Chapter 213: Fission! Forcing Wu Lingxi to abdicate!

Which one came earlier, Tudou or YOUTUBE?

If we judge by the time of company registration, YouTube was earlier, but if we judge by the time of website launch, Tudou was earlier.

So strictly speaking, Tudou is the world's first large-scale online video website.

Historically, Tudou.com did rise rapidly, becoming the leader of a new industry in a very short period of time.

But at least when Tudou was first launched, it did not cause much sensation nor bring great honor.

On the contrary, after the launch of this video website by Ergou Jiaozhu.

There was a brief moment of surprise at first.

Then, there was overwhelming praise.

The entire Facebook community, and even the Renren community, is filled with spontaneous posts.

"I knew that Master Ergou would not let me down."

“The world’s first online video site was born.”

"Master Ergou has created a new business model!"

"I've always dreamed of opening the webpage and watching Journey to the West. Now, Master Ergou has helped me realize it."

"Master Ergou's innovation never stops..."

……………………

The person in charge of the Facebook video website is the historical founder of Tudou.com, Mr. Wang Wei, who holds a master's degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins.

After leaving Tudou, he founded Light Chaser Animation, with the goal of becoming China’s Pixar.

"White Snake: Origin" and "30,000 Miles from Chang'an" are both his works.

There is no doubt that he is a man with ideals. Although his career at Tudou.com failed midway, Lin Xiao still admires him very much.

Historically, when he founded Tudou.com, there were only five people, but now his team has nearly fifty people.

When Xia Xi went to recruit him, he was still working at Bertelsmann, and he came here almost as soon as he was recruited.

After joining Facebook, Wang Wei immediately showed enthusiasm for his career.

It's as if I was born to work in this industry.

At this moment, he was tirelessly scrolling through these posts on the Facebook community.

Almost every time I refresh the page, a large number of praise posts appear. This feeling is really intoxicating.

He was really confused. Is our website so awesome?

Is this thing really that awesome?

Because he built the entire YOUTUBE business group and invested a lot of energy and thought into it.

So one day, Wang Wei asked Lin Xiao, this video website seems to be independent of Facebook, is it better? Lin Xiao gave a positive answer.

Now this video site and Facebook can achieve mutual success because it is novel and can attract a large number of users in a short period of time.

But in the final analysis, these are two different business models.

So, this column is simply called youtube instead of Facebook video.

Wang Wei also questioned why this video website did not have a more Chinese name, such as Potato or Tomato.

This is just like the question that everyone debated when Facebook was founded.

Why is it called Facebook instead of Renren or Kaixin?

In fact, Lin Xiao hesitated for a long time. Why is this video website not called Lightning Video or Tudou?

But... to go out to sea.

In order to quickly capture overseas markets, we chose this more global name.

When the Lightning Group becomes extremely powerful around the world and has become a habit among countless global users, it can then adopt a Chinese name.

……………………

In the next few days, the entire Internet reacted violently to the emergence of Facebook video YouTube.

Professor Zhang from Peking University continued to write articles.

“This day has finally come!”

"In fact, I have been wondering for a long time, when will computers replace televisions?"

"This day has finally come. Some people may say that before there was no online website, you can watch these TV series and movies just by downloading them."

"But this is completely different. Humans are very lazy animals. If they don't need to see something urgently, they are unwilling to waste time and energy downloading it. Most of the time, people just want to watch a movie, a TV series, or a video casually."

"Don't underestimate this kind of casualness, it means huge traffic."

"Everyone was expecting Facebook's counterattack. When the YouTube column appeared, my eyes lit up and I was excited."

"Master Ergou handed in a perfect answer."

"I didn't expect that this video website is so complete and the content is much richer than I imagined."

"Master Ergou is once again at the forefront of the Internet wave."

"Not long ago, I did criticize Ergou Jiaozhu for his empty talk on Facebook Night, but now I want to praise him again."

“He can really give us a big surprise.”

……………………

The flattery from outside is getting more and more intense.

It also brought huge positive feedback.

To be honest, when Tudou.com was first launched, it didn't cause that much of a stir. It was also the world's first real online video website.

On the contrary, Facebook launched an online video that caused such a sensational effect.

