Rebirth of the Wild Age

The darkness before dawn is still darkness, and it is completely dark.

In the past few years, the number of Internet users in China has been growing by the "power of 2" as a multiple. But what can be done? The Internet winter is coming. Even Ying Haiwei, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and Meishang.com, which raised $50 million, these well-known Internet companies have died or are dying.

The well-known Amazon will see its share price drop from more than $100 to single digits in the midst of the Internet winter.

Now the domestic and foreign media pages are unceremoniously publishing the five-character headline The Internet is dead!

The winter has come, but at this moment, it is not the coldest time, but there are some frost flowers, and next year it will really be called ten thousand miles of ice.

"Boss Song, please come inside." Gu Yongjiang looked tired, but he still squeezed out a smile, he was smiling all the time.

Song Weiyang pushed the door open, and Zhang Chaoyang was lying on the conference table, like a senior high school student who was too tired to do the exercises and fell asleep.

Gu Yongjiang reminded in a low voice: "Old Zhang, Boss Song is here."

Zhang Chaoyang woke up in a daze, rubbed his face immediately, got up and shook hands with Song Weiyang: "Sorry, I just came back from the United States yesterday, and the jet lag is still not reversed."

"Sit down." Song Weiyang patted him on the shoulder.

The computer has been turned on, the software has already been opened, and there are boxes on the screen.

As the time of the meeting approached, avatars appeared one after another in these squares, all of which were representatives of Sohu's shareholders. This kind of international video call uses isdn technology, which is the kind commonly used by Internet cafes at this time. Due to the transoceanic communication, the network speed is very slow, and the picture freezes every second.

Zhang Chaoyang said with a sigh of relief: "Gentlemen, I am Zhang Chaoyang, the president of Sohu. The Internet winter has arrived. I am very happy that Sohu's stock price has fallen less than Amazon."

This slightly humorous opening sentence did not achieve any effect, and the members of the video call all looked serious.

Zhang Chaoyang continued: "I firmly believe that the cold winter will eventually pass, and what Sohu has to do is to survive the cold winter. Everyone, the number of Internet users in China is skyrocketing, at least doubling every year, and the Chinese Internet will usher in a golden age. Therefore, although China has entered the Internet winter, China and the United States are different. Sohu's current strategic thinking is to increase its own profitability, achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure, and survive tenaciously. I believe that the spring of the Internet will be three years at most. It will come, Sohu's share price will rise again, and your gentlemen's investment will be rewarded."

No one applauded, and the representative of shareholder A directly asked with a serious face: "When will Sohu achieve balance of payments, and how do you plan to do it? I need specific content, not vague words."

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Sohu is about to acquire Haren, another website in China. This investment has been negotiated long ago, but the general environment has changed, and we have lowered the purchase price a lot. Haren is also called 'Alumni Record' in China. It is an online community for young people. Sohu is confident that the traffic of this website will skyrocket and earn considerable advertising fees. In addition, Sohu plans to launch an online SMS service, which will also be able to obtain sufficient profits. My plan is that in two years Let Sohu's income and expenditure be balanced within..."

The representative of the shareholder oi interrupted: "Why doesn't Sohu consider doing e-commerce?"

Zhang Chaoyang was stunned: "The market environment for e-commerce in China is still immature, and this also goes against Sohu's established development route."

The representatives of these shareholders probably communicated with each other a long time ago, and the one in a said: "I think e-commerce should be done. The related market in China is emerging, and the 'Amazon of China' has not yet appeared. What online community are you talking about? There are also people in the United States. Do it, but it won’t generate much profit. And the online SMS business, it’s just a joke, Sohu is an Internet company, not a communication company.”

"I support Sohu's proposal to do e-commerce."

"I support it too!"

"..."

More than 60% of the American shareholders all demanded that Sohu do e-commerce. Zhang Chaoyang looked at Song Weiyang subconsciously in a daze.

Historically, Sohu has done a good job in alumni recording. If it insists on intensive cultivation, it may not be able to become a faebook in China, and its establishment is much earlier than the faebook in the United States.

Zhang Chaoyang invested a lot of money in advertising, attracting countless students to register, and even had far more influence than Xiaonei.com (Renren.com) at the time. However, he was pressured by shareholders again and again and was forced to switch to e-commerce. The result is that e-commerce is a mess, and the alumni registration is also abandoned halfway, and nothing is obtained after a busy work.

As for the Internet SMS business, this thing is the lifeline of Chinese Internet companies in the cold winter of the Internet.

