Wang Xiaoquan: The biggest task in Sohu internal entrepreneurship from old to Dick

"I am acutely aware of how difficult it is for a company to build a new gene," he said. "In the face of increasingly fierce competition in the browser battle, the face of Baidu High-profile into the browser market, Sogou CEO Wang Xiaoquan said."

In many Internet company CEO, Wang Xiaoquan is very unique, the junior entered Sohu internship and stay down, neither the founder of the Internet grassroots entrepreneurship, nor the traditional sense of working professional managers.

Starting from the internal entrepreneurship, leading the team, with five years of time in the absence of technical genes Sohu Company has made Sogou browser, search technology products such as Wang Xiaoquan, the Internet round and round of competition has a unique perspective.

Whether the browser, search, or Input method client number of users, Sogou is currently ranked in third place. What are the chances of third place in the highly competitive Internet arena?

Browser contention

July 19, Sogou in Beijing launched the first "Web Update reminder" Technology Sogou high-speed browser 3.0 version, and announced the opening of the "dual-core application platform."

Just the day before, Baidu, rising in a single race to launch the browser. After the Qihoo 360 by virtue of the second largest client base and the layout of 360 security browsers successfully listed, making the browser market more interesting, the fierce competition in the browser field, now more Baidu such "big Guy" to kill into it.

In the face of a variety of competing topics, Wang Xiaoquan or first talk about technical advantages, he stressed that the free customization of the "message box", intimate "Web Update Tips", composed of Sogou high-speed browser powerful Web page update reminders, plus a fully open "toolbox", a variety of practical tools and components, Sogou High Speed Browser advantage is very obvious.

According to the latest data show: This May, Sogou browser's monthly coverage has reached 23.4%, covering 91.8 million people. In the past 1 years it has soared 60%, far more than other rivals, and is the fastest growing browser. According to CNZZ released the latest statistics, as of this June, Baidu in the domestic market share of 82.23%, Google 8.02%, Sogou for 4.66%.

"I hope Sogou Search service can account for 10% of the share, if this goal, sogou traffic in the domestic market will surpass Google." Our real goal is to surpass Google China in a year. "Browser growth leads to increased traffic and also revenue growth."

"Revenue is expected to reach $1600 trillion in the third quarter of this year," Wang Xiaoquan's response to the "very strong" revenue has also brought questions about the listing, "We have not thought about listing, not a timetable, to do the product first." ”

Internal entrepreneurship in Sohu

Wang Xiaoquan, who is outspoken and mild in appearance, sometimes shows a very different temperament when interviewed by reporters, such as when someone asks about the future of Sogou, he will have amazing language: "Guess what?"

Admittedly, this unexpected answer is a bit of a tease, but it's really different from the traditional journalist question and answer, which is neither an ordinary, retreat Gao, nor a technical response to "Look out for him" when he doesn't want to respond positively, Wang Xiaoquan The Frank side is really different.

The primary school rises the junior high school, then rises the higher education, the examination University, Wang Xiaoquan is all the way walks, because his mathematics result is too good. 1996 on behalf of China to participate in the "International Information Science Orsay" won the gold medal, and thus walked to Tsinghua University computer department. This is a completely different learning experience, "because of the walk, high 31 I went to play, play games," Wang Xiaoquan is also different from the individual class genius "harmful" type of growth process, he is as an ordinary student has the necessary learning experience, but also because of his mathematical talent and have some degree of "relaxed", " I took part in the maths contest, but I hardly ever took the entrance examination. ”

But to play with the learning, the mind relaxed Wang Xiaoquan every time the environment changes, there are always not adapt to a period of time, "freshman is still playing the game, when the class 31 people I row 28, and then a sophomore, I began to study, drinking coffee, began to learn", different from the experience of ordinary people let Wang Xiaoquan have a unique way of acting, But there is also the conventional approach to integration into the mainstream, "after this particularly depressed period, to graduate, I reached the top of the school status." ”

1999, also in the junior Wang Xiaoquan into the start-up Chinaren part-time, and with Chinaren into Sohu, has not changed the runway. The first batch of 21-year-old Internet development, 25-year-old worth tens of millions of years, 27-Year-old vice President Sohu. The Wang Xiaoquan of the behavior is steady and there is no juvenile, but he still has unconventional style of doing things.

