I was forced to start the second round because I was raised in poverty

Chapter 195 Did You Copy
Led by Xiao Lan, Zhao Peng and the other two came to a conference room of Shengyue Consulting.

In the room, Su Cheng, Ye Li, Qin Fen, and Zhang Yangwen were already sitting at the conference table waiting for them.

"Boss Su, Boss Zhao and the others are here."

"Okay, thank you Xiaolan."

"polite."

The four of them stood up and shook hands with Zhao Peng and others, then introduced themselves.

"Please take a seat."

After taking their seats, Ye Li was responsible for warming up the atmosphere.

The so-called warming up of the atmosphere means to mobilize the relevant atmosphere and not make the other party too nervous.

They never start by explaining the group's principles and the prices of consulting services to the other party as soon as they meet, as that would scare the other person away.

They should treat each other as business partners and comrades-in-arms.

Su Cheng is still the same.

Look at the person first, then talk about the matter.

Su Cheng could see that Pan Shuai and Qian Hong were a little nervous.

It's normal to be nervous.

Because consulting companies generally appear in European and American film and television works, they are an industry that is more high-end than finance and gathers elites, and are very far away from ordinary people.

In particular, their Dihao Group always likes to play cards very hard, which often scares customers.

However, Su Cheng did not notice any nervousness from Zhao Peng's expression, or perhaps Zhao Peng concealed it well and did not show any timidity, always maintaining the demeanor of a "founder".

Warm up the scene.

The two sides formally entered into talks.

Ye Li first posed a question to Zhao Peng: "Mr. Zhao, our information shows that you have just redistributed the company's shares, and a new partner has entered the market."

"Can you explain it briefly?"

Only Su Cheng and Zhao Peng knew the inside story. Ye Li and Qian Hong were not aware that Su Cheng also held shares in "Heart Signal".

Zhao Peng was told by Wang Zhiying not to reveal this news to anyone. Both Wang Zhiying and Su Cheng were holding shares behind the scenes.

"It's like this. We have a big problem with our funds. The subsequent operations..."

Zhao Peng briefly explained the issue of share restructuring without disclosing the shareholdings of Su Cheng and Wang Zhiying.

Ye Li didn't mean to ask how much control Zhao Peng still had over the company, nor did he mean to ask how much of their suggestions Zhao Peng could implement. These were not what they cared about.

"Please don't overthink it, Mr. Zhao. The reason I'm asking this question is to understand the current financial situation."

"Yeah, we have about two million in our account now, which can be used for product operations."

"Mr. Zhao, I have a question I really want to ask you."

"Excuse me."

"Can you tell me about the idea behind Heart Signal? Did you copy Tinder?"

Several people were stunned by Su Cheng's straightforward question, including Ye Li and Zhao Peng, who did not expect Su Cheng to be so blunt.

But Su Cheng and Zhao Peng didn't think anything of it.

Because Su Cheng is now considered a behind-the-scenes shareholder of "Heart Signal", holding 30% of the shares, which is more than all the shares of their team combined, and is considered one of the major shareholders.

It is normal for shareholders to ask this question of the companies they invest in.

But others don't know what's going on inside.

Ye Li kicked Su Cheng quietly, she felt that the question was a bit too offensive.

They are here for consultation, not for investment. Why are you asking about their entrepreneurial ideas?

Zhao Peng paused for three or four seconds and said, "No problem. I can talk about my ideas."

Seeing that Zhao Peng was not emotionally fluctuating, Ye Li quickly followed up on his words and said, "Mr. Zhao, I'd like to hear the details."

Zhao Peng first talked about his understanding of Tinder and his different views on his own products.

First, the authenticity of information will reduce the difficulty of choosing.

In Europe and the United States, everyone's profile picture is basically their daily photo in real life.

Except for a few countries like India, users in Asia basically use virtual avatars. Only less than 5% of the people set their own photos as avatars, and most of them are over 30 years old.

The second is the relationship chain.

Tinder is relatively less of a standalone product because it taps into Facebook's API.

As long as two users are successfully matched, with the help of relevant links, users can obtain all the publicly displayed information of each other, easily discover each other's common interests, and thus generate topics.

Finally, block the contact.

During his research, Zhao Peng discovered that Facebook's relationship chain is also open, and users can even use Tinder to reach each other's circle of friends.

