iAsk x China Daily Gloria Ai and her 2019

她，出生于安徽黄山，2004年以黄山市文综状元的身份进入中国传媒大学新闻系，以四年专业课第一的成绩免试保送北京大学国际传播系，随后获得哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院公共政策硕士学位。

She was born in Huanghshan, Anhui and entered the School of Journalism at the Communication University of China as the top Comprehensive Liberal Arts student from Huangshan City. The highest grades in her 4-year course earned her a guaranteed spot at the Institute of International Communication in Peking University, after which she commenced a Master in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

她曾先后任职于联合国总部战略传播司、世界银行总部国际金融部，并兼任中央电视台驻纽约财经评论员，凤凰卫视特约记者。多次受邀主持亚洲博鳌论坛、上海世博会、达沃斯等高端财智盛会，热衷公益和传媒政策研究，著有《创业的常识》、《奋斗是一种信仰》。

She has worked in the Strategic Communications Division of the United Nations Headquarters and International Finance Division of the World Bank while also holding concurrent roles as a New York-based finance commentator with CCTV and special correspondent with Phoenix TV. She has received frequent hosting invitations at the Boao Forum for Asia, Shanghai Expo, Davos and other such high level financial and expert gatherings and has a passion for public welfare and media policy research. She is the author of 'Common Sense of Entrepreneurship', and ‘Struggle is a Faith'.

2012年，被世界经济论坛授予“全球杰出青年”称号。

She was recognized as a young 'Global Shaper' by the World Economic Forum in 2012.

2014年，回国并创立独立媒体品牌——艾问传媒。

She returned to China to form the independent media brand iAsk Media in 2014.

在过去八年时间里，她对话和记录过上千位一线创新者和投资人，被称为是“最爱问的姑娘”。

She has conversed with and reported on thousands of entrepreneurs and investors on the 'front lines' over the last 8 years, which has earned her the moniker 'the most inquisitive lady.'

她，就是艾诚。

She is Gloria Ai.

近日，艾问创始人艾诚接受了封面新闻的专访，畅谈自己作为媒体人和投资人的心路历程，同时分享了她在过去一年的人生感悟。

Gloria Ai, founder of iAsk Media, sat down recently with Cover News to discuss her personal journey as a media personality and investor and to share some of her most significant personal experiences over the past year.

Those born in the 80s and 90s 

might have been destined 

for entrepreneurship

封面新闻：为什么会选择创业这条路？又为什么会选择传媒行业来创业？

Cover News: What made you choose the 'road of a founder'? And why in the media industry?

艾诚：我觉得一个人选择要做什么，是一个贯穿一生的宏大命题，但是我们可以用一系列提问去寻找到底这辈子应该怎么活的答案。

Gloria: I think someone's decision about what to do is a very significant proposition that cuts across their entire life, but there is a series of questions we can use to nail down the answers to exactly what sort of things perhaps we should be doing.

第一步应该是扪心自问，你想做什么？第二步是问自己，你能做什么？伴随着这个问题的递进，其实你的清单也越来越短。第三步是要在你既想做又能做好的事情里，找到你最被这个世界所需要做的事情。 

The first step is to take a good look at ourselves and ask: What do you want to do? The second is to ask ourselves: What can you do? Your list will grow shorter as you continue to clarify the answers to these questions. The third step is to look at the things most in need of doing in the world from out of what you want to do and also can do.

在2014年以前，我的身份是海归，我是哈佛大学的校友，是北京大学的校友，是一个非常幸运的、接受过高等教育的知识女性。在那以前，我曾在世界银行工作，在华盛顿做投资顾问，在中央电视台纽约做财经评论员，在联合国纽约总部做新闻发言人助理。 

Before 2014 I was a returning international student, an alma mater of Harvard University and Peking University, and an extremely fortunate intellectual and beneficiary of higher education. I had previously worked at the World Bank, as an investment consultant in Washington D.C., as a New York-based financial commentator with CCTV, and as a press assistant at the United Nations New York headquarters.

