Restart life

Chapter 312 0309 [The True Future of Renren.com]

"Mr. Chen, the inquiry period for the review needs to be extended."

"what's the situation?"

"It's related to the Web 2.0 nature of our company's products. During this period, the SEC review time for all companies that focus on Web 2.0 has been extended. One company in the United States even triggered an on-site inspection, with the SEC sending people directly to the company to verify the documents."

"I understand. I'll trouble you to keep an eye on things in the US."

"That's my job."

Chen Guiliang hung up the phone, feeling somewhat helpless. He had encountered a rather unfavorable environment for going public.

The roadshow is expected to be extended.

Because roadshows are basically just a way to trick investors into spending money. If it were last year's situation, countless investors would be vying to throw money at you. Now, people are skeptical of Web 2.0, making fundraising much more difficult, so we'll need to hold more roadshows.

Time flies, and it's already the end of May.

"Future Era" has already been updated to Chapter 3 and the character level is 35, yet ByteDance's pre-IPO review is still ongoing. Round after round of inquiries seem endless.

Although no on-site inspection was triggered, the SEC used a rare overseas video conference. After the video conference, they asked for some additional miscellaneous materials.

ByteDance's management team gradually got used to this situation, going about their usual business as usual, and working overtime when new materials needed to be prepared.

"This is the campus network's graduation season event for this year." Xie Yang came over with a document.

Chen Guiliang buried himself in the books and read them carefully.

Continuing with last year's "digital graduation yearbook," this device mimics the traditional yearbook. Each user can apply to the website to generate one as they approach graduation. It also includes a saved graduation photo.

In addition, each class automatically generates a "memorial wall" where everyone can leave a message.

This year, "Wishing Tree" and "Time Capsule" have been added.

The "Wishing Tree" is where graduates can make wishes, either anonymously or with their real names, and all their classmates can see their wishes. If a classmate helps a graduate fulfill their pre-graduation wish, a branch of the class's Wishing Tree will be lit up.

When more than 50% of the branches of a graduating class's wishing tree are lit up, the official school website will verify the information and award all students in that class with virtual commemorative cards. Furthermore, the class's wishing tree will become vibrant and colorful.

The "Time Capsule" is a letter that graduates write to themselves or their friends about their future, and they can also include virtual gifts. They seal the letters and gifts in the Time Capsule and then choose a specific time when they can open it.

No one can open the time capsule until the time is right, not even the letter writer himself.

Once the time arrives, users will receive an in-app message to activate the Time Capsule as long as they log in to the school's intranet.

Chen Guiliang nodded approvingly: "These activities are excellent. Whose idea was the wishing tree and the time capsule?"

Xie Yang said, "The fresh graduate recruited this spring is named Yang Shiqi."

With the groundwork laid by last year's graduation season activities, "digital graduation yearbooks" have become even more popular this year.

Graduates are abandoning traditional paper yearbooks and instead inviting each other to fill in information in their electronic yearbooks, including names, hobbies, and well wishes.

I uploaded all the graduation photos I took at school, as well as group photos of the whole class, to the digital yearbook.

Not only college students, but some high school students also think it's trendy and are getting their classmates to register on Renren.com to keep photos of each other.

Then, a scene like this appeared in schools across the country: class group photos only had physical copies, so students went to their counselors or homeroom teachers to ask for an electronic version of the group photo.

Many schools simply don't have digital copies of the photos; they use film cameras when taking pictures.

So they came up with other methods: scanning and copying.

With graduation time fast approaching, the number of new registered users on Renren.com is increasing daily. These are all graduates who were attracted to register by the commemorative activities.

For various reasons, they never used the school's intranet during their university or high school years, but now they are registering as graduation approaches.

"Damn, in less than half a month, the campus network gained more than 100 million new users! Of them, 80 are college graduates and the remaining 30 are high school graduates."

Xie Yang said, "Although prices rose last year, they were nowhere near as sharp as they are this year."

Chen Guiliang said, "The internet is more widespread now. It's not just about whether there are computers and internet cafes; it's about how students' attitudes and habits are changing. Before, we'd buy a yearbook in a store and have each classmate fill it out. Now, we let classmates access their own electronic yearbooks. Let the newly recruited graduates promote it."

The company didn't recruit many fresh graduates during the spring recruitment season, so they went to mainstream online forums and message boards to post screenshots of their electronic yearbooks, class wishing trees, time capsules, and other similar items.

Soon, more recent graduates followed suit and posted pictures to show off.

Netizens who were no longer students, while browsing the post, commented with a hint of envy. They hadn't had this kind of thing before. Chen Guiliang even contacted the China Youth Daily and paid them some publicity fees.

