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叶雷，宁波升隆紧固件有限公司创始人，80后企业家。海外留学归来后于2006年创办了自己的企业。无论中途经历多少波折，叶总总是坚定信念并努力带领自己优秀的团队重新开创一番新的局面，如今公司业绩稳步提升。
Ye Lei，the founder ofNingbo Mount Fast Fasteners Co.，Ltd. is a post-1980s entrepreneur. Heestablished his business in 2006 after studying abroad. Regardless of thetwists and turns，he always keeps the faith and tries to bring about a newsituation with his excellent team. And now the company is rising steadily.
问： 叶总您好，很高兴见到您。非常感谢您能接受我们本次采访！
答： 我也很高兴见到你们。
问： 那我们先来谈谈您的创业经历吧。您创办企业的初衷是什么？
答： 其实答案很简单，用两个字概括：赚钱。我去澳洲念完书后，28岁到了宁波，与一位新加坡人合作创办了这家企业。他是美国一家企业在中国的销售代理。我们商量决定做电视支架的产品代工。因为在美国有固定客户，一切发展都很顺利，直到美国客户倒闭，我们失去了自己的客户。
问： 对方公司倒闭是在您企业的创办之初吗？
答： 是和美国企业合作的第三年，对方被收购了。然后前年年底我们将厂址搬到了这里，一切重新开始。团队还是原先的团队，同事们都很齐心地想要渡过这个难关。企业名称、注册地、老板都不变。只是工厂变掉了，合作伙伴跑了，客户没有了。
问： 这个故事还是蛮曲折的，那么之后您又如何来拓展海外市场呢？
答： 说起来还挺有趣的。那家美国企业在倒闭的过程中有很多裁员，有一些年轻的VP（Vice President）不甘心从此变为失业的状态，于是决定每人出一部分钱从头开始，发挥各自所长，将客户由零开始培养。他们在自己的车库里办公，通过网络交流，制订产品销售计划，进行新产品开发，推广市场。最终，美国3个500强企业被他们抓住了。我也依赖于他们，销售额由零变为现在的接近1亿元。
问： 您在同海外客户的交流过程中遇到过什么困难吗？
答： 可能对很多人来说，语言是一大难题。但因为我在国外待了十几年，所以最大的困难不是语言，文化倒是一部分。不同国家的客户是有区别的。我很欣赏美国人的率直。他们知道如何把握与合作伙伴间的距离，不会和你太close也不会分得太开。因为太close他可能觉得会侵犯你的个人领域，而分得太开就没生意做了。他们很自觉并且注重互相理解。
问： 您说您在国外待了十几年，是一直在读书吗？
答： 在澳洲读书，同时也做些小生意。
问： 是在读书期间就开始做小生意吗？您在澳洲读大学还是研究生？什么时候开始有创业想法的？
答： 读大学和研究生。那时有了些启动资金，从义乌小商品市场进货，然后每家每户送货。不是有个笑话嘛，说你是怎么开始创业的？回答说：我是省吃俭用开始的。哈哈，这其实都是真的。但最关键的一点：我老爸给了我一笔钱。当然有些人完全是从零开始的，这是比较难的。
问： 开始创业还是蛮艰辛的。
答： 是的，但是比很多人好多了。墨尔本是个开始退休生活的好地方，但不是个做生意的好地方。整个墨尔本才200万人口，面积却超过2000平方公里。
问： 所以这是您考虑回国创业的原因吗？
答： 对，这是一点。刚好1992年那个时候，国内在招商引资。中国整体的大环境是向上的。
问： 您会如何比较合理地定位您的企业文化？
答： 交流、团队合作以及互相信任。
问： 您谈到了团队合作。请问具体如何进行呢？
答： 部门成员间相互协调，岗位间十分注重协调性与灵活性。假使一方有空缺，能事先调动相关人员以填补相关位置。
问： 您如何同客户建立长期的伙伴关系？或者您认为在你们的合作关系中，什么是比较重要的？
答： 也是一样，交流和信任。随时随地改进产品，提供外面买不到的服务。我们公司会提供物流服务、文件准备、包装设计等。客户十分信任及依赖我们。我们平时就通过电话、邮箱沟通交流，对彼此的信任是十分重要的。
问： 那么您为何最终选择在宁波这个城市办企业？
答： 首先，因为我老家是在鄞州这边。其次，我三叔最先在宁波这里创办了一家企业，招商引资的消息是他提供给我的。而且你们也知道宁波的港口优势，这里人们的受教育水平普遍又比较高，所以没有什么理由不选择宁波。
问： 在国外的生活经历对您创业有什么帮助？
答： 是的，很有帮助，西方的teamwork给了我很大的启发。就像我前面提到的合作企业里那些年轻VP的例子给了我很大的鼓舞。另外，分享精神也是创业不可或缺的。我接触了很多80后的年轻人，他们大多都是三五个好友一起创业，很愿意与他人分享一些东西。这可能就是年轻人和老一辈企业家的区别。因为我们在接受教育时，团队合作、懂得分享、互相吸取经验这些就植入我们的脑袋了。其实分享这方面，温州商人做得很好。比如他们成立了温州商会，各个成员会拿出一部分钱，为有需要的成员提供短期无息贷款。
问： 那么您如何来定义一名优秀企业家，您认为成为一名企业家需要具备什么品质？
答： 企业家首先人品要好，不能自私，要具备分享精神，不论是对客户还是员工。专业方面可能不需要企业家精通，但是要懂得听取意见和建议，懂得如何交流与信任他人。
