Chapter 2963 The most difficult question

Zhou Buqi has a close relationship with Reddit.

In addition, the domestic "secret circle" is about to be restricted by policies and cannot survive. Domestic friends' emotional projection of the product requires a substitute overseas. The acquisition of Reddit is indeed a good idea. choose.

If nothing else, at least this is the accumulation of data!

Reddit has a large amount of "conversation" content between users. This kind of real discussion content between humans is a tool for training large artificial intelligence models.

A large part of the training data relied on by ChatGPT, a well-known AI product in the past, actually came from Reddit. Because it was used privately, it was even accused by Reddit. So much so that if other large generative models want to use Reddit data, they have to pay a fee.

Like Google's big model, paying Reddit $60 million to $100 million a year to use the data from Reddit.

Don't make this money too easily.

Selling user data is actually prohibited.

Many products, such as Helo, Facebook, iPhone, YouTube, etc., need to reach an agreement with the user when they register, requiring the user to allow the platform to use their data. If you do not agree, you cannot register an account.

But even so, these data can only be used by yourself.

Cannot be sold.

However, Reddit is an exception.

Because this is an anonymous forum.

All users are anonymous, there is no "user", and naturally there is no user privacy. Since user privacy will not be violated, the data in Reddit can of course be used and sold at will.

This is so important.

It will play a crucial role in training large generative AI models in the future.

It doesn't matter whether the product itself is profitable or not. Opportunities will come in the future. You can make a lot of money just by relying on the anonymous data on the sales platform.

This is also an important supplement to Ziweixing International’s own core strategy on artificial intelligence.

Therefore, Zhou Buqi attached great importance to the acquisition of Reddit and asked: "What is the price?"

Lu Qi said with a smile: "Their quotation is US$220 million. I think it can be between US$150 million and US$180 million."

Zhou Buqi said: "That's it. The current valuation of Ziweixing International is only US$180 billion. On the eve of the IPO in three or four months, the final issuance valuation will definitely exceed US$200 billion. After the listing, the stock price If it rises a few more times, it won’t be difficult to hit US$250 billion. They won’t suffer any losses!”

Lu Qi smiled and said, "Yes, that's what I mean. There shouldn't be any obstacles to the price. Reddit is a bit turbulent right now. Due to product differences, the previous CEO was fired by the board of directors. Now the interim CEO is in charge."

"Product differences?" Zhou Buqi is very concerned about products. This is also an area in which he is relatively good at. "What differences?"

Lu Qidao: "Wasn't Reddit acquired by a media company before, but it never got started. So it was spun off. After the spin-off, it never found a profitable direction, and the CEO wanted to change the product idea. Anonymous With this model, it is difficult to have accurate advertising, which will lead to lower advertising conversion rates and lower revenue.”

"Ah?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "What kind of idea is this? The attribute of anonymous community is Reddit's greatest competitiveness. Abandoning the core positioning of the product for the sake of commercial interests?"

Lu Qi smiled and said: "Yes, that's right. This led to a debate within Reddit. Some people thought Reddit should transform, while others thought it should stick to the anonymous community model. Later, a person appeared on the board of directors. Strong man, he stood up and drove out the CEO who had been there for many years, saying that he would stick to the anonymous route, and he also said that he would use his personal connections to find Series B financing for Reddit. "

"Is this okay? Does the board of directors believe it?"

Zhou Buqi was surprised.

Who is this person?

I feel like Boss Ma!

You can really fool him!

Reddit is currently in a very bad state. It has been unable to make ends meet all year round, profits are far from expected, and there is internal turmoil... At this time, he can still stand up and brazenly say that he can complete the second round of financing for Reddit?

What a loud tone!

Lu Qi smiled and said, "I believe it. The board of directors and management are very supportive of him. He will become the interim CEO now. I am quite familiar with him. This man... to be honest, he has a very charming personality." . His life history is also amazing. The young genius won the grand prize of the National Computer Programming Competition when he was 12 years old. Then when he was in middle school, he announced a shocking news to everyone - he liked men. He came out as gay a few years ago, when he was only 16 years old. Later, he went to Stanford University successfully, but dropped out halfway to start a business. "

Zhou Buqi has met so many legendary figures that he didn't think this was too exaggerated, "Start a business? What kind of company?"

"Loopt, a product that can share the user's location." Lu Qi knew that Boss Zhou had never heard of it. "This product was not very successful. He sold the company for US$43 million last year. He personally After receiving $10 million, he is considered a successful person. This year, he became the president of YC Investment and joined Reddit's board of directors as an investor. You will know the next thing. He quickly took action. He took action and drove the CEO away, and now he is in contact with us.”

“YC Investment…”

The box of Zhou Buqi's memory was opened immediately.

He remembered.

