Rebirth of the Age of Wealth

Chapter 625 Cheap is the way to go

Li Weidong's suggestion is not complicated. These people here are all engaged in IT, so they will understand what it means when they hear it, and it does not seem to be difficult to implement this suggestion.

In their understanding, it is to get a network hard disk storage, users can put data into it and take it out from the network disk when needed. The implementation is as simple as that.

As for deeper cloud storage, cloud computing has no such concept at this time. In fact, even Li Weidong himself has not figured out the true meaning of cloud.

Lei Jun pondered for a moment, and suddenly said with excitement on his face: "The chairman's proposal is great, and it is not difficult to operate. We only need to take out the storage space of the server for users to use!"

In the past, Kingsoft word processing software, including most of the current software, were stand-alone versions. As long as you downloaded and purchased a membership to activate, you can use it normally without any interaction.

Now, because of competition with Microsoft, it is free for individual users, and even the activation process is not necessary. After downloading and registering successfully, you can log in to use it, or even use it without logging in.

This caused a problem. Although their download volume was large, some users actually did not register and log in, which caused them to lose some real users.

So in this era of pursuing the number of Internet users, they suffered a big loss.

However, in order to step down on Kingsoft and allow piracy to flourish, Microsoft's word processing software has no registration at all. If Kingsoft wants to compete with Microsoft, it can only do it more thoroughly.

If we follow what Li Weidong said and add the function of network storage, it must be based on user names as the basis for access. It will definitely increase the number of users and even make plans to charge for value-added services.

Director Qiu next to him nodded first, and then said hesitantly: "It's not difficult to handle, but in this way, we have to rent a lot of servers. Even if we only configure a standard 3.5-inch floppy disk storage space for each user,

It’s also a big cost, and it’s a long-term cost!”

Although U disks have come out at this time, they are expensive and cannot be used by ordinary people. They can only be used as special products, while floppy disks are still in an absolute monopoly, and may even continue for some time.

The storage space of a 3.5-inch double-sided high-density floppy disk is 1.44M. Calculated based on Kingsoft’s current eight million registered users, this is a huge storage space in this era.

Naturally, it is a large expense. Although Director Qiu does not manage specific matters, he cannot remain indifferent when faced with such a large cost.

"Although the cost has increased, this is a novel way after all. Firstly, it can increase the number of registered users, and secondly, we can also charge appropriately in the form of value-added services!"

"This is a way!" Director Qiu heard what Lei Jun said. This was proposed by Li Weidong, so it was hard to say anything else!

It is estimated that no one would have thought that Li Weidong's simple proposal would later become the founder of the concept of "cloud", making the "cloud" thing come out several years in advance.

These people did not get the specific time for the arrival of spring from Li Weidong, but they also saw the degree of optimism about the Internet from Li Weidong's attitude.

My heart is no longer pessimistic and hesitant, but I have regained a firmer belief. What matters now is to make a good product. Only when the product is ready can it break out of the ground and grow into a towering tree when spring comes.

So each of these people became happy and started chatting about what Li Weidong liked to hear, and occasionally talked about anecdotes in the industry. The room was filled with laughter and laughter.

However, in this peaceful atmosphere, a thin man sat in the corner. Although he had a smile on his face, he was somewhat melancholy and dull.

This person is none other than Ma Yun, the head of the Alibaba family who will dominate half of China’s Internet industry in the future!

It's just that Teacher Ma, who is usually eloquent and sometimes aggressive, seems unusually quiet and even a little lonely at this time.

There is no trace of how high-spirited he was when he received the US$100 million investment from Li Weidong at the beginning of the year.

At that time, he never dreamed that their small company, which had just been established, had little revenue and a limited number of users, would be valued at US$200 million by Li Weidong and directly invest US$100 million because of his words.

The account will be received in a short time, and more importantly, a part of the control is entrusted to him, allowing him to have the final say.

During this half-year period, there has been a legend circulating in the venture capital and Internet circles that the unattractive man exchanged one sentence for 100 million.

Even in this crazy age of venture capital, investing in a company will go through various processes, rounds of research and consultation, and price negotiations before finally making a decision.

