朱平 Pin Chu x Mr. Screaming Eye Interview 專訪
朱平先生是我十分欣賞的企業家，從四年前閱讀了他的第一本著作 『 生意人 悅日人 漣漪人 』以來就持續追蹤朱平先生每個月在 PPAPER Business 雜誌上的專欄。 他的思想與理念在我個人的心中種下了許多顆對未來夢想的種子。 透過他字裡行間的訊息，與他所持續推薦的閱讀書單，我對學習、趨勢、商業模式、自我成長、社會與人的關係、國家與企業的關係、企業的社會責任、每個人能為社會做出的改變都有了全然不同的看法與更客觀的思考角度。 今年4月閱讀完朱平先生的第二本新書 『 BE THE CHANGE 成為更好的自己 』 我心裡的聲音告訴我是時候跟朱平先生聯絡了，我渴望跟這位充滿智慧跟正面能量的長者當面對談，希望可以一對一詢問一下我急欲知道的答案。 很幸運的朱平先生給了我正面且迅速的回覆。 以下是我與朱平先生在某個天氣晴朗的下午，在 肯夢AVEDA 台北總部優雅且舒適的辦公室對談的完整記錄。
朱平先生簡介:
漣漪人基金會董事長 ( Ripplemaker Foundation )
紅房 ( Red Room )共同創辦人
肯夢 (代理AVEDA), 肯邦 (代理Paul Mitchell, Lebel, Utowa), 肯愛 (Nonzero) 公司創辦人
美國哈佛大學企管研究所OPM(總裁經營管理班)畢業。
臺北醫學院藥學系學士， 奧克拉荷馬大學臨床藥學碩士
肯邦於1996年獲得第四屆國家磐石獎，倡導環保永續、有社會責任的消費文化觀。
朱平相信微型企業是覺知商業(Conscious business)最好的方式，他提出”21世紀有才能的人，將會選擇在營利型社會企業(For-Profit Social Business )或一種新型態的有更高目的營利PFP 企業 ( Profit for Purpose Business )開創第二生涯。
現在的朱平, 正致力於推廣這樣的商業模式，希望吸引更多有能力、想貢獻的年輕人，來共同創造生活，而不只是求生存 (make a life, not just make a living)。
朱先生為甚麼用英文回答？相信一定有許多人心中也在納悶。台灣從初中開始接觸英文， 但到進大學前的六年英文教育，卻使我們的年輕人，英文讀寫吃力，聽講不通（尤其不敢開口）。我覺得真正的問題是台灣缺少使用英文的環境，許多人高中畢業 後，就停止接觸英文。我跟許多年輕人說：學英文永遠不會太晚，重要的是要不怕英文，要有好奇心，要有獨自探索這世界的覺醒。台灣的未來，在於決心在2050年, 讓英文成為正式官方語言之一。讓我們的孫子一代能跟新加坡人，馬來西亞人，菲律賓人，印度人一樣，在世界各地上班，跟世界各地人作朋友。我的部落格用英文 回答問題，就是要創造一個英文友善的環境。你的每次來訪, 都能接觸到簡單的英文短文，讓自己不怕英文，準備自己成為一個世界人。（當然，聰明的您，一定也發現到朱先生不會中文打字）
朱平 x Mr. Screaming Eye Interview 專訪 ( 中文版 )
Mr. 朱平
OK, Nelson 謝謝你，然後我覺得你是一個很特別的年輕人! 而且才30幾歲而已還是很年輕，我認為到50幾歲以前都是人生的 prime time ( 黃金時期 )。所以我很高興有這個機會認識你，有這個機會透過你認識一些新東西。很高興看到你的東西，很特別、也很用心，而且也是應該要有人去做的！
那麼 Neleson，你現在第一個問題是 ” Ping, 你是我視為 mentor ( 導師 ) 的人，事實上你是我第一個感到景仰，並採取行動聯繫的第一人。你認為對於年輕人或是像我這樣年紀30歲左右的人，找尋人生的導師的最好方法是什麼？”
我覺得我應該跟你分享誰是我的人生導師。事實上我從來沒有主動聯繫我欣賞的人的經驗，所以這不是我個人尋找我的人生導師的方式。
Mr. Screaming Eye
Ping，你會不會覺得當一個人ready準備好的時候，他的 mentor ( 人生導師 )自己會出現？
Mr. 朱平
Exactly 沒錯！而且這個 mentor 並不需要天天見面，甚至不需要是活著的人。例如甘地就是我的人生導師。肯夢辦公室的大門上就有讓我深受鼓舞，甘地所說過的一句名言 “ Be the change you want to see in the world 成為這個世界上你所希望看到的改變。”
重要的是，what do you aspire to be (你渴望期待成為怎麼樣的人)。 I am aspired that I can cultivate Gandhi’s philosophy ( 我期望我可以實踐甘地的理念 )。甘地說過許多名言，其中有一句是 ” My life is my message 我的生命就是我的訊息。“ 我記得我去印度的時候，一到達印度的第一件事情就是去甘地當初被暗殺的地方。現在那個地點已經變成一個 memorial ( 紀念碑 )。他們把甘地被暗殺之前所走的最後一小段路的腳印腳模完整保存了起來。大約是最後的 20~50英尺的距離。看到的時候很感動覺得真的很美，也給了我很大的感觸。那麼也許你會問，當你的hero 已經離開人世的時候有什麼好處呢？當一個人不存在於這世界上的時候，他是 flawless ( 完美的 )，他不會讓你失望。 Nelson，I might disappoint you 10 years from now ( Nelson，10年後的今天我也許會讓你感到失望。) 但是 Gandhi will never betray you ( 甘地永遠都不會讓你失望。) 因為他已經不在了，你今天接受他就是因為知道並認同他的東西與理念。他也有許多的 flaws ( 缺點 )。例如他跟他的兒子還有家裡的關係非常不好。他不是個完美的人也絕對不是一個好父親，只因為他的人生是奉獻給人類的。
回到我們的話題，你不需要刻意尋找一個還在世上或是已去世的人來做為你的人生導師，任何人都可以是你的人生導師。例如有人說張忠謀是他的人生導師，這個人也不需要真的認識張忠謀，他可以去看他的自傳，他也不需要跟張忠謀見面。人生導師就是會啟發你去追尋某些東西與理念的人，第二個是當你要做出重大抉擇的時候，你可以問問你自己 “ If I were my mentor，what would he do? (我如果是我的人生導師，他會怎麼做？) “
我做重大決定之前都會問問我自己如果是甘地他今天會做出什麼決定？如此一來你就有一個 invisible (無形的) 的guideline (標準)。這是個非常有趣也十分實用的方法，你應該多加練習。透過這樣的練習你就會有 different perspective (不同的視角)。 所以尋找人生導師的時候，我們完全不需要被傳統的定義限制住，我們都可以是對方的人生導師與英雄。例如你看了一本書，你非常喜歡，那就可以寫封信給作者，最多你就是被拒絕而已，就算沒有得到回覆也沒有關係，因為可能有太多的原因或是他根本沒有機會看到你的信。所以也不需要因為沒有得到回覆而批判任何人，只因為他們沒有達到你的要求。那麼有了這樣的概念你就敢寫信了。唯一的前提是你必須準備好，如果你什麼都沒有的話，我是無法花時間跟你碰面跟討論的，因為只會浪費雙方寶貴的時間。
Mr. Screaming Eye
也就是說至少要有東西讓對方知道你在做什麼！
Mr. 朱平
沒錯，也就是要讓對方知道 “ What do you do to make yourself qualified and make yourself worthy? (你做了什麼讓你自己合乎標準，並且值得對方花時間在你身上？) ” 你必須要讓對方願意花時間與精力在你身上，跟你對話、跟你合作、回信給你、跟你探討不同的可能性。 所以你必須將你自己準備好你，讓你自己成為一個值得別人投資時間的人。
Mr. Screaming Eye
在你的兩本書裡，你提到了幾個不同、但同樣充滿創造力的平台例如: TED、Founder Squad、Forward Taiwan 以及 Red Room。你特別強調的理論是 “ If you build it, they will come! ( 如果你將平台建構起來，人們就會到來! ) ” 如果有一群年輕人想要從零開始建立一個社群或是部落，但是卻缺乏資源與 know-how，你會建議他們如何開始進行？
Mr. 朱平
Beautiful Question！ Number 1, I am glad that you read my books, and noted all of the platforms I mentioned in my books, this is great！Never find an excuse at all to go ahead and do what you believe, and one of the best excuse of all is having limited resources. That is a great excuse right? ( 很棒的問題！首先我很高興你看了我的書，並注意到了我書中所提及的每個平台，太棒了！永遠不要為了你真正想做的事情找藉口，沒有資源就是個最棒的藉口對吧？)
I want to introduce a very good friend of mine, 一個很年輕的朋友。交點 ( Cross Point ) 的阿峰，他花了一年半的時間在沒有任何資源的情況下建立了這個社群。起因是他參加了我們的 Red Room 而受到鼓舞。你參加過 Red Room 嗎?
