Interview With Internet Entrepreneur Li Xiang

Li Xiang: bubble net CEO, post-80s Internet entrepreneur.

Debut

Ji Chun: Li Xiang's website is getting bigger and bigger now. With the remarkable achievements on the website, Li Xiang's experience is gradually being known by more people.

In May 2006, China's top ten business start-up awards ceremony, among the many experienced entrepreneurs, young and promising Li Xiang looks a little bit different. In these ten average age over forty years old people, as a new generation born in 80s, Li Xiang is the first person to enter this list. What kind of feeling do you feel when you were in it?

Li Xiang: at that time, I felt relatively calm. I didn't say that I had been dazzled by this award. At that time, it was more important to thank the media for their recognition of the young people we were born in 80s. The whole society gave us a very tolerant environment for young people, allowing us to do it boldly, even if we did something wrong.

This is the most joyful feeling, not the award.

Ji Chun: speaking of your entrepreneurial story, are you 20 years old when you come to Beijing and start your own business?

Li Xiang: I am a company founded in Shijiazhuang in 2000. I tried to commercialize it. But because there was no income in Shijiazhuang, our customers were mainly in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. So at the end of 2001, we put the operation part of the company in Beijing, and Shijiazhuang continued to develop technology and maintain technology.

From Beijing, we have relatively stable income.

Ji Chun: that is to say, when you were 19 years old, you really started your own business.

Other kids are 19 years old in college or freshman year, and you have already started the road of entrepreneurship. It's very special. What did people around them say?

Li Xiang: maybe there are various kinds of statements, for example, why not go to school or children do not know things.

But in fact, I have very clear ideas and goals, because I started my personal website when I was in senior middle school. At that time, I used this website to earn one hundred thousand a year. When I was going to take a university entrance examination, I had a choice, whether I was going to College or entrepreneurship, and finally I chose my own business.

Because meeting several conditions, the first Internet and IT, including digital products, are my favorite things to do. I can go all out to do it. Second, in the third year of the senior year, I proved that something I could do could earn money, and I could earn money by maintaining my website while I was on school. If I put all my energy into doing this website with an entrepreneurial mindset, I could earn more money. Third, actually, I already had the foundation of running the website, everything, such as technology, architecture, marketing and others.

After meeting these conditions, the family members also clearly realized that I was actually doing these things steadfastly, not playing, earning money was not obtained through any improper channels, but relying on advertising fees, so naturally I supported my choice to start a business.

Ji Chun: before that, what time did the knowledge about building and maintaining the website begin to accumulate before the operation of the website?

Li Xiang: interest in computers and electronic products started in primary schools.

When I was in grade four, my parents bought a game machine for me, and I liked these electronic products ever since.

At that time, I liked playing games very much, but I didn't get addicted to it. Because when I wanted to play, family members let me play and sometimes played with me, which is quite different from many families.

So far, basically every game player will buy one, though I have no time to play.

In junior high school, when I started contacting computer classes, I felt the computer was so attractive, but at that time, computers were expensive and needed to buy more than 20 000 units. So, from junior high school, I spent my pocket money on computer magazines, computer newspapers, computer enthusiasts, and so on.

By the time I got to high school, I had my own computer. The knowledge accumulated in the past was quickly applied to computers.

When I was sophomore, I began to write articles to the media in large numbers, such as how to make good use of computers, how to choose computers, etc.

At that time, there were more than one thousand yuan income per month.

After the third year of senior middle school, they began to surf the Internet and make personal websites, because they had some foundations. So the personal website is the DIY of the computer. It is very novel and attractive. It also coincides with the computer age at that time. After the website came out, there was a large number of visits soon, resulting in advertising revenue.

Ji Chun: how does an advertisement come from, does it operate on its own?

Li Xiang: No.

At the very beginning, the cost of Internet surfing was quite expensive. I spent about 600-800 yuan a month on the Internet. The cost of accessing the Internet was mainly on the basis of royalties.

