Restart life

Chapter 532 0520 [A Face-to-Face Confrontation with Little Ma]

National Convention Center.

As soon as Chen Guiliang got out of the car and entered the venue, Zhou Hongwei quickly came up to him: "I just received news that Tencent will be launching Mobile Manager 3.0 at this year's Mobile Internet Conference."

"Really?" Chen Guiliang said casually.

Zhou Hongwei asked, "Want to cooperate? HarmonyOS phones will come pre-installed with 360 Mobile Security, and in return, I'll prioritize recommending your products on the PC version of 360. In addition, I can also pay a pre-installation fee."

"I'll think about it," Chen Guiliang said dismissively.

Zhou Hongwei said, "Cooperation is mutually beneficial; let's join forces to take down Tencent!"

What a load of rubbish, this guy is a habitual scoundrel.

Once 360 ​​Security is pre-installed on HarmonyOS phones, who knows what kind of trouble it might cause, which would greatly affect the user experience of HarmonyOS phones.

Zhou Hongwei does indeed resort to underhanded tactics, which directly angered Ma Ying-jeou.

Four months later at the China Internet Conference, Pony Ma, who is usually known for his steady and measured speech, directly warned Zhou Hongwei without naming him during his speech.

Not satisfied with his warning, Ma Ying-jeou added an outrageous statement: "To put it dramatically, I oppose militaristic ideology... If the Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a minor incident, it will inevitably escalate into the Nanjing Massacre!"

This means that if Zhou Hongwei goes too far, Tencent will completely uproot 360 and wipe out the company!
When Pony Ma said this, Zhou Hongwei was sitting in the audience listening.

Chen Guiliang continued walking inside, with Zhou Hongwei following beside him, talking incessantly: "If HarmonyOS phones come pre-installed with 360 Security Guard, I am willing to share user behavior data."

“I do need to think about it,” Chen Guiliang said.

Zhou Hongwei said, "Tencent's investment in JD.com is encroaching on your territory. Tencent, Baidu, and Sohu recently joined forces to create a video website, which is also an attempt to suppress your Tudou.com. Are you just going to passively take the beating without fighting back?"

Chen Guiliang repeated, "I need to think about it."

"You're such a boring person." Zhou Hongwei was clearly getting impatient.

The collaboration between Tencent, Baidu, and Sohu was something Chen Guiliang hadn't expected. These three companies had old grudges against each other, and putting them together could lead to a fierce and chaotic conflict.

Two weeks ago, Tencent Video, Sohu Video, and iQiyi announced the formation of a "video content cooperation organization" without any prior warning.

In the future, when they purchase film and television copyrights, all three parties will negotiate and contribute funds together. Each party will contribute one-third of the price to jointly purchase the film and television works.

The purpose is twofold.

First, join forces to boycott the two giants, Tudou and Youku.

Second, lower the prices of film and television dramas.

The online streaming rights for domestic TV dramas cost 3 yuan per episode three years ago, 30 yuan per episode two years ago, and 200 million yuan per episode at the beginning of this year.

It's crazy!
The joint acquisition of TV dramas by Tencent, Sohu, and Baidu's video websites not only lowers the purchase price but also reduces the overall cost of acquiring the dramas. This is extremely difficult for Youku and Tudou.

But now Youku is the top dog and Tudou is the second-largest. Two tigers cannot share one mountain. How can they possibly put aside their past grievances and talk about cooperation? They both want to eliminate each other!

Tudou is alright; it can cooperate with AcFun (A-site) to reduce costs by distributing the copyrights of purchased films and TV series.

Youku, on the other hand, went completely solo.

"Damn, what are you doing here?" Chen Guiliang saw Zhang Chaoyang in the first row.

Zhang Chaoyang said, "I've been feeling good lately, and my treatment method is very effective. Would you like me to teach you a meditation method?"

"You can practice on your own," Chen Guiliang said uninterestedly. "You're quite something. Didn't you consider Li Yanhong your mortal enemy? How come you're willing to cooperate with Baidu?"

Zhang Chaoyang looked enlightened: "I was too obsessed before. How can there be so much hatred in the world? Next time I meet Li Yanhong, I will apologize to him in person. I overreacted before."

Chen Guiliang said, "Master Charles, you've grasped the essence."

