Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 254 Weibo Project Launch, Core Advantages, Luxury Car Club

In late January, Yian Technology, wholly owned by Yanye Capital, added a new company, Yian Network Technology, and rented office space on Zhichun Road.

Haidian is home to many BJ Technology companies.

Zhongguancun, Zhichun Road, Houchang Village and other areas are full of companies in the Internet and related industries, including some giants.

Whatever kind of company you want to run, you need to be in the right location.

Internet companies need a lot of technical talent and also need to cooperate with many other internet companies. Going to some remote corner of the internet industry does more harm than good.

As for whether being too close will allow competitors to find out anything, that depends on the company's management.

If a company is poorly managed, its secrets will be found out even if you go abroad. If a company is strictly managed, and you work in offices across the street, the other party won't be able to hear anything.

As for microblogs, that's hardly a secret.

As mentioned earlier, Tencent is developing Taotao, Fanfou is also in the process of developing it, and there are many other companies that want to participate but haven't made a name for themselves.

The internet is a hotbed of change; new websites launch every day, and websites also shut down every day.

There are plenty of smart people out there, and plenty of ideas, not to mention the success of Twitter abroad.

But in this world, having an idea is one thing, doing it is another, and succeeding in doing it is yet another.

"Come, let's take a look at where you will be working in the future. If you need anything, I'll take care of it for you."

Yan Li smiled at the four people behind him, one of whom was a young woman.

"Nothing is needed, it's better than I expected."

A young man wearing glasses nodded in agreement: "For a startup, having these conditions is extremely rare."

These days, startup internet companies are in a terrible state. Many so-called companies are just renting small houses, with a few people living and eating in the office, looking disheveled and staring at computer data while eating steamed buns.

office?
For internet companies that haven't reached a certain size, that's a luxury.

There's even a joke in the industry that if you see a relatively glamorous startup internet company, it's either a subsidiary of a large company, a rich kid or a tycoon dabbling in something trendy, or a shell company full of scammers.

Other industries value prestige, but in the internet industry, many investors prefer to invest in these "poor" companies.

Because companies like this attract investors because they are genuinely doing things, and may have even accomplished something.

Another reason is poverty; the goal is to acquire the best shares with the least amount of money.

Fortunately, Yan Li, a renowned up-and-coming business tycoon, was there to keep things in check. With his reputation, it was reasonable for them to have a better start. Otherwise, the executives who were poached might have really messed things up.

We are currently in a period of rapid development of the internet, and anyone who is confident in their abilities is unwilling to be just an employee.

The boldest and most adventurous among them jumped out to start their own businesses, while others were willing to join startups or companies in their growth phase, transforming from employees into partners or core executives.

Yan Li also targeted these psychological factors and recruited several talented individuals through systematic intelligence screening.

Wang Gaofei, whose online name is Laiquzhijian, is the CEO of Sina Weibo in Future Intelligence, and also Yan Li's number one target.

Intelligence indicates that Sina Weibo's success is inseparable from the strategic decision-making and execution capabilities of its core executives during critical periods, especially during its rise to prominence.

The primary contributor is undoubtedly Cao Guowei, Chairman and CEO of Sina Weibo, who is also the helmsman and mastermind behind the Weibo project.

This person is now the CEO of Sina, and Yan Li can't poach him. Moreover, Yan Li has intelligence support and is already positioned as the helmsman, so there's a lot of overlap between their roles, making it unnecessary.

The second is Wang Gaofei.

One key factor in Sina Weibo's victory over numerous competitors was its successful leadership in the restructuring of the Weibo client, which enabled it to accumulate an overwhelming advantage on mobile devices.

Wang Gaofei, who comes from a wireless business background, deserves great credit for this.

After becoming the head of Weibo, he transformed it from a media platform into a social interest platform, leading Weibo to its peak.

Yan Li recognized Wang Gaofei's expertise in specific business operations and overall management, so he recruited him to serve as the Vice President of Operations and Product at Weibo, responsible for building and operating the platform community. He was Yan Li's top deputy.

