What does Thunder love to trade? Is it owned by Thunder? Is it legal?

What would Zou Shenglong be like now if Thunder had not been founded? This company, which occupies an absolute monopoly position in the download market and was once regarded as the most likely to become a giant after Baidu and Tencent, ushered in its first 10 adult ceremony. In the next 10 year, how will Thunder, which has a large number of users but is bound by business, break the game? Less than the upper class, more than the lower class? Awkward reality? At this time node, what kind of reflection and feeling does the head Zou Shenglong have? ■ Text/(dictation) Zou Shenglong, CEO of Xunlei Technology Company (finishing) Our reporter Lu Yuhua lives without boundaries. I often ask myself, what would I be like now if I hadn't founded Thunder? Time often can't stand doubt. 20 12 years, thunder is exactly 10. For a child, or in the fourth grade of primary school, positive wisdom is opened and speculation is formed. He may have lost his budding youth and ignorance, and he needs to give himself a predictable plan and future. 10 years ago, I was thirty, 10 years later, I was forty. Although the experience of time has transformed me into a company manager, my so-called knowledge has increased and my horizons have gradually broadened, but my confusion has increased day by day and has never stopped. I was born in Huainan, Anhui. Is that a story? Huainan produces oranges, Huaibei produces oranges? A beautiful place. My father is an inventor. He is kind and inarticulate, but he is close to me? Genius? . He won many international awards from an ordinary worker who entered the Chinese University of Science and Technology to do space station research. My father's special research spirit and persistence will have a great influence on me, so I have the genes of pragmatic skilled workers in my bones. Over the years, this complex has been lingering in my mind. My father later founded his own company in Shenzhen Science Park, and I finished high school in Shenzhen. Later, I applied for the opportunity to go abroad as an exchange student. That's 1992. I'm 20 years old. I finished my undergraduate course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At first I studied economics, then I turned to computers. I have always believed that only technology can change the world. At one time, the two companies I admired most were Microsoft [Weibo] and Apple. 1at the end of 997, he obtained a master's degree in computer science from Duke University. It was here that I met Hao Cheng, a 3-year-old technical genius. He and I became one of the earliest founders of Thunder. Frankly speaking, I have no long-term life plan for the time being. 1999 After graduating from college, I got a job as a software engineer in North Carolina, and my mind was full of things like a green card and a mortgage to buy a house and a car. Later, at the invitation of my friends, I went to Silicon Valley, where the pleasant climate and mild sunshine in California attracted me at once. There are even many people here? Diaosi? But they all dream of changing the world. Next door to the first company where I worked, they put a huge projector on the second floor and put the recently promoted keywords on the road, which often attracted passers-by. This creative company is closely followed by the famous Google. Silicon Valley is undoubtedly an entrepreneurial paradise, and almost everyone will turn several small companies upside down. China students here are diligent and professional, and most of them have become the best in the domestic Internet field. For example, Xu Yong once sold a car to a friend of mine, and we met. Later he became the co-founder of Baidu [Weibo]. And Li Yanhong, whom I met at the China Engineers Association in Silicon Valley. He is a man of few words. We have discussed the business model of how a small restaurant bypasses the portal and directly provides services to users. I used to think that being an excellent engineer with peace of mind was my whole life, but those friends I know have returned to China one after another. Their great success in China was undoubtedly a vivid stimulus to me who had no ambition at that time. So at the beginning of 2003, Hao Cheng and I decided to go back to China to start a business, and each took out 50,000 yuan to set up our own company in Shenzhen. At that time, I was full of anxiety and anxiety about starting a business. I put my mouth to investors and drew one for venture capital institutions in less professional business terms. Pie? , said we want to be the largest Internet digital distribution platform in China. I thought to myself, after getting the investment, can the company achieve 100 million yuan? Big company? It would be great if Lenovo bought it. If I were an investor now, would someone tell me a story? Draw a pie? At that time, I might not particularly believe his description of what I was going to do. Of course, what I need to see most is his spirit and ideals. I think it is