SP pioneering help: Mobile Internet Loujiang

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These people in the SP ERA to Amoy the first bucket of gold, now in the era of the intelligent computer mobile Internet, the past "fast law" can achieve their "new dream"?

Article | Colin

Zhang Zhijian Start the second month cash flow is starting to be positive, the 1th year of business to buy a house. That was 2004, the SP industry Peak period, his team name registered a number of companies, respectively, to serve the mobile, unicom and telecommunications, each month to achieve 2 million or 3 million of the revenue. The goals of several partners are the same: make enough money, retire at the age of 30, do not become industry leaders, and do not want to go public. Then someone came to buy the SP shell company, in fact, the acquisition of a very valuable licence, they sold to a large consortium.

It was 2008, he was 29 years old, but he didn't retire. He gradually found someone using the Apple phone, and then the Android system, the entire industry chain upgraded, operators from the Hoodwink role into a network of basic service providers. He heard that a programmer put his own software into the Apple App Store, and then the wife gave birth to children, after 3 months found that the account of more than 1 million dollars.

Compared with Keynes's theory of "planned economy", Zhang Zhijian has always been more agreeable to Hayek's view that the economy is not government intervention or planning, but rather that the market to vote is the result of free development. So he named the company "Yay," and he wanted to play the new game in a freer and more equal market, the mobile internet.

This story is little known, and the company for every customer to do mobile phone clients, "in every customer behind the 14-month girlfriend" was finally known. The advent of the 3G era and the rapid development of intelligent machines have led to a new mobile internet era, a group of entrepreneurs similar to Zhang Zhijian, once engaged in the SP industry, are back on the road, they are the first Chinese to engage in mobile phone business, but also the wireless internet (perhaps "wireless" more appropriate) real veterans.

Entrepreneurs in this industry have been able to categorize their backgrounds and experiences: New entrepreneurs who have just left the school or have just left the company, the original business on the PC side, now extends to the mobile end of a group of people who have traveled through the SP era, with wireless value-added services or carrier background of some people. The first two are in the Silicon Valley, they love to see TechCrunch (famous American Science and Technology blog) on the news, all day pondering the product and user experience; After the whole people because of the previous SP experience scattered around, most people in the circle is not too famous, it seems not too concerned about the so-called "lake status. But they at this time in the mobile internet each subdivision industry chain has completed the "card position", the vast majority of cash into the account, quietly early taste of the "hands of food, the heart is not panic" taste.

It is difficult to generalize or generalize the business logic of these people, but you have to admit, they have passed two contradictory times: backed by Mobile, Unicom, telecom three major operators, a large number of users, each send a text message will be able to earn money in the old days, as well as gruel, need and a variety of similar app Rob users, It's hard to find a new era of profitable ways.

"Are there any other SPS these days?" as soon as the dinosaurs died out, right? The cheese is already passive, it's time to look for the next piece of cheese. "But for those entrepreneurs who are now going to do mobile internet, I have to say it's a new cheese, and it's huge," said Ning, the founder of "Air Network", a Nasdaq-listed SP company. But not so good, this cheese needs to be robbed. ”

Near the money, grounding gas

Tommy entered the SP industry in 2002, and two years later he founded an SP company. 2009 he transformed to do mobile electricity business, found with his founder "Love to buy a network" similar mode of another mobile E-commerce platform "buy and sell Treasure", the company was born in 2006, founder Zhang was also SP practitioner.

After all, mobile power is a new field, Zhang Yu sometimes with another entrepreneur, "Zhang Zhijian" founder of the industry to exchange views. They never talked about their backgrounds, but the latter were also SP-born. It is for each big electric dealer website makes mobile phone end app, and another one does the electric business app to start is to aim at Taobao merchant for customer "the letter". "Guomai" of the two founders, one is in the original Unicom's subsidiary, "China Unicom" call center value-added Services Department of Shenying, the other is the Shanghai Unicom project manager Dongcang ji. Shenying's mission was to do SP service in the name of Unicom's subsidiaries, and Dongcang was responsible for docking with the major SPS, that is, the industry's internal name, do business must be handled by the kind of "key people."

