The entertainment industry shouldn't be like this

Chapter 102 Only the game is the way out

In fact, Wang Wei has long wanted to match Dunhuang and Weibo Technology for a deep "marriage".

After all, the huge Antarctic creature in another time and space, with one hand for socializing and one hand for entertainment—or content, it can almost be said to have an invincible weapon in the Internet age.

People live in this world, besides filling their stomachs, isn’t it social entertainment?

In an era of Internet hustle and bustle, an Internet company that connects people and a content production company that can tell stories are absolutely perfect.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Wang Wei and Wang Chuanqi will be able to realize the perfect combination of two companies in different fields.

This is not just as simple as investing a sum of money, but more importantly, achieving some kind of strategic synergy.

Pharaoh deeply agrees that he also needs to have a deeper understanding of Weibo technology.

……

When he came to Weibo Technology again, it was still the unremarkable headquarters, but this time Lao Wang didn't look down on him any more. He knew that this unremarkable place contained the power that might change the world.

For example, he is sitting in front of the computer at the moment and seeing the user growth curve of Penguin Communications.

"During this period, there are about 7 new registered users every day; the number of users is increasing too fast, and the server is on the verge of limit again and again, and it needs to be added and updated almost every week..."

Co-founder Jiang Lei blushed a little when he introduced the situation.

He had thought that after the advertising promotion period, the growth rate would slow down, but the result was completely beyond his expectations.

However, he soon figured out why.

Instant messaging tools have strong social functions. As long as users find it useful, they will recommend it to their relatives and friends, thus forming a snowball effect.

It can be expected that as long as Penguin Communication maintains a good user experience, the number of users will still increase surprisingly before reaching the bottleneck period.

In order to ensure the user experience, the Jianglei team follows the principle of technology research and development proposed by Wang Wei, "running in small steps, trial and error iteration", constantly discovers and fixes bugs according to user feedback, completes one version iteration per week on average, and greatly stimulates user enthusiasm.

Pharaoh just in time for the release of a classic version of the latest iteration.

In this version, multiple levels of confidentiality options are adopted for the first time, and the functions of personal data and confidential information are enhanced; at the same time, "Penguin Information Communication" and "Penguin Browser" are launched

This means that Penguin Communication has quietly transformed from a pure instant messaging tool to an information portal and virtual community.

Lao Wang looked at "Penguin Information Communication" and called it a good guy!
Isn't this the pop-up window I thought?And it's significantly more functional—the company has capable people.

Of course, the other side of the good news is the cruel burning of money!

Wang Chuanqi went to see the data center upgraded by Weibo Technology——

In the oppressive and cramped computer room, the rows of servers inside are constantly pumping out huge amounts of heat through data exchange.The temperature in the middle corridor of each server group reaches more than 40 degrees, and people will sweat profusely when they get close.

It costs at least 5 to 5000 yuan to configure a better server; and a single server can usually only reach [-] simultaneous connections and normal data exchange of users, so one can imagine how much the investment is.

This is only the investment in server hardware, and what about electricity bills and broadband charges?
The current situation is that the 3000 million invested by Wang Wei in the first wave cannot last for too long.

What is even more frightening is that the intensity of burning money continues to soar.

Pharaoh counted his fingers, numb.

Glancing at Wang Wei whose face remained unchanged, he thought to himself, no wonder this guy wants to go to Dunhuang, how can this investment be afforded by one person alone?
Lao Wang casually asked Jiang Lei how to make money, but he answered directly - he knew that everyone liked this thing, but he didn't know who to charge for it.

Well, a very solid partner, Lao Wang is speechless.

In addition, after Lao Wang's careful observation this time, he found that Wang Wei's start-up company has some special features.

such as time freedom.

At Weibo Technology, employees can spend 20% of their day or one day a week researching ideas they are interested in, regardless of whether the idea can make money or turn into a successful product.

Obviously, this is what Wang Wei learned from an Internet company in the past that claims to "do no evil".

"This is to motivate employees to explore." Wang Wei explained, "When people do what they think is important, or what they like and love, their work efficiency will be very high. This is also a good opportunity for bottom-up innovation. "

"Is it useful?" Lao Wang only cares about the effect.

Wang Wei did not answer directly, but led him into the company's leisure room and participated in a discussion salon.

Coincidentally, what they were discussing was the business model of Weibo Technology.

The two quietly sat down and listened.

Lao Wang noticed that there are management, backbone, and ordinary employees, but all of them speak freely and don't care about the concept of hierarchy.

Be aware that in most situations, be it social or professional, it is easy to feel isolated and even ostracized by insisting on speaking your mind.

But at Weibo Technology, Wang Wei seems to be enthusiastically embracing such an attitude—encouraging employees to give constructive feedback boldly, which can be bottom-up, top-down, or Intersectoral horizontal views.

You see, in such a discussion about the company's overall strategy, even the management will be bluntly told by ordinary employees that your opinion is bad, and my idea may be better.

A project manager said: "I still think that advertising is the best profit model. Calculated according to the number of times Penguin Newsletter is opened, if you put banner ads on the page, the daily exposure of ads can reach nearly [-] million times, and even [-] million times in the future. , One billion times, can no one put this in?"

An employee shook his head directly: "I don't think it's good. The area of ​​Penguin Communications is small, the display effect of advertisements is very poor, and the advertisers are not stupid. The income may not be much, but it will definitely affect the user experience, and the gains outweigh the losses."

Most people opposed this proposal, and it was quickly shelved.

A technical backbone made another suggestion: "How about charging for registration? We control the numbers released every day, and at the same time, encourage users to obtain registration numbers by sending SMS, and then we share the SMS fee with the communication provider, so that There is no need to clearly announce the registration fee, and there is a revenue."

As soon as this suggestion came out, almost everyone shook their heads.

"Don't think users are stupid. Free, free, free, this is the first principle of the Internet. If you even charge for the initial registration, users will abandon us without hesitation!"

"That's right. Fees are for surviving, not dying faster."

"This is the worst idea!"

There is no doubt that this suggestion was rejected more quickly.

At this time, a young man said firmly: "So, the only way out is to develop games!"

Wang Wei's eyes lit up.

……

(End of this chapter)