very important that the person I want to vote for should have ideals. So sometimes life has no boundaries, no design, no rehearsal. If the investors had seriously rejected us, on the other hand, would Thunder still exist? Some more? Personal realm? Have I given up the road of starting a business? Hypothesis is just a hypothesis after all. Idealism is like all passionate entrepreneurs. Ideal? It is often the label that entrepreneurs initially deceive themselves. Frankly speaking, downloading tools is not our first direction. At first, we wanted to make a distributed deposit system to meet the needs of large-capacity mailboxes, which was somewhat similar to Gmail now, but at that time, the capacity of general mailboxes was not very large, and the market for making distributed deposit systems was not mature enough. Internet is mainly used in four fields: search, portal, IM (instant messaging) and downloading software. There are no killer operators in the field of downloading software, but there are all other three fields? Overlord? , such as Google[ Weibo] and Baidu in search field, Sina and Sohu in portal field, QQ and MSN in IM field, etc. So we lock the download as something to do. In August 2003, the first download software we developed was born, but it felt too bad to be popularized. June 5438+October 2004 10, Thunder 2 was born, with less than 400 new users installed every day. We feel that there is basically no hope, but after three or four months of promotion, the users of Thunder began to soar, growing by thousands of users every day. Looking back, we all agree that it is? P2P technology? Played a key role. During that time, we thought we were separated? Change mankind? Our dreams are not far away, and the frivolity and vanity of entrepreneurs are beginning to swell in our hearts. Our colleagues write and draw with pen and paper every day, do something particularly boring but particularly satisfying, calculate the download speed of Thunder, save time for mankind, and finally get the result that 2000 years can be saved for mankind every day. It was not until 2008 that we realized what we had done before. Planning? How simple and naive. At that time, the company had begun to take shape, and there was no original interest in who would buy the company, how much it would cost and how much money it would earn. On the contrary, I feel that the prospect I described to investors is getting more and more reliable. Secondly, on the other hand, colleagues, who have been working hard or trying, have also begun to make money, which has given us some pressure, but our ideals cannot always float in the sky. Then, everything began to become practical. We're not talking about. Change mankind? Big and empty slogans, more began to talk about business models. At that time, I also began to change, starting from an entrepreneur with a purely technical background and looking at the development of the whole company from the perspective of industrial operators. So I started from? Me? I think I should do something meaningful for this industry and society. Internet has its attributes: free network. It means that the Internet is open, because its openness brings space for people to get content freely on the Internet, which is an important reason why the Internet is full of vitality. So my understanding of the Internet once was, don't erect too many obstacles and restrictions on the Internet, otherwise there would be no open and free environment. The value of Internet companies lies in their ability to help people realize such freedom. But the premise is, what do Internet companies rely on to support their existence? So in the final analysis, every Internet company needs a business model. It was not until I started my business for a while that I wanted to understand this truth. About value and contribution, so we began to plan a way to make money for the enterprise, and at the same time reflect? Ray value? This road. During the time before and after starting a business, I had numerous discussions with my colleagues. Everyone's conclusion is that digital distribution will definitely become an important direction of the Internet in the future. Digital distribution includes the following aspects: software, video, music and literature. When starting a business, we drew such a picture for investors in this way. Cake? , and get the favor. The more important question is, when investors really give you money, how to achieve such a goal? After repeated deliberation, we defined Internet video as a vertical application product under the huge database of Thunder, so Thunder Watch was born. Online video undoubtedly conforms to some of my ideas. In my opinion, the values of the Internet are open, and any Internet product must first conform to the basic human morality and promote social progress. At that time, I discussed with you that there are traditional distribution companies and content owners. Our view is that the promotion and charging of online authentic products must not be equated. In