Do not grasp the needs of the pineapple network will be how to pass the bottleneck period?

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Founded by several senior students, originated from the Beikeda campus of the social platform-Qiu pineapple network, want to "barter" in the form of the establishment of social relations between users, and then develop a O2O model. But the reality tells the founder of Autumn Pineapple Net, although their idea is very "cool", Autumn pineapple net may not catch the real demand of the prospective user, and also have no business model to support.

Autumn Pineapple Network Team

"Titanium Media editor/Fan Junjie" University material science and Engineering Li The label for myself is "I'm an origami emperor"--he's obsessed with the little hobby of triangular origami. Last September, he joined the Beikeda a campus SNS community called "Autumn Pineapple Net".

Qiu Pineapple Network is a "send" characteristics of the college students Social network: users publish their own idle items, other members if you want to get this item, you need to click "I want" to tell the publisher, then the Publisher can pick one of them to send things out. So far, Li has sent a handmade, pineapple-a-dream triangular origami, along with some other little things, on the internet in the autumn.

The social network, which originated in Beikeda campus, is actually an entrepreneurial project for the University of 09 computer science students Wei. Autumn Pineapple NET This project starts from July 2012, the entire team is now composed of 5 people, the member is Beikeda's undergraduate student.

"Autumn pineapple Nets", see the name of people may involuntarily think of Zhao Benshan and song sketch "Yesterday, Today, tomorrow" in the classic Lines "Eye" and "Autumn spinach." Responsible for the autumn Pineapple network operation Wang Lutong told the titanium Media reporter, the name, the purpose is to let others immediately associate to "send".

However, only through the autumn pineapple net to "send" is not Wei's intention. He believes that new social relationships can be developed through the delivery of things. "There is a double screening relationship: The first is what Ta likes about you. So many things, why do you like your things? The second is, so many people, why choose to give TA? If it is a natural two-layer screening, you two people are very suitable to meet. Wei felt that this way was beyond the level of things.

It's just a Wei idea. But in fact, whether it's a gift or something that triggers a social relationship, it's not all smooth sailing.

The social and O2O imagination of the Autumn pineapple Network

The University school building has several basements. From one entrance, through a staircase without lights and dark, a few bends will see the basement corridor. On both sides of the corridor is a security door, these rooms are university students ' activity room, Wei team in the B05 number.

This is Wei to the school for the project to apply to the pineapple activity room, usually, Wei and his team members write code here, to the Autumn Pineapple Network maintenance. Beikeda is the birthplace of the Autumn Pineapple Network, B05 is now the base of Wei team.

The Autumn pineapple Net has just been on-line the third edition interface. Although after two times page changes, but the entire Web site model and the establishment of a small change compared to: users in the Autumn pineapple online publishing items, other users click "I Want", the publisher in all the users want to select a person to give. Users can view the history of receiving and giving, and increase communication by message chatting in the article and individual status, as a basis for the publisher's decision to send the object. After the decision is given to a person, the system will send their own contact to the mobile phone, two people can meet online gifts.

But Wei does not want to make the autumn pineapple net into a disposal of idle items platform. He thinks, autumn pineapple net with change material website, second-hand forum and common people net etc. have obvious difference. He envisions that by sending things in a way that the publisher and the person who wants them naturally, they should be able to make friends.

"We didn't emphasize the value of the item at the outset, nor did the items page show." Things are a primer for us to create opportunities for offline communication. "Social, online, Wei thinks the idea can be big.

It was Wei excited to make friends with the light, but he thought more than that.

The pattern of autumn pineapple is very much like the current very hot O2O. He thought that if they cooperated with the café at Hkust, it might be used as a place to send things offline; let some businesses into the autumn pineapple online, through the delivery of goods for brand promotion is also a possible profit model.

Wei also designed an integral mechanism called "spinach" for the Autumn Pineapple network. At first, the system was set up to allow the giver to increase spinach, get people to reduce spinach, and then become only increase without reducing, the user accumulated to a certain amount of spinach, later may be able to think of ways to transform into something else ...

At present, the Autumn Pineapple Network has more than 10,300 users, including more than 5,500 from Beikeda. These users are the result of natural growth-so far, Wei has only done so many things to promote the Autumn Pineapple Network: Set up a public homepage for everyone, opened a Sina Weibo official account for the network publicity, the campus Lira banner publicity. In addition, last September, Wei in Beikeda's academic reporting office. Autumn Pineapple Online More than 4,000 users from other universities in Beijing, not their initiative to promote the results. Wei prefers natural growth to promotion and marketing.

Because it involves line to line, security this matter let Wei very vigilant. The current autumn Pineapple network implementation of the security mechanism is: the user in the confirmation of the need for mobile phone verification, at the same time, the system will remind the two people to meet, as far as possible to meet the time selected during the day, the location selected in the school.

