You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 476

Xiong Xiaoge was almost laughing at Qin Shaoyan's shamelessness.

"You are not familiar with Sina, so you are too embarrassed to poach people, and then you ask me to do something that will offend people?" Xiong Xiaoge snorted coldly, "You are very shrewd in your calculations."

"It's easier to target people you know." Qin Shaoyan didn't react to Xiong Xiaoge's words. "Sina's management team is in such a mess, and with the shareholders meddling, a good company has become what it is now."

"After losing NetEase and Sohu, I have nothing left to lose. I can only rely on blogs to survive, but I won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Sina was not the first to start blogging in China, and it was not very popular when it first came out. Later, various domestic portals, such as Sina, Sohu, and NetEase, which originally did not think highly of the blog business, also joined the blog camp. In the end, Sina attracted a number of Internet celebrities to cheer it on and won the largest market share.

But blogs are good-looking but not tasty, just like chicken ribs, and there is no way to monetize them.

As soon as Weibo came out, blogs would soon be eliminated from history, and Sina, the Internet pioneer, would be relegated to second-rate level.

Xiong Xiaoge thought about it and sighed, "I'll get you some people to help you. As for how far you can go on Weibo, it depends on you."

"Please try harder, Mr. Xiong. Weibo is related to the future of the campus network." Qin Shaoyan continued to PUA, "Mr. Xiong, Mr. Zheng, I always feel that you are completely different from other venture capitals. The reason why I have been cooperating with you is that I value your professionalism."

"If you two really have concerns, just pretend that I never mentioned it. Whether Weibo can make a leap forward depends on its own luck."

"It doesn't matter whether it succeeds or not. After all, Mr. Xiong has to maintain his relationship with his friends, and the share price of Campus Network is not that important."

Xiong Xiaoge was furious. "Qin Shaoyan, don't be so sarcastic. I didn't say I won't help."

"I just said it casually." Qin Shaoyan said innocently, "I know that Mr. Xiong will definitely try hard to convince his friends. Whether Weibo can be successful depends entirely on your efforts."

Xiong Xiaoge frowned, "Weibo will be online on January 1st. Are you ready in advance?"

"Almost there." Qin Shaoyan answered confidently, "By then the US will also be able to launch Twitter simultaneously, and then Internet users around the world will be able to experience the convenience of the social 2.0 era."

"Eh, global simultaneous launch?" Xiong Xiaoge was a little surprised. "Who decided this strategy? It was you, right?"

"Of course it's me." Qin Shaoyan replied, "We can use the publicity created by Twitter in the United States to build momentum for Weibo. This will also benefit the share price of Campus Network, killing two birds with one stone."

Zheng Nan asked, "Will Twitter attract domestic users?"

"I asked Twitter to temporarily block registrations of IP addresses in East Asia and Southeast Asia." Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly. "Twitter's current target users are still limited to North America and some English-speaking regions in Europe. They have no intention of expanding globally."

Xiong Xiaoge and Zheng Nan were very satisfied with this plan. Qin Shaoyan was very experienced in publicity and promotion, and could be said to be an Internet marketing expert.

However, Xiong Xiaoge hesitated for a moment and said earnestly: "Your Weibo account does have some potential, but you should not put all your focus on this one project."

"After all, the campus network is the foundation of our business, and the foundation cannot be shaken."

For Xiong Xiaoge, it is still unknown whether Weibo can take off, when it will take off, and whether it can make a profit.

He did not agree with Qin Shaoyan's decision to allocate all of Campus Network's resources to the upper level. After all, Campus Network was a listed company, and every move would affect the stock price.

If Weibo fails to achieve the expected results and the development of campus networks is also hindered, it will be very unfavorable to the stock price.

Moreover, although the campus network may face bottlenecks in its future development, the market is still unknown, so we can still operate it well during this period.

They haven't made enough money as shareholders yet.

If you really want to use Weibo, you can wait until the campus network encounters bottlenecks.

"Time is running out, Mr. Xiong." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "The Internet is developing rapidly now. We can wait, but our competitors can't."

"We can only survive by keeping our original aspirations, putting customers first, making continuous progress and making breakthroughs."

Xiong Xiaoge frowned, exchanged glances with Zheng Nan, and finally said seriously: "We support you in running Weibo, but you can't give up the campus network. At least you have to keep the campus network growing and keep its prosperity for at least one year."

Qin Shaoyan nodded, "No problem, the campus network will continue to develop, at least it will continue to improve in terms of data."

Only after getting Qin Shaoyan's assurance did Xiong Xiaoge feel relieved.

No matter what method Qin Shaoyan is going to use, as long as the report looks good, it will be fine. We are here to make money, not to play innovation with you.

