Reinventing the Millennium

The interview with Shi Tao by Tesco's chairman and president took longer than originally expected.

So much so that even interviews with Dangdang's two supervisors were postponed.

Shi Tao was very familiar with the book field when he talked about it, and he was also very knowledgeable in analyzing various competitors on the market. After he talked more, he relaxed and reflected on the slow development of Amazon from his own perspective.

From this person’s words, Fang Zhuo learned how unsuccessful Amazon’s localization was.

I had known that there were problems with the giant's localization, but I didn't expect it to be such a big problem. Changes in web page style required reporting to the US headquarters. What's more, last year's participation in the price war was severely criticized.

Rather than localizing, Amazon seems to be trying to replicate success on a scale.

"This year at Amazon, I always felt that my understanding of the domestic market was incompatible with the superiors." Shi Tao felt a little depressed when talking about it. "Sometimes I feel confused and it is not easy to understand who is right."

"Amazon is a giant and is deeply involved in B2C e-commerce. I would think that maybe the top management, maybe the headquarters, what they value can bring longer-term returns."

"After all, they are Amazon."

"And Joyo.com is just a loser that was acquired."

Shi Tao's analysis ends with looking up to the authority of giants.

He is responsible for the book and audio-visual product line. Above him is the vice president, above that there is the executive vice president, above that there is the president, and above that there is the instruction and restriction of the foreign headquarters.

Shi Tao was not very confident and did not dare to say anything about what was going on and the final victory or defeat.

Fang Zhuo stood up and gave the director more tea, then returned to his seat and discussed a few words with Xiao Su in a low voice.

Then, he said: "I have said many times on different occasions that the experience of giants is not always bright, but because of their size, it is still easy for all of us to succumb."

"E-commerce is a new project. I also told Mr. Shi on the phone that the book business is not our original focus."

“The business now also requires developing categories and creating management operations teams, which is a challenge.”

Fang Zhuo paused and finally said: "Mr. Shi, since you are at a loss in Amazon, it is really better to come to e-commerce and verify for yourself who is right and who is wrong, instead of following the crowd."

Shi Tao came today. Naturally, he already had a strong preference in his heart, but he had not yet completely finalized it. He was not only accepting the interview, but also seeing how the boss was doing. Otherwise, he might as well continue to stay at Amazon. Mr. Lin and Mr. Chen were about to leave. Spaces may become available.

He nodded heavily and said, "Mr. Fang, I am very optimistic about the development of Tesco. I heard that Tesco's warehouse was built by people from Amazon. I wonder if I can't go to Kunshan to visit today?"

"There is an ex-Amazon team. Amazon's supply chain and data analysis are excellent." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "But they misjudged how to obtain traffic in China."

He continued: "Okay, if you want to visit, I will ask the supply chain person to accompany you."

Fang Zhuo dialed the internal number and selected a department deputy director to accompany Shi Tao to visit Kunshan No. 1 Warehouse.

Before the two supervisors could face each other, Su Wei and Fang Zhuo communicated their opinions.

"Shi Tao's speech and thinking are quite clear. He is going to Kunshan now because he is afraid that we will just talk about it and not take practical actions, right?"

Fang Zhuo nodded: "It's normal. If it were me, I would have to take a look before I can feel at ease. I won't bow to anyone who accepts you."

"Amazon's president and vice president have to resign, or we can do it all at once." Su Wei suggested.

"They probably all have non-compete agreements at their level, unlike people like Shi Tao and Dangdang, but the departure of Lin Shuixing and Chen Nian will definitely lead to the resignation of a group of people. We can choose some of the people below who can do things. Pick." Fang Zhuo replied.

The two chatted for a few more words, and Su Wei asked Dangdang's two department heads to come over from the reception room.

One is Ge Guangming, who is responsible for digital, cultural and creative businesses.

One is Yuan Yaohan, who is in charge of book channels.

They came up from the reception room on the 22nd floor. As soon as they entered the CEO's office and saw Mr. Fang, they felt a little nervous.

Fang Zhuo exchanged simple greetings while looking at his resume and asked Ge Guangming: "Mr. Ge, I see that you were adjusted from the book division to your current position in October last year. Can I know the reason for this adjustment?"

Ge Guangming showed a hint of sadness and indignation on his face: "Mr. Fang, that's because I insisted on advising Mr. Li and Mr. Yu that Dangdang should accept the third round of financing led by you, and that Dangdang should implement the development strategy you proposed. Then he was transferred to be responsible for digital, cultural and creative and other businesses.”

