Our text for today, dear reader, is simple.
It’s from The Wall Street Journal‘s article about a "Power Couple" developing some of the key downtown Beijing real estate in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. He (Pan Shiyi) is a media legend in China for having risen from being a farmer so poor he had to beg for food while she (Zhang Xin) is a Cambridge-economics educated former Goldman Sachs investment banker from Hong Kong and New York.
The WSJ story is about how they do, or do not, pull strings to gain access to prime Beijing real estate, how their marriage works, how they do, or do not, network, why Mr. Pan keeps a very popular blog about China’s real estate industry, why he and not she is the face of the company, how they operate under the rule of law and without undue government interference, and who has the better business judgment.
But none of that relates to our simple text.
The text follows, and while its call-out is "5 Tips from Zhang Xin for Doing Business in China," I commend it to you as more along the lines of 5 tips for life:
- Believe you are the most privileged person for being in the right place, at the right time.
- Enjoy competition; there is always plenty.
- Enjoy a healthy dose of insecurity; always try harder.
- Never think too much about wealth; it’s a means for advancing civilization.
- Go to bed early.
The slightly unconventional phraseology helps, I find.
Further affiant sayeth not.