问： 那您与员工的交流过程中，有哪些经验可以与我们分享？
答： 要主动了解员工的困难，并提供帮助。同时，对他们的需求和建议，也要充分了解。适时的培训和奖励也是很有必要的。我觉得自己运气好，能找到许多不错的员工。在几年内起起落落，朋友说我眼光好。这不是我眼光好，因为人都是有感情的，员工和我的关系有的时候就像朋友一样。他们觉得在这边工作比较开心。
问： 最后您对我们大学生有什么建议吗？
答： 摆正心态，将来走上社会不要认为自己很了不起，无所不能，而周围人都是笨蛋。或许有时你可能会觉得自己受到了不公平的待遇，但都不要紧，因为大多数人都没有恶意，这些都是可以通过沟通交流解决的。只有当你自己一步步走过来，真正经历过才会懂得。
问： 再次感谢您抽时间接受我们的采访。
答： 不客气。
团队成员：郑婷、赵宁宁、赵倩、商健霞
Q： Hello，Mr. Ye，nice to meet you. Thank youfor agreeing to our interview.
A： Nice to meet you，too.
Q： Let’s talk about your experiencein starting the business first. For what purpose did you start your business？
A： The answer is fairly simple and can be summed up in two words：EARNMONEY. Having finished my studies in Australia，I came to Ningbo at the age of28. I started the business with a Singaporean. He served as a sales agent to anAmerican company in China. We reached an agreement that we were to produce TVmounts for the company because it had regular customers in America. Everythingwent smoothly until one day the American company closed，and thus we lost ourcustomers.
Q： Did it happen at the start of yourbusiness？
A： Yes，it happened in the third year of our partnership. By the end ofthe year before last，we moved here and started again. All the staff remainedand were determined to row in the same boat to ride out the crisis. The company’sname，registered address and also the boss were the same，yet the factorychanged，the cooperative partners left，and the original customers were lost.
Q： It sounds like a story with twistsand turns. And then how did you expand your overseas market？
A： Well，that was quite interesting. Due to the business failure，thestaff of that American company experienced a layoff. Some VPs couldn’t reconcile themselves to being unemployed，so each of them decided to put uppart of their money to start all over again. They brought their strength intofull play to cultivate new clients. They worked in a garage，communicatingthrough the Internet，working out sales programs and new production developmentas well as expanding the market. Eventually，their company managed to reach acooperative relationship with three of the top 500 enterprises in America. Withthe rebirth of their company，my company was also brought back to life and nowour total sales amounts to 100 million RMB a year.
