Rebirth of the Wild Age

The darkness before dawn is still darkness, and it is completely dark.

In recent years, the number of Internet users in China has been increasing by the "power of two" as a multiple. But is there any way, the Internet winter is here, even for Yinghaiwei, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and US business network, which has raised more than 50 million US dollars, these well-known Internet companies have died or are on the verge of death.

The well-known Amazon, in the midst of the Internet winter, its stock price will fall from more than $1oo to single digits.

At present, the domestic and foreign media have published five-character headlines unceremoniously-the Internet is dead!

Winter is here, but at this moment, it's not the coldest time, it's just some frost, and next year will it really be called Wanli Frozen.

"Boss Song, please come inside." Gu Yongjiang looked tired, but still forced a smile. He was smiling all the time.

Song Weiyang opened the door and walked in. Zhang Chaoyang was lying on the conference table, like a senior high school student who was too tired to do a lot of questions and fell asleep.

Gu Yongjiang reminded in a low voice: "Lao Zhang, Boss Song is here."

Zhang Chaoyang woke up in a daze, immediately rubbed his face, got up and shook hands with Song Weiyang: "Sorry, I just came back from the United States yesterday, and the jet lag has not reversed."

"Sit down." Song Weiyang patted him on the shoulder.

The computer has been turned on, the software has been opened, and there are boxes on the display.

As the meeting time approached, heads continued to appear in these boxes 6, all of which were representatives of Sohu's shareholders. This kind of international video call uses Isdn technology, which is commonly used in Internet cafes at this time. Due to transoceanic communication, the network is very slow, and the image freezes every second.

Zhang Chaoyang said in a sigh of relief: "Sirs, this is Sohu President Zhang Chaoyang. The Internet winter has arrived, and I am very happy that Sohu's stock price has fallen even less than Amazon."

This slightly humorous opening sentence did not achieve any effect. The members of the video call were all serious.

Zhang Chaoyang continued: "I firmly believe that the cold winter will eventually pass, and what Sohu has to do is to survive the cold winter. Everyone, the number of Chinese Internet users is skyrocketing, and it will at least double every year. China's Internet will usher in a golden age. So, although entering the winter of the Internet, China and the United States are not the same. Sohu’s current strategic thinking is to increase its own profitability, achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure, and survive tenaciously. I believe that up to three years, the spring of the Internet It will come, Sohu’s stock price will increase again, and your investments will be rewarded."

No one applauded, the representative of the shareholder mac directly asked with a calm face: "When will Sohu achieve a balance of payments and what do you plan to do? I need specific content, not ambiguity."

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Sohu is about to acquire another website in China, net. This investment was negotiated a long time ago, but the overall environment has changed and we have lowered the purchase price a lot. Net is also called "Alumni Record" in China. It is an online community belonging to young people. Sohu is confident that the traffic of this website will skyrocket and it will earn considerable advertising costs. In addition, Sohu also plans to launch an online short message service, which can also make sufficient profits. My plan is, in two years Let Sohu break even within..."

The representative of shareholder oIm interrupted: "Why didn't Sohu consider doing e-commerce?"

Zhang Chaoyang was stunned: "The market environment for e-commerce in China is still immature, and it also violates Sohu's established development route."

These shareholder representatives estimated that they had communicated with each other a long time ago. The mac person said: "I think we should do e-commerce. The related market in China is sprouting, and the'Amazon of China' has not yet appeared. What kind of online community you are talking about, there are also people in the United States. Do it, but it won’t generate much revenue. There is also the Internet SMS service, which is just a joke. Sohu is an Internet company, not a communications company."

"I support Sohu's proposal for e-commerce."

"I also support!"

"..."

Over 60% of American shareholders demand Sohu to do e-commerce. Zhang Chaoyang is so dazed, he subconsciously looks at Song Weiyang.

Historically, Sohu had done a good job in its alumni record. If it persisted in deep cultivation, it might not have been able to become a Facebook in China, and it was established much earlier than Facebook in the United States.

Zhang Chaoyang invested a lot of money in advertising, attracting countless students to register, and even had an influence on the Yuanxiao Intranet (Renren) at the time, but he was pressured by shareholders again and again and forced to switch to e-commerce. As a result, e-commerce was messed up, and the alumni record was abandoned halfway, and I didn’t get anything from a busy schedule.

As for the Internet short message service, this thing is a life-saving straw for Chinese Internet companies in the winter of the Internet.