fact, equating them is to draw a very big cage for the user. After losing users, the internet will be gone, so the next story is over. Therefore, those of us who are Internet users, the first thing to do is to improve the basic distribution environment, which includes technical environment, such as payment, content operation and maintenance, product user interaction, business model optimization and content model environment. So in such a specific environment, we first promote the copyright trading market. We are proud that Thunder is the earliest. As early as 2007, we started to contact forty or fifty mainstream content distribution companies. Guaranteed+divided? The way of cooperation. In order to show our sincerity in promoting the development of the industry, I remember we held a grand ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. After 2009, with the international capital market having a clear understanding of Internet video business, a large amount of hot money began to flood into this market, which directly led to the soaring copyright price, which soared dozens of times in two years, and Internet video evolved into a money-burning game. As a result, a lot of video companies died. But at least, I think that our companies, not only Thunder, in 2009, Qi Xin cooperated to push some contents of the Internet, more concentrated music and movies to the road of legalization, which is also a great contribution to the industry. So I think it is a false proposition to talk about the copyright of Thunder now. Thunder is just a download tool, just like repairing a highway. Someone is picking someone else's oranges by the road. Can only say that orange pickers have moral problems. On the contrary, you can't blame whether the expressway should be built or not. In fact, we have been committed to the promotion of genuine content, spending hundreds of millions of yuan to buy video copyright every year, which is unbearable for the high copyright cost. So far, our input and output are far out of proportion, and even my colleagues, including me, think it is unrealistic to rely on video advertising to get a lot of income at this stage, but? Just to make money? And then what? Actively promote? In fact, it is something that needs to be understood separately. I always thought there was a stubborn and reserved side in my character. I am willing to spend a lot of time and energy trying something I am interested in. On the contrary, I will resist, be negative and even refuse what I don't want to do. As a business leader, sometimes you need to have multiple faces and identities. If you think about it, sometimes I'm too straightforward. When I started my business, my wish was to retire at the age of 35 and then travel around the world; I didn't realize that retirement was a luxury until I was 35, so I planned to retire at 40. Now, at the age of 40, he is coming again. On the contrary, my temples are gray, and I am getting old before I get old. So I set myself a threshold of 45. I am constantly looking for such a balance point, and sometimes I wonder if the missed opportunities and nodes of Thunder really have some subtle connection with my personality. In the game, let me have some reflection and thinking. Around 2006, the internet game market began to break out, among which Shanda was the most typical representative. Our board of directors is far-sighted. They made a detailed report and proved that there will be many subdivisions in the Internet format, and suggested that we might consider turning to games. Objectively speaking, I agree with the proposal of the board of directors, but I didn't fully accept it? Transformation? The concept of. The most successful game companies in those days were companies like Shanda and Netease. Internet is an oligopoly market. In any vertical field, you must be in the top three to be meaningful. But among the top three, only the first one can make a lot of money, which is very, very influential. Although the second and the third can live, they will definitely feel uncomfortable. At that time, Shanda has done a lot, and we may not be able to do it. At that time, what I wanted was to make Thunder a user platform and then realize vertical application on the platform. Playing games at this time obviously goes against my original intention, so I have some resistance in my heart. How does Thunder become a game company? However, this entanglement was later proved to be a cognitive deviation, and then we saw the growth of Tencent. Relying on the user platform, Tencent developed a variety of games, which quickly stood out on the Internet, even surpassing Shanda in one fell swoop. When users evaluate Tencent, they don't regard it as a family? Game company? . This incident has given us great inspiration. We analyzed why Tencent can do a great job in playing games. Of course, in addition to its own games, there is also a very important reason, that is, it has a member payment platform with a large number of users, and it can realize vertical