Rebirth of the Wild Age

In another time and space, Zhang Chaoyang had scored himself at different stages: from starting a business to 2004, he scored 9 points, and from 2004 to when he recovered from depression, he scored 6 points.

To put it bluntly, it has been swelling since 2004. I don't know what I'm doing all day, and I always show up to the point where I'm shown in.

Last year, not only Wang Shitou was climbing, Zhang Chaoyang also climbed Mount Everest.

However, Wang Shitou climbed to the top of the 8,848-meter peak, while Zhang Chaoyang stopped at 6,666 meters.

Because at this time 90% of Internet companies rely heavily on mobile SMS for their livelihoods, the most important thing for Internet companies is their TOP number, which is the service provider code that conducts business with the mobile company.

Sohu’s service provider code happened to be 6666, so Zhang Chaoyang climbed to the height of 6666 meters on Mount Everest and stood there using his mobile phone to send Sohu MMS. In the case of Sohu's crazy money-making publicity, Zhang Chaoyang's move caused a sensation across the country for a while, and Sohu's mobile SMS business volume also soared. Therefore, he was hailed by the media as "the most show-stopping CEO in China's IT industry."

Although NetEase has the highest market value on the Nasdaq, NetEase can only rank third in China for its influence.

Especially with the support of Song Weiyang, Zhang Chaoyang has not been shackled by capital, and Sohu has now become the No. 1 in China's Internet industry. Sohu’s various products are now dazzling: Sohu Portal (China’s largest online media), Sohu Focus (China’s second-traffic real estate website), Sohu Auto (China’s top three automotive website by traffic), and School Network (China’s largest Internet community), Sohu Wap (the second most trafficked mobile web client in China), 17173 (China’s largest gaming portal).

In addition, Sohu and Sogou’s joint venture Sopai Changyou also represented "Street Basketball" to prepare for the public beta.

Now, Sohu has launched a video website, which can be said to take the lead step by step. Zhang Chaoyang's strategic layout is indeed very exciting.

At this moment, Sohu President and COO Gu Yong will resign... After Song Weiyang learned the news, he immediately called Gu Yongjiang: "Either you fly to Shenghai, or I fly to Beijing, we should have a chat. "

"I'll fly to Shenghai." Gu Yongjiang said.

The two met at the Tomson Golf Club. Song Weiyang asked in the first sentence: "Are you at odds with Lao Zhang?"

"No." Gu Yong denied categorically, with a smile on his face, the same evil smile as before.

"Then what do you resign?" Song Weiyang asked.

Gu Yongjiang rubbed his face: "Too tired. After I joined Sohu, I have been a CFO, planning financing, and operating listings; I have also been a COO for several years. The daily operations, long-term strategy, and product operations of the company require me to be responsible. Now it’s even more troublesome. Lao Zhang has chosen to be the president of Sohu. After one year as the president, I am really exhausted physically and mentally and want to take a long vacation for myself."

"Let you take care of everything, what about Zhang Chaoyang's own work?" Song Weiyang frowned.

Gu Yongjiang smiled and said, "He is learning Wang Shitou."

Song Weiyang asked again: "After resigning, what are your plans?"

Gu Yongjiang smiled and said: “Don’t look at me as an investment before. In fact, my real hobbies are travel and film and television entertainment. Two or three years ago, I wanted to quit my job to pursue my dreams, but it was the winter of the Internet. It’s not authentic. Now that the Internet winter has long passed, Sohu has become the number one in the industry, and I should quit. After resigning, I will go home to accompany my wife and take her around the world. This For a few years I always go home very late, and there is almost no personal living space. My wife sacrificed a lot for my work. Accompanying my wife around the world, one can compensate her, and two can realize my travel dream. As for my work plan, I I don’t know yet. Maybe after traveling around the world, I will open a travel website, or maybe start a film and television company."

Song Weiyang chatted with Gu Yongjiang for nearly half an hour, and finally determined that Gu Yongjiang was indeed not driven away by Zhang Chaoyang, and it was not the conflict between the two as the original time-space reporter said.

No wonder that when the reporter interviewed Gong Yu, the founder of iQiyi, Gong Yu commented: "Zhang Chaoyang is perceptual, Gu Yong will be rational, and I am between them." Gu Yongjiang retorted, "I think Gong Yu is more rational. I am actually a man of temperament, and I do everything by hobbies."

Well, Gong Yu, the founder of iQiyi, is also working at Sohu at this time. He is the vice president of Sohu and is mainly responsible for Sohu Focus (real estate website).

"If it's just because you're too tired, I don't think you need to resign at all." Song Weiyang asked to stay.

Gu Yongjiang smiled bitterly and said: "It's really tired, the body is tired, and the heart is even more tired. There are endless tasks to deal with every day, and endless problems to consider every day. If you don't know the outside world, my X life with my wife is almost gone. After returning home every day, she was already asleep. The next day she had breakfast together and went to work separately. Employees have weekends to rest, and I have to work on weekends when I am president."

Song Weiyang said: "May I reward you with a little more shares?"

"It's not a question of money," Gu Yongjiang waved his hand. "If it's something I'm interested in, I can work 24 hours a day. The problem is that I can't motivate myself for my current job."

Song Weiyang said: "Your work status is very problematic. Just relax appropriately and leave more tasks to your subordinates."

Gu Yongjiang shook his head and smiled: "What I am doing now is actually the work of two people, and I am basically responsible for Lao Zhang's share."

Song Weiyang couldn't help smiling and said: "I will talk to Zhang Chaoyang in detail. If he continues like this, he will simply resign as CEO and change to the company's public relations manager or product manager!"

Why does Song Weiyang insist on keeping Gu Yongjiang?

