Zhang Yiming (张一鸣) is the billionaire founder of Chinese internet company ByteDance, which develops a variety of apps, including the short-form video sharing platform TikTok. In his early 30s, while building his first startup, Zhang was also a prolific blogger, leaving a lot of his thoughts on work ethics, life philosophy, and relationship management on Weibo. These snippets from the early 2010s are especially interesting to look at now, considering his success in building a valuable technology giant in the post-Baidu, post-Alibaba, and post-Tencent tech landscape.

I have translated a select number of his quotes (logged in this WeChat article) to make it accessible for the English audience. They are split into three sections: person growth, management, and business. The Chinese quote is presented first, followed by English translation.

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On Personal Growth

延迟满足感程度在不同量级的人是没法有效讨论问题的，因为他们愿意触探停留的深度不一样。

People with different expectations for knowledge satisfaction will not be able to discuss problems together, because their willingness to understand ‘depth’ of knowledge are not the same.

做不好就别做了，要做就必须做的非常好。

If you can’t do it well, don’t do it. If you have to do it, do it very well.

但感到沟通困难的时候，最好的沟通方法不是想太多技巧和说法，而是：更坦诚的沟通。

When you feel communicating with someone is getting difficult, the best solution is not coming up with more communication techniques, but being more honest and direct.

练习保持耐心，即使是快节奏和压力的情况下。

Practice having patience, even when things are moving fast and pressure is high.

参考别人的意见，只是判断线索，不可作为决定的决心。

It’s okay to use other people’s opinions as additional datapoints, never as the deciding factor in your decision.

不停地想应该如何让未来更精彩

Never stop thinking about how to make the future more exciting.

年轻人不要试图追求安全感，特别是年轻的时候，周遭环境从来都不会有绝对的安全感，如果你觉得安全了，很有可能开始暗藏危机。真正的安全感， 来自你对自己的信心，是你每个阶段性目标的实现，而真正的归属感，在于你的内心深处，对自己命运的把控，因为你最大的对手永远是自己

When you are young, don’t try to chase stability as an end-goal. There is no absolute stability; if you start to feel stable, something dangerous is likely around the corner. True stability comes when you are confident in yourself, and you accomplish every milestone you’ve set. True belonging comes when you feel like you have control over your own fate, because your biggest opponent is yourself.

用心认真的折腾是没有风险的。

There’s no risk to change if you are focused and dedicated to the change.

看缺点有难度，权衡缺点看优点更难；避免犯错有难度，接受犯错以成功更难。

It’s difficult to look for faults; it’s even more difficult to look past the faults and see the goods. It’s difficult to avoid mistakes; it’s even more difficult to accept mistakes in order to be successful.

选择比努力更重要，观念比选择更重要。

Making the right choice is more important than putting in hard work; having the right framework is more important than making the right choice.

谦虚的人能看到自己的不足，自信的人能在知道不足的情况下依然积极。

Humble people see the faults in themselves; confident people remain positive even when they know they have faults.

听说有人每天能看一本书，问题还不在看书速度，而是在知易行难，实践的速度赶不上所知的要求，欠账很多。

I heard some people can read a book a day; the differentiator isn’t reading speed, but the ability to parse what you need to know. It’s easier said than done.

今天会谈提到感性理性，我的观点：感性深化放在深处，理性实化放在前锋。

Today I will discuss perception and rationality. My perspective: perception should be developed quietly and internally, while rationality should be developed up front and center.

你们读了哪些传记？想起2年前朋友说：如果不知道让小孩阅读什么，最适合的就是传记。最近在思考与回忆：关于品格、理想、动机的形成，觉得确实如此。

What biographies have you read? Two years ago a friend said, if you don’t know what kids should read, give them biographies. I’ve been thinking about biographies lately: they are great for learning about the formation of personalities, aspirations, and motivations.

凡事就怕不认真，不思考。好多问题我应该能知道的，只是之前没有认真看，认真想，想当然（不是没时间）。延迟满足感是一项长期修炼。

The worst attribites to have when working towards something are not staying focused, and not critically thinking. There are many things I should be able to figure out, I just haven’t focused and thought critically on those topics. Extending the feeling of satisfaction is a long term exercise.

台风来的时候，猪都会飞起来。所以，真的飞起来时一定要清楚的知道是因为自己能飞，还是外力使然。靠台风飞起来的猪迟早是会掉下来的。

When a typhoon comes, even the pigs will fly. When your project is taking flight, you have to figure out if it’s you making it fly, or the typhoon. A pig that flies because of the typhoon will eventually fall.

人不逼一下自己，永远不知道自己潜力有多大。很多事情非不能也，是不为也

If you don’t push yourself, you may never know your potential. Many things are not impossible; you just haven’t tried.

好的问题就是一半的的答案。

A good question is already half the answer.

