Pea pods's secret: the entrepreneurial legend of CEO after 1985

Pea pods's secret: the entrepreneurial legend of CEO after 1985

On 20 14 65438+ 10/5, pea pods announced that it had obtained the investment of10.2 billion USD led by Softbank group. I have been paying attention to this mobile content search startup for 4 years. Let me explain the secret of pea pods's growth for you: How does a post-85 CEO lead the team to break through under the attack of 360 and Baidu?

On September 9th, 20 13, pea pods co-founder and CEO Wang stood in front of his office window, with a green Japanese-style courtyard at the bottom and Tokyo Bay in the distance. The 28-year-old young man gave 15 minutes to talk about pea pods's strategy in front of Masayoshi Son, but was interrupted by the latter, who in turn told him about the future of Softbank. Wang, wearing a shirt and jeans, and Feng Feng, another co-founder wearing a T-shirt, are negotiating with a group of people in suits and ties.

Why choose Softbank?

Since Baidu bought 9 1 wireless for1900 million dollars in July, 20 13, pea pods has been asked: Will it be sold? At what price? This year, Wang met with more than 40 large domestic and foreign companies and investment institutions. "We don't mean to sell or not to sell. Entrepreneurship is not about not selling the company, nor is it about not selling the company, just to do one thing. " He said thoughtfully, "Which company's technology can help us do it?" This does not seem to be the case. Our current traffic is also based on the reputation of users, and we build our own ecosystem. Giant's product business line is too long. We concentrate on mobile phone search, and our independence will be better. Which story sounds more interesting, an independent and vibrant company or a company acquired by a giant? "

Among more than 40 investment institutions, Softbank has a higher valuation, but it is not the highest. "My son is bold, and I like it, too. He made a big bet, put all his eggs in one basket, took a big risk and produced a high yield, just like everything in Texas Hold 'em. " Wang Junyi said.

Softbank was introduced by DCM, one of the shareholders of pea pods. In this round of financing, Softbank led the investment, DCM and innovation works followed the investment, and Huaxing Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. 20 1 1 In June, pea pods completed the A round of financing, with DCM investing 5 million US dollars and innovation works investing 3 million US dollars. At that time, several venture capitalists contacted big companies, and the valuation and investment amount given by a giant was much higher than DCM. However, DCM agrees with pea pods's strategic direction. Every time the investment manager Hu Boyu (now vice president of investment) comes to talk with them about products and the future, the giant pays more attention to pea pods's existing client products and existing users. Many people advised pea pods to accept the investment of giants, with more money and more promotion resources.

Pea pods's idea is different: they are looking for people who support them 1 0,000%. They think pea pods's idea is too important and must be done, not people who think they have done well enough and other ideas are unnecessary.

They don't know if this choice is right or wrong, but they know what kind of company they want to be. They don't want to be acquired in the short term, and they don't want to focus only on PC clients.

Accepting DCM investment is pea pods's faith-based choice. "99% of things in this world are inexperienced. I don't know right or wrong when making a decision. The only thing you rely on is what you believe. Pea pods first believes in products, and all decisions are based on products. " Pea pods co-founder Cui Jin said. 20 1 1 September, pea pods charged fees for the promotion of applications, and implemented competitive ranking. All advertising applications are clearly marked, informing users that once downloaded, application developers will be charged a certain fee. This is the iron law of pea pods. They strictly distinguish between natural traffic and advertising traffic. What users download through search is natural selection, even if they download an application that is paid to pea pods for promotion. If the natural flow is realized, the company will go further and further, and all the recommendations will become hidden advertisements. Whoever gives the company more money will recommend it. Cui Jin, for example, said that Tencent browser is their advertiser, and it has entered the list of "fastest rising" with its own brand effect, and its position is very good, but pea pods can't use it to calculate advertising expenses.

If natural traffic and advertising traffic are mixed together to charge, pea pods can break even and make a slight profit. This has cost pea pods 70% of its income (this is 20 12). "DCM won't say, well, you have to realize it quickly." Cui Wei said.

When you are tempted and don't know what to choose, do what you believe.