In the new edition, the Autumn Pineapple Network encourages the user network and micro-blog account registration, so that users can link to everyone else and Weibo home page to see everything about TA.

"Qiu Pineapple Net is a school schoolmate's social platform mainly, other people come in also have no meaning." And the students are relatively simple. Wei explained.

Excited entrepreneurship

We pulled the camera back to the HKUST campus last summer. It was the graduation season. Wei See the university graduates flea market, with a certain technical accumulation of his "itch" want to do a second-hand online trading platform. But then he thought that this is not reliable, because "the form and the demand are too old", the campus BBS, the second-hand forum, can replace his work in minutes.

Then he thought, why not be a "send" community? It sounds cooler to turn "send" into a social form.

Wei felt "his excitement was hit."

"Why do you think this idea can be bigger?" Titanium Media reporter asked.

"Follow your Herat, I think this explanation is the best. In fact, Wei do the autumn pineapple NET, more is with "this very cool" and "probably bigger" idea.

Wei admits that his web-side social network could have been "completely out of the picture" at that time.

Almost without hesitation, Wei and his one to do the front end of the students began the Autumn Pineapple Network demo development. "It took us two weeks to get out of the day. "Two people stayed up all night," Wei said. ”

To some extent, the Autumn Pineapple Network is the Wei of the entrepreneurial plan-the idea of starting a business in Wei on the formation of the university, he has done for several years to prepare.

"In the beginning, I chose the computer major, I feel that this is in line with my character, I do not want to suffer any fetters." Because I feel that everything is created by myself, not by someone. "When Wei found that the Internet is more in line with its own character, it is more conscious to touch it," he said. Wei weighed it and felt that it was best for him to cut through the technology.

Since then, Wei began frequent contact with 36 of Krypton and other entrepreneurial theme of the media business information, and try to do some of their own projects, accumulate experience. "I'm from freshman to junior, are doing some technical accumulation." You can now build your own project independently. Just like now the autumn pineapple nets and the autumn pineapple NET client. "He developed a number of small projects, and managed the server for the Hkust News Network, and designed the new Web page of the Hkust News Network with Pineapple, now the UI Yang Yi."

In the process of the birth of the Autumn pineapple network, another person played a vital role. At that time, American Steve Bell founded a project in Beijing called Chinastars, which was advertised at major universities in Beijing. The project brings together students with entrepreneurial ideas to hold offline activities to show or talk about their ideas on the stage, and Steve picks out 5 teams or individuals to support 90 days and 8000 dollars a month. Wei took part in Chinastars's offline activities and took the opportunity to meet Steve. This is 2010 years.

Autumn Pineapple net of demo to make, Wei thought of Steve, then told him.

Steve felt good, so he invited me to talk. Wang Lijie was there just that day. "Wei said. Wang Lijie, an angel investor who manages a start-up project called Preangel, has invested more than 70 projects, many of which were created by university students.

Wei smiled and said that he was excited to tell Steve and Wang Lijie how cool the autumn pineapple net was and how powerful the future could be. "I say it's a whole new experience, and if you send your stuff out, the girls are attracted to something and the boys are attracted to them ... Then the visual on the campus will fire up. ”

After a week of meeting, Wang Lijie's $ A hundred thousand of investment was accounted for. Wei was excited to get the investment: it was almost like the plot of the social networking movie! It was July 2012.

Perhaps Steve thought of Facebook's history, and he was very interested in her sister's ideas. Admittedly, this ambiguous social network, which allows young men and women to meet at school, is a very appropriate form of hormonal release. Autumn Pineapple Online also "live up to expectations" to appear some students "seek exchanges", "send themselves" release, and the response is enthusiastic.

But Wei that this is different from what he imagined. "Sister or whatever, is a gimmick at best." "Wei said. At present, this situation is not much, is a website embellishment.

As his first real "entrepreneurial project", Wei was excited. He thought it was "fun". Wei intends to start a business directly after graduating.

Bottleneck period

The development of Qiu Pineapple NET and own experience tells Wei, the thing may not be so smooth as he imagines. In the autumn pineapple online, Wei very natural to put their belongings on the site presented to others, will be very active to like, "want" other people's goods. In March of this year, one of the girls at the same school gave him a bracelet, but the two met with little greeting and later did not continue to communicate.

But, "the delivery is not sent." "Wei said. And the average number of idle items released today is only Single-digit.

Not only that. Three months after the line, Autumn Pineapple net growth rate has started to slow down. "At the beginning, there were sixty or seventy users per day, but now there are only about twenty or thirty users in a day." ”

From 0 to 6000, the autumn pineapple Net took 3 months, and from 6000 to the current 10000, longer. But Wei admits he has not found a good solution.

