Chapter 695: Partner

Although China's software industry started later than that of the United States, many software companies were born in the early days of Internet development.

Kingsoft is definitely one of the best. As early as the DOS system era, it has launched the WPS system. After entering the Windows era, it is also the only office software in China that can compete with Microsoft Office.

Products launched since then, such as Kingsoft PowerWord for dictionaries, Kingsoft Internet Security for anti-virus software, and Swordsman Qingyuan for games, are all milestone products in China's software industry.

Especially the game modifier Jinshan Ranger is definitely a great innovation. It was necessary to play stand-alone games back then. Changing attributes and money, enjoying the invincible pleasure, is more refreshing than using cheats.

However, Li Weidong is not interested in the software company Jinshan, but the CEO of Jinshan, Mr. Lei.

There is no shortage of big names in China's Internet industry, but Mr. Lei is definitely the one who is really willing to take smartphones as a business.

At this time, Mr. Lei was busy with the IPO of Kingsoft. This was the fifth time Mr. Lei led Kingsoft to go public.

In the first four attempts to go public, Kingsoft moved to Hong Kong Island’s GEM, the SAR’s GEM, the US NASDAQ, and the SAR’s main board, all of which failed in the end. Now Jinshan intends to try to list on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Speaking of the development path of Jinshan, it is also very bumpy. In the DOS era, Jinshan relied on WPS office software and Jinshan Hanka, which was once very popular. However, after entering the Windows era, WPS was completely suppressed by Microsoft Office. Do not marginalize the market.

Then Jinshan launched several counterattacks, but none of them were able to shake the position of Office. Especially in 1997, Jinshan launched WPS97. As a result, it encountered Microsoft's classic Office97. The business is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Fortunately, Mr. Lei tried his best to turn the tide, and successively launched Kingsoft PowerWord and Kingsoft Antivirus, which can be regarded as saving Kingsoft.

After that, Jinshan re-made WPS and completely rewritten all the codes. The WPS2000 system launched in 1999 has integrated various functions such as text office, spreadsheet, multimedia presentation production and image processing, which is almost the same as Office.

This is also the second venture of WPS.

After years of hard work, Jinshan launched WPS2005 with independent intellectual property rights.

It is also this office system that has been purchased by many domestic government agencies, enterprises and institutions, and the market share of the WPS system has jumped to more than 20%.

Jinshan has come back to life, and for Mr. Lei at this time, his only goal is to lead Jinshan to go public.

Although Jinshan was successfully listed, the listing this time was quite embarrassing. At that time, Jinshan’s valuation was only 5.3 billion Hong Kong dollars. Compared with it, Tencent, which was listed in 2004, had a market value of 80 billion Hong Kong dollars. It was listed on Nasdaq in 2005 Baidu, listed on the market, has a valuation of 4 billion U.S. dollars, and Alibaba, which went public a month later, has a market value of more than 160 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In the Internet industry, Tencent, Baidu, and Ali can only be regarded as the younger brothers of Jinshan. When Mr. Lei joined Jinshan, these Internet giants had not yet been born! But in terms of capital operation, all the younger brothers in the past eventually came from behind.

And when Jinshan successfully went public, Mr. Lei also lost his goal, so he resigned from the position of Jinshan CEO and went home to count the money. It was not until three years later that Mr. Lei returned to the arena and founded Xiaomi.

Mr. Lei is one year younger than Li Weidong, and the two can be regarded as the same age. They have a common language with each other and don't chat awkwardly.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Weidong got to the point first.

Mr. Lei, Apple just released a new product, you should have heard about it? Li Weidong asked.

Is that the phone you are talking about? I remember it was called the iPhone. Mr. Lei paused, and then said: This new product not only uses a touch screen, but also uses multi-touch technology. It will take some time for touch technology to enter the practical stage, but I didn’t expect Apple to move this technology to mobile phones so soon.”

Touch screens are not new. Many window industries have already used touch screens, such as automatic ticket vending machines in subways, ATMs in banks, etc., all of which use touch screens.

Electronic products, such as car central control screens, MP4 players, and mobile phones, also have touch screens. Like many mobile phones with handwriting function, the most practical is the touch screen, which is very friendly to those who do not know Chinese pinyin.

