2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 767 "Let the two horses fight it out"

Fortunately, the invitation Zeng Jixiang brought this time wasn't for an interview, which made Tan Jincheng feel much more relaxed.

"Now when I see these things, I almost have a conditioned reflex. The capital city is really much more complicated than our small place, Beicang."

"Hehe, you bet. Some of the calls I received gave me goosebumps."

Zeng Jixiang was not exaggerating. During the Two Sessions, bigwigs from all walks of life gathered, and business owners would usually contact him first for public events. If he didn't handle things well, he could easily offend people, which put him under tremendous pressure.

Take Mr. Zong, who was also part of the Zhejiang delegation a few days ago, for example. He made a request on behalf of a media outlet. Mr. Ma, from the Guangdong delegation, also made a request.

None of them were people that he, as a mere secretary, could afford to offend.

The invitation letter sent this time is for the unveiling ceremony of the PBC School of Finance, which will be held on March 29.

"Please reply to me and say that I will be attending. Please also make sure to check your schedule."

The Wudaokou School of Finance, which collaborates with the People's Bank of China, offers an EMBA program for entrepreneurs. It's essentially a networking circle, similar in nature to the Jiangnan Business School that became famous because of Mr. Wang and Ms. Tian.

It's just that the circles are different. One is led by Lee Hong Kong, and the other is led by Chiang Kai-shek and the People's Bank of China in mainland China. Compared to Lee Hong Kong, the People's Bank of China is definitely better.

"Okay, Mr. Lei will be here soon. Boss, would you like to take a break? I'll call you later."

"Okay, I'll take a nap. Wake me up when Mr. Lei arrives."

Having arrived in the capital, which is practically Lei Jun's territory, he isn't a representative of R-level this year, but given Xiaomi's development trend, he'll definitely be one next year.

In fact, Tan Jincheng had already shown this trend when the Flash series electric vehicles were selling well. It's just that the reasons he gave back then were hard to refute, and he was indeed too young.

Once the Yuechi A1 became a bestseller and he got married, this reason no longer existed.

Earlier this month, WeChat officially surpassed 1 million users, and Moments was officially launched. At the same time, Tencent also announced that it will enter the international market next month with the launch of WeChat. In addition, it increased its stake in Orange Technology, taking another step forward in its e-commerce business.

Pony Ma, who also attended the meeting in Beijing, was quite the star. MiTalk had nearly 20 million users, and Lei Jun even established an IM Lab.

In reality, although WX has far more users than MiTalk, MiTalk has received more attention than WX in this period of time. Although Pony Ma often talks about the status of WX in his heart, unfortunately not many people believe him.

There's no way around it; QQ can do everything that WeChat can do, and mobile QQ has a wider user base and broader reach.

In fact, before the launch of WeChat Moments, WX had always faced this kind of skepticism. Even with Pony Ma's strong support, the company's internal staff did not really believe that this project could become a transformative success.

I estimate that there are probably very few people in this world who truly believe it.

The two IM software programs, launched only 40 days apart, have been fiercely competing in the market. However, since WeChat launched Moments, Lei Jun seems to be feeling a bit uneasy.

Tan Jincheng has come to the capital. He wants to have a chat with him. Tan Jincheng, this 'outsider', deserves a lot of credit for MiTalk's success in competing with WX.

The nights in Beijing in March are still a bit chilly.

When Tan Jincheng met Lei Jun, he was wearing a suit jacket over a plaid shirt and hurriedly got out of the car.

It must be said that Lei Jun's fashion sense at this time was really not as good as Tan Jincheng's, and his entrepreneurial aura was not as grand as Tan Jincheng's in the media in his previous life.

Well, it just feels a bit low-class.

“I said, could you try wearing our custom-made clothes? I can take care of all your clothes from now on. Stop dressing like this all the time.”

"Haha, we tech people aren't that particular, are we?"

Tan Jincheng shook his head: "It's different. You are now a proper entrepreneur and a professional manager. You definitely need to take care of your image. In the mobile internet era, entrepreneurs also need to promote themselves."

In 2010, not many entrepreneurs promoted their image; many domestic entrepreneurs didn't care much about it.

In fact, influential entrepreneurs are similar to celebrities; their public image is also very important.

"You just want me to advertise for you for free. I can do the same thing by wearing old clothes."

"Chen Nian is the one who asked you for money, I'm your sugar daddy, how can we be the same? Give me some face, besides, the quality of our clothes is incomparable to that old bastard Chen Nian's."

"Hey, I'll tell Chen Nian on you if you say that."

After taking a couple of bites of food, Lei Jun said, "However, your clothes are indeed better than Chen Nian's in terms of both design and fabric. The clothing system in Ningbo is simply too strong."