Four mobile power companies, the founder of the SP-born. Sounds funny.

There are also a number of former SP practitioners scattered around the game companies. "Each hand tour company's founding team has a few original SP," a lot of game companies to see the investors summed up, "These people are doers, they are leading the company to make money." ”

Mobile phone companies, mobile games, these people seem to be in these two industries layout, there are also companies in the two industries to become the export position of the waiting, intend to receive tickets, such as the first batch of the central bank to pay a third party payment license of the mobile payment company "Purse Treasure", its founder Sun Jiangtao is also the same background, is one of China Mobile's first batch of SP.

If you go and talk to them, they will definitely mention the three words: close to the money. First of all, these people are not short of money. Zhang Zhijian founded SP Company the second month began to earn money, the first year to achieve the "buy a car to buy a house" desire; Sun Jiangtao founded the second company is "Shenzhou pay", through the operator channel for online games to collect money to make him enough to become a cast a lot of cases angel investors; Zhang Yu Chen, love to Buy is his second venture , two start-up gold from his SP years.

"The industry has trained a number of people who are very executive, got the first bucket of gold, completed the accumulation of their original capital, and they would start their own money in the seed period," Ning said. " They have money. ”

Besides, they are making money silently. Even after the SP, then changed to do the Cottage Machine application store (that is, "entrepreneurial State" October 2010 has reported the "Cottage App Store") founded by Hu Jian Tao of the Stranger Friends community "Friends", has also been grafted on the "sell props" the game's usual approach, backed by the "28 law" to obtain a very lucrative income.

"Zhang Zhijian" founder of the company located in the Pudong Software Park incubator, has never moved the place, just constantly "mergers" next to the room. His initial business is for those who do not lack of money for the big brand to do the app, such as the United States, Philippines, and so on, some like disguised advertising, to do the 7th user heard that "every customer" to do the app, after the transformation of the electricity business. Spell down this big single, Zhang Zhijian flew to Beijing, and van a senior Kan a pass. "I've said so much and kept him in the picture: We're not a team of silk, we've done the right thing, written code, we know fashion, and we've made a lot of money, and that's important." So we look at the long term, an opening and the other mentioned to sign a 8-year contract. The other side said sorry, every customer just has 4 years of history, or signed 3 years? I said, I iron heart to do every guest this single business. ”

After that, it became a mobile operator behind many large electric or brand manufacturers, it did not even have its own official website when it was mentioned in public, and when the big media realized the stealth killer, it had quietly completed the B-round financing.

"In our context, we're looking for a financially robust company with a simpler business model or close to money," he said. What is close to money? That is, as long as you have customers, you will get financial returns, many companies can also be recognized by users, but praise is not money! What we want is that every user is a symbol of how much money, the company's accounts will be money to come in the kind of business. "Zhang Zhijian said.

This group of entrepreneurs walking through the SP era is confident about the future of mobile internet pricing, even when many people are worried about the prospects for the industry's profitability.

Sun Jiangtao invested a lot of companies, this year he and his partners looked at the mobile internet, investing in an online education company, a O2O in the automotive industry, who likened his entrepreneurial and investment in the mobile internet business to "index trading", "I didn't buy a single unit, I didn't do a separate project, I bet on the success of the big business. ”

Hu Jian Tao is confident about the cost of the service, "This is what I have analyzed: from the end of the consumer will be able to charge, because people's pay habits from the SP period to form, but the current ARPU (per user average income) value is lower; the biggest problem with mobile internet is that traffic is not equal to money at times, Those who used to do the PC end of the train of thought is to sell traffic advertising, it's their advantage, and the people we're moving from are always thinking about making money from the company, selling ads, and doing it for the mobile ad companies, and we're naturally going to be able to change the flow. "Hu said," Now the industry from the stage of consumption, no explosion of growth, the PC-side internet has also been a period of time to become a cash. But you need to get over it. ”

Zhang Zhijian said that at present only three points: the user's habit of shopping habits, more powerful, more fun of the smart machine, and enough network bandwidth, these three points as long as the meeting, the outbreak will come.