Wang Gaofei was actually not easy to recruit; Yan Li had to put in a lot of effort, and it was even a bit dangerous.

Before Yan Li poached him, Wang Gaofei was once considered a potential head of Sina Wireless.

This greatly increased the difficulty for Yan Li in poaching him, and it is no exaggeration to say that Yan Li was able to recruit him in the end. It was like visiting Zhuge Liang three times.

In the past few days, Yan Li had met with him at least twice and made more than a dozen phone calls. During this time, he cheated on the system quite a bit and followed the prescription, and finally convinced Wang Gaofei.

Given Yan Li's current wealth and status, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths to woo women.

Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Qin Lan and Dong Xuan almost thought he was hooking up with some slutty woman again.

The other three executives besides Wang Gaofei, while not as prestigious as him, also had their own backgrounds.

One is the technical lead, who previously worked at Baidu and is a key technical member with strong capabilities in search and massive data processing.

One is the content director, who is responsible for creating a content ecosystem that can attract and retain users.

Having previously worked at Tianya and Sohu, he not only has a keen eye for online information but also a large network of online influencers, celebrities, and media contacts.

Another is the product director, who assists Wang Gaofei in building and operating Weibo more quickly and effectively.

He previously worked at Tencent, where he participated in projects such as QQ Space and Tencent Blog, and was one of the executives who was most knowledgeable about the blog business.

Each of the three had their own strengths, and they were well-suited to Weibo's needs. Crucially, they had also been screened and confirmed by Yan Li's system.

They are indeed highly skilled, and their character and professional ethics are also above average.

The biggest problem with such a core team is the presence of incompetent members and bad apples who cause trouble. As long as there is enough cohesion and each member can fulfill their role, it is a very qualified or even excellent team.

Even if there are any flaws or shortcomings, we can find other people or teams to make up for them.

...

Yan Li was quite satisfied with the initial core team of Weibo. He showed everyone around the company and then called over the HR and finance personnel he had selected.

This marks the first formal high-level meeting held on Weibo.

The first topic of the meeting was to motivate people and make empty promises.

These executives gave up good jobs to join this startup, not to realize their dreams, but to create a social platform loved by countless netizens.

Everyone's goal was simple: to follow Yan Li, build up the company, get rich, and rise above others.

Yan Li understood this perfectly, and he didn't engage in any gimmicks; he had prepared a real pool of shares and options long ago.

Yan Li, who has no shortage of money or resources, lacks technical support, so he is willing to offer 15-20% of his equity in the early stages to win over the current and future core team.

Later, due to the need for financing, the shareholding of these teams will definitely be reduced.

However, Yan Li will also retain a certain option pool to protect the interests of executives and employees.

Yan Li cares about money, but he cares even more about having Weibo, this powerful tool, in his hands.

As long as he can build up and control Weibo, he can relinquish the economic benefits of Weibo itself.

Because Yan Li can fully leverage Weibo to empower his other companies and business ventures, and earn more money through Weibo.

If one insists on clinging to the shares of Weibo itself and is stingy with them, Weibo will fail, and even if one owns 100% of the shares, it will be worthless.

Yan Li clearly understood which was a small gain and which was a big gain.

Moreover, compared to other major partners, Yan Li actually prefers to give shares to employees, many of whom share his interests and can use other methods to acquire equity rights and thus better control Weibo.

It is precisely because of Yan Li's generosity that these executives are willing to give up their original jobs, choose to take a gamble with him, and are confident in attracting more talent.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men; tangible benefits are more appealing than any sweet talk.

We've already discussed the equity and benefits when recruiting, and today we're holding a pep rally to recruit and get things started.

After the meeting, everyone went about their own business, but Yan Li asked Wang Gaofei and another core executive to stay behind to discuss another key issue.

What is Weibo?

