Mark Zuckerberg's positioning of Facebook made Li Mu feel emotional.
Before this, he didn't quite understand why Facebook was so popular overseas, but QQspace didn't develop. Instead, it was gradually abandoned by QQ users. Later on, QQ users moved their online social activities to WeChat, which made QQspace even more desolate.
From Mark Zuckerberg's analysis, Li Mu immediately understood the fundamental reason.
Facebook's product positioning, from the very beginning, was very different from products like QQZone.
In Teng Xun's hands, QQspace would always be a supporting part of the QQ product ecosystem. Although it would give QQspace a lot of convenience in the early stages and allow QQspace to take advantage of YY to develop rapidly, in the long run, it would instead restrict the development of QQspace.
For example, the entire QQ ecosystem is like a freighter. No matter how big the freighter's total displacement is, 60% of it is reserved for QQ itself. QQ Space will never be the main force on this QQ freighter, and it will never be able to get most of the resources. In this way, QQ Space will always live in the shadow of QQ. The possibility of relying on a super product and developing into a super product is almost zero.
This phenomenon happened in Teng Xun's system. Before WeChat came out, all products were attached to QQ, but only QQ could be called a super product. All other products couldn't survive in the long run, let alone become a super product.
To borrow Guo Degang's mockery, no matter how big the cake was, it couldn't be bigger than the pot on which it was baked.
Over the years, other than QQ, the only super product that Teng Xun cultivated was WeChat. However, WeChat's gameplay was completely different from QQ's system.
Although WeChat also borrowed from QQ in the beginning, Zhang Xiaolong knew very well that if WeChat was placed in the QQ ecosystem, it would never be successful.
Therefore, after WeChat completed the phase of borrowing power from QQ, it immediately separated itself from the QQ ecosystem and created its own system. In order to show that WeChat and QQ were completely separated, WeChat even closed the channel to directly access the QQ friend list in the middle and later stages. This meant that WeChat was determined to completely separate itself from the QQ ecosystem. This determination was so great that WeChat even disdained sharing the same set of user data with QQ.
Right now, YY Space was in the same situation as QQ Space back then. If YY Space was created within YY's product system, then YY Space would never be able to jump out of YY's framework. However, if they were to create Facebook, they could operate in a completely new system. Facebook would not be dependent on any product for development, and no product would restrict Facebook's future growth.
If that was the case, Facebook's scope would be much larger than YY Space. Therefore, there would be no overlap in functions and positioning with YY Space.
Facebook's positioning would definitely be at the same level as YY Space. These two products would be Li Mu's two future super products. Other than that, when the future of the mobile Internet arrived and he developed WeChat, these three super products would be enough for him to dominate the global Internet.
After thinking this through, Li Mu's mind suddenly became clear. He immediately said to Mark Zuckerberg, "Okay, I basically agree with your point of view. I still have a few questions. First, what is your definition of a profit model?"
Mark Zuckerberg hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, my profit model is very simple. In the beginning, I will focus on investment and quickly expand the user base. When the number of users reaches a certain level, I can make money through advertising. However, I might not prioritize profit for a period of time in the early stages."
At this point, Mark Zuckerberg added, "Actually, my positioning for Facebook is the same as YY. In fact, there is no need for a clear profit model. Everything is based on the product and users. As long as the number of users is enough, there is no need to worry about finding a profit model."
Li Mu nodded in agreement and asked him again, "If I let you handle this project, where do you plan to start first?"
Mark Zuckerberg immediately said, "First, develop the product. After the product development and testing is completed, I plan to start with Harvard and a few universities around it. It is equivalent to doing a small-scale open beta. Once the effect of the open beta reaches the target, we will increase the promotion efforts according to the budget and strive to make it popular among the universities first."
Li Mu smiled and looked at Mark Zuckerberg. He asked, "If I give you five million USD, is it enough for you to start this project? If it is enough, how long do you think it will last? If not, how long do you think it will last?"
Mark Zuckerberg hurriedly said, "Five million USD is definitely enough to start. If everything goes well, this money is estimated to last for half a year. If not, this money is estimated to last for a year."
Mark Zuckerberg's answer made Li Mu look at him in a new light. It seemed that this young man was not only smart about the Internet and computer technology, but he also had full control over the overall development of Internet products. Although he had not really started his own business, he already knew the pace of Internet entrepreneurship like the back of his hand.
At this age, Mark Zuckerberg already understood that the more successful an Internet project was, the faster it would cost money.
The better the project, the more investors did not care about immediate profits. On the contrary, in order to promote the project quickly, they were more willing to burn money quickly and quickly seize industry resources. Therefore, in order to promote the project quickly, they were more willing to spend money quickly.
On the contrary, the worse a project was, the more cautious it was in its operation. They would think twice before spending a penny, wishing that they could split every penny into eight portions. It was already a miracle that such a project did not fail. It was simply a fool's dream to think that it could develop quickly.
Therefore, in this case, Mark Zuckerberg's prediction was particularly reliable. If the project went well, five million USD would at most last for half a year.
When Li Mu heard this, his recognition of Mark Zuckerberg increased by a level.
In the beginning, he thought that Mark Zuckerberg was very likely to be like him. He was not really very talented at the beginning, but as things developed step by step, he improved bit by bit and finally became a very powerful entrepreneur. But now, it seemed that Mark Zuckerberg already had a very deep understanding of the Internet before he started his business.
A new idea suddenly appeared in Li Mu's mind. Mark Zuckerberg was already so powerful at such a young age. Then, he must be careful that he will go solo in the future. Therefore, he could not just hold 49% of the shares in the Facebook project. Without a controlling stake, the future would be very risky.
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