Reboot 2003

Chapter 202 110: 4+2 principle (three in one)

Time entered August, the Federal Reserve officially announced the end of the current round of interest rate hikes, and the housing market was jubilant. At this time, the shadow called CDO had appeared over this free country.

But even today, it is still showing a very good appearance. Since the emergence of CDO related to housing market loans, a large amount of funds have flowed into it. Experts estimate that its market this year will reach about 5000 billion, which is three times that of 2004.

For investors, this is a good thing no matter how you look at it. After all, these CDO-related financial products are synonymous with high interest rates. CDO wealth management projects always have higher interest rates than other wealth management projects with the same rating, and some can even reach 10%. %above.

In the midst of the grand occasion, the news of rising default rates didn’t seem to cause any waves at all, and the whole world is eagerly catering to this wave of capital—real estate tycoons came to the coast of the Black Sea on cruise ships, enjoying Local delicacies and beauties, with the smiling ex-CIS officials humbly presenting some local real estate transaction certificates, waiting for them to sign some insignificant figures on their checkbooks, and take them to other countries Exchange some produce and appliances.

With all this prosperity... the Internet is of course hot too.

Although the bubble six years ago made Wall Street very disappointed with it, it seems to have walked out of its own way now. The boundless future of Facebook and Google seems to be guiding the Internet to a new direction. Under the light, today's At Fudong International Airport, passengers came out of the sliding door.

Several young men in well-fitting suits were waiting to be picked up at the airport. After waiting for a while, a young man in a white shirt came down the gangway.

"I'm sorry, the plane was delayed for a while, and I kept you guys waiting for a long time!"

"Hey, it should be! We haven't seen Zhiyuan for so long, you really miss us!"

The one who got off the plane was Yang Zhiyuan, the founder of Yahoo. There were many people who picked him up, the first ones were Ma Yun from Alibaba and Li Kaifu from Google Tianchao.

After receiving Yahoo’s investment last year, Alibaba was very elated, but it also became a subsidiary of Yahoo. At present, Yahoo holds 40% of Ali’s shares, and this deal itself was finalized by Yang Zhiyuan himself—for Ali , agreeing to such a deal is actually not a very good choice, but the relationship between the two parties is quite harmonious now. I heard that this time Yang Zhiyuan came to China in person, and Ma Yun came to Shanghai from Lin'an specially to "fulfill the friendship of the landlord" '.

As for Li Kaifu... Although he is as famous as Yang Zhiyuan and one of the two most famous Chinese in the Internet industry, the two were not very familiar before.

After shaking hands and exchanging greetings, the two left the airport with Yang Zhiyuan and drove to the hotel where they were staying. During the dinner, Ma Yun asked about Yang Zhiyuan's next itinerary, saying that if he was going to Lin'an tomorrow, he could ask someone to prepare it in advance, but But Yang Zhiyuan said: "I will stay with Kaifu in Shencheng for a few days."

Ma Yun was curious: "I heard that Zhiyuan, you are here this time for Galaxy software?"

Yang Zhiyuan said: "Yes, Goldman Sachs is doing business with them recently and invited us to participate in the due diligence of Galaxy Software."

He didn't think there was anything wrong when he spoke, Ma Yun was surprised: "Galaxy Software is going to be acquired?"

Li Kaifu quickly explained: "It's not due diligence, it's to help them optimize management. We are consultants invited by Goldman Sachs. Haven't you heard of the recent Galaxy Software corruption scandal? It's quite a big deal."

Ma Yun nodded: "I heard that a lot of problems were exposed at the same time. The high-level can't control the middle-level. Now the two sides are entangled to go to court. I thought people in China knew about it."

Yang Zhiyuan also said: "Goldman Sachs doesn't understand the Internet, so please invite us to take a look and help Galaxy Software to come up with ideas. It will take about two or three days. After that, we will go to Lin'an, and then we can wait for Jack to invite us to eat what you say." What about the state banquet dishes?"

"Of course……"

Ma Yun hurriedly agreed with a smile, but his heart started to murmur.

He had heard a lot about Galaxy Software's recent news, but because Gu Wenjie was busy with his business overseas recently, and he had a bad relationship with Yahoo, there had been less communication recently, so he didn't have time to find out what was going on there.

