Century Jia Yuan founder Gong: Again entrepreneurship still "Pat Head"

Editor's note/She was a pioneer in China's online marriage market, leading the century to open the door to U.S. capital markets. Now, after her success, she has entered the entrepreneurial arena and has chosen the online education industry across the border.

Interestingly, her second venture was still without careful market research, but as a first-time venture, "a pat on the head."

Why did the founder leave his own company and start a business? This issue of entrepreneurial characters we have an interview with the founder of the Century Jiayuan, 91 foreign teacher net founder gong.

After leaving his own creation of the century Jia Yuan, gong two times to do pioneering work in a plastic surgery hospital.

"Many female members of the century Jia Yuan can not solve the marriage event for many years, appearance is also a reason." So, I want to help them through technical means to solve. "Gong said.

However, Gong finally failed to do plastic surgery hospital.

Let her give up is the angel investor Xiaoping: "You want to do plastic surgery hospital, you must first spend 3 years to the whole into fan Bingbing." ”

And Zhou, Lei, hanting ... These in the familiar field repeatedly pioneering, repeatedly "toss" the person is different, with Harper, Ding, Bao ... These people from the industrial turn investment is also different, Gong two times to start a business, the choice is a strange field: online education, do is one-on-one English teaching 91 foreign network.

The end is the founder's pace with the company.

"Century Jiayuan The most important thing is the establishment of the business model, and rapidly expand the scale of the U.S. capital market recognition, believe it is a valuable company." "Li Analysis thinks. However, after the listing, the most important indicators of enterprises are not only scale, but profit, efficiency and user stickiness.

As the founder of the Century Jiayuan, Gong launched the concept of network marriage, and the business model of successful practice, leading the company listing. She felt that her historic mission at the edge of the century had been completed.

However, in fact, after the century Jia Yuan listing, gong encountered a previously not thought of the worry.

In 2011, the stock market in China was questioned by the U.S. capital markets and plummeted. century, the stock price from the listing of 11 U.S. dollars/shares, fell to 3~4 dollars/shares. Gong recalls that at that time, every quarter, she faced the cold shoulder of investors, only to keep explaining: The price decline is the market reason.

However, even if the market on the overall valuation of the stock is low, investors accused of "the century Jiayuan profit model is too single, members see the letter income accounted for 90% of total income" This is gong undeniable.

In order to turn the century Jiayuan into a safer company, it is necessary to create a new profit model. Gong first thought is the extension of the industrial chain. In fact, as early as 2010, Century Jiayuan launched a Magpie network based on the wedding market. This attempt sounds perfectly logical: Century Jiayuan has tens of millions of registered users, a large proportion of whom are potential users of the wedding market. And the Magpie Network business model is the wedding industry network navigation will ring purchase, wedding photography, wedding planning, marriage hotel ... The consumer information of the store under the line to move to the Internet, through the century good edge will flow, if the formation of trading, Century Jiayuan will charge transactions.

However, "Magpie network has a bit similar to the wedding industry Group purchase website, the offline products and services online." But online marriage and electricity quotient are completely two kinds of thinking, insiders. Snowball Financial analyst Li to the China Business newspaper (blog, Weibo) reporter analysis that: "First of all, century Jiayuan need to go with the wedding industry in different businesses to talk about the split, and then to promote the magpie net alone." These things have never been done before in the century. So, magpie net has been tepid, and did not give century good margin to bring how much income. ”

Efforts to extend the industry chain have not been successful, and the number of active users of the century Jiayuan has begun to decline. So, in March 2012, Gong and her investors Qian Yongqiang, Gan Jianping together, the introduction of the "Internet veterans" Wulin light to join the century Jiayuan, and gong together to become the joint CEO.

During that time, Gong stumbled upon a microblog published by Tudou founder Wang: "Goodbye in the next interesting dream." At that time Tudou, just and Youku merged.

Stock prices, income generation, efficiency, customer stickiness ... Gong every day is for the website of a data and bustling. In the century Jia Yuan worked for 10 years she began to feel, Wang Micro this sentence hit her heart a tired nerves.

Wulin Light technology, after joining the century good edge, the rapid development of the user behavior Analysis system, from the data reached a conclusion, decided to develop market segments, and launched an independent brand "love Sincerity", and in order to improve customer stickiness, but also developed a web game and reading channels.