application on the member platform. In fact, Thunder can do this completely. So in 2009, we began to move towards two lines, one line team playing games and the other line team being members. We have never thought of being an independent game company, and hope that these two lines can intersect one day. But it needs to be accumulated. Tencent has actually been a member since 2000, but it was not until 2006 that the membership just passed 654.38+00,000. In other words, for a long time, Tencent members have grown so smoothly; However, from 2006 to 2009, Tencent's paid members soared from 654.38+200,000 to 654.38+200,000, and from 2009 to now it has exceeded 20 million. It is a little gratifying that after nearly three years of cultivation, our membership will reach 4 million by the end of this year, and we have finally established? Paid membership+online advertising? Business model. Today, millions of paid members support Thunder's download, game and video services, and contribute more than half of the company's revenue. Our goal is that in the next two or three years, the number of paid members will exceed100000. But unfortunately, we missed the best time node. Gains and losses of IPO My understanding of Thunder is that we are a company with the characteristics of southern enterprises, and we are not good at promoting and packaging ourselves. We would rather do it than say it. For example, in 2007, we spent a lot of energy on TV? Embedded thunder? Product development. We formed a team of more than 200 people and moved all the camp beds to the office. All this was done in the invisible sight of the public and lasted for three years. However, due to the immature market and other reasons, the project finally aborted, and three years of hard work and hundreds of millions of yuan of investment eventually went down the drain. This incident gave me a great shock, and the Internet industry generally paid attention to it? Prejudice? 、? Preemptive strike? , in? First of all? With what? After that? Between, I would rather choose? After that? A little, but sometimes often? After that? One point, then another risk comes unexpectedly, so this is a difficult problem to weigh. Take IPO as an example. From 2009, Thunder began to make profits, and by 20 10, our net profit reached 8.47 million dollars. Even if it is not listed, Thunder can survive. It is precisely because of this idea that we have high expectations for IPO, and the time node has been postponed again and again, thinking that we are different from those enterprises that need to go public for blood transfusion. During the roadshow on Wall Street, our team was called the strongest team in nearly 20 roadshows listed in the United States by investors. Their evaluation of us is that this is an internet company that is good at technology. This makes us very excited. But we're just not good at it? Tell a story? And packaging, while still holding it? As steady as Mount Tai? Psychology, we are better than others. If the capital market doesn't know the goods, on the contrary, I will quit. At the beginning of 20 1 1 IPO, we obtained the valuation of the capital market1500 million to 2 billion dollars. In March of that year, Qihoo 360 went public, which strengthened us even more? Will listing get excellent performance? The determination. According to the original plan, we should successfully IPO in April of 20 1 1. But that's the problem. High psychological expectations, excessive attention to details, and hope to improve some financial red tape, so the pace of our IPO has slowed down unhurriedly. However, it was at this stage that the financial scandal in Southeast China broke out, and the Alipay [Weibo ]VIE incident triggered a crisis of integrity, which greatly damaged the confidence of American investors in China Stock Exchange. Despite our repeated compromises, the amount of financing granted to us by the capital market has been reduced again and again, completely breaking the bottom line. In fact, at this time, I have got the revenue data of Thunder in the second quarter of that year, and all the indicators on the data are very good. My revenue data is so good, the market gives me so little money, and my heart suddenly becomes more unbalanced. After repeated thinking, we decided to terminate the IPO and wait for the opportunity. But although the market has picked up today, there is still a certain gap from our psychological expectations. But just because the market won't listen to you too much, why did Thunder's so-called excellent IPO fail? Conversely, there must be something wrong with the enterprise itself. This incident also made me reflect. Would the result be very different if we hesitated less? Aside from the market environment, why can there be so many peers? Okay？ Successfully landed in the capital market? We are proud of our prudence. Technology company? Is orientation from another angle? Is it too perfect, lacking some adventurous spirit and pioneering spirit? However, there is no if. One year after I changed and became my rival IPO, I began to look at the company I led in all directions and tried to make some changes. I didn't think so before. I stubbornly believe that as a technology-based company, it is fundamental to do a good job in technology, just as Jobs will not cater to the public's picky. But in an era of all-round competition, perhaps technology is only an important aspect of enterprise competitiveness, but it is by no means all aspects. We also need crazy people, promotion, packaging and publicity, commercial operation, some technology and some crazy people who can sell products. Just a few days ago, we held the first general meeting day in history. Compared with other companies, similar activities have long existed, and we are indeed a little late. Nowadays, advertisements watched by Thunder have also begun to appear in airports, subways, outdoors and other places. We are slow, but we are not stupid. Although it is unrealistic for individuals including me to make fundamental changes at once, it is a new way for enterprises to take the initiative to make some changes. We often laugh at ourselves that the Internet industry is TMT industry. This industry will experience competition in three to five years, and there will be great industry changes and system adjustment in the cycle of 10. On the one hand, we should take care of the growth of the original industry, on the other hand, we should meet the opportunities brought by the overwhelming changes in new industries. For example, now, the arrival of the mobile Internet era is unexpected, which means that another batch of enterprises have fallen, and another batch of enterprises have ushered in a new life. Three great events that happened in the meantime deeply touched me. First, the original application size capacity on Google Android platform has been expanded from 50M to 4G, which makes the app get rid of the constraint of file size when it goes online, and provides the soil for the rise of many large-capacity applications on smart phones. Second, I learned that starting from 20 12, Apple's iOS mobile phone platform? Free download+props charge? Was it a mobile game income before? Pay to download the app? Mode 3 times, which means that the operation method of Thunder in Internet games can be transplanted to mobile phones. Third, the rise of QR codes has become a bridge between the Internet and the mobile Internet. Our user coverage on the PC Internet has reached 73%, which is close to the bottleneck. If we can't find a foothold on the wireless Internet in the future, Thunder will miss this round of general trend, which means it will be more passive and even a disaster. We have missed some opportunities, so we must be quick and alert this time. At the end of this year, Thunder's mobile client will be officially launched. We will extend the advantages of PC users and data operation to the mobile terminal, and scan and download through the built-in QR code function, covering games, videos and other aspects. 10 years have passed, and time flies. We have not become a giant, but we have never been a small company. Although we are not towering trees, we are by no means just tenacious shrubs. We may have a little lack and regret, but time, experience and lessons will always test our maturity. Whether you are successful or still on the road, you can't change the ideal of science and technology enterprises in our bones. When you keep an ideal heart, you will find that the biggest opponent is often not others, but yourself. Reporter's Note of Thunder Impression: Zou Shenglong appeared in a casual dress with a kind smile. He claimed that he was not good at facing the media. A vice president told reporters that he was too busy, except for work. Now, he personally focuses on Thunder's mobile Internet products. In the subsequent interview, when asked? Skilled workers? And then what? Excellent entrepreneur? When choosing between the two, he chose the former without thinking. Therefore, this is a leader with engineer temperament, so don't be too polite in the interview. His persistence and love for products surpassed the management of the enterprise itself. When talking about the value, trend and trend of the internet, this white-haired man? Young entrepreneurs? Suddenly there is a feeling of excitement of being beaten with chicken blood. He doesn't like camouflage, which the outside world sometimes lacks? Skill? . Compared with Zhou [Weibo]' s strength and arrogance, Ma Yun [Weibo]' s wise thinking, calm and elegant, and Ma's introverted and calm, Zou Shenglong seems to be more? Comprehensive? . For the enterprise, he expressed his hope to do it in the way he liked, and had no intention of keeping up with anyone. So that he is often weakened when he selects the man of the hour online. Although Thunder has maintained a high growth rate of 100% in recent years, its annual income has also exceeded1000 million yuan. So this is a good family? Doing things? Company. When the reporter interviewed, it was the weekend working day, and the employees came to work in an orderly manner. They have little passion and excitement. They are quiet and warm. There are few slogans here, and there is no so-called refined corporate culture. Purpose? Or? Core idea? A KT board hanging on the wall explains all the goals of this enterprise at this stage, which reads: 1 100 million download terminal? 