You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 370

Qin Shaoyan didn't expect that Zhang Chaoyang would come to him specifically to ask about Qvod.com.

But I understood it when I thought about it.

The hottest topic right now is video websites, no doubt about it.

When the news of Microsoft's acquisition of YouTube for US$2.3 billion came out, the entire Internet industry was in an uproar, especially those in the video website sector.

That’s $2.3 billion.

The US dollar was quite valuable during this period. 2.3 billion US dollars was nearly 19 billion RMB. The domestic Internet industry had not yet entered a stage of rapid expansion.

In China's Internet industry, including listed companies, the number of companies with a market value of more than US$2.3 billion can be counted on one hand.

A video website easily skipped the IPO stage and directly made its founders and investors a lot of cash. Who wouldn’t be jealous?

Although YouTube was acquired by Microsoft at a high price because it had achieved a dominant position in the video track of the American Internet.

It is impossible for domestic websites to achieve the same results.

However, YouTube spent $300 million to acquire iQiyi.

What level is Yiku.com? Even that kind of rubbish can be worth $300 million.

Although the "China Internet Development Research Association" has praised Yiku.com to the sky, as if it is the rising star in the domestic video website field second only to QVOD.com.

This kind of report may be able to fool ordinary people and Internet laymen, but to the bosses of video websites, the report is pure nonsense.

We are all in the same industry, so we all know each other.

Although I don't know the other party's real data, I can still make a rough estimate based on my own situation.

What's more, except for the data about Qvod, all the data in the report of the "China Internet Development Research Association" are fake, and they cannot be more fake.

When the secretary general of the association came to them to ask for data, everyone tacitly optimized their own data.

They didn't dare to add more, at most they increased it by between 100% and 150%.

But after the report came out, the above data was inflated again based on their optimization.

However, everyone chose to remain silent on this matter. Anyway, the report is to fool netizens and laymen, and by the way, fool investors. It is beneficial to the entire industry, so why should everyone spoil the fun?

Of course, this report is not entirely useless.

Based on the data in the reports, these people on the video website can also roughly estimate the situation of other peers.

With such outrageous data, Yiku.com was sold for $300 million.

No one thinks the money is too little.

Many entrepreneurs dream of being acquired by a big boss so that they can take the money and become financially free.

Whoever wants to start a business can do it, but I don’t want to do it.

Even if we don't have $300 million, we can still offer a 20% discount on video sites, and as time goes by, the valuation of video sites will also rise.

So when two consecutive acquisition news of video websites appeared in the industry, domestic video websites instantly became popular and were sought after by various venture capital firms.

Many websites have received investment to varying degrees and can survive for a while.

Now the video website track is full of vitality and competition.

Since its emergence, the video website track has attracted the attention of major companies in the industry.

Qin Shaoyan doesn't need to brag about video, everyone knows that it is one of the future development trends of the Internet.

From text to pictures, and then from pictures to videos.

So no one wants to miss the track in this field.

However, it is still in the stage of fierce competition and major domestic Internet companies are still watching and observing.

They are not like the Internet giants ten or twenty years later, who can join without thinking and then push forward with brute force with strong financial resources and channels.

During this period, the big Internet companies had not yet formed the BAT Big Three, but were led by three U.S. listed companies, namely Sohu, NetEase and Sina, the three portal websites.

In addition, there is Penguin, which has shown signs of rising, and Baidu, which controls the search engine, a huge traffic entrance, while Alibaba is still integrating in the e-commerce field.

The richest man in the Internet industry today is Chen Tianqiao, the CEO of Shanda, who made his fortune through online games.

At present, these big Internet companies do not have the strength of giants, so everyone chooses to wait and see.

Of course, waiting and seeing does not mean doing nothing.

For example, Sohu established a video website early on and is ready to choose a good time to make a big move.

But what Zhang Chaoyang didn't expect was that before the good opportunity he was waiting for came, problems arose in his own backyard.

First, Sohu’s president Gu Yongqiang ran away, and later he founded Youku.

Then Sohu's senior vice president Li Shanyou left and went to work for Ku6.

Later, Sohu's senior vice president Wang Jianjun also left and went to 56.com.

This series of defections almost made Zhang Chaoyang vomit blood, and he almost became depressed.

Do you think this is the Whampoa Military Academy of the Internet?
They all quit their jobs to start their own businesses, which clearly shows that they don't take me, Zhang Chaoyang, seriously.

