Q+A: Kai-Fu Lee

Kai-Fu Lee, founder of Innovation Works

Q: How do you spend your weekends amid your busy schedule?

A: I get into my e-mails for a few hours a day over the weekend but I spend most of my time with my family.

What are your hobbies?

I go on weibo a lot, post a lot of things and read and absorb and learn from it. I also like watching movies and listening to classical music. And I also play bridge.

What is the saying that you like the most? Why?

I really like the Serenity Prayer. It says: "I like to be granted the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference."

Who is your icon?

I don't believe in icons. I think there should be people to respect but no one should blindly follow one other person. If there's one person I respect the most, that would be Steve Jobs.

What kind of "green" lifestyle do you have?

We grow our own vegetables and we eat vegetables from our garden.

Name places in China that impressed you most and those you have not visited but want to explore.

I would love to go to Jiuzhaigou or Shangri-La one day but I haven't had the time. Also Tibet.

What's the best way to break the ice with a Chinese businessman you've met for the first time?

Talk about something you know they care about. If they like to play cards or wine, talk about that, not something you like.

Give three words to describe your impression of Chinese businessmen.

Shrewd, hardworking and relationship-oriented

What kind of experience has shaped your thoughts most?

Failures. I think from failures one can learn the most. With success you don't really know what you did wrong, how you would have done things differently.

So from failure, if you are able to face your problems, ask what you might do differently, that's where you can grow the most. A lot of people think of failure as punishment and they pretend to not think about it. I think that's terrible. When you fail you will be depressed for a while. Once the depression ends, you have to think back: OK, what happened? What decisions did I make? How might I do things differently? How would I do things in the future so that I can avoid making the same mistakes again?

Tell us about one of your failures that shaped your thoughts the most?

When I worked for Silicon Graphics Inc, we built a 3D browser, a very fantastic and brilliant product. People loved to see it but it was useless. So the lesson to me as a technologist was that what really matters is not innovation; What matters is not coolness; what matters is useful innovation.

And innovation that's not useful to people, that doesn't solve problems for people, that doesn't remove pain for people, is not going to be needed in the market place.