而在2014之后，整个时代都发生了变化。那一年的博鳌亚洲论坛，李克强总理在台上说出了“大众创业，万众创新”八个字，当时我也在现场，我发现“双创”可能将成为我们8090后这一代人的宿命，也开始意识到我们这代年轻人到底应该做什么。

The world seemed to have undergone a dramatic shift after 2014. That was the year in which Premier Li Keqiang got up on stage at the Boao Forum for Asia and said, in eight characters, that we need to ''promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation''. I happened to be in the audience at the time and my experience is that those of us born in the 80s and 90s might just be destined for these 'two innovations'. I had also begun to develop an awareness of what perhaps we, the younger generation, should be doing exactly.

所以我做了一个回国的决定，在2014年创立了艾问，以空杯心态，一切从零开始。

So I made the decision to return to China and founded iAsk in 2014 with an 'empty cup mentality' from zero.

从2014年到2019年，我们走过了五年时间，这五年中最大的一个变化，是我们开始越来越专注以创始人作为我们所服务的群体——从最开始的高端人物访谈，记录时代人物，到现在通过传媒与资本两具引擎，为创始人提供多维度全周期的传播和金融服务，这也是五年里我作为创始人的最大收获。

Our journey from 2014 to 2019 has lasted for five years, during which the most significant change has been in the way we have come to focus more and more on entrepreneurs as the target group for our services - from our earliest top leader interviews and reports on the figures of our era, to our current 'twin engines' of iAsk Media and iAsk Capital. What we are providing entrepreneurs with is a suite of multidimensional, full cycle media and financial services. This has been the greatest takeaway for me as a founder over these five years.

Vision: Not just a ‘Woman’s Forbes’ 

but creator of a ‘Founder’s Office’ 

with a global reach

封面新闻：从你最初创业，到下个月即将召开的全球创始人大会，这5年以来您对《艾问人物》的定位是什么？是要做一家“女版福布斯”？还是有其他的使命是和愿景？

Cover News: How would you position iAsk over these last five years from your initial founding of the business to the Global Founders Summit you're about to convene next month? Is it a 'Women's Forbes'? Or do you have another mission or vision?

艾诚：使命和愿景，这是两个问题，使命是要聚焦当下，而愿景是面向未来。

Gloria: 'Mission' and 'vision' are two separate things. Our mission is to focus on the here and now, but our vision is directed towards the future.

迄今为止，艾问已经完成了2000多期对创始人的原创图文音频和视频报道，帮助他们在世界上讲好中国新经济的故事。同时我们也成立了两个联盟，其中一个叫「全球创始人传播服务联盟」，涵盖了包括中国日报、北京电视台、中国教育电视台、海南卫视、华尔街日报等在内的一百多家中外媒体，他们以每天跟每周更新的速度，跟艾问同时向世界发出中国新经济创始人的声音。

iAsk has produced more than 2,000 original reports on founders in the form of articles, audio or video materials today, helping them to give their story on China's new economy to a worldwide audience. At the same time, we've also founded two alliances, one of which is the 'Global Founders Media Services Alliance' involving more than 100 Chinese and foreign media organizations including the China Daily, Beijing TV, China Education Television, Hainan TV, the Wall Street Journal, and so on, to broadcast the voices of founders in China's new economy to the rest of the world simultaneously with iAsk on a daily or weekly basis.

另一个是由艾问资本发起的「全球创始人金融服务联盟」，包括银行、政府引导基金、股权投资机构、交易所不同类型的金融服务机构，来为创始人提供投融资管服务，把媒体和金融的服务连接在一起，助力创始人一路同行，这些是我们当下正在做的事情，也是艾问的使命。

Another is the 'Global Founder's Financial Services Alliance' launched by iAsk Capital, involving a variety of different financial services organizations - banks, government-backed guidance funds, equity investment firms, and stock exchanges - combining media and financial services to assist founders along their entire journey. This is what we are doing now and it is also iAsk's mission.

从愿景来讲，艾问今天已经走过了五年，下一个五年或十年，艾问给自己定下了的预见，是希望能够成为有全球影响力的创始人办公室。 

In terms of vision, iAsk's journey has lasted for over 5 years now, and iAsk can foresee for itself what we hope to be in 5 or 10 years - a Founder’s Office with a global reach.