Indeed, GXG under Flash is quite different from its predecessor. In addition to paying more attention to design, it is also very particular about the choice of clothing fabrics, and its business model is modeled after Uniqlo.

As a contract manufacturer for Uniqlo, Shenzhou has a very mature process in clothing production. In the clothing industry, GXG is a junior partner, but Shenzhou also takes on GXG's contract manufacturing business, which can be considered as giving the junior partner some help.

"Then it's settled. From now on, we'll cover your coats, and the standard will be the same as mine. I'll also cover your clothes at home."

Lei Jun curled his lip. Everyone in the industry said that Xiao Tan was generous in business and investment, but he loved to take advantage of others. When he went to talk to Pony Ma about cooperation, he also asked his company's employees to buy Wei Lai's cars at a discount.

"What do you want from me? By the way, shouldn't you stop with your scarcity marketing tactics? Now I'm getting scolded too."

It's been almost a year, and the Xiaomi 1 is still available for pre-order. Keep in mind that the Xiaomi 2 is going to be released in five months.

Lei Jun's actions have led to a terrible online reputation for him recently, earning him the nickname "Lei the Monkey." Tan Jincheng, who previously supported Xiaomi and is also its second-largest shareholder, has also been affected.

Many Xiaomi fans left messages on the official accounts of Tan Jincheng, Wei Lai, and Shanchi, urging Xiaomi 1 to be shipped as soon as possible.

When Orange Technology's official account announced its collaboration with Tencent last time, the most hilarious comments were actually from Xiaomi fans.

Going to Orange Technology's official Weibo account to urge them to ship the goods is just ridiculous; it shows that Xiaomi fans' resentment has accumulated to a certain extent.

"Do you think I wanted this? It's not that production capacity can't keep up; I'm so anxious I'm about to go and tighten screws myself."

"Come on, you can only fool kids with that."

Xiaomi chose top-tier brand suppliers for its components and contract manufacturers. A year ago, Tan Jincheng believed the claim of insufficient production capacity, because they indeed had no say in the matter.

Lei Jun went through a lot of trouble to secure these parts suppliers, waiting at Foxconn for more than 10 hours, but still failed to reach an agreement on the manufacturing contract.

However, Xiaomi 1 had already exceeded one million orders in December of last year. At that point, any supplier who wasn't a fool would know that this would be a blockbuster product that rivaled any big brand.

With an order for one million units in four months, the factory would work itself to the bone to secure it. Dizi's electronics factory has significantly expanded its workforce this year, unlike the layoffs in the automotive division.

"Haha, let's not talk about that. I called you here today to talk about MiTalk."

Lei Jun didn't want to talk about this. The popularity of the Xiaomi 1 brought Xiaomi a lot of attention, and it had no competitors in the 2000 yuan price range. However, the marketing methods also brought a lot of negative impact to the company.

But he didn't care; making money was all that mattered.

"What's going on on WeChat Moments?"

Moments was indeed the first step to WX's success. Before that, WX seemed to have a large number of users, but in fact, most of them were inactive. Apart from those who were brought in by the "People Nearby" feature, most of them returned to QQ.

Lei Jun sighed, "Yes, this is a powerful weapon. We can follow suit, but we're ultimately a step too late."

"The real problem is that your resources can't keep up. Also, you need to focus on your core business. If you ask me, the MSNLite team shouldn't have acquired it. The desktop version is really useless."

As a director of Xiaomi and its second-largest shareholder, Tan Jincheng is aware of all of Xiaomi's moves. Currently, Xiaomi is acquiring the MSNLite team, a client application that fully replicates Microsoft MSN, which began development in April 2010.

As the third-party software that was closest to the operating habits of Chinese users among the unofficial versions of MSN at that time, Xiaomi hoped to expand the PC client of MiTalk by acquiring this team and achieve information interoperability between the mobile client and the PC client.

There are quite a few IM software programs on the market right now, and many large internet companies have entered the field. MiTalk has successfully developed the commercial value of this sector.

Tan Jincheng, the operations manager of Xiaomi Technology, knows about this, but he generally doesn't interfere. From the founder's perspective, he understands these things. If investors interfere in everything, the company is basically doomed.

At most, they can offer some advice and assistance; this is a basic quality of a qualified investor.

He already knew that the MiTalk team wanted to acquire the MSNLite team, and he also knew that they wanted to make a PC version, but in his opinion, there was absolutely no need to make a PC version, since WX didn't have a PC version.

Look at what MSN is like now, why bother collecting this junk?

Most importantly, a startup can only focus on one core strategy at a time; the idea of ​​pursuing multiple strategies simultaneously is simply an impossible dream.