How can Weibo be built and made successful?
To be honest, apart from Yan Li who seems to have cheated, most people don't really have a clear understanding of Weibo.

The reason why major internet giants don't get involved in Weibo isn't because they don't know about Twitter, but because they feel it's unnecessary.

Blogs already exist and are thriving. Why would someone abandon a mature project to pursue a risky new one?

According to intelligence reports, Sina was unable to establish a clear advantage in blogs for various reasons, which is why Cao Guowei overruled objections and decided to launch microblogs, successfully giving Sina a new lease on life.

If it weren't for Weibo, Sina would probably be the worst-performing of the three major portal websites.

Given how popular blogs are now, how can microblogs break through the competition?

Yan Li had talked to people about this before when he was recruiting them, and now that they've officially joined the company, they'll have a more detailed discussion.

Websites that are currently similar to social media platforms.

QQ Zone has the largest user base, but it is a private social network for acquaintances and lacks a public space for expression. Moreover, its users are relatively young.

To put it bluntly, it's just a bunch of kids entertaining themselves in their own social media circles.

Yan Li made a point of noting down two key points when he said this.

That is, if Tencent were to enter the fray and engage in a major battle with Weibo in the future, its user base could very well become one of Tencent's disadvantages.

In addition, QQ Zone, which has a long-standing foundation, and the newly launched Penguin Weibo have overlapping business positioning, so there is room for them to make a difference.

Then there's Renren.com, which has developed quite well in the last two years, but this website has a problem with its positioning.

The user base is limited to university campuses, which has attracted many high-quality users, but the system is too closed off.

If we don't change things and only target campuses, our foundation is weak, and we'll eventually be overtaken by other platforms.

The changes, the dilution of core selling points, and the shift in the user ecosystem may lead to the loss of many existing users and cause some backlash.

Wang Xing sold Renren.com to create Fanfou, probably because he saw the limitations of that platform.

The most popular blogs right now have broken down the barriers of close-knit social networks and become public expression platforms.

However, blogs have a weakness: they are too long and have a high barrier to entry for content production. Although they are public platforms, they are actually a one-man show for a small number of elites.

In this regard, Weibo combines the advantages of several platforms, fills their gaps, and seizes market opportunities.

It is precisely positioned as a public forum for public opinion, with a certain degree of social interaction among acquaintances, and the creative threshold is significantly lowered.

"The Internet is developing and becoming more widespread, and the number of netizens is increasing day by day. More and more ordinary netizens are unwilling to be mere spectators. We must seize this window of opportunity and turn Weibo into a universal platform that is distinct from the elite."

"The vast ocean of the people is invincible. Remember, the vast number of users are the root of Weibo. Celebrities are just a tool we use to attract traffic. Don't confuse the primary and secondary factors."

Although Yan Li's biggest winning strategy is his star strategy, he does not rely on it entirely.

You can use celebrities, and so can others!
Therefore, Yan Li understood very well that celebrities and famous people were responsible for driving traffic to Weibo and increasing brand awareness in the early stages.

The key is to build a stable and healthy community ecosystem, thereby attracting and retaining users.

As you gain more users, your influence grows.

That means Yan Li isn't using celebrities to attract users, but rather a massive user base continuously attracting celebrities to Weibo to grab traffic and exposure.

By then, a positive cycle will be formed, and even if others use celebrity strategies, they won't be able to affect the overall trend of Weibo.

Universalization!
Yan Lirang, Wang Gaofei, and others should remember these three words, as this will be one of Weibo's core selling points and advantages.

In addition, Weibo must have sufficient other advantages, such as the immediacy and dissemination of information, the ability to follow trending topics, and the satisfaction of public social needs.

Yan Li will not play all of these cards at the beginning.

Instead, it's about taking it one step at a time, staying a step or two ahead of the competition each time, constantly widening the gap, and building an advanced user ecosystem. Once the Weibo ecosystem is established, a brand is formed, and users and the public are accustomed to Weibo's various features, then it cannot be easily shaken by advantages in traffic and capital.

