OBS Chapter 141 $4 million + 50% commission, fixed price
Chapter 141 $4 million + 50% commission, fixed price
Chapter 141: $400 million + 50% commission, fixed price (8k)
Penguin Headquarters Building, Shenzhen.
The high-level strategy meeting that just concluded lasted for more than two hours, and the topics discussed covered the development direction of major business lines such as instant messaging, games, portals, and email.
The door to Marponney's office finally opened, and a group of executives filed out.
Senior Vice President Ren Yuxin and Zhang Xiaolong walked out side by side, chatting as they went.
"Xiaolong, you want to overhaul and rewrite the QQ Mail kernel? That's quite difficult!" Ren Yuxin turned to look at Zhang Xiaolong, his tone tinged with emotion. "After all, it's code accumulated over so many years; changing one part affects the whole system."
With his signature gentle smile, Zhang Xiaolong said firmly, "Yes, Mr. Ren, I know it's very difficult. But the current QQ Mail is just awful—slow, bloated, and with a terrible user experience. Compared to international competitors like Gmail and Hotmail, it's far inferior."
"If we let it continue like this, our QQ Mail will eventually become a niche product."
Ren Yuxin nodded. He knew Zhang Xiaolong's style well; he was always silent until he made a stunning statement.
"So you stopped imitating MSN and Gmail after that?" Ren Yuxin asked.
"That's right," Zhang Xiaolong answered crisply. "Imitation can only narrow the gap, not surpass it. We still need to focus on the real needs of users, and speed and stability must be improved."
Ren Yuxin nodded and said earnestly, "Xiaolong, you have great ambition, especially with that 2GB super-large attachment feature. Once it's implemented, it will revolutionize the entire industry. You have a very good chance of making QQ Mail a star product for Tencent!"
"Thank you for your recognition, Mr. Xie. I still have a long way to go!" Zhang Xiaolong said frankly. "But even if all these functions are implemented, it won't create any differentiation."
"Oh?" Ren Yuxin paused slightly, understanding the implication in Zhang Xiaolong's words. "Xiaolong, do you have any other ideas? Tell me."
The two walked to the floor-to-ceiling window next to the elevator, where they could see the entire Pengcheng Bay.
Zhang Xiaolong paused for a few seconds, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before slowly speaking: "President Ren, this is what I'm thinking—our QQ Mail is currently a serious and practical tool; sending emails is basically public, with a clear communication purpose. But users actually have another need: the need for anonymous, low-pressure social expression."
Ren Yuxin pondered Zhang Xiaolong's words without interrupting, signaling him to continue.
Zhang Xiaolong paused, then continued, "Many users are actually like me; they are not good at socializing and are lonely. On QQ, you have acquaintances and real-life relationships, so you have to be careful about what you say. On Weibo in Xinlang, you are speaking publicly to everyone, so you have to consider the impact."
"I've always wanted to create a safer way to socialize, where I can be completely anonymous and express myself to strangers without the pressure of real-world social interactions."
Ren Yuxin seemed thoughtful before slowly speaking: "Essentially, this is a way of socializing with strangers. It's a gray area between socializing with acquaintances and public socializing."
"Yes, a social networking platform for strangers." Zhang Xiaolong nodded. "It's a product somewhere between QQ, a social network for acquaintances, and Weibo, a public social network. It's based on human needs: people need to express themselves but don't want to expose themselves; people need to connect but don't want to feel burdened."
Ren Yuxin understood, but frowned slightly: "You want to integrate this social networking with strangers into QQ Mail?"
"Yes. I have that idea." Zhang Xiaolong nodded again. "Email has a natural privacy attribute and a huge number of silent users."
Many people simply use their email accounts as a tool; they register and then leave them there, only opening them once or twice a month.
"If we can activate them through social interaction with strangers, giving users a reason to open their emails every day, then QQ Mail's daily active users can reach a new level. This might be an opportunity to overtake the competition."
