Ding Lei: Being pragmatic about young people starting businesses right after graduation
Regarding the actions of college students dropping out to start businesses or starting businesses immediately after graduation, Ding Lei expressed that due to the fact that college students' knowledge structure does not yet possess the conditions for entrepreneurship, even if they have good ideas, it is very easy for competitors to defeat them. Last night, at the "Soaring Youth, Inspiring Life" themed forum co-organized by the Provincial Youth League Committee and the Educational Association, Ding Lei, founder of NetEase, shared his views on college student entrepreneurship. This main forum marked the official launch of the "100 Outstanding Young Talents Entering Guangdong Campuses" campaign.
At the University Town campus of South China University of Agriculture, three renowned young entrepreneurs—Ding Lei, Jack Ma, and Hu Xingwei—participated in the forum and shared their growth experiences and entrepreneurial journeys with over 300 outstanding students from 10 universities in the University Town. They also jointly shared the new stories behind their success. Their speeches were met with rounds of applause from the attending university students.
In response to the question raised by college students about whether they should drop out to start businesses or start businesses immediately after graduation, Ding Lei clearly stated his personal viewpoint: "I am strongly against college students starting businesses right after graduation. There are very few examples in the world like Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out to start a business. The current environment is very challenging, and the failure rate of college student entrepreneurship is extremely high. What makes you think you can succeed? Many college students say it's because they have a great idea. But having a great idea alone is not enough. You should learn how to establish protective barriers for your own business; otherwise, your competitors can easily surpass you and defeat you because they have more resources than you. Moreover, I believe that the knowledge structure of current college students does not yet meet the conditions for starting a business right after graduation, which is caused by our educational system. Therefore, college students need to accumulate experience first, and then the chances of success will increase."
This main forum event was the opening activity of the "100 Outstanding Young Talents Entering Guangdong Campuses" campaign co-organized by the Provincial Youth League Committee and the Educational Association. The campaign plans to organize over 100 outstanding young talents to enter university campuses in Guangdong this year.
The Entrepreneurship Network kindly reprints this article, source: http://www.cye.com.cn