At that time, there were so many Internet bubbles that many websites abroad could not afford to spend money. They advertise on Chinese websites through Chinese advertising agencies.

At that time, the location of my website on the list of personal websites was relatively high, and the number of visitors was much higher. So the advertising agency found me and wanted to advertise. I actually didn't care about it. I did not do it. I didn't want it. I put it on him. After two months, he asked me to run a passbook to Bank of China and say that he would remit money to me. I didn't ask how much money it was, so I did it. The first volume was 6000 yuan, and after second months, it was over 10000 yuan.

Ji Chun: a sizeable number is a big surprise.

[expansion: this year's hottest website venture project:

Li Xiang: Yes, very, very happy.

Ji Chun: I find that the process of your wealth creation is not so purposeful, but just doing what you want to do.

Li Xiang: because maybe I am not staring at the money. Instead, I aim at what I want to do, and continue to make this goal bigger. At the same time, I firmly believe that when it is done, the return of money is natural.

Ji Chun: How did the money be allocated?

What did you do with it?

Li Xiang: at the very beginning, only a few people made money when they earned it. At that time, they didn't realize how big and how to compete. In those two years, we bought a house and bought a car.

But in 2005 2004, the competition became more and more intense. Our opponents did not hold hundreds of thousands of dollars in venture capital. They were backed by several billion or billions of group companies. Their resources were better than ours. Therefore, in order to compete better, we basically put all the money we earn into sustainable development.

Ji Chun: from the entrepreneurial experience you described, it seems that your business is logical.

Li Xiang: I'm not very willing to remember some difficulties.

Because remembering those difficulties doesn't make much difference.

I will encounter many difficult problems, but I am willing to face them.

In my mind, when there is a more difficult goal, there will be corresponding difficulties. If you solve these difficulties, you will have an improvement in order to accomplish your goals.

Management and communication

Ji Chun: what is your ideal?

What are the examples?

What is the goal?

Is it Bill Gate?

Li Xiang: my role model is not Bill Gate. I used to have no role models, but I slowly started from my hobby of electronic products to like the media, and how to manage and operate a company now.

At this stage, I have a better idol, GE CEO CEO, because he is the most successful CEO in the past years. His management experience and ideas will help us.

Ji Chun: what kind of experience do you think is most effective for you?

Li Xiang: for example, according to many Chinese traditions, when we want to communicate, we should manage "save the nation" as far as possible, but for us, we have little experience for young entrepreneurs. This way is not suitable for us.

The efficient, direct and sweeping way of corruption and bureaucracy advocated by Jack Welch is more suitable for our team.

Ji Chun: are you very serious at work?

Li Xiang: I didn't realize how serious I was, but when I really did one thing, my serious attitude might be 100%.

Ji Chun: there are listeners and friends praising you, saying that the name of Li Xiang is very pleasant to hear, has the realization of the ideal feeling, listens to your story also very much envied and appreciates you.

I believe that many people of your age envy you very much and are eager to start your own business. You have already taken the first step, and the next few steps are wonderful. What do you think is the most important thing in the process of starting an undertaking?

What is the key to success for you?

Li Xiang: in my mind, I have never been successful, but only once and for all, goals and challenges.

In the whole process of entrepreneurship, it is perseverance.

Everyone has the same problems and problems. Only by sticking to it, solving problems and improving themselves, can we achieve our goals.

Ji Chun: did you seem to have experienced a bigger setback in 2003?

Li Xiang: it's not a setback either.

It's just that the media wants me to talk about difficulties. I told you about that in 2003.

In 2003, because of my own lack of management experience and some of the competitors' confusion, half of the editor's team of our website resigned and left.

The reason is that when you start a website, because people are few, so long as you shout, everyone rushing in one direction. When people are more and more, they do not communicate too much, do not manage too much, and it is not easy to listen to others' opinions and ideas.

As soon as it happened, I was in a panic, because the editor who had taken the lead came to Beijing and stayed with me all the time. It was very uncomfortable at that time, calling everyone of them. All the rest of our company were calling them to communicate, hoping they could come back, because they were all excellent people, but they didn't have much communication in the past.