But he has heard the news—recently, the management of Galaxy Software seems to be looking for a third party to solve the company's management problems. Although generally speaking, "family ugliness cannot be publicized", Galaxy Software doesn't seem to care much about outsiders' eyes now. , it has no plans to go public and does not require investment from others.

Although such a ruckus has damaged the company's image, after the news spread, it seems to have become a rumor like "Galaxy software is free, but it's very rich". People who eat melons are also gossiping around this point. Galaxy Software doesn't seem to have suffered any losses.

As for the so-called optimized management, which is the simplest thing for entrepreneurs, the other party seems to have specially called Goldman Sachs, which is already very strange-Goldman Sachs is not an ordinary company... It is a little closer to ordinary entrepreneurs, but now Goldman Sachs has no business in China at all, what is the purpose of running all the way to help Galaxy Software in this business?
I also specially invited two of the most famous Chinese entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to be consultants, this...

Ma Yun didn't know what to say for a while, but anyway, they talked about Galaxy software, and the two seemed very interested in it: "President Ma, I heard that you used to be very familiar with the founder of Galaxy?"

"That's right." Ma Yun didn't have any taboos, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "He seems to be a technician from Southeast Asia, but Wen Jie said that San Diego is his family business..."

Yang Zhiyuan asked curiously, "When did you meet?"

Ma Yun recalled his experiences over the past few years and said with emotion: "It's been a long time, maybe three years, and Taobao hadn't even started yet..."

"Actually, it's Taobao. When we were about to register this domain name, he just happened to preempt it, so we ran to contact him..."

"He hadn't started his business at that time, but he wanted to find a C2C e-commerce company to cooperate with. We had no experience at that time. We thought we would be blackmailed by him, but he gave us the domain name for free..."

Li Kaifu was a little concerned: "Are you talking about San Diego, or the founder of San Diego?"

"I mean Chen Aotian, don't you know him?"

"I know, his Weibo has become very popular recently..."

As they said that, Yang and Li laughed. Ma Yun had been on Weibo a few times, but he really hadn't paid attention to that person's movements. He didn't know what the two were laughing at.

However, Yang Zhiyuan said: "This person is probably really powerful, but he may want to withdraw. He seems to be interested in cashing out recently, and he himself is very active in Meilijian, and he is very close to the Democratic Party. It is probably because many people have succeeded in starting their own businesses. I'm going to go into politics."

"Oh……"

Ma Yun nodded, and suddenly realized - no wonder these two big shots came to Shencheng to get involved in Galaxy Software, it turns out...they really came to discuss the acquisition?

After finishing the meal, Li Kaifu and Yang Zhiyuan were going to go to Galaxy Software as 'consultants', which had nothing to do with them. Ma Yun didn't plan to go again.

But Yang Zhiyuan invited him: "Jack, do you want to come too? If you have a chance in the future, you might be able to work with Galaxy Software, just like you are doing with 3721 now."

Ma Yun hesitated: "Is it possible?"

"bring it on."

Yang Zhiyuan forced him to get into the car, and Ma Yun talked to the subordinates behind, and set off with them.

It's normal to think about it, after all, foreigners have a lot of money.

Today, not everyone understands the value of the Internet. Entrepreneurs just want to gather users and sell them to big capitalists on the other side of the ocean. No one cares about how well the website is doing.

The government is still waiting and watching, thinking that foreigners are paying to help the Celestial Dynasty solve the employment rate, pay wages, and train talents... As for the specific business, it is still in the fog.

And he himself is not like this.

With the salary given by these foreign investors, he is burning money to occupy a track with an uncertain future. Last year, at the fifth anniversary of Alibaba, he said that he would be in business for [-] years. This is not a lie, but this path is difficult for individuals. , is undoubtedly a bit too far away.

Now hearing that Chen Aotian wants to sell the company and go into politics...it seems nothing strange.

"Jerry, do you believe in the 4+2 rule?"

Ma Yun was thinking wildly, and the two people in the back seat chatted.

Yang Zhiyuan asked back: "What is the 4+2 rule?"

Li Kaifu explained to him: "It is a very popular management theorem recently. It lists some common characteristics of successful enterprises. Among them, 4 are the basic qualities of an enterprise, and there are 4 secondary qualities. 2 standards, of course, this may not necessarily be suitable for us..."

Yang Zhiyuan shook his head: "I don't know..."

"What about Jack?"

