Open business day-to-day

Chapter 375 Mobile IM
Weiyang Technology, a meeting is being held in the office. Just after discussing a topic, Lin Rui went on to say: "Next is the issue of Weiyang Weibo promotion, how can we attract more users, more young and energetic users, expand The influence of the platform is the key to compete with other Weibo platforms in the next stage."

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Wei again and said, "How is the contact with the iPartment crew going? I heard that iPartment 3 is currently in preparation, and the filming will start soon!"

"This kind of urban scene drama that is very attractive to young people is still very rare in China, and it is very suitable for inserting advertisements. I missed this season, and I don't know when the next season will be."

Liu Wei had a smile on his face: "The contact was very smooth. Although this drama has a great influence among young people, the income is not too high. The main source of income is the broadcasting rights sold to TV stations."

"The producers of the love apartment know that we want to place advertisements, and they attach great importance to this aspect."

"I even said that if necessary, it is not impossible to write a plot story with Weiyang Weibo as the main thread, and shoot a special episode."

"In addition, the other party also gave a clear answer about the company's intention to invest in Love Apartment 3. If the company is willing to place advertisements, the producer will consider taking part of the investment share."

Lin Rui nodded and said: "Okay, you have done a good job in this regard. If the producer agrees to produce an episode of content around Weiyang Weibo alone, it will be fine even if you spend a little more money. The invisible publicity effect and influence are the most important of."

"In addition, regarding the investment in Love Apartment 3, the investment share given by the other party will be handed over to Dream Media Film and Television Company, and the company will not intervene in this aspect!"

After explaining a few more words, I ended the topic in this regard.

Then we discussed the lawsuit with Tencent. Today is already NO.20, and the court will officially start on the 25th, and there are only a few days left.

However, the general direction has been set, and negotiations have been going on these days. The main purpose is to drag the other party and wait for the court's decision.

After discussing for a while, the tone was re-set, and we were about to move on to the next topic.

At this time, Vice President Liu Heng suddenly said: "Mr. Lin, the company left the WeChat trademark, is it planning to enter the mobile IM social field in the future?"

Lin Rui nodded and said: "I have some ideas in this regard. The mobile IM social field is very promising in the future, but Tencent has accumulated too much in this area, and WeChat has already taken the lead."

"We are entering the market now, whether it is the background or the timing of the entry, we do not have an advantage. It is difficult to really gain a foothold in the mobile social field."

"I'm a little hesitant these days. Moving to the IM field is a good opportunity, but the competition is too strong. Is it worth entering?"

Li Xueming continued: "The potential of the mobile IM social field is well known, and it is really not easy to gain a foothold. For example, Xiaomi, which first released the first mobile IM software in China, Michat, developed well at first, but after the entry of WeChat , was directly abandoned.”

"WeChat now has nearly 4000 million users, and has already established its own leading advantages, coupled with their deep social genes. New companies entering this field have very little chance of success."

"If a company chooses to enter the mobile IM social field, it must be cautious, and this factor cannot be ignored."

Tan Yuanming also interjected: "I also think that we need to be cautious. Mobile social networking is not easy to do. We enter the market now and compete directly with WeChat. It is very difficult to win."

At this time, Liu Heng said: "I have an immature idea. The domestic monks who pay attention to foreign monks can chant sutras. There is an opportunity in this regard."

Lin Rui asked curiously, "What chance?"

Liu Heng said: "Have you heard of WhatsApp?"

"WhatsApp, are you talking about a foreign mobile IM software?" Xu Zhe said.

Liu Heng nodded: "Yes! Strictly speaking, WhatsApp is the world's first mobile IM social software, which was officially launched in 09. WeChat and Michat are actually imitations of WhatsApp and KaKao, a mobile IM social software launched in South Korea in 10 years. .”

"Although WhatsApp is the world's first mobile IM social software, it doesn't get much attention. It didn't get the first financing until April this year. Sequoia invested 800 million US dollars in them. At that time, the company's valuation was Around $8000 million."

"In just half a year now, the valuation will not rise too much, even if it doubles several times, the company can bear it."

