做一个倾听者

这些天在看一本叫“Quite”的书，书中提到内向的人的一个巨大的优势是：倾听。本文来自原SV Angel基金的合伙人David Lee的博客，他认为成功的人之所以脱颖而出在于他们倾听的意愿和能力。而伟大的投资人和一个好的投资人的区别就在于：倾听和问正确的问题。

You need to prepare, listen and engage.

-Charlie Rose

你需要准备，倾听和参与。

-Charlie Rose

I’ve met a lot of incredibly successful, accomplished and well-known people. In some cases, I’ve even worked with them. This is one of the huge perks of working with Ron Conway, who I put in this bucket. (Incidentally, this sounds like a nested humblebrag but just because I met these folks obviously doesn’t put me in that bucket.)

我见过很多功成名就的人。某些时候，我甚至跟他们一起工作过。Ron Conway是其中的一位，和他一起工作是额外的幸运。 （顺便说一句，这听起来像是故作谦虚的自夸，但是认识这些人，并不代表我也是他们中的一位）。

For me, one skill that really stands out among some of these folks is their ability and willingness to listen. I’m not just talking about the level of listening where you remember what the other person said. And not the pollyannish notion of “I feel your pain.” I’m talking about the deeper level of listening that requires a mastery of body language, a genuine level of empathy and most important, a genuine interest and curiousity in the speaker or subject matter, or both. They are curious in either the person or the material, regardless of the person or material.

对我来说，这些人真正脱颖而出的一个技能是他们倾听的能力和意愿。我不只是说听力的水平，所谓你记得对方说了什么。也不是那种安慰式的“我能感觉你的痛苦。” 我说的倾听是更深层次的，需要肢体语言的掌握，真正的同理心，最重要的的是：对谈话对象或主题真正的兴趣和好奇心。这种好奇是对人或事物的纯粹好奇，不管对方的来路。

I’ve tried to become a better listener. About fifteen years ago, I bought this book and even highlighted portions of it. I got through about a quarter of it and threw it into my “Books Aborted” pile, which is a very large pile by the way.

我试图成为一个更好的倾听者。大约十五年前，我买了这本书并且突出强调了其中的部分内容。我读了四分之一，然后把它扔到我的中止书单堆里—当然这是很大一摞。

I don’t want to sound too obsequious, but Ron is one of the best listeners I have ever seen. People like him lock into the other person a la Bill Clinton, who is probably the Mozart when it comes to this. For every meeting that Ron does, he brings a huge pile of notes related to the other person (i.e., he prepares) and completely locks into that person. His signature move is to furiously jot notes to record and remember what the other person is saying. I’ve asked him why he does this and he said, “Because I forget shit.” But the signal it sends to the speaker is immeasurable. It’s charisma in a nutshell.

我不想说得过于谄媚，但是Ron是我见过的最好的倾听者之一。他倾听别人的本事可以比照比尔·克林顿，而后者如同这方面的莫扎特。Ron参加的每一个会议，他会带来关于对方的一堆笔记（他提前做好准备），彻底的和对方匹配起来。他的招牌动作就是疯狂地快速记录，记录和记住对方在说什么。我问他为什么这样做，他说，“我记性太差。”但它给说话者的信号是难以估量的。简而言之，这就是魅力。

When I first met Ron in 2005, we would talk about online video, his then-current interest. He would scribble notes furiously, sometimes on cocktail napkins. I thought I was the smartest person in the world on video. When I realized a few years later that he did that with virtually everyone on every topic, I was a bit crestfallen to say the least.

2005年我第一次遇到Ron，我们谈论在线视频，这是他当时的兴趣。他疯狂潦草地记笔记，有时在鸡尾酒餐巾纸上。这让我以为我是视频领域世界上最聪明的人。几年以后，我发现他对每个人每个话题几乎都这么做，说我有点受打击，那还是轻的。

I wish I were a better listener. I’m subpar. Ask my wife. And to her chagrin, I want to improve not necessarily because I want to be a better and more empathic person. it’s because I think it’s an incredibly valuable skill to have as an investor, particularly in the startup world.