Q： What’s your main difficulty whencommunicating with overseas customers？
A： For most people，language may be a big problem. As I stayed abroad formore than ten years，to know about different cultures turns out to be the mainproblem for me instead of language. Customers vary from country to country. Iappreciate Americans’ frankness. They know how to keep the right distance withtheir partners，neither too close nor too far，for they may feel being tooclose will invade the partners’ personal space while being too far will resultin no business to do. So they always act consciously and pay attention tomutual understanding.
Q： You just mentioned that you hadbeen abroad for more than ten years，so had you always been studying inAustralia？
A： I studied in Australia and also ran a small business at the same time.
Q： Did you start your small business during the schoolyear？Did you study in undergraduate or postgraduate program in Australia？Whendid you have the idea of starting your own business？
A： I finished undergraduate or postgraduate program there. After I got mystart-up capital at that time，I purchased goods from the YiwuSmall-Commodities Market. And then I delivered them from one household toanother. There is a joke here，isn’t there？Someone asked how one started one’sbusiness. “I got it started by saving money on food and expenses，” another oneanswered. Ha-ha，that can be true. But the very point was that my dad gave me asum of money. It is for certain that some people do start from scratch，butthat can be quite difficult.
Q： Itseemed that you suffered a lot at the beginning，didn’t you？
A： Yes，I did，but I did much better than a lotof people. Though Melbourne is a good place for the retired，it is not quite suitable for doing business.You see，it has a population of only two million，but it covers an area of morethan two thousand square kilometers.
Q： So was that the reason why youconsidered coming back to China？
A： Yeah，that was one thing. Another thing was that，in 1992，our countrywas inviting investments. The overall business environment of China was goingupward at that time.
Q： How do you reasonably define thecorporate culture of your company？
A： Communication，teamwork and mutual trust.
Q： Since you have mentioned “teamwork”，I’d like to know how it works specifically.
A： By coordinating and cooperating with each other among members of adepartment. Great attention must be paid to coordination and flexibilitybetween different positions. For example，if there appears any possibility ofjob openings，we’ll find suitable staff in advance to be dispatched to theposition in time when really needed.
Q： Could youtalk about how to keep long-term partnerships with customers？And what do you think is the most importantfactor？
A： The answer is quite the same，communication and mutual trust. Apartfrom improving our products whenever and wherever possible，we also provideunique comprehensive service，such as logistics service，document preparation，packaging design，etc. Customers trust our company very much，and now they havebecome used to relying on us for these reasons. We communicate with each otherby telephone and email regularly. Here mutual understanding is of greatsignificance.
Q： And thenwhy did you choose Ningbo as the location of your enterprise？
A： First of all，Yingzhou District of Ningbo ismy native place. My uncle also started his business here，and it was he whotold me the news about inviting investments. Besides，convenient transportationlines as well as advanced big port support attracted me. Last but not least，people in Ningbo generally have higher education levels. Accordingly，I hadevery reason to choose Ningbo as the place to run my business.
Q： How do your experiences of livingabroad for so many years help you？
A： They do help me a lot. Teamwork in the western world has given me muchinspiration. Just as I mentioned before，the example of those young VPs in thecooperative enterprise greatly encouraged me. Moreover，the spirit of sharingis indispensable in starting one’s own business. I have been in touch with manypost-1980s young people，and the majority of them started their business intwos and threes. They are willing to share with others，which is probably the majordifference between the young people today and the older generation ofentrepreneurs. Since we began our schooling，such terms as “teamwork”，“sharing” and “learning from each other” have been well remembered by us.Wenzhou businessmen are doing well in sharing. Take the Wenzhou Chamber ofCommerce，for example，each member of the chamber sets aside some money toprovide short term interest-free loans for the members in need.
