Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 103 A High-Profile Approach: Clash with Tencent

Future Technology, with its subsidiary YouTuan.com, achieves a daily transaction volume of 1500 million RMB for grey market iPhones, with an annual transaction volume expected to reach 50 billion RMB!
With its "WeChat Farm" feature, it has gained five million new users in a week, showing great promise.

Even WeChat, a social networking platform for acquaintances where there seems to be no profit point, has been put to great use by Wang Junshan!
The valuation of Future Technology Group at 5 billion is no exaggeration.

As for risks? Of course there are.

But the risks and rewards are directly proportional!

In contrast, investing in future technologies carries lower risk and higher returns.

Tencent Group Vice President and President of the Group's Investment Department, Yao Mingchen, began by saying:

“A valuation of 50 billion is acceptable. But I suggest signing a performance-based agreement. If the technology company's revenue does not meet expectations in the next two years, Tencent can acquire it at a low price.”

"Merging YouTuan.com into Paipai.com at that time would also be a good option."

Xu Tiannian was very excited. If that were the case, Paipai.com could potentially reach a valuation of 10 billion!
It's not a problem for them to become independent and list on a separate stock later.

At that time, I will be able to advance further and become the group's vice president, or even the future successor of Chairman Ma.

How could someone who can become the president of a business unit not have ambition?

Chairman Ma nodded: "Okay, your investment department can handle these matters."

Cui Zhen, the manager of QQ Space Business Unit, couldn't help but speak up:
"Chairman, WeChat Farm is so popular. If we introduce it to QQ Space, the number of QQ Space users will also increase significantly."

Chairman Ma nodded: "You should go along for the talks too. Remember, the big picture is the priority."

"Understood." Cui Zhen's expression was solemn, and he felt uncertain.

The four words "putting the overall situation first" weighed heavily on his mind like a mountain.

This means that the development of e-commerce is even more important.

Even if Wang Junshan disagrees with authorizing WeChat Farm to QQ Space, he cannot turn against it or resort to underhanded tactics for the sake of the overall investment!
This is a difficult situation!
Originally, Cui Zhen planned to use some means to force Wang Junshan to sell all the authorizations for "WeChat Farm" on the QQ channel.

Then he could take the opportunity to create QQ Farm.

With hundreds of millions of QQ users, QQ Farm could easily rise to prominence, crush WeChat Farm, and take its place.

QQ Space was able to grow rapidly, evolving from a peripheral business unit like QQ Mail into a core business unit!

Cui Zhen's position at Tencent can also be further improved!
But now that Chairman Ma has set the tone—putting the overall situation first—we can't afford to act recklessly.

We'll have to talk it out properly.

Difficult.

But it’s normal to think about it.

Tencent and Future Technology had a falling out over a WeChat Farm mini-game, forcing Future Technology to side with Baidu or Alibaba. Tencent suffered heavy losses and it was a losing proposition!

"I can only hope that Wang Junshan knows when to back down and is willing to authorize 'WeChat Farm' to QQ Space!" Cui Zhen thought to himself.

Other major internet companies are also holding similar meetings.

Internet companies are all envious of "WeChat Farm," but their attitudes differ.

Most of them don't dare to copy directly like Kaixin001 and Renren.

Reputation is still very important.

The game "Happy Farmer," which was plagiarized by Renren.com in its previous life, quickly faded into obscurity due to its poor reputation.

The subsequent renaming to Renren.com and its eventual bankruptcy were largely due to its unpopularity.

On the contrary, just like in the previous life, many platforms intend to contact First Creation Technology to legally introduce genuine licenses!
Of course, some companies also intend to copy directly, or even reverse engineer the code!
Wang Junshan had anticipated and prepared for all of this, and didn't care.

The R&D director 17 years later, surely he has some tricks up his sleeve?
Instead, at the morning meeting, all departments were instructed to continue as usual, follow the established route, perform their respective duties, and proceed step by step.

While everyone was focused on YouTuan International, Wang Junshan created "WeChat Farm".

While everyone was focused on "WeChat Farm," Wang Junshan started working on WeChat Pay!

As long as you always stay ahead of others, your competitors will only be left lagging behind.

Soon, competitors will find that they can't keep up and won't even have the right to sit on the sidelines!

The following day, major portal websites gave extensive coverage to "WeChat Farm".

[Sina.com: With over five million users in its first week, "WeChat Farm" has become the hottest app for stealing crops.]

[Tencent.com: YouTuan.com, WeChat, and "WeChat Farm" usher in a new era of social networking among acquaintances.]

[NetEase News: Inviting friends to steal virtual crops together, First Tech launches "WeChat Farm," creating an internet phenomenon.]