"It's like you go to a movie, you get a movie ticket, you sit in the best row, the best position, the popcorn, the comfy couch, but the ticket doesn't say when the movie starts." Then you wait, there is eat and drink is not very good? has taken the best position, we are just waiting for the mobile internet market. ”

Alternative Product View

Talking about the "circle", these former SP mobile entrepreneurs themselves are not "lap", and not even know each other. Zhang Zhijian found real customers, began to blend in "retail circle", with vendors, all kinds of mobile Internet conferencing are not attended; After the letter "founder Shenying has become Taobao system insiders, often run to Hangzhou once a week, in the near future Alibaba" network business Assembly "to see MA (Micro-bo) speech let him very feeling; love to buy network founder Zhang Yu some curtilage, to participate in activities even the same day back and forth, his stronghold is Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"I don't feel that the mobile Internet itself should form much of a circle," said another founder, Dongcang, "The mobile Internet is an extension of the PC side, and each of us should be in the same field as our main business." ”

However, "Friends Plus" the two founder Hu Jian Tao and Shing sometimes go to Beijing will be a former PC-side friends of the Internet. Shing is the founder of "If neighboring net", has been known as "The Prodigy of Hubei Province", later in Shanghai Jiaotong University is a 3-year pilot class. Many people now do not understand how he ran to do such a business, this is clearly the cottage machine on the "Mo mo." #p # subtitle #e#

He doesn't mind, he likes to know girls anyway. Hu Jian Tao is joking with his partner. Friends and start Service is the original SP that help users, and later in the positioning of the crowd is still doing segmentation. "Our users are the high-end crowd inside the Shanzhai user. ”

He and Shing sometimes invite some young workers, nail teachers to eat and chat. "Those who are now working in big cities have different mentality, their first plea is to feel big city life, then the money." I read an article on the internet that said Foxconn employees jumped out of the indeed is the case: the new batch of young people to work in Foxconn mentality has changed, they would like to experience a new life, but Foxconn's management thought has not changed, workers feel here is to crush him, no time to play and no time to fall in love, and finally choose suicide. ”

There is a saying, "Mobile internet in China is low-end to high-end development path, from high-end to low-end development of that is the traditional internet," Hu Jian Tao expressed serious recognition. One of the other proponents of this sentence is Tommy Cheung. 2011, a lot of large electrical business sites have started to do client products, Tommy went to some industry meetings to listen to Jingdong Mall, when the company's mobile end of the head to talk about strategy. He was not convinced.

"The mobile-end businesses of these companies are also providing an extension of the platform for users of their internet e-commerce, the one or two-line market." They never put their eyes on the three or four-line user group. ”

Tommy's business is opened this way: SP industry is coming to an end, he founded a company, do WAP site aggregation, equivalent to reselling WAP traffic. Later, he felt that the original SP users will also accept E-commerce, the link to their own electronic web site directly in the previous push SP channel, testing. The first month of sales of more than 400,000 yuan, cheerfully began to let go of the purchase. This is a seemingly interesting business: the user in the mobile phone to buy the most is still a mobile phone, but tend to a larger screen, touch screen and so on. Zhang Yu began to enrich the supply, adjust the user groups, in addition to 3C a large number of cosmetics. The original site user's ratio of men and women is 9:1, and now he has been adjusted to 6:4.

"In fact, the channel or SP that channel, but our concept has become a ' service three or four-line city users ', this part of the SP ERA coverage." "From the scale of the money, the business is not as good as it used to be-" but I'm going to look at it longer, to enjoy the social value brought about by it: so the people in the mountainous areas can also buy things through the Internet, I do not say is to buy cheap or expensive, the original they are faced with is not buy the problem, They didn't watch the commercials. ”

Tommy Cheung now follows the old era of SP: texting. Please those who have been in love to buy consumers to send messages to friends, which is love to buy the WAP address plus the user formed the Web site, each additional user will give coupons or even direct return. Texting is his old line, SP business "essence" is a word game, a message to have enough temptation to complete the promotion. "or mobile text messaging is easy to spread." "said Tommy.