This is the charm of personal IP.

With the support of this personal IP, everything you do will be twice as effective with half the effort and will bring its own traffic.

Indeed, Facebook's online video is much more complete than the early Tudou and has much richer content.

And the interface is also excellent.

But...it still doesn't deserve the praise it has today.

For a new product, it's excellent, and its content is even rich.

But as a video website, its content is far from rich enough.

This counterattack not only brought huge praise, but also brought huge traffic.

With the opening of national registration, many new users will flock in.

With the launch of this video website, many people want to join in the fun and have registered Facebook accounts to watch videos and reminisce about their childhood.

They all read Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms with great interest.

Faced with a crazy surge in users.

There is a strong sense of self-confidence within Facebook.

Some of them even became a little arrogant, thinking that they could win in terms of registered users just by relying on YouTube.

For this purpose, Lin Xiao specially convened an internal core meeting with only a few people.

"I want to warn you that this video website is not that great, and it does not have that much power."

“It doesn’t deliver a win for Facebook.”

“It looks like a lot of content, but it’s actually pretty bland.”

"A large number of users just want something new."

"Moreover, this business model is independent. At the beginning, it may be highly complementary to Facebook, but it will gradually drift apart. It cannot promote social interaction. Instead, what can really promote social interaction are those Flash games that are sneered at by many people."

"But the social attributes of these mini-games need time to develop."

"How can we defeat Renren?"

“There are only two things: semi-acquaintance social moat and authority!”

“We already have the former, but we are not yet able to achieve the authority.”

"What is authoritative? It means that a large number of official organizations and corporate organizations have established official accounts on Facebook and released official news through our Facebook."

"In addition, a large number of stars and celebrities have set up accounts on our Facebook and use it as their only platform for expressing their opinions."

"This video website was originally our plan. Whether Facebook wants to fight back or not, we are going to build this website."

"I think the popularity this online video site can bring to Facebook will not last more than two or three months."

"And once it grows bigger, it will even undermine Facebook's social attributes."

“Because users don’t know whether they are visiting the site for socializing or for watching videos.”

"So, within half a year at most, this video website will become independent and split off."

"The reason why I integrated YouTube into Facebook first was, first, to attract traffic, and second, to get Renren to follow up and guide them toward the wrong strategy."

"Destroy their internal unity!"

"But the unity of the enemies was not destroyed, and they were not led astray. Instead, they led us astray."

"We are the core members of the company, and we must be vigilant!"

……………………

Inside Renren.com.

For the first time, co-CEOs Chen Yizhou and Wu Lingxi had a disagreement.

Chen Yizhou: "Mr. Wu, I think we must follow up immediately and create an online video website."

"We have a huge advantage in this regard. We have a strategic tie-up with the entertainment industry and we can buy a lot of copyrights. We have a lot of cooperation with the entire satellite TV industry and we also have a close relationship with CCTV."

"What is this video website competing for? Who has more TV series and who has more movies."

"The entire Hong Kong circle is on our side, the entire Beijing circle is on our side, and the entire satellite TV circle is on our side."

"So, Lightning Group is definitely not our opponent in the fight for copyright."

"He must have gotten up very early, but arrived late."

Wu Lingxi fell into deep thought.

She instinctively felt that this should not be done, and it was a business intuition.

Because at the beginning, they made such a strategic mistake. Lingxi Island bundled the two major categories of e-commerce and social networking together.

As a result, the two major categories developed independently and became a monster.

In order to defeat Facebook, it has to split up.

When the two social networking sites were split, it was a complete setback. In the end, Wu Lingxi gambled everything and persuaded Zhang Chaoyang to hand over chinaren. The two social networking sites merged, and then she invested 200 to 300 million yuan to turn the tide and win the glorious Renren.

But if we really want to develop a video website now, wouldn’t that be going back to the old ways?

If we integrate the two major categories into the website, the social networking site will no longer be pure.

"No..." Wu Lingxi said firmly in the end.

Chen Zhou said: "Then let a large number of celebrities join Renren immediately to kill the counterattack of the Ergou leader."

Wu Lingxi thought for a while and shook her head: "No."

"First, we do have more users and more traffic now, but we are working hard to build a social gene for semi-acquaintances."

