Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 753 It's Not Important
In Shanghai, as time goes into November, there is already a hint of coolness in the air.
After returning to Shanghai, Zhou Dongsheng adjusted his daily routine by taking a good night's sleep. For this energetic young body, a trivial matter like jet lag was not worth mentioning at all.
At the same time, before Zhou Dongsheng took the initiative to come to him, Yang Luyu had already come to him impatiently.
The two met on the bank of the Huangpu River, in a leisurely restaurant with a river view.
Zhou Dongsheng was admiring the Huangpu River flowing outside the window, and couldn't help but think of the poem "The endless Yangtze River rolls on."
Obviously, Yang Luyu, who was sitting opposite, was not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
"Mr. Jay, you should have a pretty good idea of the situation. Our competitors are coming at us aggressively, and we have already done some research on the Ame software internally..."
“It can be said that their product concept is highly similar to ours, but on the technical level, they seem to be doing better than us!”
After learning about the software Ame, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but sigh.
The wheel of history always rolls forward. Even though I have already changed the direction of Wenxue Network in advance, I introduced musical.ly into China one step ahead of time and completed the localization layout.
He even took the name "Tik Tok" without any hesitation. It can be said that in order to block the path of Toutiao, a potential enemy, Zhou Dongsheng racked his brains and used every possible means.
It is to enable Wenxue Network to "be the early bird" and make full use of the first-mover advantage to accumulate sufficient foundation for itself.
However, the objective laws of history tell us that the so-called first-mover advantage is not necessarily much better than the latecomer advantage.
There are so many heroes in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but the winner in the end is still the Sima family.
In the field of short videos, whether it is Kuaishou, Meipai, or Tencent, which have all spent a lot of money to deploy, they were eventually overtaken by Toutiao.
He has single-handedly established himself as a leader in short videos and has become a rising star in the Internet industry. His company has also ranked among the top on the list of global unicorn companies.
The term unicorn is generally used in the investment industry to describe unlisted startups that have been established for no more than 10 years and have a valuation of more than US$1 billion!
And on this list, perhaps the only one that can be compared with ByteDance is that ant... ahem.
Unicorn companies like this are naturally not all created by current events. Of the three old things, "the right time, the right place and the right people", the importance of the latter two is naturally self-evident.
Zhou Dongsheng may be able to seize the initiative in terms of timing, but Toutiao’s own technological accumulation and talent performance are clearly beyond Zhou Dongsheng’s control.
What Zhou Dongsheng can see may only be the fruit on the branch of Toutiao, but the deep-rooted foundation buried underground is obviously not something Zhou Dongsheng can see.
This is undoubtedly a major limitation of Zhou Dongsheng. He can only do his best and leave the rest to fate, but it is difficult to "change his destiny".
However, this battle has just begun, so I am not completely without a chance of winning. Although the first-mover advantage is not a winning advantage, it is still a big advantage.
Moreover, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but feel excited when he thought about the opportunity to compete with such future giants on the same stage and have a head-on battle with them.
If you can't even figure out how to play the "Flying Dragon on the Face" situation, it only proves that you are not worthy of your position and can only rely on temporary "opportunistic" to gain some advantages.
For Zhou Dongsheng, this is also an opportunity to get to know himself better.
When I had accomplished nothing in my previous life, I always liked to complain that I was born at the wrong time and that my talents were not appreciated, but I never doubted my own talent.
Now that I have been given the opportunity to start over, if I still cannot do it, I will have to admit that I really do not have the ability to do so.
Thinking of this, Zhou Dongsheng had already made a decision in his heart. The first step was to think about how this competitor came to be.
Although Toutiao is not the only company in the short video field, there are also two other leading players, Kuaishou and Meipai.
However, to a certain extent, only Toutiao can be considered a true competitor.
Kuaishou, which focuses more on the sinking market, has a clear distinction between its development paths and theirs, and they seem to be keeping to themselves.
As for Meipai...don't worry about it, he will deliver it himself.