He is also in cooperation with Guangdong Mobile, to 139 of users of the mailbox to send love to buy SMS ads. Operators want to allow users to use traffic, love shopping will also pull the flow, Tommy does not even have to pay the operator advertising fees.

Now Tommy is looking at two trends: the user has moved from the cottage machine to the Andro, and the Andro below 600 yuan will be on the table, and he is eyeing the current buzzword in the industry, along with the "Web App" that HTML5 appears. "Users use Android is not used to use the app, on the one hand the inertia of thinking, or like to open the browser, on the other hand, the app consumption of traffic, these users rarely in the WiFi situation on the Internet, every month earlier than the end of a lot of active. Web apps are a better fit to open apps but not download them. ”

Hu Jian Tao's play is pre-installed. "There are some things that people in Beijing can't handle. Shenzhen Those people greed, a mixed bag, you light cheat useless, must give money. Beijing's few, I consider that pre-installed 1.5 will lose the capital, the other side will be in various ways to fool them. And we are better, generally to their own circle of people do not dare to play this set, you cheat me, I always find ways to prove it. It is also important to note that the Shenzhen team may be able to make the company's money with the people over there. We are not afraid, we are in Shenzhen where the placement of their early brothers. ”

At present, the friend plus by pre-installed can achieve 20,000 of new installed capacity per day. Hu Jian Tao think that pre-installed is not a shortcut, in fact he is very clear, some applications are installed capacity, and most of the application is to fight active degree, friend plus belong to the latter.

"If you have a large installed capacity, you can change the operation, enhance the user experience to adjust the product, silent installed capacity may also be activated, but if you installed capacity or need some method." To do products or to rely on comprehensive quality. And so on which day has the word of mouth, pre-installed and downloads and pulls each other. ”

Hu Jian Tao is not afraid to put forward some sharp views. He felt that, compared to the MO, friends and users are more suitable for strangers to make friends. "This is some like Tencent Weibo and Sina Weibo, in Tencent can always see someone say ' today so many people add me so happy!" Inexplicably, why so many Cantonese people add me? These people are indeed some vulgar, like add to add to go, not too much social status, what will talk, and even said that the boy 12 friends Plus, girlfriend will not be angry beside. Do this product, do not start from the high-end spread, do not need to hype, because this product and this group of users are absolutely belong to each other. ”

He has his own product view: "The original Internet circle of entrepreneurs more pay attention to theory, learning Silicon Valley model, I think the Chinese product ability is far more than Silicon Valley." Some of the Silicon Valley products look bad UI design, but there are a lot of people use, the product itself should have since the virus-type communication, self-operation, people's product design is a foreshadowing, otherwise will not be in 6 months to 1 years 0 cost to bring Word-of-mouth. But the Beijing side of the circle more emphasis on user experience, such as taste, color, experience, through the friends around to do the spread, is actually the brand transmission route, not the product itself from the virus-like transmission. The UI and the so-called user experience are the most shallow. ”

"Sometimes I think the mobile internet talent should instead be in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, is to do electric business, online games, pay those people, is the so-called self-operation, product regulation ability, data sensitivity is particularly strong." "At the moment Hu Jian Tao is hoping that friends will be added to the" self-operational "direction.

Business-to-business or Business-to-consumer?

Sun Jiangtao's mentor at the Yajie Chamber of Commerce is Feng, Feng told him this: business, must be with these large organizations to maintain a half meter distance, two people can be good friends, can have some business dealings, but not too close to the interests of the exchange, then will lose themselves.