“All our money and all our activities now revolve around this core.”

"This is the basic foundation. Once it is firmly established, we can allow a large number of celebrities to move in."

"Because the arrival of a star is like a storm, it must come at the right time, and we must be able to endure the loneliness."

Chen Yizhou: "So are we just going to watch Facebook's traffic and registered users catch up?"

Wu Lingxi: "The first push is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted! We have to wait until his momentum is exhausted before we play our big card, because we are the leading side now."

"For us, the most important thing is to take advantage of this rare leading time to build social genes and establish a solid social foundation."

Chen Yizhou: "Mr. Wu, you have become a conservative. Where is the bold and courageous Wu Lingxi?"

……………………

A joint venture between Lightning Entertainment, SoftBank Group, and Columbia was established some time ago.

It is named Mirage Vision, and its English name is Mirage Vision.

Moreover, the funds of the three parties have been in place, and the joint venture's first project, "Train to Busan", is being pushed forward in full swing.

The importance of this project needs no further explanation.

This is the first project of Ergou Jiaozhu to enter the world, and it is also a milestone project in his pursuit of hegemony in the entertainment industry.

If this project succeeds, everything will be smooth sailing.

If this project fails, the overseas cultural project will almost fail.

At least that's the case when it comes to movies.

The directors have almost been confirmed. The Chinese director is Ning Hao, and the Korean director is Bong Joon-ho.

At this time, he was already considered a very successful director. Last year's "Memories of Murder" brought him both fame and fortune.

The casting is being worked out now.

Regarding the male lead, Lightning Entertainment held countless meetings.

The controversy is just one point.

Should the male lead be a Chinese actor or a Korean actor?

First of all, it is certain that the filming location and story background of this movie have been decided. It must be South Korea and it must be Busan.

After weighing the pros and cons many times, I found that the background of this story must be in a foreign country, not in China or Hong Kong.

If a Chinese actor is cast as the male lead, it will certainly increase a certain sense of national honor, but it will be disadvantageous for overseas sales, especially for the Korean box office market.

Because of this movie, South Korea may be one of the largest box office bases.

This country is crazy. Such a small country can actually generate tens of millions of dollars in box office revenue.

And this country has a very strong sense of national pride.

In order to make your money, let's make the male lead a Korean.

So should he still choose Gong Yoo, or Lee Jung Jae whom Lin Xiao likes more? Or Ahn Jae Wook who is currently popular? Or the handsome Jung Woo Sung or Won Bin? At this time, Gong Yoo and Lee Jung Jae were not very famous, but Jung Woo Sung had already made a Sino-Korean co-production a few years ago.

It was finally decided that this male protagonist should not be particularly handsome, nor particularly tough and heroic.

Therefore, we invited Lee Jung-jae and Gong Yoo to audition and choose one of them.

The male lead will be a Korean, so the second male lead and the first female lead will be Chinese actors.

Originally, the second male lead in this movie was a very outstanding one, Ma Dong-seok.

That double-door refrigerator is so big and oppressive.

He is a man of few words, fierce and tough.

Who should play this role?

At this time, the person in front of Lin Xiao was Wu Jing.

At this time, Brother Jing was at a low point in his career and was trying hard to switch from TV dramas to movies.

The vicious killer in "SPL" that made him break out of the circle did not appear until 2005, and it was many years later that he became famous and became a legend in "Wolf Warrior 2".

At this moment, he was standing in front of Lin Xiao, almost holding his breath, his heart beating wildly.

He vaguely felt that there was a huge opportunity right in front of him, and it depended on whether he could seize it.

Lin Xiao looked at this face. Although he was already thirty years old, there were still some traces of a baby face.

There is some sense of the vicissitudes of life, but it is not enough.

Moreover, his body shape is very different from Ma Dong-seok.

But he can play the role of a tough guy.

Lin Xiao took out a portrait, which was the image of the second male lead in "The Last Days".

"How much do you weigh?"

Wu Jing: “65 kilograms!”

Lin Xiao said: "In three months, gaining weight to 110 kilograms, is there a problem?"

"And it's not just about gaining weight, it also has to be filled with a strong sense of power and oppression."

"Fat-wrapped muscles give people a very strong and tough feeling."