"What exactly is the form it will take?" Ren Yuxin asked, intrigued.
Zhang Xiaolong gave a wry smile and said frankly, "I haven't really figured out what to do yet. I only have a preliminary general direction right now. I'm still thinking about it. But the direction should be right."
Ren Yuxin patted Zhang Xiaolong on the shoulder: "Take your time to think it through. Once you've figured it out, write a proposal and we'll discuss it further. You can mess around with the email as you like, just don't crash the server."
Zhang Xiaolong smiled and then politely inquired about the situation of the game section that Ren Yuxin was in charge of.
The two chatted for a few more minutes before saying goodbye at the elevator.
Ren Yuxin had just returned to his office and hadn't even settled in when Le Aimin followed him in, his expression grave and his brows furrowed.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking so gloomy? Are you still having a cold war with your wife?" Ren Yuxin sat down in his office chair and teased with a smile.
Everyone in the company knows that Le Aimin didn't receive a large year-end bonus this year.
In addition, the effort spent on securing the rights to distribute "Fruit Ninja" was so great that the planned trip to seven European countries during the Spring Festival, which I had promised my wife, was canceled at the last minute, causing her great dissatisfaction.
It is said that after his wife nagged him a few times, Le Aimin, under pressure, retorted a couple of times and then enjoyed more than ten days of cold war treatment from his wife.
Somehow the story got out and became a joke within the company.
"No." Le Aimin shook his head, without a trace of a smile on his face. "President Ren, my third version of the quote was blocked by the investment department. They said the quote was too high."
"Hmm?" Ren Yuxin frowned slightly. "The investment department shouldn't be holding back on a $220 million offer, right? Didn't we agree last time that this amount would be acceptable?"
"No, Mr. Ren." Le Aimin took a deep breath. "I quoted 330 million US dollars."
"What?"
Ren Yuxin's tone suddenly turned cold, his gaze fixed on Le Aimin, the smile on his face vanishing instantly: "How come your score has increased so much in just a few days? Who else would be targeted if not you? Tell me, is this reasonable?"
This is the third offer already.
From the initial $150 million to the second $220 million, and now $330 million, in just over twenty days, the price has more than doubled, which makes Ren Yuxin unhappy.
Le Aimin had anticipated this reaction. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone steady: "President Ren, according to the market before the Spring Festival, it was indeed possible to get it for around 150 million US dollars. After all, the agency rights for an overseas mobile game are at most three million US dollars. But now the situation has changed."
He paused briefly to gather his thoughts, then continued, "The bidding process has become public and extremely competitive. Overseas, Chillingo has already offered $400 million plus a 15% cut, and ngmoco..."
It reached 380 million + 18%.
"In China, a small company called iDreamSky is offering $300 million plus a 50% cut. NetEase and Shanda are also hovering around this price range. Everyone is vying for it."
Ren Yuxin listened carefully, his expression growing increasingly grim.
He picked up the J-10 model on the table and began to play with it, stroking the edge of the wing with his fingertips without saying a word.
Le Aimin continued, "Moreover, we have received information that these offers may not be the final version. The other party is still waiting for all bidders to submit their offers before proceeding with the bidding. The situation is now completely out of control."
A silence fell over the room.
At that moment, both of them felt regret.
Ren Yuxin regretted that if he hadn't tried to lower Le Aimin's price from the beginning, and hadn't agonized over the difference of several hundred thousand US dollars, he would have directly quoted 200...
With tens of thousands of dollars, they might have already acquired Fruit Ninja.
Now, things are really messed up; the price is being driven higher and higher, and the initiative has completely fallen into the hands of the other party.
Le Aimin regrets that if he had argued with the investment department and General Manager Ren from the beginning and insisted on a price of 200 million instead of letting the investment department lower it to 150 million, perhaps everything would have been settled by now.
I also bear some responsibility for the current situation.
Ren Yuxin remained silent for a long time, turning the J-10 model in his hands over and over.
Finally, he spoke first, his voice low and deep: "How did this bidding process gradually increase?"