Moreover, thanks to the intelligence system, Yan Li could not only understand the enemy's movements, but also "counter-copy".

If the opponent has any good ideas, Yan Li can intercept them early or go online at the same time. This can not only neutralize the opponent's killing move, but also perhaps allow him to carry out a counter-espionage scheme.

They chatted until the afternoon, and Yan Li finally finished. Just as he was about to ask Wang Gaofei and the others to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

"Remember to register the Weibo trademark later."

Yan Li doesn't plan to add "Yi'an" or "Yi'an" before "Weibo," he just wants to call it "Weibo," which means microblog.

If the trademark registration is successful, it doesn't matter if it's called Fanfou, Taotao, or whatever, but anyone who dares to use the word "Weibo" will be facing a lawsuit.

Whether or not we win the lawsuit is not important; the key is to keep the concept of microblogging firmly in our grasp and, incidentally, annoy our competitors.

Even if some people still use Weibo, in order to distinguish it from other Weibo accounts, they can only add "XX Weibo" in front of it, which makes it obvious that it's a pirated version.

Wang Gaofei hesitated. He didn't object to registering the Weibo trademark, but he felt that it would actually benefit Weibo if other platforms used the name Weibo.

Everyone uses Weibo, even sparking a Weibo war, but this has also made the concept of Weibo more deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Just like blogs today, it was the combination of many different versions of blogs that made blogs popular.

If we don't use Weibo, but instead use platforms like XX Blog or XX Micro Blog, and have multiple platforms hype up this concept together, wouldn't that suppress Weibo in the opposite way?

Yan Li pondered for a moment and felt that Wang Gaofei's idea made sense.

We'll have to discuss the specifics later, but registering the Weibo trademark first is definitely the right thing to do.

...

Yan Li gave the Weibo executives a month to form a preliminary technical team to develop Weibo-related features after the Spring Festival.

Developing a microblog, establishing unique advantages, and creating certain technological barriers presents many challenges, so it's better to do it sooner rather than later.

Besides technology, there are also operations teams, content teams, product teams, and marketing teams that need to be built one by one.

Yan Li planned to launch Weibo in 2008 and gain a certain first-mover advantage. A year or so may seem like a long time, but in reality, it may not be enough.

After leaving Weibo, Yan Li drove to Chaoyang to meet with his stock trading team.

With investments in cinemas, video websites, and Weibo—three money-burning sectors—Yan Li also felt the pressure of funding.

Although the funding gap can be resolved through financing, Yan Li must have relatively sufficient funds to cover his own expenses in order to avoid being too passive and to protect his personal interests.

If you're short of money, and you're doomed without it, and you're so desperate that you'll be at the mercy of others who set conditions to exploit you.

You're not that short of money; you can cover your own expenses in critical moments. You're confident and much more composed, and you won't compromise without limits.

As a result, Yan Li, who was originally quite indifferent to the stock market, has become much more proactive recently, and he often comes to sit with the securities team whenever he has free time.

"President Yan, these are the data from the past few days and the plan for the next few days."

Yan Li glanced through the information, compared it with the relevant data, and gave two instructions.

Cai Shen, a member of the stock trading team, agreed without any hesitation.

Over the past year, Yan Li has repeatedly demonstrated his abilities with his "sensitive and accurate market sense and vision."

The entire stock trading team admired Yan Li greatly and even felt sorry for him.

Yan Li has a keen eye and a sharp sense of smell, but he lacks the "courage" and is too cautious when it comes to stocks. Otherwise, he might have become a "little stock god".

Yan Li was aware of the team's discussions, but he didn't care much.

There are plenty of amateur stock market gurus, but how many can maintain their success indefinitely?

If things get really out of hand, and someone targets them, the stock market is unpredictable, and even Yan Li's system won't help.

After Cai Shen left, Yan Li checked his account.

The 1.5 million yuan invested by Yi'an Cinema Line has been withdrawn, and there is currently nearly 1.9 million yuan left in the account.

