为什么20多岁的人会成为最成功的企业家？

 　　When it comes to building a successful company, most investors¹ and business advocates look for companies with an experienced management team. They want someone that has a “successful track record” with experience forming teams, writing business plans, building products, and managing a P&L.

　　说到要创立一家成功的企业，大多数的投资商和企业倡导人都会找一支有管理经验的团队。他们要找的是那种曾经有过很高成就，并且在团队组织、撰写商业计划、产品建设以及成本和利润控制方面都有经验的人。

　　You can’t blame them. As with almost everything in life, practice makes perfect and experience provides learning lessons that allow for improvement and growth. While betting on experienced batters² can certainly produce doubles, triples, and even home-runs; the grand slams of entrepreneurship come from the young and ill-experienced 20-somethings.

　　你不能怪他们这样做，对于生活中的大多数事情来说，都是熟能生巧。有经验就能使改进和增长成为可能。一个有经验的击球手肯定能打出二垒打，三垒打甚至全垒打，而真正拿到大满贯的人往往是那些年轻而又没有经验的年轻人。

　　Yes, I said it.

　　确实如此，我说过。

　　That’s not what you’re going to read in the textbooks. You won’t hear that from a venture capitalist. And, you certainly won’t hear that in your MBA classes.

　　这些东西你在课本上是读不到的，你也不会听一位风险资本家说起，更不会在你的工商管理课程上听到。

　　I know, I know. Some of you will say that I am biased³ because I was a 20-Something young entrepreneur when I started Lendio, but let’s look at the facts:

　　我了解，我懂。你们当中会有人说我很偏见，因为我在20多岁还很年轻的时候就创立了Lendio公司，但是让我们一起来看看下面的这些事实：

　　(Some of the) Most Successful Entrepreneurs of our Time and Their (Age):

　　我们这个时代一些最成功的企业家以及他们的年龄：

　　1. Founders⁵ of Google: Sergey Brin (25) & Larry Page (25)1. 谷歌公司创始人：塞吉·布林（25岁）；拉里·佩奇（25岁）2. Founders of Apple: Steve Jobs (21) & Steve Wozniak (26)2. 苹果公司创始人：史蒂夫·乔布斯（21岁）；史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克（26岁）3. Founders of Microsoft: Bill Gates (20) & Paul Allen (22)3. 微软公司创始人：比尔·盖茨（20岁）；保罗·艾伦（22岁）4. Founder⁴ of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg (20)4. Facebook公司创始人：马克·扎克博格（20岁）5. Founder of Wal-Mart: Sam Walton (26)

　　5. 沃尔玛创始人：萨姆·沃尔顿（26岁）

　　Anyone else recognize the pattern? Each one of the founders was between the ages of 20 and 26 when they founded what turned out to be one of the most successful companies of our lifetime.

　　大家有没有注意到这些人的年龄结构呢？每位创始人的年龄都在20-26岁之间，而他们所创立的公司都在日后非常成功地影响了我们的一生。

　　20-Somethings Have Nothing to Lose

　　20多岁的人输得起

　　One of the main reasons that young entrepreneurs can build incredibly successful companies is that they really don’t have anything to lose. Most of these entrepreneurs are used to living in a cheap college apartment and eating ramen noodles. At that age, the entrepreneur usually doesn’t have a mortgage, a car payment, or a built-up lifestyle to maintain.

　　那些年轻的企业家之所以能取得如此卓越的成就，一个主要原因就是他们真的不怕输。他们大多数居住在廉价的大学公寓，吃着拉面。在那个年龄，他们通常没有债务，没有汽车贷款，或者还没有形成固定的生活方式。

　　On the contrary, a more experienced entrepreneur that is starting a company later in life has everything to lose. By this time in their career, they are used to a strong-paying salary. They live in a nice neighborhood with a comfortable car - maybe even a luxury car with a monthly payment attached. When his/her spouse⁶ thinks about starting a new company, he/she will also consider the stark⁷ reality of losing the comforts of life that they have worked hard to build up during their career. Suddenly, when thinking about all that he/she has to lose, the experienced entrepreneur’s plan to build a successful company include hedges, calculated moves, and conservatism.

　　相反，一个更有经验的企业家要想晚些时候开始创立公司的话，那他就什么都输不起了。到他们那个时候，他们习惯了拿高薪，他们居住在高档社区，开着豪华轿车，也许还是每月都有贷款的豪华汽车。当他/她的配偶想到要开新公司的时候，他们会想到他们即将要失去辛辛苦苦建立起来的事业。突然想到这些即将要失去的东西，企业家要建立一份成功的企业会遇到很多障碍，需要精打细算，保守经营等。

 

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 batters   

n.面糊（煎料）( batter的名词复数 )；面糊（用于做糕饼）；（ 棒球） 正在击球的球员；击球员v.连续猛击( batter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句

3 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。