Le Aimin thought for a moment and said, "They first spread rumors that there were offers in North America, and then they spread rumors that there were multiple bidders in China, pushing our target price up step by step."
"So you mean," Ren Yuxin said slowly, "that the other party may have planned this bidding strategy from the very beginning? Not a passive response, but a deliberate setup?"
"Yes," Le Aimin affirmed. "Every time we raised prices, an even higher bid would appear in the market, the timing was perfect. Later on, the bidding process became completely public, with all sorts of rumors flying around, making it hard to tell what was true and what was false."
"Of course, it's not just in China; Chillingo and ngmoco are also raising prices step by step in the same way, using the same methods."
Ren Yuxin stood up, walked to the window, turned his back to Le Aimin, and looked at the scenery outside the window.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "It seems that not only is their development team world-class, but their marketing team is also world-class. Compared to them, our internationalization level at Tencent is still lacking. We're being led by the nose."
Just as Le Aimin was about to explain something, Ren Yuxin immediately followed up with, "How many people are in their company's marketing team? What's their background?"
Who is the person in charge? Have you checked?
Le Aimin paused slightly, then replied, "President Ren, AvengersGame entrusted the entire bidding process to a professional agency, handling both the domestic and overseas markets simultaneously. Their operational methods are extremely sophisticated. We've only been in contact with the agency; the real decision-makers haven't shown up at all."
"Oh?" Ren Yuxin turned around, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "No wonder they're so professional. This way, their own R&D team can focus on game development, outsourcing the professional tasks to professionals. That's quite a clever model."
Le Aimin's expression was somewhat unnatural.
My boss has made another wrong analysis, and it's quite embarrassing. Should I tell the truth?
He hesitated for two seconds, but decided to tell the truth.
"Mr. Ren, I had someone do a quick check on AvengersGame. They seem to be a shell company; their registration information is very recent, and they don't have a physical office address."
"The actual game development was outsourced to a professional studio. We haven't found out which studio it is yet, but we're guessing it's a well-established team from overseas."
Ren Yuxin frowned again, feeling a little embarrassed.
I just praised someone's marketing team, only to find out it wasn't their team at all, but an agent. I just praised their R&D team, only to find out it was outsourced.
He didn't want to analyze any further, so he placed the model airplane he was holding directly by the window and casually changed the subject, asking, "What are the specific reasons the investment department is objecting? What did they say?"
Lok Ai-man breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied, "They insist on using traditional valuation models to calculate the value based on the current revenue, user scale, and lifecycle, believing that a price of 300 million US dollars is already the ceiling, and anything higher would be beyond a reasonable range."
He paused, then continued, "But the investment department overlooked one point: this isn't about the valuation of a game, it's about defining a genre. We can't afford to lose this opportunity."
"What is the highest bid from our opponents now?" Ren Yuxin asked.
He had initially intended to guess $300 million, but held back. Having just made two wrong analyses in a row, he decided to let Lok Ai-min speak this time.
"Based on information from all parties, the competitor's offer is around 300 million US dollars," Le Aimin replied.
Ren Yuxin remained silent for a moment, then walked back to his desk and sat down.
He raised his head and looked directly at Yue Aimin: "Aimin, money is not a problem. We penguins lack everything, but we don't lack money."
He paused, then continued, "We need courage, we need a window of opportunity; we don't have time to waste on internal squabbles. If we drag this out any longer, the price will only go up, and the opportunity will only get smaller."
Le Aimin was overjoyed and quickly asked, "President Ren, what price do you mean?"
"We offered a direct quote of $400 million USD plus 50% revenue sharing to secure permanent domestic authorization. We promised to import QQ social networks, promote through social channels, and allocate resources for secondary development. These are terms that NetEase and other companies like LeDoo simply cannot offer."
Ren Yuxin added, "This is a fixed price. If the other party agrees, we will immediately start the signing process. If the other party does not agree, I will allocate more development resources to you, and we will immediately accelerate the development of 'Fruit Ninja' to prepare for a head-on confrontation."
