Rebirth of the Wild Age

(In the previous chapter, Ding Ming’s shareholding in Sogou search has been changed to 20%, it’s Lao Wang who lost his head.)

By the beginning of April, the registered users of Sohu had reached 380,000, while the total number of Internet users in China was only about 2 million. If we ignore those members who registered repeatedly, it means that one out of every five Chinese Internet users is a registered member of Sohu.com.

Sohu's daily visits have surpassed that of People's Daily Online!

The comment function is the core selling point. Netizens can finally freely express their own opinions and opinions when browsing articles. This is the only pioneering work in the world. The user's account upgrade system has also increased the stickiness of the website. Even Sifang Litong has also opened the comment function, and Sohu's old users are used to it, and regard Sohu.com as their online home.

Perhaps, we should revaluate Sohu.

The speaker was a Chinese, a Chinese citizen holding a US green card.

This person is Xiong Xiaoge, from Xiangtan, who used to be an English teacher. After graduating with a master's degree from the Graduate School of the Academy of Social Sciences, he received a full scholarship from Boston University. During his study abroad, he accidentally served as the Chinese translator for the chairman of idg. After a few years, he got his green card and became the head of idg's Asia-Pacific region.

What does idg do?

It is the first international venture capital company to enter China.

Historically, when Zhang Chaoyang was at the end of his life, it was Xiong Xiaoge who helped attract investment, allowing Sohu to survive by luck. When Brother Xiao Ma was desperate, it was Xiong Xiaoge who helped attract investment, allowing Tencent to survive by luck.

This year, under the leadership of Xiong Xiaoge, idg signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and it is expected to invest US$1 billion in China's small and medium-sized high-tech industries within seven years.

idg's venture capital is very characteristic, especially likes to invest in innovative projects. In the early stage, they invest in companies with simple shareholder structure, but the investment capital is relatively small; if they intervene in the mid-term, they like large investment and take up more shares; they are more optimistic about the potential of the industry, and do not think much about the profit model.

Sohu.com is very suitable for idg's investment preference. There are only three natural person shareholders, and it is an innovative project (Internet).

For this kind of company, idg casts a wide net and does not invest much, but it invests everywhere. For example, it has invested in Sohu and Tencent in history.

Even if only a little money is invested, idg is unwilling to do it alone. This time, he fell in love with Sohu, and Xiong Xiaoge brought in Intel, Dow Jones, Harrison and Hang Lung (a Hong Kong-owned company) to contribute money in one go.

Before Zhang Chaoyang went to the United States, he contacted Intel, Dow Jones and Harrison in person, accepted investment inquiries, and explained the specific situation and development plan of Sohu.com.

The investigator from Intel dared not believe it: How could the number of visits to this website increase by more than 500% in one month! I want technology to check their data!

Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile: Please. But before checking the data, I would like to introduce Sohu.com to you again. We are the first Internet site in the world to launch a comment function, whether it is current news, celebrity gossip, or literary content. , Internet users can leave messages and comments. We also have an account upgrade system, in order to obtain points to upgrade accounts, Internet users even actively click on the advertisement link repeatedly, because clicking and browsing advertisements can earn them points.”

Comment function? Why didn't you mention it when you were questioned last time? the investigator from Harrison asked.

Not long after it was launched, Zhang Chaoyang led the crowd to the computer, and clicked on a news that Sohu just released today, Look, this news has 327 hits and 79 comments. Let's find out in three minutes After that, refresh the page again... the number of hits has become 865, and the number of comments is 258! The total number of Internet users in China is less than 2 million, and the growth rate of such hits and comments, you should know what it means!

Investigators from Intel praised: This is a genius creation. The web page comment function can stick users together.

The investigator from Dow Jones said: I think, I'm going to contact the headquarters first.

Zhang Chaoyang smiled and said, Then let's talk about financing tomorrow.

After all these foreigners left, Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said, Xiao Zhang, you did a great job.

Zhang Chaoyang said: How much does Xiong think should be valued for Sohu?

I think 8 million US dollars is very appropriate. Xiong Xiaoge said.

Too little, Zhang Chaoyang shook his head, We are the most trafficked website in China, bigger than People's Daily Online.

Xiong Xiaoge said: But this is a Chinese website. China's network environment lags far behind that of the United States. If Sohu.com were an American website, based on your traffic and patterns, it would be worth at least US$50 million.

Zhang Chaoyang said: China's network environment is indeed backward, but it also has great potential.

Potential is potential, status quo is status quo, what do you think? Xiong Xiaoge said.

Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile: Your venture capital company invests in potential, isn't it?

Xiong Xiaoge also smiled and said, You are very good at talking.

The investigator from Hong Kong City Hang Lung Company did not leave, and suddenly said: Other websites in China should follow suit and launch comment functions, and your advantage will be gone by then.

Zhang Chaoyang said: Many American portals are similar to Yahoo, but Yahoo has always maintained an advantage. One step ahead, step by step.

Investigators from several companies contacted the headquarters, gathered together for a discussion, and then contacted their respective headquarters again.

It took half a month to go back and forth, and finally sat down to negotiate with Zhang Chaoyang.

Another week of tug-of-war, idg, Intel, Dow Jones, Harrison and Hang Lung, the latest valuation of Sohu increased to 13 million U.S. dollars, and they were unwilling to increase the price.

Zhang Chaoyang felt that the negotiation was over, so he could only call Song Weiyang to report: Old Song, my expectation is 15 million US dollars, but when it comes to 13 million US dollars, I can't talk about it. Let's accept it, 13 million US dollars The conversion of US dollars into RMB has exceeded 100 million, and we will not suffer!

Don't call me if it's less than 20 million US dollars. You forgot that Sohu.com still owns 5% of Sogou Search. Song Weiyang said.

Search engines don't make money at all, and they don't have much weight. Zhang Chaoyang said.

Song Weiyang said: Have you not been online recently? Sogou's search traffic is already close to one-twelfth of Sohu's.

Did it rise so fast? Zhang Chaoyang asked in surprise.

Song Weiyang said: You use Sogou to search for the keywords of those commonly used products.

Zhang Chaoyang had no choice but to put down the phone, casually searched for shoes, and immediately came out a bunch of news about fake and shoddy leather shoes in Wenzhou. He picked up the phone and said, It's nothing but accurate search results.

Well, the main reason is that the manufacturers who sell shoes have not yet established an official website, and have not received advertisements, which is embarrassing for thieves.

Song Weiyang had no choice but to say, Search for high-tech products!

Zhang Chaoyang searched for computer again, and immediately found the first display in the search results: Lenovo computer.

Advertisement? Zhang Chaoyang asked.

Understood? Song Weiyang said.

I understand, Zhang Chaoyang said, The more manufacturers have official websites in the future, the more search advertising fees will be!

Song Weiyang thought for a while and said, Let's do this, share exchange. Sohu searched for 5% of the shares in Sogou, and exchanged them for individual shares in proportion. After the two companies, it doesn't matter.

Yes. Zhang Chaoyang said.

Sogou search after adjustment: Song Weiyang (47.75%), Golden Bull Capital (30%), Ding Ming (20.275%), Zhang Chaoyang (1.975%).

Sohu Net's shares in Sogou Search were cleared.