Zhou's business

Postgraduate stage, Zhou began to skip class. The exam is easy for him, he just wants someone else to write his homework. But he skipped class not to go to the booze, he has more important things to do.

Inspired by the heat of Silicon Valley, he became aware of the importance of foreign translations. Although English is not good, but he almost read the management of the school library management. "High-tech Management", "High-tech theory", "Z theory", the earliest version of "Pursuit of Excellence" and "seek advantage" and so on, he was eaten alive, and the books of management theory used to analyze, guide the practice.

Zhou every day not only busy selling cards, after-sales service, and read so many books, there is no time to program, so anti-virus card can not do, because the anti-virus card can not be upgraded in time, can not keep up with the changes in the virus.

And the more important thing is that he sees a new direction: the graphic creative system. When it comes to graphic creative systems, you can't help but mention another company in XI ' an Jiaotong University: mountains.

1994, the mountain company launched a product, called the graphic creative system. This system is for outside those advertising companies do, you can do photo editing, advertising production, layout design. At that time the advertising company basically has no computer available, relying on scissors, glue, film negatives, newspapers, magazines, I black Horse ...

The mountain Company's graphic creative system has been widely favored and sold well. At that time, a friend of an advertising company found Zhou and asked him if he could do the same thing. He studied for a while, the head of the "bang" is thunder to the original-this thing has such a big market! For advertising companies, this is the Chine of the great subversion Ah!

Zhou 祎 posing as an advertising company staff to the mountains company to negotiate business, listen to each other's explanation was thunder to: Originally this thing is CorelDRAW, Photoshop software Han! Others don't know, but he knows. The original company to do this system is to take other people's things to change.

Zhou was excited at first because his computer and software versions were higher than those of the advertising companies, but the only thing was that the mountains had great promotional materials. The system is to be sold to advertising companies, of course, the instructions are exquisite and complete. This brought him some shock: the importance of publicity. He had to sell the anti-virus card before he said it by his mouth.

The project with the anti-virus card changed and he wanted to start the new project immediately. Originally they do virus card is a kind of hardware thinking, basically do not want to upgrade things. One-time must not last long, because the virus can not keep up with the changes. Furthermore, the anti-Virus card project team has split. Shi Xiaohong also trust him more, after all, the product sold to earn some money. But the other one is very dissatisfied with him, think should divide the money, but Zhou by "Silicon Valley Hot" influence, think that money should take to expand reproduction. He bought a computer, a book, and a lot of software, but the partner had no interest in it. Reluctantly, he gave the partner some money, and the team split up.

In the 1994, there was actually little awareness of intellectual property. It is very popular to have foreign software in Chinese. If they can be Chinese, why can't I? Zhou thought so.

The second venture was first squeezed into Zhengzhou

The first thing is to reorganize the team. Zhou called a junior high school classmate named Wang. Wang is to study medicine, undergraduate will study 5 years, Graduation time is 1994 years. Another classmate called Jikai design. He thinks that computers and art should be combined. Plus Shi Xiaohong, 4 small teams are starting to move.

The resource editor is fine, but they lack a set of fonts. The Chinese of the software is actually the most important is the font. In fact, China's south and north have a lot of companies in the Chinese, Zhou classmate Chian they are doing. They cracked the mountain's font and found that the mountain companies actually use the library for others.

At that time Chian also in graduate school, Gao Zhou 祎 one term. He found Chian to that font, Chian said must pay to buy, 3 000 yuan. He took a mouthful and paid the money that night.

1994 when 3 000 yuan is not a penny, ordinary family students one months of living expenses also two hundred or three hundred, this is equivalent to their year's expense. Inconceivable is, Zhou that year accidentally participated in Shaanxi University student Creative contest, disorderly thought a few ideas, unexpectedly won the first prize. He did not know why he won the prize, guess it is other people's ideas worse. But the reward of the Happy 250 motorcycle can help him a lot.

Happiness 250 motorcycle At that time the market price is about 5 000 yuan, Zhou it to 2 500 yuan to dispose of, oneself and make up 500 yuan of money to go in, took that set of font.

After getting the font, Zhou's team rented a room in the school's guest house, then added a classmate, several people began to work day and night. They made a set of promotional materials, gave the company a name called "confidence", because at that time the company had nothing, only confidence.

The mountain company, of course, soon knew that they were imitating and would not stand idly by. Considering their own in Xi ' an has no relationship, Zhou a line of people killed back to Zhengzhou, Henan. On the one hand, Wang, Jikai are Zhengzhou people, Zhou also grew up in Zhengzhou, on the other hand, he felt that there should be a blank market.

Second-time entrepreneurship completely failed

After returning to Zhengzhou, they cooperated with several other friends to set up "Zhengzhou information software company", which specializes in selling planar creative systems.