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Ren!" Le Aimin was delighted.
"Call the people from the investment department over. I'll talk to them directly," Ren Yuxin instructed Le Aimin.
"Yes, Mr. Ren!" Le Aimin replied, turned around and quickly walked out of the office.
Inside a barbecue restaurant on a food street near Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai.
At a table by the window, Hao Pengxiang, Xu Youqing, and Sun Xiaoguang were eating barbecue and chatting.
Xu Youqing picked up a piece of crispy roasted pork belly and put it in his mouth, chewing as he tentatively asked, "Pengxiang, did you receive the confirmation message from Teacher Wang today?"
"What news?" Hao Pengxiang, who was intently flipping the beef on the grill, looked up at the question, thought for a moment, and then said, "You mean, Teacher Wang asked me if I wanted to stay at the studio long-term?"
"Yes, yes." Xu Youqing nodded hurriedly.
"It's been sent, I immediately agreed to stay." Hao Pengxiang said without hesitation, then lowered his head to continue flipping the meat.
Seeing that Hao Pengxiang still hadn't changed his mind, Xu Youqing's face flashed with helplessness. He then turned to Sun Xiaoguang on the other side and asked, "Xiaoguang, what about you? You'll definitely refuse, right?"
"Uh, I haven't decided yet." Sun Xiaoguang's chopsticks, which were flipping the meat, suddenly slowed down, and he paused.
-
Hao Pengxiang and Xu Youqing are only juniors, with more than a year until graduation. Campus recruitment has not officially started yet, so they don't need to rush to make a decision at this time.
But Sun Xiaoguang is different.
He's already a senior and will graduate in early July this year. He's also signed a three-party agreement with Baidu. Normally, after graduation, he should go there to work.
Today, Teacher Wang sent him a message, first praising him highly and thanking him, and then asking if he would like to stay in the studio long-term and continue to develop new games together.
Furthermore, Mr. Wang promised that the studio might stop outsourcing in the future and instead develop its own games independently. If you stay here, you might get equity and have a promising future.
Sun Xiaoguang was indeed tempted.
He is very satisfied with his work at Red Palm Studio. The work is something he is interested in and good at, and the team atmosphere is excellent.
Especially the huge success of "Fruit Ninja," in which he personally participated.
Moreover, Teacher Wang treated him well. After only a few months of work, he received a MacBook Pro as a year-end bonus, a 30,000 yuan bonus, and an upcoming team building trip to Hong Kong.
There probably aren't many bosses like this.
If Red Palm Studio succeeds in the future, I might also be worth tens of millions.
But while he was tempted, he was also conflicted.
After all, Red Palm Studio is just a small workshop. Staying at Red Palm Studio means losing the opportunity to work for a big company like Baidu.
Moreover, industry forecasts predict that Baidu will join the ranks of the world's top 500 companies within five years.
On one hand, there's the opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company, a stable career, and an impressive resume; on the other hand, there's an uncertain future, where you might become incredibly wealthy or end up with nothing.
He is having a hard time making a decision.
"No, Xiaoguang," Xu Youqing's eyes widened, his chopsticks hovering in mid-air, "You really haven't thought it through yet?"
"Really." Sun Xiaoguang gave a wry smile.
"Are you stupid?!" Sun Xiaoguang put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "You've already signed a contract with Baidu. If you break the contract, won't you have to pay a penalty?"
Before Sun Xiaoguang could speak, Xu Youqing continued, "Baidu is a top-tier internet company! They pay the highest percentage of social insurance and housing fund contributions, have a cafeteria and shuttle bus—it's very prestigious. How can this little workshop, Hongzhang Studio, compare to Baidu?"
"No, Youqing!" Hao Pengxiang immediately became displeased, slamming his chopsticks on the table. "So what if Hongzhang Studio is small? Does a small studio mean we're being mistreated? Tell me, how have we been mistreated?"
