Reinventing the Millennium

"Dr. Jay, if everything goes well, this will be the product you want to endorse."

"A music player that supports MP3 music format, we named it M1, Music One, No. 1 music player."

"Its advantages are large reserves, small size, beautiful appearance, and it is in line with the development trend of digital music."

In Yike's conference room, Fang Zhuo played with the white M1 in his hand and introduced the product to the proposed brand spokesperson before others arrived.

Jay Chou ignorantly pressed the small machine in his hand. The shape and appearance were indeed as Fang Zhuo said. The reserves should not be deceptive, but the development trend of digital music...

He digested the information for a while and smiled at the young CEO in the chair. Although he already knew his age, he looked younger than he thought.

Jay Chou hesitated and praised: "It's really good-looking."

Fang Zhuo could see the thoughts of the future music king at a glance, and continued to introduce: "Of course, it also has shortcomings, that is, the sound quality will be worse than the Walkman of the same price."

Jay Chou was startled, the sound quality of the music player is poor? Then, can it still be sold?

Fang Zhuo still read the expression, but did not explain. He just said: "Currently, M1 is available in two black and white colors. If everything goes well, we will make an exclusive azure series for you."

"Azure?" Jay Chou was flattered. Although his first solo album "Jay" received a lot of praise last year, he is still a newcomer who has not won any awards. This is his first endorsement in mainland China and he is treated like this. Really move.

"The color of Ru kiln porcelain is said to be the result of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty once dreaming about the blue sky after the rain, and he wrote, 'Where the sky is blue and the clouds are broken (harmony) after the rain, this color will shape the future.'" Fang Zhuo talked eloquently, he He has indeed dabbled in this aspect. "Very few Ru kilns have been handed down from generation to generation, and every piece is a treasure. I think this color can be used as an added value for high-end products."

Jay Chou didn't understand this. He just nodded when he heard this, which sounded very classy.

Fang Zhuo smiled slightly, and when he saw the employees in the conference room gradually arriving, he told the administrative assistant Yuan Zhen: "Xiao Yuan, you will entertain Director Jay well for the company these days and ensure his life and travel."

Yuan Zhen should come down.

Jay Chou's reaction was a little slow, and he didn't hear the meaning of seeing off the guests. He blinked and waited for the young president's continued introduction.

Fang Zhuo had no choice but to say: "Dr. Jay, if you go back tonight with the machine to listen and listen, you can give us some advice. Our signing will be postponed to the day after tomorrow. I will have a media meeting here then."

"I have a staff meeting to hold tomorrow, so I won't entertain you. You can ask Xiao Yuan to show you around."

Only then did Jay Chou understand and quickly stood up to leave.

After the singer from Baodao left, marketing director Yu Hong wondered: "This person is not famous, why do you ask him to be the spokesperson? The contract will last for 3 years... and a color series was specially created for him..."

Some people in the conference room nodded. Since I want to be the spokesperson, it is better to invite someone else who is more famous.

Fang Zhuo smiled and said, "I think this kid has a future."

Yu Hong frowned slightly, thinking about the importance of Yike's initial success or failure and whether he should be more cautious.

Fang Zhuo added: "My sister also likes his songs. Young people, this is the target group of music players. How long have you not listened to songs? From today on, you have to go back and listen to one every day. listen."

Yu Hong swallowed her words. It was not easy to talk about President Fang's sister in this situation.

At this time, product manager Xu Keden also walked into the conference room and it was time for the meeting.

"Teacher Xu is here, sit down, today is the last meeting before our product launch."

Fang Zhuo welcomed it and continued: "I mentioned young people just now. This is a key point for the success or failure of our products. Only by being loved by young people can we support the sales of our products."

"Whether it is Guahao.com or Yike, when we are running a business, we must first consider what value the product brings to users."

"What's the value of the M1?"

"Or to put it further, in addition to the music format, storage size, and appearance design that we have emphasized before, what else can M1 bring to the table that is different?"

Fang Zhuo talked about this issue and asked Xu Keden: "Teacher Xu, once our product is launched, if it is popular, will there be any moat in terms of product technology to deal with competition?"