Q： How do you define an excellententrepreneur？And what kind of qualities do you think an entrepreneur needs tohave？
A： Good character should be in first place，and they should not beselfish. They ought to have the spirit of sharing，whether with the customersor with the staff. What’s more，they must understand the importance ofcollecting constructive ideas and suggestions and know how to trust andcommunicate with others，though they may not be proficient in professionalskills.
Q： How do you communicate with thestaff？Can you share some experience with us？
A： Sure. First of all，it’s essential to learn about the difficulties theyhave and always be ready to offer your help，as well as understand their needsand suggestions. It is also necessary to train and reward your staff in aproper way. I feel lucky that I have those employees who have performed theirjobs through our ups and downs in the last few years. Some friends say that’sbecause I am a man of good insight. But I don’t agree with them. I just believepeople have feelings，and that is the point. My staff and I are like friends，and they feel happy working here.
Q： In the end，do you have somesuggestions for us college students？
A： Have an even mentality. Do not consider yourself amazing or terrificand others stupid when you go out in the real world after graduation. Maybesometimes you feel unfairly treated，but it doesn’t matter. Perhaps most peoplemean no harm to you，and the problem usually can be solved by communication.Only when you move cautiously，can you finally understand those authenticexperiences.
Q： Thank you again for sparing yourtime for our interview.
A： You’re welcome.
Group Members：Zheng Ting，Zhao Ningning，Zhao Qian，Shang Jianxia
团队合作以及相互分享，这是出自一位80后企业家的经营之道。当中西方优秀的思想文化融合到一起时，且看叶雷这位80后企业家是如何书写他的创业故事。
——题记
企业背景： 宁波升隆紧固件有限公司，成立于2006年。公司依托宁波地区雄厚的金属加工实力和自有的广泛的海外客户网络，打造外向型的机械部件及金属制品出口基地。公司专业研发电视机挂架和周边试听安装设备。公司本着“信誉、品质、服务、高效”的宗旨，同许多企业建立了长期合作关系，包括三星、索尼、松下、飞利浦和东芝等企业。
80后，是备受社会关注的一代。他们是时代的宠儿，却也常常沦为质疑的对象。著名作家王朔曾在他的博客上写道：“80后基本不构成力量，基本是泡沫，他们基本上没有形成战斗力。”然而今天，我们看到这样的一个群体正逐渐成长。他们不因循守旧，敢于标新立异；他们追逐理想，崇尚自由；他们敢于发表自己的见解，勇于挑战权威；他们一路上伴着荆棘与鲜花，奔跑在追梦的旅途上。他们，就是中国年轻的80后企业家。
今年，作为外国语学院“用声音叙事”实践活动的成员，我和我的团队有幸采访到了一位80后的海归企业家——宁波升隆紧固件有限公司的董事长叶雷。叶董在澳大利亚留学归来后，就创办了自己的企业，可谓是年轻有为。采访过程中，在叶董身上总能感受到一种属于年轻人的蓬勃向上、不屈不挠的精神。叶董的创业故事不是一帆风顺的篇章，升隆曾经历了“起死回生”的过程。在企业成立的第三年，美国的合作伙伴被收购，客户跑了，这在当时无疑是一记重创。是选择放弃还是艰苦前行？叶董用他的实际行动给了我们响亮的回答：继续！中国的传统教育赋予了他不惧困难的信念。有时候，人缺少的就是从头再来的勇气。而在这位年轻企业家的身上，我们看到的正是这种中国人血液中跌倒再爬起的劲儿。海外的丰富阅历又给了他东山再起的启迪。叶董在讲述那段困难时期时，特意提到了那家倒闭的美国企业。几位年轻的VP（Vice President）不甘心失业，于是决定每人出点钱从头开始。他们在车库里办公，开发产品，制订销售计划。最终，他们的新公司成功与美国3个500强企业达成了合作关系。叶董说这群美国年轻人的故事深深地感染了他。当时他就想：他们可以，我们也能行。这里，他也感谢他的团队。如果没有这些伙伴，也就没有今天的升隆，是伙伴们在最艰难的时候陪伴着升隆一路走了过来。Teamwork，这个升隆企业精神里的关键词，在这里得到了最好的诠释。这让我不禁想到，在这个个人英雄主义渐已远去的时代，创业更要依靠团队来开辟新的事业。变幻莫测的市场，转瞬即逝的商机，竞争激烈的社会……如果仅凭一己之力，很难在短时间内成功把握住机会。