Ma Yun, who is familiar with all kinds of popular success study copywriting, nodded quickly: "I have heard a little bit..."

Yang Zhiyuan didn't mind: "Then you have to teach me, you know I'm not good at management at all..."

"Of course, let me tell the story." Ma Yun volunteered, "But I have to ask Teacher Kai Fu to correct me if I'm wrong."

"Hey, how can I compare to you, you are all the people who built such a big company by yourself..."

"Mr. Kaifu, you are being modest..."

After a few words of mutual humility, Ma Yun briefly explained the content of this theory. Jiang's Oriental Pearl Tower towers clearly in the daylight.

When we got out of the car, there were already many people waiting there.

A tall bald Western man stood in the crowd, standing out from the crowd, talking to the people next to him.

When Yang Zhiyuan saw him, he went over to shake hands with him. Before Li Kaifu went over, he introduced Ma Yun: "That's the person in charge of the Tianchao Office of Goldman Sachs..."

Ma Yun didn't quite understand the significance of this position, so he followed behind and recognized a high-level executive from ICBC in the crowd. He was following behind the person in charge of the Goldman Sachs Tianchao office, as if he was following these two big men.

The two looked at each other, smiled helplessly and nodded to each other, while the person in charge of Goldman Sachs directly invited Yang and Li to go upstairs, as if they were entertaining guests into their own home.

On the way, he introduced the acceptance results of Goldman Sachs in recent days, talked about the company's size, business, and revenue status, and provided each of them with an investigation document.

After reaching the 9th floor, I will take the two of them to visit the office area of ​​Galaxy Software.

So...Galaxysoft is really going to sell?
Of course, Ma Yun could tell that this was not entertaining consultants, but showing his products to buyers.Thinking about the information that the two of them had revealed intentionally or unintentionally before, Ma Yun felt that this guess was almost inseparable.

It's just that Yang and Li are still a little uncomfortable. Yang Zhiyuan said: "Don't bother you to lead the way. Since we are helping with the evaluation, we will naturally fulfill our obligations. Please let us visit various parts of the company freely."

"Okay, our professional asset management team is always waiting to serve you."

The big bald head of Goldman Sachs smiled professionally, then stepped aside and made a gesture of 'please', Yang and Li walked into the office area of ​​Galaxy Software under the eyes of the front and back, and turned around and waved after entering: "Jack, Won't you come?"

Ma Yun hurriedly followed, he felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange, but the two of them didn't care, and they were even discussing the topic just now:

"Since there is this 4+2 rule, let's use this rule to take a look at Galaxy Software. This magical company, in what areas does it excel, and can achieve achievements that others cannot achieve in so many fields..."

"By the way, what's the first one?"

Yang Zhiyuan became interested again, and Ma Yun could only continue to explain: "The four most basic requirements, the first is strategy. The reason why a company is successful is that it has a clear strategy to guide the way forward."

Yang Zhiyuan asked again: "Then what is Galaxy Software's strategy?"

Li Kaifu was walking while flipping through the documents given to him by Goldman Sachs: "Probably the Internet. Whether it is music or software, they are inseparable from the Internet platform. This should be its strategy."

"Well, but the topic of the Internet is a bit big." Yang Zhiyuan looked around and nodded to the bowing girl at the front desk of the company, "Speaking of which, what is your Google's strategy?" Li Kaifu replied without raising his head: "Of course." Same as them."

"Haha."

The two of them laughed dryly and avoided the topic... Ma Yun also realized what was going on and started talking about the second 'principle':
"The second is implementation. If there is a strategy, then there must be a system that can implement the strategy."

Ma Yun continued to introduce that he had already arrived at the office area on the ninth floor. Yang Zhiyuan looked at the employees in the open office area on the ninth floor and asked, "What about this one? What do you think of Galaxy Software?"

"I can't see anything, but it feels quite...conservative." Li Kaifu looked at the investigation materials in his hand and said, "Their company basically has a project subcontracting structure. One project is contracted to one person, and that person is fully responsible for the project. Development progress, but the main product ideas are discussed in meetings.”

Yang Zhiyuan seemed to ask casually: "Well, is it similar to your ORK working method?"

"Almost," Li Kaifu also replied casually, "Actually, I don't know much about Google's executive structure."

Ma Yun felt like he was about to start sweating.However, he continued with the third point: "The third point is culture. An enterprise must have its own culture in order to have a cohesive force and inspire the spirit of its employees."