In fact, many things can go awry once they are done. The new friends are the bosses of advertising companies, but they don't understand computers. They think the computer this thing is very mysterious, Zhou first train them. After training, we all think this thing is really good, but they will not buy immediately, because the computer is expensive, software more expensive.

Inspired by the mountain companies, they bundled the scanners and printers together and automatically entered the functional interface. Such a system according to the configuration of different, more than 100,000, less 50,000. This is also a reference to the price of the mountain company. Looking at this price, Zhou himself also hurt.

He only sells hundreds of dollars for an anti-virus card, how many cards will it cost to sell?

It's a common problem to run a company. Doing so, this group of people began to infighting, to the end of friends can not do. It was supposed to be a partnership, but they took the computer away when they left. The problem was that they didn't sell it, and finally Zhou to mediate and they returned the computer.

Internal division, external market but like monolithic, simply pry not move. Let them say dry mouth, the last is nothing, failed again and again, their confidence wavered. Clearly is a very market products, how can not sell it? Zhou 祎 baffled.

Then an ad company boss gave him an idea. The boss is about the same age as Zhou, does not know the computer and has no experience in selling High-tech products, but the worship of High-tech, so proposed that he funded, out of the office, everyone together to do this thing. This is Zhou's first investment in Angels.

1994, tens of thousands of dollars plus office space, this investment is not small. But after less than six months of time, they failed. In the twinkling of an eye in the 1995--wandering outside for so long, Zhou had to go back to get a master's degree.

Influenced by the successful dropouts in Silicon Valley fever, he had little interest in degrees, but fate seemed to arrange for him to go back.

First Shi Xiaohong back to school. His tutor informed his family that the family had forced him to go back to the doctor. At that time, Shuo Shuoboliandu read to a student, the temptation is still very large, not to mention their two startups also failed (anti-virus card counted for the first time).

Zhou 祎 if willing to continue to read, he can also shuoboliandu read. But he was obsessed to open the company, even Master's degree do not want, where still want to go back to read dead books. The family was mad at him. If the company had not failed, he might not have thought about whether he needed the diploma.

decided to find a platform to make up the lesson

Back to school, they left the office of investors, layoffs, contraction, in Jinan and Qingdao to do a solid sell, small profits but quick turnover, how much to sell. Although it seems that angel investment to go back a little bit of face, but they finally put the money back to investors.

Back to Xi ' an, Zhou to the tutor to confess the wrong, wrote the examination, got the tutor's understanding.

In the Office, in the presence of more than 30 doctors and Masters, the tutor said: "I think you guys may be a little bit of a week." Why? Because most of you are ordinary people. It's the weirdest thing in the week, doing things differently, always doing something unexpected. I think this kind of person either loses miserably, or should be able to achieve success.

The teacher's words in the presence of the students are very unwilling to listen, Zhou also very ashamed, not ashamed of his teacher's comments, but the teacher to his tolerance, "virus door" after so, now also.

It's the Spring Festival in 1995. Zhou 祎 to the school. On the one hand, he owes a debt. Go out for a year, put the original anti-virus card to make money is not counted, or even become a "negative Weng", before and after two times with the partnership have failed, Huff, that feeling is really frustrating extremely.

The bitter experience, Zhou back to school after the paper, very coincidence again met Chian. Chian was already graduated, is back to school to see his girlfriend, his girlfriend and Zhou is a classmate. One morning two people met, Chian told him to go to the Peking University founder Xuan There, tell him about the founder of the situation. Founder was at that time China's largest software company, than Lenovo, four, I black Horse also want cattle, in the students are highly respected. After all, we use the imagesetter system, WPS Hancock and common typing system are founder.

Founder at that time also in CCTV advertising, in the community is also very famous. Chian said Fangzheng good, very free, can write software, can learn things, the only problem may be Zhou's character will not fit, because the people there can not Langora.

In fact, Zhou also participated in a lot of recruitment and interviews, when a Shenzhen company is willing to ask him. A bank in Guangdong wants him too, because his resume is very good and has won many prizes.

Finally prompted him to founder of the reason, one is two times, although the fiasco of entrepreneurship, but his ideals have not changed. Those who have experienced a fiasco know that they should learn. Second, he and Xiao Military computer contact, Xiao Army computer also do Hancock. At that time so many Hancock, why the founder of WPS Hancock did the most successful? Many people think that is because of baijun cattle, but Zhou have another view: he felt that the Baijun to find the right platform. The reason for this conclusion is because Chian the Baijun of the Hancock. Beg Baijun Hancock is good, but because he defected to founder, and Fangzheng to do in the printing system is well-known, in the country there are so many branches, he can succeed.

The above comes from "refusing mediocrity--Zhou and his Genesis"