Mr. Screaming Eye
我還沒有參加過但是我會在近期內參加。
Mr. 朱平
你一定要參加，你必須參加，否則我等於在你身上浪費了我的時間。 Red Room 是每個月的第3個星期六。交點的阿峰他看了我的書之後參加了 Red Room，然後開始建構屬於他自己的 community (社群)。你可以透過你的線上雜誌來建立你自己的社群，邀請所有閱讀你的雜誌的人一起來討論分享不同議題，或是每個人都可以分享他們自己所創造與創作的東西。你甚至可以建立一個專門探討分享如何建構獨立線上媒體的社群。首先，你需要找出屬於你自己的theme (主題)。交點的主題很簡單，就是創立與提供一個聚會的空間，大家可以聚在一起討論他們的夢想、他們的熱情、介紹自己並讓與會的所有人更進一步了解你在做什麼事情。一個人大約可以分享5分鐘左右，然後一個人需支付 $300的場地費。在這裡我想要特別強調場地費是必要的。因為如果都是免費的話會吸引一些不對或是不適合的人來參加。
如果你也想開始一個社群，我建議你一開始要先找一個partner，你跟你的partner一個人找15個人。 The trick is this ( 重點在這裡 )，選一個主題，各找15個人，並且要確定這15個人互相不認識。請每個人再找3個人，這些朋友找來的人需要先請朋友幫忙過濾，請他們找他們認為會對這個主題與社群有興趣，且會喜歡你、會想要積極認識你的人。你跟你的 partner 透過彼此的朋友分別找45人就等於90人了，這樣一個社群就可以立刻開始了。 Red Room 就是這樣開始的！剛開始的時候 Red Room只是一個 listening space，一開始是 poetry slam ( 新詩創作發表會 )。雖然一開始是以新詩發表為主，但是 Red Room 一直在持續的進化，現在已經發展為多媒體的分享空間。
Mr. Screaming Eye
剛開始我從你的書得知 Red Room 這個社群，但是我當時認為我並不懂新詩，也沒有創作可以分享，去的話可能會很尷尬，或是會 feel out of place ( 無所適從 )。
Mr. 朱平
怎麼會呢！Poetry 是一個 primitive art form ( 原始藝術形式 )，而且也並不是每個人都必須要上台分享，純粹欣賞也是可以的。他就是一個讓大家mingle (交際)、get acquainted (互相認識) 的一個活動與場合。
以創建一個社群來說，你的腳色可以只是一個 curator (策展人)、organizer (整合者)，你可以企劃任何主題的活動與派對。台灣需要更多這樣的社群。我會建議你制定一些有趣的規定，例如我們 Red Room 有一個 BYOB ( Bring Your Own Bottle 帶自己的酒 ) 的規定。每個人都帶自己喜歡喝的紅酒然後可以跟大家一起分享！大家可以很放鬆的分享與交際，這就是 Red Room 成功的秘密之一。所以其實沒有那個困難，跟有沒有資源沒有太大的關係，只是你願不願意去做而已。
Red Room 的做法是每個參加者可以自動報名上台跟大家分享自己的想法與作品，因為時間有限所以能分享的名額也有限。然後中間會有 intermission ( 中場休息時間 )，讓大家可以互相認識與交際。然後接著會繼續進行下半場的活動。活動到10:30pm 結束，然後最後大家可以有30分鐘的交際時間與幫忙打掃場地。地毯與桌椅需要恢復原狀，杯子也需要清洗。11點我們就會準時關閉整個場地才不會打擾到周邊的住家鄰居。
Mr. Screaming Eye
我注意到 Ping 你在 PPAPER Business 的專欄移居到了數位時代雜誌，讀者們還可以在那些地方看到你的專欄與作品？
Mr. 朱平
我的文章與專欄散落在網路的許多地方，所以透過 Google 搜尋是最好的方式。或是可以到我的部落格官網以及就是你說的數位時代雜誌的專欄。我在數位時代雜誌開始一個專欄的主因是因為以前的數位產業只有一些 nerd 或是工程師，但是現在正產生巨大的轉變，數位產業開始有一些很酷的人，一些懂 lifestyle與美學的人開始進入。所以我認為我應該要積極開始接觸這個產業。我想要跟這些具有專業，並且懂 design，懂 lifestyle 與生活美學的人有所接觸。台灣其實有很多非常先進的科技，但是我們的產業必須將 Lifestyle、科技、創意、軟體、硬體與設計做出完整的結合才會有寬廣、具有國際性、全球性的發展空間。
Mr. Screaming Eye
根據我的觀察，最近幾年有幾個主要的商業模式與趨勢對整個世界的商業運作產生了極大的影響力。除了以下列出的的這些，你認為在未來幾年中有那些商業模式與趨勢會更迅速的發展與成熟化?
Crowd sourcing 群眾外包 ( Groupon )
Shared Economy 分享經濟 ( Airbnb, Uber )
Community based business model 社群經濟模式 ( Threadless )
Crowd Funding 群眾集資 ( Kick Starter, FlyingV )
Free open source 免費開放資源 ( Khan Academy, Cousera, EDX )
Mr. 朱平
你所提到的 Shared Economy 是一個非常大的 economy, 也就是分享 end-use的 asset ( 終端使用者的資源共享 )。像 Red Room 的場地也是一個 end-use 的asset，不同的是 Red Room 的場地現在並沒有開放分享因為如果場地被過度頻繁的使用，我們擔心鄰居的生活品質會受到影響，因為目前場地位在寧靜的社區裡。
除了你所提到的 Crowd Sourcing、Shared Economy、Community based business model、Crowd Funding、Free Open Source以外，你還可以再加上一個 Ecosystem Business Model ( 生態系統商業模式 )。很多世界級的大企業都採用了這個 Business Model，例如 Apple 的商業模式就是一個經典的範例。
Mr. Screaming Eye
可不可以請你解釋一下什麼是 Eco-System 的 Business Model ( 商業模式 ) ?
Mr. 朱平
Eco-System Business Model by definition means that we are all inter-connected, we are all inter-dependent, we are each other’s customer and venue, product or service provider. The system eliminated the trust factor. We need each other to survive. ( 生態系統商業模式就定義上來說就是我們其實都是互相連結的，互相依賴的，我們可以是對方的顧客也可以是對方的產品或是服務提供者。這樣的一個生態去除了不信任的元素，因為我們必須仰賴對方才能生存。 )
Mr. Screaming Eye
這聽起來像是一個很理想的 system and business model，除了 Apple 還有其他企業在做嗎?