The China Youth Daily quickly published a news report titled "A New Fashion for Graduation in the Internet Age."

The article states that traditional graduation souvenirs are a thing of the past, and students in the new era have their own new internet-based fashion.

The article details the graduation activities on Renren.com, claiming that graduates not only enjoy keeping digital mementos, but also that sharing photos online has become a popular activity.

"Xiao A, a student in the Chinese Department at Peking University, had a crush on a girl in his class for four years. Because of his own shortcomings, he never dared to confess. Finally, he made a wish on the class's wishing tree, hoping to hug that girl once. The girl saw his wish and took the initiative to call Xiao A, giving him a hug on graduation day..."

"Xiao A said this was the most unforgettable thing for him during his four years of university. He thanked the graduation wish tree on Renren.com for making his university life without any regrets..."

"Yuan Chang, a student at Tsinghua University, revealed to reporters that the time capsule he sealed on the school's intranet was a letter he wrote to himself ten years in the future. He wrote down his expectations for the future, hoping to achieve something in ten years. He couldn't disclose the specifics, but he said he would work towards that goal..."

"Liao Shanshan, a student from Renmin University, said she received two time capsules. She doesn't know what's inside or who sent them. She only knows that one time capsule can be opened in three years, while the other will take five years. She's really looking forward to it..."

Each campus network user can use one Time Capsule for free. To use a second one, you'll have to pay, and the gifts sealed inside also cost money. Regular stationery is free, but premium stationery also costs money.

Renren.com generated over 600 million yuan in revenue this graduation season by selling time capsules, stationery, and gifts.

Students aren't very enthusiastic about topping up their accounts or giving gifts during normal times, but they're really willing to spend money when they graduate!

These days, traditional media are always eager to pay attention to and report on any new things that come up on the internet.

Dozens of media outlets across the country either reprinted the article from the China Youth Daily or wrote their own similar articles. Surprisingly, it quickly went beyond its original scope, and even middle-aged and elderly people who don't use the internet learned about Renren.com and its graduation activities from the newspaper.

It has a huge social impact!
Especially for high school students who are about to enter their senior year of high school, many of them actively went to register on the school's intranet after receiving the news online or in real life.

Tencent immediately followed up.

Although high school students graduated in early June, programmers were quickly put on overtime to add similar functionality to QQ Space.

“The Time Capsule function can be used in daily life,” Chen Guiliang told Xie Yang. “Moreover, normally all Time Capsules have to be purchased. Only during graduation season will each graduate receive one for free.”

Chen Guiliang was very pleased; this product was highly profitable. And it had nothing to do with him; it was something his employees had come up with themselves.

Xie Yang said, "Why don't HaiNei.com also add this feature, so that accounts that follow each other can gift each other?"

Chen Guiliang suddenly remembered something and continued, "The time capsule is for a good friend. Let's make a message in a bottle and send it to a stranger, and an uncertain stranger at that."

Xie Yang clapped his hands and praised, "The message in a bottle idea is great! It's completely random, which can enhance communication between strangers."

Ten years from now, message in a bottle will be completely useless. Who would chat with a complete stranger online for no reason?

But at this moment, it's incredibly appealing; people enjoy and look forward to interacting with strangers online. It's romantic and stylish.

Xie Yang said, "Users of Renren.com and HaiNei.com can generate one message in a bottle for free if they reach a certain amount of online time each month. They will need to buy the rest of the messages in a bottle themselves."

Chen Guiliang nodded: "This is a good idea."

The registration manual that the Americans have been reviewing needs updating again. This year's graduation season revenue, along with the newly added money-making features, all need to be included.

In any case, the F-1 document can be modified at any time before the review is completed.

If the review process drags on for too long, the company's financial information will have to be completely revised.

Also, ZBJ.com, invested in by ByteDance, has seen rapid growth in performance over the past six months, recently securing two large contracts. This could be one of the key points of Chen Guiliang's roadshow presentation.

To put it simply, after receiving angel investment, ZBJ.com has been able to operate without needing further funding. It has consistently been profitable!
The next round of financing for ZBJ.com will inevitably be for expanding into overseas markets; if it only focuses on domestic development, it will not lack funds at all.

This website is outrageous.

Of course, what's truly outrageous is Renren.com.

Chen Guiliang had previously considered merging with HaiNei.com, but has now completely abandoned that plan. This is a gold mine!
Once we enter the smartphone era, the campus network that controls the student population can be transformed into a super app that encompasses all student activities.

The premise is to keep the student body stable and ensure that every new student who enrolls each year habitually joins the school's intranet.

It has even developed into a collective subconscious: since I am a student, I should have a campus network account, otherwise it will be inconvenient for me to do anything.

This is the future of Renren.com.

(End of this chapter)