiàn)的一條經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)定律，即所謂的“比較優(yōu)勢法則”,，它總能讓我著迷,。這條定律是說，一個(gè)國家與另一個(gè)國家相比是否在絕對意義上更善于生產(chǎn)某種商品并不重要,。真正重要的是,，一個(gè)國家與另一個(gè)國家相比,，是否在生產(chǎn)某種商品上比生產(chǎn)其他類型的商品更有優(yōu)勢,，從而決定其其資源投向,。
????不幸的是，我發(fā)現(xiàn)太多創(chuàng)始人忽視了這條法則的衍生理論——創(chuàng)業(yè)公司比較優(yōu)勢法則,。我并非大衛(wèi)?李嘉圖,，但是在我看來,，如果創(chuàng)業(yè)者們遵循這條法則，他們企業(yè)的收益將與從自由貿(mào)易中獲得的收益相當(dāng),。
????創(chuàng)始人們都是天賦出眾,、多才多藝的專業(yè)人士。因此,，他們會把大量時(shí)間投入去做那些他們可能比組織中其他人肯定要更擅長的事，但如此一來,，相對來說，他們在自己特別適合的其他各類事情上就會表現(xiàn)得相對遜色,。
????我曾與一位天賦極高的創(chuàng)始人/首席執(zhí)行官共事,。我認(rèn)為他實(shí)際上能比其每一位直接下屬更好地完成他們的職能。但是,，如果他親力親為,，把全部時(shí)間投入營運(yùn)項(xiàng)目管理或策略性銷售活動，他就沒有時(shí)間去做相對其團(tuán)隊(duì)成員來說唯有他最擅長的事了,。
????在一家快速發(fā)展的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司中,，創(chuàng)始人必須對如何利用時(shí)間非常謹(jǐn)慎并富有策略。創(chuàng)始人總是抱怨自己分身乏術(shù),，手頭的工作積壓如山,，并得努力弄清應(yīng)如何優(yōu)先分配自己的精力。
????我想提請創(chuàng)業(yè)者們注意的是,，在其他各種事項(xiàng)之上,，有兩大領(lǐng)域是創(chuàng)始人不應(yīng)假手他人的：這就是產(chǎn)品和員工。與產(chǎn)品相關(guān)的活動包括發(fā)展與客戶的密切關(guān)系（研究“客戶的聲音”）,，設(shè)計(jì)產(chǎn)品特性,，思考產(chǎn)品戰(zhàn)略以及設(shè)置優(yōu)先事項(xiàng)。與員工相關(guān)的活動則包括人員聘用,，打造企業(yè)文化,，培訓(xùn)和輔導(dǎo)等,。
????如果創(chuàng)始人們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己把大量時(shí)間投入到與產(chǎn)品或員工無關(guān)的事項(xiàng)上時(shí),，他們就違反了比較優(yōu)勢法則,。他們需要重新思考一下,，是否在錯(cuò)誤的領(lǐng)域進(jìn)行了授權(quán)，以至于自己無法（適當(dāng)?shù)兀┤耐度敫线m的領(lǐng)域,。
????我記得有一次讀到過,，在微軟公司（Microsoft）發(fā)展初期,，比爾?蓋茨和斯蒂夫?鮑爾默會每個(gè)月互相檢查各自的日程安排,，并相互給出建議，對方應(yīng)在哪些領(lǐng)域投入時(shí)間,。這一理念一直讓我難以忘懷,，因此我的合伙人和我也努力定期這么做。
????嘗試以下這種練習(xí)：每到周末,，回顧你在自己的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司上投入的時(shí)間,，列出其中最重要的6-8個(gè)領(lǐng)域（比如,，產(chǎn)品，員工,，項(xiàng)目管理，營運(yùn),，營銷，銷售,，投資者關(guān)系,，以及其他）,。學(xué)著像律師一樣,，每到周末就通過給這些范疇逐個(gè)“開出賬單”來回顧自己所花的時(shí)間,。當(dāng)你退后一步并分析自己實(shí)際上花了多少時(shí)間（相對于你以為自己所花的時(shí)間）時(shí),，你可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己能做出適當(dāng)?shù)恼{(diào)整，更好地安排時(shí)間,。
????遵循創(chuàng)業(yè)企業(yè)比較優(yōu)勢法則可能沒法讓你獲得諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎，但它能幫你在創(chuàng)業(yè)時(shí)更有效地運(yùn)用自己的時(shí)間,。
????杰弗里?布斯綱是風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司Flybridge Capital Partners公司的一般合伙人?？蓮腡witter @bussgang了解他的動態(tài)。
????譯者：清遠(yuǎn) |
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????I think I can type faster than my assistant (although she might object, and challenge me to a type-off). But, if my assistant were to sit in on my board meetings while I stayed back in the office and typed, I'm not sure my entrepreneurs would be too happy.
????Thus, despite the fact that I may be a faster typer than her on an absolute basis, it's way more important for my job as a VC that I maximize my time working with entrepreneurs, something I am comparatively better at than she is.
????This simple example is derived from an economic law discovered by David Ricardo that has always fascinated me, called the Law of Comparative Advantage. It says that it does not matter whether a nation is better at producing a particular good on an absolute basis as compared to another nation. What matters is whether a nation is comparatively better at producing a particular good as compared to other goods it can devote its resources to producing relative to another country.
????Unfortunately, I see too many founders ignoring the entrepreneurial corollary to this law, the Start-Up Law of Comparative Advantage. I'm no David Ricardo, but it seems to me that if entrepreneurs followed this "la"", the gains to their start-ups would be akin to the gains attributed to free trade.
????Founders are typically gifted, multi-talented, versatile professionals. As such, they get sucked into spending time doing things that they may be better at than the others in their organization on an absolute basis, but that, comparatively speaking, they are worse at in relation to the handful of things that they are uniquely suited for.
????I work with one founder/CEO who is so talented, I think he literally could perform the job function of each of his direct reports better than they could. But if he spent all his time doing operational project management or tactical sales activities, he wouldn't be able to spend time on the things that only he uniquely can do relative to his teammates.
????In a fast-growing start-up, a founder needs to be very protective and strategic with how they spend their time. Founders are always complaining that they are spread too thin, are overwhelmed with the job at hand, and struggle to figure out how they should be prioritizing their efforts.
????I would submit that, above else, there are two areas a founder should not delegate: Product and people. Product-related activities include developing customer intimacy (studying the "voice of the customer"), designing features, thinking through product strategy and setting priorities. People-related activities include hiring, setting the culture, coaching and mentoring.
????If founders finds themselves spending the bulk of their time on issues not related to product or people issues, they are violating the Law of Comparative Advantage. They need to rethink whether they're delegating in the wrong areas, and not being (appropriately) obsessively hands-on in the right areas.
????I remember reading once that in Microsoft's early days, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer would review each other's calendars on a monthly basis and give feedback to each other on where they should be spending their time. That concept has always stuck with me, and my partners and I endeavor to do the same periodically.
????Try the following exercise: At the end of the week, write down the top 6-8 categories of time spent on your start-up (e.g., product, people, project management, operations, marketing, sales, investor relations, miscellaneous). Like a lawyer, track your hours at the end of the week by "billing" each of these buckets. When you step back and analyze how much time you are actually spending (as opposed to how much time you think you are spending), you may find you can make appropriate adjustments to better deploy your time.
????Adhering to the Start-Up Law of Comparative Advantage may not earn you the Nobel Prize in Economics, but it will help you direct your time more productively when starting your company.
????Jeffrey Bussgang is general partner at venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners. You can follow him on Twitter @bussgang |
