Zhang Xiangning is a first-generation Internet entrepreneur, starting from the founding of Wanwang at the age of 23, he has experienced the whole process of China's Internet development.
"The Internet industry, first started by tigers and foxes, and then gradually entered two dogs, then bears - Baidu, and cats - cat poker. Of course, the Antarctic animal penguins are not lonely, did not expect to grow potatoes in the market where so many beasts are rampant, and finally, all the animals found that they were not as powerful as Alibaba and its forty thieves, and the owners of the scenery finally became hackers, bloggers, Wikis, and travelers with gloves. This is the history of the development of the Internet in China. "When it comes to the Internet, he is like a family treasure.
Therefore, Zhang Xiangning is known as an "Internet veteran" in the industry.
Peak: Wanwang fame
At the end of 1995, Zhang Xiangning, who was only 23 years old, and his brother Zhang Xiangdong, who was 8 years older, founded Beijing Chuanglian Communication Network Co., Ltd., which specialized in providing domain name registration and website production for enterprises, which became the famous China Wanwang.
This year is known as the first year of China's Internet business. Returnees sent Tian Sooning, Ding Jian, and Zhang Chaoyang back to China to start a business; University English teacher Jack Ma and Ningbo Telecom employee Ding Lei left their public offices to prepare to break into the Internet; Zhang Shuxin, who became rich first, and Wanguo Pingren began to toss the business of ISP (Internet access service); The Zhang Xiangning brothers entered the field of domain name registration.
The entire Internet has sprung up like mushrooms, presenting a thriving scene.
Zhang Xiangning has a completely different personality from his brother, "Xiang Ning is an active thinker and a risk-taker. His father said. Zhang Xiangdong likes to seek stability, so at the beginning of the business, the two had a clear division of labor, Zhang Xiangning, who had a flamboyant personality, served as the chairman and CEO of Wanwang, and Zhang Xiangdong, who had a calm temperament, was the cto of the main technology.
At that time, China's Internet was in a reckless era of random and business opportunities, and many people were not very clear about domain names, and even most of the company's domain names fell into the hands of foreign speculators. In order to break the situation, Zhang Xiangning began to "attack", united with CCTV, People's Daily and many other media, snatched back the domain names of hundreds of well-known enterprises from foreign speculators, thus becoming famous in a war and having the reputation of "domain name guard".
Affected by the financial crisis in 1997, Wanwang entered the most difficult year, suffering from lack of funds and heavy debt. The two brothers gritted their teeth and finally survived, achieving a cash flow balance in mid-1998, and then leading the way, occupying 1/4 of the domain name registration and web hosting service market, with sales of hundreds of millions.
Such a favorable prospect naturally attracts the attention of the capital market, including the US investment firm IDG. idg took the initiative to come to the door to offer to invest, injected 500,000 US dollars, compared to the current tens of millions of financing, this amount is not large, but in the venture capital just entered the country at the time, it is already good. Subsequently, Zhang Xiangning raised $10 million from Xinqiao almost every effort he spent.
It can be said that it is the time when the spring breeze is triumphant. However, no one expected that at such a peak moment, Zhang Xiangning would actually choose to leave Wanwang and start a second business.
In 2009, Wanwang was acquired by Alibaba and merged into "Alibaba Cloud", thus announcing the past of the Wanwang era.
Starting point: the years of youth and madness
When Zhang Xiangning left Wanwang, many people suspected that it was caused by the contradiction between the brothers, and many years later, he stood up and clarified, "That was my personality, at that time Wanwang had developed for several years, did not reach the height in my mind, and my personality made me choose to start a new business." ”
In fact, the brothers have reached a tacit understanding, the low-key brother is behind the scenes, Zhang Yang's brother is active in front of the stage, not to mention, always left Wanwang, Zhang Xiangning is also one of the largest shareholders of Wanwang.
It is not so much that the brothers oppose each other, but rather that the Wanwang cannot tolerate Zhang Xiangning's ambitions, he is eager for a bigger platform to realize his dreams, and the self-reliance portal has become the only choice at that time.
As we all know, the Internet is a jianghu that pays attention to "only fast and not broken", mixed in here, and it is especially crucial to win with speed. In this regard, Wang Xing once said a similar view, to the effect that those companies that are bullish are not necessarily the first to enter the market, but must be one of the earliest ones.
It happens that Zhang Xiangning admits to himself that he has a strong foresight. Since he was a child, he likes to walk in front of his peers, and pursues everything "earlier" than others. This nature of pursuing "everything must be fast" coincides with the characteristics of the Internet that "only fast is not broken".
In 1977, when five-year-old Zhang Xiangning saw other children carrying school bags to school, he clamored to go to school, so his classmates were generally two years older than him. In order not to waste a year of military training time, he gave up Peking University and chose Beijing Normal University when he went to college. In his freshman year, he wrote a paper on relativity, which was highly praised by professors at the Center for Theoretical Physics Research at MIT, and his future was bright.
However, after only two years of study, he became dissatisfied with the tedium of university life and the "relative" slow pace of education, and decided to quit school to study abroad, when he was only 18 years old. Later, a serious illness in his father eventually prevented him from going abroad. After leaving school unsuccessfully, he had to enter the society early, worked in a foreign trade company run by Chinese-Americans, and soon came to prominence, and was promoted to department manager in just one month.
The company's areas include international trade, shipping, tourism, bidding management, equipment development and production, computer exhibition and sales, etc. At that time, the import and export business was very prosperous, with excellent business capabilities, Zhang Xiangning earned the first bucket of gold in his life - 1 million.
This not small amount has become a stepping stone for Zhang Xiangning to enter the Internet.
Precipitation: Go again
"I am a very rational person, but also a very emotional person", this is Zhang Xiangning's self-evaluation.
Rationality is rational, and he can't help but carry a "pride" in his young fame, he once said bluntly, "I am one of the few people in China who understands the Internet business model the most." ”
In 2000, in the bubble of the Internet winter, he took the money earned in Wanwang to found Verye, the main business is the 365agent intelligence center, and the main profit model is to provide enterprises and individual users with intelligent information services set according to their requirements. The reason is that in order to prove that "success comes from real talent, not by luck." ”
However, it is not easy to survive this bitter winter. In the most difficult time, he, an arrogant entrepreneur, hung a large map in his office - the "Qingming River Map" of Silicon Valley startups, marked with the names of hundreds of well-known innovative companies in Silicon Valley, and the walls were hung with portraits of the world's most successful Internet heroes, all to encourage himself.
In 2003, the business was not only self-financing, but also the business model was recognized and invested by the Mitsui Sumitomo Fund in Japan. Taking advantage of this momentum, he quickly expanded his business and integrated the company into the "World Internet" group, which has three business units: Narrow Notice Network, China Commercial Telecommunications, and China Network Intelligence Center (formerly upgraded from the 365agent Intelligence Center).
The launch of the "narrow notice" shocked the advertising and Internet circles, and is still Zhang Xiangning's most praised stroke. Compared with traditional advertising, "narrow notice" mainly uses the network form to target the dissemination of advertising, and "pay for results" charges. In 2005, Tianxia Internet was rated as "Asia's Top 100 Scientific and Technological Innovation Enterprises" by the well-known American venture capital magazine red herring for its narrow innovation.
Before the launch of the narrow notice, it was also questioned by investors, "these things will also be done by companies like Google", but arrogantly Replied without looking up, "The key is when they will do it!"
It was precisely this arrogance and persistence of his that led to the later narrow notice. Today, Zhang Xiangning has a dual identity, both as an entrepreneur and an investor.