Wang: three-year itch to do something right rather than easy

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Wang

"In the face of choice, I think a big rule is to stick to doing the right thing, not the easy way." ”

Article | Sinorama Journalist Voshin Editor | Fang Photography | Deng climbed

In March this year, to celebrate the three anniversary of the United States, Wang issued a team of micro-blog: "O2O ten years is doomed to a bitter decade." Although the first two startups have three years of itching, but now he has his entrepreneurial timeline extended to 10 years.

The 34-Year-old Wang, wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and a doll face with a prominent brain door, makes one look full of strange thoughts, and for a moment you'll think he looks like a little boy in science fiction who has a long way to think. Before the interview, Wang still in intensive work: interview. Expansion and hiring have been the key words of the United States network for three years.

This is the third time for Wang to start a business. In March 2010, when Wang set up the United States Regiment, group purchase originator Groupon just set up more than a year. and fence nets, 51 group buying and other Chinese early group purchase sites, the United States network focus is not the product, but for the local white-collar life consumption services, such as food, movies, hotels, KTV. So just a few months time, the United States Group Network has become the first in China group buying industry.

Good times are often short. At that time, the market on the purchase site to 10 daily rapid expansion, once developed to the highest peak period of more than 5,000, from the Hundred Regiment to the Thousand Regiment war. In the first half of 2011, the group fell from No.1 's seat in the face of fierce competition from rivals. At the end of 2011, at the beginning of 2012, crazy entry, crazy expansion, the group buying industry finally ushered in a turning point, a large number of group buying sites began to lay off, close the door, "that more than a year is actually very painful "Wang to Chinese entrepreneur".

In the beginning of 2011, the United States Regiment on a big event. February 2011, well-known ice cream enterprise DQ and the United States network cooperation soon, openly said the group was invalid, but at that time, 12,003 friends to 29 Yuan "Rob" to the value of 50 yuan of cash coupons, but therefore can not consume, complaints constantly.

During that time, Wang and his management team kept meeting to discuss a problem: Customer first is the law of many enterprises in criterion, but in the United States network business, who is the customer? How many types of customers are there? What if there is a conflict of interest between them? There is no standard answer to the emerging group buying industry.

In Wang View, consumer is C end Customer, merchant is B end customer, he certainly hope both service is good, but when the two interests conflict, need to make trade-offs between them, Wang Choice is to put consumers in the first place. They took the opportunity to establish a network of American values ranking: consumer First, merchant second, employee third, shareholder fourth. And, "Wang fifth."

As a result, the resolution of specific problems becomes clearer. In consultation with businessmen without fruit, the United States network finally decided to start the "first compensation mechanism" to "pay" way to resolve, one-time return to the member 50 Yuan to its United States network account, and then through the judicial channels and business coordination.

The month, the United States Group network in the establishment of the first anniversary of the announcement of its own also has far-reaching impact on the industry rules: for the purchase after the consumers do not spend a full refund. This "arm" means to precipitate in the United States Network bank accounts in the more than 10 million funds suddenly did not, peers ridiculed its grandstanding, businessmen complain about the United States regiment many things, but the United States network did not waver. "Since consumers ' rights and interests are in front of the merchants, and they are in front of the American network, the refund is a conflict between the rights of consumers and the interests of the American network, and must be done." "Wang Huiwen, vice president of the United States network, said to the Chinese entrepreneur."

Finally, the benefits of the balance of the weak side of the rules are slowly followed by peers, to become a unique Chinese group buying industry regulations, but also make the United States network from vicious competition in the circle jumped out.

Wang that this decision is essentially based on the inner belief in the power of the Internet, and he believes that the Internet in essence greatly reduces the cost of information dissemination, while increasing the speed and range of information dissemination. "At this time you put energy, resources to let consumer satisfaction above, get a better word-of-mouth spread, than playing outdoors, body advertising more effective." Wang told us that in 2011 and 2012 the third party to the Group purchase website consumer Satisfaction survey rating, the United States Group Network first.

