写在前面
信息爆炸时代，知识趋于免费，能力才是无价的。共读西学社群专注训练底层逻辑思维，通过读英文原著，总结心法，加上每日外刊推送，训练案例分析能力。由于文章的单向度，这里只展示心法提炼的结果，不体现推导过程。
今日导读
若问历史上最强盛的商业帝国，大家大概率会想起谷歌，苹果公司，而英国东印度公司在当时的权盛堪称难出其右。
它不仅垄断整个东亚海上贸易近300年（1600-1874年），还组建自己的军队，发起战争，拥有自己的领土和收税权，参与了当时一切活动包括对中国的鸦片贸易和对北美的奴隶贸易。
今天，我们来聊一个后来者如何借势破局的故事吧。
01 心法分享
英国东印度公司开场牌局并不乐观，但是他通过两个创新，牢牢占据自己的阵地，建立起庞大的商业帝国。
【心法】
制度创新 + 借势破局
1. 制度创新：成立股份公司，拆解风险，统一资源和目标来共同对抗未来的不确定性。
2. 局外思维，借力打力：面对未来的高度不确定性和劲敌，转型不必另起炉灶，而是就地取材，统筹资源，节约人力/物力/成本。
不像葡萄牙/荷兰/法国等老牌殖民国家，紧盯着香料市场，不远千里进行亚洲-欧洲贸易，而是发现当地棉布，丝绸，茶叶贸易链，开辟波斯湾，中国等新市场。
02 外刊阅读
How the East India Company became the world's most powerful business?
Think Google or Apple are powerful? Then you've never heard of the East India Company, a profit-making enterprise so mighty, it once ruled nearly all of the Indian subcontinent. Between 1600 and 1874, it built the most powerful corporation the world had ever known, complete with its own army, its own territory, and a near-total hold on trade of a product now seen as quintessentially British: Tea.
At the dawn of the 17th century, the Indian subcontinent was known as the "East Indies," and - as home to spices, fabrics, and luxury goods prized by wealthy Europeans - was seen as a land of seemingly endless potential. Due to their seafaring prowess, Spain and Portugal held a monopoly on trade in the Far East. But Britain wanted in, and when it seized the ships of the defeated Spanish Armada in 1588, it paved the way for the monarchy to become a serious naval power.
In 1600, a group of English businessmen asked Elizabeth I for a royal charter that would let them voyage to the East Indies on behalf of the crown in exchange for a monopoly on trade. The merchants put up nearly 70,000 pounds of their own money to finance the venture, and the East India Company was born.
The corporation relied on a "factory" system, leaving representatives it called "factors" behind to set up trading posts and allowing them to source and negotiate for goods. Thanks to a treaty in 1613 with the Mughal emperor Jahangir, it established its first factory in Surat in what is now western India. Over the years, the company shifted its attention from pepper and other spices to calico and silk fabric and eventually tea, and expanded into the Persian Gulf, China, and elsewhere in Asia.
写作语料
Enterprise 企业, 组织, （尤指）公司，企业…
Mighty 强大的, 巨大的, 伟大的…
Subcontinent 次大陆, （常指）南亚次大陆…
Quintessentially 最典型，最本质
Seafaring 航海的
Prowess 杰出的才能, 高超的技能
royal charter 皇家许可证
Venture （有风险的）企业, 投机活动, 商业冒险…
Calico （本色的）厚棉布，白布
03 思考一下
举至少一个借势破局思维的栗子
欢迎在评论区交流讨论~
04 精彩思想碰撞
“借势破局”的打卡回答都非常精彩。这些回答我给满分，在社群里我们交流的是新知，碰撞的是观点，学英语，那是顺带的事，我们是用英语。
杬君语录：图️1借的是已经培养起来的用户习惯，破的是用户需求升级的局，图️2农村包围城市，暴打双头蛇。非常精彩。
杬君语录：实名表扬Leo，昨日的打卡非常有自己的思考和见解。阅读外刊️➡️提炼心法️➡️结合自身经历️➡️应用心法️➡️发现了厂家盆满钵满收获“战争利益”的秘密（关键是在就地取材，节约成本的前提下），学以致用，Leo转化得很精准。
杬君语录：中国古代有很多大智慧，培养中西两套大脑操作系统，正是为了不仅有身处其中的视角，也能有局外人的视角，更客观，更透彻。
THE END
文稿 | 杬君
文编 | XL
文段 | National Geographic
封面 | 来自网络，侵删
文图 | 部分来自网络，侵删
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