Yu: How to survive the cracks

At present, Alibaba to increase the capital UC, the goal is in Mobile browser arena checks and balances Baidu and Tencent.

UC's survival law is very simple, in the words of Yu, to be a master, have the soul of a great company.

According to the external reliable, as the UC strategic investors Alibaba through the acquisition of Morning Hing Venture investment, such as three of the stake in the UC board has become a major shareholder. This is actually a round of the giant's offensive and defensive battle. "Ali's idea is very simple, I do not need control, and do not seek further more than 50% of the share of absolute holding, we give you the money is to support your independent dry, as long as you do not sell to Baidu." ”

This coincides with the idea of Yu. After completing the second round of funding in 2007, UC took the initiative in the equity talks, according to Yu. Yu leaned on the big couch and said, "The investors waiting to see him are long queues at the door." UC insists that it is "not for sale", but does not mean that it is no longer accepting investment. More importantly for Yu, "the next step is to discuss who we're going to buy, and eventually UC to become a great company." Yu was first born in Lenovo, with a "Lenovo-style" for the great company's obsession.

This is a company that was once considered a product of backwardness. UC was founded in 2004, when most mobile internet access through Symbian platform, and rely on technology accumulation to become "provincial power" "traffic" synonymous. Until the smart machine rises, the iphone's iOS platform and Android platform have gradually replaced the Symbian platform, the UC crisis: People will first think that the browser can be used as a portal, which is debatable, and second, UC suddenly faced the Dolphins and other Up-and-comer and Tencent and other giants competition; of course, , those who are accustomed to looking for confidence from the Silicon Valley model face a wavering attitude toward a UC without a control.

One of the key reasons to support Yu confidence is, of course, that it is more than 400 million of the world's users, including 1亿来 from the Android platform, 100 million overseas, and, after several years of precipitation, UC has evolved from the flow portal into a set of games, information services, and other integrated services platform.

He thinks he has found the right way to help UC not only walk through a lot of reef areas, but will continue to take UC in the direction he imagines: Yu Dreams 3-5 years later UC has 1 billion users worldwide Facebook just achieved this goal last year. "Each stage development is different, the demand is different, the next phase of the focus is internationalization, I think the Chinese companies in this part will not provide too much support, but if it is a highly internationalized South Korea Samsung to find me, why do I not?"

"The internet is not a short plate, but a long board to achieve the ultimate." "In the midst of great giants, the independence of equity, the ability to operate products, leadership, these are Yu summary of actual combat experience."

Weapon one: both sides

This is Yu quite satisfied with the result, as he said, basically UC in this battle of the stake in the control of the initiative.

"The big players have come to talk," no doubt, including 360. "Each company is nothing but to communicate about the development direction of the industry, each has a different idea, but for me the most fundamental requirement is UC independent development, this is all negotiations must agree with the premise." "Yu said.

In fact, the Giants, including Baidu and Tencent, have not failed to push through the browser, and Tencent has threatened UC by including forcing partners to "choose one of two". and Baidu Internal is hesitant to this project, to Baidu, the browser this product can be small, in Baidu internal difficult to become a strategic product, so the internal development of resources to invest also does not have a special strength. "UC is the market first, can be more than may be the first to appear in the curve, the second is our own wrong direction, but these two conditions did not appear." ”

The Giants have chosen to negotiate with each other as they invade and feel insecure. Alibaba, from the outset, has taken advantage of the competition, investing in UC as early as 2009 and trying to gain control. After Baidu and UC began negotiations, Ali has been at the board level against the deal, and finally Ali to higher than the price of Baidu bought three other venture capital shares, in this way actually completed the possession of UC.

For Yu, the team still has the biggest say in the board, and has a closer relationship with one of the big Three, and interestingly, even the defeated Baidu cannot stop cooperating with UC.

In the giant between the two sides of the feeling incomparable good, Yu more not anxious to go public. "Better evening than morning" became his colloquial. It's imperative for him to be able to build the UC platform intact.

Weapon Two: thickening

Among the various capital shuttle, Yu team need to be emboldened, depending on the company's products and operational capabilities. Most of the time, they consider the question is: How to make a tool-type products based on the thick, into service.

First from the UC park, this is UC paid tuition can not meet the team expected an important experiment.

2010, UC Park is available, its importance and browser, and for this UC invested a lot of resources, in charge of the project in Baidu because of the rise of the Nova Mingyuan. In Yu's vision, Paradise will become a mobile social platform based on the real relationship of mobile phone book. If successful, this will not only change the UC simple tool properties, it may also change the bat (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) giant pillars pattern earlier.

By a strong flow of imports, the park users quickly break through 10 million, but soon after the park team aware of the unknown: the vast number of users only a few active users. Finally a year later, the experiment with Mingyuan resigned back to Baidu.

A partner at the time revealed that the failure of the project may have been due to the weakness of UC's accumulation of mobile social technology, and that the Mingyuan and UC teams have not been very successful. Yu later said that the difficulty of technology development and investment in research and development exceeded the initial expectations.

Fortunately, before the development of the park, UC in 2007 through the acquisition of the way to complete the game layout, in the park when the resources were quickly transferred to the game business, the latter 2012 monthly revenue of tens of millions of, currently in the UC's revenue in the proportion has reached about One-fourth.

