原标题:黄峥致股东信:“今夕何年?”,主角不再是拼多多,而是“time”

黄峥致股东信:“今夕何年?”,主角不再是拼多多,而是故弄玄虚
北京时间4月25日凌晨,拼多多发布2019财年年报。同时还发布致股东信,这是自拼多多IPO以来,黄峥发的第三封股东信。
黄峥在信中信心满满,激扬文字,挥斥方遒,指点江山。
谈了新冠肺炎,谈了时间、人群和不确定性,谈了新世界……
谈对世界、历史、人类走向与命运的感慨。但不出所料的依然是主角不是“拼多多”,而是“时间”,黄在信中思考何谓“时间”、“时间与人类存在的关系”,并表达了对时间的谦卑与感恩。
当然,你可以理解为黄峥的自信和对拼多多过去一年成绩的满意。毕竟从同期发出的财报来看,2019年拼多多实现成交额10066亿元,平台年活跃买家数达5.852亿,年营收301.4亿元。从用户数看,创立4年半的拼多多已经超越京东成为中国第二大电商平台。

如今的拼多多,不管是马云创下的阿里巴巴旗下的淘宝还是天猫,亦或是刘强东创下的京东商城,早已不敢小觑。而且马云已经宣布退休,阿里又刚刚经历了蒋凡事件,刘强东也因为美国明州事件逐渐淡出了管理层,而黄峥正是当打之年。
当然,黄峥一味地强调新,强调时间,不少网友可能看得云里雾里,不知道华尔街的分析师或者投资者看了会不会有同样的感受。
我们还是来看看网友的看法吧:
有网友给出了自己的看法:“有什么难理解的:以前我跟你们(华尔街)说新世界要来了,你们还不一定信,现在新世界已经来了,而拼多多作为新世界的新物种,具备旺盛生命力,必然要超过老物种(阿里巴巴),那么股价有十倍空间,所以你们(华尔街)都该支持我,要钱给钱(可转债),并且跟随我一起去创造新世界。你们是要坐电脑前面炒炒股,还是跟我一起去创造一个新的世界。”