"Product technology..." Xu Keden mused, "To be honest, if it's like Mr. Fang said, the technical threshold is not too high, even if we design the roulette scheme ourselves, it is something that is easy to learn. "

Fang Zhuo nodded and emphasized: "So, we have to consider our product positioning."

He pulled up the whiteboard, wrote the word "hard drive", and introduced to the middle and senior management present: "Our hardware costs are very high, and each Toshiba hard drive costs US$75, which is 615 Chinese coins."

"This is a configuration we use to promote a large storage capacity. One machine can store thousands of songs."

"However, in actual use, how many real users are willing to pay for storage? If a hard disk player with thousands of songs is very expensive, and a cheap player with dozens or hundreds of songs appears, how will they choose?"

“Which side does our domestic consumption level favor more?”

Fang Zhuo asked the question.

Yu Hong said without much hesitation: "It must be the latter."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, stretched out his hand and drew a diagonal line from the "hard drive" on the whiteboard to the right: "I heard from Manager Xu that Toshiba also has a flash memory technology. The price will be cheaper and the storage capacity will be much lower."

Xu Corden added: "Yes, I heard that Toshiba will release 1G flash memory NAND products this year. This reserve is still far behind the hard drives it provides us, but it has great potential in the future."

He continued: "I think if the M1 comes out well, we should consider using flash memory to enrich the product line and reduce product prices in the future."

Fang Zhuo agreed: "Yes, there are high-end and mid-range products. Only in this way can we better cope with the domestic market. Technology is developing very fast, so we have to make arrangements in advance."

Everyone nodded.

"Returning to the value we just talked about, I think the M1 series should be positioned as a player to accompany domestic young people to enjoy the works of the new generation of singers." Fang Zhuo said with a slightly awkward tone.

"How to calculate the value of a product? Calculate the cost of each part after taking it apart?"

"No, that's how we calculate it ourselves."

“For consumers, we need to add value and provide added value.”

"The positioning I just mentioned is to transfer consumers' love for singers and music to our products."

Fang Zhuo spoke eloquently: "Of course, this is a mid-to-high-end positioning. When we purchase various first-line hardware from around the world, we must first establish a high-end image. The multiple dimensions of this image must be integrated with the Internet and domestic musicians."

"We especially cannot limit M1 to just selling players. That would narrow the road. Do you understand?"

There was a sound of agreement in the conference room, but some people didn't quite understand it yet, and it was difficult to ask in this kind of situation, so they just planned to think about it after going back.

Fang Zhuo looked at the people whose morale was not high and shook his head: "Tomorrow's staff meeting, everyone will be responsible for their own team and maintain good order. This is the policy environment of the registration network. The only way to move forward is to move forward."

Most of the people in the conference room were middle- and senior-level executives from the registration network, and a few were directly recruited by Yike or store managers who were transferred from the product team to the store. The former were worried about the future of the website and could not help but desert.

Both Yu Hong and Su Wei have already communicated about this. However, under the general trend of Huanghuang, especially the tragic situation of the other two friends in the industry, it is really hard to relax.

"The M1 music player is the development trend of the industry. Otherwise, I will not get investment from CCTV with it. You have to believe in this."

Fang Zhuo scanned the audience and talked about the actual content: "The day after tomorrow's product launch conference, the five major cities' direct-operated stores will open on the 20th. As of April 20th next year, that is, half a year, frontline staff will receive a commission for every machine sold. It’s 50 yuan.”

"The leader of the sales team calculates the team's sales volume and gets a commission of 20 yuan per unit."

"The deputy marketing director then calculates the total sales of different groups and gets a commission of 10 yuan for each unit."

"That's it, let's break up the meeting and see you tomorrow."

Fang Zhuo knocked on the table.

People in the conference room stood up, and many people were confused. First-line commission, group sales commission, team sales commission...

A simple calculation shows that if a front-line salesperson sells 30 units every month, he will get a commission of 1,500!

Plus what about basic salary?

The more you sell, the more you raise!

If you are a deputy director, as long as you urge the team in your region to sell 1,000 units, that will be 10,000 yuan!

Before leaving the conference room, many people have already calculated their salary in their own way, which is much more exciting than the registration website!

Oh yes, there is also a time limit, it is calculated like this within half a year.

When everyone walked out of Yike, they saw the company name on the registration website on the corridor wall within a few steps. Thinking that there would be a staff meeting tomorrow, tears of sadness flowed from everyone's mouths unconsciously.

