肾的位置:成功投资四准则 Four basic rules for a happier future

L ast week, I sold my  shareholdings in two  companies. It was a  coincidence that both deals completed on the same day. One business I helped to co-found more than nine years before; one I had backed about four years ago. In each I made reasonable returns, and for different reasons it seemed the right time to depart.

上周，我出售了自己所持两家公司的股权。巧合的是，这两桩交易是在同一天完成的。一家公司是我在9年多前协助创建的；另一家是大约4年前出资的。两家企业都让我赚得了不错的利润，而且也都到了撤出的时候，尽管原因不尽相同。

As the poet Cecil Day-Lewis said: “There’s a kind of release/And a kind of torment in every goodbye for every man.” So it feels appropriate, as the year draws to a close, a time when we look both back and forward at the start of a new year, to reflect on what it means to be a partner in an enterprise.

诗人塞西尔•戴-路易斯(Cecil Day-Lewis)曾说过：“对每一个人说的每一声再见，都同时夹杂着几分解脱与几分痛苦。”因此，岁末年初正是我们回顾与展望、反思作为一家企业合伙人意义的恰当时机。

The first proper companies were called joint-stock, and that is the nature of a commercial undertaking – a combination of management and capital for mutual advantage. The journey together is frequently haphazard, for commercial life is an unpredictable rollercoaster for most of us. The invention of these limited liability corporations made possible the modern world: how they arise, and how they die, matters.

最早的严格意义上的公司叫做股份制公司，而这是商业企业的本质——管理与资本的结合，以发挥相互的优势。这种结伴而行的旅程，往往无规律可循，因为对我们大多数人来说，商业生活是不可预测的过山车。这些有限责任公司的发明，使得现代世界成为可能：它们如何兴起、及如何破败都十分重要。

With experience, I have come to the conclusion that true success in a long-term venture has four important ingredients. First, you must make a profit. This provides the working capital for the next project and is the essence of capitalism; without financial gain, the risks seem pointless. But one should not allow this imperative to overwhelm the others – if it is the only measure, then the job is not well done. A project should be profitable in every sense, if at all possible.

凭借以往的经验，我得出了这样一个结论：一项长期投资的真正成功须具备4个要素。首先，你必须赚钱。这能为下一个项目提供营运资本，而且也是资本主义的神髓所在；如果没有财务收益，所有冒险看起来都毫无意义。但我们不应允许这一必要条件凌驾于其它标准之上——如果它是唯一的衡量标准，那么工作就没有做好。如果可能的话，从各种意义上讲，项目都应该是有利可图的。

The second element is that you should learn from the experience. If you have not acquired a business education of sorts – an understanding of an industry, how a team works together, how to behave when things go wrong – then you are not improving yourself and probably not trying hard enough. Lifelong learning is meant to be a cornerstone of a happy existence – this is one way of finding it. A career of endless repetition would be very dull; better by far to be engaged in at least an attempt at regular renewal.

第二个要素是，你应该汲取经验。如果你没有从中得到某种商业上的教育——对某个行业的了解、一个团队如何合作、出问题时如何表现——说明你没有在提高自身，或努力不够。活到老学到老应该是幸福生活的基石——而这是找到它的一个路径。一种不断重复的职业会非常乏味；至少去尝试经常改变要好得多。

Third, you should have recruited some friends. It is by no means easy to become close and lasting allies with business partners. You may have nothing in common apart from work; the stress of sharing the effort and spoils might undermine the relationship. But if you can emerge from the compromises with real comradeship, then you have done well.

第三，你应该结交一些朋友。与商业伙伴成为亲密且持久的盟友决非易事。除了工作以外，你们可能没有任何共同点；分享成就与利益的压力也许会破坏你们之间的关系。但如果你能通过彼此妥协形成真正的战友关系，那么你就很成功。

Finally, the business should have generated jobs and created wealth. These outcomes will normally follow naturally from any capital gain, but not always. Occasionally, a downsized operation can be more profitable and valuable. But the greatest satisfaction for any owner comes from having contributed to the expansion of an enduring business, so increasing the overall prosperity of society.

最后，企业就应该创造就业机会和财富。通常而言，有了资本收益，也就自然而然地有了这些东西，但情况并非总是如此。偶尔，缩小业务规模可能会更赚钱，也更有价值。但对于任何所有者而言，最大的满足感来自于自己曾为一家持续发展企业的扩张出过力，因而提升了社会的总体繁荣。

Not every purchase will match up on every measure, for sure. But if you hit the right notes more than half the time, there should be no complaints. This sort of investing is a hazardous endeavour and, if you never allow for mistakes, you are likely to be disappointed.

当然，并非每笔投资都能符合所有的标准。但如果你能符合一半以上的标准，你就无须抱怨。这种投资是一项冒险的尝试，如果你从不允许犯错，那么结果可能会让你失望。

From time to time I pass a lorry carrying the logo of a company I once owned or someone mentions a restaurant or a shop that belonged to me or I am struck by some other reminder of a previous involvement. When that happens, I feel both a tinge of sadness but also a sense of pride that I played at least a part in its history.

有时，我会经过一辆带有我曾持股公司标识的卡车，或者有人会提到我曾拥有的一家餐厅或商店，又或者，一些其它东西触动了我，让我想起自己曾参与过的东西。在这种时候，我既会有一丝感伤，也会感到骄傲——我至少曾在它们的历史上扮演过一定的角色。

And, of course, with each final curtain there follows the liberation of funds and time, and one is free again to focus on a new challenge. There is never a shortage of those. As the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Every parting gives a foretaste of death; every coming together again a foretaste of the resurrection.”

而无疑，每一次的谢幕，必然伴随着资金与时间上的解放，而后你又重获自由，可以专注于新的挑战。这样的事情屡见不鲜。正如哲学家阿瑟•叔本华(Arthur Schopenhauer)所言：“每一次生离都仿佛是一次死别；每一次重聚又带来复活的喜悦。”

This year has been a tough one in most quarters and 2011 promises to be hard going. Yet I cannot deny my optimistic spirit, a belief that splendid opportunities await those willing to take bold initiatives. Every new acquisition is a step into the unknown, full of dramas about to unfold.

今年的大多数时间都很艰难，而2011年肯定也不好过。不过，我无法抗拒自己的乐观精神，我相信，精彩的机遇正等着那些愿意大胆行动的人。每一次新的收购，都是迈向未知世界的一步，将有许多精彩即将上演。

I look forward to it all with great anticipation.

我满心期待它的到来。