Interview without Secret Lin Chengren: Curiosity is also a part of human nature

Secret (now renamed without Secret, IOS platform for friends) in addition to the red in the early controversy, but also with a fate of twists and turns conferred by the vitality: most of the controversy and product-related, the initial form is suspected of plagiarism secret, the content of the negative energy is worthy of praise? These controversies also partly created the secret of the initial red; But unlike many fireworks, the fate of the secret twists keeps it in the public eye until the anonymous social sphere becomes the Red Sea, and the secret becomes the founder. At the most controversial time, secret founder Lin Chengren chose to retreat, his explanation is too busy at that time, the product appeared in the face of the problem is waiting to solve, and on the other hand, praise of the difference between us and no difference, we can make, in fact, and these do not matter. This afternoon, Lin Chengren in an interview with the "Entrepreneurial State" reporter, chatting about the controversy over a period of time and the team's ideas about the product, and finally talking about the vitality of anonymous social products in his mind. Secret (no secret) founder Lin Chengren Entrepreneurial State: Let's introduce your current team. Lin Chengren: Before starting to do is a team of more than 20 people, or do not have to read before the product, by now nearly 40 people, has been expanding, and now all need people. (Is this an advertisement?) Our whole company's structure is also relatively flat, there is no level, but we are in all aspects, product direction, technology, team are particularly good. (Where's the money?) ) is also very good. Entrepreneurial state: Entrepreneurial direction from personalized reading to the anonymous social networking, how did you see secret this product, and how to decide to do the secret? Lin Chengren: In fact, there are several aspects of information: the first is the big background, previously on the PC side, the United States came to the front, Consumer-to-consumer (copy to China) often have a successful case out, but to the mobile internet, the Chinese market broke out very quickly, but the U.S. special fire products copy into China, It is very rare to see what is done, it may also be different from the user's habits or the market environment, but in this context, when secret out, we see that there is actually little confidence. We 2013 years, at that time did not find the progress is not very smooth, including financing also encountered great difficulties, I have been looking for the direction of transformation, anonymous social watch more, at that time thinking must pick a big explosive direction. Again, the user's point of view, China's Internet is a large part of the Internet entertainment, many products are in the direction of entertainment to do. We did a lot of reading before, and the result was a small audience. And China's culture and environment, a little different is that we hide things more, so the desire to speak more strong. At that time, the Chinese and American views on this product are not the same, the United States will feel that if the real-name social network under certain pressure, use the product to express some of their ideas, thisIt's true, but I don't think it's just a point. The most needed point should be curiosity, gossip these human nature can not get rid of, especially to acquaintances on the other side of the peeping, because the usual see, so there will be demand. Entrepreneurial state: So when you first started running, you were emphasizing this part of the adventure? Lin Chengren: At that time we were the IOS end developed first, probably in late March, because the process of the reason, Andro first, the results of the outbreak is at the same time. At the very beginning, we did not have a particularly obvious direction of operation, but there is a general direction, that is, in other places not to be satisfied with the curiosity, the other side of those acquaintances. Because our circle is in the Internet, so you can also see the early from the Internet in a circle to expand outward, now from the user data will be more extensive, but each circle is different. Entrepreneurial state: When the controversy was particularly strong (around April this year), in your opinion, what is the main problem with that time period secret? Lin Chengren: The biggest problem at the time was to malign others, and you saw how serious the Chinese were. UGC way content produced too much too fast, we can not control, so the most early is the name of attack, rumors, we have been dealing with these problems. To the back of the design of the punishment mechanism out, users report, we manually audit judgment, delete content and even the ban, now the rules are clear, such a situation is relatively small. Because the early stage of this content to the long-term is not going to go on, because someone scolded you to see, but you do not like this product, so it is difficult to go on. Entrepreneurial state: Do you think it is a product of the adjustment to determine the user's characteristics, or the user's temperament to affect the direction of the product? Lin Chengren: This question is a bit like whether our intelligence is born with or acquired. I personally think is the gradual interaction between the two sides formed, the product has innate temperament, you can control yourself, but the user is also a person, you can exert influence on the product, but the user can not determine you, you may also try to master your demands, both sides to the game. We have been experimenting with products, including in the future. There are a lot of features that are being tried out in a small number of users and making decisions based on their ideas and feedback, like we have a lot of things to do with our heads, all need to be validated, and ultimately interact to decide what the next change will be. Entrepreneurial state: You have been doing personalized recommendations, this and the secret will be a combination of it? Lin Chengren: In fact, we have accumulated before the technology can be used in this respect. For example, we now use a machine to identify the names of people, can