Recently, a local startup owner (a young entrepreneur who's been in business for ten years) received a lot of criticism on the online Threads platform. He is widely recognized as a highly successful individual in the Hong Kong startup scene, working in the production/retail industry, specifically with wearable products. After 10 years of entrepreneurship, he already has 20 retail stores, all located in prime shopping malls, and he's only in his early thirties. I also had the opportunity to meet him, as he is quite a unique and successful example in the entrepreneurial world, so I sought his advice on some work-related problems I was facing.
If I recall correctly, Brian Chesky of Airbnb once said that the development of a company is largely determined by the personal character of its owner, and the company amplifies the owner's inherent personality and approach to business. Everyone has a different personality, and their methods and intentions also vary. Here, I don't intend to add insult to injury regarding the problems this owner encountered, nor am I speaking in his defense. However, in the past, I've encountered many seniors who were more capable than me, and indeed, they had different personalities, and sometimes I truly disagreed with their methods. Sometimes, when you listen to people talk, you already understand what they're thinking inside. For example, they might think a certain way of making money is a given, and there are many, many such people. Unfortunately, society sometimes rewards these individuals. In contrast, those honest seniors sometimes have a hard time and are unpopular.
When I was a child watching movies, there were always villains and heroes. Even then, I wondered if those villains knew they were doing bad things. I imagined they would never see themselves as villains, doing bad things and being okay with it, right? They must have some way of convincing themselves that what they were doing was good, beneficial to society, before they could do it. As I grew older, I realized that, yes, it originates from the fact that sometimes people's definitions of right and wrong, and what is reasonable, can be very different, and they sincerely believe it. That's why there are bad people and good people.
But even so, I believe there is justice in the world. Evil will not always prevail, and good people will not suffer forever. We should do our best, be disciplined, and act with the well-being of society in mind.
#188 Why We Completely Left Department Stores (11/01/2026)
#190 BLACKOUT 2026 is an internal stress test, and also a test for me.