Pea pods's Iron Triangle

Wang said that part of the $1.20 billion raised this time will be used to introduce talents, and the indirect effect of this money is to boost people's confidence in pea pods and pea pods's popularity. Although it is still a small company with little experience, it will gradually expand its team through mergers and acquisitions. The product itself will cost a lot of money, and we will cooperate with content providers to build an ecosystem. Mark zuckerberg of fb said that it doesn't matter whether we make money by ourselves. Only when people make money can more people participate in our platform. "

I asked Wang, if it is a $400 million or $500 million company, each of you can get tens of millions of dollars and become a billionaire. How does it feel? He replied: "If it was two years ago, I think it would be great to achieve 1 billion dollars. At that time, a round of financing was valued at $33 million; If a company could have been worth $30 million four years ago, it would have been $200 million, which I also think is a huge figure. After doing it, I don't think it's great. Just like climbing a mountain. If I really can't climb up, I'll give up. But I feel that I haven't reached that step yet. "

Cui Jin said: "Wang convinced us that if we sold the company, we might not have a chance to expand it after more than ten businesses. We think pea pods is an opportunity to make it bigger. "

In order not to sell pea pods, Fengfeng and Wang had a quarrel in the mail. The contradiction is not whether to sell the company or not, but the way you inform your entrepreneurial partners of your ideas. On June, 2065438 1 day, pea pods had an activity in the company, and everyone had a good time. At that time, a company wanted to buy pea pods, and its valuation was still very high. Wang's temper doesn't like to discuss with others. He is worried that he will oppose Feng Summit. After the activity, he said directly to Feng Feng: I decided not to sell the company. Feng Feng replied: OK. The reflex arc of Fengfeng is very long, and it didn't react at that time. A few days later, he sent an email to Wang, saying, I don't think you can make such a big decision without consulting us. They had a quarrel, and Wang felt that he was wrong. He wanted to invite Fengfeng, who loves steak, to eat the best steak in Beijing, but Fengfeng refused.

Fengfeng doesn't want to sell the company either, but he wants Wang Yujun to tell him why not. "Nothing is more important than this, the three of us should unite. Even if I say that Feng Feng just wants to sell the company, you Wang just doesn't want to sell the company. Let Wang know first, and you can't suddenly jump out at the board meeting and say that we want to sell the company. Then the company will be finished. " Wang feels a lot of pressure. One night, he wandered alone by the unnamed lake of Peking University. It was not until midnight that his wife found him back and felt that something was wrong. That night, Cui Jin and Feng Feng chatted for a long time in the restaurant next to the Workers' Stadium.

Tell the king, "This is an opportunity. Whether to sell the company is not an emotional issue. We must be responsible for our employees. If it is sold today, employees will get more benefits than we will get when we go public in the future. Isn't this an important factor? We need to calculate an account carefully. I can't think clearly. You must do it. "

Wang spent a whole day writing 130 pages of PPT at home. He thinks pea pods will be a great company. "Being an independent company is a responsible choice for employees and investors." Cui Jin and Feng Feng are also excited about his idea and fully support him. Pea pods's Iron Triangle has undergone a difficult test. I said, "You three can cooperate." Cui Jin said: "Yes, I heard that several companies were sold after the division of labor within the entrepreneurial team."

Wang is the youngest of the three. He was born in 1985. Like a child, he is gentle and slow to make decisions. Once he has made up his mind, he will not hesitate. Li Kaifu commented that he has the ability to think independently. Even if others object to his idea, he will try his best to prove himself with the results.

Feng Feng was originally an R&D engineer of a foreign company in Chengdu. He settled in the local area, gave up his stable life and went north to join innovation works. He is one of the four earliest engineers in pea pods. When Feng Feng went, there were only a dozen people in innovation works. I asked Feng Feng if he was disappointed that there were few people. He replied: "The sooner you start a business, the better. The fewer people, the better. I hope that only Kai-Fu Lee will be there when I go. " He was 28 when he joined pea pods. He has a little life experience and rich work experience, and at the same time he is in good mental and physical condition.

I dealt with Cui Jin when she was working at Google China. In recent years, her image has developed from glamorous white-collar workers in fashionable suits in CBD to simple it people in shirts and jeans in Zhongguancun. Cui Jin, a member of pea pods's team, is gentle, strong and impatient. He plays the role of "villain" and says what everyone wants to say but doesn't want to say.

In the past four years, the responsibilities of the three people are roughly as follows: Wang is responsible for products, Feng Feng is responsible for technology, and is responsible for personnel and operations. 20 13, the team became more mature and explored more advantages of each other. Feng Feng not only manages technology, but also manages money. And Wang are confused about the concept of money. Feng Feng will tell you how much interest this money will earn every day if it is put in Yu 'ebao. When discussing the terms with investors, they are very tough and don't give in easily, which protects the interests of the company well. Because of Feng Feng's earnest and careful negotiation, pea pods didn't sign the financing contract until Baidu broke the news that it bought 9 1 wireless for1USD. Pea pods was ready to sign the contract. Because of this news, investors called to stop signing the contract.

