Top of the big era

This time I have been in the United States for a long time, and Zhou Buqi has met many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. It's not the same as before.

I’ve met bigwigs like Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer before. When we sit down and talk about things, we talk about the general direction and strategy, and we don’t mention the trivial details at all. .

Recently, I have seen many low-level employees, which gave Zhou Buqi a better understanding of the technology business in the United States.

China and the United States have completely different industry status and technological environments.

The biggest difference is the "choose".

Ziweixing's domestic business must be "acquired". No matter what business, do it first. I would rather make a mistake than let it go. Ziweixing's domestic business involves all aspects, and now many of its businesses are not even clear about Zhou Buqi.

Overseas business is different, you have to "give up". Knowing that many businesses can have vigorous development prospects, but also "give up". On the one hand, one's own strength is not enough, and one cannot eat too much; on the other hand, one's competitors are too strong, so don't confront them.

For example, search business. You can do it in China, but you must not do it abroad. Whoever encounters Google will die.

The same goes for the online video business.

Some time ago, Zhou Buqi was full of confidence and planned to build a video website as the core field of Ziweixing's overseas business. But after talking with David Sachs like this, the cognition is different.

Bill Gates and Yang Zhiyuan are a bit outdated in Silicon Valley, and they are all old-school predecessors. David Sachs is the new and cutting-edge main force who is rightly popular and knows the market best. The Yammer he wants to do is very ambitious, but he has also made a "give up" and dare not compete with the same type of office products from Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. He didn't do anything that those three companies did.

Hulu has just been established for more than a year and is still in the exploratory stage. The target website is YouTube owned by Google.

Eric Feng's Chinese name is Feng Ke, and he speaks Chinese in general.

Zhou Buqi took a brief tour of Hulu's R\u0026D center in Silicon Valley, then went to his office to chat in English.

"Hulu was born following YouTube. At that time, there were a lot of free video content on YouTube, many of which were involved in copyright disputes. In order not to let others take advantage, the Hollywood giants simply built their own website and earned advertising fees."

There is a point to Funk's words.

Hulu is a website that belongs to Hollywood.

It can also be seen from the location of the headquarters.

Technology companies are generally based in Silicon Valley, and generally do not leave San Francisco. But Hulu is headquartered in Los Angeles, which is where Hollywood is located.

Zhou Buqi asked, "How is the relationship between management and Hollywood?"

"Very good." Feng Ke is the highest-level management and is the CTO, so he has a great say.

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows, "Very good?"

Feng Ke said with a smile: "Hulu's development situation is very gratifying. Even if the financial tsunami hits all walks of life, it will have the smallest impact on Hulu. Compared with the first half of the year, the advertising revenue in the second half of the year will increase by 35%. It's going to be $50 million."

"Yeah?"

Zhou Buqi was a little taken aback.

Feng Kedao: "Hulu's advertisements are very long, and the shortest advertisement takes 2 minutes. However, free film and television content is very scarce for American users. There are hundreds of movies on Hulu that can be watched for free. This is also very precious. It is different from the mainland."

Good performance means that the relationship between Hollywood and Hulu's management is very harmonious.

It is not easy to take advantage of the void.

Funk went on to say: "At present, the total amount of video advertising in the United States is about 250 million US dollars. Hulu occupies 20% of the total market. However, Hulu's visits are only 2% of the visits to all video websites in the United States. "

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Users prefer Hulu's door-to-door professional content, and the advertising conversion rate is higher."

Funk smiled, "That's right, this is Hulu's biggest advantage."

"That's where the hidden danger lies."

"Um?"

"Hulu's performance is outstanding, and many people will find that the direction of free professional film and television content can also have a huge market. Next, a large number of similar websites will be born. At that time, Hulu's life will be difficult gone."

Zhou Buqi's analysis is correct.

In the first one or two years of its birth, Hulu has been thriving and its performance is very beautiful. But after a few years it won't work because there are more competitors. Growth is getting slower and slower, and the conflict between Hollywood and Hulu management broke out.

The power of Hulu was in the hands of Hollywood, and then, the first personnel turmoil broke out, and all the founders and executives of Hulu, including Funk, all resigned.

Funk was too optimistic, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, you may have forgotten that behind Hulu is Hollywood. This is a video website co-operated by News Corporation and NBC Universal. They also brought in Bureau. With that relationship, Hulu can be invincible."

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "It's too optimistic. Hulu is a website in Los Angeles. In the next few years, a large number of video websites will be born in Silicon Valley, and the impact will be great."

Feng Ke didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile: "Why? The most important thing about a video website is the content. Excellent and professional film and television content is in the hands of Hollywood. How can outsiders compete?"

Zhou Buqi smiled, "Mr. Feng, do you think Hollywood is reliable?"