[Sohu News: The wildly popular WeChat Farm game, where players steal vegetables, is actually a college student startup project!]

In 2008, without Weibo or trending topics, the four major portal websites became the focus of public attention.

The four major portal websites all reported on "WeChat Farm" surpassing five million users in a week, demonstrating its immense influence and making it a true internet sensation!

In no time, the popularity of WeChat Farm soared across the entire internet.

People who had never heard of it before started paying attention and downloading WeChat.

As a result, WeChat's downloads skyrocketed.

In just one day, it gained 130 million users.

WeChat Farm also gained 120 million users.

Seeing this, Wang Junshan laughed:

"A low profile has its own future, while a high profile has its own development!"

"Since we can't keep a low profile, let's go all out with a high profile!"

"Make the arrangements; we'll hold a media briefing before the end of the month."

Tang Jinghe instantly understood Wang Junshan's plan: "We can take this opportunity to launch WeChat version 1.8 and introduce WeChat Pay!"

Wang Junshan nodded: "That's right, and Vipshop too, how's that going?"

Vipshop's trademark was registered a few days ago.

They also acquired the domain name www.vip.com.

Wang Junshan simply continued to use Vipshop and promoted brand flash sales.

In that case, Vipshop would not need to be established.

As for the future, whether Vipshop will continue to integrate with U-Tuan.com for collaborative development, or become an independent platform and be listed separately, depends on the situation!
After all, once Vipshop goes public, it could reach a market value of tens of billions of yuan in the future.

If Wang Junshan were to manage things, reaching several hundred billion wouldn't be a problem.

"Boss, the software development for Vipshop is progressing smoothly. We're adding features directly to YouTuan.com, and it should be finished in another week, followed by testing and debugging."

"On the merchant side, we have contacted some brands that we are cooperating with, and they are all very willing."

"Not only are they willing to join Vipshop, but they are also willing to advertise on WeChat Farm."

"Especially with the explosive popularity of 'WeChat Farm,' merchants' prices are getting higher and higher."

Wang Junshan was not surprised. The revenue of "WeChat Farm" comes from membership top-ups, item sales, and advertising revenue.

"However, our ads need to be more interesting. Login pop-up ads are too much and will negatively impact user experience, so let's not do them for now and save them for promoting our own products later."

"A few banner ads can be retained at the top and bottom, charged on a per-thousand-impression or per-click basis. Members can directly disable banner ads."

"Most importantly, it promotes product placement."

"Make some crops that fit the brand, or decorate billboards for advertising."

"For example, kola nuts can be planted to grow into kola nuts, which will then allow Coca-Cola and Pepsi to compete."

"Some skin, decorations, and so on can also be implanted."

The operations team's eyes lit up, and they quickly wrote it down.

These strategies became basic practices years later, but they were ahead of their time in 2008.

“Let’s proceed step by step. If it’s too late in August, then we’ll launch it in September,” Wang Junshan said, looking at the WeChat Pay department.

Deputy Manager Lin Feng said, "Boss, I've been using my connections in the industry these past two days to find a lot of reliable interface companies."

The progress of applications for proprietary bank interfaces depends on the banks; it remains slow, and we can only proceed gradually.

However, buying out the bank's interface is very efficient.

Lin Feng took out a document and walked closer:

"Boss, these payment companies are all on the verge of bankruptcy or have already gone bankrupt. Their payment technology is also outdated. The only valuable thing right now is the bank interface that hasn't expired yet."

"This one in Hangzhou has 15 bank interfaces, 13 of which are mainstream banks and 2 are local banks, and they're asking for 60 yuan!"

"This company in Shanghai has 18 bank interfaces, including 15 mainstream banks and 3 local banks, and they're asking for 75 yuan!"

"This company listed in Shenzhen isn't a corporation, but a small payment gateway technology team. They have 20 bank interfaces—17 mainstream banks and 3 local banks—and they're asking for 50 yuan! But they want us to take over their core R&D team as well!"

"What's the situation with this team?" Wang Junshan asked.

"This team consists of 5 people, who are relatively young and capable, but have bad luck."

"They spent a year building the payment gateway and connecting it with the interfaces of 20 banks. Their original intention was to earn commissions by providing payment gateway services to third-party companies."

"But the market cooled down, and there were too many competitors."

"Many companies would rather choose Alipay, Tenpay, or 99Bill, which have higher fees, than use theirs, so they can only go bankrupt."

Wang Junshan understood.

How familiar this scene is.

At the beginning, the market was doing well and very popular.

When I entered the industry, autumn was already approaching.

By the time it was finished, it was already the dead of winter!

There's nowhere to even cry!

So common!

