Chapter 21 Avid skiers, watch Bush Sr. campaign

Outside of starting a business, I fell in love with skiing almost madly.There are many beautiful ski resorts in the United States.Roaring all the way down from the top of the mountain, the snow scene is constantly changing, floating around in a piece of pure white, as if you are in a fairyland.The thrill of skiing made me deeply immersed in it, and I couldn't extricate myself. Ski trails are graded according to difficulty level.Beginners are a circle sign, squares are intermediate, and diamonds are advanced.I usually skate advanced, which is quite difficult.Sometimes there are also two or three diamonds, representing a double or triple premium.The three diamonds are slides for professional players, and ordinary enthusiasts are not allowed to enter, but I still sneak in sometimes.The slope of that kind of slide is extremely steep and the snow is very deep. If the speed and rhythm cannot be well controlled, it is easy to get stuck in it.Luckily I never had an accident.

I have basically been to all ski resorts in the United States.Denver's ski resort is the largest in the United States and even in the world. It takes about 45 minutes to ski from the peak to the foot of the mountain for 8 kilometers.I even flew from Los Angeles to Denver on weekends to go skiing. The ski resorts I go to more often are near Los Angeles.Los Angeles is located in the Mediterranean climate zone, which is quite warm even in winter, but two hours' drive inland into the mountains, where the temperature is very low and it often snows.If the temperature in downtown Los Angeles is 20°C, it will only be around 0°C at the ski resort.So skiing in Los Angeles often sees shirtless skiers.There are 6 ski resorts near Los Angeles, and I must go every weekend.In the early morning, I drove to the mountain to ski alone, and drove back after the sun went down.After my wife came to the United States, I took her with me, but she didn't show much interest, just to accompany me.Once I got up at 3:00 in the morning and drove 6 hours to a ski resort far away in the valley of San Francisco.To this day, I still can’t figure out where the enthusiasm of those years came from.

At the end of 1994, I gave up the company I started and joined Microsoft Corporation headquartered in Seattle as an ordinary engineer.Perhaps a little funny, skiing is also one of the reasons why I chose to work at Microsoft headquarters.Seattle is more of a ski paradise than Los Angeles.It takes two hours to drive to the nearest ski area in Los Angeles, but only 20 minutes in Seattle.I have long heard the name of the ski resort here in professional ski magazines.On my first weekend at Microsoft, I headed off to the local ski slopes. But two skiing experiences in a row there let me down.Seattle has a lot of snow in winter, and there were heavy snow days in both visits.Surrounded by snow and fog, the scenery beyond 10 meters could not be seen at all.The ski goggles I wear are also covered with snow, and my eyes will feel dizzy, like motion sickness.Coupled with the fact that the body was frozen in a mess, it was simply suffering.This has brought my enthusiasm for skiing to a freezing point.The second and last time I skied in Seattle was in early January 1995, and I haven't skied since then in more than a dozen years.

The most interesting thing is that the thrill-seeking and personal preference of skiing is almost in sync with my entrepreneurial journey full of adventure and conquering the world by myself.After joining Microsoft, my main hobby changed to basketball, a more team-based sport.Thinking about it this way, life has its wonders. After coming to the United States, another of my hobbies is to pay attention to the political circles in the United States, so I have a strong interest in the American election. From the summer to the fall of 1992, there was a fierce competition for the election of the next President of the United States between Bush Sr., who was then President of the United States, and Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate.California is a state with a large number of votes and has always been a contested place in presidential elections.During the election campaign, Bush Sr. made 4 speeches in California, and I drove to see them 4 times.Sometimes I can squeeze a good seat, only twenty or thirty meters away from him.Although every time he talks about the same thing, I still have to watch it. In my opinion, this is a very good learning process.

What I am particularly interested in is not the content of the campaign speech, but the details of the pomp, procedure and on-site arrangement of the speech.I not only observed the rigor of the American electoral system, but also studied all aspects of presidential speeches, and even down to the category of presidential bodyguards.There are several types of bodyguards for Bush Sr., including personal bodyguards, introduction bodyguards, road condition bodyguards, and bodyguards dedicated to supporting the scene.In front of Bush Sr.'s podium, there are always 8 burly bodyguards in black standing with arms crossed, and the big sunglasses make it impossible to see their expressions.In fact, as far as the security effect is concerned, it is not the eight burly men who really work, but the ordinary-looking plainclothes agents who do not wear sunglasses and mix in the crowd.But this battle alone gave people a sense of awe, which well set off the solemnity of the president's speech.