In its early stages, Jinpeng's core business was import and export trade. At that time, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng focused on attracting customers and contacting suppliers to sell goods. The Canton Fair and Ali International Station were their main focus.

After the split, when the core business of the newly established Flash Motors became two-wheeled electric vehicles, Tan Jincheng also devoted all available resources to electric vehicles.

The same applies to the automotive business; in recent years, Tan Jincheng's work has primarily revolved around Wei.

Tencent's core is social networking, Baidu's core is search, and Ali's core used to be e-commerce, but now it seems to be shifting towards the mobile payment field.

Every company can only have one core.

Xiaomi is currently facing a strategic dilemma. Smartphones, MIUI, and MiTalk are Xiaomi's three main pillars, and the IM market is indeed vast. However, the smartphone business is also selling very well. With rapid user growth, if Xiaomi wants to make MiTalk bigger and stronger and compete head-on with Tencent, it will inevitably need to continuously invest more resources.

In addition, MiTalk must be separated out.

MiTalk's update speed can't keep up with WX, and its stability has always been poor, with frequent disconnections and lost voice messages. This is mainly due to insufficient engineering resources; server capacity, stability, message delivery rate, and other aspects are all facing huge challenges.

"Yes, you're right. We have to make choices."

The IM market is huge, but the problem is that their mobile phone business is also selling very well now, and they are directly competing with Tencent. The resources they need to invest are not small, and can they really beat them?

Trying to attack the opponent's core business in an area you're not good at requires a huge investment of resources.

But the problem is that giving up like this seems a bit unsatisfying.

Unlike in the previous life, at least so far in this life, MiTalk has not been completely defeated by WX. Although its user base cannot compare with WX, it has accumulated 2000 million users in just one year, and no one is willing to give up.

In reality, without the user traffic from QQ and the user interoperability with QQ, it would have been impossible for WX to break through 100 million users in such a short period of time.

In the early days, apart from LSP, very few people used this thing, or rather, very few young people used it.

"You've already made your choice, haven't you? The mobile phone business is actually the foundation of Xiaomi's business. You're just a little unwilling to accept it now, right?"

With the Xiaomi 1 selling like hotcakes, if the Xiaomi 2 can maintain the same level of popularity, then a strategic contraction for MiTalk is inevitable.

"You're right, I still want to try. Do you have any ideas? Tell me."

It's often said that Mr. Tan is the best product manager at Orange Technology, and judging from the products Orange Technology has released, this is not an exaggeration. Someone who doesn't understand technology at all can come up with many brilliant ideas.

Lei Jun witnessed this firsthand during the early development of MiTalk, and this statement is indeed true.

"It's simple. We'll separate MiTalk, continue to follow up on Moments, optimize the Shake feature, and develop voice and video call functions as much as possible."

"We can cooperate with mobile operators to discuss data plans or even data cards that are directly linked to MiTalk."

"As for user development, we can target middle-aged and elderly users, which would be complemented by voice and video call functions."

To make a project bigger and stronger, it is necessary to spin it off, just like Orange Technology established an independent game studio, and Weilai Auto was initially developed as a separate project instead of being placed under Flash Group.

In addition to having more autonomy, independent projects can also attract more new players to invest money, allowing everyone to share the profits in the market.

That's often the allure of capital.

The three suggestions were summarized by Tan Jincheng based on WX's development history. As for how and when to implement them, that depends on Lei Jun and the MiTalk team's decision.

These suggestions are nothing new; some small businesses are already using them. Apple phones even have video calling functionality built-in, but it's only used within the iOS system ecosystem.

Lei Jun's earlier points were easy to understand, but he had some doubts about the last point, which was about developing middle-aged and elderly users.

"Developing middle-aged and elderly users? What's the point? They don't seem to have much value."

The internet is a young person's world. Many middle-aged and elderly people not only don't know how to use the internet, but they also naturally resist it and are unwilling to accept new things. How can we develop it? And what use would it be even if we did?

"Haha, how is it worthless? If your dad sends you a voice message or makes a video call to you using MiTalk, would you dare not answer?"

There are many reasons for the widespread use of WeChat, but many young people who previously looked down on WeChat were forced to use it because of their parents' influence. Their inability to use the internet or type was precisely the best factor in their parents' influence.

In his previous life, Tan Jincheng, his friends, and many of his company's employees all experienced the same thing: when parents discovered a software that offered free calls and video calls to contact their sons and daughters, the reaction was no less intense than a frenzy over eggs at a supermarket.

"Holy crap, how come I didn't think of that?"

Lei Jun stared at Tan Jincheng in disbelief. As someone suspected of using cheats, he could understand the key point in just one sentence.

"Haha, simple, right? But all of this depends on MiTalk being stable enough. Your current servers are too unstable and don't work at all."