Wulin Light to increase the investment in mobile Internet, is regarded as an important strategic transformation of the Century good edge. At this point, the Chinese-born gong gradually focused on the market, media, public relations and other business. "I also agree that I do the market, media PR compared to operations and products more appropriate." Gong to the reporter admits.

"The most important part of the century is the establishment of the business model, and rapid expansion of the scale, to get the" online marriage market First "brand, and the U.S. capital Market believes that it is a valuable company. "Li Analysis thinks. However, after the listing, the most important indicators of enterprises are not only scale, but profit, efficiency and user stickiness.

Obviously, not every founder is able to accompany the company to go on forever. In December 2012, Gong resigned as the CEO of Century Jia Yuan.

Second venture starts from Doom

As with the motivation of the initial venture, Gong did not do rigorous market research before two startups, but from a simple demand in his own life: to the United States to face investors when English is not good, but in the domestic reported English class but no time to go to class.

In the century Jia Yuan before the listing, the investment bank said to gong, when the market bell, many founders will think of entrepreneurship for several years of hardship, and in a moment to control their own, wailing.

However, Gong did not cry, she felt that the only qualitative change in her life, is to leave the production line of Zhuhai back to campus, and then admitted to Peking University Chinese department. In her view, whether it is to start a business, the company listed, and then entrepreneurship, all of everything, is the life of the quantitative change. In this quantitative change, her entrepreneurial motives are both sexual and brain-like, and this kind of pat on the head is out of her own needs.

2003 Master's not yet graduated gong because he "want to find the object", took out 30,000 yuan to create the century good margin. Later, she made her PhD husband a "full-time cook" to fully support her entrepreneurship. "His salary was higher than mine, and everyone around him objected to his resignation, but I said to him, if I failed to start a business, would it be too much for us to go out and find a job?" Gong said.

Entrepreneurs often experience difficulties in the early stages of entrepreneurship: No users, high costs, employee rebellion ... These, gong have experienced. But she has never been so anxious about insomnia. Gong felt his optimism resembled that of her grandmother: the 94-Year-old woman, who had been a well-known matchmaker for several years, was still fond of playing mahjong with the ipad, even though his life had been rough.

As with the motivation of the initial venture, Gong did not do rigorous market research before two startups, but from a simple demand in his own life: to the United States to face investors when English is not good, but in the domestic reported English class but no time to go to class. Then, "A pat on the head," she decided to venture again to meet her similar needs.

At the beginning of 2013, Gong rented several offices of Huasheng mansion in Haidian district of Beijing Five as the major training and studying institutions of the new venture place. However, because of the high rent, she only signed a 6-month contract.

Many people advised Gong low-key, so that a start-up company too early to stand in the spotlight, once the failure, she has become a joke. "I just want to doom and let everyone look at me." Besides, what about failure? Gong feel that he is not afraid to lose after graduating from college anything, no matter what she will do later, it is impossible to return to the noisy pipeline to work, and will not return to the hot sun in the paddy fields.

"I can find another job, I can control the market, the media, how is a VP, my life continues, every day new things happen, my failure will soon be forgotten." "Gong entrepreneurial mentality as always optimistic."

The test of lighter companies to heavy companies

After delving into the education industry, Gong gradually learned that the fatal problem of a pair of models was that the cost was too high and the profit was low. Although 91 foreign Education network does not offer the input of the entity teaching point, but the server bandwidth, the salary of the technician, also will increase with the growth of the enterprise scale.

On the surface is a cross-border entrepreneurship, but gong always feel that their two startups and the first venture between still have a lot of contact. For example, "are all Internet forms, are matching system, are facing individual consumers." ”

Today, the new 91 foreign-education network of Gong has been done for two months, with only dozens of users. "Later I know the online florist roseonly," You can only send flowers to a person in your life, February 7 this year only online, hundreds of a day, I joked that this business should I do, the flow cost is very low. Gong smiled and said. However, "the bow does not turn back arrow, I have been riding on the tiger body, not to go." ”

Gong's Choice of online education is one of the hottest concepts in the current education industry. The reporter learned that the model of 91 foreign Education Network is to recruit foreign teachers first, so that they provide Chinese customers one-on-one English teaching services. The advantage of this business model is to save the site cost, the teaching process on the Internet, customer learning has a certain convenience.

