ZocDoc创始人：不惧失败才能成功

    你曾经遭遇过的最大挫折是什么？

    在ZocDoc之前，我曾经创建过一家名叫One Size Too Small的公司。这家公司似乎具备了一切成功因素。它有一支非常敬业、非常有才华的团队，一批备受瞩目的董事会成员，同时也不缺资本，但当电子商务行业崩溃的时候，我的公司也未能幸免。我并不认为这是经济大势导致的，而是静下心来汲取我一路走来所犯下的种种错误。我在创建ZocDoc时采取的许多措施都源自这些重要的教训。

    你最欣赏哪家公司或科技人物？为什么？

    尽管听起来像是老生常谈，但我的确佩服史蒂夫•乔布斯所具备的那种专注和简化的能力，我正在不断努力，希望在 ZocDoc公司加强这两种能力——不仅仅是我，还包括整个团队。凭借着激光般的专注度，他能够打造出一系列伟大的产品和一家伟大的公司。从产品设计到公司架构，这家公司的各个方面都体现出简洁性。业界人士一直声称，一家公司要做大，就需要简单化。在我看来，就这方面而言，没有人做得比史蒂夫更好。

    除此之外，你还钦佩哪些公司？为什么？

    我非常崇拜亚马逊公司（Amazon），因为他们在许多迥然不同的领域做得非常成功。他们不仅构筑了最好的电子商务平台，还开发出业界领先的电子阅读器和商业基础设施工具。在一个领域表现出色已经非常困难了，更不用说在多个领域出类拔萃。我这么说并不仅仅是因为杰夫•贝索斯是我们的投资者。我希望ZocDoc也能够像亚马逊那样，在多个领域取得成功，打造出一个更加强大的平台。

    哪一个技术部门最让你兴奋？

    我认为，对自己从事的工作保持激情是非常重要，所以我发现把科技运用于医疗保健领域是一件非常令人兴奋的事情，这已经不是什么秘密了。传统上，改善三大核心领域（即使用途径、成本和质量）总需要做出某种取舍。改善某个领域时总要牺牲另一个领域。但现在，通过运用技术，我们发现我们完全可以改善一个领域，同时又不损害另一个领域。比如，ZocDoc公司在拓宽使用途径的同时，并没有损害其他两个方面。我真的对此非常自豪，而且很高兴看到正在浮现的其他突破。

    所有领导者都应该具备的是哪一种特征？

    我信奉“谦卑加雄心”（Humbition）这一概念。我不仅希望自己具备这种素养，同时还在我的团队身上寻找这种特征。领导者应该雄心勃勃，持续不断地改善自身。除此之外，他们还应该保持谦卑、宽容的心态，不拘泥于自己的思想，愿意把团队放在首位。我们公司的一个核心价值观就体现出了这一点，那就是“我们比我更重要”（Us Before Me）。

    你最大的成就是什么？

    几年前，ZocDoc被《克雷恩纽约商业报道》（Crain's New York Business）评为纽约市最佳雇主。于我而言，这是一次非常令人谦恭和自豪的经历。布隆伯格市长甚至邀请我们参加他的市情咨文演讲。从公司创建伊始，我和我的创业伙伴就一直非常重视公司文化建设。因为我相信，没有卓越的人才，就不可能打造出一家卓越的公司。创造一个环境，让员工觉得自己受人重视，这是我极其看重的一项责任。年复一年地被评为纽约市、医疗保健业，乃至整个国家的最佳雇主之一，是我每一天的每时每刻都引以为傲的事情。（财富中文网）

    译者：任文科

    What has been your biggest failure?

    The company I founded before ZocDoc, called One Size Too Small, seemed like it had everything going for it—a great team of dedicated people, high-profile board members, and some capital—but when the e-commerce industry collapsed, so did my company. I don't blame the economy and instead look to learn from the mistakes I made along the way. Much of how I've approached building ZocDoc is due to those important lessons.

    What business or technology person do you admire most? Why?

    Although it may be cliché, I truly admire Steve Jobs for his powers of focus and simplicity—two things I'm constantly working on at ZocDoc—both for myself, and for the larger team. With this laser focus, he was able to build great products and a great company that embodied simplicity in everything from product design to the company's structure. It's been said that in order for companies to become truly large, they need to be simple, and I don't think anyone has ever done this as well as Steve has.

    What other companies do you admire? Why?

    I'm a big admirer of Amazon because they've been extremely successful in a wide variety of different areas. Not only have they built the best in class e-commerce platform, but they built the leading e-reader and business infrastructure tools as well. It's very difficult to be good in one area, let alone be exceptional in many—and I'm not just saying this because Jeff Bezos is an investor. This type of successful versatility is something I aspire to for ZocDoc as we build out a more robust platform.

    What technology sector excites you most?

    I believe it's important to be passionate about the work you do, so it's no secret that I find the use of technology in healthcare very exciting. Traditionally there has always been a tradeoff for improving one of the three core areas: access, cost and quality. Improving one area was always at the expense of another. But now, using technology, we've found that we can improve one area without damaging another, such as what ZocDoc has done for access. This is something I'm really proud of and am excited to see what other breakthroughs emerge.

    What is one characteristic that every leader should possess?

    I believe in the concept of "Humbition." It's a characteristic I aspire for myself and look for in my team. Leaders should be ambitious and constantly strive to improve. With that being said, they should also be humble and gracious, open to ideas other than their own, and willing to put the team before themselves. This is reflected in one of our core company values – Us Before Me.

    What is your greatest achievement?

    A couple of years ago, ZocDoc was named the #1 Best Place to Work in New York City by Crain's New York Business. This was such a humbling and proud experience for me. Mayor Bloomberg even invited us to stand on stage during his State of the City address. Company culture has been something my co-founders and I placed great value on from the beginning, as I believe it's impossible to build a great company without great people. Creating an environment where employees feel valued is a responsibility I take incredibly seriously, and continually being recognized as a great place to work year after year in NYC, healthcare, and the entire country is something I take great pride in each and every day.