"I didn't say that about Red Palm. I just felt that Xiaoguang didn't need to hesitate at all! I'm doing this for his own good!" Xu Youqing quickly explained, his face showing a hint of grievance.
"Xu Youqing, you're so heartless! Teacher Wang just gave us our year-end bonuses and then immediately went on a paid trip to Hong Kong, and you betray us like this!"
"How did I betray you? Giving us year-end bonuses is something we deserve! We've all made indelible contributions to Fruit Ninja!" Xu Youqing said.
"What indelible contribution have you made? We just followed Teacher Wang's instructions blindly." Hao Pengxiang was very clear-headed. "We're part-time. Even full-time employees wouldn't receive rewards like this, would they?"
"But—" Xu Youqing was momentarily speechless.
"Where can you find a boss like this? Just tell me, where can you find a boss like this??"
"Hey, no! We're not talking about the same thing!" Xu Youqing felt Hao Pengxiang was being unreasonable and got anxious too. "I didn't say Red Palm was bad! I just said Baidu is better. As a friend, I was just kindly giving Xiaoguang a better suggestion!"
The two men's voices gradually grew louder, and even the college students at the two tables near the door, who were also eating barbecue, all turned to look in their direction.
"Alright, alright, don't argue because of me." Sun Xiaoguang quickly gestured for the two to calm down.
But Hao Pengxiang wouldn't listen. He put down his chopsticks and argued, "Youqing, what you think might not be what you think! How do you know it wouldn't be better to stay at Red Palm Studio? Teacher Wang said he'll be developing his own games in the future. What if Red Palm becomes the next Blizzard?"
"Pfft—" Xu Youqing couldn't help but laugh out loud, shaking his head. "I think Pengxiang, you've fallen into a misconception. You're too superstitious about Teacher Wang. Making games isn't that easy. Every year, there are at least a thousand small studios that go out of business."
He paused, then questioned, "Do you know the term 'drawing a pie in the sky'?"
Xu Youqing ignored Hao Pengxiang and turned to ask Sun Xiaoguang: "Xiaoguang, did Teacher Wang promise you that he might give you shares in the future?"
'
Sun Xiaoguang nodded: "Yes."
"Did he say when he would give you the shares? How much would he give you?" Xu Youqing asked again, his eyes sharp.
"It's said that it will happen at the appropriate time, but the specifics will depend on individual contributions," Sun Xiaoguang said truthfully.
"That's right! You see, what is the right time? How do we judge individual contributions?" Xu Youqing asked, spreading his hands.
Sun Xiaoguang was speechless.
"Exactly! They won't even say when they'll give it or how much, isn't that just empty promises?" Xu Youqing laughed heartily.
"No, I think," Hao Pengxiang's tone softened slightly, "that contributions come first, then equity. After all, we haven't made any irreplaceable contributions to the studio yet."
"Hey, Pengxiang, you've been brainwashed too much. You'll take the bait for the smallest favor." Xu Youqing shook his head and looked at Sun Xiaoguang. "Anyway, I mean well. I'm just giving you a heads-up. It's up to Xiaoguang to decide what to do."
"Okay, I understand, thank you, Youqing." Sun Xiaoguang then asked curiously, "Youqing, how are you going to reply to Teacher Wang? Will you just say you're not staying?"
"No, that won't happen." Xu Youqing shook his head. "Anyway, I don't have any other work right now, so I'll just intern here and earn some money. Once the campus recruitment season starts after summer vacation, I'll quit here and focus on finding a full-time job."
"No, Youqing! Didn't Teacher Wang clearly say that he wanted to ask us if we were going to stay here for a long time? Isn't what you're doing deceiving Teacher Wang?" Hao Pengxiang looked at his roommate in confusion.
"Think of yourself first," Xu Youqing said.
Hao Pengxiang remained silent.
He thought about how he had lied to people before, and felt too embarrassed to say anything more. He turned to Sun Xiaoguang, who was still pondering, and asked, "Xiaoguang, what's your plan?"