Not to mention that their video website was suspected of competing with Sohu Video, the departure of several senior executives suddenly created vacancies in the business they were responsible for, leaving Sohu in a state of disarray.

Zhang Chaoyang spent a lot of effort to clean up everything, and now he finally has time.

Coupled with the great news of Microsoft's acquisition of YouTube, Zhang Chaoyang was also very excited and thought that it was time to take action on Sohu.

Although he doesn't understand video websites, there are not many people in the entire industry who do.

But it doesn’t matter, he can ask someone for advice.

So Zhang Chaoyang came directly to Qin Shaoyan to have a chat.

Who on the Internet knows more about video websites than Qin Shaoyan?

Zhang Chaoyang said he wanted to ask about Qvod.com. Qin Shaoyan hesitated for two seconds and said slowly, "What does Mr. Zhang want to know?"

"Mr. Qin, please tell us about the prospects and development of the video website." Zhang Chaoyang said directly.

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said, "Boss Zhang, you really flatter me. You are a veteran in the Internet industry and the CEO of Sohu. I am just showing off my skills in front of an expert."

"Besides, I just invested money in Qvod.com, and there are dedicated people in charge of the specific management. It's a bit inappropriate for you to ask me to talk about Qvod.com." "Boss Qin is too modest." Zhang Chaoyang waved his hand, "Qvod.com is the only video website in China now. Other video websites are not good enough."

"You founded Qvod.com, and you were the one who planned and developed the entire website."

"If you don't understand, no one will understand."

Zhang Chaoyang suddenly smiled and said, "Boss Qin founded YouTube in the United States and sold it for $2.3 billion. This achievement alone is unmatched by anyone in the Internet industry around the world."

"Boss Qin really made a fortune."

The relationship between Qin Shaoyan and YouTube could not be hidden from those in the industry, not to mention that Zhang Chaoyang had returned from studying in the United States and had connections there.

Zhang Chaoyang estimated that Qin Shaoyan made at least 10 billion US dollars from this deal, which made him very envious and jealous.

That's a billion dollars.

Qin Shaoyan laughed and said casually: "What kind of wealth do I want to make? I'm just a passing god of wealth, I'm here to pick up some bones to eat."

Zhang Chaoyang was not interested in who the boss behind Qin Shaoyan was, he came here just to ask for advice.

"This also shows that Mr. Qin is very capable." Zhang Chaoyang said with emotion, "This is a $2.3 billion business. He has achieved such success with YouTube, a video website. It can be said that there has never been anyone like him before, and it will be difficult for anyone to surpass him in the future."

"The video website track is called a track, right? It can be said that it was founded by President Qin. No one knows this field better than you."

"This..." Qin Shaoyan was a little amused. He was very surprised that Zhang Chaoyang kept praising him.

After all, the other party is the CEO of one of the three major portal websites and a big shot in the domestic Internet.

Zhang Chaoyang didn't care at all, after all, it didn't cost any money to say nice things.

Besides, Qin Shaoyan is not an unknown person. He has two powerful tools, Campus Network and Qvod.com. Although they are not on the same level as him, his strength should not be underestimated.

What's more, Qin Shaoyan's true strength is not as simple as it seems. Zhang Chaoyang is very clear about the background of this young man in front of him.

Facebook in the United States and YouTube, which was just sold, were both created by Qin Shaoyan, who is also the nominal major shareholder.

The market value of any one of these two heavyweight websites is much higher than that of Sohu.

Since April 4 this year, Sohu's stock price fell 16% at the close of Nasdaq, and its market value was surpassed by TOM Online, falling out of the top three portals.

Sohu is not favored by Wall Street. Its market value has been hovering around US$6 million for more than half a year, ranking last among more than a dozen Chinese concept stocks.

In terms of performance, Sohu's revenue has declined for three consecutive quarters.

The stock price has long remained at around US$17, and Sohu has been repeatedly criticized recently.

Zhang Chaoyang declared that it was nonsense to talk about Sohu's strategic transformation.

Sohu will continue to adhere to its established strategy: balanced development, five all-round development, and then seek breakthroughs.

At this time, Zhang Chaoyang insisted that Sohu should continue with the acquisition.

From 2000 to 2005, Sohu has made five acquisitions, some of which can generate benefits in the short term, while others are to "build future competitiveness."