也有网友认为:“说点人话?战略是啥?”。这个确实没写战略。
也有网友认为:“内容不具体,一句诗概括一下:劝君莫惜金缕衣,劝君须惜少年时。”
或者:“学好数理化,走遍天下都不怕。这是真知灼见,于华尔街亦然~”
还有网友认为:“看完黄峥的2020致股东信,感受正如信中三个小标题所言:time for new,feel the time,seize the time。不管是工作、创业、投资,亦或是沧海一粟的人生,最宝贵、也是最本质的东西,永远是时间。当短暂的人生遭遇时代的起伏,我们能够把握的东西少的可怜。面对时间,我们唯一能做的,只有用长期主义的视角坚定地面向未来,用谦卑与平静的心立足当下,让生命中的每一天都不曾虚度。”
不知道你咋看呢?
附上英文信,看完后欢迎在评论区说说你的观感。
附:黄峥致股东信英文原文:
What time?
In February, the world learned a new word, “COVID-19”, which upended our lives. As I write this, half of the world remains confined at home, waiting for the tiny virus that causes COVID-19 to leave us. During the early days of the outbreak, as we waited in solidarity, we eagerly hoped to return to normal. But as the world has been put on hold week after week, we start to forget time.
We cannot help but ask ourselves, what is the time we are in now and what is time?
We are in a time of crisis – of division, misinformation, and chaos. The virus has caused countless conflicts and contrasts as we watch the news around us and worldwide. It is an unprecedented time to most of us. Yet if we put it in the context of the human history, it might just be a normal incident, a drop in the ocean.
This virus is a messenger by Mother Nature. Out of self-protection and preservation, our bodies desperately fought it using all the strength and energy available. Soon enough, the war against this seemingly unstoppable virus extended from our own bodies to the broader organisms that make up our society (if we see every institution as a living organism made up of people and relationships with a mission and purpose). Companies, governments, countries, big and small, are all scrambling in their own ways to combat this life-threatening virus. In these attempts, we possibly have unintentionally introduced more damage to ourselves.
These all started with an almost invisible virus, a tiny messenger carrying some information (RNA) and a negligible amount of energy that, independent of a host, cannot even replicate. It is in stark contrast with nuclear threat, the power we feared for decades. Which is more capable of greater and more prolonged damage to our human society then – a mushroom cloud representing massive destructive energy, or a “messenger” with virtually no energy?
We cannot help but wonder if this is a lesson purposefully delivered, a punishment, a redemption, or simple irony? No matter what it is, it is surreal to me.
Time for new
When Einstein wrote down his famous E=MC² , he elegantly (in some sense also arrogantly) depicted a physical world in his mind. However, what he did not explain in his theory of relativity is the relationship between the human mind and the physical world, nor the relationship between energy and information.
Today, in this bizarre time, millions of people are staying at home, physically cut off from their families and friends. Yet we are connected and unified in spirit through shared sentiment, which in turn affects the physical world. The boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds are unprecedentedly blurred, and we are beginning to see (not just envision) a new world. In this new world, the phrase “virtual reality” is obsolete. Reality has become virtual and virtual has become part of reality. Similarly, the distinction between humanity’s physical needs and spiritual needs is also becoming vague.
When this tiny virus was dropped into our world, it acted just like a catalyst in a test tube, accelerating the formation of a whole new world. Inevitably, some dimensions of the previous world are being restructured, some rules are being rewritten. The impact of this sweeping force will fundamentally and permanently change the world we are in now. Just like what I explained in the previous shareholder letters about PDD’s formation, new models are bound to emerge and grow in a whole new setup. We are indeed seeing the phasing out of some as new ones emerge. It is the time of reestablishment.
Feel the time
1. Time with an arrow/direction
Human beings have long used reason to try to understand and control the world. In many cases, we succeeded, for example, science. In science, we strive to detach ourselves from the physical world we are in, to watch it as if we are a higher being “objectively” observing, understanding, and defining the world into a finite number of equations. In this framework, time is a reversible parameter in the equation -t = (-)t. It is merely a parameter in an equation to describe a predetermined trajectory of an object.
However, when an almost invisible virus awoken us to the reality that we are not above the world, but just a negligible part of the world to be observed, the only thing we can do is to sit still and let time carry its course. We then realize time is not really a parameter in an equation, but an irreversible vector. It is a silent and relentless directional force driving everything we see and feel. It effortlessly creates asymmetry, irreversibility and mortality, no matter how stubbornly and desperately we yearn for symmetry and immortality.
While the first law of thermodynamics (∆U = Q-W) gives us a sense of control and certainty, the second law (∆S ≥ 0) humbles us to acknowledge the unknown beyond just force and mass we used to define our physical world. Entropy (S) also relates to information. I am not sure if entropy relates to the spiritual world, but it does help us feel and comprehend time. Again, it is not a reversible parameter, but a silent and irreversible driving force beyond and behind both the physical and the spiritual world.
2. Time, crowd and uncertainty
When Newton revealed F=M(dV/dT), it gave us a delusive sense of control, or at least it allowed our wishful thinking that we can finally harness force. We no longer have to worry, because every object has a calculable trajectory determined by its position, mass, velocity and force. We assume each object’s current state fully encompasses and explains its past and that each object is independent. With that, large number of interactions among large number of objects over time would increase complexity and appear chaotic and uncertain, hence probabilistic. It seems that time has created this chaos and uncertainty. And probability is just a statistical aggregation of the trajectories of a large number of objects.
However, when we are isolated at home, waiting with anxiety and unsettling emotions, we start to doubt whether the notion of each object being independent is really a valid assumption in our attempt to understand and explain the world. In our yearning for certainty, we have conveniently chosen to accept some assumptions, such as independence among each object, that can help us explain the world. Our desire for certainty is so strong that we start believing it is truth.
But what if probability is a fundamental feature of each object, rather than a result of statistical aggregation? What if the large number of objects is intrinsically intertwined and interrelated? Just like our human society, no matter how independent each individual is, we are intrinsically connected both physically and spiritually. And these connections define who we are and our existence.
Because of these connections, the divide-and-conquer approach is no longer effective to reduce uncertainty. Instead, we see the large number of interactions among individuals over time becoming a force that brings order and certainty to the society. Again, we feel the force and magic of time.
Seize the time
When COVID-19 swept the earth, every organism was confronted with the brutal reality of Mother Nature. Some of us who are relatively young cannot help but to feel grateful and lucky. This is not to say that we see an opportunity to take advantage of during the crisis. In fact, I despise the saying “don’t waste a crisis”. A crisis is a crisis. Nobody can come out as a winner in the midst of a catastrophe. Any wishful thinking to capture the ‘opportunities’ (or exploiting loopholes) to benefit oneself seems foolish in the face of time. It is akin to a presumptuous gambler trying to outsmart time at a casino.
Instead, we feel the urge to work even harder. Because we, more than ever, understand and appreciate how precious youth is. More than ever, we realize that we now have our duty to fulfil. We need to demonstrate that our generation is innovative and different, that in this new world, new species and new creatures are bound to emerge and grow. Mother Nature will flourish and progress, regardless of any individual’s will. Understanding these rules of nature does not make us feel superior, nor does it give us the power to rule and order. On the contrary, it humbles us to admit that we are just part of a natural evolution of the world. One poet captured it all: “As I silently look back, all the sorrows and joy, all the twists and turns, of life, vanished like sands in the desert. And now I know, all I have accomplished, is just a part of life.”
With this perspective and in this new world, we feel humble and calm. We are tremendously grateful for our precious youth, and we feel the weight of our duty. As a result, we will be more than ever committed to investing in the future, and to be part of the driving force to the new world we are seeing. The journey has only started.
责任编辑: