“Work Smart”

During startup conferences, I am often asked with questions like, "How did you manage to secure a significant round of funding? How did you convince investors?" It brings back memories of the old days when people used to ask me, "How can I get into Stanford?" Whether it's raising funds or gaining admission, there always seems to have a chance to "game the system", and some individuals are quite masterful at doing so, thinking it's the smartest way.

To be clear, I am never "a master of fundraising" or "an admission expert", so people are probably asking the wrong person. In fact, I constantly tell my fellow VCs that they shouldn't ask founders to spend too much time on fundraising, the main focus should always set on products & business instead.

When onboarding new employees, some asked - "Why do the company's core principles only contain Work Hard rather than Work Smart". In response, I simply smiled and explained that we are fortunate to have a team of incredibly clever people, so we hope that they are all working smartly. However, working hard is an entirely different concept, because it's both un-natural and un-easy. People can only make it if and only if (i) they possess a deep passion for what they do; and (ii) everyday after coming back home from office, they would feel a genuine happiness because of clear progressions they made just during that single day.

In both of the aforementioned stories, a common pattern emerges: people are often so eager to look for ways of achieving success as quickly as possible through the notion of "working smart." Well, there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong here with "working smart", as most smart people practice it on a daily basis. However, the potential fallacy lies in the misconception that "working smart" solely involves discovering shortcuts to win a battle with the least work: whether it is a fundraising quest, an admission process, or even a regular work routine, it's solely about finding tips, tricks, and hacks to minimize efforts.

Problem is - there are two most important battles in life that "shortcuts" make no sense. The first battle is building a sustainable company, and the second battle is personal development. Why? Because every shortcut based on a weak foundation would have to pay off someday. For those two battles, "gaming the system" would deliver a terrible outcome.

"Work smart" is normally a habit of smart people and by "habit", it means "nature" and does not require special effort. On the other hand, "work hard" is a gifted characteristic on the highest level because it requires both determination and unwavering motivation. And from my own experiences, all the most hard working people are always the smartest I've ever met in my life.

So "how do we raise a significant round? How do we win over investors?" - I calmly said to them "We just have to work harder, and will do so in 10 years".

At that moment, my mind tells me that it's equivalent to 10 years of determination and unwavering motivation.