New media venture capital accelerated: New things will attract investors the next day

Under the backdrop of declining traditional media, the new media seems to be a way out.

But what is "new media"? Southern Newspaper Media Group, deputy director of strategic operations Guo Kanzhong said, now the academic community on the definition of new media is still in a chaotic state, some people think that with the traditional media network portal, some people have a certain media attributes of the pan-media also classified as new media.

"We suggest that the more standard approach is ' Internet media ' because the business model of internet-based media and traditional media has changed radically," he said. It is based on internet technology, business model is a combination of free and charge, while traditional media is based on traditional medium, is a two times consumption business model. Guo Kanzhong told the Financial Weekly (Sina Micro-blog @ financial Weekly, micro-credit public number Money-week) reporter.

With the advent of the Internet and mobile Internet, the Internet-based media has sprung up, especially since the rise of the media, but also gradually attracted the attention of VC. Financial weekly According to wind data statistics on the new media financing in 2013, trying to understand the relationship between the new media and capital.

Digital marketing, distribution platform most favored by the VC

Since 2013, there are 22 new media for VC investment, according to wind industry classification can be divided into: media ⅲ, Internet software and services, advertising, publishing, home Entertainment software, publishing, multiple financial services, application software, information technology services, etc., but their common characteristics have at least some media attributes.

Financial weekly will be classified into three categories: vertical class, information distribution platform class, digital marketing category. Among them, vertical type media has 8, including Yoka fashion net, Wall Street, CSDN, Snowball Finance, Shanda Literature, new media, music technology, thumb reading; Information distribution platform class has 6, including Bo wide communication, financial new media, listening network, Kaidi network, Vivenmine, small red Book, digital marketing category has 8, Including ads, collection of Austrian aggregation, poly advertising media, product has interactive, Thai one finger Still, the new number of networks, billion moving advertising media, there is rice media.

More than a year of time there are so many VC influx, the new media on the capital what is the attraction?

"The key point is that capital knows that new media is technology-based, while traditional media has no technology." The future trend in fact media development must have a technical gene. For example, the current micro-letter, micro-BO, etc. are based on technology. The first value technology gene, from the technical point of view has the technical attribute; The second is that the user of the new media is very large; third, the service is doing well, forming a new business model, a new value chain closed loop. In fact, traditional media rely on content in the form of the Internet is difficult to form a closed loop, only after the service added to the formation of commercial closed-loop. Guo Kanzhong told reporters.

For an investment institution with a keen sense of smell, there is a greater opportunity in the new media. For example, Zhejiang Venture partner Li Xianwen, who is looking for new media projects in Shanghai, said: "The traditional thought of the new media I feel is not new, I am looking for new media, is in the new media to find innovative media, where the space is greater." Li Xianwen stressed that this "new and new media" is a common-win, healthy business model, not burning money without practical benefits of the media.

Li Xianwen is exploring the "new Media" is an interactive media, can be more accurate to put ads. For example, advertising on this platform, advertisers can find who read the ad, the person's specific image can even be recorded through video surveillance, and consumers can participate in some interactive games. This is equivalent to the advertisers spend every penny can be traced back. Li Xianwen that although Baidu search is also a kind of precision advertising, but there are defects, such as Pay-per-click, may create the phenomenon of hiring a random click, or there is cheating space.

Avoiding the concept of "new media" to improve valuation

In the eyes of traditional media, similar to the rice ads, Wall Street, music technology, snowball finance and other enterprises is a new media, but in the financial weekly interview of the founder most of the founders are reluctant to admit that they are new media, more willing to call the Internet technology companies.

"Because the media outlook is really not good, revenue is falling, for example, they will ask you what you are in the future of the company, if it is a media, most of the financing is more difficult." Wu Xiaopeng, one of the founders of the Wall Street network, said the reason.

"Deliberately avoiding the ' new media ' attributes may have deliberately inflated their valuations, because the so-called ' new media ' had been on the market more than 10 years ago when Sina and Sohu, compared to traditional newspapers, television and other new media, now the concept has been familiar." Li Xianwen bluntly.

On the valuation level, Guo Kanzhong points out that traditional media valuations are so low that the price/earnings ratio is now several times, while the mobile-interconnected media can be valued at dozens of times times.

In order to improve the valuation, in contact with a number of VC Wu Xiaopeng also gradually get their preferences, and then with investors to avoid the current advertising-oriented profit model, but to emphasize the site itself viscous strong user base, the future of the idea is targeted development customers. At this time he has been well versed in the Internet to play is to have the flow, a large number of other things to consider, and the most profitable companies are flow entrance.

As a result, the Wall Street knowledge of the Internet gene has become a competition for wind and potatoes, its investors, including the U.S. angel investors, Jingwei Venture, IDG, peace and investment, the most interesting is the peace venture. In order to find Wu Xiaopeng quite a lot of trouble: "He (VC investors) see this site, so want to contact us through Weibo, because my microblog account is not used, and have not contacted him for several months, and then he searched the Wall Street knowledge of the key words, found a candidate on his microblog to mention that he was Wall Street, he found. Wu Xiaopeng recalls.

In order to find a good project, VC is hard, scrambling, one way is to stare at the list of Apple Store rankings, such as the Spring Festival this year Wall Street online app, download a lot of, after the Spring Festival, there are 5-6 VC initiative to come to the door.

Of course, VC money is vital to start-ups that are still burning money.

