You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 324 A bit chaotic

"The real big shark?" Zhang Pingyi was very surprised.

Zhang Pingyi felt that Qin Shaoyan was making a big deal out of nothing, but he could indeed sense that Qin Shaoyan seemed a little nervous.

Qin Shaoyan said with a serious face: "Now there are 10 to 20 video websites coming online every day. By the end of the year, the number may exceed 200."

"But don't you see a problem? These video websites are basically established by entrepreneurial teams, and there is no background behind them."

"Only the CEOs of Youku and Ku6 came from Sohu, but the two websites have nothing to do with Sohu."

Zhang Pingyi frowned and immediately understood what Qin Shaoyan meant. "Are you worried about the three major portals?"

Sina, NetEase, and Sohu. They are the three largest portal websites in China's Internet industry, and are also listed companies on the US stock market. They can be said to be the signature brands of China's Internet industry.

In the early days of the Internet industry, these three major portals were the ones that their peers looked up to.

Although the Internet bubble almost damaged them, their strength quickly recovered due to the rapid development of the domestic Internet in recent years.

As a listed company, it must continue to expand new businesses and give shareholders an explanation. Moreover, the profitability of relying solely on portal websites is too thin.

Video websites are the hottest concept right now, and the bold statements made by video website entrepreneurs are all aimed at portal websites. Replacing text pages with videos seems to be the mainstream in the future.

Logically speaking, portal websites have considerable advantages in engaging in video business.

Portal websites are visited by a large number of users every day, and their traffic is definitely in the first tier on the Internet.

Sina and Sohu both have SP businesses. NetEase is making a lot of money from online games, and Sohu is also developing online games. They definitely have no shortage of funds.

Faced with this situation, the portal websites seemed indifferent and did not take any action. NetEase was still concentrating on online games, and Sina did not take any action at all.

Only Sohu followed suit and launched Sohu Video, which happened almost at the same time as Qvod.

However, Sohu does not seem to be very interested in this business and has not invested any resources in it. It simply set up a video website.

The video website market is booming, with a large number of entrepreneurs pouring in. However, it is very strange that the three major portals have not responded.

Qin Shaoyan shook his head. "I'm not worried about these three companies. I'm worried about the other three companies."

Zhang Pingyi was a little puzzled, "There are three more?"

"BAT will be our biggest rivals in the future." Qin Shaoyan sighed.

"What is BAT?" Zhang Pingyi was even more confused. He felt like he and Mr. Qin were not in the same dimension when chatting.

"They are Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent." Qin Shaoyan gave Zhang Pingyi some basic knowledge, "These three companies will be the Internet giants in the next few years."

There is no statement about BAT at this time, but these three companies have already shown their strength.

Baidu went public on the NASDAQ in the United States in August 2005, and its market capitalization ranked first in China's Internet industry, three times that of Tencent.

On the night of its listing, Baidu created 7 billionaires and hundreds of multi-millionaires.

"Baidu has a search engine, a super traffic tool, and in 2004, QQ claimed to have 2005 million registered users. In February 2, the maximum number of people online at the same time exceeded 1000 million." Qin Shaoyan said with emotion, "The number of people online is million, which is more than the registered users of the campus network."

"Is Alibaba's e-commerce business considered a threat?" Zhang Pingyi was puzzled. "We are not in the same industry."

Zhang Pingyi can easily understand why Baidu and Tencent pose a threat, as both are listed companies and have huge traffic.

Just relying on search engines and QQ traffic, a video website of the same size as Qvod can be built.

Qvod claims to have half of the market’s users, but this data is inflated, as anyone who understands will understand.

Moreover, there are too many video websites, and a large number of users have been diverted.

Some small websites are very wild and bold in their actions. They will stop at nothing to attract users. They are no longer satisfied with using ordinary pirated TV series to attract traffic, but have introduced a large number of low-cost films from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States.

It is impossible to count the number of users of these small websites, and other larger websites keep the data very secretive.