"His abilities, character, and background are all fine; we've done a background check," Tang Jinghe added.

Wang Junshan nodded: "Okay, accept them if they're willing to come to Binhai City."

If WeChat Pay is to grow significantly in the future, it will need professional talent.

Currently, only Ning Shen and Lin Feng, two former Alipay R&D engineers, are leading the charge; the rest are ordinary programmers.

Instead of searching slowly and digging them out one by one, it's better to take all five of these elites in one package.

Moreover, the previous interfaces were all developed and integrated by the five of them, and the bank was also familiar with them.

With their addition, the efficiency of integrating WeChat Pay with 20 bank interfaces can be greatly improved.

The application process for subsequent bank API access will also be faster.

"Okay, boss, I'll inform them right away. I'm sure they'll be very happy."

Sure enough, after receiving the call, the five of them booked plane tickets that same day and flew to Binhai City overnight.

There's no way around it, we're broke!

The business failed, expenses exceeded income, and all the family's savings were gone.

I really can't stay in Shenzhen any longer.

As for the future technology sector, the benefits are good, it's located in a second-tier coastal city, which is suitable for living and has a low cost of living.

Furthermore, with the explosive popularity of "WeChat Farm" and its promising future, there was naturally no objection.

Young entrepreneurs all dream of venturing into first-tier cities and making a name for themselves.

If things fail, they think about going back to second- or third-tier cities to develop their careers, seeking only stability.

Human nature.

With the addition of these five people, the integration speed of WeChat Pay has been rapidly improved, and the launch time can be greatly shortened.

However, Wang Junshan paid little attention to these matters, as the WeChat Pay department would naturally arrange everything.

Instead, it was the head of the game operations department who approached Wang Junshan:
"Boss, platforms like Baidu Space and 51.com are contacting us, wanting to introduce 'WeChat Farm,' and they are willing to share the profits at a 5:5 ratio."

Upon hearing this, Wang Junshan fell into deep thought.

This is a bit of a dilemma.

These platforms didn't directly copy the content; instead, they legitimately introduced it and split the revenue 50/50, which is a good thing. Logically, they should be granted authorization.

Of course, it doesn't matter if authorization is granted.

Baidu Spaces won't grow big, and 51.com has little future either.

The problem is, once we grant them authorization, QQ Space will follow suit and also want to introduce "WeChat Farm". What should we do then?

Should we grant authorization?

QQ has hundreds of millions of users, and if they all play "WeChat Farm" on QQ Space, won't WeChat be doomed?
Wang Junshan created "WeChat Farm" not to make money from the game, but to drive traffic to WeChat and YouTuan.com, causing a surge in WeChat users and a massive increase in traffic to YouTuan.com!

If you don't grant authorization, you're discriminating against others and forcing them to copy your work.

It's not easy to handle no matter what.

Wang Junshan sighed: "This is a difficult matter. We'll say that 'WeChat Farm' is built into WeChat and there is no standalone version at the moment. We're working on it, and we'll talk about it when it's finished."

When faced with a problem, the best course of action is to procrastinate.

Wang Junshan planned to delay for now, waiting for the Mingtian Swan Factory's investment department to come and discuss things before considering authorization for other platforms.

We definitely can't grant authorization to QQ Space!
As for platforms like Baidu and 51.com, even if they grant authorization, they must retain the original name "WeChat Farm"!
Continuing to use the term "WeChat Farm" on other platforms is also a good form of promotion for WeChat.

As for Tencent, the best solution is to accept Tencent's investment.

But there are conditions attached!

Tencent doesn't run farms!

QQ cannot block promotional links for "WeChat Farm"!
If Tencent becomes the major shareholder of YouTuan Technology, theoretically they should accept it.

After all, the better YouTuan develops, the more Tencent earns.

If Youtuan fails, Tencent will also suffer heavy losses.

Currently, Kaixin001 and Renren have begun to block the referral links for "WeChat Farm", and even the words "WeChat Farm" have been marked with asterisks!
However, Baidu, 51.com, and Tencent have not blocked it.

The reason for this is that they plan to officially introduce "WeChat Farm," so naturally they won't ban it.

Tencent also plans to invest in YouTuan Technology, and it cannot be blocked either.

Banning "WeChat Farm" first, and then talking about investment? That's not how you do things.

However, valuation is a major issue, and it will likely be difficult to reach an agreement.

However, it would be good enough if they could just stall for time and keep Tencent from launching QQ Farm.

We'll take our time with the rest.

Wang Junshan had a plan.

What future technologies lack now is time!

We can only try to maneuver within the cracks between BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) and buy enough time for WeChat to grow!

Let future technologies grow!

At that time, everything will be fine.

(End of this chapter)