Considering Yan Li's principal and the current bull market, this amount is not much, and is even somewhat "mediocre," but it is stable.

What Yan Li wanted was stability, not only stable earnings, but more importantly, a stable source of income.

Only by being stable can one withstand scrutiny and avoid drawing attention; only with such a steady and cautious approach can one extricate oneself from the financial crisis.

Compared to the bull market of 2006, the real frenzy was in 2007 before the financial crisis, with speculative stocks everywhere and people making money even while lying down.

Yan Li also has some relevant information. If he goes all out to make money, he can definitely make a fortune.

Making money is easy, but the key is knowing how to get it out smoothly and spend it safely and without worry.

As the saying goes, if others lose money while you make money, it's easy to attract jealousy and resentment.

You've made so much money, yet you still act so arrogantly. Even if there's nothing wrong with your actions, you can't withstand the envy and targeting from all sides.

There are ways to make you bleed, cut flesh, or even dismember and skin you.

Therefore, even though Yan Li was under financial pressure, he remained calm.

Making money is meant to solve potential future crises. Why create a crisis for yourself now? Isn't that just being a busybody?
Yan Li tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering carefully. He had originally planned to slowly leave the scene once the number exceeded 3 million.

But now I think it would be good to keep the principal around 2 million, or even better, more than 1 million.

Make a quick profit, take a cut, and exit in batches. It's troublesome, but safe.

Yan Li now has numerous projects and investments, including cinema chains, Weibo, and film and television companies, and can "quickly digest" tens of millions of yuan in his hands.

As a result, no one can be sure how much money he made in the stock market.

Note that Yan Li didn't hide money; he also couldn't hide taxes, transactions, or investments.

This is done to keep a low profile. Spending 100 million in one go versus splitting it into more than ten installments, even though the amount is the same, will attract completely different levels of attention.

When doing business or running a company, the more high-profile the better; when making money in the stock market by exploiting retail investors, the more low-profile the better, especially when retail investors are having a tough time.

Keeping a low profile can not only avoid arousing jealousy, but it might also become a good trump card to confuse competitors.

Everyone thought he was broke, but in reality he was rich, catching the other party completely off guard.

Yan Li felt that he was becoming increasingly sinister, all because he had been infected by those old fogies, who had tainted his honest and kind nature.

After leaving the securities team, Yan Li rushed to another social gathering in Beijing, a meeting of entrepreneurs from his hometown, and a few bigwigs from Shandong Province were also present.

Although Yan Li mainly works in the capital, many people even consider him a member of the Beijing social circle.

In reality, he has a very good relationship with his hometown and they have always maintained close contact. He is an outstanding representative of Shandong Province's youth. If his company were not located in Shandong Province, Yan Li might have already been promoted to be a representative of Shandong Province.

Everyone knows about Zhejiang merchants, Chaozhou merchants, Shanxi merchants, and Anhui merchants, but in fact, Shandong merchants are also quite powerful.

However, Shandong merchants tend to be more rooted in their local areas, and many of the big names are engaged in real industries, so they are not well-known.

Of course, there is another reason that is not known to outsiders: Shandong Province has a large population and many officials, and it is also close to the capital.

This makes many aspects quite sensitive, making it difficult to form cliques or factions, and even more so, impossible to do openly.

So much so that even a rising star like Yan Li, who is considered a prominent figure in Shandong's business community, is unclear whether there is actually a so-called "Shandong clique".

Well, subjectively it might not be there, but objectively it might exist, since Shandong Province is mainly plains with no mountains...

In the box

Yan Li was chatting with a big shot in the finance department, who was very interested in Yan Li and was considering investing in Yan Li's project.

Then another bigwig in trust and wealth management came over, leading a young newcomer.

"Chairman X, General Manager Yan, this is Xiao Wang, Wang Ke, also from the same hometown. He mainly does investment consulting and management now."