In 2005, the number of Internet users in my country exceeded 3200 million. According to official statistics, there were 29 million users of online videos, accounting for % of my country's Internet users.

Qin Shaoyan didn’t know whether this data was accurate, but the number of users of Qvod was only six or seven million.

Although the number of users has been growing rapidly, it is still a little short of reaching half of online video users.

Qin Shaoyan didn't explain anything and his face remained solemn.

Zhang Pingyi forced a smile and said soothingly, "Are you exaggerating a bit? Isn't Qvod doing well now? Its peers are all thriving. By the time they entered the market, the market had already been divided up."

Qin Shaoyan shook his head. "For our colleagues, it's quite remarkable if they can survive for three years. Most of them are cannon fodder. They are useless except for making up the numbers."

"Large websites like Tudou and Youku can only last a few more years. Faced with the absolute advantages of traffic and funds from the giants, they have no way to resist except lying flat on their backs."

"For video websites, it doesn't matter how early you enter the market. Strength is everything."

Zhang Pingyi asked in confusion: "Then why don't they leave now?"

Qin Shaoyan sighed, "They are waiting and watching because the video website market has just emerged, and they still need to wait and see. A large group of cannon fodder messing up the situation here will not only waste resources, but also lead to ambushes. It's not worth it."

"Another point is that the market is not mature yet. Although the concept of video websites is very popular, there is no clear answer as to whether they can make money or how to make money."

"The way of making money just by relying on concepts before the millennium is no longer feasible. The key is to make money from the website. Concepts cannot be used as a meal."

The acquisitions of YouTube and Qvod were very popular, with high valuations, but valuations are very fictitious. They may look prosperous today, but their value may be cut in half the next day.

I'm afraid Qin Shaoyan is the only one who understands how to operate a video website. Whether it can make money and how to make money are even more unclear.

At least everyone knows that simply placing ads on the page is far from enough to recover the cost. "The industry is in chaos now, using all means to attract users. This situation will definitely not last long." Qin Shaoyan said calmly, "When the time comes, it will inevitably trigger administrative agencies to take action to rectify the situation, and the industry will face a major reshuffle."

“Once most of our peers are dead, the moat will be broken, and the big sharks will figure out the situation and it’s time to end it.”

After hearing what Qin Shaoyan said, Zhang Pingyi also fell silent.

He has always believed in Qin Shaoyan's analysis and judgment of the situation, which has been verified many times.

Moreover, Zhang Pingyi was no longer a college student who knew nothing. After gaining a deep understanding of the industry, he could foresee that it was inevitable for the administrative department to take action to rectify the situation.

The concept of video websites is so popular that hundreds of websites are launched at the same time, doing all kinds of things to attract users.

Those are not just jumping around in the gray area, some are stepping on the black industry, it would be strange if they didn't hit the iron fist.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pingyi also became worried. When the industry is reshuffled, it is hard to say whether Kuaibo.com will also be implicated.

What if it’s a one-size-fits-all approach?

Money is a small matter, after all, it’s all venture capital money.

But all the hard work that everyone has put in will be wasted, it is priceless.

Seeing Zhang Pingyi was silent, Qin Shaoyan thought he was worried too, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, we are still quite safe until all of our colleagues are killed. We still have time."

Zhang Pingyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Why do you sound so weird? It sounds like you are using your peers as a shield."

"Is it strange? What's strange about that? I mean well." Qin Shaoyan said jokingly, "Others treat their peers as enemies, but I treat them as brothers."

When Qin Shaoyan was chatting with Zhang Pingyi, his secretary Xiao Chen suddenly reported, "Boss Qin, Boss Xiong from IDG is here."

"Hey, the God of Wealth is here, please come in." Qin Shaoyan was overjoyed.

Xiong Xiaoge walked in quickly. "It's so rare to hear President Qin praise me. I hope you really treat me as the God of Wealth, not a sucker."