After sending the investor away, Qin Shaoyan still had a smiling expression on his face, "See? This is the virtue of a venture capital institution."

Zhang Pingyi sighed, "Maybe your bold plan scared them. Giving up the campus network and going all-in on Weibo is a bit too exciting for them."

"I admit that I did have some gambling in mind," Qin Shaoyan said seriously. "The Weibo post was indeed a bit radical. I was afraid that my backup plan was too conservative and would not suit their taste, so I didn't mention it."

Zhang Pingyi was stunned for a moment, "What is your backup plan?"

"Just bet all your money on instant messaging software and give Penguin a good fight," Qin Shaoyan replied. "Grab a piece of the market before 2011, and then prepare for the new Internet era."

"Ah?" Zhang Pingyi was surprised. "You call this plan conservative?"

"It's indeed conservative." Qin Shaoyan answered as a matter of course, "I'm just giving up all the social media platforms. I'm really reluctant to do so."

"No, are you so optimistic about the instant messaging software market?" Zhang Pingyi was a little confused. "Penguin is now the only one in the market. Isn't it too risky to compete with it?"

"It is indeed a bit risky, but the penguin is not a monster with a copper head and iron arms. It's just that no one has really threatened it for so many years." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "It doesn't mean that it is invincible."

"QQ has benefited from the rapid development of China's Internet, but it also has its own strengths and can continue to evolve when facing pressure from competitors."

"QQ was not profitable in the early days, which led to huge financial pressure. Now that it has found a way to make profits, its development will become smoother and smoother, and it will be more and more difficult to challenge it."

In the early years, the only real rival of QQ was MSN, which claimed to have 3 million users in the country at that time.

However, MSN had fewer functions, slow iteration, and was not easy to use, so it was quickly surpassed by QQ.

Zhang Pingyi was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Will we win?"

"We will definitely win." Qin Shaoyan said confidently.

"Why are you so confident?" Zhang Pingyi continued to ask.

"Sina, Sohu, and NetEase." Qin Shaoyan held up three fingers. "They were the three major portal websites back then. They were also the first Internet companies to go public in the United States. They were also at the peak of their popularity in the early days of the domestic Internet. How are they doing now?"

"The combined market value of Sina and Sohu is not even half of our campus network. Only NetEase survives by relying on its gaming business."

"The development of the Internet is also changing with each passing day. No one can always stand at the forefront of the trend, and there is no company that is too big to fail."

“When the new era arrives, the old giants will be ruthlessly left behind by the new trend.”

"A new era?" Zhang Pingyi pondered slowly, then nodded, "I find that you have more confidence in the future than anyone else."

Qin Shaoyan smiled. He was not confident about the future, but he just looked at the reference answers in advance.

"I have confidence in the future of the country." Qin Shaoyan forced himself to elevate the topic, "There will be many opportunities to make money in the future."

"Even if we can't beat them with instant messaging software, we can rely on other things."

"I believe you." Zhang Pingyi also smiled. "Anyway, I am already financially free. I can't spend all the money I earn in my lifetime. I'll do whatever you say."

"Then let's start with the first five-year plan." Qin Shaoyan suddenly became full of fighting spirit.

……

After the prop mall of Happy Farm was launched, the first-day sales exceeded 10 million. This news swept the entire Internet circle like a bombshell, shocking all peers.

How come it’s only ten million?

Is a game about stealing vegetables so profitable? It is a web game, and the design is not complicated. Technically, it is not difficult.

But such a simple thing generated a revenue of 10 million on the day it was opened for payment.

Why is it so easy for others to make money? We work so hard to attract users and get paid, but we can’t make much money at all and are completely supported by advertising revenue.

A large number of Internet entrepreneurs are so jealous that they wish they could create their own "Happy Farm".

As a leading company in the online gaming field, NetEase also quickly held an internal meeting to review "Happy Countryside".

Boss Ding Lei listened seriously to his assistant reporting various statistics about Happy Farm; the entire conference room was in complete silence.

Ding Lei glanced at the others and said directly: "You are all elites in the gaming field. Tell me, what is the reason for the success of Happy Farm?"

The people below immediately spoke up, "Its gameplay is not the main thing, its main focus is on social attributes."

“Registration is simple, operation is easy to use, and the development path is simple and easy to understand.”

“The leaderboard function allows users to show off in their social circles, which gives them a greater sense of achievement than showing off to stranger gamers.”

"It's just a web game that you can play right away. The user acquisition cost is very low, which is something that client-side games can't compare to. Of course, its gameplay and picture quality are just so-so."

The people in the gaming department talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the opponent at once. What they said made sense, but Ding Lei still frowned.

"Do you think web games have a future?" Ding Lei suddenly asked.

Faced with this question, everyone present was stunned.

