The Secret of pea pods: a 85-post CEO's entrepreneurial saga

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January 15, 2014, pea pod announced the soft silver group received 120 million U.S. dollars investment. I've been tracking this mobile content search venture for 4 years to explain the secret of pea pod growth: A 85-post CEO, how to lead the team, in 360 and Baidu to break through?

September 9, 2013, peas and Pods co-founder, CEO Wang Junyu standing in the sun justice of an entire floor area of the office window, the floor is green in the Japanese courtyard, farther from Tokyo Bay. The 28-Year-old, who spoke about the 15-minute strategy for pea pods in front of son, was interrupted by the latter, who in turn told him about the future of SoftBank. Wang Junyu, wearing shirts and jeans, and another co-founder, wearing a T-shirt Feng, negotiated with a group of people in suits.

Why soft silver?

Since Baidu July 2013 to 1.9 billion U.S. dollars to acquire 91 wireless, pea pod has been asked: will sell? How high is the price? This year, Wang Junyu saw the domestic and foreign large companies and investment institutions, there are more than 40. "We do not mean to sell or not to sell, not to sell the company, nor to sell the company, just to make a thing." He pondered and said, "which company's technology can help us with this?" Our current traffic is also based on the user's reputation, we build our own ecosystems. Giant's product line is too long, we focus on mobile phone search, independence will be better. An independent, vigorous company, and a company that has been acquired by the Giants, two stories which sound more promising?

In the more than 40 investment institutions, SoftBank has a higher valuation, but not the highest. "Son has a lot of guts, and I like it, big bets, putting all the eggs in one basket, risky and high output, like all of the chips in Texas poker." "Wang Junyu said.

Soft silver by one of the Pea Pod shareholders DCM referral, the second round of financing soft silver collar, DCM and innovation Workshop with investment, Huaxing Capital as an exclusive financial advisor. June 2011, the Pea pod completed a round of financing, DCM invested 5 million of dollars, innovation workshop with a vote of 3 million dollars. At that time, several VC and large companies contacted them, one of the Giants gave a much higher valuation and investment than the DCM, but DCM agreed with the strategic direction of Pea pod, investment manager (now vice president of investment) Hubert to come each time, and they talk about products and the future, That giant is more focused on pea pods. Existing client products and available user volume. Many people advised pea pods to accept the giant's investment, more money, more promotional resources.

Peas and pods are different: they want to find 100% of people who support them, and they feel as if the idea of pea pods is too important to be done, rather than someone who feels that they have done well enough that other ideas don't need to be done.

They don't know if the choice is right or wrong, but they know what kind of company they want to be, don't want to be a short-term takeover, and don't want to focus on PC clients.

Accept DCM Investment, which is a choice made by the Pea pod based on belief. "The World 99% of things you lack of experience, you make decisions when you do not know right and wrong, the only reliance on what you believe." Pea-Pod belief product first, all decisions are based on it as a prerequisite. Said Cui, the pea-Pod co-founder. September 2011, the Pea pod for the popularization and application of fees, the implementation of bidding rankings, all advertising applications clearly marked, inform users, users download once, on the collection of application developers a certain fee, this is the iron law of pea pods. They strictly distinguish between natural flow and advertising traffic, the user himself through the search to download, is natural selection, even if he is to pay for the use of pea pods to promote the application. If the natural flow of liquidity, the company will go farther and further, all the recommendations will become hidden ads, who give the company more money, recommend who. Cui For example, Tencent Browser is their advertisers, it relies on its own brand effect into the "fastest Rising" list, the location is good, but peas can not be counted with it advertising fees.

If the natural flow and advertising flow mixed together to charge, pea pod can achieve break-even, slightly profitable. This makes pea pods lose 70% of their income (2012 data). "DCM won't say, OK, you have to hurry up." "Cui said.

When you encounter temptation and don't know what to choose, do what you believe.

