????如果說(shuō)有誰(shuí)能了解創(chuàng)業(yè)的艱辛，這個(gè)人非蒂姆?菲利斯莫屬。這位成長(zhǎng)于紐約東漢普頓區(qū)，畢業(yè)于普林斯頓大學(xué)（Princeton）的作家曾是一家數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)公司的銷售人員，之后還開過(guò)一家運(yùn)動(dòng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)品公司。2007年，他出版了《每周工作四小時(shí)》（The 4-Hour Workweek）。這本書成為《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》（New York Times）的最暢銷著作，但也引起了很大爭(zhēng)議。它極力向讀者推薦菲利斯的“生活方式設(shè)計(jì)”原則，還提出了優(yōu)化工作時(shí)間，提高生活質(zhì)量的方法。這本書的成功讓菲利斯成了自助大師，還為他在2010年出版后續(xù)作品鋪平了道路。去年秋天，菲利斯和亞馬遜圖書出版部門Amazon Publishing簽定合同，由后者發(fā)行他的新書《每周下廚四小時(shí)》（The 4-Hour Chef），成為知名作家中第一個(gè)吃螃蟹的人，轟動(dòng)一時(shí)。同時(shí)，菲利斯還把注意力放在了科技領(lǐng)域。截至目前，他所投資或擔(dān)任顧問(wèn)的科技公司已經(jīng)超過(guò)30家，其中包括Facebook、Twitter、租車網(wǎng)站Uber和網(wǎng)上勞務(wù)市場(chǎng)TaskRabbit。

????本刊記者借數(shù)字時(shí)尚品牌InsideHook在舊金山舉行發(fā)布會(huì)的機(jī)會(huì)和菲利斯共進(jìn)了午餐。這位曾經(jīng)的全美散打冠軍（沒錯(cuò)，他真的是散打冠軍）談到了他和亞馬遜結(jié)緣的過(guò)程，解釋了他為什么暫停投資活動(dòng)以及他近期不會(huì)推出新書的原因。

????《財(cái)富》：你之前曾經(jīng)告訴過(guò)我，《每周下廚四小時(shí)》這本書被砍掉了250頁(yè)。請(qǐng)恕我直言，我聽說(shuō)你對(duì)亞馬遜不是很滿意。是真的嗎？

????菲利斯：有很多事情都讓我滿意的不得了，但我想大家都低估了大型零售商對(duì)Amazon Publishing做出的非理性激烈反應(yīng)。這不是亞馬遜的錯(cuò)，在這一點(diǎn)上我不怪亞馬遜。當(dāng)時(shí)我們知道有哪些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。所以當(dāng)機(jī)會(huì)出現(xiàn)時(shí)，我決定放手一搏，責(zé)任也由我來(lái)承擔(dān)。亞馬遜在數(shù)字領(lǐng)域執(zhí)行的非常好。我們預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)遭到圖書零售商Barnes & Noble的抵制。但我們沒想到塔吉特（Target）、好市多（Costco）和沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）這些零售商也會(huì)抵制我們。

????情況變化的非?？欤@次經(jīng)歷則教會(huì)了我很多東西。就好像下次出書時(shí)我就能（拿到一個(gè)）MBA學(xué)位。下一本書我會(huì)找亞馬遜嗎？我會(huì)采用傳統(tǒng)方式嗎？還是把二者結(jié)合起來(lái)？還是自己出版？我不知道。

????最近我不會(huì)出版新書，部分原因是我認(rèn)為在接下來(lái)的大概24個(gè)月里會(huì)出現(xiàn)大屠殺或者軍備競(jìng)賽那樣的場(chǎng)面，我想一直等到塵埃落定。我不會(huì)低估亞馬遜?。ㄝp笑）而且作為一名傳統(tǒng)出版人，我還要說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在至少還有十幾家初創(chuàng)型企業(yè)值得關(guān)注，我不會(huì)目光短淺地把所有注意力都集中在亞馬遜身上。如果你不打算創(chuàng)新，我就會(huì)這么做，趁成本還不那么高……

????……而且不是通過(guò)亞馬遜。

????沒錯(cuò)。

????換句話說(shuō)，今后一、兩年都別指望再看到蒂姆?菲利斯的新作了。

????我不這么想。我是說(shuō)，凡事沒有絕對(duì)，但如果明年或后年能出書的話，我會(huì)感到格外驚訝。

????If anyone gets the entrepreneur's plight, it's Tim Ferriss. The East Hampton, N.Y.-raised, Princeton-educated author once worked in sales at a data storage company before starting a sports nutrition supplement company and penning The 4-Hour Workweek in 2007. The controversial New York Times bestseller inculcated readers to Ferriss's "lifestyle design" principle, serving up ways to optimize the work day and increase quality of life. Its success established him as a self-help guru and paved the way for a follow-up in 2010. Last fall, he created a stir as the first major author to sign with Amazon (AMZN) Publishing to distribute The 4-Hour Chef. At the same time, Ferriss also kept his eye on the tech scene. To date, he has invested in and advises over 30 tech companies, from Facebook (FB) and Twitter to Uber and TaskRabbit.

????Fortune caught up with Ferris at the launch of the digital lifestyle brand InsideHook in San Francisco, where the former national Chinese kickboxing champion (yes, really) reflected upon his Amazon flirtation, why he's on hiatus from investing, and why another book isn't coming any time soon.

????Fortune: You told me earlier that 250 pages were cut from the 4-Hour Chef. Feel free to disagree, but I'd heard you weren't happy with Amazon. Is that true?

????Ferriss: There were many things I was more than happy with, but I think everyone underestimated the irrational backlash from big box retailers that would come of Amazon Publishing. That wasn't the fault of Amazon, and I don't blame Amazon for that. We understood the risks going in. So as the opportunity presented itself, I made the decision to pull the trigger. I take responsibility for that. On the digital side, Amazon executed fantastically. We anticipated that Barnes & Noble (BKS) would boycott. We did not anticipate that Target (TGT), Costco (COST), Wal-Mart (WMT), and so on would boycott.

????The landscape is changing so quickly, but the experiment itself taught me a lot. It was like [getting an] MBA in the next wave of publishing. With the next book, would I do Amazon? Would I do traditional? Would I do a mixture? Would I do self-publishing? I don't know.

????Part of the reason I'm not doing a new book in the immediate, foreseeable future is that I think there's going to be a bloodbath or arms race over say, the next 24 months, and I want to wait until the dust settles. I wouldn't underestimate Amazon! [chuckles] And as a traditional publisher, I would also say, I wouldn't get myopically focused on Amazon when there are at least a dozen startups you should also be concerned with. If you're not going to innovate, I would do so while they're less expensive –

????-- and not Amazon.

????Exactly.

????In other words, don't expect another Tim Ferriss book within the next one to two years.

????I don't think so. I mean, never say never, but I would be exceptionally surprised if I were to have a book come out in the next year or two.