According to the seven degrees of separation theory, the other party may see mutual friends.

He originally thought this setting was relatively friendly.

But as we delve deeper into the research, we discovered that users actually block their Moments.

Later, Zhao Peng figured it out.

Dating is a private matter in everyone's mind.

Zhao Peng designed the homepage of "Heart Signal" so that all users can upload their real profile pictures in order to increase the selection rate.

The purpose of obtaining users' mobile phone contacts is not to expand their matching rate, but to block them.

“So yes, we did borrow a bit from Tinder.”

Zhao Peng openly admitted to borrowing, which Su Cheng appreciated.

The four people had looked at Zhao Peng's information and found out that he graduated from an ordinary second-tier university.

Although it was not an original idea, Zhao Peng was able to accurately analyze the advantages and different problems of the product, taking the essence and discarding the dross, which shows that this person is very capable.

"Do you have any other questions, or Mr. Zhao, do you have anything to say? If not, let's officially start?" Ye Li winked at Su Cheng.

"Okay, we have no problem."

In the past few days, Su Cheng and his team have had an in-depth experience of "Heart Signal" and have basically planned the related industries and future development of this product.

Let’s talk about the advantages first.

The page operation of "Heart Signal" is very simple.

Users only need to swipe left and right to express their interests.

This design is very consistent with the psychological timely feedback mechanism, and users can quickly obtain matching results.

According to operant conditioning research conducted by an expert, timely feedback will reinforce user behavior and increase frequency of use.

As users swipe left and right, they will continuously receive prompts indicating successful matches. This positive feedback will motivate users to continue using the app.

Regardless of whether you make new friends or not, just using this app can promote the secretion of dopamine in the brain and bring a sense of pleasure.

To be more precise, this feeling of pleasure comes from being liked by others and from being affirmed by others.

"Mr. Zhao, it doesn't matter if there is no API for large software."

"It's not a weakness."

"After experiencing it for a long time, everyone will actively add Green Bubble and chat on other instant messaging apps so they can see each other's Moments. This makes up for the lack of resources."

Su Cheng explained the API to Zhao Peng.

But social apps like Tinder and Love Signal have inherent disadvantages.

The first thing to be affected is "option overload".

Su Cheng had pointed it out on the cafe menu before.

They have sufficient experiments to prove that the quality of decisions will decline and the interaction rate will decrease after experiencing 7 blind dates during the marriage and love stage.

Excessive information processing can reduce user satisfaction and engagement.

This brings up a big problem.

That is, both sides have swiped too many people.

Even if a match is successful, there will be no interaction between the two parties. The match is successful, but no one talks, and there will be no further interaction.

Even if you chat for a few words and everyone adds a green bubble, you will still be a corpse in the list.

The second is latency.

This question is equivalent to half an extension of the previous question.

Because for online dating apps like this, if there are not enough users, the immediate feedback will be reduced.

If the matching rate and interaction rate are low, the timely feedback will also be low.

The higher the latency, the less pleasure the product feedback brings.

Both of these problems are inherent disadvantages of this product. The latter requires stronger traffic support and more users.

Some investors may withdraw after analyzing the second problem.

Therefore, it is not easy to find investment for "Heart Signal". If it wants to raise funds, it can only sell most of its shares at a low price.

After listening to Su Cheng's analysis, Zhao Peng couldn't help but look surprised.

The consulting firm's capabilities are not exaggerated.

It took Zhao Peng several months to realize the problem, but they found it in just a few days.

This track is extremely difficult because it requires a huge number of users as the basic support.

More users means more marketing, which means a lot of advertising expenses will need to be spent, and it also means a longer payback period.

The risks are high and the payback period is long, so naturally not many investors are willing to pay.

Zhao Peng humbly asked Su Cheng for advice.

"Team Leader Su, is there any way to optimize and remedy these problems?"

"Of course."

If you have a headache, treat your head. If your feet hurt, treat your feet.

Option overload can have negative consequences, so simply don't let users match with so many people.

Limit the number of user matches to 50 or 100 per day.

No more matching will be done if the number exceeds this.

This will increase the interaction rate.

In fact, Zhao Peng had thought about this method.

However, because they originally had a small number of users, they did not dare to impose matching restrictions, and each user had [unlimited matching].