"I think—you two both have a point." I quite enjoy making games, but Youqing's analysis isn't wrong either. Sun Xiaoguang said softly, "I'm going to schedule a time to ask Zhi-ge and get his professional advice."
"Yes, yes, ask Senior Geng! He's a big boss now, his judgment is definitely more accurate!"
"Huh? Didn't they say that Zhi Ge was kicked out by [Jiaotong University Matchmaker]? How come he's still the big boss now?" Sun Xiaoguang asked, puzzled.
"Hehe, you guys don't know this, do you?" Hao Pengxiang lowered his voice and said, "Have you guys used the Momo app?"
Sun Xiaoguang and Xu Youqing nodded at the same time.
"The Momo app was made by Senior Geng and his team!" Hao Pengxiang said proudly.
"ah??"
"I see!"
After the three finished speaking, they opened the Momo app on their phones and started discussing it while trying it out.
After chatting about Momo, the three started talking about their team-building trip to Hong Kong, what to prepare, and what the itinerary was.
Just then, two girls sat down at the next table.
"Welcome back to Shanghai, Lijuan! Consider this meal my welcome dinner!" Ma Chunmei said with a smile as she sat down.
"Then thank you very much, Boss Chunmei, hahaha!" Huang Lijuan cupped her hands in thanks.
Huang Lijuan's initial postgraduate entrance examination scores were also quite good, and she was confident of passing the Huashi University re-examination line.
Her original intention was to prepare for the re-examination in her hometown and then come to Shanghai closer to the re-examination.
But Ma Chunmei kept asking her to come to Shanghai to be with her, so Huang Lijuan had no choice but to come to Shanghai earlier.
The two had already ordered their food and started chatting while waiting for it.
"By the way, Chunmei, have you visited your advisor at Jiaotong University yet?" Huang Lijuan asked curiously. "Although you are successful in your career, I still suggest you choose someone you like in advance."
"Yes, I went to see the vice dean of the School of Economics and Management."
"Oh? Your future mentor is the vice dean? That's amazing! You'll have a much wider network of connections in the future!" Huang Lijuan said with envy, giving her a thumbs up.
"Not necessarily. Today when I went to see Vice Dean Gou, I not only brought a gift, but also—" Ma Chunmei said, crossing her right thumb and forefinger as if counting money.
"Oh, so the postgraduate entrance exam interview also requires this—" This was a bit beyond Huang Lijuan's expectations.
"But he didn't accept anything, he didn't accept anything at all," Ma Chunmei said.
"Huh? So he's already filled all the positions through internal recruitment, or...?" Huang Lijuan asked, puzzled. "With your qualifications, he should be scrambling to get you, right?"
"Vice Dean Gou seems to be a very upright person. He said the re-examination will be fair and just, and as long as you perform well in the re-examination, your score will not be low. It's not too late to contact him then," Ma Chunmei said.
Huang Lijuan was even more puzzled.
Logically, if a professor is satisfied with a student they are visiting, they will usually express their intention clearly. If the internal recruitment is full, they will also make that clear.
"Given Ma Chunmei's achievements and her successful career, she shouldn't be given such an explanation," Huang Lijuan muttered to herself.
She was worried that it would affect Ma Chunmei's mood, so she did not express her doubts.
"Lijuan, my company is growing bigger and bigger. Why don't you come work for my company part-time?" Ma Chunmei said with a smile.
"I'd better not, I don't understand these things." Huang Lijuan waved her hand. "It would be more suitable for you to ask Da Niu to go."
"Niu Baoguo? Humph, he hasn't greeted me in ages." Ma Chunmei pouted.
"Huh? Didn't he come to Shanghai a long time ago? What's going on?" Huang Lijuan asked incredulously.
"He's working like a slave to his fellow villager Geng Zhi all day long!" Ma Chunmei said.