Zhang Chaoyang said, "Just call me Charles, or Master Zhang. Don't call me Master Charles."

“Okay, Master Charles.” Chen Guiliang walked to his seat.

Xiong Xiaoge sat down next to him: "IDG still has 5% of Tudou.com's shares left. Do you want to buy them?"

"No need," Chen Guiliang said.

He never intended to take control of Tudou.com; he could achieve the same goal by changing the management team.

If those venture capital firms were willing to sell at a few dollars, Chen Guiliang would certainly be happy to take them on. But seeing that Tudou.com's stock price had stopped falling, they all decided not to sell and chose to wait and see.

Even now that it has risen back to $15, the one-year lock-up period has expired, and only IDG sold a tiny bit—IDG invested relatively early, and they would have made a profit even if they sold it for $5 per share.

The other venture capital firms are still observing the market, and will only invest if the price rises to at least $20. The two latest entrants are even waiting for the price to return to the offering price.

Xiong Xiaoge pointed to Xue Manzi and others in the distance: "A lot of venture capitalists have come this year, hoping to find promising startups."

"Good luck to you," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Xiong Xiaoge asked, "When will Zhihu's Series B funding begin?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I don't know, I haven't been paying attention."

"You're certainly living a carefree life as a boss. We venture capitalists are the ones with a life of toil," Xiong Xiaoge remarked.

Chen Guiliang said, "I'll ask around, and if we're going to start a new round of financing, we'll let you know as soon as possible."

Xiong Xiaoge laughed and said, "Then it's settled. Zhihu's user growth is very fast. It's a pity we missed the Series A funding round, but it's not bad to catch the ride on the Series B wave."

Chen Guiliang had little interest in Zhihu; it was just something he created on the spur of the moment, and then he raised funds, went public, and made money. He only retained about 35% of the shares, intending to use it as a traffic portal for ByteDance.

As the two were talking, Pony Ma, Cao Guowei, Lei Jun, and others appeared one after another.

The host is Wang Lifen, the one from "Focus Interview" and "Oriental Horizon".

Pony Ma (Ma Huateng) took the stage first to give a speech, mainly sharing Tencent's past and discussing the current state of the Chinese internet. He then gave a grand introduction to Tencent's Palm News and Mobile Manager.

Zhou Hongwei, sitting in the audience, grew increasingly serious. When Pony Ma introduced his company's products, he actually listed Mobile Manager and Palm Security side-by-side, indicating a major foray into the mobile security field.

Are you really trying to drive 360 ​​to its doom?
Zhou Hongwei was so angry that before Pony Ma could finish speaking, he took out his phone and posted a sarcastic message on Weibo: "Some big companies do everything, while small companies can only be bullied."

After Ma Huateng finished his speech, Chen Guiliang was the second to go on stage.

He also shared the past of ByteDance and Youke, looked ahead to the future of the mobile internet, and took the opportunity to introduce Weibo, WeChat, and a tool for generating apps with one click.

Furthermore, Chen Guiliang proclaimed a slogan: "APP for all entrepreneurs!"

"Our one-click app generator greatly simplifies the app creation process. With just a good idea, even a high school student can make an app! All of ByteDance's platforms are now open, welcoming countless entrepreneurs..."

"Of course, the one-click app generator is currently in the testing phase, and many functions are not yet perfect. Here, I announce that we will allocate 3000 million yuan in prize money to reward app entrepreneurs who discover problems or provide valuable suggestions. Once adopted, the reward will range from 10 yuan to 100 million yuan, depending on the importance of the suggestion! If the winner of the prize money is willing to join ByteDance, we welcome them to apply!"

The applause from the audience was thunderous, but they were actually cursing.

Representatives from countless small and medium-sized companies wished they could strangle Chen Guiliang.

They worked hard to build their app business, and just when things were starting to look promising, Chen Guiliang came up with some kind of one-click app generation tool, even touting the slogan "App entrepreneurship for all." How fierce will the competition be in the future?
It's going to kill someone!

Representatives from large corporations were also alarmed by these words.

Especially Tencent.

Little Ma's expression may seem calm, but he is filled with a sense of crisis inside.

He could foresee that once this thing matured, a massive number of mini-programs would emerge every month across all of ByteDance's platforms. Most of these mini-programs would be overwhelmed, but those that survived would undoubtedly be extremely competitive.

