Cool disk: Make cloud storage fun

Smartphones, ipads, PCs are changing in their lives, and cloud storage is being swept by the demand for mobile internet start-ups, and how can people miss the gold deposits behind the cloud?

Beijing Kangaroo Network Technology Co., Ltd. (because of its main business is "cool disk", so hereinafter referred to as cool disk) started in January 2011, located in the "cloud" of individual users of the document storage, the current registered users have reached more than 8 million. The cool dish that takes the technology as the main has not experienced the bitter capital winter, obtained from the DCM receives the investment of B round 20 million dollars.

For this investment, chairman Huangmingming said: has been planning to be used to improve the overall cool products and services, "we such startups must do a good product, otherwise the face of Jinshan network disk, QQ hard drive, there is no need to continue." ”

Huangmingming's views have been set in the United States. Ten years ago, there were a lot of networked hard disks to meet the needs of storage and sharing, but Dropbox did the best it could to meet the needs of users, with valuations now at $4 billion trillion in capital markets. The world is not lack of opportunities, the lack of "Meet the needs" to achieve the ultimate geek spirit.

Keep a close eye on customers outside the platform

The simpler the foreground, the more complex the background, cloud storage test is the background of optimization technology and research and development capabilities.

In Beijing's fashionable three-Li Tun Soho, a cool start-up team lurks. Into the company, crowded space, almost exclusively "technology control". This is consistent with their product and website style, the page is simple to login and registration of the portal, the product is to provide users with documents, pictures, music storage and convenient access anytime and anywhere.

Once cloud services let a lot of people fog, cool plate What is the product? Cool Disc CEO Guzhi introduced, "Cool disk is a cloud storage services, it is different from the ordinary network disk, because it can not only store files on the network server, but also can be free of time, place, equipment restrictions, the same file immediately automatically synchronized to the PC, mobile phone, the Web. For example, you can access documents, forms, photos, and videos stored on a cool disk from your computer at any time by downloading a cool client on the ipad or iphone. ”

Guzhi told the China Business newspaper reporter, in fact, the biggest difficulty in mobile storage from synchronization logic and synchronization speed. Synchronization logic, such as the temporary files generated by the files being written and being edited, needs to be constantly improved to ensure that the files are kept in sync with the other computers.

Talking about the implementation of synchronous update, Guzhi also experienced a loss of product period. According to Guzhi recalls: "At first we thought Dropbox was just going to put the file on the store and underestimate the difficulty of their technology development." We have done a version of this to find that it is not so, the first edition has a lot of technical vulnerabilities, such as the various formats of encryption software stored after how to open, which involves the compatibility of problems, such as many problems arise. "These issues allow the entrepreneurial team to begin to carefully analyze the structure of Dropbox," when heard in order to solve the compatibility problem, Dropbox tested thousands of software, various algorithms, we see a point, the more simple the foreground, the more complex background, cloud storage test is the background optimization technology and research and development capabilities. "Guzhi said.

At present, the domestic mainstream network tray provider including rain forest wind, Jinshan fast, Tencent Network, Sina Micro-disk. But overall, cool disk market opportunities lie in the personal storage market, pay more attention to the user's personal experience, the product is to seize the demand for storage. Its biggest competitor, Jinshan, Tencent, Sina's micro-disk is more dependent on its own platform to find users, and cool disk with the simple product concept, targeting the user storage needs to find a storage solution outside the platform for the user, and this part of the user is often more in-depth, more easily accept the user, To compete against giant competition is the way to survive.

Mining the profit model from the cloud

In addition to the pay model, the cool disk is also trying to work with open platforms and third parties to launch more playful applications based on cloud storage.

The current cool disk has helped users store more than 2.5 billion personal files, and more than 20 million new uploaded files per day. When talking about the profit model, the entrepreneurial experience of Huangmingming very clear that is free, because the other side of the ocean their role model Dropbox use of "Free Trial + advanced service Charge" of the free value-added model and the industry are optimistic.

Dropbox initially gives the user 2G space free, exceeding this limit will need to be the capacity and time to pay storage costs. For users who are already getting convenience from Dropbox, when synchronization requirements increase, they tend to pay more to continue using than if they all transfer documents. Although Dropbox has been tight-lipped about the company's earnings and profitability, the industry has analyzed Dropbox's efficiency in leveraging bandwidth and storage. Importantly, because of the nature of cloud services, the cost of Dropbox storage will be infinitely diluted.

Cool Dish has already started through 8 kinds of packages of the form of test water paid service, will be virtual cool disk open to Taobao, such as 60 yuan 30G half a year package, when the free space can not meet the needs of users, such packages will also upgrade to get the market. Currently cool disk is free for users to use, by inviting friends storage space up to 15G. Guzhi said that users can extend the storage space by paying, doing some small VIP service test found that the cool disk loyal users pay a strong intention. He expects cool discs to make a profit in 2012.

In addition to the pay model, the cool disk is also trying to work with open platforms and third parties to launch more playful applications based on cloud storage. "In the future, we will provide the storage services that we need for some cool apps, and the collaborative model will try to share the benefits with the developers." At the same time, these applications will also lead to the increase of user storage space, which will lead users into paid users. "Huangmingming told reporters that the current cool disk to provide users with the basic space is 5G, has been the first to achieve cloud sharing file office of small and medium-sized enterprise users to provide payment services, which also let him see the individual users, from the small and medium enterprises in the potential market.

Guzhi also revealed some cool disk development ideas, cool disk will provide the iphone and Android mobile platform support, around the timely storage and social sharing, privacy protection, stability, API open, multi-terminal collaboration, to provide users with cross-platform, more convenient storage application services.

Micro-perspective

Eric analyst Shen Yu that at present the rapid popularization of intelligent terminals, the increase in the number of personal electronic equipment to the cloud storage put forward a huge demand, through the storage and calculation between different devices also put forward higher requirements. Cloud storage is a new area that has been emerging in the past two years and is being taken seriously by many internet predators. But for the business model, because the whole market is still in the initial stage of development, and there is no mature business model for reference, still need to continue in the exploration of enterprises to advance.

In the current development of mobile Internet in China, the main problem of cool disk is how to keep the confidentiality of user data and privacy while opening. At present, the first task is to rapidly expand the user size, and enhance user stickiness, cultivate user loyalty. With the user base, then talk about profitability will be meaningful. In addition, for cool disk, facing some big enterprise's cloud storage Service competition is unavoidable, how to establish their own outstanding advantages, in the first development of the time to cultivate the user's loyalty is critical.

Investment language

Zengzhenyu, vice president of DCM Investment, said that the investment is cool because the success of Dropbox has proved the potential of the cloud storage market, and the second is because of the cool team's focus on product details and innovation, since the launch has achieved remarkable development speed, the future user size will continue to expand. However, it is a great challenge to realize the maximization of the business interests in order to break through the free predicament under the condition of scale.

To the standard enterprise

Dropbox, an online storage company in the US, has valued $4 billion trillion and is growing at a rate of 10 times times a year.

Domestic mainstream network tray provider including rain forest wind, Jinshan fast disk, Tencent Network, Sina Micro-disk and so on.