Mr. 朱平
當然有，例如 Android，還有 Amazon Kindle Fire 與它的 developers。 Apple 跟它共生共存，互相依賴的 developers 社群，還有它的 Iphone、Ipad 零件供應商所形成的產業鏈都在同一個 ecosystem 中。 Apple 一推出新產品大家都會受益。 Android 也是一個典型的 ecosystem business model。 Rain forest 裡的任何一棵樹也可以自成一個ecosystem，周邊有螞蟻蜜蜂以及其他各式各樣的生物仰賴著這個樹共生共存共好，如果把樹砍掉，整個 ecosystem 就死掉了。在商業世界也是一樣的原理。這就是所謂的 ecosystem business model。
另外一個 Business Model 就是subscription business model ( 訂閱制商業模式 )。因為這剛好是我現在想要做的東西，我在7~8年前曾經做個一次 Subscription Business Model 且非常成功。但是由於當時沒有人可以幫我經營這塊事業所以不得已只好暫時停擺。我剛剛跟我的partner Ming開會，我們決定重新啟動這個企劃，我們將會透過 Nonzero 的品牌重新啟動，並由 Ming 來 Revive 以及主導整個企畫。
當時開始這個訂閱服務企畫的起因是大概在9~10年前的時候 GQ 雜誌來 interview 我。關於美感生活、creative lifestyle。當時 interview 我的訪問者說 ” 朱先生，你是事業主，你有這個資源，你可以暢談創意生活與美感生活。而我只是一個剛剛大學畢業，剛剛找到工作的人，這些似乎對我來說都太遙不可及。” 這話點醒了我，關於美感生活與創意這些東西我講了這麼多年，結果原來還有許多人認為這樣的生活跟自己是無法產生連結的…. 許多人認為他們喜歡且欣賞這些很棒的設計、美麗的東西。但是在現實生活中卻沒有能力擁有。我覺得我一定要做一些事情來改變這個現況。
Nelson，我想問你，你覺得音樂對於創意生活是不是很重要？我相信你一定覺得很重要，好！那麼我們來算算實際身體力行美感生活到底需要多少錢。假設一年買3張CD大約是 $1000。讀書是不是很重要？一年買3本也大約 $1000。看表演藝術 ( performance art ) 是不是很重要？一年看兩次世界級的表演，用行動支持這些藝術，一張票至少是 $1500~2000。出國去看看這個世界是不是很重要？當然重要，不然每天打開電視都是一樣的東西，一定要出國去看看以後開拓視野，回國後才會更珍惜跟看見我們台灣的美好與可愛！去東南亞旅行或是亞洲大約 3萬塊就可以成行了。穿著打扮，你的 fashion statement 是不是很重要？我們談的是美感生活，總不能穿得亂七八糟吧！一年買兩次衣服，買一些經典款的衣服例如白襯衫。還有我認為訂閱一本內容與排版都是世界級的雜誌也很重要，用行動支持你喜愛的雜誌而不是光看免費的。
訂閱一年雜誌大約 $2000。一年可以吃3次好餐廳，獨特且精緻的餐廳。例如 Bellavita 中的米其林三星餐廳 L’ ATELIER de Joël Robuchon。可以吃它的下午茶。差不多一千多塊錢，大部份人應該都負擔的起。慈善也很重要，一開始量力而為就好。送禮物也很重要，準備個兩千塊。不需要特別的理由就是讓朋友感到開心。你也看過我們 Aveda 的 catalog。一年花個 $3000~5000 可以購足全年需要的產品。這些全部加起來大約4萬多，一個月不到 $5000。因此我認為如果真的想要體驗美感生活，真的想做的話是一定可以達成的。
Nelson，你願不願意每個月交給我 $3000台幣，大約是 $100 美金的預算。讓我每個月準備一個充滿驚喜、品味的 Nonzero Gift Subscription 禮物盒子給你，我會思考用 $3000 的預算可以將那些最棒最特別的禮物放進這個盒子裡面。之前我做的時候我們只收了100個訂閱戶因為在測試階段。但是我做了一年就因為太花時間暫時停止了。現在我們就是要開始重新啟動這個充滿意義的企畫。
Mr. Screaming Eye
我覺得這個idea 跟企畫很棒，我認為台灣需要更多的 taste maker ( 品味創造者 ) 跟 lifestyle curator ( 生活風格策畫者 )。
Mr. 朱平
這就是 the experience of being alive！這跟生存無關，而是真實的 living in the moment ( 活在當下 )。送自己一年12次的禮物去體驗一些你平常沒有機會去體驗的東西。我跟 Ming 當然會去選最好的東西來當禮物放進盒子裡，因為我們也有我們的reputation to keep。
我之前送過12個禮物。訂閱的都是VIP客戶。曾經有個訂閱客戶跟我說他的母親每個月都很好奇也非常期待朱先生會送什麼禮物給她兒子。
我來說說我曾送過什麼禮物。大約8年前導演齊柏林出了一本精裝版的攝影集，我看完以後非常驚訝台灣怎麼這麼美啊！我就訂了一百本用行動支持這些很棒的藝術家。我也幫這100個人每個人種了一棵樹。因為當時我得知到一個消息，聯合國因為紀錄片Inconvenient Truth 所傳達的環保訊息決定種植 100萬棵樹。台灣當時響應聯合國發起的這個活動決定種植6萬棵樹，每棵樹平均可活40年。當時政府授權給台灣大學森林系來執行這個計畫。每個人都可以認養這些被種植在台灣大學位在南投的實驗林中的樹，在每年的植樹節開放參觀，認養後你會拿到一個號碼，透過這個號碼你可以找到你認養的那棵書。我幫他們每人買了一棵，讓他們可以透過行動支持綠化環保。
我還做過幫他們到非洲認養兩個小孩，非常有意義的慈善活動，每個人都可以盡一份力。當時一個月只需幾百塊台幣就可以幫助一個非洲小孩，當時因為 subscription service 只為期一年所以後來就中斷了。這次重啟後會再規劃類似的活動。
還有一次我在誠品門口看到一個老先生在賣石頭雕刻的藝術品，當時他大約60幾歲了卻跟年輕人在一起擺地攤蠻辛苦的。我覺得他的石雕藝術品做的很美，於時我跟他訂購了100顆，讓他慢慢做。我代表著100個人支持老先生的藝術。
聖誕節那天我透過一個朋友介紹的，跟一個住在新店的老先生也買了100顆十分美麗優雅的盆栽。台灣比較少見，也不難保養，3天澆一次水就好了。收到的訂閱戶也十分開心又可以幫到老先生，十分有意義。
還有一個月的禮物是很特別，從泰國當地透過朋友空運過來的咖哩，混合了印度米、越南米、台灣米。我們準備好所有香料還有製作的方法送給我們的訂閱戶。最令我最高興的小插曲是，當月有一對夫婦寫信給我說 “ 朱先生，我要謝謝你，今天我們本來要出去外面用餐因為是我們的結婚紀念日。但是我們在當天收到你的禮物，於是決定當天在家自己做料理，燭光晚餐，我跟丈夫都很開心！” 我看完信後非常感動！我們就是想多做些這樣的事情。
我也會介紹很多書以及音樂，都是我自己喜歡但是不是大部份人都知道的。例如我喜歡Leonard Cohen，我跟 Ming 都非常喜歡他，他是我們的 generation 的 hero。他不只是個歌手也是個 poet (詩人)。我大約每2~3個月會挑1片我喜歡的CD放進盒子裡。
8年前 Monocle 雜誌剛剛開始沒有多久台灣幾乎還沒有發現這本雜誌。當時只有誠品有，一本大約 $500~600塊台幣，於是我就從$3000的預算中拿出這筆錢來介紹給大家這本雜誌，Monocle 是我非常喜歡，非常酷的一本雜誌。 Monocle 是一本鎖定精英客群，且被形容為一本屬於VIP lounge 的雜誌，這是Monocle一開始的定位。
OK, anyway, 如果你也喜歡這個idea 就把它分享出去。我的構想是這個 Nonzero gift subscription service 會是一個social enterprise，它的營利將會用來 support 我的 Ripple Maker基金會，也就是我書中所提及的 Profit for a Purpose商業模式。
Mr. Screaming Eye
但是就像Ping 你所說的，每個月固定支出 $3000 對於一部份人是可以負擔的起的，但並不是每個人都有這個經濟能力因為生活中還有許多其它開銷。 所以有沒有可能分成多個不同的價位與等級？
Mr. 朱平
關於這個問題其實我也思考過，假如是每個月 $1000 塊台幣的話我相信會有更多人願意加入。但是問題就在於 $1000 的預算很難找到真正的好東西。例如我上次看到一把很美的刀，品牌是我自己用了10多年由日本老工匠所鍛製的經典老牌。它的原價是3千多，像這樣的好東西是 $1000 絕對無法買到的。我將這把刀放進盒子裡，也希望這把刀可以陪伴我的訂戶幾十年。
其實以商業的角度來說，定價由上往下容易許多，也就是說先從高價位做起，然後漸漸發展出其他不同價位或是更容易入手的價位的產品支線會更容易被人們接受。由下往上相對的十分困難，Toyota 是少數成功的例子。就像你叫 GAP 發展 luxury 品牌是不大可能成功的。從現在這個價位等級開始，如果反應良好，我們可以再往其他價位發展。還有如果我們能累積到1000個訂閱戶，我們就有更強大跟廠商談判的 purchasing & bargaining power ( 議價談判籌碼與力量 )，可以拿到更好更優質的東西給我們的訂閱戶。我們當時的計算是我們需要有 200~300個 subscriber 就可以打平所有的管銷。我們現在決定以100個 subscriber 先開始啟動逐漸累積訂閱戶。
我們希望可以將 the sense of adventure, sense of surprise ( 冒險與驚喜的感覺 ) 帶入我們 subscribers 的生活。讓他們每個月都有 something to look forward to ( 擁有可以期待的東西 ) ! 因為很多時候當我們在追求生活中其他東西的時候，我們似乎遺忘了這些我們曾經擁有的美好感覺與感受。
另外同時我們又能用行動支持一些很棒但是卻不知名的藝術家或是專業職人。這世界上有許多有趣的好東西，我們所要做的就是幫我們的subscribers過濾、篩選、找出最好的東西！一次訂閱一年，不喜歡的話明年當然可以不續訂，但是我們不是一個月一個月的賣這個服務。
我們的目標客戶是一些有專業但是工作繁忙沒有多餘時間的人，他相信我們 Nonzero的品味與眼光也支持我們的理念。除了將禮物送給自己，我們的訂閱戶也可以指名將某個月的禮物寄給他的朋友、情人、伴侶、或是家人。例如有朋友結婚，除了送禮金外又有個另一個選擇，也不用自己花心思去思考到底要送什麼禮物。如果3萬6千塊一年有人覺得太貴，那也可以由12個朋友來分攤，一人可以收到一個月的禮物！公司企業也可以用 Nonzero subscription service來替代每年三節送給客戶了無新意的禮物例如禮卷。企業可以透過我們的 service 來送給他們 VIP 客戶最特別的禮物，給他們的VIP 客戶更貼心的驚喜！
我們會送一些平常大部份絕對不會買的東西例如頂級的內衣，頂級的內褲，我跟你說如果你沒有體驗過穿上頂級的內衣褲的感覺簡直就是對不起自己的身體，你一定要嘗試看看！我們還會附上一段故事，中英對照的故事告訴你我們選擇這些東西的理由跟背後的故事。還有更多有趣的企畫與活動會搭配我們的 Nonzero Gift Subscription Service，敬請期待！
前年我們 Nonzero 餐廳被歐美提名為全亞洲第50名的餐廳，台灣大約有7個餐廳被提名。例如有一個法式小酒館在永康街也被提名為前50名。他是一個從法國來台灣定居的廚師，非常有自己的堅持。像這樣的餐廳我就非常喜歡。這些都是我們想跟我們的訂閱戶分享的店家與資訊。我想分享我的 philosophy，分享這些充滿靈魂與內涵的人事物。
以上說的這些都是我們第一階段的計畫，第二階段我們可能會更針對個人的品味與特殊偏好去規劃、設計與訂做禮物。第三階段我們甚至可以透過我們的 buying power來crowd sourcing。讓我們的 subscriber 直接參予推薦他們心目中好東西，然後請大家一起來透過網路上投票決定當月的禮物是什麼。 That’s the vision I have for the subscription business model ( 這就是我對於訂閱服務的願景 )。
現在國外有其他公司在做我們並不是第一個，但是大部份比較偏向 Groupon 的風格。主要是走團購、低價、便宜又大碗的路線。這不是我們想走的路線，我想要走的是有質感、美感的lifestyle品味路線。現在這個世界資訊氾濫，太多的選擇反而使我們都面臨 paradox of choice 的問題 ( 選擇時的矛盾 )，而導致無法行動。需要有人來過濾、curate 以及幫忙從海量的資訊中篩選出真正的好東西。
Mr. Screaming Eye
The Knack ( 師父 ), Tuesday with Morrie ( 最後12個星期四 ), Last Lecture ( 最後的演講 ), and Day Maker ( 悅日人 ) 都是我個人十分喜愛的書。這些作者在我眼中都是我的人生導師。我喜歡的書是那些可以提升我，教導我真正的人生智慧的書籍。你是否還有更多會給予、教導我們更多寶貴人生功課的推薦書單？
Mr. 朱平
我在我的第一本以及第二本書中都有推薦書單，這些都是曾經啟發並影響著我的人生觀與思想的經典好書。
Mr. Screaming Eye
發生不快樂的事情的時候, 我總會告訴我自己 ” 一切都是最好的發生，Karma ( 命運 ) 自有最好的安排 “ 這句話總是會讓我心情平復許多。你個人有沒有一些特別喜歡的 inspirational wisdom quotes ( 充滿鼓舞力與智慧的格言 ) ?
