拼多多2021年度致股东信
以下为黄峥2021年致股东信原文：
今年的股东信提前了一点，是为了及时和大家同步一个消息。刚刚开完的董事会上，董事们批准了我辞去拼多多董事长职位的请求，陈磊将从即日起接任董事长，并继续担任CEO一职。在不再担任董事长和拼多多管理职位后，我的1:10的超级投票权也将失效。我名下股份的投票权将委托拼多多董事会以投票的方式来进行决策，同时我个人承诺个人名下的股票在未来3年内继续锁定，不出售。
去年7月1日我卸任了CEO，原本计划在一年整的时候和陈磊完成董事长职位的交接。两个原因让我们决定将这个计划中的交接进一步提前了一些。
一是行业竞争的日益激烈甚至异化让我意识到这种传统的以规模和效率为主要导向的竞争是有其不可避免的问题的。要改变就必须在更底层、根本的问题上采取行动，要在核心科技和其基础理论上寻找答案。虽然拼多多自身还很年轻，还有很厚、很长的雪坡，还有比较长时间的高速增长空间，但如果要确保它10年后的高速高质量发展，那么有些探索现在已经是正当其时了。我作为创始人，跳脱出来去摸一摸10年后路上的石头，可能是比较适合的人选。如果还能结合我自身的兴趣，那就再好不过了。
二是因为疫情等原因导致的外部环境的剧烈变化，也加速了拼多多内部业务和管理的迭代。拼多多从一个纯轻资产的第三方平台，开始转重，在仓储、物流及农货源头开始进行新一轮的投入，新的业务开始在拼多多内萌芽并迅速成长。这既改变了拼多多，更催生了、锻炼了新一代的领导者、管理者，也是时候逐步让更多的后浪起来塑造属于他们的拼多多了。
那么，后面的拼多多会是什么样子呢？我未必能决定，但却可以快乐地和大家分享我自己的想象。
首先，拼多多会是一家永远把消费者利益和社会价值放在第一位的社会的企业。我们践行的“普惠、人为先、更开放”的新电商理念将在未来的日子里更鲜明地为行业和公众知晓。它面向最广大的人群，一点一滴的作出改进，努力为消费者，为社会创造价值，不论它是显著的还是不容易被看见的。也因为此，它将越来越受到大众的欢迎。它所面临的各种藩篱也会慢慢被打破，即使有时候会需要一点时间，甚至可能会有波折。但是“普惠，人为先，更开放” 应该是个方向，它将在这个新时代绽放出不一样的活力。
其次，拼多多会是一家富予想象，不断迭代创新的企业。Costco+Disney 的愿景将会更具象、更生动地展现在面前。虽然当前还只是多实惠、多乐趣的初级阶段，但我们已经能够感受到多实惠叠加上多乐趣后带来的性质性的微妙的不同，感受到这背后的化学反应产生的 1+1>2 的巨大力量。过去几年的实践让我们更加相信，这个愿景是丰富、有趣、值得憧憬、可以追求的。
第三，拼多多会努力成为一家成熟的、国际化的公众机构。18年上市时的股东信里有这样一段话：“我们希望拼多多是一个公众机构，它为最广大的用户创造价值而存在。它不应该是彰显个人能力的工具，也不应该有过多的个人色彩。与此同时，它应该作为一个独立的公众机构，展示它作为一个机构独特的社会价值、组织结构和文化，并且因循着它自身独特的命运生生不息，不断演化。”那个时候拼多多还像一个刚上小学的小孩，而今虽然只过了3年，拼多多却已像是正进入青春期的少年，看着他的快速变化和成长，一旁的我既欣喜又焦虑。但无论是紧张兴奋，还是惶恐，它总会有他自己成长的道路，希望今天我退董事长会有助于这位少年独立成人。
退了后我做什么呢？我想去做一些食品科学和生命科学领域的研究。拼多多是农产品起家的，过去几年里拼多多对农业领域的贡献主要还是在流通领域。通过提升流通领域效率，去中间补两头来让农民和消费者获益。但流通效率的提升毕竟不能从质上提升农产品的附加值，也不能性质性的大幅提升身体健康水平。那一步步往纵深走，我们能做些什么呢？
比方说，通过对农产品种植过程的方法的控制，我们是否有可能对马铃薯、番薯、西红柿等的潜在有害重金属含量进行可靠有效的控制，同时对其可能有的、有益的微量元素进行可控的、可标准化的提升？如果以后有一种西红柿，每一颗都含有最适合我们身体的VC等微量元素，那我们的生活质量是否就会有明显的提高？
再比如，如果我们能够比较透彻的了解不同的植物蛋白和动物蛋白在摄入人体后的变化和作用，进而通过植物蛋白来合成生产出肉的替代品，那这种新的素鸡2.0是否有可能成为更健康、更绿色的稳定供给？
如果我们再进一步，深入到蛋白质结构及在人体内的性状的研究，我们是否有可能沿着2016年诺贝尔化学奖获得者的分子机器的道路，进一步研究出蛋白质机器人，可以进入到人的脑部血管进行疏通，避免中风？
小时候，老师问我们长大了想做什么，我和很多人一样说想成为科学家。而今一晃已过不惑之年了，想成为真正的科学家也许已经不太可能了，但如果我努力，把中学里最喜欢的化学、大学里学的计算机、工作中学习的经营管理结合起来，我天真的想，说不定也能再做出点有意思的事儿。成不了科学家，但也许有机会成为未来（伟大）的科学家的助理，那也是一件很幸福的事儿。
黄峥
2021年3月17日
拼多多2021致股东信：英文版
this year’s shareholder letter comes slightly earlier than usual so that we can keep everyone updated on some new developments. At our Board meeting earlier today, the Board approved my resignation as the Chairman of the Board. Lei will take over as Chairman with immediate effect while continuing in his existing role as CEO. As I step down from the Board and relinquish my executive responsibilities at Pinduoduo, the 1:10 super voting rights attached to my shares will be removed. I will further entrust the voting rights of these shares to the Board, which has been guiding Pinduoduo in the past 3 years. At the same time, I pledge these shares to another three years of lock-up; they will not be sold.
