One of 50 big stationmaster: A person operates "watercress" net

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A year ago, the Starbucks coffee shop in Chaoyang Gate, Beijing, had one more regular customer. The more than 30-year-old, clothing and leisure of young people are "watercress" net founder Yang Bo, the net name "a North", every day here drinking coffee today to work more than 4 o'clock in the afternoon. According to Yang Bo, "watercress" net is almost in Beijing and Shanghai, several Starbucks written.

From March 2005 to now, by a person to develop, operate the book review, film reviews, music review website "Watercress" network, has more than 50,000 registered users, became the Web 2.0 stars. This is "play" for the Yang Bo who used physics as a career, "computer is just a tool and interest".

From "Donkey Zong" to "watercress"

In mid-July 2004, Yang Bo, who resigned as CTO of a logistics consulting firm, ran to the United States to seek jobs. "The interviewer is a Chinese," he said, admiring me and having an entrepreneurial experience on the mainland. Yang Bo said, after running a lap, feel still should return to start a business.

"The way I choose my project is to chat with my friends," Yang Bo said. "Many of our friends are MBAs, they have a lot of ideas, and they put forward a lot of advice until the day they talk about traveling." September 2004, Yang Bo for his travel site made a business plan, and named "Donkey", but later he felt that the self-help travel of the crowd is too little, so, Yang Bo will look to the "book."

Today, Yang Bo the core idea of "watercress" as, "can find different things, and suitable for themselves", he explained, friend's recommendation is often on the purchase of a product is very critical, now "watercress" expanded the recommended group, you will believe that the recommendation of a specific stranger, this " Can be understood as a network of specific objects such as books.

In the determination to "book" as the main direction, some people have suggested the use of fashionable digital products, automobiles, etc., but Yang Bo think the new mobile phone is so dozens of kinds, it is easy to study through. Although the evaluation of each cell phone has value, but let the public participate in, "Let everyone reviews the value is not small." This product is more suitable for several engineers to complete the review, using similar hardware to the current model of the website. "The book is different, each year published about hundreds of thousands of kinds of books, no one knows all kinds, so the demand is the most exuberant, the value is the largest." "Yang said.

Snowball

Starting from October 2004, the development of the site has experienced 5 months, March 7, 2005, Yang Bo "watercress" network opened, and the first day there are users registered. Yang Bo said that at that time the search engine also can not find "watercress", the first user may be in search of domain name inadvertently knock Douban into. Although the first user only "registered a ID, looked around, did not do anything, and then did not come again," but still make Yang Bo can not forget.

"Users need to produce content of the site began the most difficult, need to find some basis for the content of the user to comment, and then produce a snowball effect," for this "watercress" think of the way is to provide parity system. This system is actually a search engine that users can use to find the same book in excellent or when when the price.

"At first I thought the search was very difficult, try to write a, the results of a successful, then we began to do the site itself, and so on", Yang Bo Special appreciation of the picture site Flickr kind of concise page, so "watercress" user interface "borrowed Flickr." Backstage the technology is also by Yang Bo One person completes, "' watercress ' the plan is directed to 1 million users to go, moreover is a pure dynamic website, therefore I attaches particular importance to the server side technology." Yang Bo said that the current "watercress" network although there are 50,000 registered users, but only a single AMD processor server, memory has just been promoted to 2G, to "1 million users, up to 10 servers."

In the user, technology accumulation improvement at the same time, "watercress" network function is also accumulating and changing. Start "watercress" only book reviews, recommended only 2 kinds, one is by each user through their favorite books to find like-minded people, and then according to the list of those who are recommended; the other is the machine based on the user's database information to recommend. Later, with the user's creative emergence of a free combination of groups, local plate, the same city system.

The business of "watercress"

"On the first day of the site, someone through ' watercress ' to buy a book," Yang Bo can not remember the first business details, he said "watercress" net income from the book Business and advertising, the current revenue can pay the daily operating costs of the site.

Like all Web 2.0 sites, Yang Bo also claims "forever free" for users, "our core value is to let users find new things, if we do well, users will find valuable, they will buy." So we are equal to help businesses do marketing, so we will be with the "," the current "watercress" has been in and when, outstanding, Yang Bo said from the "watercress" 10 links will occur purchase behavior. "Watercress" another revenue means in the future is advertising.

"We may also add books, movies, other than music products, but I think the most substantive help is still the English version of ' watercress ', Yang Bo," Americans like to read, and books sell expensive, high profit ", so the English market is bigger and more mature," we have planned to work with Amazon, At present, English server has been set up to complete, the English version of the development is also basically completed.

"Watercress" at present in the domestic work has shifted to the promotion: and reading and other traditional media cooperation, strengthen advertising and so have been mentioned on the agenda. November 23 reporters saw Yang Bo, he is "watercress" moved to Beijing, registered companies in Beijing, recruiting, he said, "taking into account the cultural circles, talent factors," watercress "or should come to Beijing development."

In terms of capital, "watercress" early money is just a few friends total less than 200,000 yuan of "angel investment", Yang Bo said already have venture capital to find the door, but he is still inclined to find some willing to long-term investment "angel investment."