(In the previous chapter, Ding Ming's stake in Sogou has been changed to 20%, and Lao Wang is dizzy.) ）

By early April, Sohu had 380,000 registered users, while the total number of Internet users in China was only about 2 million. If you ignore those members who register repeatedly, it is equivalent to one out of every five Chinese netizens who are registered members of Sohu.com.

The number of visits to Sohu in a single day has exceeded that of People's Daily Online!

The comment function is one of the core selling points, and netizens can finally express their opinions and opinions at will while browsing articles, which is a unique initiative in the world. The user's account upgrade system has also increased the adhesion of the website, even if Sifang Litong has also opened the comment function, Sohu's old users are also accustomed to this, and regard Sohu as their online home.

"Perhaps, we should revalue Sohu. ”

The speaker was a Chinese, a Chinese citizen with a U.S. green card.

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

What does IDG do?

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

Historically, when Zhang Chaoyang was exhausted, it was Xiong Xiaoge who helped to bring in investment, so that Sohu survived. When Brother Pony was cornered, it was Xiong Xiaoge who helped to attract investment, so that Tencent survived.

This year, IDG signed a memorandum of cooperation with China's Ministry of Science and Technology, led by Xiong, to invest US$1 billion in China's small and medium-sized high-tech industries over seven years.

IDG's venture capital is very characteristic, with a particular preference for investing in innovative projects. In the early stage, they invest in companies with simple shareholder structures, but the investment capital is relatively small, if they intervene in the medium term, they prefer large investments and hold more shares, and they pay more attention to the potential of the industry than to the profit model.

Sohu is a very good fit for IDG's investment preference, with only three natural person shareholders and an innovative project (Internet).

For this kind of company, IDG casts a wide net and does not invest much, but it invests everywhere, such as Sohu and Tencent in history.

Even if it only invests a little money, IDG is not willing to go it alone. This time, he fell in love with Sohu, and Xiong Xiaoge brought Intel, Dow Jones, Harrison and Hang Lung (a Hong Kong-funded company) to jointly contribute money.

When Zhang Chaoyang went to the United States before, he contacted Intel, Dow Jones and Harrison in person to accept investment inquiries and explain the specific situation and development plan of Sohu.com.

The investigator from Intel couldn't believe it: "How can the number of visitors to this website increase by more than 500% in a month!

Zhang Chaoyang smiled: "Please." However, before I take stock of the data, I would like to reintroduce Sohu to you. We are the first Internet site in the world to launch a comment function, whether it is current news, celebrity gossip, or literary content, netizens can leave comments. We also have an account upgrade system, in order to get points to upgrade the account, netizens even take the initiative to click on the ad link repeatedly, because clicking on the ad allows them to earn points. ”

"Why didn't you say it the last time you were questioned?" asked the investigator from Harrison.

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

An investigator from Intel exclaimed: "It's a genius feat that makes web comments stick to users." ”

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

Zhang Chaoyang smiled: "Then let's talk about financing tomorrow." ”

When these gringos were gone, Xiong Xiaoge smiled: "Xiao Zhang, well done." ”

Zhang Chaoyang said: "How much does Mr. Xiong think he should value Sohu.com?"

"I think $8 million is a good fit. Xiong Xiaoge said.

"It's 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 China's website, China's network environment, far behind the United States. If Sohu is a U.S. website, it will be valued at least $50 million or more with your traffic and model. ”

"China's cyber environment is indeed backward, but it also has great potential," Zhang said. ”

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

Zhang Chaoyang smiled and said: "Isn't your venture capital company investing in potential?"

Xiong Xiaoge also smiled: "You are very good at talking. ”

The investigator from Gangcheng Hang Lung Company did not leave, and suddenly said: "Other websites in China should follow suit and launch a comment function, and then your advantage will be gone." ”

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Many American portals are similar to Yahoo, but Yahoo has always maintained an advantage. One step ahead, one step at a time. ”

Investigators from several companies contacted headquarters, gathered again to discuss, and then contacted their respective headquarters again.

It dragged on for half a month back and forth, and finally sat together to negotiate with Zhang Chaoyang.

After another week of tug-of-war, IDG, Intel, Dow Jones, Harrison and Hang Lung have increased their latest valuation of Sohu to $13 million, and they are reluctant to raise the price.

Zhang Chaoyang felt that he couldn't talk about it anymore, 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, I can't talk about it." If you see it, you can accept it, 13 million US dollars has been converted into RMB has exceeded 100 million, and we will not suffer a loss!"

"Don't call me for less than $20 million, you forgot that Sohu also owns a 5% stake in Sogou. Song Weiyang said.

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

Song Weiyang said: "Haven't you been surfing the Internet lately? Sogou's search traffic is close to one-twelfth of Sohu.com. ”

"Is it going up so fast?" Zhang Chaoyang exclaimed.

Song Weiyang said: "You use Sogou to search for keywords of those commonly used goods." ”

Zhang Chaoyang had to put down the phone and casually searched for "shoes", and suddenly a bunch of news about fake and shoddy leather shoes in Wenzhou came out. He picked up the phone and said, "Except for the accuracy of the search results, it's nothing." ”

Well, the main reason is that the manufacturers that sell shoes haven't built official websites yet, and they haven't pulled the advertisement, so the thieves are so embarrassed.

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

Zhang Chaoyang searched for "computer" again, and immediately found that the first display of the search results was: Lenovo computer.

"Advertising?" Zhang Chaoyang asked.

"Got it?" Song said.

"I kind of understand," Zhang Chaoyang said, "In the future, the more manufacturers with official websites, the more search advertising fees will be!"

Song Weiyang thought for a while and said, "That's it, share exchange." Sohu searched for 5% of the shares in Sogou, and exchanged them for individual shares in proportion, and it didn't matter if the two were in the future. ”

"Yes. Zhang Chaoyang said.

After the adjustment - Sogou search: Song Weiyang (47.75%), Taurus Capital (30%), Ding Ming (20.275%), Zhang Chaoyang (1.975%).

Sohu.com's shares in Sogou were cleared.