Sun Jiangtao was also troubled by his business-to-business business, which, in fact, was geared toward both consumers and banks, and the real fee was to provide the bank with a package of mobile payment solutions. Sun Jiangtao First all day around the operator, and then saw the online game of gold, and now began to deal with the bank. He wants to find a place in the industry that needs to balance the relationships of users, businesses, mobile operators and banks.

Later he began to uphold this attitude: some cooperative relations do very tight, some do generally enough, there is no need to go inside, together easier to make money, but can not be less than who can not live.

There is a very interesting phenomenon: mobile end of a variety of fancy new applications are endless, the SP has been very few people involved, they seem to be a little conservative, do not like to do brand new business. "We are one, ' Flight steward ' Wang is also a," Hu said, "I think he is relatively few people in the SP to do products." Others have to do business-to-business, that is, business relations. ”

"In the face of telecommunications operators, banks, gaming companies to talk about business is the same, and different departments, the office to talk about a number of fields." You have to be a versatile, have a product concept, can make the product very clear, but also have market concept, because people are to make money. At the same time you have to be a better communicator, know how to listen: some words should say light or heavy, step on his competitor, not too much, but if you don't beat him, he still thinks he is a bull, and he should disclose to him which competitor has already used this and how much the trading volume is. At this time he is not a poker, but the mind may think, this product I do not have to die. "Sun Jiangtao concludes.

The money bag treasure is with the bank this both rich and roots the big man to carry out his "expansion card", although the card may release quickly, but the purse treasure's brand is weakening. Sun Jiangtao estimated that 90% users in the use of "purse bao" when only know that this is a bank, only 10% in depth after the understanding of "behind the supporters" is Money bag treasure. This is similar to the SP ERA, "Love to buy" founder Zhang Yu has the same feeling: "Follow the operators play, destined to let SP no way to establish their own brand." ”

But this kind of business can satisfy them in the initial "the stuffy sound makes a fortune" the desire. "Banks use our products well, tens of millions of a year from our place to order, we have a product even earn one or two yuan is very good income." China's big banks are so many, ' five big banks ' we've done two. "Compared to the previous experience of Sun Jiangtao, his company was China Mobile after several major portals of the second batch of SP, mobile almost impatient for him to open the interface, money earned" very quickly and very smooth. ”

Sun Jiangtao thought, he still likes to do business-to-business business. "Business-to-business is the partner has this demand, you have to let it accept you, a year not two years, two years not three years, finally knock down." But I have always felt that the things of the consumer is very unpredictable, the real China has not a few of the master of the Chinese, users in the end why the cost? Sometimes it's very confusing. ”

Later Sun Jiangtao found a balance: To do business-to-business business, to invest in the company, these companies in the business perspective on the capital is very imaginative space, can tell stories. "Today 50 million users, tomorrow may have 100 million, the day after the 200 million, maybe one day can kick Tencent, a foot on Baidu." ”

"We don't have the confidence to be a consumer or user experience, but we've got some bigger picture," he said. "Shenying said," in the mobile end of the channel to do the client too little, or by these big guy to live, for example, micro-letter, public comment, etc. The letter was made 300,000 users a year because there was no money to push. So to think of a threshold is not high spadework, dirty son. He used another word to describe: the card position.

"Young entrepreneurs often do not have the idea of ' card position '. You have to cultivate yourself as a platform and shape yourself into a party, so that partners will think you are valuable. Become a platform, the first to open, there are a variety of interfaces, the second is in the industry chain can be isolated in the downstream role, without it the industry chain scattered. "Now there are 20,000 users of the letter, the big guy is Taobao." "We will help Taobao store to do mobile end, do marketing, design, use of data, while perfecting our charging system, forming a ball can be rolled down, have their own number of ' passengers '." ”

"After years of SP, some skills are interlinked, such as services. I believe that business-to-business can be done in a century, do business-to-business market, eldest brother, second, old, old four can live very happy. IBM is bigger than SAP, SAP is bigger than Oracle, and is tens of billions of, hundreds of billions of dollars of companies. We choose a less risky path. "Zhang Zhijian said.