After the introductions, Wang Ke stepped forward with a wine glass, said some standard phrases, and then respectfully offered a toast.

The financial tycoon who was with Yan Li nodded but didn't really acknowledge him. Yan Li touched his hand as a gesture of goodwill, which was considered as helping him out of the predicament.

This kind of circle-based gathering inevitably includes the bigwigs who are in charge, the newly rich like Yan Li who have achieved something and are trying to win them over, and the friends brought by some of the bigwigs.

They're called friends, but in reality, most of them are just lackeys who follow the big boss around for a living. The big boss thinks they're good people and intends to mentor them and broaden their horizons.

Yan Li had also attended such social gatherings before and had been treated coldly and disdainfully.

Although Yan Li quickly moved on from this situation due to its rapid rise, he understood that the consequences were difficult to describe, so he would usually take care of things when such situations arose.

Not only did they share a drink, but they also exchanged business cards with Wang Ke, one from a financial company and the other from a luxury car club.

"You still play with cars?"

Wang Ke nodded and explained the composition of the luxury car club, especially introducing several club members with impressive backgrounds.

Yan Li was initially somewhat interested, but after hearing the introduction, he lost interest.

Luxury car clubs, like art salons or golf clubs, are essentially high-end social platforms for networking.

To put it bluntly, it's about networking.

For example, in a luxury car club, people who can afford and enjoy luxury cars usually have some connections. If you join in and get to know everyone, you'll build a network and might even start doing business.

For someone like Wang Ke, who works in investment consulting and management, it's essential to build relationships with high-quality clients, and owning luxury cars is a good option.

Yan Li also has a bit of a passion for cars. After all, what young person doesn't like luxury cars and sports cars? They're fun, show off, and you can even make connections. Why not?

However, the composition of Wang Ke's club members is somewhat complicated.

It's not that low-class. Judging from what Wang Ke said, they are all luxury cars worth millions, which are really unaffordable for ordinary people.

But the key is not the level, but the identity. The club is mainly composed of rich second-generation people, as well as some young people with family backgrounds.

These rich kids and young people may be valuable to Wang Ke, but in Yan Li's view, they have very little social value and are likely to cause trouble.

Come to think of it, owning luxury cars isn't new. It's not that there aren't big shots and tough guys around, but if Wang Ke could get close to them, he wouldn't be being toasted like this today.

After quickly dealing with Wang Ke, Yan Li continued chatting with the big shot, who noticed that Yan Li seemed interested in cars.

"If you like playing this game, you can form your own racing team. With your reputation, you're bound to have plenty of people to support you."

"I just don't have time, so I wanted to eat something ready-made."

Yan Li did consider starting a racing team or a football team, and planned to create two versions: one for high-end business and the other for celebrities.

The former allows you to build connections, while the latter offers many more avenues for development, such as charity, publicity, and boosting cultural tourism.

He got his inspiration from Hong Kong stars. There were similar ideas in mainland China, but they hadn't made much of a name for themselves. Yan Li felt he could give it a try.

Even if the results are not satisfactory, at least it can still generate some traffic for Weibo.

Traffic doesn't come by waiting; if there's no traffic, create it.
For example, when it comes to celebrity sports games or charity car races, traditional media and portal websites report on them, but the instant viral spread of information via Weibo is a completely different story. The latter is a devastating blow to the former.

Weibo isn't just about getting a bunch of celebrities to post; it requires a lot of effort and exposure to attract and engage users.

If Weibo becomes a gossip hotspot and trending topic forum, then when something new happens, the first thing everyone does is rush to Weibo to see what's going on. People feel uncomfortable if they don't check Weibo every day, and they rely on Weibo to learn about big and small events.

It would be difficult for Weibo not to beat its competitors!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Due to certain reasons, the first two chapters have been slightly abridged and modified, but the general meaning remains the same and will not affect reading. Please be aware of this.

I'm busy revising and don't have enough time, so it's 1000 words short. I'll update with 10,000 words tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)