"You need to fully achieve the personal image in this picture. You need to be a completely different you and say goodbye to your previous image completely!"

In fact, Ma Dong-seok weighed only 60 kilograms at the beginning. He gained weight to over 100 kilograms within a few months for the purpose of acting, and then he embarked on this acting path.

Wu Jing: "No problem, I guarantee to complete the task!"

Lin Xiao: "Okay, then it's you."

Wu Jing suddenly felt dry in the mouth and trembled, "The second male lead in "The Last Days"?"

Lin Xiao said: "That's right!"

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

I… I actually got it? He was so excited that he was shaking all over, because his transformation was really difficult. He went south to Hong Kong to work hard, and at least so far it has been very unsuccessful.

I don’t know how many people I asked for help, and how much hardship I endured, but I still didn’t get any chance.

This "The Last Days" is the first work of Master Ergou to go global, and it is a big production with an investment of 10 million US dollars.

The role of the second male lead fell on his head. If this wasn't good luck from heaven, what else could it be? "Thank you, Master. I... I will definitely not let you down!"

Wu Jing bowed deeply and took a long time to stand up.

When he went out, he even felt the wind under his feet.

"I just attended Facebook Night, and you gave me such a big reward?"

"The Second Dog Sect Leader will rule the martial arts world for thousands of years."

The second male lead has been decided, and the next step is to decide on the first female lead, who is also the second male lead’s wife.

This female lead must form a sharp contrast with the male lead.

She is a pregnant woman, and she must be delicate and beautiful.

In fact, Bubble is really suitable for this role because she is naturally protective, pure and beautiful.

However, there was no way Lin Xiao would let her go to film.

Qu Feifei is not suitable either because she is very wild, and Jiang Lier is even less suitable because she is too wild.

So who is suitable?

She needs to be very beautiful, yet have a natural sense of fragility.

Lin Xiao kept replaying the faces of these domestic actresses in his mind.

But there seem to be very few who fully meet the requirements. And there are not many female celebrities who have joined Lightning Entertainment.

……………………

The impact of the video website YOUTUBE continues.

Facebook's daily traffic is still increasing.

The number of registered users is also increasing.

Leader Ergou found that he really underestimated his own aura. A mere video website could bring such a big effect.

This is certainly gratifying, but... it doesn't entirely fit in with his strategy.

Video websites can be popular, but they cannot take the spotlight, and certainly not destroy the purity of Facebook.

You must find a way to become independent as soon as possible and not get too deeply entangled with Facebook, otherwise when the time comes to separate, it will be bloody.

But the outside world doesn’t know.

All everyone saw was that as soon as Leader Ergou launched a counterattack, a storm immediately arose.

Facebook's popularity and Facebook visits immediately began to soar.

Moreover, it seems as if there is no end in sight.

It will keep going up.

As a result, the differences on Renren.com became increasingly serious.

As co-CEO, Chen Yizhou was originally willing to be Wu Lingxi's deputy because Wu Lingxi had always been right.

In particular, she almost single-handedly facilitated the merger of Lingxi Island Social and Chinaren.

It was she who defied all odds and invested huge sums of money to launch the first battle of Renren.com, making it the number one social networking site in the country and the world in less than a month.

The strong are always followed.

However, now, seeing Facebook's fierce counterattack, the number of registered users and visits have skyrocketed just by relying on a video website.

As for Wu Lingxi, she remained steadfast and refused to move.

In her words, it is to consolidate the base and continue to build social genes.

Although Chen Yizhou disagreed, he chose to obey because he felt that Wu Lingxi might be right.

Moreover, Lin Xiao could also see from the background that the impact brought by this video website had gradually declined.

Because everyone's sense of novelty has gradually faded.

Of course, video websites definitely have huge prospects and will definitely give birth to a brand new industrial chain.

But that requires a massive amount of content.

If we simply rely on it to drive traffic to Facebook, its power will become weaker and weaker.

but……

Unexpectedly, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said this publicly during a public speech at a technology event.

“Be careful about the Chinese Internet. Perhaps they are changing from followers to leaders.”

"Last year, Facebook was the new Internet product that excited me the most, and this year there is another one, YouTube!"