How could the boss have such an idea? What kind of game is that web game? It's not even presentable.

"Mr. Ding, web games are not technically difficult, but they have too many shortcomings. Client games are becoming more and more sophisticated, and users may not accept low-quality products like web games."

"Yes, Mr. Ding, strictly speaking, Farmville isn't a game, so we don't need to learn it."

"There are a lot of people playing games in Internet cafes, but I haven't seen anyone playing Farmville. Most of them are white-collar workers and middle-aged and elderly people, but they are not our target users."

Ding Lei suddenly asked: "Why do you think Qin Shaoyan would make such a game?"

Someone immediately answered: "Of course it's for socializing. The campus network itself is a social networking site. The purpose of developing this game is to expand the user base."

Ding Lei nodded and said, "This is a very accurate analysis. Can we come up with something similar?"

Everyone below was stunned and looked at each other.

"NetEase also needs a social game to expand its user base." Ding Lei said, "Since web games are not difficult, let's make one too."

"..."

……

Penguin Company.

Ma Huateng said to Zheng Zhihao with emotion: "I never thought that Happy Farm would have such potential. The previous decision was a bit hasty."

“The QQ Farm project was wrong, but the strategic direction was right.”

Zheng Zhihao nodded. The mistake of QQ Farm was that it shouldn’t have copied it directly. As a result, it didn’t get to eat the meat and got into trouble.

"If we had switched to a new social game before, the situation on QQ Zone would be different now."

Ma Huateng thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Zheng, please organize a group of people to start the web social game project again."

"But remember, we must not copy Farmville. We must create our own original work."

“Not only must it be original, but it must also surpass Farmville in terms of user interaction and be better than it.”

Zheng Zhihao agreed immediately, "I will set up a new project team as soon as I get back and take charge of it myself."

Leaders often set some KPIs that are both must-haves for their subordinates. No matter whether they can be completed or not, the task has been assigned anyway.

Ma Huateng said regretfully, "Qin Shaoyan... it's a pity that he is not from our Penguin."

At the same time, not only NetEase and Penguin, but also Baidu, Sina and Sohu have all announced that they will develop their own social games. Even Alibaba, which is engaged in e-commerce, is rushing to join in the fun.

On the other side of the ocean, in the United States, Facebook launched the overseas version of "Farmland".

As soon as the game was launched, it became an instant hit on the entire American Internet. Countless users flocked to it, and the number of registered game users exceeded two million on the same day.

In less than a week, the number of registered users exceeded 30 million.

The game's revenue on the first day reached 20 million US dollars, and the news shocked the US Internet industry.

As the largest social networking site in the United States, Facebook has always relied on advertising revenue for its profits.

Due to the large amount of traffic and a lot of advertisements, we can barely break even, but profitability is still a long way off.

Now that the overseas version of "Farmland" has been launched, it has immediately demonstrated its huge money-making ability, which has made Facebook boil from top to bottom.

If the company makes money, it means their salaries will increase. If the company has good development prospects and continues to make profits, the stock price will get higher and higher when it is listed, which will be more beneficial to the employees who hold shares.

The happiest people were naturally the investors behind Facebook. Institutions such as Sequoia and Goldman Sachs immediately mobilized some media to praise Facebook.

Bill Gates was even happier, as Facebook's ability to make money showed that he had a good investment vision, especially since he had just bought a large number of shares at a high price.

Facebook's excellent performance immediately made the voices opposing him disappear, and they were replaced by praise.

Investment institutions have published reports one after another, expressing continued optimism about Facebook's future, and everyone is looking forward to Facebook's listing.

There is no accurate information on when Facebook will go public, but its close brother Campus Network has gone public.

"Happy Farm" was introduced from the campus network, which shows that the campus network is also a very high-quality stock.

As a substitute for Facebook, Campus Network's stock price immediately soared like a rocket, with its market value directly breaking through 15 billion US dollars and heading towards 20 billion US dollars.

After the news spread back to China, the domestic Internet was once again in an uproar.

The current market value of Campus Network has surpassed NetEase, making it the number one Internet company in China.

The company's boss and largest shareholder, Qin Shaoyan, also became the richest man in China.

Various media outlets began to rush to interview CEO Qin Shaoyan and ask him about his feelings as the richest man.

Unexpectedly, Qin Shaoyan hid himself at this time, and all interviews were handed over to the public relations department, announcing to the outside world that the richest man Qin was in seclusion to create a groundbreaking product.

This aroused everyone's curiosity.

What Qin Shaoyan was tinkering with became the topic of most concern to everyone.

Before New Year’s Day, the campus network suddenly released an announcement.

The announcement was short.

“On January 2007, 1, a new era of Internet social networking is about to arrive!”

(End of this chapter)