Li Mu agreed with Fang Xudong's statement.
He had long realized that community products like Tieba could not become a real core product. Products that could not generate strong demand for users were not suitable to be the core product. That was why he laid out YY and prepared to use instant messaging software as the real core of Makino Technology.
Fang Xudong could see the essence of Tieba and its weakness. It was enough to show that this technical talent had a deep understanding of the industry and products.
Li Mu asked him, "In your opinion, what is suitable for Makino Technology to be the core of future development?"
Fang Xudong hesitated for a moment and smiled. "I can't say for sure. If you just want me to talk about products with strong demand in the market, I can give a little of my opinion. However, if you want me to talk about Makino Technology, I'm afraid that what I say will deviate from the actual situation of Makino Technology."
Li Mu smiled and said, "Let's just have a chat."
Fang Xudong said, "Actually, the current development of the Internet has only just matured the framework of the Internet world, but I'm afraid no one can imagine what can be done with this framework. From the looks of it, the products with strong demand are all closely related to the lives and habits of the users."
"Do you think community is a strong demand? Its user loyalty is very high. Maybe users can come to places like Tieba and watch for hours without blinking. However, high loyalty does not mean strong demand. If they can't go online for the next few days and can't log on to Tieba, they won't feel that their lives have been greatly affected. "
"Games are also high loyalty, and the yield is relatively high. However, this kind of product has too many competitors on the Internet, and its lifespan is not long enough. Users will be lost in large numbers after half a year or a year. It can't be regarded as a strong demand."
"In comparison, the search function is a strong requirement. Once you leave the search function, the whole world of the internet will become pitch black to you. The instant messaging software is also a strong requirement. Your friends in real life and on the internet are all here. If you leave it, you will become abnormally lonely on the internet …"
Li Mu nodded. "Search and instant messaging software are indeed the top products for Internet users. Speaking of these two areas, do you think computer security is a strong demand?"
"Of course!" Fang Xudong smiled and said, "The market for anti-virus software and firewalls is very big, but this kind of strong demand cannot be focused on a single product. It's just like how everyone needs to eat, but not everyone eats the same thing. There are too many competing products in the computer security market, so it can only be said that the demand is strong. But for companies, they can only treat it as an ordinary low-frequency product. So I feel that no company can rely on computer security to become a top Internet company."
Speaking up to this point, Fang Xudong laughed at himself and said, "Maybe if what I said just now spread, many people will say that I am too arrogant, but I think this is the case. Computer security software itself is a small part of the Internet. It is like the position of the airbag in the entire automobile market: very important, but in the entire automobile industry, it is too small."
Li Mu nodded in agreement. "The market value of computer security is indeed not big enough. No matter how much security software is developed, it is still a product that is rarely used. Although it is constantly protecting the computer, for users, most of the time, they will not think of it at all. The influence it can have on users is too small. If you want to create an ecosystem based on security software, the imagination is indeed limited."
The first thing that came to Li Mu's mind was Qihu 360,360 users. At its peak, it had more than 500 million users, and the installed capacity accounted for 94% of the total PC market in China. How much was it worth at that time? Before it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, its total market value was less than 10 billion USD.
In this less than 10 billion USD plate, there were 360 Security Assistant, 360 Antivirus, 360 Mobile Assistant, 360 Browser, 360 Search Engine, 360 Hardware, 360 Store, and many other products. But at the same time, Teng Xun was almost 25 times more than it.
Therefore, what Fang Xudong said was very true. A computer security company could not become the top. 360 users were not very loyal, and most of the installer users were too lazy to register. Its user value was much lower than Teng Xun, Ali, and even Baidu. From Li Mu's point of view, the reason why it could not become the top was because its core products were inherently weak. Therefore, it would never be able to stand on the same level as Teng Xun, and would only be left further and further behind.
Fang Xudong did not expect Li Mu to agree with him on this point. He also believed that there was not enough room for development in computer security. His impression of this young man improved a little. It was not that he was arrogant, and it was not that he denied the field of computer security. It was just that he felt that it could not reach the top, and Li Mu's point of view coincided with his.
At this time, Li Mu asked him again, "Tell me about Teng Xun and Baidu."
Fang Xudong smiled and said, "You have more connections with Teng Xun, so let's talk about it first. Although Makino Technology won against Teng Xun in Q Bar and QQ Fishery, Teng Xun's foundation in QQ is actually much stronger than Tieba. Although their IM market share is very high, they are not fully developed yet. It is not very rational to compete with Makino Technology in other fields at this time. If they put most of their energy into making QQ a real product for social networking, and a small amount of energy is put into QQ as an extension of their core product, it will not take long for them to become one of the top internet companies in Hua Xia."
Li Mu smiled noncommittally and asked, "What about Baidu?"
"Baidu has a strong search advantage. Google's current development direction is mainly based on English search. In terms of the current population of computer users, English is still the most used language. Now, even if Google wants to compete with Baidu in the domestic market, it will not be possible. Google will not be like Teng Xun with Q Bar and QQ Fishery. It must first establish its dominance in English search before it can compete with Baidu. If Baidu is smart and hardworking enough, it should have become the top internet company in the country before Google enters Hua Xia."
Li Mu thought to himself, 'As expected of a top student, his eyes are quite penetrating. Google is currently unable to care about the non-English search market, so they are not in a hurry to see Baidu become bigger. Instead, they will continue to steadily improve their core products to the extreme. When the core is stable, they will think of ways to enter the market of other countries.'
