iAsk x China Daily | How Did A Mother Become An Entrepreneur?
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她溫柔，因為腹中胎兒的一張照片而走上攝影之路；她果敢，辭掉世界500強企業的高管職務，連續三次創業；她幽默，“我叫大米，就是每天大家都在吃的大米”；她勇猛， “我的專案叫VPhoto，我要做全球最大的即時影像共享平臺。”
She is a caring mother who embarked on a photography career because of a picture of the fetus in her womb. She boldly quitted her top management position of a Fortune 500 company and started new businesses three times in arow. She is humorous, “my name is Dami (meaning “rice” in Chinese), which everyone eats every day”. She is ambitious, “my project is called VPhoto, and I want it to become the world’s largest real-time image sharing platform. “
有人把曹玉敏說成是獨一無二的女性創業者，她否認， “世界上每個人都是獨特的。”
Some people described Cao Yumin as a unique female entrepreneur. She denied, “everyone in the world is unique. “
但在創業死亡率極高的攝影行業，她創立的VPhoto始終穩居即時影像行業第一；八千萬張圖片，斬獲全球最佳創新機構媒體獎；資本寒冬降臨，業務上線不到一年時間，相繼獲得峰瑞資本、青松基金、東方富海、天和文化產業基金和磐石資本投資，融資近億。
However, in the highly competitive photography industry where few start-ups survive, her VPhoto has secured a top place in the real-time image sector. With eighty million pictures, it has won the global media award for the most innovative organization. During a period of capital crunch, the business received funding from Frees Fund, Qingsong Fund, OFC, Tianhe Cultural Industry Fund and Stone Capital in less than a year after launch, raising nearly 100million yuan.
也有人把曹玉敏形容成攝影行業中的顛覆者，她否認，“自己能力有限，只能給它提速”。
Some described Cao Yumin as a disruptive force of the photography industry; shedenied, “my ability is limited therefore I need to speed up the industry”.
傳統攝影行業傳輸效率很低，客戶從拍片到選片需要等待幾天。VPhoto的攝影師從按下快門的一刻起，照片到達雲端只需10秒，雲端修片師在家就可完成人工調圖，耗時3～5分鐘。通過直播相簿連結，使用者可根據需求，實現即時傳播。 曹玉敏把傳統攝影傳輸速度至少提升300倍。
The traditional photography industry is so inefficient that it used to take several days for photographers to shoot and select photos. It only takes 10 seconds for a VPhoto photographer to shoot a picture and send it to the cloud; and it only takes 3 to 5 minutes for a PS expert to edit the photo in the cloud. By connecting to a live photo album, users can enjoy real-time photo broadcasting tailored to their needs. Cao Yumin has increased the efficiency of the traditional photography industry by at least 300 times.
拒絕被定義的曹玉敏，卻在不斷改變著影像的定義。以往，我們選擇用影像記錄著過去，她卻認為，影像不止是過去，還是活在當下，更是路過未來。
Refusing to be labeled, Cao Yumin is changing the definition of photography. We tend to record the past with images, but she believes images are not only about the past, but also about the present and even the future.
艾誠：為什麼要做一個攝影的平臺？
Gloria Ai :Why do you want to build a photography platform?
曹玉敏：首先我是一位媽媽。以前我是連婚紗照都不拍的女人，後來因為孩子的一張照片改變了我的人生。從開始不想要孩子，覺得他影響了我職業晉升，到後來一張照片我留下這個孩子，我重新思考人生，覺得錯過的遺憾不能再錯過。 母愛是初心，由此我進入影像行業。
Cao Yumin: First of all, I am a mother. I used to be a woman who did not even take wedding photos, After getting pregnant, a photo of my child changed my life. At the beginning, I didn’t want a child because I felt he might affect my career. I kept the child because of a photo and then reconsidered my life. I felt sorry for what I thought before. I didn’t want to miss this one again. Maternal love is what brought me to the photography industry.
進入之後，本來只想做小生意，沒想做太大，只想開一家小工作室，但可能我是做財務出身的，自然而然地運轉這個小business（生意）的時候，它就會自己傳播，成長得非常快，從一家變兩家、三家，在影像行業裡摸爬滾打六年，最後發現 它有太多的痛點是我無法忍受的，所以我們就想著去改變。
Initially, I just wanted to do a small business. I didn’t expect it to grow big and just wanted to run a small studio. But maybe it’s because I used to do finance, the business grew naturally. When the business was small, it grew very fast through organic expansion. One studio turned into two, and two turned into three. After working in the image industry for six years, I finally found out it had too many pain points that I couldn’t stand. So we wanted to change them.
艾誠：攝影創業不計其數，但在蜂擁而至地“生”之後，大部分都蜂擁而至地“死”掉。我們意外發現一位做財務的女性創業者領導的VPhoto攝影團隊竟然活著，而且還活得還很好，為何？
Gloria Ai:There are numerous photography start-ups. After the frenzy of entrepreneurship, most start-ups fail. We find out by accident there is a female entrepreneur who once worked on finance. Her photography platform called Vphoto has survived. It’s still alive. Why?