In Sohu internal entrepreneurship, 2003, away from the "Matrix" of the Qingyun mansion, Wang Xiaoquan from the purchase of tables and chairs, knocking Tsinghua dormitory door to dig people start, bit by bit, and finally used 11 months to launch the Sogou search, and other enterprises usually take two years.

"Sogou was released after a good run, this is also a unique case in Sohu, Clarles (Charles Zhang) very support Sogou, but in the internal entrepreneurship, encountered more challenges, Sohu's style and Sogou product technology promotion is completely different, the simplest example, the developer desktop needs two machines, To two cable sockets, and Sohu in the past is a person of one machine, these need to face and solve. ”

Clarles to Wang Xiaoquan of the compulsory "search" made, Wang Xiaoquan began routines "input method and browser." April 2010, Google announced the withdrawal of China, empty out of the search market for Sogou is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, with a sensitive sense of smell, with the help of Sogou high-speed browser, Sogou search traffic rapid growth.

In the input method market, "The search engine thesaurus to solve the problem of the whole Word library, because the word library all the fastest and most fluent typing, 5 years to occupy 83.6% of the market." "Today Sogou Input method has become a QQ, 360 after the third largest client."

On August 9, 2010, Sogou business officially stripped from Sohu, set up a separate subsidiary, while introducing Alibaba Group and Yunfeng Fund strategic investment. Wang Xiaoquan as the company's CEO, Sogou also gain greater development space.

In fact, all along, innovation and conservatism, mainstream and alternative, in the Wang Xiaoquan to achieve a blend and unity. As he himself said: "Innovation is necessary, but not for innovation, in a core innovation, the other links must try to use the method proved successful, then can not innovate without innovation, so as to make innovative things." ”

The difficulty of marching to the penis

In the fierce competition in the Internet market, win-take-all, grasp the entrance can grasp everything, similar experience abound, Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba has put the internet market to control the big pattern.

Whether it is a browser, search or Input method client, Sogou has its innovation, but in these three fields are ranked third of the Sogou, its future prospects are how big?

For Sogou, the present is actually the most delicate, the most complex, the most challenging moment. What is Wang Xiaoquan thinking at this time? What is the strategy of the Sogou?

"Product quality and market strategy is like two hands, one can not be less." Wang Xiaoquan said that he did not like to talk about his plans, also seemed very real: "At the end of this year, in search, to go beyond Google, next year, in the browser, strive to become the second place." ”

Very straightforward, now for Sogou and Wang Xiaoquan, the biggest task is to move from old to the second.

In this process, Wang Xiaoquan a great emphasis on ecosystems. "We want to work with more third-party application developers to build a more win network ecosystem based on better response to user needs," he said. "Because Sogou is Sohu and Alibaba cooperation Company, Sogou can maintain more open cooperation with the industry," with Baidu, Tencent can cooperate, "in Wang Xiaoquan view, product innovation upgrades, benefits not only the user and Sogou, but also based on the product platform Sogou browser built ecosystem.

At present, Sogou browser platform not only with the common Web site formed a closer cooperative relationship, in the "box" in the third party applications, skin and so on, but also attracted a large number of application developers. For example, Sogou browser can bring more traffic to the cooperation site to share, to watercress radio and renren for example, such as access to the Web page after the update traffic growth.

In Wang Xiaoquan's vision, sogou another advantage is that the Sogou is not a browser in the individual combat, but the formation of the "Browser + Input Method + Search" "Three-horse carriage" neck and the stereo war. Whether it's a browser, a client or a search, it's a gateway to traffic. This strategic layout, input method 300 million large users, can bring the installed capacity of the browser, while the browser can enhance the flow of search, and search in turn can optimize Sogou input method of thesaurus, interlocking, mutual promotion.

"Have the influence to talk about openness, now Sogou browser has a certain market base, we want to let business partners and developers to share the fast growth of sogou traffic." "Wang Xiaoquan stressed that Sogou's opening will be orderly and thorough, truly promote the mutual trust of the industrial chain, build a win-lose ecological circle."

Insiders said that from the business model, Tencent is open to users; Weibo is open to social relationships; Baidu and 360 are open to traffic. and Sogou Browser is the integration of open, from the desktop to traffic to the user, Open is the network ecosystem.

For Sogou, although there are three-dimensional, all-round layout, but the current challenges are very large. Unique personality, the idea of novel Wang Xiaoquan can bring the Sogou to a new situation? Sogou different from the past new models can impact the existing Internet market pattern? We will wait and see.