Wang Wei has actually wanted to match the deep "marriage" of Dunhuang and Weibo technology for a long time.

After all, the huge Antarctic creature in another time and space, with one hand socializing and one hand entertainment - or content, can almost be said to have an invincible weapon in the Internet era.

Isn't it just social entertainment for people to live in the world, in addition to filling their stomachs?

In an era of internet hustle and bustle, an internet company that connects people and a content production company that can tell stories are absolutely a perfect match.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Wang Wei can pull the strings and Wang Chuanqi pat his head to achieve the perfect combination of two companies in different fields.

It's not just about throwing a lot of money, it's about achieving some kind of strategic synergy.

Lao Wang deeply agreed, and he also needs to have a deeper understanding of Weibo technology.

……

Coming to Weibo Technology again, it is still the inconspicuous headquarters, but this time Lao Wang no longer has any contempt, he knows that this inconspicuous place contains the power that may change the world.

For example, he is sitting in front of his computer at the moment and sees the user growth curve of Penguin Communications.

"During this period, there were about 70,000 new registered users every day; The number of users is rising too fast, and the server is on the verge of reaching the limit again and again, and I have to make additions and updates almost once a week......"

When co-founder Jiang Lei introduced the situation, he was still a little blushing.

He had thought that the growth rate would slow down after the advertising period, but the result was completely unexpected.

However, he soon figured it out.

Instant messengers have strong social features, and as long as users find it easy to use, they will recommend it to their friends and family, thus forming a snowball effect.

It can be expected that as long as Penguin Communications maintains a good user experience, the number of users will still skyrocket before the bottleneck period is reached.

In order to ensure the user experience, the Jianglei team followed the principle of technology research and development proposed by Wang Wei, "small steps and fast running, trial and error iteration", constantly found and repaired bugs according to user feedback, and completed an average of one version iteration per week, which greatly stimulated the user's enthusiasm for use.

Lao Wang just in time for the release of the latest iteration of a classic version.

In this release, for the first time, multiple levels of secrecy options are introduced, enhancing the profile and confidential information features; At the same time, "Penguin Info" and "Penguin Browser" were launched

This means that Penguin Communication has quietly transformed from a pure instant messaging tool to an information portal and virtual community.

Lao Wang looked at "Penguin Information Pass" and called it a good guy!

Isn't that what I think of as a pop-up? And the functionality is significantly more complete - this company has capable people.

Of course, the other side of the good news is the brutal burning of money!

Wang Chuanqi went to see the data center upgraded by Weibo Technology——

The oppressive and cramped computer room, where rows of servers continue to absorb huge heat energy through data exchange. The temperature in the middle corridor of each server group reached more than 40 degrees, and people would sweat profusely as soon as they approached it.

To configure a better server, it will cost at least 40,000 or 50,000 yuan; However, a single server can usually only reach 5,000 users to connect and exchange data at the same time, so you can imagine how much investment is involved.

And that's just the investment in server hardware, but also the cost of electricity and broadband?

The current situation is that the 30 million invested by Wang Wei in the first wave can not last too long.

What's even more terrifying is that the intensity of burning money continues to soar.

Lao Wang wrenched his fingers and was numb.

Glancing at Wang Wei, whose face remained unchanged, he thought to himself, no wonder this guy wants to pull Dunhuang up, which one can afford the investment alone?

Lao Wang casually asked Jiang Lei how to make money, and he replied directly - I know that everyone likes this thing, but I don't know who to collect money from.

Well, a very real partner, Lao Wang is speechless.

In addition, after Lao Wang's careful observation this time, he found that Wang Wei's startup company has some special features.

For example, the degree of freedom of time.

At Weibo Technology, employees can spend 20% of their time every day or one day a week researching an idea that interests them, whether the idea can make money or not, whether it can be turned into a successful product.

Obviously, this was made up by Wang Wei after learning from an Internet company that claimed to "not do evil" in his life.

"It's about motivating employees to explore." "When people do what they think is important, or what they like and love, they are very productive. It's also a great opportunity to innovate from the bottom up. ”

"Does it work?" Lao Wang only cares about the effect.

Wang Wei did not answer directly, but led him into the company's lounge and participated in a discussion salon.

Coincidentally, what they are discussing is the business model of Weibo Technology.

The two sat quietly and listened on the side.

Lao Wang noticed that there are management, backbones, and ordinary employees, but all of them speak freely and don't care about any hierarchy.

Know that in most cases, whether in social situations or in the professional world, it is easy to be isolated or even ostracized by insisting on saying what you really think.

But on Weibo, Mr. Wang seems to be embracing an attitude that encourages employees to give constructive feedback, whether bottom-up, top-down, or horizontally.

You see, in such a discussion about the overall strategy of the company, even the management will be bluntly told by ordinary employees that your opinion is terrible, and my idea may be better.

A project manager said: "I still think advertising is the best profit model, according to the number of times Penguin communication is opened, if the page is a flag advertisement, the daily advertising exposure can reach nearly 10 million, and even 100 million times in the future, 1 billion times, can no one put it?" ”

An employee shook his head directly: "I don't think it's good." Penguin Communications has a small area, the advertising is not very good, and the advertisers are not stupid. The revenue may not be much, but it will definitely affect the user experience, and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

This suggestion, which was opposed by a large number of people, was quickly shelved.

Another suggestion from a technical backbone was: "Why don't you charge for registration?" We control the number that is released every day, and at the same time, encourage users to obtain the registered number by sending SMS, and then we share the SMS fee with the communication provider, so that there is no need to clearly announce the registration fee, and there is a revenue. ”

As soon as this suggestion came out, almost everyone shook their heads.

"Don't be stupid as a user. Free, free, free, this is the first principle of the Internet, if even the initial registration has to be charged, users will not hesitate to abandon us! ”

"That's right. Charge to survive, not to die faster. ”

"It's the worst idea!"

Undoubtedly, this suggestion was rejected more quickly.

At this time, a young man said in a firm tone: "Therefore, only developing games is the best way out!" ”

Wang Wei's eyes lit up.

……

(End of chapter)