China's professional social time has come

"China's professional social age has come!" "At the China Internet Conference in August 2014, LinkedIn executives proudly announced that the reason for this was, of course, to put LinkedIn into China as a sign of social networking." Although many people feel that they are too late to enter China.

In fact, LinkedIn is really happy a little early. Perhaps China's professional social era, is another way. At the beginning of August, a Chinese-style professional social application called the Pulse of the 20 million dollar round of investment by IDG Capital and Morningside venture, which was valued at $100 million trillion in the current round of financing, was announced. When it first came out in 2013, it was called "Chinese version of LinkedIn" by many people, and it was one of the earliest applications to try to do business social in the domestic market.

The name of the tenderness comes from the Chinese people often say "contacts" the word. But what the Chinese call "connections" is not exactly what Westerners see as "social". Even, the word network is difficult to find proper translation in English (it is suggested that formal occasions can be translated into 50x15 or receptacle, informal occasions can be directly said Guanxi, this Chinese vocabulary has been formally accepted in English). "I just want to solve the problem of ' finding someone to do things ', and I want to move the ' people to work ' from offline to online." Lin explained his original intention in the simplest language. However, the four words "find someone to do things" in China's human society, contains endless learning.

The first time the CEO Lin, you will find, not the initial venture, born in 1980, he is still like a common university campus science boy, talk sincere and slightly formal. When it comes to products, the tone is quiet, like describing other people's products. In the early years as a Sogou CTO, after responsible for the street network campus recruitment Business Lin, witnessed the rise of Sogou input method, but also witnessed the decline of Sogou browser, which makes him more sober understanding of entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial success, more need for the time and people and, he even thought, many times, the emphasis is luck.

Lin also calculate "Luck" is good, this August completes B round financing, all of a sudden let Lin loose tone, to know, in the early March this year, the tenderness of the funds once stretched, he once wanted to take his savings to "relief" enterprise, "in order to start, I also rough spell." "Lin van laugh."

Many people start their own business, from their own needs. Lin should also be a typical user of tenderness: don't like the traditional vodka business, but for the sake of work, but not completely avoid the use of interpersonal network. How to let people like themselves with comfortable social means to "do it" or even find a better job, is the starting point of his design.

The logic of a network

Before the interview began, Lin who did not like the usual social occasions to hand their own business card, but asked the reporter a question: "You are the user of the tenderness?" After receiving a positive answer, he added the journalist to his friend through his cell phone number. As a result, Lin's personal information is presented in front of the reporters, even including the correspondent and Lin contacts on the contact list, but also instantly be clearly combed out.

This detail implicitly implies the product logic: When registering an account, it will import the user's mobile address book, and when the registration is successful, users will find that their background information and interpersonal network have been combed clearly, covering their educational background, career experience and the list of friends they have met in these stages.

The contacts that are added to the Address book are "once connected" to each other, and through a one-time network, users can reach more than two-degree connections, those with whom they have at least one common friend. In Lin's view, the introduction of two-degree contacts into professional social networking can enhance mutual trust, allowing users to quickly find the people they are looking for.

Lin's point of view is that the most important thing is to solve the problem of survival, so, to help people solve the job search, into the mouth of this product. The interface is mainly composed of three parts: the work circle, instant communication tools and network management. Among them, the most active when the work circle, this part by the real name dynamic and the anonymous gossip composition. In real-name dynamics, you can see a dynamic update of your once-and two-degree connections, while in anonymous gossip you can see all sorts of anecdotal evidence that you'll need to prove. "This part is actually a person's two sides, in the real name dynamic, you can see friends to show their own ' tall ', shape image and influence." But in the anonymous gossip, it is the dark part of human nature, a variety of work in the spit, all kinds of negative feelings of the talk, but also cater to a lot of people gossip mentality. "It's a bit like a very hot" secret "in the last few days, isn't it? But unlike the secret, this is not the main selling point of tenderness, at present, the work circle is the largest part of the flow of tenderness, the user is very active, which makes the product effectively bonded to the user.

In the network management, the system is based on the user's personal data and background, for its intelligent referral posts, but also through the user's personal information to provide it can "help you referral of the contact person." When a user posts a job, the tenderness calculates who can recommend the right person in their network. If you don't have the right people in your network, you can recommend a broker. This way, effectively reduces the threshold of trust. However, this part of the activity is not as good as the work circle.

This is not the first product form of tenderness. The inertia of engineering students ' thinking makes Lin the first to make a practical tool, rather than social application. Therefore, since the end of October 2013, the tenderness of the market until this February, he has been the network management part as the main product, placed in the first interface, and the current activity is very high dynamic, he was placed at the secondary level of the menu, the social factors are not prominent.

Such a product layout, so that he quickly encountered a problem. Network is static, people through friends, can find the person to find, but not to achieve interaction. Most importantly, this makes his product a one-time tool, and many people find the relevant information through the tenderness, no longer use. Traffic never grows. This directly caused his company to get into an awkward position. Soon, the angel investment to the morning Hing to spend, he is ready to take out savings to maintain the company's survival.