叶董还特别和我们提到了一点：要乐于分享。分享可以创造财富。他向我们举了温州商人的例子。为什么温州商人在世界范围内具有影响力？其中一个原因就是他们懂得分享。比如他们成立的温州商会，会员各自筹集一部分资金，形成一条资金链，当某位会员有需要时，便可以为其提供短期无息贷款。这样会员间可以互通有无、优势互补，达到互利共赢的目的。因此，他们的财富积累速度快，作为一个群体发展起来时，更是拥有非同一般的影响力。分享可以凝聚团队。叶董本人就是个乐于分享的老板。他常常主动关心员工，了解他们的需求，尤其注重员工的培训和奖励。叶董强调，一个人的成功不算什么，全员的成功才是企业的胜利，企业家有责任让公司的员工都享受到企业发展的成果。只有企业和员工一起成长，才能真正推动企业的发展。分享教人不忘根本。叶董提到，升隆的成功创办也仰赖于当时中国改革开放的好环境和当时招商引资的好政策。企业家更应学会分享，为社会做出贡献。的确，在我们的生活、学习中，只有懂得分享，传递价值，方能创造出更多的价值。这一点值得我们所有人去体会和学习。
80后，中国新崛起的中坚力量。他们有知识，有思想，敢闯敢拼，中西并蓄，一步步地书写着中国商业新的传奇。像叶董这样的80后企业家，正凭借着中国人的坚韧不屈，实现着自己的梦想和追求；正汲取着西方先进的经营理念，描绘着属于他们的时代画卷。在这里，他们用坚实的行动，为自己代言！
Teamwork and sharingare the making of a successful post-80s entrepreneur. When excellent thoughts and cultures from theEast and the West meet，it’s interesting to see how Ye Lei，a post-80sentrepreneur，starts the journey of creating his own entrepreneurial story.
——Notes
Enterprise background： Ningbo Mount Fast Fasteners Co.，Ltd. was foundedin 2006. Relying on the metal processing power of Ningbo as well as thecompany’s extensive overseas customer network，Mount Fast is aimed at buildingitself into an export- oriented mechanical components and metal products exportbase. It specializes in the manufacture of TV mounts and audio-visual equipmentinstallation. With the goal of “reputation，quality，service，efficiency”，Mount Fast has established long-term cooperative relationships with a number ofworld-renowned enterprises including Samsung，Sony，Panasonic，Philips andToshiba.
The post-1980s generation hasreceived great attention nowadays. They are the favorites of the times but alsotend to be challenged by society. “The post-1980s are basically powerless，likebubbles. They are not able to form a fighting force，” Wang Shuo，a famouswriter，wrote in his blog. Today，however，we have witnessed that a group isgrowing up gradually. They think and act unconventionally，brave enough to becreative and different. They pursue their dreams and believe in liberty. Theydare to express their own opinions and challenge authority. Accompanied byflowers and thorns，they are running on the way to realize their dreams. Andthey are the young post-1980s entrepreneurs of China.