After one boss after another finished their speeches, Chen Guiliang, Pony Ma, Zhang Chaoyang, Cao Guowei, Lei Jun, and Yu Yongfu (UC) were invited to the stage for a chat.

The host, Wang Lifen, sat in the middle, with Chen Guiliang and Xiao Ma Ge sitting on either side of her, and the other four people lined up in order.

As for Zhou Hongyi and the others, they all sat down and listened; they would only be qualified to sit at the table if they participated in the subsequent sub-forums.

The reason Lei Jun was able to sit there was because he had invested in the event.

Host Wang Lifen said, "The first topic is very exciting, called 'A Battle of Heroes: Who Will Dominate the Mobile Internet World'."

Chen Guiliang picked up the microphone: "Who decided on this topic? It must be a martial arts fan."

Lei Jun laughed and said, "I made the decision."

Wang Lifen said, "Since Mr. Chen has spoken, you should go first."

Chen Guiliang said, "I advocate openness and do not want to dominate the industry. Making money together is the only true principle."

Pony Ma (Ma Huateng) was unwilling to be outdone: "Tencent has always upheld the open spirit of the internet, and only by working together can we build a healthy internet ecosystem."

Upon hearing this, some people in the audience laughed.

The other four people on stage gave similar speeches, all advocating for openness and sharing. None of them claimed to want to dominate the field.

This topic is now considered dead.

However, the topic is ongoing. Wang Lifen said, "It seems that everyone prefers cooperation, but competition is inevitable in cooperation. The second topic is 'ecosystem competition and cooperation'."

Zhang Chaoyang said, "This is easy to understand. Sohu Video and Tencent Video have moved from competition to cooperation. Our two video websites, together with iQiyi under Baidu, recently joined forces to create an industry alliance."

Pony Ma said, "This is a groundbreaking development, and we hope to reshape the ecosystem of the video industry."

To enhance the hosting experience, Wang Lifen deliberately stirred up controversy: "Mr. Chen, what are your thoughts on the video industry alliance between Tencent, Sohu, and Baidu?"

This is a direct slap in the face.

The guests in the audience all pricked up their ears, eager to see how Chen Guiliang would respond.

Chen Guiliang said, "The six states joined forces to deal with the powerful Qin, and the eighteen princes attacked Dong Zhuo. It's the old strategy of alliances and counter-alliances from our ancestors. There's nothing more to say. This alliance will dissolve sooner or later."

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience, and some even began to applaud.

What Chen Guiliang said can be translated as: Everyone here is trash!

Little Ma asked, "Mr. Chen, are you comparing yourself to the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, or to the arrogant and domineering Dong Zhuo? The Qin Dynasty only lasted for two generations, and Dong Zhuo's fate was even more tragic."

The reporters on the scene instantly got excited; Chen Guiliang and Little Ma were going head-to-head!

Chen Guiliang said, "Whether it's the tyrannical Qin Dynasty or Dong Zhuo, they certainly weren't potatoes. We're second in the potato industry, you should ask the first one."

Zhang Chaoyang remarked, "Let's kill two birds with one stone, counting both the first and the second."

Chen Guiliang glanced at Little Ma on his left, then at Zhang Chaoyang on his right, and laughed, "It seems I've been ambushed and surrounded by the enemy without realizing it."

Wang Lifen smoothed things over by saying, "My seat is also within the encirclement."

“You are their main target, and you are sitting in the middle,” Leibusi said, trying to ease the tension.

Wang Lifen said, "Then I demand an increase in the host's salary."

Chen Guiliang said, "Do you have WeChat? I'll send you a red envelope."

"Hahahaha!"

The whole place burst into laughter.

ByteDance's newly launched WeChat red envelope feature has been making waves lately, aggressively attracting users. Meanwhile, Tencent's PalmNews is still urgently developing its own red envelope feature.

How will Little Ma respond?
You can't exactly give the host QQ coins, can you?

Just as Pony Ma was pondering how to retaliate, host Wang Lifen quickly changed the subject: "Mr. Chen is so humorous. Next time ByteDance has an event, you must invite me to host it."

Chen Guiliang, knowing when to stop, replied, "Definitely, definitely."

(End of this chapter)