封面新闻：为什么会选择创始人办公室作为艾问的愿景？

Cover News: Why is having a 'Founder’s Office' to be iAsk's vision?

艾诚：我们经常讲，家族办公室叫family office，而创始人办公室是founders’ office。在这个办公室里面，我们希望从早期辅佐他创立品牌，到帮助他的产品定位传播；从中期融资到IPO上市，最后到帮助他们进行资产管理，让创始人专注做好创新和运营，我们辅佐他们影响力和资金，这是创始人所需要的，我们通过不断提升的专业化和服务化一路伴随这些时代创始人同行。

Gloria: We call the 'Jiazu Bangongshi' the Family Office, so the 'Chuangshiren Bangongshi' would be the 'Founder's Office'. What we are hoping for within this Founder's Office is that we can go from helping founders move from their initial stage starting of their brand to then product positioning and promotion; from financing at the intermediate stage to an IPO and market listing and then finally to asset management; giving founders the chance to really focus on innovation and business as we help with reach and funding. Founders need this and we are going to accompany these 'entrepreneurs of the era' through an ever-improving suite of expertise and services.

之所以产生这个想法，是我在艾问的访谈中曾有幸接触过许多顶级的投资人和创始人。比如我曾经对话过高瓴资本的创始人张磊——我问他是究竟靠什么本事，可以既投中了腾讯，又投中了京东？而且还让这两家公司以类似换股的形式紧密合作、彼此互补。

The seeds of this idea were planted over many iAsk interviews with top-level investors and entrepreneurs that I have had the good fortune of meeting. For example, I talked to the founder of Hillhouse Capital, Zhang Lei. I asked him exactly what kinds of skills or insights he was relying on when choosing to invest in both Tencent and Tmall? And how did he end up getting the two companies into a stock-for-stock trade-style partnership where they have been able to compliment each other's businesses very well?

张磊的回答让我记忆犹新。

I still recall Zhang Lei's reply very clearly.

他说我选择创始人的标准，就是这个人要为了成就一件事可以牺牲自己——“他是要成事，而不是成自己。” 

He said that the standard he used for selecting an entrepreneur was that this individual must be able to sacrifice himself in the accomplishment of his endeavor -- ''He is about accomplishing his endeavor, not himself.''

还有一个例子是在2013年，我曾经多次跟字节跳动的创始人张一鸣同台。每次跟他同台的时候，他几乎都很少谈自己，即便现在你去找张一鸣的影像素材都很少，那他不谈自己谈什么？谈用户——我问他为什么要做今日头条？他说这些用户都是草根，草根也得有自己的头条，也得有自己的封面，张一鸣对自己的定义是永远要为中国上亿的基层用户们负责，即便这个过程中遇到了版权问题、政策问题，遇到了很多的波折，但他最终还是打造出了今日头条这样一家今天至少750亿美金估值的独角兽，在这个过程里，他是为了成事，而不是成自己，这就是格局。

Another example might come from 2013 when I was sharing many a stage with the founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming. He almost never spoke of himself on all the platforms I shared with him and, in fact, there are very few videos of Zhang Yiming if you try searching. So what does he talk about? He talks about users -- I asked him: Why did you want to launch 'Jinri Toutiao'? He stated the users are 'grassroots' users. The 'grassroots' also need their own headlines; they also need their own ‘cover’. Zhang Yiming defines himself as owing an everlasting responsibility towards China's millions upon millions of grassroots users. At long last he managed to create the unicorn ByteDance, which today commands a valuation of $75 billion USD despite the many obstacles and setbacks along the way including issues of copyright, policy, and so on. His aim throughout this process was to accomplish an endeavor, it wasn't about him, and that's the breadth of mind we see.

所以每一次例会我都会告诉团队：创始人的利益大于艾问，艾问的利益大于艾诚——如果你要在不同意见里面做一个选择题，那么“让创始人满意”是你唯一要去追求的。

So I always tell the team at our routine meetings: the interests of the founders' are greater than iAsk's, and iAsk's interests are greater than Gloria Ai's. If it were a multiple choice question among varying ideas and opinions, 'satisfying founders' should be your only pursuit.