Yu that this is the inevitable result of "gene theory", "Park is basically all internal staff team, if the gene is insufficient, the determination is big, invests very much, may effect is not big." The game is outside the team, but fortunately the leader is very professional, and the company is very good, can be very good to integrate the business into the gene. So the internet is actually playing long board to avoid ' genetic defects ' of the short plate. ”

Doing thick does not mean adding, but Yu in the interior constantly advocating subtraction. "It's really a very difficult thing. "If you add a project, everyone will say that you can try it and pass it," Yu said. But if you want to turn three things into two, you have to ask which one to cut off first. This is your test of the market's ability to judge; second, this involves the adjustment of the team, which is emotionally a problem; The final reduction of one thing means strong confidence and determination in the other two things. Hit. ”

Now Yu's hope is to strengthen the technical advantage of the product, the final construction of life, information and entertainment services platform, a few days ago, UC launched the uc+ open platform: UC Browser, UC Web Application Center, UC plug-in platform, UC application bookmark platform three components, will provide users with personalized services, UC hopes to get through to developers and traditional Web sites to reach users of free access, and to become China Mobile Internet, one of the largest open platform.

Weapon III: Internationalization

BAT is the big player on the platform, where is the chance for UC to become a giant? Today, if a giant company does not make mistakes, the opportunity to defeat it is not possible, but if there are overseas markets, some medium-sized companies may not be able to grow up. The best chance for UC to become a giant is in overseas markets. "With the exception of the US and Western Europe, most countries are lagging behind," said Donshau, managing director of Qiming Ventures. ”

Yu the same, and started the adventure game as early as 2009. "Because UC has always wanted to be the world's boss, we must first consider the opportunity to open up overseas markets." If the mobile Internet in most overseas areas is still in the wild, it is easy to occupy the market, but the history of no internet companies have really done overseas market, has failed, and the start-up companies at home and abroad to do two markets, resources will also form pressure. "Of course, including him and other company leaders, are authentic" hick ", which also increased his concern about unfamiliar markets.

To change his mind was once at a foreign airport, two Chinese asked him to help fill in the entry card, "I suddenly thought that China's international to do the best is the private owners of Zhejiang, they do not speak a foreign language, the book may not read a few days, not the same business to do the world?" We don't even have the guts to try this?

The hardest thing about pioneering work is the lack of talent. In the early years, UC developed overseas market team basically all from Huawei and ZTE, as the first to open up overseas market two Chinese communications companies, their talent reserves rich. The factors to consider are not complicated: which are the users, the terminals used, the usage, the operator's control, and the potential competitors.

After comparing all the overseas markets, the Indian market became the preferred target. "India and China used to have very similar user environments," Yu said. India has a huge incremental user, Nokia is India's largest mobile phone brand, mainly through the open retail channel sales. In order to more carefully test the water, UC first through the Internet to promote products, in line with the expectations of the local establishment of offices, with local partners to develop the market, to create an industrial chain. Meanwhile, in the second year of entering India, Nokia's strategy invested in UC, which added to the insurance for UC's pioneering in India.

To sum up, UC has hardly encountered much resistance in overseas markets. After several emerging market layouts, UC is considering opening up the U.S. market.

It will be an important first-World war.

Weapon four: familiar with capital

and technology-born entrepreneurs are obviously not dominant compared to the technical direction of Yu. He came from investors, then joined UC the entrepreneurial team to become a leader, which in another way gives UC a lot of different possibilities. The experience of Lenovo's investment for several years gives him a better view of the landscape and the ability to communicate with capital than the average entrepreneur, which is sometimes the seed of prosperity or extinction.

2007, Yu almost just joined UC, and the board of a huge conflict, this conflict has actually laid the possibility of UC today UC.

At that time, two founders of UC were technically born, Yu is the investment background, the entire company lacks the operation of a leg, in order to enhance operational capacity, Yu proposed to buy Skynet company, and invite its founder Zhushunti joined, the latter is the Wuhan Optical Valley pioneering street, the entrepreneurial star Yu in the investment period to know the talent, With his ability to understand, Yu believe this can bring great help to the development of UC.

If it is only a takeover, the board may not be opposed, but Yu's idea is that Zhushunti should join the board as a founding partner. The board raised objections, and was adamant, because it meant that the Board had to be added to a seat, and that the control was Yu, and that investors might not believe his judgment if he had just joined in making such a big change.

After many convincing, Yu made a similar "pique" decision, he took a stake in his own, at the expense of the determination to Zhushunti join, the board finally accepted the method. He didn't see it wrong. Zhushunti, Zhushunti UC Browser promotion and gaming department, soon UC Browser user volume began to rise, and the game business also smoothly launched.

"They (the investors) finally gave me the shares, but did not say that the agreement on the gambling, not to return." "Yu said, after seeing the reality of many companies, he to" financial gathering people scattered, wealth scattered people gather "this sentence is very deep," very simple, entrepreneurial partner how good or less good? "from the point of view of the matter, of course, how good people, but from the point of view of the distribution of interests less the better, we are still very young, a bit of the sense of the proletariat , the goal is to do things right, made, that pay a lot of costs does not matter. ”

After experiencing a dual identity, he has a deeper understanding of the investor side. "Entrepreneurs and investors are like drivers and copilot, you see three risks, he can see 10, but the throttle is under your feet, you know the clearest." If you disagree with the investor, you can be the one to make the final decision. Leadership is not what you make decisions, but what you see, you understand, but others don't see or understand, and you end up insisting on and validating the correctness of what you call leadership. ”

One of the reasons Yu is not in a hurry to go public is that he likes to lay out. UC through the acquisition, gaming business as early as 2008 began to try, to the outside world announced in 2011, has been operating a number of monthly millions income of the hand tour. "The next thing you'll see soon is that there will be surprises." "He was not willing to disclose the acquisition project at last.