Philharmonic live Cai summed up one year's entrepreneurial gains and losses: social life electric business is too early

A recent article "Mo waste Baidu Fu second generation background", will be separated from the independent operation of the Philharmonic last March back to the public vision, this article on the strategy, products and other aspects of the Philharmonic live to criticize. The live head of the Philharmonic, Cai Hu, is also concerned about this article, in the communication with Sina Science and technology, Cai frankly in the past year in the implementation level of a number of "loss of Coke", such as China, in the product to do a lot of innovation and try to have positive results, but did not accurately cut into the user just need, these are entrepreneurial valuable harvest, It is also recognized that social life is too early for electric dealers.

Backed by Baidu traffic, IDG and qiming venture investment of tens of millions of U.S. dollars, the Philharmonic started very high, but a year later, in the internet booming but there is no beautiful answer. The 1th of Cai's reflection is "no focus": because it is too optimistic to estimate the internet trend of the local life service market, the team started to do the platform, some China, synchronized carried out too many projects, but in every place is not deep, resulting in decentralized resources.

According to Cai's plan, the 2013 Philharmonic was mainly for subtraction, put down some projects that don't have the time or meet the user's needs, focus on making a reliable recommendation on life service information, such as simplifying the product form, weakening the social power quotient and the talent sharing model, and modifying the waterfall and timeline patterns that are not suitable for all areas of life, and reduce team size with project adjustment.

From the view of the big environment, O2O is faced with vague dilemma after a fiery experience. Cai is feeling O2O "more difficult than originally imagined." In particular, with the Baidu map to upgrade to lbs, micro-letter ushered in the outbreak of development, Alipay launched card packaging services, and so on, the industry suddenly increased uncertainty. It's good for Philharmonic, but every step has to be more robust.

Group buying, classified information, forums have been cheerfully to O2O, but which model is right? No one dares to jump to conclusions at present.

Cai with the experience of the past year to conclude that socialization + life E-commerce is still too early in China, mainly because of the low level of the Internet in the service industry, the education market needs considerable time and cost, the offline common recommendation scene is also difficult to copy to the line, However, the most basic commodity information structure problem of the electric quotient model has not been solved by the universality.

It is still a luxury to spend a year trying to "try and make mistakes". Cai stressed that "to help users more comfortable to choose life consumption, solve life problems," the general direction, we have been adhering to, "to become everyone's most reliable life partner", but also the team's entrepreneurial beliefs and reasons. The past year Philharmonic also has a better growth of products, some areas such as beauty practice also explored, with a deeper understanding and accumulation, 2013 most need to do the resources to focus fully.

Like all O2O practitioners face the dilemma, the Philharmonic also faces a very "heavy" offline link. But Cai is not going to buy at that time "sweep Street" style of practice, but is ready to start from the user's life circle and big customers. And in urban expansion, Cai revealed that last year in the study of direct and agent of the two models which is more appropriate. In order to make the company more "Light", the Philharmonic live in the future will initially take Beijing Shanghai Direct Battalion, other cities using agent operation.

From once Baidu's business department to an independent start-up company, Cai admits that the Philharmonic lived in the past year "big company inertia", such as too fastidious process, too evade risk, too serious to do things, and not like most startups advocating barbaric growth. This "inertia" also reacts in the product aspect, many times, "the tube product" The habit imperceptible influence "creates the product".

For the Philharmonic team, including Cai, they have excellent talents, but most of the Baidu has is from 1 to do 10, and then 100 of the experience from 10, but the entrepreneurial attention is to do 0 from 1, Cai frankly at present the team is relatively lack of good at 0 to do 1 of the "grassroots entrepreneurs", "If you can not choose a point, from 0 to 1, there is no chance from 1 to do 10, from 10 to do 100. We will recruit more people with grassroots entrepreneurial experience this year. "Cai said.

Compared with some entrepreneurs who are still struggling to find investment, many accuse the Philharmonic of being more cash-rich and "comfortable". But Cai doesn't think so, "we really do not worry about cash, but we have to force ourselves, and even forced to the edge of the cliff, especially after this year's groping, we must more decisively let their transformation into nothing entrepreneurs, only the most likely to survive the cold winter of the Internet, saving strength, the remainder of the king. ”

Baidu to all JV joint venture Company's flow support all has one principle, is "the quality equal first". But according to Cai, at present, the Philharmonic live 50% flow from its own users, Baidu brought the flow of less than 20%, which is a good news for Cai, because this means that the Philharmonic live through nearly a year, although the product and operational level are urgent to upgrade, but still cultivate a group of loyal users.