A five-year investment achievement list: 

60% unicorns

封面新闻：大家对于“财经记者和主持人艾诚”已经很熟悉了，但对于“投资人艾诚”可能还比较陌生，可否介绍一下艾问资本的情况？

Cover News: Everyone is already familiar with the 'Gloria Ai the financial reporter and host', but may be somewhat less familiar with 'Gloria Ai the investor'. Would you be able to give us a bit of an introduction to iAsk Capital?

艾诚：从2014年创立到现在，艾问传媒在成长过程中也接触到了很多非常优秀的创始人，所以“访人+投人”模式也成了艾问的一个业务常态。

Gloria: From its founding in 2014 until today, iAsk Media has interacted with many truly outstanding entrepreneurs as we have grown and developed, and so the 'interview people + invest in people' model has also become part and parcel of iAsk's operations.

截止到目前为止，我们大概投了近十家公司，其中包括字节跳动、地平线机器人、喜马拉雅、影谱科技。在2018年12月，艾问团队曾经做过一个盘点：我们发现自己投资过的几乎每一家公司，今天都已经成长为各自细分赛道的领跑者，随着他们的成长，我们的投资也获得了不菲的回报。

We have probably invested in close to 10 companies as of today, including ByteDance, Horizon Robotics, Ximalaya as well as Moviebook. A December 2018 review by the iAsk Team found: almost every company in which we invested had grown into a 'track leader' in their particular niche, and that was providing an excellent return on investment.

基于这样的投资成绩，我们也在不断专业化、机构化，在中国大陆注册了人民币管理人，也在新加坡备案了美元基金，搭建起了由专业的合伙人、分析师和投资经理组成的投资团队。而随着这些与艾问“相识于微时”、一路成长的创始人们逐渐做强做大，用他们的knowhow，对行业的洞见与我们一同去发现和辅佐更多未来的优秀创始人们。 

Investment successes in hand, we are also continuing to improve the degree of our sophistication and institutionalization. We have registered an RMB Manager in China and filed for the USD fund in Singapore, creating an investment team of professional partners, analysts, and investment managers. Furthermore, as entrepreneurs we get to 'meet at the beginning of their journey' move on to greater heights so too will their knowhow and industry insights continue to guide us to better unearth and aid future entrepreneurial talent.

我们希望通过艾问传媒和艾问资本这两个平台，实现“金媒”同行和双轮驱动，帮助创始人在资本市场投融资管，在财经领域定位传播，为创始人解决日常业务经营以外的媒体金融全球化资源整合。

We are also hoping to make the 'fin-media' from these two platforms - iAsk Media and iAsk Capital - into a synergistic, two-wheel drive. We help founders with investment and financial asset management in capital markets or positioning and promotion in financial circles to help them handle globalized media and financial resource integration outside of their daily business operations.

在采访的最后，艾诚表示希望更多的创始人可以来参加12月5日在北京瑰丽酒店隆重举办“2019全球创始人大会”，与其他全球 500 位创始人一道，向世界展示他们的风采，指引这个伟大时代的动向；同时也让更多人看见一个真实的创始人群体——他们是谁，他们相信什么，他们在追求什么，他们如何定义卓越。

Gloria conveyed her wish at the end of our interview for more entrepreneurs to join her at the '2019 Global Founders Summit' at Rosewood Beijing on 5 December, where they will get a chance to show off their style and way of doing things to the world and play a part in directing the future trends of this incredible era alongside other Global 500 founders; she also hopes that more people will be able to see entrepreneurs as who they really are - their identities, what they believe, what they are trying to do, and how they define excellence.

END

编辑：suke

图编：穆增林 

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关键字：  iAsk x China Daily | Gloria Ai and her 2019 她，出生于安徽黄山，2004年以黄山市文综状元的身份进入中国传媒大学新闻系，以四年专业课第一的成绩免试保送北京大学国际传...  雪球