But the result of communication is not very good.

On the same day, we didn't eat any food, and it was very late. Finally, we felt that we couldn't keep it. So we set a new goal to recruit new people. In about second days, we recruited people in place. There are many college students who may know a little bit of computers. Some even do not even write articles. We will teach them by hand. Every day we can do it very late. In a week or so, the operation of the entire website will return to normal.

The new editors at that time have become our backbone now.

Ji Chun: after such a storm, what is the harvest?

Li Xiang: harvest is the most important thing for us to reflect on, because our team is no longer a few brothers go forward together, the important thing is to manage, to be responsible for everyone, to communicate with them more and listen to their opinions.

This problem tells me that it is not as long as you work with everyone, you must play your role as a leader in management.

Ji Chun: now your company has about 160 people, is a relatively large team. What kind of policy are you adopting in management?

What kind of style?

Li Xiang: actually, I think communication is the most important thing in management.

Now, like other companies, the company will have high-level, middle and basic levels, and then carry out business leadership on the first level, giving full play to the greatest value of every employee.

Ji Chun: how do you communicate with older employees?

Li Xiang: in the beginning, I started a business with people who started my business in 2000. In 2001, there was one who helped me develop the Beijing market. The three of us were the entrepreneurial team of the bubble net. My eyes were very complementary to each other. They all knew very well that they would like to listen to me.

For example, I am good at doing specific things, doing website structure, content and some long-term development ideas.

That technology is very technical, he has built a very good technology platform for the entire website, and he is a steady person.

I am a very anxious and anxious person to rush ahead. When I make some mistakes, he will hold me back and tell me to be steady. We both know how to make the website better and how to attract more people.

The man who develops the market is also a person who can sell the advantages of the website. He is a very good sales person and he helps us make money.

This is our founding team.

Our advantage is that communication is very direct and what to say.

No matter how uncomfortable the other person is, tell them in your heart and let them know.

Later, there are more experienced and competent senior members to join our team. Some of them have worked for many years. Some have worked in some relatively complex units. In their view, communication or management should be carried around to achieve certain results, such as mutual checks and balances.

But our founding team has proved to them that they are the victims of such twists and turns, rather than beneficiaries. If communication is more direct, they will maximize their value.

Slowly, they integrate into our culture.

This direct way can result in more efficient results.

Ji Chun: does this directly lead to offending others or hurting other people's self-esteem?

You may be used to this way of doing things yourself, but some new people will feel too direct criticism and accusation that they can't stand it.

Li Xiang: there is indeed such a problem.

But there are direct ways.

For example, praise in public and criticize privately.

Ji Chun: This is a direct strategy.

Li Xiang: Yes.

Ji Chun: This is how you feel in the process of management.

Do you feel satisfied with the overall operation of the company?

Li Xiang: there is no satisfactory time, for example, there is still some confusion in management.

Ji Chun: I remember you seem to write a letter to everyone in the company.

What is written in the letter?

Why do I write this letter?

Li Xiang: there was nothing in that letter, but it might have been exaggerated after it might have been passed on.

At that stage, we developed fairly well, but I saw that many people were complacent in their mentality.

I still have a clearer view of my own team. Although we have many excellent people who have made many excellent achievements, they are not in fact much more powerful than others, or more resources, but we are very simple and have little interference, so that we can improve ourselves too much and we can do better.

But at that time, there was a satisfied mentality, and even some older people had the mentality of providing for the aged. Therefore, I felt that if I did not throw this problem out, I would not only hurt the business, but also harm those who had such mentality. So I wrote this letter to express the problem more directly.

Ji Chun: is there any feedback after finishing?

How did everyone react?

Li Xiang: there are two levels.

It is easy to understand what I mean by introspective ability; some people are younger and will feel uncomfortable after seeing it.

In the face of such a person, our whole team will further communicate with them.

