In the early days, when my mother knew that she was coming out, she cried and asked, "Isn't homosexuality a perverted hooligan?" "Brother Cheng, I'm worried that I will be treated as a 'comrade' when I come here. Some employees decide to leave after marriage, fearing a misunderstanding...
Talent alone is not enough, it takes a lot of courage to change people's perceptions.
- "Green Book"
In the Chinese business community, Geng Le is a special existence.
He serves a group of non-mainstream people - homosexuals.
In 2000, when the PC Internet was on the rise, Geng Le plunged into the rainbow economy and created a gay website Danlan.com.
It wasn't until 2020 that he used the gay social app Blued to finally bring BlueCityBrothers to NASDAQ.
In his 20-year entrepreneurial career, he has endured the operational and resource pressures that all entrepreneurs of his generation face, as well as the pain of not being understood as a group identity.
In the early days, when my mother learned that she had come out, she cried and asked: "Isn't homosexuality a perverted hooligan?" "Many heterosexual job seekers are afraid to join Blue City Brothers, fearing that they will be seen as 'gay' when they come here." Some employees will decide to leave. "Married, worried about misunderstanding...
Talking about the roadshow scene and watching the audience leave, Geng Le confessed to Tencent Finance: "If you don't have a strong heart, you will definitely be defeated, and you will become very distrustful." ”
In 2005, "Brokeback Mountain" directed by Ang Lee became a hit. The love story between men and women in the play is beautiful and moving, and more and more people are beginning to get to know the "gay" group up close.
Nowadays, more and more people are able to accept "comrades", but most "comrades" still live in hidden corners.
How big is the "gay" community? According to Frost & Sullivan, an external consulting management firm in the United States, there are more than 450 million LGBTQ people (generally non-Confucian) people worldwide. Li Yinhe, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, estimates that the number of this group in China is about 70 million. That is, there may be one homosexuality in every 20 people in China.
The greatest pain of the "gay" crowd is how to get acquainted with the same kind accurately and quickly. Geng Le has worked hard for 20 years, which has also helped his Blue City brothers realize their dream of going public and gain more recognition.
Many "comrades-in-arms" believe that the Blue City Brothers list is an iconic node that makes "comrades-in-arms" more "sunny". That's why Geng Le was called by the group he served as the man who pushed "comrades out of the cupboard."
Not long ago, Blue City Brothers completed its first acquisition after going public - the acquisition of lesdo, a lesbian social app. The deal wasn't flashy in investment circles, but it was considered a landmark event in "gay" circles — China's first LGBTQ merger.
Like all entrepreneurs with bigger plans, Geng now faces greater business pressure. The proportion of live broadcast business is large, the company's revenue model is unified, the vertical ceiling of social software is low, when the company turns a profit, etc., are all in front of him. The focus of all the pressures is: Where is the future of the Blue City brothers, who represent the economic power of the rainbow?
"When she knew I was coming out, my mom cried: Isn't homosexuality a perverted hooligan?"
Tencent Finance: You used to be a police officer, why did you choose this profession?
Geng Le: Being a police officer has been my dream since childhood. First, I can protect my family. Second, I have always felt that you should be a very, very active people's police to catch criminals. So I entered the police academy at the age of 16, graduated at the age of 19, and became the youngest deputy chief of our public security bureau at the age of 26. When I decided to leave, I still couldn't allow the police uniforms I had worn for so many years and would touch the police numbers in the closet whenever I could.
Tencent Finance: Why did you decide to start a business in the field of "gay"?
Geng Le: When I was at the Police Academy, I was surrounded by a lot of classmates, and everyone started falling in love. But I really didn't want to fall in a relationship because I felt like I was different from everyone else. I don't like girls. I'm interested in the guys in my class and I think they're attractive to me. I was young and a little ignorant at the time, but I don't know why. So I kept this secret to myself and did not dare to tell anyone. I was lonely. At the time, I thought I was the only one in the world.