Mr. 朱平
主要有兩個。其中一個就是之前說的在 Aveda Office 門上甘地說的 “ Be the change you want to see in the world. ( 成為你在這世界上希望看到的改變 ) ” 另一個就是我最近常講的， R. Buckminster Fuller 名言 “ You can never change anything by fighting the existing model, in order to change something, you need to build a new model. That makes the old model obsolete. ( 你永遠無法透過抗爭來取代現有的模式，為了要改變一些東西，你必須創造新的模式，這樣舊有的模式就會被取代 ) “
R. Buckminster Fuller 是一個非常優秀的 architect ( 建築師 )，同時也是一個哲學家及社會主義者。我們要去創造新的 model 而不是去 fight existing model，不要去浪費力氣以及 energy。而是要去做更有意義的事情，去建構一個嶄新的 model，或是去開創新的生態、體系或是社群。
Mr. Screaming Eye
你的書中提到台灣男人需要更加主動的努力提升自己，我也有同感。去看表演，展覽，聽演講，上私塾課程的時候我發覺男女比例大約是 1:4 左右，台灣男人真的需要更加充實自己。你認為身為一個男人的美學與生存之道是什麼?
Mr. 朱平
先接受自己需要改變，先接受自己美學涵養上的不足。先有這個想法再去學習。我太太去上好多我也該上的自我提升課程我都沒有去上。 台灣的男人需要更提升自己，例如接受正式現代禮儀的訓練 ( modern manner & etiquette )，因為台灣男人在成長的過程裡沒有機會接受這類的正式訓練。所以我跟 Ming 討論以後每個月 Nonzero Gift 裡面都要有 homework，我們要 call for action ( 鼓勵行動)，讓大家立刻開始主動積極的提升自己，主動創造正面的改變。 所以我希望台灣男人可以正視自己的不足並願意主動積極的改變自己。
Mr. Screaming Eye
在你的第一本書中提到當時在台北能去的地方或是適合社交下班後到回家之間的中繼站或是 social club ( 交際俱樂部 ) 不多，那現在四年後的台北是否有所改變? 有沒有你自己特別推薦的有趣地點?
Mr. 朱平
昨天我們在 Nonzero 有個活動我想你會非常喜歡，Ming 舉辦了一個 party。這是我們第4個 Party。第一個 party 是 Monocle Party，是 By invitation only ( 邀請制 )。首先由 Monocle 創辦人Tyler Brûlé 演講。演講結束後我們有一個cocktail party。大約邀請了 300人。第2個party 是最近新開幕日本的United Arrow Party。老闆也有來，他非常喜歡我們的東西，我們聊得非常愉快。
第3個就是我們在聖誕節舉辦的 Young Entrepreneur Ecosystem Party。我們邀請了一些年輕剛要start-up的年輕創業家，我們也請了一些律師、Venture Capital (創投資金)、會計事務所的專業人士一起開一個party。讓大家互相認識與交流並解答問題。
昨天的 private party 主題是馬來西亞傳統料理 Laksa 的 party。全部 soldout (完售 )，來了80幾個人。 同樣也是 invitation only，非常成功。每個人都問我可不可以再辦一次。所以以後 Nonzero 就是一個大家可以 hangout，可以mingle 的 social club。 另外 Red Room 也是個 Social Club雖然一個月只有一次。如果你認同我們的理念，支持我們，那歡迎你以後跟你的朋友聚餐約會時可以常來 Nonzero餐廳支持我們。
Mr. Screaming Eye
你第一本書的封面內頁形容你自己為 Businessmaker, Daymaker , Ripplemaker。而第二本書則是 a serial entrepreneur, a student of life, a beginner。給我的感覺非常不同，這是否代表著你的心境與人生目標上有所改變?
Mr. 朱平
我的這些人生觀都沒有改變，一直以來，我想要做的是生生不息的生意，創新，做大家不願意做但是應該有人要來做的事。例如教育與產業結合這塊。再來就是 a serial entrepreneur，最近幾年我時常跟不同領域的 young entrepreneur 在一起討論各種可能性。我時常在思考有誰可以引導他們，從旁提供夠多的資源與協助。我會鼓勵他們並告訴他們不要害怕take risk、要相信自己。 A student of life 代表著我想要重新開始，開始我的第三個人生階段，我想永遠當一個 beginner，自從搬到台東都蘭後我心境上有很多的改變，我想花更多的時間分享與付出。我想把時間花在更多的年輕人身上給他們一些有用的建議與幫助。
Mr. Screaming Eye
李嘉誠建議年輕人將薪水分成 5份，分別為生活費、與朋友培養感情的費用例如聚餐、投資自己學習新知識、旅行的費用、投資理財的費用。你會建議 20~35歲的人如何更有意義的分配自己的薪水與收入?
Mr. 朱平
我認為不需要太勢利，千萬別單純為了建立人脈而去參加這些活動，我認為應該單純抱著你喜歡並且想要認識一些新朋友的想法去參加。不要有什麼 hidden agenda ( 隱藏目的)，因為這樣你才是 authentic ( 真實與真誠 )。 也不需要刻意討好任何人，Be yourself and be authentic ( 做你自己並保持真誠 ) !
Mr. Screaming Eye
台北現在有松菸、華山、寶藏巖這樣的文創聚落，但是似乎尚未將空間與機能發揮到極致或是打造出真正 sustainable ( 永續 ) 的多功能文化藝術聚落。你在書中提到台北藝術村的構想與夢想，你認為台灣應該如何打造一個類似泰國的 TCDC 創意中心、北京 798、香港的西九文化區，且對國內外藝術家友善並能提供實質幫助的世界級藝術文創聚落?
