My fellow students,
Standing here, I am actually no less excited than you, for 24 years ago, in this very spot, I attended my own commencement ceremony. I can thoroughly grasp your feelings now.
The commencement ceremony heralds a new journey, which may cause a little confusion, anxiety, but everything is mingled with excitement and earnest yearning for the future. At this crucial crossroad what advice are you supposed to get from a 24-year-older fellow? This question has deprived me of my sleep last night. The potential futility of this speech puts great pressure on me. So today, I will just touch upon two points.
The first one: faith in the power of your dreams
In retrospect, studying at Wuhan University has been an influential chapter in my life. When I was still an 18-year-old freshman, I accidentally discovered a book in the library, which set the course of my future.
The book, entitled Fire in the Valley and pricing at just ¥2.14, talks about the entrepreneurial heroes such as Steve Jobs. My heart burned with eagerness after reading it; I had to circle the playground a few times to calm down. It was at this point that I set the ideal of my life: ‘ground-breaking’ is the word I want to be and this is where all my talent should go from then on.
However, it is always easier said than done. I am sure that all of you here have grand dreams, but have you translated them into action? During my freshman year I told myself that I should go beyond having dreams; I should practically do something distinguishable.
My first goal was to finish all the college courses within 2 years. Thanks to the credits system of WHU, I was allowed to double the credits I was supposed to take. Last year on the alumni gathering my credit record was displayed as a proof. Once I truly put my goal into action, it seemed less daunting. At least I can say two years was enough for the course of computer science at that time. (Editor’s note: Lei Jun ranked the 6th among more than 100 students with a thesis published in a prestigious journal when he was a sophomore.)
With this came the second, the third and other goals, and I conquered them all. I am convinced that, my achievement depended not on outstanding intelligence or diligence, but on early established dreams and concrete actions to achieve them. So this is my first suggestion for the graduates: to have faith in the power of dreams. Now you are all embarking on a new journey, it is better to establish your goals and put no matter what efforts to see them accomplished and the sooner you start to do just that, the better. This is the starting point of your life.
The second point I want to bring out today is: pursue your dream
To have a dream and to put it into practice is relatively easy, but to stick to it may be demanding. Today you are definitely persistent, but how about 5 years from now? How about 10 or 20 years from now? The host has just introduced Xiaomi. What pushed me up for it? The company was founded 5 years ago and the first smart phone was launched 3 and half years ago. It took Xiaomi merely 2.5 years to become No.1 in China and No.5 in the world in this cut-throat phone industry, sandwiched between Apple, Samsung and Huawei.
It is quite obvious this is a victory of global commerce. But what’s the alchemy? My first star-up was Kingsoft, a member of the highly competitive software industry. In 2007, I retired as Kingsoft had gone listed. Perhaps I had achieved what many of you here dream about: retire at the age of 30. I have pushed one company to public recognition, sold several others while invested in a dozen. It sounds quite fulfilling!
Maybe you are curious or even envious about entrepreneurship; I am sure that great entrepreneurs will pop up from this crowd, but I must give you one more piece of advice: entrepreneurship is no joyful task; it’s a dog’s life. Without a will of steel, you are not going to make it. When popular entrepreneurship and innovation are promoted, I should remind you of adequate preparation.
Through establishing Kingsoft, I know every bit of the bitterness that comes with start-ups. So what inspired to repeat? As the 40th birthday was drawing near, I found that my dream was sleeping away, and I asked myself: am I bold enough to try again? This tough question consumed more than half a year. Eventually determination came into being: “I cannot have regret in life regardless of success and failure.” I decided to create a world-class technological company, to benefit people, and basically start from zero once more.
Then concerns loaded up. “What if I fail and ruin my reputation?” I told myself to keep low-profile and confidential. I refused to have any form of promotion until the first products had been completed, which I thought might have increased their chances of success. Xiaomi came into realization only after I was able to overcome my fears of creating a new business and the prospect of failure.
I know for sure that everyone here has a personal dream, and efforts will be involved. But ask yourselves, in 5 years, in 10 years, in 24 or 25 years, will you still be bold and resolute enough to stick to your dream? Do you still have faith in its power?
These are my points.
To all the graduates here, best wishes for the future and happiness. Thank you.
（Rewritten by Jingyi Zhang, edited by Diana & Sijia Hu)