At the beginning, he had the Reddit domain name in his hands, and the U.S. wanted to acquire it, and the remitter was YC Investment, which gave him US$150,000.

YC Investment is Reddit’s angel round and A round, and is the company’s most important investor.

So when a YC investment representative had a product disagreement with their CEO on Reddit's board of directors, it was easy to oust him and step in as interim CEO.

The relationship between Luqi and YC Investment has always been very good.

So he knows the situation well.

This acquisition of Reddit can be promoted smoothly and quickly.

It is worth mentioning that Lu Qi returned to China to join Baidu in his previous life, but failed to fundamentally change Baidu's structure. Later, he left Baidu and joined YC Investment.

Seeing that he didn't care much, Lu Qi said solemnly: "Really, this guy is really good. I have met him several times and he left a deep impression. He is young. He seems to be as old as you. He's about 20 years old. He'll come over soon. I guarantee you and he will have a lot in common."

"Okay, let's meet you then." Zhou Buqi smiled, "By the way, has Shen Xiangyang been looking for you?"

"Uh..." Lu Qi knew what he was talking about, "That big model project?"

"right."

"I told you, it's difficult!"

Lu Qi shook his head with a complicated expression.

Zhou Buqi asked: "There are more than 20 vice presidents in the company, and there are hundreds of people in middle management. Can't we find a suitable person who can lead the generative large model project?"

Lu Qi said with embarrassment: "This is the most difficult proposition in management, and it is like this for any company."

Zhou Buqi has never heard of it, "What is the most difficult proposition?"

Lu Qidao: "Actually, the strategies and logic of management are the same. If you can manage the sales department well, you can manage the marketing department well; if you can manage the finance department well, you can manage the human resources department well; if you can manage the product department well, you can manage the product department well. Be able to manage the design department well. Management is mainly about assigning tasks and getting results. It does not require strong professional ability. Allocate tasks to professional people, mobilize their enthusiasm, coordinate the relationship between the team, and everyone works together to deliver results. One result will do. However, there is one exception.”

Zhou Buqi took a deep breath and immediately understood what he meant, "Technical Department!"

Lu Qi said: "Yes, among all types of employees in various departments, technical talents are the most difficult to manage. Managers in the technical department can be deployed to other departments to manage personnel, sales, finance, and products. These are all Yes. Xu Liangjie also has a technical background, and he is doing very well as a chief human resources officer. However, if a manager from another department wants to be transferred to the technical department, it is almost impossible. "

Since the industrial revolution, technological development has become the core of all walks of life.

Science and technology promote modernization.

This also leads to many engineers who have mastered technology to be very conceited and have a kind of arrogance from the inside out. Technology is their greatest strength, and they can be tougher than employees in other departments.

In Ziweixing, Zhou Buqi was often ridiculed and ridiculed by technical staff.

Not to mention him, even Steve Jobs, the father of Apple, suffered from such cowardice.

But there is nothing we can do.

Everyone had to coax them, coaxing the engineers like they were children. Many of the top technical tycoons are all freaks, with personalities that can be as eccentric as they are... This is actually the norm in the scientific world.

The reason why many people can become the brightest stars in the fields of science and technology is because everything in their lives is science and technology. Many scientists can ignore everything outside themselves when they are engaged in research, and they don't even care about their lives.

This kind of person who doesn't care about anything is of course the most difficult to manage.

In other words, the higher the technical difficulty and the more top-notch science and technology projects in the industry, the more difficult it is to manage.

It’s so hard to find the right person responsible for a large generative model!

Those vice presidents, senior vice presidents, etc. are simply not good.

Even Lu Qi, as the president of Ziweixing International, does not believe that he can lead the artificial intelligence experts at the forefront of the industry. If the leadership is not good, the project can actually be promoted, but in this case, money will be burned in vain, and everyone will just wait to die, just like many state-owned enterprise projects that have become zombie projects.

Zhou Buqi sighed, feeling a little troubled, "Now we're in trouble. Shen Xiangyang wants me to come forward and take charge of this project personally."

Lu Qi hesitated for a moment and said frankly: "Actually, I think so too."

"Depend on!"

"Just look at Apple and you will know that iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad...these epoch-making products were all created by Steve Jobs himself. Only epoch-making entrepreneurs can create epoch-making products. This large generative model , if it is really developed, it will definitely be of epoch-making significance, possibly even greater than the iPhone!”

"Your argument is exactly the same as Shen Xiangyang's."

Zhou Buqi felt a little helpless.

Lu Qi smiled and said: "But this is the fact. Apple under Cook's leadership has performed very well in the market, and its stock price has been rising. But many people still don't think highly of him. Why? Because he is not an epoch-making entrepreneur. He has Apple in his hands." "

"talk later!"

Zhou Buqi waved his hand.

A little annoying!