And operators of the aloof

An entrepreneur who also came out of the SP era and declined to be named has a story: an operator of the application store just started, need to find some applications to fill in, he contacts with each other through the network, the product changes to "more suitable for the operator to put in hand", then on line, began to back up the huge base of the operator's Day. Operators on the list often for his heavy push, since then, the product itself does not generate revenue, but have a base, with cash flow is to have the clout.

"I hope to be able to create some value-added services, that is to say, the operators receive the user's money, and then split." The user downloads my app, the operator pushes the message, and the message generates a charge. If you were to do the app dry, when would you make money? The entrepreneur said confidently.

"I recommend a book," The World has Thieves, "is written in China's telecommunications industry corruption." It was a dark history. "Dongcang," said the partner. With Shenying words to describe, Dongcang was very powerful at that time, as a project manager of Shanghai Unicom, is a key local people in Shanghai, all the text messages and ringtones to get the interface. "At that time to do all the money, a lot of people give gifts directly put a bag of cash, it is said that the Chengdu base manager has a few billion cash." Can you imagine? "

There is a hundreds of millions of-year income of the SP company now office location in the "letter" downstairs, only 20 people. One of Shenying's buddies told him that the company now has fewer than 20 people, including 9 VP, 8 Directors, and a receptionist. Each month there are nearly millions of of the precipitation income, but has entered the "dead state."

"Many people who have done SP can no longer make products seriously." They disillusioned. Just like the leader to see you need 20 people to develop, did not come out for a year, what kind of thing, directly cut, my side of the SP to make money are all of a sudden millions of, tens of millions of. These people are not thinking about the user experience, but in turn, why not let users use my product. "said Shenying, founder of the letter.

Shenying has been in charge of hatching new products in China Unicom Guomai, leaving in 2005. He described himself and Dongcang at the time of the state, "belong to the brothel and not like Jade". However, after they started their business for a long time, they had to take some operators to outsource the work to earn some money, to earn fast money to support the "pursuit of letters."

"We came from that time, and I think the new entrepreneur should build a knowledge of China's entire telecoms industry," he said. As long as the mobile internet, the operator of this role, in the present or future, still can not be bypassed. "Shenying said.

SP ERA, the three major operators launched the application store, their former partners will often consider the application "". Zhang Zhijian has been working with Shanghai Unicom's product innovation Department, mobile data business units to do data analysis and marketing, the first to take over when the customer moved the end of the time, he tried to fly through the letter users to share the preferential information.

"Regardless of the operator's identity, status changes, they are large data companies, they are also in transition, hoping to have data exchange and sharing." China Mobile is a company that is a lot bigger than Tencent and Facebook, and I think the sense of working with operators is one of our competitive edge. "Zhang Zhijian said.

After the venture, Shanghai Mobile Friends will please Hu Jian Tao and Shing eat, hope to take the initiative to some resources to share, for example, through the database to do some mass. Hu Jian Tao Sigh, this was unthinkable before.

He is still proud of the brilliance of the year, and believes that it is a group of Robin established, from scratch to be able to be all-powerful business model. His boss sold the company in 2003, when SP was about to reach its highest point, and he intends to continue to fight in the industry. In order to the traditional SP business superimposed on the cottage machine, the same side with Sina, PDA and other SP, on one side to connect the cottage manufacturers, the equivalent of manufacturers, SP, users, operators of the joint through to form a new chain of biological. Tencent wanted to start a new job, did QQ server but no, WO also developed a set of automated systems, and sometimes see which SP arrival rate is not high immediately switch. In the industry's big earthquake-"two confirmed" before the release of the solution, will need to confirm the user's message directly into the application directly to play out. Soldier to Will block, Prito, that period of time he lived very strong.

"To tell you the truth, I'm looking at those young entrepreneurs in Beijing who are worried about them. It's easy for them to start a business, but they don't know the story in the industry. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to make money. "Hu said.