Mr. 朱平
我認為台灣政府應該自己來做這些案子，不然就乾脆不要做。 政府對整體文創產業的發展並沒有真正長遠的打算與願景。 很簡單來說，政府 BOT 案發出去全部給包商管理，政府不想投入預算也不想花力氣好好經營，來主導整個台灣文創產業生態的發展。政府想要有政績可是又不願意親力而為…. 所以台灣想要有一個世界級的文創聚落，我始終持懷疑且保留的態度。實行起來非常困難因為台灣政府是透過 BOT 的方式。我對政府的 BOT 缺乏信心，反而我對民間的力量比較有信心。 例如我在都蘭買了地做我自己想做的事情，就這樣慢慢的開始與累積，來用自己的力量推廣文創。
我的一個大夢想是有一天能在都蘭舉辦類似像 World Economic Forum ( 世界經濟論壇 ) 的活動。每年所有的世界級企業的 CEO 以及各國領袖元首都會齊聚在瑞士日內瓦的 Cologny Resort 探討與集思廣益全球的經濟。 都蘭也有這樣的天然條件，我覺得都蘭是非常適合舉辦類似活動的地方。
Nelson，我現在邀請你8月的時候來台東參加 TED x 台東的 launch， 這是 TED 在台東的第一個 event！ Putting 台東 on the world map，這是我希望能做的! 首先就是把 TED 帶過去。 我們這次有邀請嚴長壽先生做 opening speech ( 開幕演講 )。 同時在台東還有 Design Expo ( 設計展 )。 去年是在台北舉辦，今年則是在台東，要感謝台東縣政府的全力支持。 然後11號我們在都蘭的家有個 party, 嚴長壽先生還有台東縣政府還有許多朋友都會來。 都蘭是個很特別的地方，有很美的海岸線跟山，有非常國際化的community，是個小小的 paradise。你一定會非常喜歡！
Mr. Screaming Eye
What’s 肯夢、肯邦、肯愛未來的計畫? And what are your near future goals and next move in the next 5 to 10 years?
Mr. 朱平
Ok, 肯夢 ( Aveda )、肯邦 ( Paul Mitchel ) 現在都在做了。肯夢與肯邦都有自己的教育學院，雖然沒賺到錢但是我堅信我們的理念與 business model 是對的。我們不斷的在培育新血進到我們公司來，這個生態是在流動的、充滿生命力的。我們的教育學院是 incubator ( 創業培育搖籃 )，10個月的課程30萬元學費。畢業以後在我們公司待3年把學費賺回去就可以去創業了，我們會全力支持並且教你如何成功創業。關於肯夢 ( Nonzero ) 的方向我們現在還在思考醞釀當中。
關於我自己的 future goal，如果一天人生等於1塊錢的話，我現在大約還有6,000塊可以花用。我想要把我的時間投資在最美好的事情上面。我希望將我的時間投資在更多年輕人身上，這樣我不在以後這些年輕人還可以把我的 message 傳達下去，生生不息。
人總是有一天會離開這個世界，因此我想要過的是充滿意義的人生。 去做更多有意義的事情，這些才是能定義人生價值的事情，而不是賺了多少錢。 有一個star fisher thrower ( 海星丟擲者 ) 的故事。 故事中一個小孩不停的撿起在海灘上退潮時擱淺、曝曬在艷陽下的海星然後丟回海裡。一個老人問小孩你這樣做也什麼意義呢? 這個多的海星你是無法全部拯救的。小孩聽完話撿起一隻海星丟回海裡 ” Look, I made a difference on that one! (你看，我現在不就救了一隻！) ” 很簡單的故事但是卻深深觸動了我。所以 be the change you want to see in the world, 就算是一個 small change。千萬不要認為自己的力量太小、微不足道，每個人都可以做出改變。 就算一次一點點也是一個正面的改變，可以讓世界變得更美好。
對了 Nelson，你如果認同我們的理念我真的建議你下次參加 Ming 的 Happier Retreat，這次已經額滿了但是你下次可以參加。人數限制是 12~15個人，這是一個 by invitation only 非常 exclusive 的 Retreat，有從澳洲、香港、上海還有世界各地的朋友來參加。你可以上網搜尋都蘭 Retreat 了解更多資訊。
Mr. Screaming Eye
學學是我在台灣最喜歡去學習的私塾，台灣是否還有更多不錯的私塾?
Mr. 朱平
交點 ( Cross Point ) 就是一個很不錯的私塾。交點每個禮拜都有活動，每個禮拜全省到處巡迴。他辛苦了一年成為了一個 super connected 的 coordinator。 他最成功的是每年的年會，參加過交點的人會齊聚一堂，然後大家交流、交際、交換資訊、互相認識、創造更多可能性。
Mr. Screaming Eye
你認為台灣需要更多的事業加速器還是創業搖籃？對於想成為社會型企業家並且開始一個富足快樂，充滿意義類似像 Zappos 以及 Patagonia 的企業的人，他們大部份缺發足夠的知識、know-how、資源。那麼是否有哪些平台或是社群可以提供他們諮詢與協助？
Mr. 朱平
Very good，第一個，台灣太多 accelerator 跟 incubator。你知道台灣現在有多少個嗎? 台灣大概有超過100個 accelerator 以及 incubator。都是政府搞的，每個大學都有一個。
你知道有一個 incubator 叫做 App Works 嗎? 它的創辦人叫做 Jamie Lin，你一定要訂閱他的 Blog。另外一個你需要知道的 community 叫做 Lean Startup Machine。它會直接從國外來台灣做一個3天的 seminar，我會在其中一天做一個 small speech ( 迷你演講 )。 Lean Startup 是 Jamie 一直在做的事情，意思就是說你今天推出一樣產品或是服務的同時就必須馬上與市場做連結。不要等到一切 perfect 了才去做。而是用越少資源去立刻進行，然後一定要找到 product market fit ( PMF )。而不是像傳統的作法，先招兵買馬、先寫 Business Plan，我們不需要先有這些東西！先確定你的產品有沒有人要才是重點。
例如 Twitter 一開始主要不要專注於micro blog而是其他 service, 但是大家只對它的 micro blog 有興趣。因此 Twitter透過 Pivot ( 轉型 ) 的概念轉而全力 focus 在 micro blogging 而造就了今天 Twitter 巨大的成功。還有就是 500 Startup 的Dave McCure，我們也想要邀請他來台灣，來一起做一個世界級的 startup platform。
OK，我認為台灣需要的是與世界連結。另一個你需要知道的平台是社企流。一開始是一群年輕人專注於做他們自己想要做的事情。他們開始翻譯世界上社會企業創業成功的故事以及社會企業的資訊然後放在部落格裏面。他們現在越來越成功，做的非常棒，現在還出了一本書叫做社企力。如果你對社會企業有興趣一定要看一下這本書。
另外一個還有一個很棒的香港社會企業也來到了台灣叫做 Dialogue in the Dark。 它的 Business Model 非常的棒。它的目的就是讓明眼人去體驗、去了解盲人的生活。參予者會被遮住眼睛然後身置在全黑的房間。主辦單位會給你一根拐杖讓你體驗盲人的生活。它會特別規劃一些讓你會摔倒但是不會受傷的小地方。這些安排的規劃都是為了讓人們更能感同身受盲人的生活並且多一些同理心。體驗過在黑暗中蒙眼行走後，再由盲人教你如何在黑暗中正確的移動。這就是它們營利的商業模式，不管是這個組織或是教導如何在黑暗中安全移動的盲人工作人員都可以賺到錢。這種就是一個典型既有趣，能提供教育功能，提供盲人工作又對社會有實質貢獻且能提供正面能量的社會企業成功案例。
Ping Chu x Mr. Screaming Eye Interview
Ping
OK Nelson, I think you’re a very unique young man, you are in your 30’s, to me, any age prior to 50’s is considered as prime time in one’s life. Therefore, I am very happy to meet you today, and I am glad to see your work, I can see you’ve really put your hearts into it, and it is something that needs to be done.
Your first question is “ Ping, you are someone that I look up to, and I view you as one of my mentor. And in fact, you are the first person that I admire and took initiative to get in touch with. For young people, or people like me, what is the best way to find mentors in life? “
To answer this question, I must share with you who is my mentor. In fact, I never have the pleasure to take the initiative and contact someone that I admire. This is not how I found my mentors.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
Ping, do you think that when someone is ready, his or hers mentor will appear somehow?
Ping
Exactly! You don’t actually need to meet with your mentor, and your mentor doesn’t even have to be alive. At the front door of Aveda’s headquarter office, there is my favorite quote from my mentor Gandhi “ Be the change you want to see in the world! “
What’s important is that you must know what do you aspire to be? I am aspired that I can cultivate and share Gandhi’s philosophy. Gandhi has said many legendary quotes, another one is “ My life is my message. “ I remembered when I traveled to India; the first thing I did after we’ve landed is to head to where Gandhi was assassinated. The place has become a memorial. They’ve captured the footsteps of Gandhi when he walked the last 20~50 feet before the assassination. It was beautiful, I was deeply touched by what I saw.
You might want to ask what’s the benefit of having a hero or mentor who is no longer with us in this world? My answer is that he is flawless and eternal. He will never disappoint you. Nelson, I might disappoint you 10 years from now. But Gandhi will never betray you. You accepted for who he is because you resonate with his philosophies and visions. My mentor Gandhi is not perfect, and he is certainly not a very good father or husband in his life, only because he has dedicated his life for India and the mankind.
Back to our subject, you don’t need to deliberately search for someone alive or someone who has already passed to be your mentor, anyone can be your mentor. For example, you can view a successful entrepreneur as your mentor, you can read his biography if he has one, there are different ways that you can learn from someone you admired.