"Online video websites are bound to be a new outlet. They will trigger a new Internet wave and bring about huge changes and subversion to the entire Internet world."

"Facebook plus YouTube is already a small Internet revolution, but it is a pity and surprising that it was born in the far east."

"I hope everyone will pay attention to this name, Master Ergou!"

“Perhaps in the near future, this name will appear in the world’s Internet landscape.”

This time, it’s not about returning a favor.

This time he was full of vigilance and even regarded Leader Ergou as a potential opponent in the future.

At this time, Google has become a world-class unicorn. It will go public this year with a market value of 27 billion US dollars.

Its CEO Eric was already an absolute Internet star at that time, and he also had an absolute keen sense for online video websites. Historically, YouTube had just been established for about a year when Google spent $1.65 billion to acquire it as a subsidiary.

His public speech immediately caused an uproar.

This was also the first time that China's Facebook entered the international Internet's vision.

Immediately afterwards, many reporters went to interview another Internet giant, Yang Zhiyuan of Yahoo.

"The birth of online video sites is indeed exciting."

"I have also visited the YouTube video site on Facebook, and I agree with Eric's idea that this is a product that will lead the Internet trend."

"I was also surprised that it was born in China. I also suggest that everyone pay attention to another Chinese Internet company, Alibaba."

"I haven't met Master Ergou, but I think he is indeed a genius."

“In time, perhaps he will become an important figure in the global Internet.”

……………………

Originally, the momentum brought by the birth of YouTube has weakened.

After all, the content of this video website is not extremely rich, and it has not formed an ecological chain.

So many days have passed, I have watched all the videos I should watch, and the update speed is not very fast.

Everyone thought it was amazing, but...it seemed not as shocking as they had imagined.

As a result, this statement by the world's Internet giants Eric and Yang Zhiyuan immediately caused a storm in the country.

At this time, the country is far from confident, and this is still the case even after 20 years.

The stones that had been about to die down surged up again.

A huge number of users once again flocked to YOUTUBE.

However, to access the video website, you must first enter Facebook and register to avoid advertisements.

Therefore, the number of registered Facebook users has skyrocketed again.

Then, Renren could no longer sit still.

The remarks made by the CEO of Google and the chairman of Yahoo not only spread on domestic portal websites, but were also reported in various newspapers and even on many TV news reports.

Chen Yizhou had originally decided to obey, but now he was divided again.

At this time, Renren once again held an emergency high-level meeting.

The whole atmosphere is very solemn and auspicious!

"Did you see that? It's clear that Renren is the number one social networking site in the country, or even the world."

"But did Google CEO and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang mention Renren at all? All they talked about was Facebook and YouTube."

"Why? It's because Master Ergou is pioneering and enterprising, full of personal heroism."

"But now we have become complacent, as if we have finally won the title of No. 1 social networking site, and we have become anxious and fearful, no longer brave, and have lost the spirit of pioneering and enterprising. We only think about defense and try our best to maintain the title of No. 1 in the country and the world."

"Little do they know that in the eyes of the world's giants, the brave are heroes."

"Mr. Wu, after the Spring Festival Gala, you kept saying that we must not slack off, we must keep fighting, we must keep making progress, and we must not leave any chances for Facebook."

"After Facebook Night, you just watched Facebook grow by leaps and bounds without doing anything. It's like all your passion was exhausted during Renren Night."

"Boss Wu, we must immediately purchase the copyright and set up an online video website!"

Wu Lingxi's eyes were red and she had trouble sleeping these past few days.

Because she has been thinking, should she follow up with online video websites? Should she engage in a copyright arms race with Ergou?

But after thinking about it again and again, the result is the same.

cannot!

Maybe Master Ergou will be very successful on video websites, but... this kind of video website and social networking website are really incompatible.

At this time, you should really focus on social interaction and continue to build your social foundation.

Ergou Sect mainly runs video websites, so let him do it.

As long as Renren continues to lead in social networking, that’s enough.

She will focus on this track until she is completely ahead and has formed a monopoly, and then she may move to other tracks.

And all of this is for the service of Renren.

But the CEO of Google and the Chairman of Yahoo are truly the spiritual leaders of all Internet people, and the words of these two people did indeed cause her great shock.