Ji Chun: what is the business mode of the bubble net?

How do you deal with the crisis of enterprises?

Li Xiang: we are the vertical media of IT, and the revenue comes mainly from the advertising and advertising of the brand.

Because we have a large number of users who browse these digital products, we need to buy these products to get the corresponding distributors, and dealers pay us for our effect.

Actually, there are many websites to do this pattern. More than 300 years ago, there were fewer than ten websites.

Everyone is very similar, but each family has its own characteristics.

Our biggest feature is that the quality of content we provide to users is higher.

We are not developing horizontally. We are doing more depth, so content and quality are our advantages.

On the other hand, all aspects of our website are doing interactive things. We interact with users and distributors, and users interact with our platform and our content.

Dealing with enterprise crisis is the same as communication. The most important thing is to put the problem before all of us, to see this problem clearly, rather than to evade the problem or cover up the problem, but to work together to solve this problem.

Ji Chun: a friend who acts as a website asks you that he is worried that his website will be copied by others. Do you have any protective suggestions?

Li Xiang: I never worry about my website being copied by others, because I want to believe that I have my own characteristics, others copy only form, he can never copy my team.

And my content is always updated and changing, making it hard for him to copy every day.

Ji Chun: what is your way of life?

Li Xiang: no smoking or drinking, more time is spent on work.

Because entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs are very different, entrepreneurs may be able to do much in a lot of time, and for our entrepreneurs, it is very realistic that we have to compete in the mall, the most important thing is to do more things than others, harder than others.

Ji Chun: in other words, are you defining your own stage at the start-up stage?

Li Xiang: Yes.

Or the stage of entrepreneurs.

Ji Chun: in the process of entrepreneurship, this stage may be the most difficult.

Li Xiang: it's also the most fun.

Ji Chun: what are the aspects of fun?

Li Xiang: it is the greatest pleasure that we can achieve goals through our own efforts.

There are different things to do every day. There are many difficulties facing you. There are many difficulties to challenge you, and it is very interesting.

Young experience

Ji Chun: what do you think is the advantage of the post-80s generation?

Where are the disadvantages?

Li Xiang: after 80, the biggest advantage is to dare to think and dare to do, and think of doing it.

The disadvantage may be that it is not very thoughtful; or may not be concerned about others' feelings, or is unwilling to take responsibility after difficulties arise.

Ji Chun: so what's your advantage?

What are the shortcomings?

Li Xiang: the advantage is the same as all after 80, there is no difference, that is to dare to dare to do, think about it.

Moreover, this social environment is very good and very tolerant. For the post-80s generation, the most important thing is to do it, do it right, and be valuable; doing wrong is also valuable; the most worthless is not to do it.

The same is true of shortcomings. Sometimes I will be selfish, self and irresponsible, but these may be better than my peers, because I have been through so many years.

Ji Chun: are you sorry about not going to college?

Li Xiang: in my opinion, University is a better life experience. Maybe if something wants to be learned in University, it can be learned in a very good school in this year, but unfortunately it has not experienced four years of university time.

Ji Chun: many young friends want to embark on the road of entrepreneurship. Do you have any pertinent suggestions for them?

Li Xiang: I think I didn't go to university directly and chose to start a business. Actually, it was a case, not a common phenomenon.

Because in fact, I had a very solid computer foundation for 6 years before I started my business.

My advice to everyone, especially young people, is that when you choose to start a business, the most important thing is that you must know yourself and know if you have the ability to start your own business and whether you have the opportunity to start your own business.

You can judge from two aspects: first, you need to know how big the market you choose.

Second you need to know how much you and your team can achieve in this market. When this figure is considerable, you can start your own business.

It is also very likely that the market you are doing doesn't exist at all, and the enterprise is doomed to failure.

But if the market does exist and you are nothing, it is impossible to stand out in the competition.

A good entrepreneur is bound to find a job without problems. Many people rush for it. Such talents are suitable for entrepreneurship.

If we can't find a job, we will start our business.