The Iron triangle of pea pods

Financing 120 million of dollars, Wang Junyu said, some will be spent on the introduction of talent, the money is not directly effect is to boost the confidence of pea pod and the popularity of pea pods. Although it is still a small company, little experience, but will slowly take the way of mergers and acquisitions to expand the team. There is a lot of money to be spent on the product itself, and in addition to working with content providers to build ecosystems. "Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg said it doesn't matter if we don't make money on our own, and that only by making money can we get more people involved in our platform," he said. ”

I asked Wang Junyu, if it is 4 or 500 million dollars of companies, each of you can be divided into tens of millions of dollars, all become billionaires, how does it feel? He replied: "If two years ago, it would be great to think of 100 million dollars, when a round of financing was valued at $33 million; if 4 years ago, a company could value 30 million dollars, At that time the conversion was 200 million yuan, I also think it is a huge number. Do after, also didn't feel what great, this is like mountaineering, if really climb not move, also will shrink. But I don't feel that way yet. ”

Cui said: "Wang Junyu convinced us that if we sell the company, we create 10 times the industry will not necessarily have the opportunity to enlarge the company, we feel that pea pod is a chance to big." ”

In order not to sell peas and pods, Feng and Wang Junyu in the mail a quarrel. The paradox is not whether to sell or not to sell the company, but rather the way in which you inform your business partner what you think. June 1, 2013, Pea pod in the company to do activities, everyone had a good time, when some companies want to buy peas pods, valuations are still high. Wang Junyu temper don't like to talk with people, worry about Cui and feng against, in the activity directly to Feng said: I decided not to sell the company. Feng Answer: OK. Feng's reflective arc is very long, did not respond to, after a few days to Wang Junyu e-mail said: I think you make such a big decision not to discuss with us. Two people quarreled, Wang Junyu feel wrong, want to please love to eat steak Feng Eat the best steak in Beijing, but was Feng refused.

Feng didn't want to sell the company, but he wanted Wang Junyu to tell him why he didn't sell it. "Nothing is more important than that, three of us are going to be united. Even say, I Cui and Feng just want to sell the company, you Wang Junyu just don't want to sell the company, that also want to let Wang Junyu first know, can not in the board of directors suddenly jumped out, we want to sell the company. The company is dead. Wang Junyu was under a lot of pressure, and one night he was walking alone at the unnamed lake in Peking University, until midnight, when his wife felt that something was wrong to get him back. That night, Cui in the restaurant beside the work body and Feng chatted for a long time.

Cui told Wang Junyu: "This is an opportunity to sell not to sell the company is not an emotional issue, we have to be responsible for the staff." If it is sold today, the benefits that employees can get are bigger than what we get on the market later, isn't that an important factor? We need to do a good job of the account, I do not know, you have to calculate. ”

Wang Junyu spent a whole day at home writing more than 130 pages of PowerPoint, he thinks pea pods will be a great company, "to be an independent company is responsible for the employees, the investors are also responsible for the choice", Cui and Feng also excited about his ideas, fully support him. The Iron triangle of pea pods has withstood a difficult test. I said: "You three unity is no problem." Cui said: "Yes, I heard that several companies are the entrepreneurial team within the division to sell." ”

Wang Junyu is the youngest of the three, born in 1985, childlike not off, gentle personality, make decisions more slowly, the decision will not hesitate. Kai-Fu Lee Evaluation is that he has the ability to think independently, even if others oppose his ideas, will try hard, and to prove their effectiveness.

Feng was originally in Chengdu, a foreign company to do research and development engineers, in the local home purchase, give up the stability of life, north to join the Innovation Factory, is the first pea pod four engineers one. By the time Feng went, there were no more than ten creative workshops. I asked Feng, is there any disappointment, feel not a few people? He replied: "The sooner the entrepreneurial go, the better, the less the better, I would like to go when only Kai-fu Lee alone there." "When he joined the Pea pod, he was 28 years old, with a little life experience, a wealth of work experiences, and a good mental and physical strength."

Cui I had dealings with her while working in Google China. In recent years, her image from the CBD bright, dressed in fashion suits white-collar to zhongguancun simple, shirt jeans with the development of it people. Pea Pod team members of the overall character of the moderate, strong personality, impatient Cui, played the role of "villain", the people would like to say and do not want to say.

These four years, three people's responsibility distribution is basically, Wang Junyu is responsible for the product, Feng is responsible for the technology, Cui responsible for personnel and operations. In the 2013, the team was more mature and explored each other's strengths. Feng is not only responsible for technology, but also for money. Cui and Wang Junyu on the concept of money more confused, Feng will tell you how much the money in the balance treasure every day will have a lot of interest, and investors discuss the terms of the time is very tough, not easy concessions, the company's interests protection is very good. Also because Feng in the negotiations serious, dispute, make pea pod delay in a financing contract signed, has been delayed to Baidu 1.9 billion U.S. dollars to buy 91 wireless day, when the Pea pod is ready to sign the contract, because the news of the burst, investors call to stop the signature.