It is simply unimaginable that Li Weidong invests with such ease, even the companies he invests find unbelievable.

However, insiders close to Li Weidong, such as Zheng Sijing and Zou Yi, have long been accustomed to Li Weidong's behavior.

And after careful sorting, it seems that all the investments made by Li Weidong are so calm and comfortable. The key is that there will be unexpected benefits. Everyone who is favored by Li Weidong becomes a winner in the end.

So in the past six months, this English teacher who "cheated" an investment of 100 million US dollars has become completely popular.

Coupled with his personality and professional habits, he usually likes to talk a few words, and even has some eloquent words, making some endless remarks that are not surprising.

But today, Teacher Ma behaved in a very low-key manner, as if there was still a trace of despair in his heart.

And those people here didn't seem to notice such an obvious change in Teacher Ma, or maybe they did, but they just turned a blind eye on purpose!

Time passed slowly. Li Weidong seemed to be very talkative today. People around him also supported him and they had a great time chatting.

They didn't leave until Doubiang sent Li Weihong and the children back to the hotel, and it was getting late and the dinner was ready.

Li Weidong sent these people away, and now only Zheng Sijing and Teacher Ma, who had been depressed all afternoon, were left in the room.

"Sit down!" Li Weidong pointed to the sofa opposite and said to Zheng Sijing and Ma Yun.

"Chairman, I'd better stand!" Ma Yun said with some fear, but she seemed to have a good psychological quality.

"Sit down, it's uncomfortable to raise your head!" Li Weidong looked at Ma Yun and said jokingly. He quite liked to see these future talents showing respect in front of him.

"Thank you, Chairman!" Ma Yun sat respectfully next to the sofa. It was far less casual than when there were many people. It was the first time for him to face Li Weidong alone like this.

Zheng Sijing sat on the sofa next to him and looked at Ma Yun, but he still felt a little admiration in his heart. For no other reason than that he was the person Li Weidong asked to see.

Even if you have to lose your temper with him, it is an honor. Facts have proved that those who can make Li Weidong curse a few words have become rich and successful people.

Zheng Si said with a surprised smile: "Chairman, a few days ago you said you wanted to meet Mr. Ma. The time was originally scheduled for this morning, but it was an unfortunate coincidence. This time it was just in time. I asked him early this morning.

Flying over from Shanghai!"

This was also the reason why Ma Yun was a little nervous and anxious. She usually couldn't visit Li Weidong, but now Li Weidong wanted to see him.

Moreover, Ma Yun also received news from Zheng Sijing that the boss only made this decision after reading their company's semi-annual report and related information, and the boss did not seem to be very happy at the time.

In fact, their company's interim report has been submitted for more than a month, but the boss only saw it these two days, which also shows that the boss is very busy at work. A small company like theirs doesn't pay attention to it at all, but now they want to see him by name.

There is only one reason, and that is that something went wrong with their interim report, which made Li Weidong unhappy.

For this matter, Ma Yun called Zheng Sijing several times, and finally gave him a reminder, "Why did the boss invest in you, and what have you done now?"

What he said when he deceived Li Weidong was still fresh in her mind, and Ma Yun began to feel anxious.

"I remember your company is not on the edge of the West Lake. When did it move to Shanghai?" Li Weidong asked lightly.

Ma Yun was a little panicked and even stammered: "Mainly considering the economic situation and development level of Shanghai, the company decided to move its headquarters from Hangzhou to Shanghai!"

Li Weidong nodded calmly and said: "Well, this reason makes sense. The economic situation in Shanghai is better than that in Hangzhou, but I think New York and Hong Kong Island seem to be better than Shanghai. How about you move there?"

At this time, Ma Yun, who was sitting next to the sofa, stood up with sweat on her forehead. Everyone could hear Li Weidong's sarcasm.

In January this year, Alibaba received US$100 million in financing. Ma Yun was so high-spirited that she even felt that there was only so much money in the world.