"In my opinion, if we enter the field of mobile IM social networking, instead of recreating a product, it is better to directly acquire a ready-made one with a mature market and team."

"WhatsApp is the world's first mobile IM social software, and the first social software that uses mobile phone contacts as a social relationship. The name is very good."

"Besides, after two or three years of operation, although it has not yet entered the Chinese market, it has accumulated more than 5000 million users worldwide. It ranks first in the world in the field of mobile IM social networking, with more users than WeChat, and it is very cost-effective to acquire."

"Also, with the help of WhatsApp, our company can easily expand its business abroad, which is very beneficial to the company's future development."

After he finished speaking, Lin Rui's eyes lit up immediately. This is a very novel idea. It completely jumps out of the country, directly starts from abroad, and then exports it to domestic sales.

"Is it difficult to acquire? There is also Sequoia, who have just entered the market for less than half a year, and they are willing to make a move?"

Zhao Yan continued: "The most important thing for venture capital is the profit, and other aspects can only be ranked second. If the company really has the determination to acquire, there should be no problem in this aspect."

"I have studied the investment logic of Sequoia Capital. Their investment has always been short-term, flat, and fast, and they rarely hold it for a long time."

"If the company offers a suitable price, Sequoia will be able to reap several times the huge profits in less than half a year. Presumably they will not refuse, and even help the company complete the acquisition."

Lin Rui said: "Will there be obstacles in other aspects, such as policy, WhatsApp is an American company after all."

Zhao Yan thought for a moment and said, "If it is an Internet company such as Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco, Amazon, Facebook, or a technology company with core technology, it is definitely impossible."

"But WhatsApp is just a startup that doesn't attract much attention. It just received its first $800 million in financing this year. There are so many startups like this in the United States, and there are many similar successful acquisitions in the United States in China, and they have not been hindered. I don't think it's a policy issue."

"Also, for this acquisition, we can find an investment bank with deep connections in the United States, such as Goldman Sachs."

"For these investment banks, as long as the commission is in place, an acquisition of this scale can be easily settled."

"Basically, we don't have to do too much work, we just need to communicate with the founder team of WhatsApp and wait for the payment to take over the company."

Lin Rui looked around again: "What about everyone's opinions? What do you think?"

Han Yunsong said: "I support this acquisition. It is too difficult to build a mobile IM social software alone. With WeChat as a rival, it is difficult for us to do it in the domestic market."

"If WhatsApp is acquired, the company can directly inherit its more than 5000 million users worldwide, which is more than 1000 million more than WeChat's current users."

"When the time comes to export to domestic sales, it will have the title of the world's first mobile IM social software. At the same time, let everyone know that even WeChat was developed by imitating it, which will better set off the status of this software."

"We can even develop a domestic version based on WhatsApp. At the same time, do a good job of localization to ensure a good user experience. Fame gimmicks, plus more than 5000 million real users around the world, and the company's promotional resources."

"It is too difficult to defeat WeChat in China, and it is still hopeful to share the same share with it and share the domestic market together. Coupled with the huge potential market abroad, I think the acquisition of WhatsApp has great potential."

Liu Wei also answered: "I also agree with the acquisition. Now the WeChat trademark is in our hands. After we win the lawsuit, we will completely take back the WeChat trademark. We can name the domestic version of WhatsApp as WeChat, which will save trouble."

"In this way, the WeChat trademark that was acquired with great difficulty can also come in handy."

Shang Yansong said: "Yes! In the field of mobile IM social networking, many companies want to enter the market, but unfortunately there is no such opportunity."

"Since we have encountered a rare and good opportunity now, it is better to take it down before no company pays attention to WhatsApp than to leave it to other companies."

"There are more than 5000 million WhatsApp users worldwide, plus our company's resources and funds. I believe that as long as you work hard, the future will definitely have a bright future."

Subsequently, the company's executives also spoke one by one, basically agreeing, obviously optimistic about the acquisition.I am looking forward to entering the mobile IM social field, and I am optimistic about the future of WhatsApp.

Not to mention these executives, even Lin Rui was a little excited at this time. This is a good time to enter the mobile IM social field. As long as it is done well, the future is boundless.

