Dessert CEO Zhang Lei Entrepreneurial experience: the courage to try and mistake is the only magic weapon

Core tip: In early 2010, also in Baidu as wireless search manager Zhang Lei and kai-fu Lee a dialogue was born "dim sum".

Dim sum (Beijing Wind Ling Chong Jing Technology Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as "dim sum") has not been profitable.

Speaking of this, Zhang Lei's face is not a trace of unnatural. "2010 to 2012 heavy in the industrial layout, for the mobile internet industry, the profit model and competition pattern will become more and more clear 2013 years," the reason is said to be the beginning of entrepreneurship he and Kai-Fu Lee did 3 years to do http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/ Aggregation/18656.html "> Break-even agreement, but in fact the dessert will not be 2 years of age until August this year.

At the beginning of 2010, also in Baidu as wireless Search department manager Zhang Lei and kai-fu Lee a dialogue was born "dim sum". The purpose of this company is to "point your heart", except that it aims to be a smartphone: it wants to do something related to the smartphone operating system, like Windows based on PCs. Dim sum is based on Google's Open source Android system for localized optimization improvements.

The more important reason is that "the expansion of user size and improve the transformation is the strategic focus of this year", the user base is a prerequisite for the success of internet companies. Unlike at the start of 2 years ago, it is not start-ups that are now "robbing users", but "big boys", "they may be smarter than you, and they can use more resources than you do."

The consensus within the dim sum is that only light is the only chance to win.

Making money is not even a dessert this year's agenda. Dim sum official figures say more than 20 million active users have accumulated over the past year, including the forecasts of John Lagerling, head of Google's global partner, which has about 40 million Android handsets by the end of 2011, with 50% of them.

"In absolute numbers it's 30% more than we've been given," Zhang said, which also led to a mismatch between the last year's input on hardware such as the server. "But I still hope we can grow at least 3 times times this year on this basis." "Only in this way, snacks can have more than half of the domestic Android users." According to its forecast, this year the domestic Android handset volume will reach 120 million department.

"A Good Beginning"

After all, the dessert has a good start. "Last year we made a lot of decisions, and after our constant trial and error, we proved that two or three directions were correct". This, Zhang said, laid the good start of the dessert: "It was these two or three right decisions that kept us alive".

Last February or March, the core of dim sum gathered to discuss which direction to go. In early 2010, when discussing with Kai-Fu Lee, "the general direction is clear", but the specific strategy, product planning can not have. This is considered an Internet company's characteristics: The destination is clear, but can only see the road within six months.

"We decided to start with the operational support platform," Zhang recalls: "This step is done after the system-based application."

As a result, "the ground floor repair" took three months of refreshments.

Zhang Lei said: "If there is no decision at that time and the early start, we will not have today." "This basic work not only makes the dim sum of the operating system at the bottom and application of effective separation, but also avoid the more painful lesson." He summed it up as "workers".

Back to reflection, the truth is almost straightforward, operating system is a trinity of things, including the operating system itself, the core applications on the system and the Internet services behind these applications. Because of the complexity of Android hardware, although it can also be used on mobile phones, but different frequency, different memory machines to the requirements of the software is not the same, whether the system, application, service that link and these hardware environment does not match, will lead to not smooth operation

Experience is not good, users will inevitably drain. It's a matter of Life-and-death. A VC fund person believes that mobile internet companies if the period of 2011 to 2013 this time can not be large-scale access to users, high-speed growth, "there will be no chance."

Another decision to prop up a snack today is "no hardware-related business". At that time, Zhang Lei also faced the temptation: if you jump into the mobile phone, there is also a great market opportunity. Do or not?

The reason for not doing this is a dim-sum self-image, "What we're doing is a mobile internet company," Zhang's explanation is that the core is "maximizing users at the least cost"; The reverse hardware sector is a big cash flow business. A careless, will be dragged to death.