After graduating from the police academy and starting to work, I tried to find answers on the Internet on my own. Who am I? Why am I like this? That is, in the process of using the Internet, I have a new understanding of "comrade". I saw a lot of people like me, and also saw some foreign comments on "comrades", and I got to know myself better. But it is true that during that period, due to lack of recognition, many homosexuals suffered from depression and some even decided to commit suicide. I was wondering if it was possible to create a site like this to help a lot of people like me, telling them that homosexuality is not a pervert, that he does not need to have low self-esteem, that he does not need to commit suicide, that everyone knows. Can help them understand homosexuality correctly. So from then on, I started learning how to make a website and made a memory called Light Blue.
Tencent Finance: It was a part-time job. Under what circumstances did you quit your job to start a company?
Geng Le: Around 2012, a friend of Sohu wanted to make a documentary about entrepreneurship. I played the CEO of a gay business in the film, but at the time I was really scared that people would know about me. I asked him if the film would be very impactful, and he said no. At the time, our website was struggling to break through. I think if my story was recorded and some advertisers saw it, they might be willing to vote for us. It was also an advertisement before my parents saw it.
As a result, Sohu pushed it to the front page, and my phone kept ringing that afternoon, and my family, friends, and colleagues knew about it. I was faced with two choices, either to be a police officer, shut down the website, or do the website. It's actually really hard to choose. The police made my parents proud. But then a friend called me and said, "Go out by yourself, but those brothers who are with you, didn't they agree to do something incredible?" This phone is reliable. I thought, so I resigned.
Tencent Finance: So you "passively exited"? How did your parents react?
Geng Le: My family is very traditional, and my mother was shocked. I remember when I got home, my mother was sitting on the couch. She cried there all day and was very sad. She said, son, you are gay. How do you mess with homosexuality? Isn't this a perverted rogue? I explained to her what homosexuality was, how painful I was and how I experienced it. Mom said, you must not tell Dad about this, he may not be able to accept it.
When I was a child, my family was poor. My mom was a housewife with a junior high school education and used to earn some handicraft money by making clothes for others. My father was a winemaker. My parents loved me very much. My mother gave birth to me when I was 30 years old, and I am the only child in the family. Then I will get the best things in the house. For example, Qinhuangdao likes to eat skin shrimp and crabs. Good. I am very much like a son's child. At that time, I was very sad about my mother's reaction and for a while I was afraid to go home.
Tencent Finance: What does my mother think? Have you settled down?
Geng Le: Reconciliation is a difficult process, but it also goes through several key things. My mother likes to watch Tianjin Satellite TV's "It's Not You". One year, "It's All About You" invited me to work. When I worked for a year, my mother always saw me on TV, and began to call my uncles and aunts, saying, hurry up and watch TV, tonight is Tianjin Satellite TV, and everyone slowly accepted it. In addition, I read some letters written to me by "friends" groups. When I meet my friends, I get a more objective view of the group and the company.
Of course, the most important thing is to have children. As I got older, I loved seeing people holding my children every time I went out. I would like to ask if this is okay to have children? So I gave birth to a child with the help of the legal artificial insemination technology in the United States. I hope to grow with him.
Tencent Finance: What changes have children brought to your family life?
Geng Le: It's changed a lot, and I'm very happy. Feeling happy is like a good medicine. When I was tired, I opened a picture of my son and all the problems disappeared. It's a chemical reaction. And after the birth of the child, the family atmosphere becomes very happy, they joke that parents can live at least 10 more years. The new clothes I buy for my children are all hard, and they have to be washed several times to soften, so that the children can wear them, and then make them themselves; The vegetables in the market are worried about insecurity, so they have to grow their own for their children.
When I started my company in Beijing, my parents were in Qinhuangdao. At night, neither of them turned on the lights. Mom sat in a chair in a daze. Joy.
