"Quora is a really good product that taps into the deep needs of users."

Zhou Xin's attitude towards Zhihu is both love and hate, because this is a very successful product in the early days, and the whole ecological content is extremely interesting.

But in 2020, Zhihu will be reduced to a complete chicken rib for him: the food is tasteless, and it is a pity to abandon it.

Quora Zhouxin is also a deep user, but the difference is that Quora has grown explosively with the number of users, and it has a bottom line, and there is no salt selection of members for revenue.

Of course, what Zhou Xin didn't know was that Quora also launched something similar to Zhihu Yanxuan members in 2021 after he left, called Quora+.

Answers posted by users in the paywall can only be viewed by users who have purchased Quora+.

Yanxuan membership was officially launched in 2019, and it's hard not to think that Quora is a plagiarism of Zhihu's model.

Therefore, in 1999, Zhou Xin was able to completely dominate Quora's ecology by himself, and he was very happy, because he believed that in his planning, Quora would not become what the future generations would be like Zhihu.

"People have questions all the time, and it's hard to get an answer to a lot of questions that you haven't experienced yourself, and even I have questions.

Compared with ordinary people, when I have a question, my secretary will come to help me find the problem, and even if he doesn't know it, he will get the answer through various means.

I was still asking Trash yesterday why Quora was so successful and she couldn't give me a satisfactory answer herself, so she launched a survey on our internal forum.

Then she'll put together a comprehensive report for me. Bill Gates said.

Back in the 80s of the 20th century, Microsoft had a BBS called "Microsoft Conference", and later they came up with more internal forums.

This kind of internal forum was originally for the purpose of discussing technical issues, and later it was impossible to avoid the results of deviations.

"The vast majority of people don't have such conditions, but they will have problems, and they will not have fewer problems than me.

Quora solves everyone's needs very well, but now Quora is not open to everyone, and when he opens up registration to everyone, he will definitely be an indispensable part of the Internet ecosystem. ”

Bill Gates met Zhou Xin this time at a café called Java City, a coffee chain that originated in California in 1992, and Bill Gates's favorite café at that time.

In the spacious and bright café, being complimented by the world's richest man, Zhou Xin admitted that he was a little fluttery.

Just thinking about Bill Gates' investment in Riot Games, the rate of return has exceeded 300%, and Zhou Xin feels that the other party should praise him.

Zhou Xin saw that the other party hadn't picked up the coffee cup yet, and knew that Bill Gates hadn't finished speaking.

"So Quora accepted the Microsoft takeover? $500 million, $500 million a week, that's a good price. Bill Gates held out five fingers.

Zhou Xin shook his head and said, "I'm not short of money now." ”

Bill Gates said: "Sometimes geniuses are always so annoying, they have a lot of wild ideas, and they can create extraordinary products.

But usually they are so good that they don't have a shortage of start-up capital.

This is also the dilemma of investment, the better the project, the less money is lacking.

Does Quora accept investment?

When it comes to investment, I can't accept the structure design of weighted voting rights like NewPay, and only the investment institutions on Wall Street can accept this approach.

If it's an investment, I can give you a higher valuation. ”

Zhou Xin replied: "I can consider selling Quora to Microsoft, but not now.

I still have an idea to finish, and Quora is nowhere near worth half a billion dollars.

Quora is definitely a product that is no less than GEOCities, and you get ready for cash. Zhou Xin looked confident.

In the black, white and gray lobby of the Java City Cafe, Bill Gates was a little surprised that the other party was willing to sell Quora to Microsoft, even if not now.

Now it has entered May 1999, and the atmosphere of the whole NASDAQ at this time is no different from adding fuel to the fire, and it is an Internet company that can go public on the NASDAQ.

Not to mention a quality project like Quora.

For example, China.com was established in May 1999 and listed on the NASDAQ in July 1999.

Isn't it nice to be in charge of a business yourself? Or is there something in there that he didn't realize?

Because whether it is Riot Games or NewPay, Zhou Xin has never agreed to sell to Microsoft.

Microsoft intends to make a big splash in console gaming, so it's always coveted Riot Games, the most vibrant gaming community out there.

As Riot Games has become more and more firmly established in the minds of game enthusiasts, there have been voices within Microsoft that they want to buy Riot Games, after all, Bill Gates owns 40 percent of the shares.

"It's good for young people to be confident. Internet service is the icing on the cake for Microsoft, and we can do without Internet service altogether.

But for other Internet companies, Internet services are their only living space.

If Yahoo can't buy Quora, then Yahoo will copy your product. Bill Gates said.

There is nothing wrong with what he said, the reason why Microsoft will develop MSN, develop Internet Explorer, and later Xbox, in the final analysis, belongs to the process of self-expansion after a company has reached a scale and has no rivals in the original field.

In the performance growth and enterprise development plan, corporate executives should have an explanation to investors, and they can only develop in the direction of Internet services.

Bill Gates: "Yahoo is just one of them, and there are a lot of other Internet companies that will flood this market, how do you make sure that Quora will still be where it is by then?" ”

Zhou Xin asked rhetorically: "Riot Games is also facing similar competition, why does Riot Games still maintain its dominant position, and its dominant position is becoming more and more solid?" ”

Bill Gates countered: "Game forums are not as important as quiz communities, and Yahoo only puts 10 percent of their energy into Yahoo games.

But in the area of quiz communities, they put the vast majority of their efforts into it.

From what I know about Jerry, he probably can't sleep anymore. ”

Zhou Xin smiled: "Jerry asked me to talk at night, and I guess I also talked about Quora."

It's still the same, I'm confident that I can beat any challenger in this field, we'll see! ”

Zhou Xin's self-confidence made Bill Gates feel that it was good to be young, even he, at Zhou Xin's age, was not so capable of doing things.

"Okay, if you can occupy a monopoly position at that time, that is, defeat other opponents in the field of knowledge quizzes, and then the price of Microsoft's acquisition of Quora will be increased by 10 percent."

Zhou Xin shook his head: "No, I need you to agree to my other request at that time, a request that is definitely not excessive." ”