7. 集體思考的力量

Learn Vest公司的首席執(zhí)行官阿列克莎?馮?托貝爾與Paperless Post的首席執(zhí)行官露茜?德蘭德在哈佛大學(xué)（Harvard）相識，當(dāng)時兩人都是大一新生。Bauble Bar的創(chuàng)始人丹尼埃拉?雅科博夫斯基在哈佛商學(xué)院結(jié)識了馮?托貝爾。這三位芳齡均為20多，同生活在紐約，但她們都開辦了公司，她們因友誼而分享經(jīng)歷，形成了一個雖不正規(guī)、卻極為重要的咨詢團體。——Iris Mansour

德蘭德：最可怕的事情是對未知的恐懼。阿列克莎和我都來自金融領(lǐng)域——這些是穩(wěn)定的常規(guī)工作，只要堅持上班就能得到相當(dāng)不錯的薪水。

雅科博夫斯基：阿列克莎很善于說服我們冒險。我記得她好像說過：“你最大的擔(dān)心是什么？你怕萬一失敗了，找不到新的工作？太荒唐了。不管怎么說，干這個能讓你更有資格做比你現(xiàn)在的私人股權(quán)投資職業(yè)更多的事情？你眼下在干什么？制作漂亮的表格？”

馮?托貝爾：我由衷認為，有與你感同身受的人的支持你至關(guān)重要。有人能如實分享他們學(xué)到的東西，為你節(jié)省了很多時間——這比看一本書好。書已經(jīng)過時了。

德蘭德：我認為不管做什么行業(yè)，招人都是關(guān)系到成敗的事。你可能犯下很多不同的錯誤，比如招人的時機、類型、資歷要求，等等。人們并不真想分享這些信息，而作為新創(chuàng)企業(yè)，這些知識是你能擁有的最有價值的資源。我從我們開始創(chuàng)業(yè)時就明白這一點。

馮?托貝爾：這方面我們一起分享了很多……

德蘭德：我們差不多分享一切。

7．The power of groupthink

Alexa von Tobel, the CEO of LearnVest, met Lucy Grayson Deland, COO of Paperless Post, at Harvard when they were freshmen. Daniella Yakobovsky, the cofounder of Bauble Bar, met von Tobel at Harvard Business School. While still in their twenties and living in New York City, the trio launched companies and found in their friendships a shared experience and an informal but vital advisory group. --Iris Mansour

Deland: The scariest thing is the fear of the unknown, and Alexa and I came from finance -- these stable regular jobs where you just keep showing up and getting a really nice paycheck.

Yakobovsky: Alexa was very good at talking us into taking risks. I remember she was like, "What's your biggest fear? That if it fails, you won't be able to find another job? That's ridiculous. If anything, this will make you more qualified to do even more than your private equity gig. What can you do now? Build a nice spreadsheet?"

Von Tobel: I do think that the support of other people who are in your same shoes is crucial. Having someone who can help share what they've learned frankly saves you time -- it's better than a book. Books go out of date.

Deland: I think hiring is one of those things that, no matter what your business, can really make or break things. And there are so many different mistakes you can make, from the timing of the hiring, what type of hire, the seniority of the hire ... People really don't want to share that information, and it is one of the most valuable resources you can have as a startup, that knowledge. I know that when we were starting ...

Von Tobel: ... we shared a lot of that together ...

Deland: We shared just about everything.