Discussion on innovation of innovation Workshop

I. Quora and knowledge

Quora is a social question-and-answer platform, created by Facebook's two-member Adam D ' Angelo and Charlie Cheever in June 2009 for the first time in January 2010 to publish a test invitation.

The biggest feature of Quora is that it gathers all the user's questions and answers, and makes each question page the best reference for the problem. By using a range of mechanisms, such as voting and questioning tips, to maximize the assurance that the answer is the most humane, rather than just giving a machine answer, this is what the questioner needs most. At the same time, it is a natural social network for everyone to follow mechanisms for each topic and even for each problem, and to answer questions such as invitations. Moreover, the Quora test version of the first gathering is a large number of social elites, to ensure that the answer to the question of high quality, so attracted a group after another batch of people.

Shortly after the release of the beta, March 28, 2010, Quora received a 11 million-dollar first round of financing, valued at $86 million trillion.

By looking for answers from its users, Quora is expected to build a more powerful semantic network than the existing search engine, and is expected to be the main place for future generations to find answers on the internet. At the same time, its financing and valuations also indicate that investors are very bullish on it.

However, most of the questions and answers Quora above are currently in English. Although there are many Chinese users, but for the world's most populous Chinese users, it is not very convenient. For Chinese users, it's the form of how good, the concept of how advanced, nor as Baidu know or Tianya answer this community value. In this way, it is known that life was born on January 26, 2011.

In the product form, know and Quora almost touch the same. There are at least two benefits to this: one is to allow Chinese users to also experience the strengths of Quora, and the second is that it gathers the Chinese elite users, which is beneficial to the user itself, the maintenance of the community also has great convenience.

In short, know that relative to Quora, although there are a lot of small innovation in detail, but its product form and the basic concept of the same as Quora, and its biggest innovation is its localization operations.

also March 28 (2011), Innovation Factory Chairman Kai-Fu Lee to accept Tencent technology interview when the material, Innovation Workshop has invested in community sites know. This shows that the domestic Internet for this form of question and answer site is very optimistic.

Ii. Tumblr and Dots

Tumblr is a light blogging community, founded by David Karp in October 2007.

Tumblr's products are in the form of blogs and microblogs. Tumblr does not have Twitter's time sense of urgency or the seriousness of the blog, only easy to share and discover. Unlike the traditional blogging platform, Tumblr is more simple and efficient. At the same time, there is no Twitter-like 140-word limit. Users can publish text, pictures, videos, audio, quotes, links and chats on Tumblr. Unlike the blogging platform and microblogging platform, Tumblr the user to find more users in a recommended format; Tumblr users are spontaneously discovering new things and users.

By November 2010, Tumblr had raised 40 million dollars in total. Meanwhile, valuations are up to $135 million trillion.

From blogging to Tumblr, users can use Tumblr without hindrance. and its relaxed and random sharing and discovery characteristics, attracted a large number of urban petty users. This shows that it does provide value to the user. In terms of its financing and valuation, investors are also optimistic about such services.

For the same reason, Tumblr gathered mostly English-speaking users, not for Chinese users. It is also true that it is often blocked in China. China's dot-com network was also born in February 2011.

In the same way, the dot-dot network is also currently the main Tumblr localization (refer to 36KR to dot Dot Network founder Xu Chang's interview). Its product form please refer to Tech2ipo This article: the Inventory of Domestic light blog: Wide Island, point and push-slip.

Of course, the 2 million-dollar first-round financing of the dot com also comes from innovation workshops. (then the office of the Innovation Factory.) March 24, 2011 news, Dot dot net again by Sequoia and joint venture source 10 million dollar investment, complete the second round of financing. Thus, although Tumblr has been in foreign countries for a long time, but because there has been no corresponding demand, there is no corresponding localized products. However, the recent dot-dot network is also favored by investors.

Iii. Rational View

See the contrast above so clearly, do you think I'm going to criticize them for purely plagiarism without meaning? No, I think the two products invested by innovation workshops are great.

1. Know

On the Quora, although I have access to a lot of useful information, but in many cases is limited to the attention of this information, after all, I am a Chinese user. In the knowledge, I can not only focus on the domestic celebrities of the discussion, but also to participate in it. Many problems, I can find the answer, but also can easily provide their own answers.