However, the real sword of the entrepreneurial start, there are a lot of things beyond Gong's expectations. "I used to think 91 foreign teachers would be a light company, but it was a heavy company," he said. Century Jia Yuan is a member of the self-help platform, after paying, both men and women are their own contact, the recommended object is also recommended procedures, platform enterprises very convenient. Now, teachers and students I have to worry about. The teacher's recruitment, training, management is on one hand, the student registration needs the Prophase marketing, the registration succeeds, but also must contact the student, tests his computer environment. Sometimes students leave a phone number and may not be able to keep in touch. You have an appointment with your teacher, and then you schedule time with the user, and the user is perfectly likely to put the pigeons. In addition, even if you send him a free test, you need a course counselor to follow up. From test to pay, there is a problem of conversion rate, it is impossible for everyone to pay. Then, the user pays for the class, all the courses are completed, the income can be confirmed. "Gong said.

After delving into the education industry, Gong gradually learned that the fatal problem of a pair of models was that the cost was too high and the profit was low. Although 91 foreign Education network does not offer the input of the entity teaching point, but the server bandwidth, the salary of the technician, also will increase with the growth of the enterprise scale.

In fact, the concept of online education is very hot, but so far there has been no unique, mature, innovative business model, the industry enterprises are exploring, 91 foreign teachers network is so.

Gong admits: "The enterprise in the scale, the business model aspect, I still have many questions not to think clearly." Education is a more esoteric industry, including how to capture traffic, how to advertise, I shot my head in, a lot of things to learn from scratch. ”

Obviously, Gong's two startups are not easy, and there are too many difficulties and uncertainties ahead of her. However, Gong, who has always been optimistic, has dismissed the idea: "That's how I feel that the excitement and fullness of the day is back." ”

Entrepreneurial watch

Second-time entrepreneurship needs rational

When confronted with the question of whether it and the Internet industry is no longer suitable for ordinary entrepreneurs, Mr Ma firmly replied that China's it and the internet are just beginning and full of opportunities.

"To do industry, the most important thing is to grasp the opportunity, once found an opportunity, it is necessary to chase down, do the end." However, the success rate of entrepreneurship is very low, at most 10% or so, inadvertently became the denominator, the possibility of becoming a molecule is very small. "In the eyes of Ding, a partner of the Jinsha River," entrepreneurship is like a jigsaw puzzle, the entrepreneur may start with nothing to see clearly, only to find a block, feel that they are interested, capable, began to work, and to find other pieces of tile, where to think where to do. ”

However, for two of startups, the entrepreneur in the direction of choice is obviously more rational. "Two successful entrepreneurs tend to choose to start their business two times in familiar areas," he said. In this way, the experience, resources, and connections that have been accumulated before success or failure can continue to play a role. Snowball financial analyst Li that, Zhou, Lei, aged and other people's two pioneering work, are based on the original experience, rationally on the new project carried out a variety of demonstrations and market research.

On the other gong, two of startups enter a field that is unfamiliar to them, and the competition that may be facing is fierce. 91 The business model of the foreign Education Network has stepped on the hottest concept of online educational interaction, but there are still blind spots in this model. First of all, how to scale one-on-one? Second, on the Internet and foreigners chat, now is not a difficult thing, you allow customers to pay, or to have a strong teaching products; third, EF, Wall Street English, and other English language training giants, have a pair of courses, their financial strength, stores also more, How do new online products compete with them? In Li's view, the challenges facing the new 91 foreign-education network are great. However, she also believes that a good model, if no one to operate also equals zero. Therefore, in the final analysis, the entrepreneur himself is the most important.

From online marriage to online education, gong is like a child who plays jigsaw puzzles and sees an opportunity in his own life, and immediately sticks to his hands. And when she can no longer find the excitement from the game, she chooses to go all the way out and continue to look for new puzzles.

And gong have similar entrepreneurial feeling, should be a few. For example, Bao, founder of the joint public, said: "I became a professional manager hired as CEO." I had a headache at the time, I couldn't find a sense of achievement in this job, and I didn't like it. ”

However, Bao choice and gong, he left the founder and turned to be angel investors, because he likes to study products, research new business model, but do not want to be a company boss. But, he admits, there is a passion and a sense of achievement in doing things now. But "the only drawback is that after a project succeeds, my sense of achievement will be much less than a direct undertaking."