Sohu's five acquisitions involved different fields and were described by the industry as "attacking from all sides."

At this time, the portal website's revenue comes from five major business areas: content, search, online games, wireless value-added services, and e-commerce.

Sohu does not have a leading advantage in these five fields. No matter which field Sohu enters, it faces strong leaders and has become a typical follower.

The outside world criticized Sohu's "big and comprehensive" layout, which resulted in Sohu having no outstanding business and unclear positioning.

As specialized companies such as games, search, and instant messaging continue to mature, Sohu's original first-mover advantage and brand effect are weakening with its "big and comprehensive" strategy.

Sohu's big and comprehensive strategy seems to be a comprehensive follow-up, but in fact it is comprehensive but not big. The most important thing is that it can never find its own characteristics.

A portal without any features is dangerous.
Revenue, scale and profit are hard indicators for measuring a portal website. Only portals with distinctive features have a future.

Zhang Chaoyang is certainly aware of Sohu's current predicament, but he still sticks to his strategy. Now he has set his sights on video websites, ready to find a new breakthrough point.

Sohu.com is in a difficult situation now. Among the three major portal websites, NetEase has made a lot of money with Fantasy Westward Journey, and has gone from being a three-legged race to being the only one standing out.

Sina is plagued by internal strife, and Sohu is in this situation right now, so he came to Qin Shaoyan specifically.

In retrospect, the idea of ​​comprehensive development seemed like a bad move, but under the circumstances at the time, no one could foresee the future, and everyone was groping forward in the fog of the future.

No one can guarantee what the future will be like. Zhang Chaoyang's all-out attack is to try to find a field that is suitable for Sohu, because giving up a field is equivalent to giving up a possible opportunity for success.

"Boss Qin, we at Sohu are very generous when it comes to pixels. We just want to make a good relationship. Plus, with the cooperation agreement between you and Boss He Jingmei, our two companies can be said to have a close relationship."

Zhang Chaoyang started to play the emotional card again, "Boss Xiong and I are old friends, and he is an investor in Campus Network and Qvod.com. Considering this relationship, Boss Qin won't be so perfunctory to me, right?"

Xiong Xiaoge next to him was stunned. He couldn't understand what Zhang Chaoyang was doing. Why did he involve me in this matter?
Qin Shaoyan glanced at Xiong Xiaoge and sighed, "Since Mr. Zhang has said so much, it would be unreasonable for me not to say something today."

"Then I'm just saying it casually. Mr. Zhang, just treat it as a joke and don't take it too seriously."

"Video is the future of the Internet. I always hold this view." Qin Shaoyan said slowly, "There are too many competitors in the video website market. Blind development will lead to chaos."

"Of course, I'm not blaming other entrepreneurs. All industries are like this at the beginning."

"Now video websites can be divided into two models. One is the UGC model, which means users upload and share content, such as YouTube, and the other is the PGC model of Qvod."

"The PGC model relies on professional production of content. Mr. Zhang, I think you can understand the difference here."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded and said that one way of producing content was to produce it in a wild way, which had the advantage of low production cost and large output, and it all depended on users to upload and share it voluntarily.

However, most of this content is crude, and the images are not clear due to the limitations of the shooting equipment. It is just for fun.

The other is to rely on professionals to produce content, which can attract more users. After all, everyone has come from the stage of watching movies and TV series.

However, this disadvantage is more obvious, that is, the number of television sets owned is very large, and most domestic Internet users are still accustomed to watching TV.

After all, in terms of fluency and picture quality, TV series have more advantages. The only disadvantage is that the playback content cannot be freely selected.

"So Mr. Qin's Qvod.com is constantly buying Internet copyrights for movies and TV series." Zhang Chaoyang seemed to be thinking, "You want to move all these professionally produced contents to the Internet."

"That's right." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "I am firmly optimistic about the future of the Internet. I think it is only a matter of time before computers surpass televisions, and it may only take ten years."

Ten years is too far away. The Internet is developing so fast right now that life and death may be decided in three to five years.

Zhang Chaoyang is not interested in the next ten years. He is interested in the present. "Boss Qin, I have a question."

"You founded both YouTube and Qvod.com. Why did you choose two completely different models? Was it to test which model would be successful?"

"Of course not." Qin Shaoyan answered very frankly, "Because the national conditions of China and the United States are different, YouTube is suitable for the United States, but not necessarily for China."

(End of this chapter)