So I was dazzled by the huge amount of funds and began to expand crazily. Not only did I set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, but my headquarters also moved to Shanghai. Overseas offices blossomed everywhere in 13 countries and regions.

area.

Following this geographical expansion came large-scale marketing investment, and various operating expenses remained high. In just half a year, more than 20 million US dollars in the financing account were spent.

In fact, spending money quickly is also Li Weidong's requirement for the companies he invests in, but the money spent must be turned into good results.

Now the boss's attitude has obviously changed, and Ma Yun also knows the reason for the change in the boss's attitude. The money spent has not turned into actual benefits, and the money has not been spent according to Li Weidong's ideas.

Ma Yun paused and said respectfully: "Chairman, I have held three consecutive meetings with several senior executives of the company in the past few days to summarize the work experience of the past six months, learn lessons, and adjust the company's strategy!

"

It is no longer helpful to talk about past mistakes and try to justify it, and it will not do any good for this matter. Now we must show what to do.

"We have determined the strategic layout of returning to China. Except for the offices in the United States, all other offices will be abolished, and the headquarters will also be moved back to Hangzhou from Shanghai!"

Ma Yun briefly reported the results of their meetings over the past few days to Li Weidong. Of course, he added the last sentence temporarily because the boss no longer liked them being in Shanghai.

In fact, for them, they have to go abroad before their domestic business is done well. And judging from the experience of later generations, it is still early for Alibaba to do business abroad.

"Is there any more?" Li Weidong asked.

Ma Yun knew that what was supposed to come came anyway. She had bragged at the beginning, and now it was time to settle the score.

At the beginning, he told Li Weidong that he wanted to do B2C and C2C, but now there is no trace of these two businesses.

"Chairman, our B2B business is currently expanding in an orderly manner, and we are also studying B2C and C2C transaction models, and have conducted a large number of social surveys. I just feel that these two models are still a bit immature!" Ma.

Yun said honestly, but her words were a bit dishonest.

In fact, they did conduct research, but they did not do so carefully and only conducted some rough social surveys.

"Really, there is eBay abroad, and there is a company called eBay in China. I don't know if you have heard of it. Their model seems to be a bit close to C2C. You can study it when you have time!" Li Weidong was a little unconvinced, but he did not expose it.

There was more sweat on Ma Yun's forehead. This was due to the embarrassment and fear of having her lies exposed on the spot.

"Yes, I will study the business models of these two companies carefully when I get back and strive to launch them as soon as possible!" Ma Yun said quickly without wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Yeah!" Li Weidong nodded in agreement.

Li Weidong When I saw this name on the Internet by chance, I thought of this company that had only a short-term glory deep in my memory.

In accordance with his previous investment logic, Li Weidong cast a wide net and counted every item he caught. He planned to invest in eBay and asked Zheng Sijing to find an investment manager to get in touch.

It's just that the founders have deep personal connections and don't need more funds at the moment, let alone sell the company's shares when the company is new and the valuation is low.

After getting the news, Li Weidong thought of Ma Yun, who had bragged to him about what he was going to do in B2B or C2C. He didn't know how he was doing now.

He asked someone to take Alibaba's information and take a look at it. He didn't think it was important at all, and he almost had a heart attack. Half a year later, he seemed to have done nothing but spend money.

At that time, he called Zheng Sijing over and had a talk. He originally wanted Zheng Sijing to tell Ma Yun his anger, but later he thought it would be better to meet him in person, so as not to ruin the future rich man's life.

It’s not that Li Weidong is very interested in Taobao in the future, but that in a country like China, if you want to develop e-commerce, cheap goods are the only opportunity.

This is also in line with the current national conditions. In the United States, B2C can be successful by selling genuine products, but when domestic consumption is generally low, cheapness is king.

In such an environment, only the products produced by small workshops are competitive, and C2C is the business model that small workshops rely on to survive.

This is also the reason why Taobao will be so popular in the future. In the end, it will also drive Taobao’s B2B Tmall business. This is all a story later.

Even Pinduoduo later relied on this model to start its business. The poorer the place, the more it needs this model. Cheapness is always the ticket for these places.

(End of chapter)