Wang said: "This is why Feng Feng and I went to Japan to negotiate with Softbank. Talking about the company's vision is for me to tell Sun Zhengyi, and the specific negotiation details are for Feng Feng to do. I see things a little more, and Cui Jin sees people a little more. If I only look at things, I will see which company is more helpful to us, but Cui Jin will see from the subtle expressions of other executives whether they like us. "

2065438+01-2065438+0212 Zhou Limin, former chief architect of Baidu, served as CEO of pea pods. 20 10 in August, Cui Jin told me that she was satisfied with her present team. "In the past, she was too democratic and argued hard. Now, after running in, everyone understands each other's advantages. Wang Junyi's advantage lies in product talents, and we trust his judgment on product and user needs; In terms of promotion, they trust my judgment; When there is a problem with the product structure, I believe Feng Feng's judgment. " However, a few months later, they are considering looking for a new CEO. Pea pods has developed rapidly, with more and more personnel, but the efficiency of research and development has decreased. Feng Feng and Wang have no experience in managing a medium-sized team, and the inefficiency of the management team has also dragged down pea pods. At that time, the number of users in pea pods had increased to 500,000 to 600,000. Because of technical problems, the 10 server goes down every night.

The three co-founders held a meeting to discuss whether they should find a CEO. To draw a "yes" conclusion, we must first pass our own psychological barrier: at least part of starting a business is to "be the boss of our own company." In the collision and running-in of their views, they strongly realized for the first time that "the most important thing is what the company made, and it doesn't matter where your ass sits." If Wang is to be CEO, Feng Feng should be CTO. If this is what everyone cares about most, pea pods will be finished.

They reached an agreement to find a new CEO. Finding a new CEO is to replace Wang. The young man showed a mature mind and mind. He didn't care, as long as the company was done well.

I want to find a person who can raise money, a product with good performance and a strong technology. After that, the three of them laughed, and they simply found themselves a boss. Finally, they decided that "pea pods will be a technology-driven company and needs a CEO who is proficient in technology", and invited Zhou Limin, who has been a consultant for pea pods for half a year.

Zhou Limin has a good eye for technology. On the second day, he announced that he would use C language and C++ language to reconstruct the PC client in pea pods. They struggled with Wang's idea for more than a quarter and didn't dare to make a decision. For small companies, this is a terrible decision, and many companies have died from restructuring. The first fire of the new CEO burned here. At that time, Feng Feng was the most important engineer in the team and the only one with rich C++ experience. He was pulled out to do pea pods 2.0.

2011September, Tencent released a client written in C language and C++; 10,360,91mobile assistant cooperation company released similar products. In the same month, the reconstructed pea pods 2.0beta was quietly launched. Compared with pea pods 1.0, this product has undergone great changes in structure and appearance, for fear that users will not accept it, so they dare not make a high-profile launch. Pea pods 2.0 is faster, better in structure and more scalable. The later the competition, the greater the advantage. On February 2, 2065438+021day, pea pods 2.0 released the official version. Cui Jin said that without Zhou Limin's decision a year ago, pea pods might have died.

At that time, Li-min Zhou was equivalent to the existence of a Poseidon needle. The specific affairs are operated by Wang and the three of them. If in doubt, you can ask Zhou Limin. 20 1 1 In July, pea pods was still working in a place 100 square meters in Qiu Jin Jiayuan, Zhichun Road. I went to visit and launched a mobile assistant in 360. Cui Jin didn't compete with 360, so she was in a hurry and ran to ask Zhou Limin: Will we have a problem?

Zhou Limin told her that the first step, after the reconstructed version is launched, pea pods will get a good development; Secondly, whether pea pods can become a very successful company depends on whether it can transfer the front-end competition to back-office services. If the battlefield shifts to back-office services, companies that have advantages in the client, such as Tencent and 360, will no longer have advantages or have little advantages.

At the end of 20 12, Zhou limin resigned as CEO of pea pods and kept his shares. Wang Junyi took over as CEO. In terms of mental strength, Zhou Limin has long been economically free, while Wang is "hungry" and keeps working more than 80 hours a week. Equivalent to two years, Li-min Zhou shouldered the main burden, waiting for the three men to grow up separately. Wang said: "Four years ago, I focused on being a good product designer, paying attention to things and not paying attention to people, technology and commercial competition. Zhou Limin helped us a lot. I thought I couldn't handle it at all. At the end of 20 12, he had a new idea, and I gradually felt that the CEO could handle it slowly and know how deep the water is and what way to go. "

He added: "I had a secretary last quarter, and I was not used to it at first." I have to ask everyone to find her in the whole schedule instead of looking for me directly. "

How does pea pods confront the giants?

