Rebirth of the Wild Age

Is this Silicon Valley? Ding Ming sat in a taxi and looked at the buildings in the distance with a pilgrimage mentality.

This is Silicon Valley, a place full of miracles. Zhang Chaoyang was quite emotional. He had been to Silicon Valley several times before, half of which were to seek venture capital.

Zhang Chaoyang went abroad very smoothly, after all, he lived in the United States for several years. However, Ding Ming went abroad on a commercial visa as an employee of China Science and Technology. Sohu's company is too small, and the visa officer will not give him any good looks.

Xiao Ding, is a search engine really worth millions of dollars? Zhang Chaoyang was deeply skeptical.

Zhang Chaoyang's Internet thinking is similar to that of most practitioners at this time, and they all want to accumulate traffic on portal websites before financing and listing. The purpose of his search engine is the same as that of Lifang (Sina), Netease and foreign companies. It is just a tool to attract users-as long as the search engine can be used, it does not need to be too smart, otherwise it may be lost (portal website) user.

Zhang Chaoyang thinks it is feasible to spend hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy search technology. But spending millions of dollars to buy search technology is purely full!

Ding Ming stood from the perspective of Internet users. He said: If we have the most intelligent and advanced search engine, it will definitely attract netizens. When they surf the Internet, they must search for content on our website. Isn’t the traffic increasing rapidly?”

Ding Ming also didn't realize the true value of search engines, but only regarded them as an auxiliary tool to increase website visits.

Zhang Chaoyang shook his head and said, Have you ever thought about it? If our search engine is so easy to use, netizens may go to other websites if they find the content and websites they like. Doesn't this mean that we put our users , take the initiative to push to the competitor's side?

Ding Ming said: But our search engine is easy to use, and users will still come back to search for content.

Then what kind of portal website are we going to do? Forget it as a search website! Zhang Chaoyang said angrily.

Yes, we can make a special search website. Ding Ming's eyes lit up.

Zhang Chaoyang said: The problem is that specialized search sites are not worth much. Although Yahoo made their fortunes from search engines, they sell content, and their main business is portal websites. Yahoo is the most successful Internet model, and it is also the most feasible. The internet model that focuses on search engines will lead to a dead end.”

Ding Ming remained silent because he didn't know how to refute.

These days, it's really hard to make a lot of money as a search engine, and it's hard to attract large sums of investment.

When Google was booming rapidly in history, it shocked everyone's attention and made everyone feel unbelievable.

That night, Zhang Chaoyang and Ding Ming stayed in the hotel, and asked Scott Hasson to meet at a coffee shop near Stanford the next day.

...

Three technical nerds in jeans walked out of the campus, namely the three founders of Google: Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Scott Hasson.

Can Chinese Internet companies come up with 3 million US dollars? Larry was deeply skeptical.

Scott said with a smile: Who knows? It's not a disadvantage to see each other anyway.

Sergey said: I don't think PageRank should be sold. This is the most advanced search algorithm in the world. $3 million is really a loss.

$3 million is big money, Scott said. Here in Silicon Valley, no one would buy it for $1.6 million.

Larry frowned and said, I also don't think it should be sold. Who can say anything about the Internet? Maybe, as long as we wait another year, the pagerank algorithm will be worth 10 million dollars.

Scott laughed: Then try to talk about licensing.

Larry and Sergey were still relatively simple students at this time, and they didn't know any big bosses. All business negotiations were handled by Scott. Although Scott did not get any shares and was little known, the industry called him Google's third founder.

These three guys are very ambitious. Their goal is to make money through Internet technology, and then use the money to make a machine—a space elevator.

To put it simply, it is to tie a rope in the orbit of the earth. This rope remains relatively unchanged with the movement of the earth, so people can reach space along the rope.

Well, pure bullshit.

Who hasn't tapped into their student fantasies yet?

Unlike Bill Gates’ background, both Larry and Sergey came from ordinary families, and their parents were senior intellectuals—Larry’s family is left-wing and passionate about the civil rights movement, while Sergey’s family is a Soviet immigrant. .

Walking into the restaurant, Larry pointed to the corner and said, There are two Asian faces over there, are they?

Maybe, go over and ask, Scott walked over and said with a smile, Excuse me, are the two Mr. Zhang and Mr. Ding from China?

Yes, hello! Zhang Chaoyang and Ding Ming immediately stood up and shook hands.

We introduced each other, and we chatted quickly.

Ding Ming said: US$3 million is too expensive, we can bid at most US$1 million.

Larry said: Actually, I don't want to sell for $3 million. Let's talk about licensing.

Since you don't want to sell it, then don't talk about it, Zhang Chaoyang waited for this sentence. He said, I came to the United States this time mainly to discuss financing. There are two American companies willing to invest in Sohu.

Scott quickly eased the atmosphere: Don't worry, everyone. For business negotiations, you should take your time. Bargaining is normal.

Ding Ming said: I only buy the pagerank algorithm, not the backrub search engine.

Sergey was a little unhappy, because the pagerank algorithm belonged to Larry alone, and he only participated in the R\u0026D and design of the backrub search engine. Immediately put on a face and said: It seems that the two gentlemen are not sincere, it's fine if they can't agree.

Yes, there's no need to talk about it. Larry was still very loyal to his buddies, and he didn't want to eat alone.

Scott immediately stopped him, took out his laptop and said, Two Chinese gentlemen, backrub is the best search engine in the world, let's try it first.

Zhang Chaoyang randomly entered a keyword, carefully checked the results, and found that the top 20 contents were all very satisfactory.

Ding Ming also tried it, and it was the same.

The two looked at each other in shock. Sohu also developed an intelligent search engine at the end of last year, but it lacks a reasonable algorithm and is just easier to use than the traditional one.

Zhang Chaoyang flicked on the table casually, seemingly thinking, but actually wrote a Chinese character - buy!

Search engines are not uncommon, but such an easy-to-use search engine is bound to achieve great success, and it would be a pity to miss it.

Ding Ming asked: Why is there no patent for the pagerank algorithm?

Uh, applying, Larry replied.

Then let's talk about it after the patent application is successful. Ding Ming said.

God knows when the application will be successful. Scott said: Whether there is a patent or not does not hinder our cooperation. We can talk about general authorization of search engines, or exclusive authorization in China.

Ding Ming said: We don't need search engines, we only need search algorithms!

Sorry, the algorithm is not for sale. Larry said a little angrily.

Perhaps the gentlemen can go back and think about it, Scott said.

Of course, we will consider it. Zhang Chaoyang said.

The first negotiation broke up unhappy.

When he got back to the hotel, Ding Ming immediately called Song Weiyang to explain the situation in detail.

Song Weiyang asked: Are they really not selling it? Or are they waiting for a price?

Ding Ming said: Their attitude is very firm. It seems that they really don't plan to sell algorithms, but only plan to talk about authorized cooperation with search engines.

Song Weiyang thought for a while and said: In this way, 1 million US dollars will permanently buy out the exclusive authorization of the pagerank algorithm in China. In the future, as long as the search engine using the pagerank algorithm is used, it will not be authorized to other Chinese websites.

This seems to be feasible. Americans don't pay much attention to the Chinese market. Ding Ming said.

Also, talk to those young people again and ask them if they are willing to start a search engine company, and I can provide them with funds. Song Weiyang said.