At the end of last year, Huawei came back from a desperate situation and launched the Huawei Intelligent Network. This is the world's first intelligent network based on new international standards. The price given by Western companies is 00 US dollars per household, while Huawei only charges more than 100 yuan, and the price directly drops to one-twentieth.

China has thus become the first country in the world to launch an alpha2 smart network. Huawei has also sold this technology to third world countries such as Thailand and Kenya, earning a lot of money.

Based on this, the mobile company launched Monternet, and because of Huawei's cheap price, China Mobile generously gave up 85% of its value-added business revenue to content and service providers. Sina, Tencent, Sohu, NetEase and other companies relied on this business to survive the most difficult times. time. Even Alibaba once considered relying on this to make a living, but Ma Xiaoyun and his subordinates did not understand the relevant technologies, so they could only go all the way in the e-commerce field.

"What about Mr. Song's opinion?" Zhang Chaoyang asked.

Song Weiyang asked back: "What do you think?"

Zhang Chaoyang looked at the foreign devils in the video call software again, and said bravely, "I think we should build an online community, and at the same time rely on online text messages to make money. As for e-commerce, Sohu has no experience and no relevant team. Everything needs to start from scratch." Pass."

"No, Sohu must do e-commerce."

"I also think so. The current situation of Nasdaq in the United States proves that portal websites and online communities have no future. Although Amazon's stock price has also plummeted, Amazon's profitability has always been very good. Only e-commerce can survive the Internet winter. !"

"Zhang, this is not a request, but a request from many shareholders!"

"..."

If it were Li Yanhong, he would have directly slapped the table, and it is absolutely impossible to compromise with shareholders.

If it were Ma Xiaoyun, he would go directly to the United States and communicate with those shareholders face to face. If he can be persuaded, he will be persuaded.

But Zhang Chaoyang is a good old man with a rather soft personality. He chose to delay time: "I'll think about it. The acquisition of Alumni Records has already been negotiated. At least make this investment. Let's see the actual situation first."

Song Weiyang did not give face to the foreign shareholders at all, and asked with a sneer: "Do you know the Internet market in China? You don't! More than half of you have never even been to China, nor have you browsed Chinese websites. Do e-commerce Of course there is a prospect, but with Sohu’s current financial situation, once it does e-commerce, it has to pour all the funds into it. Can the company still do other businesses? If it were a year ago, I would also support e-commerce, because it is People will invest while doing it, but the question is who is willing to invest now? If any of you promise to invest more, that’s great, I will immediately support Sohu in e-commerce!”

The representative of a said: "Mr. Song, please don't get excited. We are just helping Sohu find revenue points. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve the company's balance of payments with portal websites, online communities and communication services. Since we have invested in Sohu, of course I also hope that Sohu can grow, after all, we also want to make money."

"Boom!"

Song Weiyang slapped the table directly, startling Zhang Chaoyang and Gu Yongjiang.

Song Weiyang said: "The six-month period is coming soon. According to the regulations, shareholders can already sell some of their shares. Shareholders who signed the repurchase contract during the IPO can come to China directly after the expiration. Sohu will follow the agreement to repurchase your shares. The stocks in the house! So, shut up all of you, you know what a fart! Dismiss the meeting!"

Twenty minutes after Song Weiyang left the conference call room, Zhang Chaoyang ended the meeting and chased him out, saying, "Boss Song, you were so excited just now, why bother?"

"Why don't you support the bad idea of ​​those shareholder representatives?" Song Weiyang asked back.

Zhang Chaoyang said with a bitter face: "If the stock repurchase is really carried out according to the agreement, Sohu's capital will not be much left."

Many repurchase agreements are equivalent to gambling contracts. That is, when investors subscribe for an IPO, they first set a stock price. If the target cannot be achieved by the expiration date, the listed company must repurchase the stock at the agreed price instead of the real-time market stock price.

In other words, Sohu must buy back its own shares at a price higher than the market price.

Song Weiyang said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's only half a year. Those shareholders don't have many shares to sell, and not all of them are willing to sell. Even if the one-year period is over, Sohu's funds are really bottomed out because of the stock repurchase. You can invest more. Remember, don’t be led by the nose by these foreign shareholders, you must stick to what you want to do! You also want to play micromanagement thousands of miles away, they know a hammer.”

"Boss Song, thank you for your support!" Zhang Chaoyang immediately felt relieved, because Song Weiyang had his back.