In fact, Wang has hesitated. Opponents smash money advertising, no matter how long-term effect, at least short-term ranking rushed up, once the first listing, the overall market pattern will be a big reversal. Is the same as the same as their peers burning money to advertise, or regardless of the more specific short-term market share, to do something without short-term return is very hard things? For example, spend money on IT system construction, solve the problem of management after expansion. It's very scratching your head.

The American regiment was also crazy. The 2010 United States network turnover of 140 million yuan, to 2011 years suddenly rushed to 1.45 billion, 10 times times a year growth. This year, the team of the United States network expanded significantly from more than 200 people to 2000 people, but also 10 times times. The management problems of speed and passion are emerging. Because the staff entry and departure is commonplace, once even Wang himself did not know how many employees in the company, to the June he finally unbearable, farewell to the regional manager of Excel Statistics list "manual" mode, on a set of professional human resources of IT systems.

Past entrepreneurial experiences have made Wang realize that not only need to understand what they can do, but also know what not to do.

2003, just 25-year-old Wang interrupted the United States Master's education, home to create a net, after the financing failed to 2 million U.S. dollars cheap to sell Chen a boat. A year later, Wang two times to start a business, unfortunately, the rice network has not been able to go further.

"The first two times I was very involved in doing things, but not you work hard, you will be able to." To do a good job, you really need everything, but if you do something wrong, you can do anything. Wang said with emotion. It is based on this kind of calm consideration, in the Hundred Regiment World War, Wang did not advertise, but recruited many it engineers from outside, continue to invest in IT system. Interestingly, in the 2011 competitors dug around, the United States network was dug out most of the sales staff, regional managers, but no it engineers. Wang believes that the excavation of sales staff can have an immediate boost to performance, but building IT systems is long-term work, there will be an exponential level of ascension.

In addition, in the second half of 2011, when the United States network will expand its business to more than 90 cities, but also removed three or four of the city's business, from the opening to the close of two or three months. More importantly, Wang spent more than half a year, supplemented the management team, and several times to Hangzhou, and finally dug up the vice president of Alibaba Canga Wei, now as the COO of the United States Mission Network.

Let go of the competition, Wang also did some layout of the future, such as the United States Network of mobile strategy is also in the beginning of the year, from the early 2011 Wang began to prepare the mobile development team, from the Android to the iphone, the ipad products, promotion, iterative iterations. Now, nearly half of the business of the United States has occurred at the mobile end.

The second round of funding for the US group was also launched during the year. While group buying is a business model that instantly generates cash flow, the company has ample reserves-20 million of billions of dollars invested by Sequoia in the first round of financing in 2010 and a bank account, but the experience of past financing failures makes Wang wary: refinancing is too late when the industry's winter approaches. The United States network in August to complete the Alibaba, Northern Lights, Walden International, Sequoia Capital of the B round of financing, a total of 50 million U.S. dollars. That's a restraint, compared with billions of dollars of funding from rivals.

"I don't know how to succeed in a business. But entrepreneurial failure There are two reasons, the first is no money, at this time even if the team again United, you can not pay the money that is not good; the second is no confidence, usually no money, the team is very easy to have no confidence, so the funds need to protect, can not be broken. Wang concluded.

As a result of the 2011 and do not, experienced a wave of dangerous shoals in the 2012 is the integration of group buying industry, the United States network not only survived, but also accounted for more than 40% of the market share (the second review group buying occupies 20% of the market share), no suspense to sit on the first group buying industry At the 2013 annual meeting, Wang first proposed "2015 become hundreds of billions of sales platform" goal. But now he's a lot more calm, "I'm more clear about the inability to crash than I was two years ago." I think it is impossible to make a very good company in two years, three years, or even five years with our ability and even the ability of most companies. ”

Several toss, Wang more and more firmly believe that the difficult to go narrow road can be more and more wide, "whether before the start-up or the current United States, facing the choice, I think a big principle is, to insist on doing the right thing, not easy." ”