Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1212 Spring is Coming?

China.com announces it will raise funds at a valuation of 224 billion RMB!

"In less than 32 days since its launch, China.com has achieved the highest valuation in the history of the global internet!"

"China.com becomes the most valuable unicorn in Asian technology history!"

This is currently the busiest time of day for Tianya Forum, with users being quite active in various sections such as Tianya Miscellaneous Talk, Tianya Entertainment, and Tianya Sports.

When the Tianya Technology section first reported the news from China.com, netizens from various sections were drawn to it, and the Tianya Miscellaneous Talk section, which has the most users, also started discussing it.

"Am I crazy, or is the world crazy?"

"A website that has been online for just over a month has a valuation exceeding 224 billion RMB, which is more than the market capitalization of 99% of A-share listed companies!"

"Are they now so shameless about lying?"

Posts appeared on Tianya Forum, but most were skeptical, as the news was too frightening and beyond the comprehension of mainland internet users.

A lousy website is valued at 224 billion RMB. How much do full-time employees in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other major cities earn each year? Even a mid-level employee earns only a little over 14,000 RMB. The valuation of China.com is equivalent to the total annual income of many people!

This sounds quite alarming and is completely beyond the imagination of today's internet users.

Having just finished dinner, Qian Cheng, a seasoned internet user, turned on his computer and, as usual, logged into Tianya Forum, only to see the news from China.com that was trending across the internet.

The two websites that Qian Cheng visits most often now are Tianya Forum and China.com. The two websites have different focuses. The former allows people from all over the world to find like-minded people to discuss a topic together. There are all kinds of news every day, and of course, arguments and verbal battles are also part of the "flooding" (posting).

Meanwhile, China.com became Qian Cheng's place to browse domestic and international news. He could see a large amount of domestic and overseas news every day, giving him the feeling that he could "see" the world through China.com.

But when Qian Cheng saw that China.com was valued at 224 billion RMB, he still felt a little numb.

Qian Cheng is a seasoned internet user who has been using computers for a long time. His family and job are naturally quite well-off, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to buy a computer so early.

Even though he came from a well-off family, Qian Cheng felt that the news on China.com was a bit too "fake".

Qian Cheng had also read China.com's report on Silicon Valley in America and knew that the internet industry there was booming, with the market value of various internet companies constantly reaching new historical highs.

When Qian Cheng reads those news articles, he always feels that it is the "outside" world, which has nothing to do with the inland. Even as a veteran netizen, he doesn't have much of a feeling about the development of the Internet in the inland, and he still watches with a detached, spectator mentality.

But when something that had happened in America was brought to China, and even more intensely, the impact was still too shocking for Qian Cheng. His worldview, built up over so many years, was shaken.

Is the internet really that profitable? The valuation of one website exceeds that of a large number of A-share listed companies. This has exceeded the comprehension of too many people, to the point that they feel this thing is fake.

If the valuation of China.com is true, he can hardly imagine how crazy things must be in Silicon Valley.

The reports he saw on China.com described how Stanford University students were dropping out one after another to plunge into the internet industry. Some became rich overnight, while others founded internet companies, went public, and entered high society. Could all of this be true?
"China.com's valuation is reasonable!"

Amidst a multitude of posts questioning the valuation of China.com and the authenticity of its news articles, a verified profile picture posted a message.

This account verification proves that the person holding the ID number is a real user of Tianya Forum.

This is also a way for Tianya Forum to attract celebrities. After all, when celebrities and famous people come to Tianya, they need an identity marker, so this certification was introduced.

Qian Cheng remembered that the account name Hu Weiming belonged to a senior executive at Ogilvy & Mather, the American advertising agency, in mainland China.

The most famous thing Hu Weiming did when he came to Tianya Forum was when the Hasee A1 all-in-one PC was released. Many people on the forum believed that Hasee was just ripping people off, and that apart from its flashy appearance, it was almost useless.

However, based on his experience as a professional advertising and media person, Hu Weiming believed that the Shenzhou A1 all-in-one machine might sell very well.

At the time, there were quite a few people on the forum who mocked Hu Weiming and even threatened him, saying, "If you're so tough, why don't you ask the forum administrator to delete this post?"

As of now, the Hasee A1 all-in-one PC has sold over 610,000 units worldwide, generating over 790 million US dollars in revenue, making it one of the most profitable products in computer history and surpassing Apple to firmly hold the title of the world's number one all-in-one PC!

Moreover, it's not just Apple; overseas computer giants such as HP, Dell, and Compaq have also announced their all-in-one PC plans, and a global all-in-one PC craze is on the rise.