Am I wrong? Can video sites and social networking really complement each other?

She reflected on it again and again, but she was firm in her thoughts again and again.

But now, the entire Renren senior management seemed to think that she was wrong and Chen Yizhou was right.

At this meeting, co-CEO Chen Yizhou has publicly expressed his strong attitude to go on the video website.

"Mr. Wu, you also had a strategic plan before, which was to copy Facebook."

"And you have carried this policy through to the end, which is why Renren has achieved its current success."

“Why don’t you do it now?”

Chen Yizhou was also like this in the battle between Renren and Kaixin. He actually didn't like these flash games at all, but as long as Kaixin made them and succeeded, he would immediately copy an identical one.

Wu Lingxi looked at the senior executives present and said slowly: "I still think that we should not follow the online video sites. We should focus on social networking."

"We should take advantage of this rare opportunity to continue to consolidate Renren's social foundation."

"We are different from Renren and Facebook. Their foundations are very solid, but we rose too quickly and our foundation is not that solid."

"I even think that putting the video site on Facebook was a stupid move by the leader. It is very dangerous. It will distract users and change the social attributes of the entire website."

"The bigger this video site grows in the future, the more damage it will do to Facebook."

"I even think that the mini-games on Facebook promote social interaction more than online video sites."

Chen Yizhou couldn't help but ask: "Has Master Ergou made any strategic mistakes from the beginning to now? If he was wrong, why would the CEO of Google and the chairman of Yahoo fully agree with and even marvel at his YouTube?"

"And are those FLASH games on Facebook showing any signs of success? When they were first launched, they were ridiculed by the entire Internet. Even you yourself looked down on them and told everyone to cancel their preparations and go home after get off work."

Indeed, Wu Lingxi also disdained these small games at that time.

But she has been playing them recently and found that these mini-games are actually very addictive and highly interactive.

It even kills time.

At least she still enjoys watching "Monkey", which is so difficult.

When he died again and again, Wu Lingxi was alone in the room, and even cursed at the leader Ergou.

"Lin Xiao, you're a pervert."

"FUCK, Master Ergou, fuck you!"

So after delving deeper into Facebook's mini-game channel, she became increasingly wary of this product.

Chen Yizhou is still going on.

"Mr. Wu, I know!"

"Lingxi Island used to be a social networking and e-commerce company, which brought you a huge lesson of failure and became a painful memory."

"But I think this is a case of trying to find a sword by cutting the boat to find the sword. I think online video can greatly enrich the ecological chain of social networking sites and widen the social moat. It can also greatly increase the length of time social users stay, so online video sites are for social services."

"I strongly urge Renren to immediately become an online video website. It will be too late if we delay."

Wu Lingxi looked at the senior executives present and said slowly, "Do you also think we should go to online video sites?"

All the senior executives in the audience were silent, and some even lowered their heads.

Keeping silent is the default.

It’s just that because of Wu Lingxi’s previous success, her prestige is so high that they dare not openly oppose her.

Finally, Wu Lingxi picked up the coffee on the table and drank it all.

"no!"

Then she just left.

Co-CEO Chen Yizhou said indignantly: "Mr. Wu, one person cannot be right all the time. Your stubbornness may ruin the future of Renren!"

Wu Lingxi stopped and said slowly: "Boss Chen, are you forcing me to abdicate?"

"If you think what I did was wrong, please ask the board to remove me."

At this time, Wu Lingxi also revealed some of her characteristics, but it was unclear whether they were advantages or disadvantages.

Domineering and fierce! Then, she went straight back to her suite.

The senior executives who were left at this time looked at each other in bewilderment.

Someone said to Chen Yizhou, "Mr. Chen, the situation is very clear now. Facebook is making rapid progress with the help of an online video website. We cannot sit idly by and watch the situation deteriorate."

"Contact Mr. Zhang from Sohu, contact Mr. Gong, contact Little Li from Yingke Digital, and hold a board meeting!"

"We can't let Mr. Wu make the same mistake again!"

…………………………

Note: I finally finished writing and I'm going to eat. It's the last day of this month. If you have monthly tickets, please remember to vote for the cakes, okay? I bow down deeply and thank you all!

(End of this chapter)