Although he didn't know why Meipai lost miserably even though it was already "flying dragon riding on the face", Zhou Dongsheng believed that there must be a reason. As for whether it was a problem with people or a problem with the route...
That remains to be seen.
Today, Ame relies on the traffic generated by Toutiao itself to live a comfortable life and smoothly pass through the incubation stage. Before it changes its name, it is obviously not the time for it to show its fangs.
I just wonder which name Toutiao will choose as a replacement after it has seized the initiative of "Tik Tok"?
Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but feel a little curious about this, but a catchy name was just the icing on the cake.
The real competitiveness of a product is not only reflected in the name, which is superficial, but also in the deeper technical level, which is the most important thing.
However, according to the barrel theory, how much water a barrel can hold often does not depend on the longest board, but the shortest one.
Therefore, as long as Wenxue Network does not have any fatal shortcomings in terms of technology, it will not be completely defeated and have no chance of winning.
"Boss Yang, don't rush. People still have to eat, right? We can just fight back. It's not like we have no chance of winning. Let's order first."
Zhou Dongsheng greeted calmly, looking confident, which gave Yang Luyu a reassurance.
Especially when thinking about Zhou Dongsheng's series of achievements, how he went from a nobody who started from scratch to the heights he is today...
Yang Luyu couldn't help but feel relieved. If he hadn't listened to Zhou Dongsheng's advice, how could the product "Tik Tok" be so successful today?
If it weren't for Zhou Dongsheng, I would probably still be struggling in the overseas market. I would be satisfied with just the product musical.ly, right?
It is for this reason that Yang Luyu promoted Zhou Dongsheng to the level of "strategic investor". At the same time, as the company's second largest shareholder, Zhou Dongsheng's status in Wenxue Network is not low at all.
"I feel relieved after hearing what Jay Chou said. I believe that Jay Chou must have had a plan long ago..." Yang Luyu said sincerely, and then he started ordering dishes by himself, looking completely relieved.
This made Zhou Dongsheng a little confused. Is it really so easy to comfort her?
If all women in the world were so easy to deal with, wouldn't the world be peaceful...
Zhou Dongsheng shook his head and put this unrealistic idea behind him. Then Yang Luyu ordered a large table of dishes, and the two of them smiled and filled their stomachs first.
After having a good meal, Yang Luyu burped and said expectantly, "Mr. Zhou, now that you are full, can you tell me what you think?"
Zhou Dongsheng wiped his mouth slowly, then suddenly asked: "Is this app really similar to our TikTok?"
Yang Luyu nodded without hesitation, "That's right, but they are obviously better than us in terms of technical accumulation, and the experience they provide is also slightly better than ours..."
Yang Luyu is a technician after all, so he subconsciously analyzed the differences between the two from a technical perspective.
But for Zhou Dongsheng, he is a layman in technical matters, and if he wants to gain an advantage in the competition with Toutiao...
The natural thing is to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses. Since there is a technological gap, one should not confront each other head-on on the technical level, but instead focus on the first-mover advantage.
"Boss Yang, I don't understand technical matters, but even in a fiercely competitive market, everything should be based on first come first served."
“Although we are all short video players, we are the first to try out the music short video branch, right?”
Zhou Dongsheng guided him patiently, but unexpectedly Yang Luyu shook his head very straightforwardly.
“In terms of the tool attributes of music short videos, we also borrowed from excellent software such as Dubsmash in the overseas market, but we added the social concept of community…”
“It has greatly enriched the product experience and allowed users to better socialize. It is also with the help of social networking that we have opened up the overseas market…”
Yang Luyu said seriously, Zhou Dongsheng rubbed his forehead and continued.
"What I mean is that it doesn't matter who invented it first. Our products have performed well in the domestic and overseas markets, and we are more famous in the field of music short videos!"
"In this case, can we take this opportunity to counter Ame, accuse it of plagiarism, and occupy the high ground in the public opinion field first..."
Zhou Dongsheng "turned the tables" and said that although he "plagiarized" the name of Douyin, in terms of first come first served, Toutiao was indeed suspected of borrowing from it.