If you go back into the previous post, you'll find that the tone has completely changed. It's all praise and compliments for Hu Weiming's unique vision, and there are also replies to those who questioned Hu Weiming before, such as "Don't use your hobby to challenge other people's livelihoods!" Now that Hu Weiming has posted again, it has immediately attracted the attention of many forum spectators, including Qian Cheng.

"As portal websites, Yahoo's market value is about to exceed 40 billion US dollars, while Yahoo Japan, which is from the same lineage as Yahoo, has already exceeded 5 billion US dollars in market value!"

"China.com has become the number one Chinese internet concept stock globally. If China.com goes public, its market value could far exceed $28 billion!"

"China.com's performance has surpassed that of all other companies in the internet industry at the same time, including Yahoo back then!"

"If China.com had been born in Silicon Valley, its valuation would likely be far greater than it is now!"

"In addition, internet companies are now becoming the most active advertisers in the world. Yahoo's advertising expenditure this year exceeded 60 million dollars to promote and advertise Yahoo around the world."

China.com also needs funding to raise money for promotion and advertising!

After typing so many words in one go, Hu Weiming couldn't help but rub his slightly sore fingers. As a senior executive of Ogilvy & Mather, although he was located inland, Hu Weiming still had access to Ogilvy & Mather's internal documents.

Through information from Ogilvy & Mather, he learned just how crazy the internet had become, far more so than anything imaginable in China.

Therefore, Hu Weiming was not too surprised by the valuation of China.com. Although China.com's performance was crazy, it was not actually that outrageous in Silicon Valley.

Those guys in Silicon Valley with an idea, without even a trace of a website, can still attract hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital, and even investment from giants. That's what you call being good at playing the game.

Judging from China.com's current performance, it's actually not too outrageous; its user growth rate far exceeds that of its peers.

In particular, Hu Weiming had heard some rumors that China.com was working with Tianya Forum, 3721, Kingsoft, and Jiangmin Antivirus to develop some kind of advertising system and website recommendation algorithm. He didn't know what these were for, but he could see that China.com was forging a path different from the American Chinese internet.

"Those are internet companies run by Americans. Can China.com be compared to them? It's run by Chinese people!"

"Yes, can domestic internet companies really be compared to American companies?"

"If Americans can do it, then China.com can definitely do it too?"

"I think China.com is just blindly imitating others. In the end, we'll see who actually buys into China.com's claims!"

After Hu Weiming posted, some people agreed, after all, Hu Weiming had proven himself before, but there were still many people who posted to question and ridicule him.

This is the prevailing sentiment in China now; countless people believe that the moon is always brighter abroad than in China. Therefore, there is some dissatisfaction with Hu Weiming's decision to benchmark China.com against foreign internet companies.

In their minds, things that can be made abroad are not necessarily made domestically. Even if they can be made, they are just knock-offs and pirated versions. How can a knock-off compare to the original?
After reading these posts, Hu Weiming remained silent for a while before logging off. He has never liked arguing with people who hold different views, and he believes that time will prove everything. What's the point of arguing if you have different views and values? It's just a waste of time.

But just as Hu Weiming logged off and resumed his work, another news article was reposted on Tianya Forum.

"Three major institutions announced an investment in China.com: Bank of China, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs jointly invested $4.2 million in China.com!"

Qian Cheng, who had just finished reading Hu Weiming's post, was still in a daze when he saw the freshly released news, and his mouth involuntarily opened wide.

While Tianya Forum was still questioning whether China.com was worth $28 billion, China.com had already secured $420 million in venture capital at a valuation of $28 billion, setting a record for the largest venture capital investment in the history of the Chinese internet!
The madness of the internet appeared in the inland areas for the first time, appearing before netizens like Qian Cheng. This money game, magnified countless times, refreshed the values ​​of too many people and subverted their worldview.

The internet is transforming from the unrealistic, or even fraudulent, image that many people have of it into a synonym for "huge profits" and "get rich overnight"!
That night, most people in Zhongguancun couldn't sleep. The other three major Chinese portal websites, as well as various companies in Zhongguancun, were all digesting this sudden news.

If the 244 million user visits on the day China.com launched shocked the entire Zhongguancun, then its current valuation of $28 billion and the $4.2 million in venture capital funding have left Zhongguancun completely stunned.

This time, China.com has secured a sky-high valuation and huge financing, which has made other internet companies eager to follow suit. After China.com, will other Chinese internet companies also have their opportunities?

Not only in inland China, but also in Silicon Valley, news broke at the same time that Yahoo's financial channel had just reported on China.com's news.

"Breaking news from Asian technology: Hong Kong-based China.com has secured $4.2 million in venture capital funding at a valuation of $28 billion, setting a new record in global internet history!"

In America, Li Yanhong, an engineer who was working overtime at Souxin Company, also saw the news on China.com and was stunned.

(End of this chapter)