But the practical touch screen at that time was not the current multi-touch technology. At that time, resistive touch screens were mainly used. The touch points of the screen responded slowly and were not durable. If an area was used frequently, it would soon fail.

Apple only acquired the multi-touch technology in 2005. The industry generally believes that this technology needs at least three to five years of development before it can be put into practical use. In time, this technology was used on the iPhone.

Since Rebs knew a little about the iPhone, Li Weidong didn't make any detours. He said bluntly, Mr. Lei, I think Apple's iPhone is the future trend of mobile phone development, and I want to invest in similar products.

Is Director Li also planning to make this new type of mobile phone? Mr. Lei frowned, and then said: With all due respect, the difficulty may be relatively high.

Although I haven't got a prototype of the iPhone yet, I don't know the specific structure of this product, but judging from the information released by Apple, the technologies contained in the iPhone are all the most advanced.

This kind of advanced technology is all in the hands of foreign companies. We don't have a domestic supply chain, so we can't manufacture it at all. Even if it is to go to the cottage, there is a lack of corresponding technology.

Mr. Lei is right, so I want to start with the operating system first. Li Weidong continued: I noticed that Apple's iPhone uses a system called IOS, which is developed by Apple itself. developed.

If other companies make similar products, they will also need to use an operating system. Do you think Apple will share their IOS system with other companies?

Based on what I know about Apple, they will definitely not share their own operating system. Mr. Lei said without hesitation.

Yes, so in this industry, another operating system is needed. Li Weidong said.

Mr. Lei frowned and thought for a while, then said, As far as I know, the current operating system of mobile phones is the Symbian system.

Saipan is mainly aimed at traditional types of mobile phones, not this new type of mobile phone. Li Weidong continued: But in the future, maybe Symbian will also make a special system for this new type of mobile phone, so I want to hurry up Before Saipan, seize part of the market first.

Chairman Li, I can understand your thoughts. But I think the risk of this project is a bit high. Mr. Lei went on to say: Apple's new mobile phone has just been released after all, and it has not been tested by the market. Whether it can occupy a place in the market is still unknown. It is too early to enter the market now.

Mr. Lei paused, then added: It's not that I'm not optimistic about this new type of mobile phone, I just think there are still too many uncertainties.

Li Weidong replied: It is because of the many uncertainties that I decided to invest in this industry. If the uncertainties are eliminated and the market has confirmed that this is a product with potential, then there will inevitably be a large amount of capital pouring into it. , there are many first-class technology companies among them, and the cake I can share will be much less.

Mr. Lei nodded suddenly. Although Mr. Lei is already an angel investor at this time, he has more successful investment cases. But his understanding of investment is definitely not as good as that of a top domestic industrial tycoon like Li Weidong.

Mr. Lei asked: Chairman Li came to me, did he hope to get Jinshan's technical support or investment? If it is technical support, there should be no problem. Our Jinshan's software development level is also second to none in China. Yes, we can set up a special project team,

If it is for Jinshan to invest, this will be a bit difficult. We are in a critical period of IPO. At this time, it is not suitable to invest in uncertain projects, which will affect our IPO process.

Li Weidong smiled slightly, and then said, What I want is not Jinshan's technology or investment, but I hope you, Mr. Lei, can join this project.

Mr. Lei was stunned for a moment, and then asked tentatively, Are you referring to me?

Yes, it's you personally. I hope Mr. Lei can become my partner and be in charge of this project. Li Weidong spread his hands, and then said: I really don't understand software, so I need an expert partner.

Chairman Li really thinks highly of me! Mr. Lei sighed, and then politely declined: Thank you Chairman Li for your kind invitation, but Jinshan is now in a critical period of IPO, and all my energy is put on it. , I’m afraid I don’t have time to lead other projects.”

Mr. Lei, don't rush to refuse! Li Weidong smiled slightly. Then he said: Mr. Lei, I know that for so many years, you have been running around for Jinshan's listing. Now it seems that Jinshan's IPO this time will definitely be successful. After Jinshan is successfully listed, what are your follow-up plans? Or, what is your next goal in life?