You don’t even need to meet him in person. A mentor is anyone who can inspire you to go after something greater, to encourage you to chase your dream and to realize your vision! Here is what I do and you can model it. When I am on the verge of making an important decision, I always ask myself “ If I were my mentor, what would he do? “ When I am in such position, I will always ask myself what would Gandhi do if he is still alive? By adopting this method, you are powered with an invisible guidance. It is quite interesting, you should practice often. Because by doing so, you will learn to view things from different perspectives.
When searching for your life mentor, you must not be bounded by conventional definition, you and I, we could be each other’s mentor and hero. For instance, if you read a book and you liked it, go ahead and write to the author. The worst could happen is you getting rejected and not receiving any reply. If he doesn’t reply, there could be a variety of different possible reasons, but it doesn’t really matter because at least you tried.
With this mindset you’ll be able to take initiative to contact anyone that you admire, but you must be ready and be prepared. If you are not ready and have nothing worthy to discuss, I would not spend my valuable time with you, simply because we’ll be wasting each other’s precious time.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
So, you are saying that one must have something to showcase or discuss!
Ping
Yes, you need to let the him or her know “ what do you do that makes you qualified and worthy of his or her time? “ You must do something to make him or her willing to spend time on you, to discuss with you, or to reply your email. When you are ready and mentally prepared, your mentor will appear at the right timing, but you must be ready and make yourself worthy.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
In both of your books, you mentioned several different but equally innovative platforms such TED, Found Squad, Forward Taiwan and Red Room. The theory you stressed on “ If you build it, they will come! “ If a group of young people want to build a community or a tribe from ground zero, but they are lacking resources, how would you suggest them to get started?
Ping
Beautiful Question！ Number 1, I am glad that you read my books, and noted all of the platforms I’ve mentioned, this is great!
Number 2, Never ever try to find yourself an excuse to not to go after and do what you truly believe in! In fact, one of the best excuses one can have is not having enough resource. That is a great excuse right? You should never have an excuse whatsoever.
I want to introduce a very good friend of mine, a very young friend。 A-Fong from Cross Point. He has spent a year and half to build up his community without any resource. It all started from his attendance at the Red Room where he was greatly inspired to start his own community. Have you ever attend the Red Room?
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
I’ve not yet, but I’ll join in the near future.
Ping
You have to, you must, and otherwise I am wasting my time on you. Red Room is on every 3rd Saturday of the month. A-Fong came to the Red Room after he read my first book and started building his own community.
In your case, you can do the same, you can build a community by connecting your blog readers, invite your readers to share their opinions on different agendas, or everyone can share their own creative ideas. You can also build a community that focusing on how to cultivate an online media platform.
To start a community, first of all, you need find a theme for your community. Take Cross Point for example, their theme is simple; it is to provide a space and platform for participants to get together and talk about their dreams and visions, their passion and introduce themselves. Everyone can speak about 5 minutes, more or less. And everyone will be charged $300 NT for admission. I must stress the importance of charging an admission; essentially it will weed out people who are not suitable for the occasion.
If you want to start your own community, I suggest you to find a partner. You and your partner, each of you will need to find 15 people. The trick is this; make sure these people are not acquainted with each other. Ask each of them to find another 3 of their friends. These people need to be evaluated before invitation, to make sure they would be interested in the joining the community and also who are likely to engaged in the subject matter being discussed. So, 15 x 3 x 2 = 90. There you go, now you have 90 people joining your community. This is how Red Room got started! Red Room first started as a listening space with poetry slam performances. Gradually, Red Room evolved into what it is today, a multi-media sharing platform and community.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
When I first get to know about Red Room, at the time, I didn’t attend it because I felt I would feel out of place because I don’t know much about poetry.
Ping
No, I must disagree! Poetry is a primitive art form that everyone can enjoy, and at Red Room, not everyone is required to share on stage. It is fine if you just want to be there and enjoy other’s performances. It is a social space for everyone to mingle and get acquainted.
In a typical Red Room event, anyone can sign up to share their work and thoughts. Because time is limited, only certain amount of people can share on stage. There will be intermission break for everyone to mingle and get social. Then there will be a 2nd round of performance which ends at 10:30pm. Last, there will be 30 minutes to clean up the space and mingle some more if you like. We’ll shut down the place at 11pm sharp, so we won’t make any noise after 11. Some respect to our neighbors.
When building a community, you can simply act as a curator, or as an organizer. Taiwan needs more creative and innovative communities. I’d suggest you to set some interesting rules, take Red Room for example, we have a rule called BYOB ( Bring your own bottle ). Everyone can bring a bottle of wine to enjoy and to share! With a moderate amount of alcohol, people will be more relaxed and be more approachable, this is just one of the secret ingredient of Red Room’s long lasting success. It is not difficult, and obviously has nothing to do with the amount of resource you have, if you are willing and determined to do it, you can!
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
I’ve noticed that your column in PPAPER Business Magazine has moved to Digital Age Magazine. Where else can your readers find more of your work?
Ping
My works are all over the internet, the best way to find them are using Google to search. My readers can also visit my official blog or my new column at Digital Age Magazine. I moved my column to Digital Age Magazine because in the past, the people who are involved in digital industry are mostly nerds and geeks, but now I am seeing more dramatic changes. People with great vision and taste are starting to get involved in the digital community and industry.
I felt I need to interact and get in contact with these people, people who understand the importance of lifestyle design and aesthetics. Taiwan actually has very advance technologies, and our digital industry must team up with Taiwan’s design, creative, lifestyle design sectors. Combing software, hardware and innovative design to come up with the greatest potential and make huge and global impact.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
From my observation, these are some of the business trend and model that made huge differences in recent years. What kind of business model and trend do you think we will be seeing more in the near future?
Crowd sourcing ( Groupon )
Shared Economy ( Airbnb, Uber )
Community based business model ( Threadless )
Crowd Funding ( Kick Starter, FlyingV )
Free open source ( Khan Academy, Cousera, EDX )
Ping
You mentioned shared community, which will be a gigantic economy in the future, sharing end-user’s asset. Red Room’s space is also an end-use asset, but we are not sharing the space because we don’t want to ruin the quality of our neighbor’s living space, which is a very quiet neighborhood.
Besides shared community, you also mentioned Crowd Sourcing、Shared Economy、Community based business model、Crowd Funding、Free Open Source. On top of these well-known business models, we should also talk about Ecosystem Business Model. Many world class companies are adopting this business model. Apple is one of the classic examples.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
Ping, could you explain what is an Ecosystem business model?
Ping
Eco-System Business Model by definition means that we are all inter-connected; we are all inter-dependent, we are each other’s customer and vendor, product or service provider. The ecosystem eliminated the trust factor because we need each other to survive.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
It sounds like an ideal system and business model, who else is adopting this business model besides Apple?
Ping
Android and Amazon are two typical examples. These two companies and co-existing with their developers, and the relationship is mutually beneficial. Apple co-exist with, and inter-depend on their community of developers. And also with their Iphone, Ipad supply chain, all of them live in the ecosystem. When Apple launches a new product, everyone benefits from the launch.
Another business model is what we called subscription business model. It also happens to be exactly what we are currently working on. About 7~8 years ago, we had a project adopting subscription business model and it was very successful. But we stopped after one year because I had no one to assist and I was fully occupied at the time. Earlier today, I was discussing with my partner Ming, we had decided to revive this project via our brand Nonzero. Ming will be in charge to revive and take control of the entire project.
It all started when around 9~10 years ago, I had an interview with GQ Magazine. The topic of the interview was lifestyle design and creative lifestyle. The young man who interviewed me said “ Mr. Chu, you are a business owner, you have the resources, of course you can talk about aesthetics and creative lifestyle. But for me, I have just graduated from college and just landing this new job, all the things you talked about seem so distant and unreachable to me. “ What he’d said really shocked me, because I had been talking about creative lifestyle for years without knowing that many people felt that they have nothing to do with such lifestyle.
People often felt that they do enjoy looking at great design and beautiful things, but in reality, they are not financially capable to purchase them. Knowing this fact, I know I must do something to change the way people look at way on having a creative lifestyle.
Nelson, let me ask you, do you think music is important when we are talking about having a creative lifestyle? I believe you know it is important! So, let’s calculate how much does it really cost to actually live in a creative lifestyle. Let us assume buying 3 CDs per year cost around $3000NT. Reading is important, buying 3 books per year cost around $1000NT. Seeing performance art is important. You need to go see world class performance at least twice a year that will cost you around $5000NT. Traveling is important, it is one of the best ways to expand and enhance your vision and taste. Traveling for a few days once a year within Asia cost around $30,000NT. Dressing yourself is important; you can’t manifest your fashion statement if you dress lousy. Shop twice a year for classic items such as a crisp white shirt that’s easy to mix and match. I also believe subscribing a world class magazine is important, you need to know what’s world class content and layout in a magazine. That will cost you around $2000NT annually.