I will also pay special attention to who introduced Bush before he spoke.Once Bush Sr. gave a speech in a Chinese town, and instead of inviting the highest-status local politicians, he invited a Chinese senator as an introducer.This senator is quite influential in the Chinese-American circle in California.Based on my analysis, Bush Sr. would choose different people as guides on different occasions. This is because Americans are more self-centered and like to speak with people who are close to them. What I Learned From Presidential Speeches I have been interested in current affairs for a long time, so I often persuade others that being a business should not only be limited to the business itself, but also care about politics.After becoming a manager, my speech also has a lot of things learned from President Bush's speech that year.

According to my observations, every time Bush Sr. gave speeches, the stage was also specially airlifted, with the president's logo on it.Who of you doesn't know Bush Sr., but why did he specially display the presidential logo when he gave a speech?This is a show, let you experience the majesty and momentum.Whether it is a business or a person, this posture is sometimes very important I'm a person who pays special attention to the ceremony, because the ceremony will leave a deep memory, but also make people feel fully respected and valued. The Chinese way of thinking emphasizes realism, and many people do not pay attention to the importance of rituals in business management.In fact, the ceremony is just a show, a sign that reflects the strength of all aspects of the enterprise.

International travel, letter to parliamentarians In my software company, all the software developed are sold to Japanese companies, and they make end products and push them to the market.My company does not have the ability to produce any hardware, which greatly limits the company's profit margins and growth potential.The cycle of software development is very long, and I have to support more than 20 people. I am very tired. I gradually felt that I was not doing much in the software industry. In addition, I was in Hollywood and had been listening to the wonders of DreamWorks all day long. I began to set my sights on the entertainment industry, which had a much larger profit margin.I noticed that it was the frost period of Sino-US relations, and there were very few cultural exchanges between the two countries.The Chinese people in the United States are eager to homesick, and some friends I know in the domestic showbiz circles have begun to engage in "China-US cultural and folk exchanges"-to draw domestic stars to the United States to "walk".

In 1993, I already had some capital at this time, so I saw the right time and cooperated with friends in the domestic entertainment industry to invite Jiang Kun, Song Zuying, Huang Hong, Cai Guoqing and other top Chinese stars to perform in the United States.In my plan, these Chinese artists will go on tour in ten cities in the United States.I am very optimistic about this market, and invested all the profits from being a software company, advertised in all Chinese media in the United States, and managed all the venues needed for the tour city.My business model is very clear, and I believe that this is a sure-fire thing.

Regarding the visa issue for Chinese actors to come to the United States, I paid nearly 20,000 US dollars in legal fees and entrusted a very famous law firm in Los Angeles to handle it.They assured me there would be absolutely no problems.There are still 10 days before the first performance, and I have paid off all the venue fees, and a total of tens of thousands of tickets for the 10 performances have been sold.At this time, I suddenly received a call from Jiang Kun from China: Although the well-known law firm in Los Angeles came forward, the visas of all Chinese actors were rejected by the visa officer of the US Embassy in Beijing.