"What kind of words are you talking about?" Qin Shaoyan was stunned. "What do you mean by being taken advantage of? You invested money in me and that's a mutual achievement. How can you be considered a taken advantage of?"

Xiong Xiaoge sat down by himself and said, "Don't talk about mutual achievement. You didn't take me as a sucker. You treated me as an ATM and asked for money as soon as you opened your mouth."

"You are a venture capitalist, and your job is to spend money." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "Xiao Chen, serve tea to Mr. Xiong. Good tea."

"Of course I have to ask you for money if I don't have any. How can I make money for you if you don't invest money?"

"Come on, I invested so much money in you, but I haven't seen a penny in return." Xiong Xiaoge said sarcastically.

"Boss Xiong, be honest with yourself," Qin Shaoyan retorted unhappily, "Didn't you make a small profit from the artificial intelligence project?"

Xiong Xiaoge was speechless for a moment. You are still talking about that crappy artificial intelligence of yours. I don’t even bother to say anything to you.

Xiong Xiaoge said seriously: "The video website is doing well, why do you want to raise funds again?"

Qin Shaoyan answered confidently: "It is precisely because the development is going well that we need financing. Without financing, how can we move to the next level? Without financing, how can the valuation double?"

"Don't try that on me." Xiong Xiaoge interrupted Qin Shaoyan. "In the video website market, Qvod has no rivals. The funds you have can at least last until next year."

“Why are you suddenly raising funds again?”

"Boss Xiong, you are so ignorant. The better a video website develops, the more money it needs." Qin Shaoyan said aggrievedly, "The more users there are, the higher the bandwidth fee will be."

Xiong Xiaoge snorted coldly, "No matter how much the broadband fee increases, it won't consume all the funds at once, right?"

"In addition to buying broadband, we also need to set aside some money for activities." Qin Shaoyan said sincerely, "According to reliable information, Tudou.com and Youku.com have formed an anti-Qvod alliance. They are making new investments to compete with Qvod."

"Anti-Qvod Alliance?" Xiong Xiaoge was stunned for a moment, frowned and asked, "Where did you hear this gossip?"

"How can this be considered gossip?" Qin Shaoyan retorted, "I am still the deputy leader of the Anti-Qvod Alliance."

"..." Xiong Xiaoge was a little confused. He felt that his mind was a little confused. He didn't understand why Qin Shaoyan became the deputy leader of the Anti-Qvod Alliance.

But Xiong Xiaoge felt that this seemed like something Qin Shaoyan could do.

"Master Zhang, show Mr. Xiong the group that Tudou.com has set up." Qin Shaoyan made a gesture.

Zhang Pingyi immediately walked to the computer, logged into his QQ account, opened the "Anti-Qvod Alliance" group, and then showed it to Xiong Xiaoge.

Xiong Xiaoge looked at them in bewilderment for a long time, then looked at Qin Shaoyan with suspicion, "Are these actors the ones you hired?"

"What kind of words are you talking about?" Qin Shaoyan was very indignant. "I can lie to anyone but you. Besides, this is easy to verify. You can find a video website owner to verify it."

"I have the phone number of Yiku.com's CEO. If you don't believe me, ask him."

"Forget it." Xiong Xiaoge waved his hand and didn't pursue the details. He looked at the lively chat in the QQ group thoughtfully and smiled, "You guys always come up with something new for me."

"Is their anti-Qvod alliance useful?"

"Of course it worked." Qin Shaoyan said immediately, "I'm almost scared to death. I'm about to become the public enemy of the industry. Mr. Xiong, for the sake of Campus Network and Qvod, please lend a hand!"

Xiong Xiaoge smiled disdainfully, "These people are just a bunch of chickens and dogs. Boss Qin can easily kill them. Why do they need my help?"

"Before the army moves, the food and fodder must go first, General Xiong." Qin Shaoyan shouted sincerely.

"I don't think they pose any threat." Xiong Xiaoge refused to give in.

(End of this chapter)