Mr. Lei was slightly taken aback when the words life goal were mentioned.

Over the years, he has been working hard for the listing of Jinshan. When it comes to Jinshan's listing, he really has no new goals.

Li Weidong continued: With all due respect, I think Jinshan's development strategy is too conservative, and because of this conservativeness, the upper limit of Jinshan's development is not very high, and it is already very good to be able to complete the IPO.

In the future, Jinshan will at most spin off its business and then go public, and this is at the level of capital operation, and has little to do with making products. It is true that you can make a lot of money from capital operations, but Mr. Lei, playing capital may not be what you want, right?

Mr. Lei didn't speak, which was tantamount to acquiescing to Li Weidong's statement.

Compared with engaging in capital operations, he prefers to make products and use products to change people's lives. That's why Xiaomi started making mobile phones and gradually extended to the entire smart home field. In this regard, even Apple is not as good as Millet.

As Li Weidong said, it is indeed difficult for Jinshan to make too much breakthrough in business.

Looking at the development path of Jinshan, although it is a veteran technology company in China, it has been clinging to computer software, and it has always been half a beat in the Internet.

Jinshan missed instant messaging software; Jinshan missed the era of portal websites; Jinshan missed the era of e-commerce platforms;

Think about other internet tycoons, when they see something with potential for development, they immediately rush to invest in it, creating originals if they know what they know, and copying what they don’t know.

In contrast, Jinshan's business strategy is indeed too conservative.

Jinshan’s situation is more complicated. In the early days, it was a Hong Kong Island company. Later, Hong Kong Island Jinshan merged with Founder Group, while the mainland part became independent and established Kingsoft Computer. In 1998, Lenovo became a shareholder of Jinshan and became the largest shareholder. Kingsoft was reorganized.

In 2000, Jinshan carried out a joint-stock restructuring, and it was at that time that Rebs became the president of Jinshan. After that, Jinshan began to seek IPO listing work, and it took eight years to successfully go public.

Judging from Jinshan's development history, the company's ownership is constantly changing, which will inevitably affect the development of the company, and the company's management may not have much real power.

To put it simply, the development direction of the company is decided by the management itself, and the boss above changes every day, so naturally there is no long-term strategic plan.

Perhaps Mr. Lei has never been very appreciative of Jinshan's strategic planning and management philosophy, so he resigned as CEO after Jinshan went public.

A few years later, when Mr. Lei returned to Jinshan as the chairman, the first thing he did was a thorough reform, from product focus to development direction, from system construction to corporate culture, all changed.

Jinshan has also successfully transformed from a software company to an Internet company, and its annual revenue has risen from less than 1 billion yuan to 12 billion yuan.

Anyone who has watched Feng Yun must have heard the phrase Golden scales are a thing in the pool, which is very suitable for Mr. Lei. The current Jinshan Company can no longer support Mr. Lei, a big fish. Alright, Rebus needs a bigger stage!

Li Weidong said impassionedly: Mr. Lei, the current Jinshan Company is no longer suitable for you. You need a stage with full autonomy to give full play to your talents!

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, they all changed the world. And I asked you to be a partner because I think you will be the next person to change the world!

Li Weidong’s exaggeration is a bit exaggerated. In 2007, when it comes to the next person who will change the world, people will definitely think of Zuckerberg. A few years later, they will definitely think of Elon Musk. on the head.

But Li Weidong's words made Mr. Lei feel that a fire of hope was burning in his chest.

All human beings have desires, but different people have different desires. What the poor pursue is to have no worries about food and clothing, while ordinary people hope to live a rich life, the middle class yearns for the luxurious life of the rich, and the rich desire to live longer.

For Lei, changing the world with his own ability is the desire hidden in his heart.

Mr. Lei sighed lightly, and then said: Chairman Li, can you give me some time, I will think about it carefully.

Okay, then I will wait for Mr. Lei's good news! Li Weidong nodded with a smile, knowing that he had already succeeded more than half.

To deal with this kind of ideal person, talking about money or relationship may not be effective. Let's talk obediently about how to contribute to the development of mankind!