Visiting world class restaurant to train your taste bud and tongue is essential as well. Take L’ ATELIER de Joël Robuchon in Bellavita for instance, its dinner is exquisite and expensive, but its lunch menu is totally affordable. It merely cost around $1000+NT. Charity is important, but you can start small, it is your thoughts and good intention that counts. Let’s say you donate $1000NT per year and that’s that. All of these essential items to design a creative lifestyle cost less than $50,000NT per year altogether. Frankly speaking, for most of you, if you really want to do it, I believe you can.
Nelson, are you willing to give $3,000NT per month, and let me prepare a monthly surprise box for you as the Nonzero Gift Subscription Service. I’ll spend your $3000 wisely and handpick the best and most unique gift and put them in the gift box. This is what we did in the past, it was paused, and now we are about to revive and restart this meaningful project.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
I think this idea of the project is fantastic, I do feel Taiwan needs more taste maker and lifestyle curators.
Ping
This is about experience of being alive! It is about living in the moment. By signing up the subscription, you are giving yourself 12 monthly gifts, and a chance to experience things you normally wouldn’t have a chance to experience. We will make sure we picked the best items to put in the box, because as a brand, we do have a reputation to keep.
In the past prior to the pause, I’d sent 12 gifts to our VIP subscribers. A subscriber once said to me that his mother was more curious than him that she wonders what we will be sending his son the coming month, and was always eager to open the box for her son.
Let me tell more about what we have sent to our subscribers during the 12 month. When Taiwan based documentary director 齊柏林 had published a beautiful coffee table photo book with collection of amazing bird eye view photos of Taiwan taken from a helicopter, I had the pleasure to read it, and was so amazed that I instantly ordered 100 copies, that was the gift for one of the month.
There was month when United Nation announced they will be planting 1 million trees to start a project inspired by the documentary Inconvenient Truth, to manifest the message about the significance of global warming and eco-awareness. I was told that Taiwanese government will participate by launching Taiwan’s own tree plantation project. Taiwan University was in charge to plant 60,000 trees in their experimental forest located at Nantou. And anyone can adopt a tree by donating to support the project. I signed up for all of my subscribers. And each year during the official tree planting celebration, you can visit your tree by the number assigned when you made the donation. This is simply a way to allow my subscribers to show their support to this eco-awareness project.
There was one time when I visited Elite bookstore, and saw an old gentleman selling his own art pieces made of rocks. I thought they were beautiful and I ordered 100 pieces from him to support him. That year during Christmas, I met a gentleman who makes amazing artistic potted plants, they are very elegant and easy to maintain, so I purchased 100 pots as well.
One of the most memorable and fond memory was when I received a letter from a couple, during that particular month, I had my friends in Thailand sent me packages of authentic Thai curry, we also included its seasonings and rice pack mixing Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Thai rice for the most authentic taste. The couple said in the letter “ Dear Mr. Chu, we would like to thank you, today we were going out to dining in restaurant for our anniversary, however, when we received your gift box and the curry mix, we decided we will be cooking together at home and have an intimate candle light dinner. That’s what we did, and it was amazing, we had a wonderful time! “ This is exactly the kind of things we want to do for our Nonzero Gift Subscription Service.
We also send our subscribers world class music and magazines. I and Ming, we both love Leonard Cohen’s music, he is the hero of our generation. He is a musician and a poet. So I also included his CD in a month’s gift box. Every 2~3 month I will include a CD in the box. 8 years ago when Monocle just arrived in Taiwan, only a few knew about this magazine, it sells about $500~600NT at Elite. So I decided to put it in the box. Monocle is one of my favorite magazines, it is very cool and style, Monocle’s target customers are elites and it is known as VIP lounge’s magazine. That is Monocle’s market positioning when it first started.
OK, anyway, if you like the idea then please share it. My vision is that the Nonzero Gift Subscription Service is a social enterprise. The profit generated will be used to support the Ripple Maker Foundation. It is an example of the profit for a purpose business model I’ve talked about in my new book.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
But to some people, spending $3,000NT per month is OK, but not everyone is capable of spending $3,000NT per month for a whole year. Have you ever considered different price segmentation?
Ping
Yes, I’ve thought about the idea, if it is $1,000NT per month I am sure more people will subscribe. However with $1,000NT budget, it is very difficult to find amazing item as gifts. For example, one of the gifts for one of the month was a beautiful knife made by Japanese traditional craftsman, I used the same knife for years, and I wanted to give this knife to my subscribers and hoping it will accompany my subscribers for many years to come. The original price for the knife was around $3,000+NT, you see, beautiful gift like this would not be available with $1,000NT budget.
From a business oriented perspective, price positioning is easier to modify from high to low. It is generally more difficult to switch from low to high, Toyota is one of the rare example, but imagine GAP introducing a high end line, it would be difficult for the high end line to succeed, isn’t it?
Therefore, what we could do is that we started from $3, 000, and when we are successful, and we can expand and work with different budget. If we can accumulate up to 1000+ subscribers, we’ll have a very strong purchasing and bargaining power, thus able obtain better prices and more unique gifts for our subscribers.
We hope to bring a sense of adventure and sense of pleasant surprise back into our subscriber’s life. Providing them something to look forward to every month. It is a forgotten but wonderful feeling that we all once had, but lost along the way when we were too busy chasing other things in life.
And also, through the subscription service, we are able to support unknown but truly talented artists and craftsmen. There are so many beautiful things in the world, what we are going to do is to filter and select the best and most unique gift for our subscribers. It is an annual subscription, if you don’t like it you don’t have to continue at the year end, but we are selling it not as a monthly subscription, it is annual subscription only service.
Our target customers are professionals with no time to spare; they trust Nonzero’s taste and ability to select the best gifts. Our subscribers can also ask us to send particular month’s gift to their friends or families. For example, if our subscriber’s friends are getting married, we can send that month’s gift to the marrying couple as a wedding gift, instead of just giving money, isn’t this more thoughtful!
Nonzero Gift Subscription Service can also be perfect for businesses that need to cater to their VIP customers. It will be thoughtful, unique and very pleasant surprises for their VIP customers when they receive and open the box. We’ll also include a story booklet in the box, explaining to our subscribers why we pick these gifts, and the story behind each gift will be explained as well. We’ll have more wonderful ideas and plans to go with the subscription service, which will be announced in the near future.
Two years ago Nonzero Restaurant was nominated as one of the top 50 restaurant in Asia, Taiwan has 7 restaurants that was on the top 50 list. And there is also a French restaurant located at Yongkang St that I really enjoy. The chef is from France and he has such passion and he is commitment to the authenticity and quality of his cuisine. There are many amazing restaurants and shops in Taiwan, I’d love to introduce them and share them with our subscribers.
Above mentioned is just phase one of the projects, when Nonzero Gift reached phase two, we might custom-make our gifts according to more personalized preferences. Phase three we will start using our buying and bargaining power because we will have a larger number of subscribers. We will also let our subscribers to suggest the perfect gifts according to their tastes, and have all of subscribers vote for their favorite. Which will in term decide the coming month’s gift in the box. That’s the vision I have for the subscription model.
There are some other companies in the world doing the same thing, we are not the only one, however their business model and market positioning lean more towards Groupon’s business model and positioning. They mainly adopt crowd sourcing business model, offering lower price and bargained deals.
That is not what we like to do, what we want to do is to offer something with sense of aesthetics and taste. The world we live in is now flooded with information, most of them are rubbish. We often find ourselves facing the paradox of choice. It is making it more difficult to make a purchasing decision and take action. It is time for someone to start filtering and curate the best selection of gifts.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
The Knack, Tuesday with Morrie, Last Lecture, and Day Maker are among my favorite books, I view these brilliant authors my mentors in life. I love books that can elevate me and show me true life wisdoms, would you give us more your personal favorites and recommendations that will teach us valuable lessons in life?
Ping
There are full lists of books and magazines recommendations in both of my books. All of them are books and magazines that had touched, inspired, and enriched me with different perspective, ideas and visions.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
When I am upset and not feeling positive, I always told myself “ everything happens for a good reason, karma has its own best arrangement. “ For you personally, do you have any favorite inspirational wisdom quote?
Ping
Yes I have two. The first one is the one on Aveda Office’s front door, the quote by Gandhi that is “ be the change your want to see in the world. “ Another quote that share with people quote often is by R. Buckminster Fuller. He said “ You can never change anything by fighting the existing model, in order to change something, you need to build a new model. That makes the old model obsolete. “ R. Buckminster Fuller is an amazing architect, a philosopher and a socialist. We need to create new models and not to try to correct the existing model, simply because it is a waste of time and energy. We should spend our time and effort to creating new communities and build new and innovative models.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
In your first book, you mentioned that at the time, Taipei doesn’t have enough social clubs, or a place you can go to after work, a place to relax, social and mingle. Four years has gone by since then, is there any new social club in Taipei that you personally enjoy?
Ping
Yesterday we had a party hosted by Ming at Nonzero Restaurant. This was our 4th party. The first party is the Monocle party, it was by invitation only. The founder of Monocle Tyler Brûlé gave a speech. After the speech we had a cocktail party. We invited 300 people and they all came. The second party is the United Arrow party, the owner was here, he loved our stuff and concept, we had a wonderful time.