Looking back over the past year, Cai says it's worth more than "career experience in the past more than 10 years" because the process from 0 to 1 is really not the average. In self-reflection, Cai believes that his overconfidence is one of the important reasons for Team China.

"The pressure is really big, also will blame, on the one hand from the team on their own pressure, although we have never put ourselves as a rich second-generation, but there is such a good condition should be done to make a market universally recognized products, and investors and Baidu also invested a lot of money and expectations, of course, hope to be able to do better. However, in the face of challenges, self-confidence is necessary, optimism is necessary, perseverance is more necessary. "Cai said.

The following is the main content of Cai and Sina technology chatting, easy to read Sina science and technology to carry on the combination finishing of key information, and adopt the first person way.

Reflection: Steps cannot be too early or too big

I. Environmental factors: immature

The first thing we wanted to do when we split up was the reliable life information, and we still insist that this is of great value to the user. Of course, this aspect of 58 with the city, the market are doing, but they cover a lot of content, including recruitment, rent and so on, we do not want to do so much, only hope for life services in this field, to provide reliable business, reliable services and reliable trading information.

Yes, there was this part of the information accumulated, Philharmonic has integrated this part of the information, but the information is too "hard", biased commercial ads, lack of user interaction and feedback in the inside, we would like to add some users of the comments sharing system in the inside, through the user to share, as well as and business interaction, Enhance the business information of the reliable. So we do 2012 years of the most focused community products, through social sharing and referral, to help users determine whether the reliable.

Why is the Life service class suitable for the recommended way? Because it is non-standard products, such as you see a friend's hair good, will ask where to do, such as a friend's baby smart, you will ask where the early teach. Standard products such as the iphone is completely different, so the most common is to compare prices, but the service is no way to compare, so more suitable for the information between people and referral.

At that time we hope that through the Community + e-commerce approach to O2O, from the model is innovative, but relatively no success of the reference, last year we have been exploring this model, the focus is the recommendation of socialization. For example, we will run the field of life experts and talent, motivate them to write the objective of consumption reviews, or even strategy, to help users choose.

The idea is good and the general direction is right, but frankly I think the market is immature. Or say, go early, community + e-commerce This form will have, but it is too early.

First, the business of living services of the internet level is lower. Look at the current O2O field, tourism has been basically mature, wedding photography Business also more understand how to use the Internet various channels for marketing, food and beverage class was reviews and group buying website washed round after also began to become familiar with the Internet. But other areas such as beauty, life services and other industries even in Beijing and Shanghai are relatively early.

So the business in the internet level is lower than the situation, it is difficult to guarantee and user interaction, as well as the self-management of a virtual network stores, to ensure timely updating of information. We've spent a lot of time and effort on nurturing these businesses over the past year, but we've found that the cost of this education is too high for those who are not very well trained to do so because of the high mobility of service workers and the need to cultivate them again.

Of course, when the environment is good, many internet companies are in the market education, flame, but 2012 the entire internet industry into a low tide, the cold winter, we all tighten costs, who do not want to spend a large cost to educate the market, go really early.

Second, the socialization recommendation is also at an early stage. If the merchant manages the network store level to be low, then the important information needs to come from the user level, then why should the user share own consumption experience? Some people will, but not universal, just need. Among them, the most important is the circle of interest circle. In fact, the current more successful electric business shopping guide site, indicating that the user is to see the sharing, in fact, most of them are shopkeepers, waiter in the operation, in sharing.

At present, the Philharmonic's life probably operates more than 1000 people, these people are skilled, willing to share, we will invite them to experience for free, in order to ensure that they share the content of fairness and objectivity, we have a set of measures to circumvent their business as a child care, although these to share the user is very valuable, but the operation is relatively heavy, slow , and did not form a circle of interest. However, if similar to the Electric Business Guide to form a circle of interests, but also easy to become a person, but also deviated from the objective and reliable recommendation. So the operation is heavier, and the talent circle is more difficult to particularly rapid expansion.

At this stage, people are mainly using micro-blogging for fragmented sharing, and the mobile internet has not yet evolved into a vertical sharing phase similar to that of the traditional web. So the two forms of Community and electronic commerce look very beautiful, just like the concept and direction of Solomo is universally agreed, but the real is more difficult to do. In particular, the current Internet environment is not good, we will defer this step.