Everyone discussed together for a while, and finally this matter was handed over to several people headed by Chief Financial Officer Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan was a partner of PwC China and worked for Goldman Sachs for a while, so he has a wide network of contacts in this area.

Next, he will contact some well-known investment banks in the United States, and choose one or two suitable investment banks to be responsible for the acquisition of WhatsApp based on various considerations such as commission ratio, personal connections, professional skills, and acquisition speed.

After all, it was an order worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which was not too small.

Sequoia Capital also needs contact. As long as they are persuaded to jointly promote the acquisition, half of the matter will be completed.

Fortunately, the two companies have cooperated in investing in Meituan. As a venture capital company that always puts interests first, it is impossible to refuse huge returns.

Finally, a meeting that lasted more than two hours ended, and everyone not only did not feel tired, but was even a little excited.

This matter is not only closely related to the company, but also closely related to their personal future. Only when the company develops better can they have a better future.

Get off work and go home.

Lin Rui further searched for information about WhatsApp. WhatsApp has not entered China, and there is not much information about it on the Internet, only sporadic mentions.

So he went over the wall and went to the external network, only to find more information about this company, and downloaded a WhatsApp installation package.

Find a smart phone with Android system, try to install it, and it goes smoothly.

However, this software is really simple enough. There are only options for sending messages, voice chat and video chat. Compared with domestic mobile IM social software, it is too clean.

From the searched information, we know that the WhatsApp founding team has so many users, but has not found a way to make a profit. Recently, it has begun to plan to charge WhatsApp usage, with each user charging $0.99 per year.

This reminded Lin Rui of QQ. In 01 and 02, shortly after QQ was launched, users grew on a large scale but there was no way to make a profit.

In order to make a profit, it also launched a paid registration service for QQ. Half a year after its launch, it caused a lot of criticism, and it was also very detrimental to the promotion of QQ, so it began to give up the fee.

Unexpectedly, ten years later, this new mobile IM social software in the United States, which was established for more than two years, wanted to go back to the old way of QQ because it could not find a way to make profits.

It's really touching!

At the same time, Lin Rui also understands why foreign countries don't pay much attention to mobile IM social software now, because they can't find a way to make money.

But in China, this is exactly the opposite. As long as there are enough users, a suitable profit method can always be found.Look at domestic social networking sites, that one is not making a lot of money.

Later, when Lin Rui saw the information introducing this company, he was even more surprised.WhatsApp, which has more than 5000 million users around the world, has only more than 20 employees, which is less than one percent of Weiyang Technology, which is too small!
No wonder the software is so simple. Apart from information, voice and video, there are no other functions. If it is more complicated, this person is simply too busy.

……

It's a pity that Lin Rui didn't know that three years later, thanks to the explosion of smartphones, this company has nearly 50 million users worldwide, but the total number of employees is only more than [-].On average, there are tens of millions of users and one employee.

In the future, WeChat will be a great success in China, but it will encounter Waterloo overseas and lose to WhatsApp, occupying only a very small number of Chinese markets.

Realizing the potential of WhatsApp, Tencent wants to use WhatsApp's [-] million users to enter the global market, and is preparing to acquire WhatsApp.

At that time, the two companies had basically reached an agreement. Tencent's acquisition of WhatsApp at a price of more than 60 billion US dollars was almost complete, and it was almost in the process of signing the agreement.

Unfortunately, Marco suffered from an old lumbar disease and had to undergo surgery, so he delayed going to Silicon Valley to negotiate the final details with Jan Koum, the founder of WhatApp.

At this time, Zuckerberg got the news and rushed out halfway. Taking advantage of the time when Xiao Ma was undergoing surgery, he took advantage of the void to negotiate with WhatsApp.

In order to ensure that he could win WhatsApp 190%, Zuckerberg offered a sky-high price of [-] billion U.S. dollars, which was two or three times that of Tencent.Jane Combe's team couldn't refuse such a price, and in the end Facebook took WhatsApp into its pocket.

Tencent regrets missing the opportunity to enter the global market.

Later, under the operation of Facebook, this software has more than 20 billion users worldwide, and it is well-deserved as the world's largest mobile IM social software.

(End of this chapter)