Hao Pengxiang and his two companions had almost finished eating. Just as he was about to call the owner to settle the bill, he heard the next table discussing "Geng Zhi" (a nickname), so he quickly pretended that he hadn't eaten enough and continued eating.
He overheard someone at the next table talking badly about Senior Geng, and decided to listen some more, hoping to gather some information for him.
In the following two days, the Android version of the Momo app was also successfully launched, and Momo's user base increased dramatically.
Under the leadership of Shu Beibei and Wang Feifei, the on-the-ground promotion has expanded from university campuses to urban white-collar workers and nightlife crowds.
The team holds a debriefing meeting in the office every day to review the lessons learned and experiences in the process of promoting and acquiring new users, review product features and bugs, summarize cost reduction methods, and form SOPs.
The team has expanded again, with new development, testing engineers and field sales personnel joining the company, all of whom are full-time employees recruited from outside the company.
With continuous fixes over the past few days since its launch, most bugs have been fixed except for the long-standing issue of location drift, greatly improving the overall smoothness of the product.
The size of the app installation package has been reduced from 10MB+ to 8MB, and the technical side is still optimizing it, so it will soon be reduced to below 7MB. Everything is developing in a better direction.
Although the team's promotion was entirely concentrated in Shanghai, as the reputation of the Momo app spread, users in other cities also began to experience Momo, with some even chatting across thousands of kilometers.
This includes several people who are far away in the capital.
-
In the office of the deputy editor-in-chief of NetEase News in Beijing.
After finishing his chat with hundreds of strangers from Shanghai, Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and other provinces, Tang Yan's feelings became even more complicated.
Ever since his conversation with Geng Zhi last week, his heart has been in suspense, and he can't calm down at all.
The day after the meeting, he privately contacted a technical director at NetEase and another tech guru, and under a legitimate pretext, inquired about the difficulties of developing an app and implementing LBS technology.
The conclusion he reached disappointed him.
Neither of them knew anything about app client development; in fact, they were completely clueless. They guessed that nobody at NetEase knew anything about it either. Both suggested that Tang Yan consult a dedicated client development engineer.
Tang Yan then mobilized his friends' resources and finally managed to find someone who was an app developer, but the other party also said that he knew nothing about LBS.
In Tang Yan's view, developing an app is difficult, and developing a location-based app is even more difficult. This confirms Geng Zhi's statement about "technical barriers."
Yesterday and today, Tang Yan finally downloaded the Android version of the Momo app.
From the APP's logo design and UI style design to the product's operation, search, and chat experience, he couldn't find too many faults.
It's no exaggeration to say that Momo is probably the best app he's ever used in terms of user experience.
What shocked him even more was that when he opened the list of people nearby, screen after screen was filled with strangers, and the vast majority of them were located in Shanghai.
This proves that Momo's promotion in Shanghai is going very smoothly.
He scrolled through the entire site last night and roughly counted the total number of users, which exceeded 900. This morning, he scrolled through it again and counted, and the total number of users had exceeded 1400.
To verify whether these strangers were fake bots, he spent seven or eight hours chatting on Momo.
I chatted with over a hundred users and found they were all real people.
What does this mean?
This means that Momo's organic user growth is already quite considerable without much promotion.
This means that the logic of "time difference" that Geng Zhi mentioned that day also holds true.
If he quits his job to start his own business, having to recruit people, write code, and find investment from scratch, he will be left far behind by Momo.
In the social product sector, where the head effect is extremely pronounced, the top three might still have a chance, but ranking further down basically means death.
Tang Yan's hopes might not be that high anymore.
Thinking of this, Tang Yan sighed, opened a new Word document, and, based on his memory, took the initiative to "edit" Geng Zhi's long article of ten thousand words.
Although Geng Zhi took back the original manuscript of that 10,000-word article last time under the pretext of "still needing revisions," for a veteran in the literary world like Tang Yan, a careful reading was enough to remember most of it.
He wanted to help Geng Zhi revise the writing logic to make the article more penetrating.