Although Zhao Peng does not have a high level of education, he is actually a very smart person.

After Su Cheng's guidance, Zhao Peng suddenly understood and immediately grasped the logic behind it.

so.

The strength of the elites in consulting companies is not exaggerated.

They deserve such luxurious buildings, expensive clothes and all kinds of pomp and circumstance.

Zhao Peng wasn't sure how long Su Cheng had been preparing, but if you counted the time since Su Cheng met him, it would not have been more than a week.

And this week also includes eating, sleeping, and Su Cheng dealing with other things.

Just three or four people were able to clearly disassemble "Heart Signal" in just one week.

They analyzed the issues that need to be optimized in "Heart Signal" and the main reasons behind these problems very thoroughly, which shows their great business genius.

Limiting the number of matches a user can make can only solve the matching rate and latency issues to a certain extent.

So how do we solve the problems of activity, user volume, and latency?
And most importantly.

How can they transition from free online dating software to commercialization and achieve profitability?
Pan Shuai was a little anxious and urged, "Team Leader Su, could you please explain it in more detail?"

To be honest, Pan Shuai didn't understand the professional terms Su Cheng was talking about. He just wanted to know what to do next, so he just gave them a solution for reference.

It's a waste of time to say so much.

He checked it online before coming.

Shengyue’s consultation fee is 5,000 yuan for half an hour.

That’s more than a hundred yuan per minute.

Su Cheng had been arguing for almost an hour, and the total amount was less than ten thousand yuan.

This money is enough to buy Brother Peng a suit.

It's so easy for them to make money.

Zhao Peng quietly kicked Pan Shuai, signaling him to talk less.

Su Cheng glanced at Pan Shuai and responded to him aggressively but politely: "Why are you so anxious? I'm not your girlfriend from high school. You can't stand it if I touch you twice."

Ye Li: ? ?

Qin Fen: ???
Zhang Yangwen: ???

This……

Su Cheng's joke inevitably seemed a bit offensive in such a serious business setting.

But it was Pan Shuai who was impolite first.

This is Shengyue’s home court, and all rhythms should be under their command.

Pan Shuai didn't even know how to respond after Su Cheng teased him like this, and his face suddenly turned red with shame.

Zhao Peng smiled awkwardly and apologized to Su Cheng on behalf of Pan Shuai:

"Team Leader Su, I'm so sorry, please just speak at your own pace."

Su Cheng continued to discuss with Zhao Peng:

"To understand these issues, we must first understand the main user groups of Heart Signal."

"So, Mr. Zhao, what is your product positioning? Who is your main target audience?"

Zhao Peng answered without hesitation: "College students and young people who have just started working."

Su Cheng nodded, expressing his approval of Zhao Peng. He was very clear about his user group.

That's right.

Just young people.

And they are basically young people living in other places.

Almost every young person will break up while studying, working, or before graduation.

And it’s mainly boys.

They have no relatives or friends, their social circles are very narrow, and they can be very, very lonely.

Every day I go to get off work and come home alone, go home alone, eat alone, and sleep alone.

On weekends, assuming there are weekends at all, there will be no social activities, no chance to meet new friends, and no one will take the initiative to introduce friends of the opposite sex to you.

If you are still studying, that is also a big problem.

Because there are either more boys or more girls in school, it is rarely balanced, and the problem of boys and girls dating cannot be solved at all.

Unlike Europe and the United States, where there is a developed and mature bar culture and pick-up culture, the whole of Asia is actually like this.

However, people born in the 90s, 95s, and 00s have actually gradually become more open to the West when it comes to dating, and they are also a generation that grew up watching American TV series.

But the biggest pain point of the pick-up culture is how to establish the first contact?
And this is the biggest advantage of "Heart Signal".

It doesn't require you to chat up, and it never exposes itself.

Either the other party will not know you at all, and the other party will not reject you.

In "Heart Signal", you don't need to muster up the courage of your life to talk to a strange girl on the subway.

Just swipe left or right, and after a successful match, send hi to start a conversation.

Even if the other person is not interested in your "Hi", you don't need to worry about whether your face will be damaged.

What boys should consider is whether sending “Hi” is a bit low-key. Since everyone is sending Hi, they should think of a better opening line that can easily arouse the other person’s interest.

(End of this chapter)