In the most out of the time, I do not know where the inspiration suddenly, so that Lin who has to do the feeling of products. "I'm not going to dwell on the tool or the social, but with the feeling," he said. "He adjusts the dynamics of the work circle to the first, and then adjusts the network management." "That is a week, our flow is rubbing against the rising, and flow together, there are all kinds of investors." In this way, the company suddenly a survivor.

Now it seems, the tenderness of the way to the dead, lies in the real grasp of the nature of the network, networking is not only to help each other, "use", more important is high-frequency exchanges and sharing, this is a professional person's just need. And this shift in positioning, also makes the tenderness began to become a "people" as the center rather than information-centric products.

A variety of possible profit models

Product Network CEO Liu Huanqi for the tenderness of full praise, "as the workplace social application, the product is almost perfect tenderness." Liu believes that, on the one hand, its network management function can be for users to comb out their own social circle, find useful people. On the other hand, the dynamic of the work circle, but also can effectively glue the user, will not make it a "disposable" tool.

Liu just like analysis that, based on the reality of national conditions, China does not fully replicate the idea of LinkedIn products. In the United States, work and life are completely separated, in the network management, you complete the completion of your own information, you will be the initiative to find you, you can accept this way. But in China, private business is difficult to separate, "friendship" and "work" often mixed together, need social means to use the resources of the circle of friends to open. Therefore, the pulse of the real-name dynamic, anonymous gossip and instant messaging functions to take into account these needs. "If you can get a aniseed in today's anonymous gossip, it will be confirmed tomorrow, which would make it a huge increase in traffic," he said. ”

This successful product mentality also provides a variety of possible profit models for the tenderness. According to the industry analysis, first of all, can provide services for the company's recruitment, second, the Pulse can also be charged to the user; third, you can set up a number of ads in various dynamic positions.

But when it comes to profit patterns, Lin to reporters, who will imitate LinkedIn's approach. At present, 70% of the latter's income is obtained through the provision of recruitment services. The tenderness will also first depend on the traditional way of profiting. And for the introduction of advertising advice, Lin is a little dismissive: "Want to money quickly, I can put all the place into a advertising position." But this will damage the user experience, too quick. ”

Lin disdain the reason for advertising charges, but also he saw another kind of profit may be-to build a knowledge trading platform. Lin For example, at present, many highly skilled occupations can be timed to charge. For some start-up companies, in the case of limited budgets, they can be hired through consultants to avoid high pay. The tenderness can be relied on a large number of network resources, for "human knowledge" price, so that its realization of the maximization of benefits. "It's like Alipay, is a trading platform." Because in many cases, acquaintances help, you are even embarrassed to ask for a price, but we provide such a platform, so that everyone's work is respected and value. ”

And such a profit model, the tenderness has begun to try. "You have to interview someone, and the interviewer should be paid." From the point of view of the business, such a way, for the C-terminal is not a problem, but as a B-side of the enterprise, will be very unaccustomed. They will feel that I have not been able to recruit people, how to pay him? "Although this model is a huge challenge to the traditional way of recruiting, but he is not afraid of this" new business "to promote the difficulty:" Alipay, Baidu bidding rankings launched, which one is not questioned? ”

A lone little fish.

Compared to the entire Internet circle this sea, now is a small fish, but the small fish is determined to be a lone Ranger. Logical self-consistent product and business model, so many companies to the "mouth-watering"-even Tencent, Ali, such as the internet giants, they and 360 have thrown the tenderness of hydrangea, but was Lin declined.

In Lin's view, it is not a good thing to be in the early stage of the internet situation. And bat-like giants are more assertive when it comes to cooperation, and they are likely to become a pawn in their development strategy.

According to the popular words to describe Lin, he is a "feeling" person. This sentiment comes from the persistence of the user experience. IDG Director Newqui View, in terms of products, Lin has always insisted on the principle, he is not quick, not eager to change, in the subversion of the existing Internet profit way "very thoughtful." In choosing the investor, Lin repeatedly stressed that he did not choose the highest valuations, but preferred to choose an investor who would fit his ideas. Because he knew, does the social networking is needs the network accumulation, although the day will be difficult to endure, the LinkedIn has survived five years, the tenderness has done five years not to make money the psychological preparation. It is more valuable to do one thing than to get the last amount of money in the Lin world.

Therefore, regardless of IDG, or the morning Hing venture, no performance requirements for the tenderness. Newqui to the Chinese entrepreneur that social networking has always been a promising area, and the tenderness is what makes them feel "most". All strategic decisions about the tenderness, they will respect the "entrepreneur".

Today's tenderness, the main user or from the Internet enterprises, Lin to the tenderness of a core user group, which he is familiar with. Next, he will advertise to the media and the subway, brand, expand to the wider white-collar population. Moreover, in his understanding, "find someone to do things", not only should be limited to find work, the tenderness will also be for users to solve life problems. "For example, children go to school, to find a nanny, these are looking for people to do business." "Lin said.