General comment on CEO Zhang and Wang CEO of the tenth Year of entrepreneurship

This is the tenth year that the general public reviews CEO Zhang and CEO Wang. They returned from the United States to Shanghai and Beijing at the beginning of 2003 and the end of the year, starting their own entrepreneurial journey.

From the age, Zhang years longer than Wang. He became an MBA at the Wharton School in Pennsylvania one year before returning home, while Wang gave up his PhD degree at Delaware University.

Zhang back in a few months after the launch of the public comment network, one to do is ten years, but in the first 7 years did not form a lot of influence. Wang is a typical serial entrepreneur, before the United States Regiment, he founded the network of Nets, rice and the domestic net, not a success is not a failure.

In the mobile internet and local life services to promote the tide, the public reviews and the United States to become a real star company, Zhang and Wang also become an example of entrepreneurs.

Ten years ago, they probably didn't think their companies would be the number one in the Chinese group buying industry. And they achieved this result is to take a different road, can be described as "the same way."

The same for overseas returnees

Zhang said in a media interview that his original intention is because he likes food, but returned to Shanghai after finding food is not easy. So the idea of creating their own website to do business.

April 2003 is the worst period of SARS. Zhang use inconvenient to go out of this time to write a public comment on the embryonic zsurvey.com. The first reason to take this domain name, because Zhang in the United States very much like the food magazine "ZAGAT SURVEY."

2003 Chinese netizens are not many. Data from China Internet Network Information Center showed that the number of Internet users was 68 million in June 2003. But Shanghai is economically developed, and Shanghai people are more fastidious about eating, which makes the public comment quickly became popular with the locals like a website.

At this time, Wang also in the United States to read the doctor. But even though he returned home by the end of the year, he had the idea of starting a business a few years ago. Wang Huiwen, the co-founder of the school Network and Deputy President of the United States, told Tencent technology that Wang began discussing entrepreneurship with him and other Tsinghua students in 2002, and determined that the direction of entrepreneurship would be social.

Although Wang has been a number of startups, he thinks he's always been around socializing. He told the media that the campus is a social platform, mainly affect people access to information and communications, but social also affect business, and the United States is a social platform and e-commerce integration.

Well, according to Wang's understanding of social intercourse, his ten years of entrepreneurship and Zhang have been doing the public comments, but also continue.

Common investor Sequoia Capital

Capital is the driving force of start-up companies. For Wang and Zhang, Sequoia Capital played a very important role in their entrepreneurial process, and Sequoia Capital was a similar point in their entrepreneurial process.

Sequoia Capital Partner Shen is also a returnee, so he and Zhang know earlier. 2005 Shen left Ctrip to join Sequoia Capital, the end of the time the public comments on the network from Sequoia Capital to get the first round of financing.

Almost at the same time, the public reviews opened branch offices in Beijing. This time, Wang also should have heard the public comment.

Compared with Zhang, Wang's financing experience can be said to be full of twists and turns. After several projects that were not so successful, Wang in the fall of 2005. The campus net mainly faces the university student, develops very quickly. Wang Huiwen said that the reason why the success of the campus is very important is that their team is the domestic "experienced entrepreneurs most understand college students, but also understand the most experienced entrepreneurs in college students."

But the website development needs the fund support, therefore Wang also contacted the Sequoia.

There are two small stories about the financing of the campus: one is that Wang to see the Sequoia partner Zhang Fan when the business Plan book landed in the taxi, can only write a few pages of paper; the second is that Wang to give Sequoia another partner. The Linux system's computer simply can't connect to the projection.

In the end, Sequoia did not invest in the school network, instead invested in the net of direct competitors, but did not get the investment has become the campus eventually sold to the Thousand oak one of the reasons. However, Sequoia Capital and Wang have been keeping in touch, including the sale of the network, Wang the establishment of rice, home and other sites and Sequoia Capital have been exchanged.

Wang also told the media that Rice had been given an investment framework agreement in July 2009, but the sudden shutdown allowed the financing to be stopped. In the end, Wang in 2010 after the establishment of the United States to get Sequoia capital investment.