现在年轻人部分流行把三四十岁退休作为理想，我不认同，我觉得理想是一直有机会创造、实现想法，有机会学习，修炼，创造到老。为什么会想退休？想退休 说明你认为现在是在“忍”。我还有很多很多想法想做，希望三四十岁更多条件 去实现想法。

Nowadays, many young professionals make it a goal to retire by the time they are in their 30s and 40s. I don’t agree. I think the goal is to constantly create opportunities to build, actualize ideas, study, practice, and create instead of wanting to ‘retire’. If you desire the retirement stage, it means you are merely ’enduring’ the present. There’s still so much I want to do. I hope when I’m in my 30s and 40s, I’ll have more opportunities to do those things.

保证足够睡眠是积极高效的第一步。

Ensuring a good night’s sleep is the first step to improving productivity.

生活中不是缺少美，而是缺少分享。

We’re not missing beauty in our lives; we are missing the opportunity to share that beauty with others.

牛逼的人找方法，傻逼的人找借口。

Capable people find solutions; dumb people find excuses.

只有当你离开自己的舒适区时，你才会挑战自己的极限。

Only when you leave your comfort zone can you challenge the limits of your capabilities.

我自己的方法：忘掉资历，集中精力才有能力和潜力来评估。资历是个锚点，但未必准确。

My personal strategy: forget credentials & focus your energy on working hard in order to have the capability and potential to assess situations. Credentials are good anchor points, but they may not be accurate.

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On Management

当你给一个人足够的信任和压力的时候，他总能比原来做得更好。

When you give someone enough trust and pressure, they can always do better than before.

开会的时候总有些大忙人在那里闷头回邮件玩短信，认为讨论的那些别人的事和自己无关，这是极端错误的。让你参会说明领导认为会议的内容你需要知道并希望听到你的意见，如果发现你不会倾听又对会议无所贡献，慢慢你就不会再被要求参会，久而久之在组织中也就被边缘化了。

When in meetings, there are always some people who focus on responding to emails and text instead of listening to the presenters; they think they don’t need to care about topics that don’t pertain to them. This is wrong. Inviting you to a meeting means your leadership values your thoughts and opinions; if they notice you don’t care, slowly you won’t be invited to meetings anymore. Long term, your value in the organization decreases.

公平的文化和公平的信任是非常重要的，奖罚分明，这样大家才相信游戏规则存在，才会挑战自己更大回报，才不会有侥幸心理。类似这样的原则CEO要谨记不忘。

Fair culture and fair trust are very important values. Establish very clearly what results in reward and what results in punishment; this is the only way for everyone to believe the game rules are fair, and they will push themselves for greater returns. CEOs must not forget this.

对于一名CEO而言，最艰难的事可能就是抵制住想自己解决问题的欲望。你曾身经百战，你也许是最有经验，最有资格去解决问题的人。但是这样一来却无法建立一个优秀的管理团队。将机会留给别人期待他们能解决问题十分艰难，但也十分值得。这样一来，整个团队的能力都可以有所提升。

For a CEO, the most difficult part of the job is probably limiting themselves from trying to solve individual problems. You may have the experience and is the most qualified person to solve the problem, but this is not the way to build a strong management team. It is not easy to delegate these opportunities to others, but it’s worth it. This way, you can level up the entire organization’s capabilities.

选择越高级影响越大的人才越要看一些基本素质：理性、逻辑、修养、企图心、自我控制力。

When selecting someone who will hold a high level of influence, you need to look for the following: rationality, logic, mastery, ambition, and self-control.

其实我挺想知道团队成员周末都在干嘛……总希望大家把时间充分有效利用了……当然我说的不是只工作，是指优先利用在学习、休息、娱乐、锻炼、交流、思考上。并且可以一起活动。

I actually want to know what people on my team are doing on the weekends; I’d like to hope that everyone uses their weekends to their fullest extent. Not just about work, but also learning, rest, fun, exercise, communication, reflection etc. And this gives us opportunities to plan activities together.

一个好的团队是应该能够不断创新突破的团队。

A good team should be able to consistently innovate and break new barriers.

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On Business

对产品经理的常用问题：有什么好处，重要吗，怎么知道的，达到这个好处有好的做法吗

Common questions that product managers should think about: what’s the benefit, is it important, how did you know about this, and are there good ways to reach this benefit.

如果你很有才华，在某些方面又有一技之长，请先不要急于露出锋芒，如果你只是以普通身份而不是以领导身份到新单位去的，那就更不能锋芒太露。一个人新到一个单位，就像一粒石子投入一潭平静的池水，往往会引入注目，一举一动， 一言一行，都在别人的视野之中。

If you are talented, and proficient in some specific skills, please don’t rush to show off when moving to a new company or organization. If you are moving as an IC/middle manager and not an executive leader, then this applies even more. When a person arrives at a new division, they are like a small pebble landing on a tranquil lake; their actions and words will often catch everyone’s attention.

发现问题总是又高兴又郁闷，高兴：解决问题；郁闷：为什么是我发现，为计么现在才发现。

When I discover problems, I’m always happy and sad. Happy, because I can now find solutions to the problem. Sad, because I wonder why it was me who found it first, and why was it only discovered now.

模式、方向、战略提的很多，但是许多公司其实死在非常重要但是容易被忽略的基础点或细节上。

There are many reasons startups die, whether it’s due to business model, direction, or strategy; however, one of the most important reason is that they failed at ensuring they meet some fundamental pillar that was easy to miss.