Fang Zhuo put down his resume a little surprised, not sure whether it was flattery or the truth.

He looked at Ge Guangming seriously, recalled it, and asked, "When I went to Dangdang to discuss investment last year, were you also in the conference room?"

"Yes, Mr. Fang!" Ge Guangming's voice rose a little higher, "Mr. Fang, I deeply agree with your views on the edge of the West Lake and your views on the domestic e-commerce market. In fact, I once lost my understanding of the Internet industry. I regained my confidence because of your open letter to the entire Internet, saying that the spring of the Internet was coming."

Su Wei felt a little bit sour after hearing this. That's not right. This person is wrong. He wasn't like this when communicating on the phone. Has he been replaced? Imposter?

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, "Very good. It was originally an open letter to Sina employees, but now it has become a letter to the entire network."

He looked at Ge Guangming's face with a matter-of-fact expression and thought that at least from a psychological level, he was on a par.

Judging from the resumes of these two people, the content they are responsible for at Dangdang is not comprehensive enough. It is not impossible to come to e-gou to host the work, but Shi Tao seems to be a better choice.

and……

"Mr. Ge, Tesco will not be doing digital business for a while. Well, that is the e-books and audiobooks you are currently responsible for. If you come to Tesco to return to the original book section, is that OK?" Fang Zhuo? asked.

"Mr. Fang, just call me by my name." Ge Guangming nodded, "Such an adjustment is conducive to giving full play to my abilities. I think Tesco should not expand too much in the book business now. E-books may be It'll work, but now it's like..."

He thought for two seconds: "It is just like Yike's iMusic that has not developed rapidly in China and cannot be the focus of competition at this stage. I think Yike has not promoted the coverage of iMusic in the country. It must have similar considerations for the domestic environment. .”

Ge Guangming's metaphor is very appropriate.

Fang Zhuo nodded and asked another Yuan Yaohan about his experience in channels.

Book e-commerce is not only about selling books online, but also involves issues such as online exclusivity and online debut. It requires connecting with publishing houses of all sizes, which is not easy to handle successfully.

Tesco does not have time to cultivate talents in this area now.

Compared with his colleagues, Yuan Yaohan appears to be more pragmatic. He basically does not talk about strategy, but only talks about the specific work content he is embarking on.

Su Wei felt that the supervisor's behavior on the phone was quite consistent. After he finished answering Mr. Fang's question, she asked with a smile: "I think Mr. Yuan's resume in Dangdang is relatively stable. Do you know why you want to leave?" ?”

Yuan Yaohan hesitated for a moment and replied: "I was also very inspired by 'The spring of the Internet is coming'."

In short, I came here for Mr. Fang.

Su Wei finally understood, this was clearly what Mr. Fang said, "I bow to you as soon as you accept your head"!

Fang Zhuo happily did not comment on this encouragement, but just asked another question: "I have a question about your competitor, Amazon's Shi Tao. Do you know him? Have you heard about his situation?"

Yuan Yaohan and Ge Guangming looked at each other and nodded.

"Shi Tao is the director of the book audio and video product line. The domestic book e-commerce sector is basically Dangdang and Joyo Amazon. Oh, and now Bertelsmann is also starting to do it in South China. Well, NetEase's business has not yet started. How big is the circle? It's not a small thing," Ge Guangming said eloquently, "Shi Tao has a good reputation, and Dangdang also has employees poached from Amazon. When I talk to him, most of the comments are positive."

Yuan Yaohan added from his own field: "I work with publishing houses and occasionally talk about their cooperation with other e-commerce companies. I mentioned Shi Tao and said that he is very thorough in his work."

Fang Zhuo asked again: "If I work with him, will there be any problems?"

Both of them shook their heads.

Fang Zhuo casually marked his resume and motioned to Xiao Su to continue talking about Tesco's competition in the book business.

Su Wei had already talked a lot on the phone before, and except for feeling a little dislocated about "bowing down and bowing", everything else was quite clear.

She also did not talk about the strategic level, but mainly asked Yuan Yaohan about some experiences related to SKU, promotion nodes, etc.

The interview lasted until 12:30 noon. Because of this time, the four of them had a meal together in the cafeteria. The conversation while eating was much more relaxed. Both supervisors mentioned some internal opinions of Dangdang.