"Mr. Fang, um..."

Product manager Xu Keden didn't leave and spoke hesitantly.

"Teacher Xu, Yike needs you. The products have been made. Do you have the heart to leave?" Fang Zhuo said considerately, "Let's renew the contract."

Xu Keden breathed a sigh of relief and said without any hesitation: "Okay, Mr. Fang!"

Another person left the conference room. After a while, he heard the voices of several people outside, and then drifted away.

Su Wei smiled and said: "If Teacher Xu's contract is not signed, will those who came from Jiaotong University resign collectively?"

Liu Yangyang, who was also temporarily serving as a secretary in the conference room, frowned slightly. This was a constraint.

"Absolutely. After all, it was a team built by Teacher Xu. Many students used it very cheaply, as well as his friends and colleagues." Fang Zhuo nodded, "We all cooperated happily, there is no need to make such a show. On the contrary, they have to be tied up even more.”

Fang Zhuo considered: "If it progresses well after its launch, we have to consider the division of company options. Technical talents, especially, cannot be let go easily. They should learn with emotion and use them for profit, and they must have long-term goals."

"Is this also the strategy for tomorrow's staff meeting?" Yu Hong asked.

Fang Zhuo smiled and did not answer.

…

On October 15th, busloads of people arrived at the Mingyue Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai, and then followed the instructions into the large conference hall on the first floor.

These are all front-line employees from Guahao.com.

As of October, there were more than 400 employees across the registration network. For comparison, the number of employees at Lin'an Alibaba at this time was about 200.

There are less than 100 Internet medical practitioners in the same industry. No wonder Chen Xing thinks the registration network is too bloated.

Because of the number of employees, during the second round of financing, some venture capital investors half-jokingly asked if they were raising so many people to increase the company’s valuation.

Fang Zhuo sneered at this. Why would he use this method to increase his valuation?

At nine o'clock in the morning, Fang Zhuo, the pioneer of the domestic online registration business and the president of the registration network that the media called the most energetic and frustrated this year, stood on the stage.

It was the first time for many employees to meet Mr. Fang in person, but almost all of them had seen him scolding Fang Qiu on TV - when "Win in China" was on the air this summer, every employee would proudly tell his relatives at home. My boss is on TV.

"Hello everyone, my name is Fang Zhuo."

The voices gathered in the conference hall gradually subsided. At a time when the industry was in turmoil, Mr. Fang called everyone together to talk.

Fang Zhuo bent down to pick up the trophy, raised it in the air, and said into the microphone: "This is the 'First National Internet Innovation Industry Enterprise' trophy that we got together. On such a special day, I always feel that everyone is I want to see its true form.”

"Come on, pass it down from the first row, touch and see one by one. This is the recognition we have gained through our joint efforts."

Fang Zhuo walked off the stage holding the trophy and handed it to a strange female employee at the end.

The female employee's face and hands were a little rough. She took the trophy in a panic, not knowing what to do.

"Take it and take a look. Everyone has a share of this trophy. This is the recognition of us by the country, society and the times." Fang Zhuo's voice echoed in the conference hall, extremely loud.

The female employee's rough hands rubbed the words "Registration Network" on the trophy, and her eyes filled with tears unknowingly. The trophy was as heavy as the honor. However, what is the future?

Even if the most front-line employees can make simple judgments, it will be difficult for Guahao.com to develop on its original track without losing its core business.

She passed the trophy to the second person in the first row, stretched out her hand to wipe away her tears, and looked up to see Mr. Fang walking on the stage again.

"Everyone should already know the current state of the industry."

"Internet medical services in Beijing are laying off employees, Medical Online in Pengcheng is considering bankruptcy, and the survival of Guohao.com is in jeopardy."

“What should I do with the registration network?”

"I've been thinking about this a lot lately."

"There are also many people, many friends who really care about me, who have suggested to me that it should end with the liquidation and liquidation of the property. You Fang Zhuo should not be held back by this matter."

"I once thought about it this way, but one day I saw the data that jumped from time to time in the background of the website and gave up this idea."

Fang Zhuo's voice floated in everyone's ears, soft and indifferent, as if he was just talking about the psychological process of these days.