ZocDoc创始人：不惧失败才能成功

    财富头脑风暴技术会议（Brainstorm Tech Conference，7月22日至24日在科罗拉多州阿斯彭召开）定期汇集科技创新领域最优秀和最聪明的头脑。《财富》杂志（Fortune）每周都会采访一位与会者，让他或她分享各自对商业、技术和创业的真知灼见。本周，我们邀请ZocDoc公司创始人兼CEO塞卢斯•玛索乌米回答10个问题，内容涉及工作之外的生活、他最钦佩的公司，以及他给予年轻创业者的专业意见。以下是采访实录：

    你曾经得到的最佳建议是什么？

    我们的早期投资者之一维诺德•科斯拉认为，尝试后失败也要胜过不尝试。我们已经把这条建议摆在了公司建设的核心位置。我们不断地寻求优化公司各个方面的现状——从产品的每一个新功能和颜色，到医患沟通和客户服务举措，再到公司活动和公告——我们测试这些变化能否与不同的受众产生共鸣。我们从不害怕试验失败。这些小失败将提醒我们应该做出哪些改进，以提供更好的体验。

    许多年轻人即将踏入严峻的就业市场，你对他们有什么话说？

    职场上的机会其实比你想象的更多。要保持灵活性，考虑一些你通常不会考虑的岗位和行业。在ZocDoc公司，我们根据求职者的内在能力招聘员工。我们录用的许多员工所从事的职务其实并不是他们最初申请的工作。他们利用自身天赋所取得的巨大成绩让我倍感兴奋。通常情况下，经过短短半年时间，我们就可以发现，一位非常有潜力的员工做得比那些经验丰富的员工还好。所以，不要仅仅因为你的经验与岗位描述不完全匹配就忽略某个潜在的工作机会——一个人可能取得的成就会让他自己都大吃一惊。

    你在学校里学到的最重要的事情是什么？

    攻读研究生时，一些人说成绩并不重要，但我认识到，不仅成绩很重要，我们在研究生院所做的一切事情都很重要。无论是你获取的成绩，还是你构建的各种关系，它们都将决定外界对你的印象，这些印象将你以后的人生产生重要影响。花些时间接触尽可能多的人，谁也想不到他们将以后什么时候能带来什么样的帮助。比如，ZocDoc的一些早期投资者都是我在研究生院结交的朋友。

    你有什么业余爱好？

    我很喜欢跑步，跑步可以让我的头脑清醒，还可以保持体形，同时还能够探索这座城市。对我来说，与外界暂时断开联系非常重要。所以我把手机放在家里，只戴上一个小的 iPod Nano播放器，里面下载了当周iTunes榜单上的冠军歌曲。此外，我还非常期待每个周末与朋友和家人共进早午餐。

    Fortune's Brainstorm Tech Conference (July 22-24 in Aspen, Colo.) regularly brings together the best and brightest minds in tech innovation. Each week, Fortune turns the spotlight on a different conference attendee to offer his or her own personal insight into business, tech, and entrepreneurship. This week, we asked ZocDoc Founder and CEO Cyrus Massoumi to answer 10 questions about life outside of work, the company he admires most, and industry advice for young entrepreneurs. His responses follow.

    What is the best advice you ever received?

    One of our early investors, Vinod Khosla, believes it's better to try and fail, than fail to try—advice we've put at the core of building our company. We're constantly looking to optimize our current functionality—from every new feature and color to patient communication and customer service initiatives to company events and announcements—we test how well they resonate with our various audiences. We aren't afraid to have failed experiments. These small failures inform us of what we can improve to provide a better experience.

    What would you say to a group of young people looking to enter the tough job market?

    There's more opportunity out there than you might think. Be flexible and consider a variety of roles and industries that you normally wouldn't. At ZocDoc, we hire based on candidates' intrinsic abilities. Many of our employees are hired for roles that differ from the job they originally interviewed for, and it's exciting to see how much success they can achieve by leveraging their natural abilities. Oftentimes we find that after just six months, the person with high potential outperforms those with high experience. So don't disregard a potential job opportunity just because your experience doesn't perfectly match up with the description—you'll be surprised what you might find.

    What was the most important thing you learned in school?

    In graduate school, some people say that grades don't matter, but I learned that not only do they matter—everything about what you do at school matters. From the grades you receive to the relationships you build, they all determine how you're perceived, which will come full circle later in life. Take the time to meet with as many people as you can, you never know how or when they might be able to help later on. For instance, some of ZocDoc's early investors are friends I met at school.

    What do you do for fun?

    I love to go running to clear my head, stay in shape and explore the city. It's important for me to disconnect, so I leave my phone at home and bring a small iPod Nano loaded with the songs at the top of the iTunes chart that week. I also look forward to brunch every weekend with my friends and family.