This time it was Li Kaifu who took the initiative to say: "Just like Yahoo's 'portable birdcage', you encourage creativity and innovation."

Yang Zhiyuan smiled and said: "Google is still more outstanding and has the principle of not doing evil. I feel that it is still difficult to have this kind of awareness."

"Then the galaxy software..."

At the end of the office, there are decorations drawn by the engineers themselves on the whiteboard: "free, open, and shared"

"This." Li Kaifu was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "This is Galaxy Software's more conscious. Although everyone knows the spirit of the Internet, it still requires determination to use these principles as a corporate creed."

Yang Zhiyuan nodded: "Then the last one..."

"The last one is organization." Ma Yun said, "How to streamline manpower and reduce bureaucracy is also the key to controlling costs."

"This one is not that simple." Yang Zhiyuan said, "During this period, Goldman Sachs has found out that there is a lot of corruption in their middle management. It doesn't feel like a company that has just been established for three years."

Li Kaifu looked at the document and said: "Actually, it's okay. They don't have many middle-level personnel. Relatively speaking, the organization is relatively flat. It should be enough to rectify it."

After discussing in this way, it seems that the most basic 4 items should be no problem.

But after that, it is the advanced 4 to choose 2-although the 4 secondary elements are not as important as the four basic elements, they represent the key to the company's ability to surpass others. In fact, they are the most important things, and there is no need here. Do the best in all of them, as long as half of the four can be done well.

"Among the secondary elements, the first is 'talent'."

After Ma Yun finished speaking, Yang Zhiyuan also pondered: "So there are many talents in Galaxy Software?"

Li Kaifu looked at the investigation report and pondered: "Goldman Sachs said that they have good conditions and benefits, but they don't retain many talents. I haven't seen any well-known acquaintances in the circle, and there is no record of how important the specific personnel are in the project."

"Now let's just take a look. In order to avoid poaching corners, of course we can't write this kind of thing directly." Li Kaifu said.

Ma Yun mentioned: "However, there are always people with outstanding abilities. This kind of people often hold important positions in many projects at the same time. You can see this kind of people just by looking at the list."

Li Kaifu remembered: "Isn't this the same person?"

"Who?"

"It's their actual controller, who is said to be the chief product engineer. It is said that he will personally participate in all projects, and the employees say so."

Several people fell silent, and Ma Yun continued: "The second thing is innovation. Companies with innovative capabilities are more likely to win in the competition."

"This is not necessarily very good." Yang Zhiyuan said, "Their music department is indeed very innovative, but the software department basically focuses on releasing open source software and doing localization. I feel that it cannot be said to be very innovative, and it is definitely not as good as yours." Google."

Li Kaifu nodded with a smile. He left Microsoft to join Google last year. He was interested in the prospect of Google. Google itself is not a company that is very good at business innovation or has strong leadership. Their biggest advantage is talent and technological innovation.

But just thinking about it, a few people went upstairs to the entrance of the 11th floor, a display cabinet covered with glass, which displayed a large number of patent certificates——

Counting of likes, information flow advertisements, intelligent word selection in input methods, browser tabs...

Li Kaifu said coquettishly: "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead. The innovative ability of Galaxy Software is obvious to all."

Yang Zhiyuan smiled and said: "Compared to your Google, it is indeed inferior, but it is already very powerful."

Li Kaifu said: "Technical innovation can't make money after all."

After that comes the third one. Ma Yun said: "The third is leadership. Strong leadership can save companies a lot of trouble..."

"Just like you, Jack?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Where is it, I am still far behind the two."

The three of them were laughing and chatting. There happened to be a few Galaxy Software receptionists waiting on the 11th floor. After saying a few words, they left. Yang Zhiyuan said to the other two people: "Actually, I am not a leader, so I asked I asked Semel to help me, but I feel that the top management of Galaxy Software are not very capable. The company's crisis is actually caused by their inability to control the middle management. If Semel had been there, things like this would definitely not have happened to them. "

Li Kaifu said: "But they have the actual controller, who is very prestigious among programmers."

Yang Zhiyuan nodded: "So engineers are the foundation of everything."

While talking, the three of them arrived at an office that was moving things out, but it was the investment department of Galaxy Software, and they were moving out.