Wang Junyu said: "This is why Feng and I went to Japan and the soft silver negotiations." The company's vision is that I told son, the specific details of the negotiations is Feng to do. I see a lot more, Cui to see more people, if only to see things, will be very blunt to see which company to help us more, but Cui will be in the other executives to see the subtle expression, they really like us. ”

From February 2011 to December 2012, former Baidu chief architect Zhou Limin as the CEO of Pea Pods. In August 2010, Cui said to me that the team is more satisfied with the present, "the past is too democratic, desperately arguing." Now after running-in, we all understand each other's advantage, Wang Junyu advantage in the product of talent, we believe in his products and user needs on the judgment; in the promotion, they believe my judgment, the product structure when the problem, believe the Feng judgment. "But after a few months, they're thinking about looking for a new CEO. Pea pods are developing rapidly, with more people and less research and development efficiency. Feng and Wang Junyu have no experience managing a midsize development team, and the inefficiency of the management team is dragging the pea pods, when the number of pea pods has grown to five hundred thousand or six hundred thousand, and the server will be down every 10 o'clock in the evening because of technical problems.

Three co-founders meet to discuss whether to look for a CEO? To come to the conclusion of "yes", first get past the psychological level: entrepreneurship at least in part to "be the boss of their own company." In the collision and running-in of ideas, for the first time they were acutely aware that "the most important thing is to make a company and it doesn't matter where your butt sits." If Wang Junyu must be CEO, Cui must be COO, Feng must be the CTO, everyone cares about this word, pea pod is finished.

They agreed to find a new CEO. To find a new CEO is to replace the Wang Junyu. The young man showed a mature mind and bosom, and he did not care, as long as the company to do a good job.

Cui want to find a can financing, Wang Junyu want to find a product done well, Feng want technology strong. After saying three people laugh, it is simply to find himself a boss. In the end, they decided that "pea pod will be a technology-driven company, need a skilled CEO," and came to the benefit of the week, when Zhou Li had been a consultant for pea pods for six months.

Zhou Limin A technical vision, the next day on the announcement, the C language and C + + language to reconstruct the Pea pod pc client. The idea Wang Junyu them into a tangle of more than a quarter, without daring to make a decision. It was a terrible decision for a small company, and many companies died in refactoring. The new CEO first burned the fire here. At that time Feng was the team's most major engineers, and the only in C + + experienced engineers, was drawn out to do their best to do pea pod 2.0.

September 2011, Tencent published a C-language and C + + written client; in October, 360 and 91 mobile phone assistant cooperation company released similar products, the same month, after the reconstructed Pea pod 2.0beta version quietly online. This product and Pea Pod 1.0 compared to the structure, looks have undergone major changes, dare not to launch High-profile, afraid of users can not accept. Pea Pod 2.0 faster, better structure, scalability, the more competitive, the greater the advantage. February 21, 2012, the Pea Pod 2.0 released the official edition. Cui said the pea pod might have died without Zhou Limin's decision a year ago.

At that time, Zhou Li is equivalent to the existence of the Sea of Poseidon Needle. Specific affairs by Wang Junyu them three people operation, have doubt to find Zhou Limin. July 2011, pea Pod is still in the spring Lu Jinchuo home A set of more than 100 square meters of local office, I used to visit, the time is 360 launched mobile phone assistant, Cui did not and 360 hand, very anxious, ran to ask Zhou Limin: We will have a problem?

Zhou Limin told her that the first step, after the release of the reconstructed version of the Pea pod will be very good development; The second step, the pea pod can be made into a very successful company, see whether the front end of the competition can be transferred to the background service. If the battlefield transfer to the backend services, Tencent, 360 such advantages in the client company, also no longer have the advantage, or the advantage is very small.

At the end of 2012, Zhou Limin resigned as CEO of Pea Pods, retaining shares. Wang Junyu the CEO. From Cenjin, Zhou Limin had already been financially free, and Wang Junyu were "very thirsty", maintaining more than 80 hours of work a week. Equivalent to two years of time, Zhou Limin bear the main burden, waiting for the three of them to grow up. "Four years ago, I focused on being a good product designer, focusing on things, not focusing on people, technology, and business competition," Wang Junyu said. Zhou Limin was a great help to us, and I felt completely uncertain. At the end of 2012, he had a new idea, I also slowly think that the CEO of this matter can be slowly fixed, know how deep water, roughly what road can go. ”

He added: "Last quarter I had a secretary, at first I was not accustomed to the whole schedule must be asked to find her, rather than directly to me." ”

How do peas and pods fight giants?