This sudden news was like a bolt from the blue to me.I simply calculated the possible losses, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost in advertising and venue fees alone.What's even more frightening is that Americans who have already sold so many tickets and who like to sue will definitely sue me for commercial fraud.Not only did I face bankruptcy, but even jail time.With 10 days left, what else can I do? After breaking out in a cold sweat of despair and fear, I began to calmly consider whether there was a solution to the crisis.According to my daily observations, the United States is a country that pays special attention to "political correctness", and congressmen at all levels play a very important role in society.I suddenly had an idea.California is a big state with 54 representatives and 2 senators. I got the names of all the representatives and wrote to them.I wrote in the letter: As your loyal voter and supporter, I care especially about the laws and regulations that you and your colleagues advocate.One of the spirits of the law that you advocate and have been implementing is to pay special attention to the education of the next generation. You believe that the next generation is the continuation of your life and the future of the United States.This is one of the most important reasons why I and all good people voted for you. This time I invited many singers and artists from ancient oriental civilizations to perform in the United States to promote cultural exchanges between China and the United States, but for some reason, their visas have not yet been signed.The loss of money is not a problem for me, but my colleagues and I received many calls from children asking me: Why can't these artists come to America? Isn't America very democratic? I really can't find a reason to answer them, and I don't want to find a reason to lie to them, please give me an explanation, please? At the end of the letter, I also told them that if I didn't hear back within a few days, I would copy the letter to the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, all these big papers for the record.After finishing writing, I printed 56 copies of this letter, the name of the Congressman on the letterhead and my own signature were handwritten with a pen, and each letter was posted with a 31-cent postage stamp. After this letter was sent, it really had an unexpected effect.Some congressmen immediately wrote letters to the US Immigration Service, the White House Office, and even then President Clinton, relaying the troubles I encountered and asking them to investigate.These organizations, including the president himself, are most afraid of the congressmen making trouble, so they have sent faxes to the Beijing embassy in China to inquire about this matter.Just imagine, if you are the visa officer of the embassy and you receive so many inquiries about the same matter at once, you must feel that this company has a lot of background. But the visa officer will not admit the mistake immediately, that would be too embarrassing for him.He sent me a fax: Now I am re-examining your company's application, according to the US visa policy, only the best actors in the world can come to the US for commercial performances, but your information does not provide enough evidence to explain these People are the best actors in the world. After receiving the fax, I realized that he was looking for the next steps.I used this rhetoric in the fax reply: China has a population of 1.1 billion, and there are only 6 people who can really speak cross talk, of which Jiang Kun is the best, so the world says that Jiang Kun is the best in Chinese cross talk.There is a minority in Hunan, China, with only 53 households, and only 3 girls can sing the folk songs of the ethnic group. The best singer is Song Zuying.I found out such reasons for each actor and faxed this "proof document".In less than two hours, the visa officer replied to me: After judgment, they are indeed world-class actors, and visas will be issued to them immediately. Moving with the Times: Integrating the Three Ways of Thinking in China, America and Japan After I arrived at Microsoft, many Chinese complained to me that their parents' visas to the United States were often refused.I taught them this trick again.Just write a letter to the local congressmen in Seattle, and their secretary will call the embassy, ​​and there is no sign that cannot be signed.Writing a letter was successful once, and I helped at least a dozen Chinese employees of Microsoft. After resolving the visa crisis, I summarized three styles of doing things by Chinese, Americans and Japanese: When encountering such difficulties, the first thing Chinese people think of is whether they can make connections and find out what to do. Relatives and friends belong to the Immigration Bureau.If you can't find a relationship, you will probably be at a loss.The Japanese may teach you, and then persevere in sending a few letters to the embassy, ​​repeatedly stating the importance of the performance.But this will definitely not work, because the American character will never easily negate the decisions that have been made.The way Americans deal with it is to find another way and look for different ideas.I understand that on the surface it is the politicians who run America, but ultimately the voters decide who will be the next president.I am negotiating with a member of parliament as a voter, and the government department will definitely help me deal with this matter very seriously. This experience has made me "cunning", and I will first look at where I am when I do anything.I didn't do things with the way of thinking of only one country, nor did I completely follow the way of thinking of the Chinese, nor did I completely follow the way of thinking of the Japanese or Americans.Now these three ways of thinking have completely merged in me and become my own.It's obviously been very good for my career. I know when to rely on my own hard work and hard work, when to find new ways to break through joints, and more importantly, I know how to use the resources around me to find opportunities. After the successful show, I think this business is good, it can make money, and I can make friends with stars in the entertainment industry.Then you can develop spin-off products and shoot MTV for them.Coupled with my software development capabilities, all aspects interacted.I took advantage of the trend and established a "Hollywood Entertainment Film and Television Company" with a scary-sounding name, and started to enter the entertainment industry with "great fanfare". A friend and I jointly invested nearly 300,000 US dollars in the name of a partner, bought a full set of pre-shooting and post-production equipment, and formed a complete production team.MTV was hot at the time.Some entertainment companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan make karaoke accompaniment tapes and need to shoot location scenes in the United States, but it is difficult for them to come to the United States, so they outsource the business to us.After we shot the location, we added lyrics and it became a karaoke tape. When I got into the second company, I almost gave up my studies.But with applied research in speech recognition, I ended up getting a Ph.D. in computer science from Caltech.