I stepped down from the CEO position on July 1st last year, with the plan to fully transition the Chairman role to Lei one year from then. Two factors have prompted us to accelerate this transition.
First, the intensifying, aand to a certain extent, distorted competition in some area has made me realize that the traditional approach of competing through scale and efficiency has its inevitable limitations. To change this, we must take action on deeper and more fundamental issues and seek answers from core technologies and the fundamental theories that underpin them. Although Pinduoduo is still a young company with a long runway for growth, it is about the right time to explore what’s next if we want the same quality and pace of growth in 10 years. As the founder of this company, I am probably the most suitable person to take on this task by stepping out of the business and the comfort zone to embark on a journey of exploration. It would be all the better if the journey is also aligned with my personal interests.
Second, the pandemic has caused dramatic changes externally, which accelerated the evolution of our operations and management team internally. Pinduoduo has transformed from a pure asset-light third-party model to becoming more asset-heavy, with new investments in warehouses, agriculture-focused logistics, and upstream sources of agriculture products. New businesses have sprouted and grown rapidly internally. Not only have these new developments stimulated Pinduoduo, they have also birthed and groomed a new generation of leaders and managers. It is time to let them shape the Pinduoduo they aspire to build.
So, what will Pinduoduo become in the future? I cannot say for sure, but I am happy to share my thoughts.
First, Pinduoduo will always be a company that puts the interests of its consumers and societal value first. The philosophy of “Benefit All”, “People First”, and “More Open” that we have practiced will be more distinctly acknowledged by the industry and the public. Pinduoduo, being a platform that serves the masses, will make every possible improvement – significant or invisible – prudently bit by bit and strive to create value for consumers and society. And because of this, it will increasingly be embraced by the public. The various obstacles it faces will slowly be broken and overcome, even if the journey may require some time and may be bumpy. Nonetheless, “Benefit All”, “People First”, and “More Open” should be the direction, as they will bring new life and hope in this new era.
Next, Pinduoduo will be an imaginative and constantly innovating company. Our vision of “Costco+Disney” will be more distinctly and vividly presented to our users. Even though we are still at the very early stage of “More savings, More fun”, we have already sensed the subtle differences sparked by the multiplier effect of compounding “More savings” with “More fun” and felt the tremendous force behind this chemical reaction that makes 1+1>2. Our execution and experiences of “More savings, More fun” over the past few years have led us to believe that this vision is rewarding, fun, hopeful and worth pursuing.
Finally, Pinduoduo will endeavor to become a mature and global public organization. In our 2018 Shareholder Letter at the time of IPO, we said that, “We envision Pinduoduo to be an organization that reports to the public. It should create value for the public, rather than being a show-off trophy for a few or carrying too much personal color. We want it to be an independent organization that brings value to the society with its unique organizational structure and corporate culture. Most importantly, it should continue to strive to better itself.” At that time, Pinduoduo was still a child just starting elementary school. Even though it has only been three years since then, Pinduoduo has become a youth entering adolescence. Observing its rapid transformation and growth, I am both joyful and anxious. Pinduoduo will have its own growth journey regardless of whether I am nervous, excited, or frightened as its guardian. I hope that my stepping down as the Chairman of the Board will aid this young person into independent adulthood.
What will I be doing after stepping down? I want to work on research in the fields of food sciences and life sciences. Pinduoduo has its roots in agriculture. In the past years, Pinduoduo’s contribution in agriculture has been mainly in downstream distribution and improving midstream supply chain efficiency. We have created greater income for farmers and savings for consumers by streamlining the supply chain and matching supply and demand more efficiently. However, improved efficiency in distribution and sales still does not fundamentally add value to agricultural products, nor inherently improve our health significantly. What can we do if we were to take a step further and go beyond efficiency improvements?
For example, through managing the farming process, can we implement reliable and effective control of harmful heavy metal content in potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc, while improving their micronutrient content in a managed and standardized manner? If the tomato could be cultivated such that every single fruit is packed with the optimal amount of Vitamin C and other micronutrients our bodies need, would our quality of life be much improved?
Or, if we could better comprehend how our bodies would react to and be affected by the different plant and animal proteins we consume, and then incorporate these insights into the synthetic production of alternative meats, could we create a next generation of meat that is simultaneously healthier, greener, and more sustainably supplied?
Taking one step further, if we further research into the protein structures and their traits in the human body, could we build on the work of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates on molecular machines to produce protein-based molecular motor that can travel through the blood vessels in the brain and unclog them to prevent strokes?
When we are young, our teachers always ask us what we aspire to become when we grow up. Like many others, I declared that I wanted to be a scientist. Alas, in the blink of an eye, I am already in my forties. It is probably unlikely for me to become a true scientist. But if I work hard and combine the chemistry that I loved in high school, the computer science that I learnt in university, and the operation experiences I acquired at work, maybe I can still make something meaningful happen. Though I can no longer become a true scientist myself, I would feel very lucky and blessed if I have the chance to become a research assistant to a future, possibly great, scientist.