At the same time, the use of site features (comments, replies, etc.) the number of active users is not high. "No more than 1000," Wei said reluctantly.

Problems gradually emerged, Wei began to improve the product, while summing up the lesson. He thinks, oneself more is the user demand is not grasped, the user is not as he envisages to be "invigorated".

"The 10000 figure is definitely slow, but it fits the product itself." These users are enough for us to tinker with this product. If you don't have 10,000 users, you may need to rethink your problems more. Like autumn pineapple nets, send things have a certain geographical restrictions, after the school is very inconvenient. So when our school has more than 5,500 users (currently the number of users in North Hkust), this thing is still not working, which means that this model is worthy of our reflection. ”

"may be I yy out, I feel very funny, really out, not the way I imagined." Wei said that the hkust can do this more or because it is the student's program, we are very curious. Many people came to see and went away. "This is also the reason for the low user activity.

Turn idea into a product, and then match the product to the market, the two jumps, Wei that the first jump "so-so", but the second jump-product and market between the bridge did not put up.

Wei like to see Eric Les's "lean Entrepreneurship". The book says that after an idea comes out, get a prototype as soon as possible and find the target user to test as quickly as possible, rather than quickly developing the product. Although the autumn Pineapple Network did test at Hkust, "but the feeling is still wasting a lot of time, after all, the big six months passed."

Wei on the Autumn pineapple Network all the ideas are based on a certain number of users and active degree above. "We expect more than 100,000 in half a year," he said. Every college has to be 2000. "It's just a prediction--Wei thinks that only the number of users will be able to run slowly."

Wei's idea of the venture is "fun". The Autumn pineapple NET to a certain extent is a product of impulse. "Barter" may develop a social relationship, but it is impossible to establish a link between the product and the user and the market.

"There is a serious problem with this model: it may not be enough to support a business model." "As a project, the structure and mechanism of the autumn pineapple Network have been perfected, but it may be very difficult to find users and develop business models."

How to activate the user?

Attribution to Reason

"How do you tell a story to an investor when you raise money without a user growth?"

"I'm graduating, and if you're going to start a full-time business, how do you make a living?"

"Have you thought of a way to solve the current problem?"

The questions posed by journalists may be too brutal for Wei, but they are really what he has to face.

Compared to the initial start-up of the excitement, now Wei will be "more rational" to consider entrepreneurship this matter. "Now it will be more rational and closer to the nature of entrepreneurship. "The essence of Wei refers to commercial things." Wei know, entrepreneurship is not "you feel fun, with everyone to play" thing.

"Our future development process, there may be more autumn pineapple out, entrepreneurial transformation is normal." The shortcomings of college students ' entrepreneurship are also obvious. For example, inexperienced, not in the community experience, a company how to operate is not known. ”

Although in the bottleneck period, Wei mentality is still good: "Whether it is our team, and the relationship between investors, are very satisfactory state." If we don't raise money, we can support this for six months. The pressure will be bigger when you get outside. ”

Wei still have great hopes for the autumn pineapple net. Autumn Pineapple Network recently began to recruit managers, to school-wide delineation, recruitment of students from major universities to participate in the Autumn Pineapple Network management. These administrators will participate in the entire site process, Wei also assume that management, promotion and even advertising will be entrusted to them. This can help them to promote, but also to some extent, to ease their operation and promotion of pressure. At present, more than 10 schools have been recruited by students.

To tie in with the graduation season, they printed a batch of flyers to hire flyers to advertise in schools. "Graduation season, it's best to send things out," he said. Wei said, "The purpose of this activity is to send this concept to everyone, regardless of whether the user can stay." ”

He believes that to "send" friends is still their characteristics, the next must be maintained; for the problem, his choice is to continue to improve their products, while slowing the pace of operation and promotion, the first to limit the scope of the hkust.

"The operation, I look forward to through the product itself, generate enough charm, let the user help us to push." This is also good for the product. In this process you will continue to receive feedback, constantly improve the product, if in order to push, there is no need. ”

"If you are starting a business, you have to have a solid commercial model." "Wei said.

It is true that the business model is impossible to talk about if demand is really not grasped.

**********

For Wei, the most important thing at the moment is to find a breakthrough in the product. Wei has to face the reality of adjusting direction to capture the real needs of users, or to develop new projects directly. He felt that these problems appeared to be normal, and that he thought he could "show his talents".

However, Wei did not find a way to show his skill.

Tags: entrepreneurship, entrepreneur says, social networking

(The author of this article @ Fan Junjie source Titanium Media Reprint Please specify the source and this article link)