This applies to any software; no matter how creative or attractive it is, it won't work if it's not stable.

This is the same principle as the quality of a car.

"Do you think I don't want to? It's just that I don't have the money."

"That's why we spun out MiTalk and established it as an independent subsidiary, which also makes it easier to raise funds."

Anyway, he's not going to invest any money. No matter how independent MiTalk becomes, it will definitely be controlled by Xiaomi Technology, and as a shareholder of Xiaomi Technology, he will only hold shares indirectly.

Lei Jun nodded in agreement, agreeing that it was certain he wanted to create a large, independent project and increase funding to bring in more players.

"But that's not enough to defeat Tencent, is it? After all, there's still a significant gap in user base between the two companies, and it also conflicts with the company's core strategy."

"Haha, who said you were going to build it yourself? You just need to set up the framework, and then let Old Ma buy your MiTalk."

Tan Jincheng is trying to scam people again.

As Lei Jun said, Xiaomi's core strategy is its mobile phone business and hardware. With its current strength, Xiaomi is not capable of establishing two core strategies.

Tan Jincheng also doesn't want Xiaomi to deviate from its hardware business, as the terminal business definitely has more say.

As Lei Jun said, even if Xiaomi went all in on the MiTalk business, it might not be able to beat Tencent. A company that has maintained a dominant position in the social networking field for a long time cannot be defeated by just any company.

Xiaomi is not doing well right now, and neither is Orange Technology, which ranks among the top 10 in China by market capitalization.

The only companies that can pose a threat to Tencent are Alipay and Baidu. Alipay, with its large user base and existing businesses like Alipay and Wangwang, is the most threatening. At the same time, Jack Ma also desperately needs social media to drive traffic to Taobao and Alipay.

I can't imagine how terrifying a company would be if it combined QQ, WeChat, Taobao, and Alipay into one entity.

Xiaomi doesn't need to change its core strategy; it only needs to set up the framework, expand it with more capital, and maintain a competitive relationship with WX.

When the time comes, just say you'll sell MiTalk, and I don't believe the ambitious Jack Ma won't take the bait.

No one could resist such temptation, not even a single pie.

MiTalk's past ended with its historical mission being shut down, which is somewhat regrettable and a waste of resources.

Instead of doing that, why not just scam Big Ma and Little Ma?

Old Ma definitely wants to buy, and Little Ma definitely wants to stop him. In the end, won't they make a fortune?

Baidu is willing to spend $19 billion for a mobile internet portal, so MiTalk, which has the second largest market share in IM software, must be worth at least several billion dollars, right?
After hearing Tan Jincheng's plan, Lei Bus looked at him with disbelief.

"Damn, I'll have to be careful around you from now on. You're really cunning. What did Da Ma and Xiao Ma do to offend you?"

"Haha, that's a harsh way to put it. What do you mean by offending me? This is normal business competition. Besides, what if we fight and end up making a deal?"

As long as MiTalk isn't shut down by WX, neither of them can refuse to join the game.

Just like the ride-hailing war and the food delivery war, even if big and small companies didn't want to get involved, it was impossible for them to, unless they didn't want to play in the internet industry anymore.

This is the essence of an open strategy, and since ancient times, open strategies have been the most difficult to break.

Whether it's Xiaomi or companies under Tan Jincheng, they can all manage to stay out of the fray while still reaping some benefits for themselves.

"Damn, this is too ruthless, but it is indeed a feasible plan. I'll go back and plan it out."

Lei Jun even used profanity, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

However, he's not exactly a moral gentleman either. Even Huang, the boss of Meizu, treats him with the utmost disdain, let alone Zhou Hongyi, who challenged him to a fight in real life.

These two have been having a lively war of words on Weibo lately.

He was unwilling to give up on MiTalk outright, and now that there's a chance to revive it, he naturally has to think about it carefully.

"Oh, by the way, let's talk about the plan to develop elderly users. Do you have any good ideas? Many of them don't know how to use smartphones, and some can't even read."

"The timing isn't right yet. You should focus on ensuring the app's stability first. Also, I suggest you don't develop a PC version. Just create a simple web version. And don't invest any more resources in updating the Symbian system."

Whether Nokia will die in 2012 is still uncertain, but the demise of Symbian is almost certain; the system simply cannot keep up with the pace of smartphones.

"Haha, I'll go back and think about it; by the way, what's the matter with you staying in the capital all this time?"

Lei Jun was in a great mood, but he still didn't directly answer Tan Jincheng's two suggestions. This shows that he is also a very opinionated person. Even if you make other suggestions that he agrees with, it is difficult to change his opinion.

"There is something I need to discuss, but please don't ask. It's not convenient to talk about it right now."

(End of this chapter)