He won 900 million in the lottery.

Li Ka-shing: Never try to profit from the last wave of an industry's profits.

The Renmin University CEO program primarily targets senior corporate managers. The curriculum is designed around the core needs of business operations, balancing theory, practice, and humanistic qualities. The modules vary slightly between different training programs.

1. Macro and Strategic Courses: This course interprets the global and Chinese macroeconomic situation and policies, analyzes industrial changes under trends such as digital transformation and carbon neutrality, and also teaches corporate strategic planning, business model innovation, and digital transformation paths to help students grasp industry trends.

2. Management and Operations: Covers a wide range of practical management knowledge, including leadership-related content such as building high-performing teams and digital leadership; marketing management content such as marketing innovation and brand building in the digital age; and core enterprise operation courses such as lean management and supply chain management.

3. Finance, Taxation and Capital: This category includes financial management courses for non-financial personnel, as well as courses on tax planning and corporate valuation. It also covers multi-tiered capital markets, investment and financing practices, supply chain finance, corporate listing and mergers and acquisitions, and other knowledge to meet the needs of corporate capital operations.

4. Humanities and Literacy: Incorporating the wisdom of traditional Chinese culture, such as the combination of Confucianism and Taoism with modern enterprise management, as well as Zeng Guofan's management strategies; also covering courses such as stress management for entrepreneurs, mental health, and business negotiation, to enhance the comprehensive qualities of participants.

5. Practical and hands-on training: The program includes business simulation exercises, business negotiation drills, visits to benchmark companies such as Huawei and Alibaba, alumni company visits, and private sharing sessions, allowing participants to learn from practical experience and expand their networks.

Originally, I was hoping to make some friends in the CEO class and add a few more people on WeChat, but Zhongqing's act of giving me special treatment and letting me attend the class for free is something I find hard to talk about.

Thankfully, I eventually listened attentively to every single lesson.

If you have money but haven't experienced hard work, never enroll in a CEO training program; it could easily lead to financial ruin after you start your own business.

If you have money, and it's a fortune you've built through hard work, I strongly suggest you enroll in a CEO training program. It will guide you when you feel lost and uncertain about your future.

Of course, executive training programs also offer opportunities to expand one's network.

People from the south and the north came from all walks of life, including those in the chemical industry, real estate, and even a micro-business tycoon. There was also one involved in pyramid schemes.

There are 45 people in the class, 44 of whom are talented, except for this one who's just trying to get by.

Let's be friends.

We eventually added each other on WeChat. Having more friends means having more options, and you never know when you might run into each other again. When asked why, we said we were classmates in the CEO program, so it would be easier to ask for help if needed.

Among them, the one who impressed me the most was a big shot in the sex toy industry named Fang Liao. He was about my age, but he already had a net worth of tens of millions.

Before the pandemic, he was a small courier outlet owner, earning eight or nine thousand yuan a month, but also incurring fines of one or two thousand yuan.

Fate plays tricks on people.

The year he started working in the courier industry, the pandemic broke out, and face masks became a hard currency. Luckily, he had a batch of customer face masks stored in his warehouse, not many, 120 boxes, with 3000 masks in each box.

Opportunity always favors the bold.

Fang Liao directly seized these 120 boxes. At that time, masks were just scarce, the epidemic had not yet broken out, and it was not yet time for prices to rise, but they were already hard to buy.

I still remember the confident tone in Fang Liao's voice when we were chatting: "I thought the price of masks would go up. At that time, some people in my WeChat Moments were already reselling masks, but at the original price. 120 boxes, that's only 250 yuan per box. I just told the person who received the goods that the goods were burned in transit, and I would compensate him 25,000 yuan intact and that would be the end of it."

Later, masks that originally cost less than 10 cents each were sold by Fang Liao for 1 yuan each at their peak, sold by the box, cash!

When Fang Liao mentioned this, I unconsciously swallowed.

Damn, a 125-fold profit! 3 yuan turned into 375 million yuan!

Fang Liao still gets excited when talking about this topic.

Fang Liao: "You know, back then I was afraid people would regret buying it, so all transactions were cash, face-to-face. Looking back now, I was fucking smart. Later, the government sent someone to talk to me, trying to stop me from reselling. I almost ended up in jail because of insufficient evidence!"

You've got guts!

Have a vision!

And you have a brain!

Fang Liao fully seized the opportunity that the pandemic brought him!

After the pandemic, this guy had over three million yuan in his hands, which he had become rich overnight. With nothing to do, he eventually ended up losing money through investments.

Fortunately, he limited his investment amount to a maximum of 20 yuan each time. If he lost money, he would quit and switch industries.

Fang Liao: "Investing is really not something a human being can do. I made four or five deals in a row with an investment of 20 yuan each, and lost more than 100 million yuan in two years."

Me: "It's alright, you're quite persistent. If you said an industry would lose 20, then you only lost 20."

Fang Liao: "However, the experience of losing money five times did bring an opportunity. No one would have thought that selling sex toys, especially silicone dolls, could be so profitable."

I exclaimed, "Earning ten million a year, you truly are an exceptional person!"

As for why Fang Liao was so generous in telling me his way to making money, there's only one reason—the silicone doll industry has started to become highly competitive.

Fang Liao: "I plan to change industries and retire while I'm ahead, so I'm here to take this CEO training course."

Me: "That's what makes you so amazing. You can abandon an industry that you used to make money from without hesitation! So many people catch the last train of an industry, are reluctant to leave, and then die in their old profession."

Fang Liao felt the same way about face masks, and the same way about silicone dolls.

As for why Fang Liao and I became closer, that's all thanks to my personal charm.

As the saying goes, when you're out in the world, your identity is something you give yourself.

The behind-the-scenes boss of an investment company, involved in seed and angel round investments in multiple industries, with several industry giants under his wing.

I may not be good at investment companies, but when it comes to bragging, I'm as good as three people!

In order to befriend me, Fang Liao naturally revealed all his abilities.

To be honest, out of 45 people, 4 of them run investment companies. This kind of thing is all about money; the barrier to entry is extremely low.

But they all used unorthodox methods, just like me.

Since I wanted to integrate them, I naturally took the initiative to add their contact information one by one.

Liu Junchi, male, from Shandong.

Wang Muyang, male, from Sichuan.

Xu An, male, from Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Lin Chuan, male, from Anhui.

They all run investment companies.

Among them, Liu Junchi is a private equity fund manager, Wang Muyang is a financial advisor, and Xu An and Lin Chuan are both senior executives in the institution.

Young and promising.

Compared to these four people, I felt like a piece of shit, nothing but money.

"Let's be friends. I'm in the same industry and have a lot of money. Let's introduce each other to good projects."

The words may be corny and the method direct, but it's very effective. Who would mind having another rich friend?

[PS: I have to complain a bit. This is also a true story. My friend, in the last year of the pandemic, bought 18 yuan worth of masks and sold them on Pinduoduo. The price changed daily, and he lost 15 yuan in a week. For an ordinary person, that's devastating. After three years of the pandemic, his already fragile family was further burdened, and my friend and his wife eventually divorced. Fate is predetermined. Some people make money unknowingly, while others gamble everything and end up with broken families.]