be identified with the name of the information, and then handed over to the manual audit, so that can reduce the amount of labor, but also good control of the content of personal attacks. Then in the secret, may also do personalized confidential recommendation, is to determine what you may be interested in the content, pushed to you. Now in the Address Book, may be part of what you want to see, part of you do not want to see,We want to combine the algorithm to judge, then will be our focus of One direction, is personalized recommendation. Entrepreneurial state: What are your judgments about the direction of the product? Lin Chengren: Two views, doing media or socializing. The media is relatively easy to do, but the value will be small, there are some policy risks, operating costs, but also often to operate a burst point. So we do not want to do the media for a long time, including there is no search, label these media properties. Socializing is how to motivate users to interact with you, and how their needs are met in you, but this is hard, and we're exploring how to get users to interact anonymously. The focus later was on the anonymous social networking of acquaintances, and the current interest in strangers was not great. (LBS?) This is more cautious, in fact, there are small scale testing, but some worry, LBS has a negative thing is not a friend of the relationship can also generate communication, more encouraging the relationship between strangers, but its advantage is that some groups, such as large companies, schools, there will be some weak relationship inside, we are afraid to affect the atmosphere of the product. In fact, I still want to meet a demand point, is to let users know what the other side of the person will be. Entrepreneurial state: What is the sustainability of this demand? Lin Chengren: This is also not an answer, but a challenge in purely anonymous situations, including how to stay in the long run. We will have a lot of ideas, next week may have a product out (and advertising), I do not know whether to answer your question, that is, we also want to try to touch the needs of users, in a more healthy situation, you can understand your friends more unknown ideas. Venture capital: How do you think about the usefulness of anonymous social products? Lin Chengren: I am not too concerned about whether it will be practical, more concerned about the need for the use of the point. Practical is not necessarily necessary, Anonymous has the biggest point is curiosity, this is human nature, there will be a lot of fun things can always come out, so think there may be demand. For example, from the data, anonymity is not anonymous conditions, the user's desire to publish a different number of times, so in the absence of identity, if the mechanism to explore a good, can roll down, if the pure anonymous to the pure real name as a line, in fact, is to see where you choose. Now it's anonymous. There's a lot of demand that's not being met, but there's nothing we can do about the future, just that there's a huge force out there. Entrepreneurial state: Many anonymous social products in the direction of differentiation, the secret of universality will be the next direction? Lin Chengren: We will certainly do GM, as to whether it will be subdivided, I think the market subdivision of the future is not small, but also just forecast. But socializing is really a very difficult thing, and there is no second in the industry, especially in the context of homogenization. Of course, there may be another way to do anonymous socializing, but it depends on whether the demand can be caught and followed quickly. Entrepreneurial state: Things that have been done before are quite different, including later processes and current results,Do you have any different feeling during this time? Lin Chengren: I just want to say a little, I particularly agree that the direction is really important, the direction of the wrong how hard it is useless. I have a situation is also the entrepreneur often make mistakes is that some things are drilled out of their brains, will be particularly excited, feel can become, the result of this is difficult to reason, and then have some experience, then gradually become rational. Including I was a very detail-oriented people, very small things to go to the tube, but later found that there is so much energy, where it is important to grasp the whole direction of the words, the efficiency of a little can be. We've been doing personalization before, in fact, is not a so right direction, and then consider the transformation of the time, has been thinking about how and personalized combination, it is a bit of the cart before the horse, the results of our products will have a box, before the accumulation of things have become a burden, until the secret, We also made a lot of large and small products, the detour too much, the wrong things are more, and then decided to all let go, from the beginning, all the team together to do this. Background: Lin Chengren graduate from the University of California, San Diego, in the direction of artificial intelligence, after graduation in the Amazon responsible for the user to do the personalized product recommendations. 2009 Home Business, the first product is a browser plug-in, can be based on user browsing habits recommended content, so that Web browsing more personalized, and later made the creation of a possible favorite article "Plug-ins and based on this plug-in advertising platform, and by virtue of these products obtained from the Trust capital of a round of financing." But at the end of 2013, the product has been stuck in the bottleneck: The user breakthrough difficulties, the funds gradually tense, and the next round of financing is a variety of Lin Chengren, in this case, the team to consider the transition. The secret of anonymous social products, which was launched in April this year, was sparked by a lot of controversy over the negative energy propensity of the content, which was later held by Apple Stores on May 8. May 20, renamed "No Secret" after the return to the Apple store shelves, after the mechanism and other issues have been under the shelf, and now through cooperation with friends in the way of the Apple store again.