曹玉敏：不論做什麼事情，我如果認定自己喜歡這個行業，又覺得我有這個能力，我是對的人去做這個行業，其實不太去想這個行業種其他人是活著還是死著，我覺得我能做好，我就去做。
Cao Yumin:No matter what I do, if I think I like the industry and feel I have the ability to do it, I am the right person to do this business. I don’t really think about if others in the industry are alive or not. If I believe I can do it well, I’ll just do it.
艾誠：我聽說VPhoto、大米女士正在攝影行業裡面掀起一輪革命？
Gloria Ai:I heard that Cao Yumin from Vphoto is starting a revolution in the photography industry?
曹玉敏：不能叫革命，可能叫提速吧。很多人問為什麼叫VPhoto，V在物理學符號當中代表速度，我之所以起名VPhoto，就是要給影像行業提速。
Cao Yumin: It can’t be called revolution. Maybe it’s more about speeding up the development of the industry. Many people ask why it is called VPhoto. V is the symbol representing velocity in physics.
因為以前很多人都說你是顛覆者、革命者，我覺得可能有點太偏激，我沒有革命攝影行業的power（能量），只能給它提速，但可能我們不是提速幾倍，而是300倍，所以整體上看，他會感覺這個行業真是改變好多。
The reason why I named it VPhoto is to speed up the development of the photography industry. Many people said you were a disruptor and a revolutionary, I think it sounds a little too extreme. I don’t think I am someone who has the power to revolutionize the industry. I’m just giving it a push to speed things up. But we make the industry not just several times faster, but 300 times faster than before. So generally speaking, one will feel that the industry has really changed a lot.
艾誠：你會焦慮嗎？
Gloria Ai:Are you anxious?
曹玉敏：焦慮倒不至於，但一直都有危機感，因為這已經是我第三次創業了，我們第一次創業的時候很年輕，心比天高，就覺得我要做成世界級。那時候我們做雲端計算比阿里還早，所以第二次創業的時候就特別接地氣，這是第三次。
Cao Yumin:I am not anxious, but I always have a sense of crisis, because this is my third attempt to start a business. When we first started a business, we were young and had very high ambition. I felt my business would become a world-class one. We did cloud computing earlier than Alibaba. When I started my second business, I was more pragmatic. This is my third attempt.
艾誠：你會是個不一樣的女人嗎？是中國創投圈裡不一樣的人物嗎？
Gloria Ai:In China’s business and investment circles, are you unique?
曹玉敏：每個人都是不一樣的，艾誠也是不一樣的，你也是非常special（特別）的一個女人。 其實不論男女，敢於創業就是最勇敢的。
Cao Yumin:I think everyone is unique. Gloria, you are also unique. You are also a very special woman. No matter women or men, anyone who starts a business is the bravest.
我們第三次創業的時候，當時跟我先生商量：咱要不要做平臺，還是說就帶著孩子過小日子就很好？以前第二次創業，做小business（生意），每年有三、四個月，我們可以在國外帶著孩子度假，就特別的enjoy（享受），後來當你想做成一個平臺的時候，我們必須要面臨的是什麼？在做一件事情之前，我基本已經把最壞的結果想到了。
When we started our third venture, I discussed with my husband about whether we should build a platform or just spend more time with our child. When my second business was small, there were three or four months each year when I can took my child on vacation abroad. I really enjoy it. Later I thought about in building such as platform, what must we face? In fact, before doing one thing, I had basically thought of its worst result.
艾誠：VPhoto最壞的結果是什麼？大米創業最壞的結果是什麼？
Gloria Ai:What is the worst possible result of VPhoto? What is the worst possible result for my start-up?
曹玉敏：這個事情我沒做成，我再回去做財務總監。
Cao Yumin:The worst result is that I failand go back to work as a CFO.
艾誠：一般創業者不敢說出來的，你大聲說出來了。
Gloria Ai:This is something most entrepreneurs dare not say. You say it out loud.
曹玉敏：我們當時還盤算家裡有幾套房子、能拿出多少財產。因為第三次創業的時候，已經實現財務自由，所以沒什麼後顧之憂。真的是自己真算過的，我和我先生在一張A4紙上，畫出最壞的結果是什麼，好的是什麼，我們應該放棄什麼，還有就是，我們可能得到什麼機會。最後我們決定，那就往前走吧，無所畏懼。
Cao Yumin:At that time, we also calculated how many houses there were in the family and how much assets we could take out. The third time I started a business, I was basically financially free, so there was nothing to worry about. I really did the calculation myself. My husband and I drew the worst result, the best result, we should give up, and what opportunities we might get on a piece of A4 paper. Finally, we decided to go ahead without fear.
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