Interestingly, in April 2011, the public comments completed the third round of financing 100 million dollars, Sequoia Capital is one of the investors. A few months later, the United States announced the completion of the 50 million dollar second round of financing, this round of financing is also the participation of Sequoia Capital.

Although the public comments and the United States are Sequoia capital investment companies, but in the investment, Sequoia Capital may not have thought that the two companies will become the biggest direct competitors.

Stable Entrepreneurial Team

Another common denominator of Zhang and Wang entrepreneurship is that they attract the best talent, and they all have 10-year partners.

The founding team of the public comments was formally formed in 2005, with the founding team members in addition to Zhang, Jing, Zhang, Leaf tree Duanmu and Longwin. They are currently in the public comment network, which is enough to explain the stability of the founding team.

Zhang has used "a group of people who are difficult to be tempted" to describe the founding team of public comments. Also some investors pointed out that Zhang himself is a conservative, low-key entrepreneurs, which also laid the public comment on the company's culture.

Wang has experienced many entrepreneurial ventures, but now the management of the United States has brought together nearly every partner he has ever started, such as Wang Huiwen, Rai Binqiang and Murong. The first two were former founders of the school, and Murong was the co-founder of the meal.

Wang Huiwen said the initial venture with Wang was a natural choice, when the three of them came together. However, when the Wang cooking, as well as the early days of the United States Regiment, Wang Huiwen and Raibin Strong and did not join.

At that time they were doing a real estate agent and looking for the home of the website Amoy, but soon they will sell the net to 58 with the city, and then joined the United States Regiment. "The American Regiment is a promising company, Wang is a trustworthy person, why not join?" "Wang Huiwen said.

Have familiar with Wang people tell Tencent Technology, in fact, Wang to people's request is very high, he once to Wang recommended a lot of people, but Wang always have their own choice criteria. But in the face of outstanding talent is, Wang also willing to spend time and energy to persuade each other to join their own company, the most typical example is that he has 6 times to Hangzhou to invite Alibaba Vice President Canga Wei join the United States Regiment.

One investor described Wang as a strong learner but hard to convince, but Wang Huiwen said the biggest change in the 10-year Wang was more inclusive. This is not contradictory, it is difficult to convince the Wang very have their own ideas, and tolerance can be the greatest degree to listen to other people's opinions, and in some corporate affairs to achieve decentralization.

The same way: local life service and open capacity

Now the public comments and the core business of the United States Regiment are local life services, and as the first two companies, the competition is inevitable.

The public comment and the American Regiment's competition performance in two aspects, first is buys the business stratification plane, two is the ecosystem construction.

As a result of the public comments in the group before the business Development team, and offline businesses to maintain a good relationship, and the United States Regiment is in 2010 years before entering this field. From this perspective, the American Regiment is a challenger.

But from the size of the group buying business, the United States group has exceeded the public comment. This year, the total turnover of the U.S. regiment is about 15 billion, while the public comment is close to 10 billion.

The public reviews co-founder Longwin has said to Tencent that next year's public comments will speed up the pace of urban expansion. Now the public comments into the city is less than half of the United States, which means that the United States Regiment in a number of three or four-line cities will face the challenges of public comment. And when the public comments on the new city to gain share, but also on the whole will form a greater pressure on the United States.

In addition to the group buying business, this January, the general public reviews the launch of an open platform, and in October to further open the data to attract partners to build around their own ecological circle. The US group, in May this year, opened up its cloud computing capabilities and launched a cloud to provide basic services to developers.

Although the public comments and the opening of the United States are not the same, but mainly for developers and startups. So there may be a company in the future that uses the US cloud, but the business is based on the public comment on the open platform. And openness may be one of the two companies that will focus on future competition.

Zhang and Wang have had a long chat this year, according to the business value website. They gave speeches at the July Mobile Internet Innovation Conference in the Geek Park, where they chatted and talked to the guest lounge. Finally, Wang even decided to take the same flight to Shanghai with Zhang.

"Business value" reporter wrote: "In the clouds in the hours they talked about what the outside world is not known, but this gives a lot of imagination, especially in today's internet structure." ”