"The Internet industry is inherently close to capital because it does business nationally and even globally." Internet people are relatively young, the original financial strength is not very high, so we do the Internet people need to use the power of capital. On the whole, the idea of combining with capital was very early. In 2010, when Rice was first set up, we knew that we had to do financing to develop faster. Chen Di, the founder of Rice Advertising, who has entered 4 VCs, told reporters.

Of course, VC is not what projects are invested, now they also become more and more rational, the deepest experience is Leeson and.

Leeson and two companies have been set up: reading the world and the bar, the two companies are now funded. But let Leeson and in the process of capitalization the deepest feeling is: "The beginning of the establishment of the bar, 2010 to the end of 2011, we met hundreds of large and small VC,VC see a good project are flocking, this is early." In the medium term is not so simple, not feel good to invest, but also to consider the user size, income level, and so on, slowly will be more mature to see the industry. ”

So how do investors identify new media? Li Xianwen's approach is to "look at the business model," he argues, if the company's business model is to collect advertising fees is the new media, if the transaction Commission is not a new media. In his eyes, Sohu is new media, but its search house is not a simple new media, more should be internet finance.

Hou Tao, vice president of Art consulting, also bluntly, "How many new startups now start with content?" Or do the content of the start is divided into several categories, including relying on their own editing and rely on the user to produce content. The content itself is constantly changing and adapting to market development. ”

As a result, the content of such as fresh fruit nets and Yoka fashion network and constantly explore new profit model companies, the fruit net is a kind of information aggregation distribution service platform, the current profit pattern has three kinds, namely one is the brand advertisement and the accurate marketing advertisement, the second is the User Content payment mode and other value-added service; Yoka Fashion Network is also gradually from advertising to explore the business model of the electric business diversion.

After seeing the business model of the enterprise, the investor is concerned with the valuation problem. So what is the valuation method for investors?

"Our method of valuation is still very commonly used, is generally PE, PB, market sales rate, number of customers and other means." But for companies that don't make a profit, they can use the value of a start-up, like a company that has invested 10 million of the money, to finance, and we multiply the input by the factor. This factor is equivalent to the P/E ratio in the level two market. 3 times times, for example, to invest at 30 million of valuations. Traditional industries may be multiplied by 2 to 3 times times, and if space is large enough to be multiplied by 7 times times to 8 times times, this is the more common cost method. Another is to use the market method to calculate, according to its cloth point and future imagination space size determines coefficient size ", Li Xianwen said.

In the financial weekly interview of New media entrepreneurs, when it comes to first-time financing, most of the thought is agreed to a result, the general high price.

For entrepreneurs with no capital at the beginning, most options are small and vulnerable. But when the enterprise developed to a certain scale, it will have its own choice of standards, for example, Leeson and in the late financing mainly look at two points: first, the long-term concept of the two sides do not meet, whether the recognition of the enterprise is now doing and what the future want to do, the investment side of the company's intervention, whether it will affect the operation of the company; second, besides money, Whether the other side can give some resources or other help.

New media must do information service in the future

In many aspects of the interview process of Financial weekly, found a phenomenon: whether it is entrepreneurs, investors, academics, third party organizations think that the new media industry development space is very large.

Hou Tao said, compared with the traditional industry, the new media is a relatively transparent and open market, the market imagination is large enough to enter the threshold is low enough for young entrepreneurs, is a high-speed growth of the industry.

"The energy in this industry is not a measure of the traditional industry, and it could subvert traditional industries, such as internet finance, micro-credit envelopes, etc., which could have an impact on traditional bank savings and other businesses." Other areas include software, automobiles, mobile devices, technical services, etc., so I think the Internet or new media is a subversive industry, the young people have unlimited opportunities and reverie, but also a lot of investors concerned. Hou Tao told the Financial weekly reporter.

There is no denying that the relationship between new media entrepreneurs and capital is mutually reinforcing. It is with the help of capital that new media entrepreneurs can realize their dreams.

Liang's idea of the relationship seemed more representative: "With the further opening of Chinese media industry, the trend of the traditional media to change and expand the new media is unstoppable, which accelerates the development of the new media and the process of marketization, capitalization and industrialization, and the entry of capital increases the ability of new media to tap the market potential. At the same time, the scarce market value of new media and the huge commercial prospect give new growth of capital. The capital operation of new media industry will move towards a virtuous development cycle. ”

In the relationship between new media and capital, Thumb-Reading founder Zhozhijian's view is more unique, as an internet entrepreneur who emerges from traditional media, he even thinks, "the media industry should be the same as the technology industry, by VC to dominate innovation." Because this is a rapidly changing industry, the risk is relatively large, there should be a special investment fund to do this area. ”

What will be the development trend of the new media in the future? Perhaps this is the answer that entrepreneurs who are struggling in the new media want to know most.

Hou Tao's answer is that the future of the Internet or new media should be all the time, without a moment, and may be related to our life and work in many areas, is an electronic, virtualized environment.

And Guo Kanzhong seemed to point out a clearer direction from the scholar's point of view, he said: "From the essential point of view, now there is a big trend is the industry integration, industry integration broke the existing industry, so now should be out of the media to see the media, I think the future of pure media is not there, it is a large information service industry , the media is just one of the accessories. is a link in a large information service chain. The future of new media is certain to do information services, simple content in the future can not form a commercial closed loop. ”

The future is unknown, but time will prove it.