Many people feel that the company should conduct more financing and accept Mr. Fang's cooperation.

However, such voices do not reach the top management and are a neglected segment.

Fang Zhuo no longer cares about this at all. Now he is all about e-commerce. There is no need to rehash the old things.

After lunch, Ge Guangming and Yuan Yaohan left. They would meet with Tesco's human resources director again, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would complete the job-hopping as soon as possible.

"Since you asked them both, would you like to call Shi Tao again and hear his impressions of Dangdang and Dangdang?" Su Wei asked.

"What is tacit understanding? This is tacit understanding." Fang Zhuo turned on his cell phone, and it was Shi Tao's number on the screen.

Su Wei raised the corner of her mouth, stood up and said, "I'm working overtime. I stomp my feet when I have something to do."

Fang Zhuo stepped on the floor and wondered whether the sound insulation effect of the CEO's office downstairs was good.

…

Dangdang declared war on the newly launched Tesco. Soon, it was not just about attitude, but also about implementation.

Although Tesco has many product categories, just like the book category, the categories of purchases need to continue to be enriched.

Therefore, it is easier for Dangdang to target them. Basically, they just choose the best-selling books on Tesco to make promotion plans.

Although Mr. Fang, who is rumored to have returned to China, and Tesco President Su Wei have not responded, everyone is paying attention to Tesco's actions and believe that Mr. Fang's style will not lead to such honest beatings.

But before Tesco could respond, Joyo Amazon changed its mind.

President Lin Shuixing and executive vice president Chen Nian announced their resignations.

Amazon appointed Dr. Wang Hanhua as the new president of Joyo.com, Huang Weiqiang as vice president of operations and customer service, and Jiang Ancheng as vice president of finance.

As soon as this news came out, the industry was shocked. It basically announced the de-excellence of Amazon's top management and further strengthened the control of the US headquarters. The three newly appointed by Amazon all have resumes in many international companies.

The financial channel of Sina.com published a news article commenting on this matter, saying that "Excellent Amazon is further changing into Amazon China, and the management is changing from entrepreneurs to professional managers. Is this change conducive to the expansion of international giants in China?" Expanding soil still awaits a very severe test."

However, compared to Sina's view, more financial reports believe that Amazon will accelerate its business development in China and that changes in management will bring benefits.

The mainstream voice was actually like this, which made Sina's financial reporters a little puzzled. They once wondered whether Amazon was doing public relations, but after getting to know it, they found that everyone really thought so.

"Is it because we are too deeply influenced by Mr. Fang?"

There is similar self-doubt throughout Sina Finance.

The next day, they simply made a temporary "Sina Interview Room" program and successfully invited Chen Nian, the recently resigned vice president and founder of Joyo.com, to understand his views and reflections on his experience.

New media programs are different from traditional media in that they are quick to establish projects, act quickly, and go online quickly.

On the fourth day after Chen Nian resigned, Sina released a summary of the interview, with the subtitle: Joyo.com was born a freak.

The interview with one of the founders of Joyo.com attracted the interest of many people in the industry. They immediately clicked on Sina's financial channel and received answers to questions from Chen Nian who was willing to accept the invitation.

——"Your boss, Mr. Fang, invited me to work out of politeness, but I declined. Just then, you invited me for an interview again. I thought it was his instruction, but I didn't have the nerve to refuse, but it turned out not to be the case."

——"After being acquired, it is too difficult to make a plan that is consistent with your understanding of the Chinese market."

——"The Internet's interactivity is very fast, and the huge user base brought about by its technology makes me feel like I am floating in the air. Now, I have fallen to the ground."

——"A person I like very much said: We are just living in an ignoble existence like ants - it is not us who control the big things, but those people."

Chen Nian's real frustration and reflection in the interview made many people in the industry feel quite sad, especially Lei Jun who also saw it for the first time. The era of Joyo.com is completely over.

Finally, Chen Nian also expressed his judgment on today's competition.

——"Dangdang is very strong, they have fast learning ability and reaction speed."

——"But Mr. Fang is also very strong. If you ask me who can win, let's say half and half. Dangdang said it will be six months, but Tesco still needs further preparations. The competition between the two sides will definitely have to wait for a while before it can start."

Just one day later, reality proved that Chen Nian’s failure at Joyo.com was not unreasonable.

Dangdang Li Guoqing started to curse.