On this issue, Toutiao was also criticized in its previous life, but after it finally completed the counter-acquisition and became a family, there was no longer any accusation of plagiarism.
But now, this is obviously a good opportunity to take the initiative and seize the concept of authenticity in the minds of users.
"Although the concept and UI design of Ame's product are very similar to ours, it is very troublesome ..." Yang Luyu said with embarrassment.
"Boss Yang, don't dwell on this. It doesn't matter whether this matter is true or not. It doesn't matter even if we lose the lawsuit in the end, but we must first play to our strengths!"
“We just need to let users know that our products are genuine and the other party’s are pirated. That’s enough,” Zhou Dongsheng said with finality.
Such disputes as whether the work was copied or not and how much was copied to be considered copied would naturally be brought to court, but Zhou Dongsheng's goal was to win as long as he could go to court.
Even world giants like Apple and Microsoft once went to court over a dispute over the windowed operating system, a lawsuit that lasted for several years.
Even so, this lawsuit ultimately did not affect the course of history and became a thing of the past.
At this point, it hardly matters that Apple was ever a computer company.
Therefore, winning or losing the lawsuit is not important, just like how many bowls of noodles Liuzi ate. This is not the purpose of "Hu Wan".
As long as there is a fuss, the goal will be achieved. First, make the headlines . If it is possible to pull them into the trap of proving their innocence, that would be great.
After all, Douyin has accumulated more than 100 million users thanks to its first-mover advantage. At this most critical stage of development, as long as it can slightly slow down the incubation speed of Ame...
That would be considered a success. If we could wait until the dust finally settles and the industry's 80/20 rule takes shape, that would naturally be even better.
After hearing this, Yang Luyu pondered for a moment and immediately came to his senses. He couldn't help but look at Zhou Dongsheng with new eyes again. He didn't expect Zhou Dongsheng to be so young...
He actually has so much bad intentions!
However, honey is sweet to friends and poison is poison to enemies. For people in the same boat, the more bad water there is, the better.
"Master Zhou is really great! But this one move alone seems not enough..." Yang Luyu said with an unsatisfied look, wishing Zhou Dongsheng could continue to increase his strength.
"We have to play this chess game step by step. The other party has just completed financing and is now very wealthy. However, short videos are just an attempt by Toutiao, and the other party may not devote everything to this!"
"So, let's make our stance clear first. If we can retreat when faced with difficulties, that would be great. Otherwise, we can only fight with bayonets."
Zhou Dongsheng said leisurely, and then continued: "But I think, with Toutiao's ambition, the former basically doesn't need to be considered, so we have to be prepared."
"Since we are going to fight, we must be well prepared with guns and ammunition. Otherwise, if we don't have enough firepower, it will be a disaster."
"If they can raise funds, then we can do the same. We should put the next round of financing on the agenda."
Zhou Dongsheng spoke in an orderly manner. Under Zhou Dongsheng's guidance, Yang Luyu finally sorted out his thoughts.
"I understand, Mr. Jay. The best decision I have ever made in my life was definitely accepting your investment and making you a strategic investor in Wenxue Network..."
Yang Luyu said sincerely that although Zhou Dongsheng was young, in Yang Luyu's eyes, he was his well-deserved mentor and even his destined benefactor.
Today, Wenxue Network's market value is no longer what it used to be. Originally, only the product musical.ly had made its mark in overseas markets, but it was not well-known in China.
But now, not only does it still firmly occupy the overseas market, it has also achieved unprecedented success in localization in the domestic market.
Tik Tok has come from behind and has accumulated hundreds of millions of users, surpassing musical.ly in the overseas market!
For Wenxue Network, it can be said to be both internal and external.
Toutiao certainly has its own traffic system, but Wenxue Network is not much inferior in this respect, especially its advantages in overseas markets. Looking at other domestic competitors, it is absolutely unique.
With the combination of the two, the valuation in the next round of financing will only be higher, not lower!