If Teng Xun also had this vision, they would definitely not follow the trend in Q Bar and QQ Fishery. From this, it could be seen that Teng Xun had the gene to follow the trend for a long time. It was just that at this time in his previous life, they did not find a suitable product to follow the trend. His appearance was like planting a few wildflowers on the side of Teng Xun's road to development, making them unable to bear the loneliness and stop in advance to try to pick them.
Li Mu, who wanted to take Fang Xudong under his command, smiled and asked him, "Are you interested in returning to China to develop?"
Fang Xudong nodded and said, "Yes, but there is no very suitable opportunity right now."
Li Mu did not beat around the bush and directly threw out an olive branch. "Do you want to consider Makino Technology?"
After Fang Xudong chatted with Li Mu, he also had a very good impression of Li Mu. However, if they really talked about the problem of employment, Makino Technology was still not attractive enough for him. He himself felt that the follow-up development of Makino Technology might be a little weak. Moreover, with the current product structure of Makino Technology, there was no place for him.
Thinking that the two of them had a relatively good conversation, Fang Xudong did not say those ostentatious words and polite words to Li Mu. He directly said, "Makino Technology is developing very well now, but I am still worried about its future development. Also, if I join, what position do you want me to play?"
Li Mu smiled slightly. "CTO."
Fang Xudong said, "What are the technical needs of Makino Technology now mainly around? The follow-up development of Tieba, or the game? "
Li Mu waved his hand and said with a serious face, "To be honest, you should be able to see which part of Happy Farm I value the most."
Fang Xudong nodded and said, "User network."
"That's right." Li Mu said, "I have another company shell for the real game, and I have bought a game from Korea. It is now in internal testing. This is another aspect. Let me first tell you about the current situation of Makino Technology. As you said, Tieba is really not suitable as a core product, so I have been brewing a real core product for Makino Technology. Now it is almost developed, and it can be in internal testing after the year."
Fang Xudong's eyes lit up. "Can you tell me what product it is?"
In Fang Xudong's opinion, since Li Mu denied the possibility of Tieba as a core, then the real core he chose must be bigger than Tieba. It might be instant messaging, but Fang Xudong was not sure.
Li Mu did not answer Fang Xudong's question. Instead, he said, "I will tell you about the other aspects of the layout. Finally, let's talk about the question you asked me just now. You said that the strong needs include search, social networking, and security, but there is no e-commerce or payment channel. In my eyes, these are the two areas with strong needs.
"E-commerce will become the new global business model in the future, including but not limited to retail, wholesale, customization, and cross-border e-commerce. Therefore, e-commerce platforms are imperative. It may seem that e-commerce is still in its infancy now, but it will definitely become a behemoth of the Internet in the future. No business model of any Internet project is more direct and clear than the business model of e-commerce."
"The rise of e-commerce will definitely need the support of online payment channels. However, online payment channels are not only for e-commerce services. Strictly speaking, online payment channels will be the most crucial part of the Internet to take money out of users' pockets. Most Internet projects need a profit model, and with a profit model, there must be a supporting payment channel. In the future, e-commerce, games, and information value-added services will all need to be completed online. However, the payment channel needs sufficient technical support, and it also needs to have a good relationship with the bank. This means that the threshold is very high, and not all companies can develop it themselves. When the time comes, they must find a public third-party payment channel to cooperate with."
Fang Xudong was silent after listening, but the way he looked at Li Mu became brighter. He and Li Mu now had a common understanding in their hearts. Li Mu's technical strength might not be as good as Fang Xudong's, but Li Mu's understanding and vision of the Internet was definitely better than Fang Xudong's.
At this moment, Li Mu had a faint and confident smile on his face. He said, "I already have the payment channel. If you know about 3321, you will know about Alipay. If you know about Alipay, I can tell you that 3321 and Alipay were created by me. Although Alipay is an independent company, it was incubated in 3321 and grew in Happy Farm. Now, it has started to provide payment services for Shengda Legend. At the same time, it will also be the pillar of my e-commerce industry.
"Speaking of e-commerce, I will definitely start an e-commerce business in the first half of this year. I have even registered the domain name, Taobao."
Fang Xudong was dumbfounded. He knew about 3321 and did not think much about it at that time. He just felt that it was a good idea, and there was nothing special about it. However, when he heard that it was created by Li Mu and that he used 3321 to incubate Alipay, Fang Xudong was convinced.
The things that Li Mu did were always interlinked and closely connected. He used 3321 to support Alipay, Easy Hearing to support Tieba, and Tieba to support Happy Farm. Happy Farm not only revitalized the users of Tieba, but it also rapidly increased the value of Alipay as a payment channel. In turn, Alipay could provide services for Happy Farm. At the same time, it could also support future e-commerce and even value-added services for all products.
Fang Xudong looked at Li Mu in shock. He secretly wondered what kind of monster this young man was. When others started a business in the Internet industry, they were most afraid of not being focused. They had to grasp the core and continuously dig deeper to succeed. However, Li Mu was not like that. He had laid out so many products in one go, but he did not care about one thing and lose sight of another. His industrial chain was truly complementary and intertwined with each other, allowing each product to become stronger with the support of other products.
At this time, Fang Xudong was truly convinced by Li Mu, a young man who was more than ten years younger than him. He sighed in his heart and was in awe. He took a deep breath and said, "Li Zong, I am willing to join Makino Technology, or any of your other shell companies."
Li Mu was delighted and asked him with a smile, "Aren't you going to ask about the salary first?"
Fang Xudong smiled and said, "After listening to what you said, I feel that there is no need to talk about it. You can decide."
Li Mu asked again, "Then don't you want to know what I kept you guessing at the beginning? Don't you want to know what the real core product of Makino Technology is? "
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