Not because Gu Yongjiang later created Youku, but because Sohu had the fastest and best years of development, which happened to be the years when Gu Yongjiang was employed. After Gu Yongjiang resigned, Sohu continued to decline and missed countless development opportunities.

If Zhang Chaoyang is the emperor of Sohu, then Gu Yong will be the first minister. Sohu without General Gu Yong would be equivalent to a court without a prime minister, and the successor would either not be able to hold a hundred officials, or would not be able to fight the emperor.

Song Weiyang thought for a while and asked: "If Zhang Chaoyang is the president, how about you become the CEO?"

"Don't, it's like I'm going to grab the class to seize power." Gu Yong will wave his hand again and again.

"It's settled, I will contact Zhang Chaoyang," Song Weiyang made the decision directly, without allowing the other party to refuse, and then said, "In addition, I will take a one-month holiday with you, and you will take a good trip with your wife."

"Boss..." Gu Yongjiang was very unhappy.

Song Weiyang raised his hand and said, "That's it. Zhang Chaoyang, as compensation, I will give him 1% of the equity."

President and CEO often mix them, but strictly speaking they are not the same. There can be many presidents of a company, but only one CEO (there are exceptions). From the perspective of power division, the CEO is equivalent to "president + director" and has greater decision-making power for the company.

Currently, Sohu’s CEO is Zhang Chaoyang, and Gu Yongjiang is the president and COO.

When Song Weiyang was communicating with Zhang Chaoyang, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and it took him a long time to ask: "Why?"

"No, think about it yourself," Song Weiyang said, saving him a little bit of face. "Besides, don't be frustrated with Gu Yongjiang because of this. He planned to quit his job and travel the world, but I forced him to stay. ."

Zhang Chaoyang now has a dumb face and a grievance. He runs outside to show off all day, not to promote the company's products and expand the company's influence. Why is his CEO position suddenly smashed? And when Sohu has developed to a whole new level and became the No. 1 portal site in China, the big boss will come to kill the donkey.

Although Sohu has several shareholders, it really wants to convene a board of directors. Song Weiyang's proposal is definitely passed, and Zhang Chaoyang has no ability to resist.

Song Weiyang also didn't want to do anything wrong, and said: "Let's do it. Sohu has a dual CEO system, and your CEO position is retained, and Gu Yong will also serve as the CEO."

Zhang Chaoyang couldn't help asking: "Who should I listen to when the two CEOs disagree?"

"You coordinate yourself. If you can't coordinate, I will check it out." Song Weiyang said.

"This will cause the company's top management to split. How can there be two decision makers in a company?" Zhang Chaoyang strongly opposed.

Song Weiyang said, "Do you really want me to explain? Gu Yong will be responsible for the company's affairs in the future, and you will act as the company's living signboard. You have the right to make suggestions, but not the right to make decisions. I will give you 1% of the equity as compensation."

Zhang Chaoyang was stunned for a long time, resisting the urge to drop the phone, and said aggrieved: "Thank you, boss, for saving me face."

Song Weiyang said earnestly and earnestly: "Old Zhang, we are old friends. Or I will fly to the capital and have a good chat with you in person. I am really not going to target you this time."

Do you want to release your military power with a glass of wine?

Zhang Chaoyang wanted to ask this sentence very much, but he was not that sturdy character, so he could bear it for a long time: "No, if the boss really wants to chat with me, it's better for me to fly to Shenghai."

Song Weiyang comforted: "Lao Zhang, in fact, this appointment is more suitable for you. You continue to be the nominal CEO of the company, and you don't have to be entangled in trivial matters all day. In the future, if you want to climb that mountain, you can climb it. Which fashion event do you want to attend? Just go there. You are still the founder of Sohu and the top leader of Sohu. Why not do it?"

"It turns out that the boss is dissatisfied with my practice." Zhang Chaoyang couldn't help but smile.

Song Weiyang said: "I am not dissatisfied with your show ~ www.wuxiamtl.com~ but dissatisfied with your distraction. Think for yourself, where are you thinking all day?"

"Yeah." Zhang Chaoyang was too lazy to argue.

Song Weiyang added: “Lao Gu’s CEO appointment will not deliberately announce the news, but will only inform the internal staff. You know Lao Gu, he is not the kind of person who likes to make public, and he will definitely treat you very well in the future. Respectful. Okay, let’s talk about it when you come to Shenghai. Let me introduce some bosses to you and let’s play golf together. Don’t you like to be in the fashion and entertainment industry? I will introduce Jiang Wen to you. He is quite interesting. people."

Before Zhang Chaoyang flew to Shenghai, Sohu Video, which was just launched, ushered in an all-round revision.

Under Song Weiyang's strong suggestion, Sohu Video changed to UGC mode, which means that users are allowed to upload video content by themselves. Now it belongs to the Web2.0 era. Mobilizing the masses is the kingly way. It is too slow to rely solely on the website to post videos. The most important thing is that if there is a copyright issue, you can still give it to netizens, because they are uploaded by netizens.

In fact, Sohu initially wanted to do video news, but the government suddenly promulgated the "Administrative Measures for the Dissemination of Audiovisual Programs on the Internet and Other Information Networks," clearly stating that foreign investment, joint ventures, and Sino-foreign cooperative institutions must not engage in the business of disseminating audiovisual programs on information networks. And even for Chinese-funded companies, they need to obtain a license to be able to do news video websites.

Therefore, Sohu Video and LeTV, which was launched at the same time, are facing a very embarrassing situation, and it is impossible to obtain a news video license.

If you want to attract users for a long time, you can only engage in UGC mode, so that more people can make videos, move videos, and publish videos, so as to quickly enrich the content of video websites. There is almost no supervision in this area, and videos of gourd dolls with mosaics are likely to appear.