"Um?"

Funk raised his eyebrows.

Zhou Buqi said indifferently: "Others buy copyrights with money, will Hollywood film and television companies sell them? Could it be that Hulu has signed an exclusive license for film and television content with shareholders?"

"Is there an exclusive agreement..." Feng Ke hesitated, and the smile on his face restrained, "Isn't it? Hulu is his own son, so we can't give the copyright to outsiders, right?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Hollywood has been born for a hundred years, and each of them is a giant company with a century-old brand. They have huge brands, but those people have been working for a hundred years, and they can only be limited to Hollywood. Except for a rice MGM, it was bought by outsiders to operate. After the split, MGM was sold back to Hollywood, and it is the same again. If there is a long-term plan, Hollywood might have ruled the world long ago. It’s just a group of film and television producers, how can they have any long-term industry vision? They are all concerned with immediate interests.”

Other video sites are following the Silicon Valley model, while Hulu is following the Hollywood model, even if it is the real son of Hollywood, it can't play well. In the next few years, Hulu's management will be restructured several times, and the company's shares will undergo several major changes before it can be regarded as stable. By then, Netflix would have long since become an industry juggernaut.

Feng Ke was silent for a long time, then looked up at him, "Mr. Zhou, why are you so interested in Hulu?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "That's right, I'm interested."

"Um?"

"Video websites should follow the model of Silicon Valley. Coincidentally, Ziweixing is building an overseas headquarters in Silicon Valley, and it is very optimistic about the track of video and film."

"You want to raise money for Hulu?" Funke was pleasantly surprised and happy, "Okay, good thing!"

Even though Ziweixing is just a newcomer, that is also very good.

Just being from Silicon Valley is enough.

Hulu wants to have a relationship with Silicon Valley, but the big companies in Silicon Valley don't like it at all. It's okay to cooperate with Hollywood in business, but don't play in equity cooperation. These are two different corporate strategic concepts, so don't force them into one.

If Ziweixing is willing to enter the game, Hulu's management will be very happy.

Hulu's equity belongs to Hollywood, but the management is from Silicon Valley. Ziweixing has entered the game, which is a good thing for the management.

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "No, no financing."

Feng Ke's face changed slightly, and he suggested: "Mr. Zhou, I'm telling you the truth. Hulu is making new equity adjustments, and Disney, Comcast, and Sony are also entering the market. If Ziwei Star is willing, the management side I will definitely speak for you firmly, and like Disney, Comcast, and Sony, we will introduce Ziwei Star as a strategic partner."

"I'm not very interested in financing." Zhou Buqi didn't think it was a good idea. "If I want to do it, I will buy Hulu as a whole. I am willing to talk to Hulu's management, but I don't want to discuss an online video company with Hollywood. The business philosophy of the website."

There is no doubt about it.

If Ziwei Xing was just a small shareholder of Hulu and didn't have enough right to speak, he would be pissed off by the Hollywood gang every day. In the end, they could only resign collectively in a rage like the founders and management of Hulu.

If it's just financing, why should you give Hulu financing? How sweet is it to raise money for Netflix?

Netflix is ​​the future!

Now Netflix has a market cap of less than $800 million.

The only trouble, Netflix is ​​a public company.

Funk sighed. It seems that Boss Zhou, like many people in Silicon Valley, said sincerely: "Mr. Zhou, Hulu's current growth rate is very gratifying. It is impossible for Hollywood to let go."

Zhou Buqi smiled, "It's okay, I'll talk to Netflix."

"Netflix?" Funk blinked, showing a meaningful smile, "Mr. Zhou, I suggest not."

"Why?"

"It's inconvenient to say."

"What's the inconvenience?" Zhou Buqi was a little amused, "Isn't it because Netflix's model has made Hollywood feel worried, afraid that they will steal the cable TV market and don't want to provide content."

Feng Ke smiled, "Mr. Zhou is a smart man."

Zhou Buqi said: "Now is the financial crisis, as long as Netflix gives money, Hollywood will definitely provide content."

Full of confidence, Feng Ke said with a smile: "However, the financial crisis will pass sooner or later. It will take four or five years at most. By then... In this industry, whoever controls the content will have the right to speak."

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "I don't think so."

This Funk is not very good.

Well, he is the CTO and works in technology.

In fact, he was right. After the financial crisis passed, Hollywood began secretly cooperating to suppress a series of video sites in Silicon Valley, killing a lot of people.

The main method is to greatly increase the copyright fees for film and television content, and even many exclusive content are not authorized externally.

Many video sites in Silicon Valley are indeed dead.

Netflix is ​​getting better and better.

Because Netflix started to play self-made, no Hollywood content? Then shoot the film by yourself and release it yourself, and walk out a brand-new development path.