Knowing that, like Quora, is a very good community to find answers, the most important is that its user base is Chinese users. For me, it's the best Chinese Internet product I've ever used, and it's very important.

2. Dot Dot Net

With my own blog and Twitter, I hardly Tumblr. This is not to say that it is not, but that the English user-oriented Tumblr is not in line with my appetite, I do not bother to toss. However, I saw new Hope from the dot net and the wide Island Web.

I think that dot-dot and wide island network can really reduce the cost of users to express themselves, but also let themselves from the slow pace of discovery and sharing to find fun. So, whether it's a dot net or a wide island network, what they do is very meaningful.

Iv. the question of irrationality

As a personal experience of Quora, TUMBLR, knowledge and dot network of users, naturally to know and dot net These two localized products are very satisfied, they bring users experience and value, are extraordinary. The former has the potential to achieve the next generation of basic services, which has the charm of improving everyone's life.

However, not all users are rational. Even if I think rationally now, the next moment will throw out an irrational view. As these two localized products are invested by innovative workshops, I do some irrational "doubt".

1. What is innovation in innovation Workshop?

Our Innovation Workshop's micro-innovation "conspiracy" has said that innovation factory currently invests in most of the products are minimally invasive products:

Kai-Fu Lee is one of China's best professional managers, in the Chinese public has a lofty reputation, and innovation factory shareholders are also famous giants. As a result, there are too many expectations for innovation workshops. But after the first public 5 projects, the company was saddled with "no innovation" accusations. A more consistent view is that the vast majority of these 5 projects are based on improving the current hot products to make them more suitable for use by Chinese users. But the shadow of what is expected of subversive innovation has not been found at all. Kai-Fu Lee cited the software boss Zhou proposed micro-innovation to explain their own projects. The revolutionary innovations created by Apple, Microsoft and Google are not always available throughout it history. The innovation Workshop is based on the existing product improvement, in fact, is also a micro-innovation, which is more in line with the domestic situation, more easily marketable.

In fact, micro-innovation products do not need innovation workshops in China. Known as the name of the cottage, China, not only to do micro-innovation, but also to make products with all the best products almost the same touch. (Micro-innovation is no better than an identical copy of a good product.) So, one more investment in the innovation workshop, in addition to the cottage to provide financial support, but also for the Chinese Internet to do?

2. Does the investment know the point of greed?

As indicated above, the investment of innovative workshops is a localized product of great value in the future, whether it is known or not. (just as an irrational person's guess.) As an investment company, the return on investment that innovative workshops will be able to achieve is also high.

However, the knowledge and the dots are all well-known imitations. Is the innovation factory investing in its own future or the innovation of China's Internet? Of course, investing in your own future is a must, and as an entity with a profit as its main objective, money must be earned. But is there any value in the absence of innovative methods of earning? Of course, you will also say that the product is valuable to the user itself. Yes, but the product is not yours. Edison invented the electric light, convenient for all mankind, the patent is needed to buy. Suppose the Chinese government buys its patents over to the Chinese people, and the government itself makes money by making light bulbs. May I ask whether the value was created by Edison or by the Chinese government?

3. Where is the future of China's Internet?

With the advent of knowledge and dot, even if innovation workshops do not invest in them, there will be other investment companies to invest in them. That is to say, in China, even if it does not invest in copied products, there will be investment.

At the same time, the majority of innovative factory investment for micro-innovation or not innovative products, whether it means that in China, even if it does not invest in copied products, there will be no innovative products worthy of investment?

You might say that they are investing not just in products, but in teams. Yes, the team is important, and a large part of the investment is directed at the team. So the team that was invested in the innovation workshop, why did you just make some plagiarism products? Knowing that the team is good, a little team is good, yes. But there should be greater innovation in the creative workshops that many Chinese hope for, right? Besides, there are more than two teams that can make and do well, and we do not find them, do we not even invest in innovative workshops?

Where is the future of China's Internet innovation? In the hands of some high school students in the United States or in the future into China than the innovation workshop and the style of investment companies?

This paper is Tech2ipo author He Lishi original works.