"I cried when I heard that gay people all over the world are buying your shares"
The day the Bluetown Brothers executive team went public on the NASDAQ
Tencent Finance: What obstacles did you encounter when becoming a "gay" platform?
Geng Le: When I start a business, I will encounter operational and financial problems that others face, and I will encounter problems that others will not encounter. In the early days of my business, my biggest fear was indeed going out of business. In those years, attacks and fixes appeared frequently on the Internet. After each blow, the first to fall must be some "friendly" sites. Although our website is very healthy and free of pornography and illegal content, it is often shut down. At the time I was worried that whoever knocked on the door would arrest us the next moment because we were working on a gay website. I couldn't sleep well and had nightmares all the time. The only thing we could do was have our volunteers go to the computer room in that city to take down our server and connect in another city, but if they found it in another city it would shut down again, so we continued to fight the guerrillas.
Maintenance operations are not so smooth. In the early days, in order to survive on advertising, I went to well-known "social" bars to talk to the boss about business. I prepared a PPT for my boss. After listening to the narrative, the boss usually writes this sentence: "Let's think about it. "Leave me there, it happens all the time.
At the beginning, I told the audience that today's project is a social product called Blued that serves "comrades-in-arms." There was often a commotion and many people left immediately. If you don't have a strong heart, you will definitely be defeated and you will become very distrustful.
Tencent Finance: How did you get investor investment?
Geng Le: Before 2012, we were just a social networking site. At that time, there were no special gay dating apps in China. Most people in the circle are using foreign software, you can check the nearby "comrades", say hello, make friends, but the performance and experience are not good. Okay, so I developed Blued.
On the day of the launch, I just issued an announcement through Weibo Light Blue Network, which immediately attracted more than 10,000 users to register. Later, if you rely on the word "comrade" circle, the speed of expansion is amazing. 200,000 users. According to users, financing is relatively easy. In 2013, Shanghai Middle Road initiated the investment, and then Qingliu, Shunwei, CDH and others joined one after another. Tencent Finance: Why did you decide to go public? What does entering the stock market mean to you?
Geng Le: In the past, when hiring people, many people were reluctant to join this company. They fear that if they come, they will come out or that if heterosexuality comes, they will be considered gay. But many gay people stay because they want to do something for the group. I have to give an explanation to other colleagues. The least I can tell them is that you work for a public company now, and you should be proud and not shy about telling others. There are not many Chinese companies on the U.S. stock market. Be brave, there is nothing to be ashamed of.
Tencent Finance: How did you react when you got home on the day of listing?
Geng Le: It was a very peaceful day. Ringing bells, giving speeches, going back to work and eating with everyone, it's all normal, I don't think there's anything special. At the end of the evening, one board member posted this message to the group: "Geng Le, congratulations, gay people all over the world are buying your stock." That's when the words really touched me, and I burst into tears. Because of the word "homosexuality", all my joys, pains, struggles, and misunderstandings over the years are because of these three words. We just want to serve these people and do things for these people. Everyone is supporting you during this time. That feeling of being recognized cannot be suppressed. Then there are the most moving moments in the heart.
Keep "comrades-in-arms" away from AIDS, and let secrets become sunshine
Tencent Finance: Why are you considering acquiring LESDO? Do gay companies plan to grow together in the future? In your vision, what kind of company will BlueCity Brothers become in the future?
Geng Le: We have always positioned ourselves as an Internet company that provides the full life cycle for LGBTQ people. The establishment of Horn Health and Sapphire is such a strategy. In the past, we have provided a number of services to gay men, and lesbians are also a group we study and focus on. How to diversify the company and make the brand more loved? Our acquisition this time, we have advantages in the gay market, in technology, talents, capital, market operation and other aspects of our own mature model, so we can introduce and hit it off.
Tencent Finance: Live streaming business revenue accounted for more than 84%. Some people will say that you are a live streaming company, the revenue structure is relatively simple, and it is not yet profitable. In addition, the upper limit within the vertical box can significantly affect the valuation. What do you think? What are your plans for the future?