20 1 1, Cui Jin anxiously asked Zhou Limin: Will we have any problems in the face of 360? 20 14 I put this question in front of her: in the face of giants such as Baidu and 360, what should I do if pea pods is still a small company? Cui Jin said, "I think we may not lose. Although we don't adapt to 360, they don't adapt to ours. After 70, they cursed each other, but after 85 and 90, they were Peter Pan, flying around in the sky, ignoring you and not playing cards your way. The most important thing for pea pods is not to imitate the advantages of his opponent, but to think about his own advantages. "

"pea pods's advantage is still in the product. Every time a new function is launched, it is ahead of schedule. Clues have a time window. 360 can be followed up quickly, and it can be followed up in three to six months. It depends on whether our market can make good use of the time window and get many new users. It must be that the product and BD cooperate well and let everyone know by using the time window. When he followed up, we turned to the next new feature. "

Pea pods was originally a supporting project of Microsoft's internal incubation project, Android mobile phone OS operating system dim sum, and found its huge commercial value potential in the process of doing it. Independence on April 20 10. It wasn't called pea pods at first, but peas. However, the domain name of pea has been registered, and it costs 65,438+10,000 yuan to buy it. It's too expensive,' said Hua Wang, managing partner of innovation works. Both Wang and He say peas are delicious. Hua Wang asked them: You took an angel investment of 6.5438+0 million and spent 6.5438+0 million to buy a domain name. Can you do it? After much deliberation, they changed their name to "pea pods". Later, Wang told me that the domain name of 654.38+10,000 yuan was really too expensive.

When we first became independent, it was the most painful time for pea pods. No one uses these products, and there are about 65,438+000 online users every day. On June 2, 2010/day, Wang wrote an email to Kai-fu Lee, with 225 active users. At that time, 37% users complained that they could not connect. "Users don't need it, but we do it badly." Wang said that he had replied to all users' emails 20 1 1 years ago.

In September of 20 10, the number of users reached 50,000, which increased confidence and the form of mobile assistants was correct. 10 In June, we received an investment of $0/0,000 from innovation works. At that time, Wang Junyi put forward in PPT: "The mobile assistant is an open point. In the future, we will focus on content distribution and third-party content sharing, including app stores, video websites, online music and e-book online websites, and cooperate with them to share revenue. "

20 1 1 In May, pea pods began to do application search, and in October,/kloc-0 10, it began to add advertising system, which was a big milestone in Pea Corner and began to find its own business model to support itself.

20 12 April, pea pods officially proposed that "pea pods is doing mobile search, today it is an application search, and in the future it will be a general search, with music, videos, books and other contents, and it is also an open search."

20 14 1 month, pea pods launched "Mobile Content Search".

The building blocks of mobile phones are applications, and the building blocks of PCs are web pages. What pea pods is doing every day is to analyze the application, how much content there is in the application, which mobile phone to adapt to, what screen resolution to adapt to, and how much power is consumed. Wang Junyi said: "Today's competition on mobile phones is different from the PC era. Second, the role of channels is not so great. The mainstream users are post-80s and post-90s. They have been using computers since childhood, knowing what a good thing is, and won't say what you give him. He will definitely use it, and he will have a choice. Second, many traditional marketing methods can't be used on the move, such as bundling. There is no way to bind on the mobile phone. You can't do this by setting the browser home page. No one opened the browser. "

"Many unsolved problems in the PC era can be solved today. The search of PC is not personalized, and the mobile phone can be completely personalized. On the PC, everyone stops innovating and does micro-innovation. Whoever does it is the same, see who occupies a bigger desktop. "

"In the era of mobile phones, the product itself will play a greater role. This is the times. Now this era is more suitable for the growth of companies with technological innovation. "

Mobile content search is not a game of money now, but a game of data. The more data you have, the more accurate your search results will be and the higher the quality of your search results will be. The more users you have, the more accurate your data will be and the higher the quality of your products will be. Pea pods's accumulated data are all from mobile phone users, which has accumulated for four years, with 300 million installed users and 60 million active users.

I asked Wang how to win the future war.

"Still in products and technology. If you can't run faster than others, this company is worthless. If others do better than us, we can only give up. I'm desperate. "

;