2011, Cui worried to ask Zhou Limin: Face 360, we will have a problem? 2014, I put this question in front of her: face Baidu, 360 of these giants, pea pod or small company, how to do? Cui said: "I feel that we do not necessarily lose, although we do not adapt to the 360, But they don't fit in. Whenever to scold each other, but after 85, after the younger is the small flash, in the sky, ignore you, do not use your method of licensing. Pea pods The most important thing is not to imitate your opponent's strengths, but to think about your strengths. ”

"The advantage of pea pod is still on the product, each launch a new function all in time lead, lead is have time window, 360 follow up quickly, basic 3-6 months can follow up." This depends on whether the market can use a good time window to get how many new users, it must be the product and BD together very well, using the time window to make people know, when he followed up when we turn to the next new function. ”

Pea Pods started as an innovative workshop in-house incubation project Android phone OS Dim sum accessory Project, in the process of doing the discovery of their own commercial value potential is large, April 2010 Independent. At first, it wasn't called pea pods, it was called peas. But the name of the PEA has been registered and it will cost 100,000 yuan to buy it. "It's too expensive," said Hua, managing partner of innovation workshops. Wang Junyu and Cui said, "How nice the peas are." Hua asked them: "You took 1 million angel investment, spend 100,000 yuan to buy a domain name, you do not do?" They thought carefully before they renamed "Pea Pods." Later, Wang Junyu said to me, 100,000 yuan domain name is indeed too expensive.

When I was independent, it was the most painful time for pea pods, the product was no use, 100 people per day online users. June 21, 2010, Wang Junyu write mail to Kai-Fu Lee, active users 225 people. At that time 37% of users complained is not even, "users do not need, is we do too bad." Wang Junyu said that 2011 years ago, the user mail was his own reply.

September 2010, the user to the level of 50,000 people, which increased their confidence, mobile phone assistant form is right. October, 1 million dollar investment in innovation workshop. At that time, Wang Junyu in ppt: "Mobile phone assistants are the opening point, will focus on content distribution and third-party content sharing, including application stores, video sites, online music, E-book online site, and they work together and share revenue." ”

May 2011, the Pea pod began to do application search, October began to increase the advertising system, which is a big milestone in the pea corner, it began to find their own business model to feed themselves.

April 2012, the Pea pod officially proposed "Pea pod in doing mobile search, today is applied search, the future is universal search, there are music, videos, books and other content, but also an open search." ”

January 2014, pea Pod launched the "Mobile content search."

Cell phone component is the application, the composition of the PC is the Web page, pea Pod is doing every day is the analysis of the application, the application in the end how much content, suitable for which cell phone, suitable for the resolution of many large screen, how much electricity consumption. "There's a difference between the competition on mobile phones today and the PC age," Wang Junyu said. Second, the role of the channel is not so big, the mainstream user is the next, the beginning of the computer, know what is a good thing, will not say you give him something he must use what, he will have a choice. Second, many traditional marketing methods are not used in mobile, such as bundling. Can not be bundled on the phone, you have no way to set the browser home page to do this, there is no one to open the browser. ”

"A lot of PC times have not solved good problems, today can be solved." PC Search is not personalized, mobile phone can completely personalized. On the PC, we stop innovation, all do micro-innovation, which do is the same, depends on who occupies the desktop larger. ”

"In the mobile age, the product itself will play a greater role, this is the Times." Now this era is more suitable for the growth of technology innovation companies. ”

Mobile content Search, now is not the game of money, is the game of data, your data, the more accurate search results, you can provide a higher quality of search results, the more users, the more accurate data, there are higher quality products. Pea pod accumulated data from mobile phone users, accumulated four years, Cumulative Installed capacity of 300 million users, active users have 60 million.

I asked Wang Junyu, how to win the war in the future?

"or in products and technology. If you can't run faster than others, the company has no value in existence. If there is someone else who has done better than us, we must be able to throw in the towel and put all my eggs in one basket. ”

All in.