At the end of last year, Huawei's gsm came out of nowhere, and it launched the Huawei Intelligent Network. This is the world's first smart network based on new international standards. Western companies charge a fee of US$3oo per household, while Huawei only charges more than RMB 1oo, and the price has dropped to one-fourth.

As a result, China became the first country in the world to open phase2 smart network. Huawei also sold this technology to third world countries such as Thailand and Kenya, earning a lot of money.

The mobile company launched Monternet based on this, and because Huawei is cheap, mobile generously cedes 85% of its value-added business income to content and service providers. Companies such as Sina, Tencent, Sohu, and Netease rely on this business to survive the hardest. The moment. Even Alibaba once considered relying on this for a living, but Ma Xiaoyun and his subordinates did not understand the relevant technology, so they could only go to the black in the e-commerce field.

"What about Mr. Song's opinion?" Zhang Chaoyang asked.

Song Weiyang asked back: "What do you think?"

Zhang Chaoyang looked at the foreign devils in the video call software again, and bit the bullet and said: "I think we should still be an online community and rely on online SMS for profit. As for e-commerce, Sohu has no experience and no relevant team. Everything needs to be restarted. pass."

"No, Sohu must do e-commerce."

"I also think so. The current situation of Nasdaq in the United States proves that portals and online communities have no future. Although Amazon's stock price has plummeted, Amazon's profitability has been very good. Only e-commerce can survive the Internet winter. !"

"Zhang, this is not a request, but a request of many shareholders!"

"..."

If you change to Li Yanhong, it is estimated that you will directly shoot the table, and it is absolutely impossible to compromise with shareholders.

If you change to Ma Xiaoyun, you will probably go directly to the United States and communicate with those shareholders face to face. If you can persuade, you will persuade.

But Zhang Chaoyang is a good old man with a softer personality. He chose to perfunctorily procrastinate: "I will think about it again. The acquisition of alumni records has been negotiated. At least this investment should be made. Let's look at the actual situation first."

Song Weiyang didn't give face to foreign shareholders at all, and asked with a sneer, "Do you know about China's Internet market? You don't understand! More than half of you have never been to China or browsed China's web pages. Doing e-commerce Of course there are prospects, but based on Sohu’s current financial situation, once it does e-commerce, all funds must be invested in. Can the company do other businesses? I also support e-commerce a year ago. There will be people investing. The question is who is willing to invest now? If any of you promises to invest more, that's great. I immediately support Sohu in e-commerce!"

The representative of mac said: "Mr. Song, please don't get excited. We are just helping Sohu find revenue points~www.readwn.com~ Otherwise, with portals, online communities and communication services, the company will not be able to achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure. We Now that we have invested in Sohu, we certainly hope that Sohu can grow. After all, we also want to make money."

"Boom!"

Song Weiyang patted the table directly, shocking Zhang Chaoyang and Gu Yongjiang.

Song Weiyang said: “The six-month period is coming soon. According to the regulations, shareholders can already sell some shares. Shareholders who have signed a repurchase agreement at Ipo can come directly to China after expiration, and Sohu will repurchase yours in accordance with the agreement. The stock in here! So, shut up all of you, you know what a shit! The meeting is over!"

20 minutes after Song Weiyang left the Internet telephony conference room, Zhang Chaoyang ended the meeting, chasing up and saying: "Boss Song, you were too excited just now, why bother?"

"Otherwise, you support the bad ideas of those shareholder representatives?" Song Weiyang asked rhetorically.

Zhang Chaoyang said with a bitter face: "If the stock is repurchased in accordance with the agreement, Sohu will not have much money left."

Many repurchase agreements are equivalent to gambling contracts. That is, when investors subscribe for Ipo, they first set a stock price. If the target cannot be achieved at the expiration date, the listed company must repurchase the stock at the agreed price, not at the real-time market share price.

In other words, Sohu must buy back its stock at a price higher than the market price.

Song Weiyang smiled and said: "Don't worry, this is only half a year. There are not many stocks that shareholders can sell, and they are not all willing to sell. Even after the one-year deadline, Sohu really bottomed out because of the stock repurchase. Additional investment is possible. Remember, don’t be led by these foreign shareholders. You have to keep doing what you want! You also want to play micro exercises across the ocean. They know a hammer."

"Boss Song, thank you for your support!" Zhang Chaoyang was relieved at once, because there was Song Weiyang.