The 3rd party was during Christmas, we hosted a Young Entrepreneur Ecosystem party. We invited some young start-up entrepreneurs; we also invited some lawyers, venture capital, accountants, and other professional to join the party. Let them get acquainted with each other and build a network.
Yesterday’s party theme was Malaysian’s traditional Laksa cuisine. It was very successful and all sold out very quickly. 80 people came and had a wonderful time. Everyone was asking me if I could do another Laksa party. So to answer your question, Nonzero is a new place to mingle and hangout, it is a social club. Red Room is also a monthly social club. If you like our ideas and support my vision, do support us by inviting your friends over to hang out and enjoy what we offer at Nonzero Restaurant.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
On the cover of your first book, you describe yourself as a Businessmaker, Daymaker , Ripplemaker. In your second book, you describe yourself as a serial entrepreneur, a student of life, a beginner. Are the changes implying that you are having different vision, goal or mindset?
Ping
My visions has not changed at all. I’ve always want to be involved in business that are innovative and sustainable. I want to do things that other don’t want to do, but which needs to be done.
Take combining my business with educational academy for example. And when I said I am a serial entrepreneur, in the last few years, I have the pleasure to meet and discuss with many young entrepreneurs, in attempt to seek and cultivate more possibilities for them. I am always brainstorming about how I can guide them, assist them and provide more resources to jump start their new businesses. I always tell them not to be afraid to take risks, they need to believe in themselves that they are capable.
A student of life symbolizes I am still learning; now I would always want to be a beginner. Ever since I moved to Taitung, I noticed my mindset have changed. Nowadays, I want to spend more time to give out to the society. I want to spend more time with young people and give them more support and advice.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
李嘉誠 once recommended young people to take their monthly earning wisely, and divide it into five parts. And the five parts are cost of living, money to spend on friends, money to invest on your self-improvement, money for traveling, money for financial investment. How would you suggest to people in their 20~30’s to spend their monthly earning?
Ping
Don’t be so judgmental and don’t go with a purpose of expanding your network. Go without any hidden agenda or intention. Go and join a community or a group simply because you resonate with the idea, theme of the event. Be authentic and real. Just be true, be yourself and be authentic!
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
In Taipei, there are several cultural and creative centers such as Huashan 1914 Cultural Creative Center, Songshan Cultural Park, and 寶藏巖 Artist Village. But it seems to me that whoever in charge hasn’t made the best use of the space to build a sustainable and multi-functional cultural creative village.
In your book you’ve mentioned the possibility and vision in building an international creative village in Taipei. How do you think Taipei can also build an international cultural creative center such as Bangkok’s TCDC, Beijing’s 798 and Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District?
Ping
I think Taiwan government should be either be fully in charge and drive the direction of such project or just be hands off and not do it at all!
Our government overall, has no long term vision and dedication to cultivate Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry. It is plain to see that the government tends to prefer to distribute these projects via BOT, and so not having to commit and provide the funding, or how full support and cultivate the necessary ambitions to take the industry as a whole onto the world’s global stage and joining other countries as a world class design entity.
Therefore, I am often skeptical towards such government x BOT project. I don’t have enough faith in government’s ability to make these projects successful. I have more trust in people who are not associated with government but serious about making a positive change. Take myself for example, I have purchased a piece of land in Dulan to do something great in the near future, this is my personal approach to gradually make small but accumulating changes.
A dream of mine is to host similar international event such as World Economic Forum. Every year the world’s top business owner and shakers, CEO and presidents from all over the world meet at Cology Resort of Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose is to discuss and decide the coming year’s economic direction. I think Dulan has the natural condition and potential to become a world class resort that could host such international and influential event.
Nelson, I want to invite you to join our TED x Taitung event in August. It is by invitation only and it is the first ever TED event in Taitung. This purpose is to put on the map, this is what I really wanted to do. Stanley Yen will be giving the opening speech for the event.
Design Expo will also be happening at the same time in Taitung, it was hosted by Taipei last year, but this year it is hosted by Taitung, thanks to the full support of Taitung city government. After the TED event, we will have a party for friends in our Dulan home, many friends will be coming. Dulan is a very unique place with beautiful mountains and ocean shores that has cultivated a very international and diverse community, it’s a paradise, you will love it!
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
What’s Canmeng、Canbran、Nonzero’s furture plan? And what are your personal future goals in the next 5 to 10 years?
Ping
Canment and Canbran are committed to provide the best training for our students as two of the top hair styling and spa academies in Taiwan. It is the business model we believed in. We are constantly cultivating new students, and when they graduated from our academies after 10 month of solid training, they will be offered to work for us. And in 3 years they will earn back their $300,000NT tuition.
Our academies are actually incubators for our students, after 3 years of working in our company, we will assist them to start-up their own business and shop. We will provide full support and guidance.
As for myself, let’s say if every single remaining day of my life counts as $1, I now probably have approximately, more or less around $6,000 to spend. Therefore, I want to spend my time on things and tasks that are meaningful and truly worthwhile. I want to spend my valuable time on young people with a vision and potentials. And I hope one day, these young people will pass on my positive messages.
Everyone will pass away sooner or later, I want to have a meaningful life and do things that will make positive influences. It is not about how much money I make, it is about having a meaningful life.
There is a little short story called “ Starfish Thrower “, the story is as follows:
” Once upon a time, a kid was walking on beach and he saw countless starfishes being trapped on beach and getting burned by the sun and many are dying. The kid started picking up and throwing the starfishes into the water so they won’t be dried out by the sun, slowly and one by one. An old men walked by and said to the kid “ there are too many, you can’t save them all, what difference does it make? “ The kid replied the old men by taking action, he picks up another starfish, throws it back into water and said ” Look, I made a difference on that one! “
The story is simple but it really had a lasting impact on me. Never think the changes you make are too small, it accumulates, be the change you want to see in the world. By the way Nelson, if you resonate with our value and vision, I highly recommend you to sign up for the Happier Retreat hosted by Ming. The one coming up is already full, so you can sign up for the next. It is limited to 12~15 people and it is by invitation only. People came from all over the world to join the event.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
Xue Xue is my favorite private institution in Taiwan. Besides Xue Xue, is there other great private institution?
Ping
Cross Point is a great institution for people to get educated. Cross Point hosts weekly events. A-Fong spent a year and became a coordinator who is now very well-connected with lots of people, people who had participated in Cross Point events. Cross Point also hosts very successful annual meet-up. Everyone who had joined Cross Point event comes together to learn, mingle, social, and exchange information and contact with other like-minded people.
Mr Screaming Eye ( Nelson )
Do you think Taiwan needs more business accelerator or incubator? And for people who wants to become a social entrepreneur and start a happy and profit for purpose business such as Zappos and Patagonia, but who are lacking the knowledge、know-how and resources, what are some of the platform or community they can go to and obtain assistance and help?
Ping
Very good, first of all, Taiwan already has way too many accelerators and incubators. Do you know Taiwan already has more than 100 accelerators and incubators? It’s true! And they are mostly owned and managed by the government.
Have you heard an incubator named App Works founded by a guy named Jamie Lin? You must subscribe his blog, it is fantastic! Another community you need to know is Lean Star-tup Machine. Lean Start-up Machine will be coming to Taiwan to host a 3 days seminar; I will be giving a small speech.
Lean Start-up is what Jamie is currently doing. Basically, it means that when you are trying to launch a brand new product or service, you need to connect it with the consumer market immediately. You don’t need to wait until everything is perfect and ready. You must do it as soon as you launch your product or service, even with zero or limited resources.
The key point is to find the product market fit. Unlike more traditional approach that you would first write a business plan or proposal and try to wait till everything is in the right place, and then launch your product or service.
We don’t need to have all that in the beginning, you much first make sure there is a real market demand for your product or service.
Take Twitter for example, when Twitter first started, it didn’t focus on micro blog, but soon Twitter realized that people only care about their microblog. So Twitter made a pivot change to go all out with their micro blog service, and that’s why Twitter is extremely successful today.
I think Taiwan must connect more with the world. There is a platform called Social Enterprise Insights. It all started with a group of young men doing what they love. They translated articles on start-up companies and social enterprises from English to Chinese. They’d just published a new book; you should check it out if you want to know more about social enterprises.
Another fantastic example of Hong Kong’s social enterprise named Dialogue in Dark has opened up a new branch in Taiwan. It has a great business model. The idea is quite simple; participants pay to experience what it feels like to be blind. Participants will be blind folded and taken to room that is completely dark. The floor is designed to provide a realistic experience of how blind people go through their daily life. In the end, participants will actually be guided and taught by a real blind man, to about the proper and safer way to walk in the dark.
This is their business model and it provides job for the blind people, generates profits by charging its admission, it educates people and teach them to have compassion for the blind people because through the experience, they came to realize how hard it is to walk in the complete dark. It is a perfect example of a successful social enterprise that generates profits, contributes true value and positive effect to the society.
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