我希望我是一个更好的倾听者。我实在水平不佳。问问我的妻子。让她懊恼的是，我像改善的原因倒不是我想成为一个更好更有同理心的人。而是是因为，作为一个投资人，这是一项难以置信的宝贵技能，特别是在创业的世界里。

Regardless of your approach or business model, a huge part of startup investing (and in some cases, the only part) is human talent evaluation. “We invest in people” is probably the most common refrain for startup investors. And if you’re investing in people, you need to understand not only their skill, aptitude and potential but also their insight, drive, motivation and toughness - the immeasurables.

除去方法或商业模式不谈，创业投资的很大一部分（在某些情况下，唯一部分）是创业者才能的评估。 “我们投资于人”可能是风险投资人最爱重复的话。如果你投资于人，你需要了解的不仅是他们的技能、天资和潜力，而且还包括他们的洞察力、驱动、动机和韧性 — 这些都是无法度量的。

And that’s where listening comes in. One difference between a good investor and a great investor is that the great investor asks the right questions. And just as importantly, they’re able to process and synthesize the answers. They ask the incisive ones that cut through the noise. And identifying the right question is a function of great listening. Listening increases the throughput of data and also filters out the noise. If you watch Charlie Rose or watch great interviewers, they ask the great follow-up, unscripted questions that reveal the most important and telling details. This can unearth the people who have the missionary and authentic drive to do something great - and just as importantly, weed out the people who say the right things but don’t actually mean it.

这正是倾听的力量所在。一个好的投资者和一个伟大的投资者之间的一个区别是：伟大的投资者问正确的问题。而同样重要的是，他们能够处理和综合问题的答案。他们问的问题穿过噪音，直切要害。界定正确问题的能力和杰出的倾听能力密切相关。倾听提高了数据的吞吐量，并过滤掉噪音。如果你观察Charlie Rose或其他伟大的访谈者，他们会脱稿跟进，提出优秀的问题，揭示最重要和最生动的细节。这会挖掘出那些拥有使命感和驱动力做出伟大事业的人 — 同样重要的是，剔除掉那些说得都很正确但实际上言不由衷的人。

The other person who comes to mind for me ont his topic is Michael Moritz, the legendary investor at Sequoia Capital. We’ve co-invested a lot with Sequoia, but I’ve never really worked with him personally. But his path to investing is not necessarilyt the conventional one. Before his investing career, he was a journalist and writer. And without speaking to him about this or knowing if this is bullshit, it kind of makes sense. Without knowing anything about the profession, a great journalist has to ask the right questions and synthesize the answers (among other things). And that’s a dynamic exercise that’s a direct function of getting the right information and inputs - i.e., being a great listener.

关于这个话题，我脑子里自然想到的另一个人是Michael Moritz，红杉资本的传奇投资人。我们和红杉一起合投了很多公司，但是我个人没有和他合作过。他做投资的路径并不是传统的路径。在他的投资生涯之前，他是一名记者和作家。我没和他谈过这事，也不知道是不是胡扯，但这有一定的道理。无需了解这个专业可知，一个伟大的新闻记者必须要能提出正确的问题并合成答案（除其他事情外）。这是一个动态的练习，但与之直接相关的是要获得正确的信息和输入 —即，先成为一个伟大的倾听者。

Clayton Christensen said that questions are places in your mind where answers fit. The relevant facts are there for everyone but you need to be able to ask the right questions to unearth them. The great investors can get to the most insightful answers and meaningful insights faster than the rest of us. In the startup world, where data is scarce but potential is abundant, that is an elite skill.

Clayton Christensen说，问题存在于你意识中答案所在之处。事实就在那里，等待每一个人，但你必须能够提出正确的问题挖掘出他们。伟大的投资者比我们其他人更快的获取到最有见地和意义的答案。在创业的世界里，数据稀少，但有见地的想法不少，这是一个精英的技能。

译者：戴汨 愉悦资本创始合伙人（[e-mail])

愉悦资本是新一代的VC基金，由刘二海、李潇、戴汨创立，我们是创始人也是投资经理；愉悦资本，创始人和创始人对话。