Geng Le: We are the largest LGBTQ platform and have the largest traffic portal in the industry. When it comes to traffic, we realize it's only a matter of time. It's live output, which is our key breakthrough. In the future, we will provide more same-sex services, continue to increase traffic, and turn cash money. Unlike other companies in the industry, we are a full life cycle company. While others focus on a certain area, I am the whole life cycle. Of course, you haven't realized this yet, because our financial reports still focus on social networks. In any case, the full life cycle strategy will be reflected in future business performance, such as the growth of the big health business, the growth of hormonal health, etc.
Second, even with the same live broadcast, there will be natural same-sex disorders. For example, it's easier to switch to other live streaming platforms. The cost of migrating "comrades" will be much higher, because other platforms are not where this group of people is concentrated. The average revenue per paying user of our live streaming service is 2,059 yuan, which is high among vertical social software in China.
Tencent Finance: What is the business of Horn Health and Sapphire? Where is the future market potential? How can you be sure you can bring new growth to the company?
Geng Le: In 2018, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization jointly estimated that by the end of 2018, there were an estimated 1.25 million survivors of HIV infection in mainland China, of which the main transmission route was sexual transmission. In 2017, there were reports of the opposite sex among those infected. The transmission rate was 69.6%, of which male homosexuality was 25.5%.
Therefore, prevention is much needed by gay men. Now, advances in medical technology can prevent, block and better treat AIDS, including tests. You may find it difficult to buy such drugs in traditional pharmacies and pharmacies, but these drugs are approved for marketing and have already been approved. Therefore, we hope to build this platform well, establish a chain between pharmaceutical companies and the demand side, and let everyone get more professional health advice. A specialist will tell you how to take your medication, how to get tested, and how to prevent it. If "comrades" have preventive measures, use sexual drugs, AIDS can be avoided. Blue baby business is actually an overseas assisted reproduction business, helping people who go abroad to receive assisted reproductive services to do hospital admission, consultation, translation, etc., which is completely legal.
Tencent Finance: What events inspired you to prevent HIV/AIDS?
Geng Le: The prevention and treatment of AIDS is an issue in 2008. A friend told me he had AIDS. Another point is that in addition to physical suffering, many people morally condemn or discriminate against them. AIDS is a topic that homosexuals must focus on. Some people do not have a strong awareness of AIDS prevention, and my advantage is that I have such a big platform, and I can help this group of people in various aspects such as knowledge, prevention, and public welfare.
Tencent Finance: Some young users say that Blued has some elderly groups? What do you think?
Geng Le: Although we have the most young users, we serve everyone, including the elderly. Many young people will say why your products have fallen so low, they are all old people, I will say that you will also be old, even the elderly have the right to let more people have, the elderly need more support, encouragement and recognition. We have to serve not only young people, but also the elderly, not only first-tier cities, but also third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities, because this is the real world, and the elderly are highly rewarded on our platform, and so are other similar people. right
Blue entries are used for registration
In addition to investing in people and algorithm development, you can see that we have more barriers to entry than others, such as choosing your age, weight, role, tags, dating purpose, and role type. Good and accurate user matching.
Tencent Finance: Was there a moment that made you feel successful?
A letter written by a netizen to Geng Le
Geng Le: Some time ago, I received a letter handwritten by a netizen with very beautiful handwriting, he was in a small town, because of our products met the person he loved, he was very happy. Many years ago, suicide rates among same-sex people were high. Now there are fewer and fewer cases of homosexual suicide. It is the Internet that allows everyone to comfort and rely on each other. Thing.
Tencent Finance: What is your ultimate goal?
Geng Le: I just want to reveal hidden people and things. One of my favorite lines comes from the movie Green Book: Talent alone is not enough, it takes a lot of courage to change people's minds.