This year，as a member of “Beyondthe Voices”—a special practice activity of School of Foreign Language Studies，my teammates and I were lucky enough to interview an entrepreneur，Ye Lei，Presidentof Ningbo Mount Fast Fasteners Co.，Ltd. After finishing studies in Australia，Mr. Ye returned home and founded his own company. In truth he is young andpromising. During the interview，we could always feel a vitality andperseverance that usually belongs to the young. The course of Mr. Ye’s businessstartup was not quite smooth. The Mount Fast Company once experienced theprocess of rebirth. It happened in the third year after the company was founded，when its American cooperative enterprise was bought out and its customers werelost as a result. Undoubtedly，the company suffered a serious defeat at thattime. “Give up or just move ahead？” This was the question. But Mr. Ye finallygave us resounding answer with his resolve：Move ahead！It was Chinesetraditional education that gave him the faith to overcome all kinds ofdifficulties. What people may lack sometimes is just the courage to start allover again. But what we can see in this young entrepreneur is the spirit ofgetting up again，over and over，which exists in the blood of the Chinesepeople. Meanwhile，overseas experiences also gave him the inspiration to stagea comeback. When referring to the difficult times，Mr. Ye especially mentionedthe American company which went bankrupt. Since some VPs in that companycouldn’t reconcile themselves to being out of work，each of them decided to putup part of their money to start all over again. They operated in a garage，working out new production techniques and sales programs. Finally，theircompany managed to reach a cooperative relationship with three of the top 500enterprises in America. Mr. Ye said that he was deeply impressed with thoseyoung Americans’ story. Then，an idea flashed through his mind：If they couldmanage to do it，why can’t we？Here Mr. Ye would like to express his gratitudeto the whole team. Without them，there would be no Mount Fast today. It wasthis very team that accompanied Mount Fast all the way through the hardesttimes. Teamwork，the most significant word in the spirit of Mount Fast，becamethe deciding factor at this point. So far I couldn’t help thinking that it isan era when individualistic heroism is gradually fading away and starting abusiness depends more on the team. In such a changing market，in such acompetitive society，with fleeting business opportunities…，it would bedifficult to grasp the opportunity successfully single-handedly.
There is one more point especiallymentioned by Mr. Ye：the spirit of sharing. Sharing can create value. He gavethe example of Wenzhou businessmen to account for his view：Why do they haveinfluence around the world？One of the main reasons is that they know how toshare. Take the Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce for example. Each member of thechamber sets aside some money to form capital so that they can provide shortterm interest-free loans for the members in need. Then they exchange neededgoods among the members and complement each other with advantages，eventuallygaining mutual benefits and win-win results. Thus，Wenzhou businessmen cangather a big fortune in a timely manner. In addition，as a growing group，theyhave a surprising influence in the business field. Sharing can strengthen thecohesion of a team. And Mr. Ye is just such a boss who enjoys sharing withothers. He always understands the needs of his staff and is ready to offer hishelp at any time. Meanwhile，particular attention is paid to the training ofand reward for the staff. Mr. Ye emphasizes that the success of one persondoesn’t mean much to an enterprise whereas the success of the whole staff makesan enterprise thrive. Entrepreneurs have the responsibility to ensure thatevery employee enjoys the fruits of prosperity. Only when the staff grows upwith the company，can the continuous development of enterprise finally beachieved；sharing can teach one not to forget the fundamentals of how toconduct oneself in society. Mr. Ye added that the successful founding of theMount Fast Company greatly depended on the suitable environment provided byChina’s reform and opening-up as well as investment policies at that time.Entrepreneurs ought to learn how to share and at the same time makecontributions to society. Indeed，whether in our daily lives or studies，onlywhen we understand how to share and pass on value can we create more value inthe world. And this is worth learning for all of us.
The post-1980s generation，therising core force in China，have knowledge and independent thoughts，dare tofight and struggle，and absorb the merits of China and the West. They arewriting a new business legend step by step. The post-1980s entrepreneurs，likeMr. Ye，are pursuing and fulfilling their own desires and dreams with theChinese people’s indomitable spirit. They are learning the advanced managementconcepts of the West to draw a new landscape of their own. Here，they speak forthemselves with steadfast actions！
Group members interviewing Mr. Ye
Our group with Mr. Ye