100000 paying users? With a revenue of 65.438 billion yuan, build the largest digital distribution network in China with technology and culture? . Zou Shenglong said that when he feels stressed, he usually walks to relieve it. Many times, employees can see his driver driving while walking. There is a water bar near the company. When he is stressed, he will sit in it for hours and pick up a pen and paper to write and draw from time to time. In front of the public and employees, he has a rare good temper, even if he is no longer happy, he can always hold back. In such an era of eye-catching economy and self-hype, there is no Weibo, no blog and little online chat in Zou Shenglong. Does he evaluate himself? Not smart enough? Today's so-called achievements are entirely due to diligence, integrity and moderation. His greatest hope is to play with his son on weekends, and when the reporter asked about his family, this gentle man showed a rare touch. Neither earlier nor later, there is no magnificent story, nor ups and downs. Thunder has always existed in a gentle way, and it has passed 10 years. Comment on Being a Slow Company Waiting for the Outbreak ■ Text/Famous Internet Expert Wei Wuhui There is a quite famous slow company on the Internet: Douban. Unlike many companies, douban has always been for people? Slow? A sense of development, it seems that I don't like to follow the fashion, and sometimes I do things that outsiders don't understand (such as Alpha City). The users of Douban did not develop rapidly, and the growth of users began to accelerate until Tencent cooperated with them the year before last. Bai Yang, the founder of Douban, also gives people a very calm image, slow and unassuming. From this point of view, in fact, thunder is a bit like watercress, and it is not a fast-growing road. In the industry, Zou Shenglong is not a founder who advertises everywhere. Zou never thought about how to communicate with the media until the IPO failed. This is a person who believes that technology is king, products speak, and has strong? Engineer thinking? . But from this interview, we can see that the slowness of Zou Shenglong is actually different from that of Bai Yang. Mr Bo really doesn't want to be quick, but Zou Shenglong obviously doesn't. An enterprise has three closely linked rings: goal, strategy and tactics. As for the goal, Zou Shenglong, like Bai Yang, has a great dream to be a company that serves many people (not necessarily the company with the highest profit rate). Tactically, Thunder is similar to Douban, and basically belongs to a digital company that slowly promotes products. Strategically, however, Bai Yang is a typical person who is not in a hurry, and Zou Shenglong reflects on himself because he thinks he is slow, because the enterprise has been 10 years after all. Timing, a deadly thing, has been bothering Thunder. Thunder has the right things to do and the right people to do it, but it seems that it just can't be done at the right time. But after careful study, there are two kinds of timing problems. One is unpredictable (or beyond its measurable range), and there is a certain element of luck in it, such as the Thunder IPO incident. But the other is actually measurable, or a judgment. This belongs to a strategic level, and it is possible to lose this strategic judgment by burying your head in things: not seeing the forest. Thunder's mission (goal) is wrong: digital distribution, and more vertically: video distribution. But mission is not strategy. The mission is there, you can go there step by step, but the strategy should be combined with the objective general trend and guided by the situation. If Thunder is a little mediocre, it is a lack of strategy in the three interrelated links of goal, strategy and tactics. Can thunder change? It's not difficult to say difficult. According to Zou Shenglong, he and his business partners firmly control the company, and the personality of the founder determines the company's personality. Fortunately, Zou Shenglong suddenly woke up and realized the influence of personal personality on the enterprise and some shortcomings of the enterprise, and has begun to make some positive changes; On the negative side, even if Zou Shenglong takes his time with his own personality and works as an engineer to dig deep into the existing 370 million users? Grinding? It can also cultivate a large number of users with high viscosity. After all, it has passed the stage of relying on venture capital to support. So whether it is fast or slow, the thunder has a great chance to break out. In this sense, there is nothing wrong with being a slow company waiting for the outbreak.