"The last one... merger and integration." Ma Yun said in a timely manner, "Not every company can efficiently merge and integrate. I have realized this recently."

Ma Yun seemed to have something on his mind, but Yang Zhiyuan was completely unaware: "Let's go in and take a look."

Recently, Galaxy Investment seems to be moving out. It seems that due to changes in equity, Galaxy Investment will be integrated into another new company directly affiliated with the Santiago Group. That company is called 'Manjun Group', which sounds less famous and seems to be the headquarters. A newly acquired small company in Xiangjiang.

And this integration itself will not have a big impact on the business, but considering that this is likely to be a divestiture of assets before the acquisition, many rumors of "Galaxy Software is going to change hands" have emerged because of this.

When I came to the office of Galaxy Investment, there was a list on the wall of companies that Galaxy Software had invested in——

Flash Empire. "This is the Newground of China." Li Kaifu explained.

Gaode map. "This is the keyhole of the Celestial Dynasty."

Chimei.com. "This is the Amazon of China."

Public comment. “This is China’s Yelp.”

Discuz! . "This is an open source CMS system. Recently, there has been more financing for open source systems at Meilijian."

"By the way, Galaxy Software has also invested in Mysql, and recently there are rumors that Sun is preparing to acquire it."

"Does Galaxy Software have a high shareholding ratio in them?"

"Not high, but they seem to have a traffic ecology, just like Idealab, they will attract investment companies..."

"..."

In front of the whiteboard in the messy investment office, the three fell silent. Ma Yun turned to look at the two big celebrities in the Chinese technology circle. Li Kaifu suddenly asked, "Jerry, how much are you going to bid?"

Yang Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile: "It's not a question of our bid, even if we look at the media quickly, if we can buy it, we would have already bid."

Li Kaifu sighed: "But this time may not be a good opportunity, they are just mortgages, and if the founder wants to leave, we may not be able to keep him..."

Ma Yun was curious: "Didn't you say you want to buy it?"

Yang Zhiyuan finally explained to him in a low voice: "No, Galaxy Software recently needed debt financing. Goldman Sachs did some asset preservation inspections after undertaking the mortgage business, but found many company problems during the process. Goldman Sachs is trying to persuade the founder to give up his company, and then sold it to us...we were all very interested in his company."

After hearing this, Ma Yun felt that it was unreliable: "How is this possible? Their business is doing well. Weibo is so popular now. Even if it were me, I wouldn't sell it."

"Who knows," Li Kaifu said, "Goldman Sachs seems to be very sure. In short, let's take a look and follow it if we have a chance."

The three of them were talking, and that was about it for this visit.

But on the 12th floor, on the stairs, Yang Zhiyuan stopped: "Hey, I remember that the upper part is their secret department, so you can't go in."

Li Kaifu also remembered, and Ma Yun stopped quickly.

But at this moment, a person came down from upstairs, but it was Sun Xiaomei from Galaxy Software.

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Ma? Mr. Yang from Yahoo, Mr. Li from Google..."

A few people just said that Sun Xiaomei's personality was too soft, and they didn't expect to meet her here, and that Yahoo had a bit of a rift with Galaxy Software. Both Yang Zhiyuan and Ma Yun were a little uncomfortable, and shook her hand with a guilty conscience.

However, Sun Xiaomei didn't realize the purpose of these three people's visit, and she didn't mention the old grievances in the past: "I heard that you are going to help with asset management. It's really hard work. Have you seen the company just now?"

"Of course, we'll come right away when we hear Mr. Sun's need." Li Kaifu said with a smile, "We can't do anything else, but it's okay to offer some ideas. Just let us know if we can help."

Sun Xiaomei smiled and thanked her, but then asked, "Would you like to come upstairs to have a look?"

"Is it okay? Goldman Sachs said before that they are not allowed to go upstairs..."

"It's true that there is a secret development project, but it's almost done recently." Sun Xiaomei said, inviting them upstairs, "Actually, it's nothing important, it's just a little new hardware equipment. Considering the cost, the market space It’s very limited. It’s also the first time we’ve made this kind of thing, and we just need to find someone who knows how to do it.”

"Oh... okay, let's take a look, what kind of equipment are you guys working on? I heard it's IPTV?"

Sun Xiaomei seemed to be unsuspecting and replied: "No, we don't do IPTV, in fact, we mainly want to get a mobile phone..."

(End of this chapter)