Chapter 877 The Consciousness Bias of Facebook Management
Wu Tao's previous jobs were actually those closest to technical staff, so he knew these people's thoughts best.
As long as there is hope and there is work to do, nothing will happen.
However, after the project report meeting, the thoughtful Bill followed Wu Tao back to the office and asked seemingly unintentionally: "Boss, the Internet stock market is in a depression today. Is there any chance that SkyScape will IPO in the future?"
As the person in charge, Bill obviously thinks more than the R&D staff below.
Wu Tao raised his eyebrows, "Of course, SkyScape is the first Internet technology company that I strongly recommend. IPO is only the minimum first step. In the future, it will become a high-quality stock on the stock market, or even become a technology company with the leading market value. That is your real goal." Target!"
When Bill heard this, he was secretly shocked. This Chinese boss was much more ambitious and courageous than himself.
There are no selfish thoughts in my mind now.
In this extraordinary period, it is better to do a good job with a good salary honestly and get through the difficulties.
After all, even if he went out to work hard on his own, he might not be able to withstand this depressed environment.
It would be better to enjoy the shade under the big tree of Tianqi Investment.
"What, Bill, do you have other ideas?" Wu Tao said after observing the words.
Bill shook his head repeatedly and said: "NONONO! I have no idea at all."
After seeing off Bill, Wu Tao called Jim Fairman over in the name of understanding the progress of the project.
This tall, lanky, bearded white man is as good as Bill Babbitt in terms of technical vision and accumulation, and deserves to be focused on and cultivated.
Anyway, be prepared.
After contacting the core technical director, Wu Tao focused on the financial statements here, got a general understanding of the capital invested since its establishment, and ended his inspection at SkyScape.
In the afternoon, Wu Tao had a buffet lunch at SkyScape and then went straight to Facebook, which was not far away.
Due to multiple joint holdings, Facebook is obviously larger than SkyScape, with three independent office buildings forming a lush courtyard.
The first CEO of Facebook was Rick Iverson, the former operating director of Oracle Software Company.
When Wu Tao saw this guy, he realized that this tall, thin white man actually had the elegant temperament of Chinese Confucianism.
In his early thirties, being promoted to the position of supervisor in an established software company with a solid organizational structure is a testament to his ability.
After the two parties met, Rick took the initiative to introduce other senior executives of Facebook team to Wu Tao.
Chief Financial Officer CFO Zhou Li is a middle-aged Chinese in his mid-thirties, who was assigned by Wu Yingying from the Los Angeles branch of Tianqi Investment. So when Zhou Li met Wu Tao, he was obviously more affectionate than the others.
After all, he is one of his own.
As for COO Courteney Green and Chief Information Officer Brett Taylor, they are both graduates of Ivy League universities and veteran technicians with impressive resumes.
The internal decoration layout of Facebook is more like a holy place for inspiration than a company.
Whether it is functional layout or floor division, Facebook does not follow the traditional horizontal and vertical rules.
Instead, walkways, terraces, and even a bonsai are used to divide the wide office area into relatively independent functional areas. It looks like a modern loft factory, but it is obviously much taller.
In the end, Wu Tao's first meeting with senior executives was held in a semi-open conference room.
Sitting in the main seat, Wu Tao could not only see the performance of the participants, but also the activities downstairs and even in other areas on the same floor.
After observing all this, Wu Tao returned to the conference room and found that everyone seemed not to be very interested.
He interrupted Rick's speech and said: "I'm sorry, Rick, I have to interrupt. I find that everyone's interest is not very high. Can I know why?"
Once this question was raised, the venue became eerily quiet.
Compared to the loud noise that filled the sky, Wu Tao was most afraid of the feeling of the air suddenly becoming quiet.
It seems that Facebook currently has a lot of problems. At least the management staff have different ideas and there is a big deviation in consciousness.
Fortunately, he came early enough, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous if things continued like this.
After a brief silence, Courteney, as COO, was the first to break the ice.
This middle-aged woman in her thirties was specially hired by the Quantum Fund to which Molly belonged.
"Mr. Wu, you should know that once a website like Facebook is launched, the most important thing is to promote it and accumulate users, right?"
Wu Tao nodded, "I know, you are right."
Courtney continued: "Currently, the only companies and products on the market that have social functions similar to ours are AOL's icq and Microsoft's Windows Messenger."
Wu Tao listened and memorized it, but from Courteney's tone, it was obvious that this woman was well prepared.
It seems that the shortcomings of cutting the operating budget a while ago have finally been exposed.
"Neither AOL nor Microsoft can easily compete with Facebook. America Online has extensive business and has a good user base when promoting icq software. Not to mention Microsoft, it directly packages Windows Messenger and IE. User growth is even more unfavorable.”
"...As far as I know, icq currently has more than 20 million users, and Windows Messenger is a little later, reaching about 10 million. But our Facebook, five months after it was launched, has no more than 3 million registered users! This is worthy of our reflection, isn’t it?”
After Courteney finished asking the question, she sat down.
The right to speak was thrown into Wu Tao's hands, and he could no longer remain silent at this time.
Otherwise, the management team, which originally doubted his authority, would not take him seriously.
Wu Tao knocked on the table with the signature pen in his hand and said: "Everyone, I really appreciate the question raised by Courteney. Let's briefly analyze it. Windows Messenger has reached such a height in a short period of time relying on IE's user base. We won’t talk about it yet.”
"...Then let's take icq as an example. As far as I know, when AOL acquired icq, icq already had a user base of 10 million. The remaining 10 million growth is the result of AOL's takeover. So Everyone, do you know how much operating costs they have invested to achieve this achievement?”
Courteney was very familiar with this, "30 million US dollars."
"That's right, it's 30 million US dollars! Compared with our investment of 5 million US dollars to reach 3 million users, the efficiency is actually low. This shows that the more investment in marketing and operations, the better, at least for This has been the case for the past six months.”
Everyone was lost in thought, and Rick then asked: "Boss, Courteney and I have different ideas. I heard that Facebook's product idea came from China's Xiaonei Network. I'm worried that this idea is not suitable for people with different cultural foundations." European and American countries.”
"Rick, I cannot agree with your point of view." Regarding this, Wu Tao's attitude was clear.
"...First of all, the initial stage of promotion of a website and product is the slowest stage of growth. Facebook's ability to reach 3 million users in just five months itself illustrates the recognition of its social attributes."
"...Secondly, even though the cultural foundations of China and Western countries are different, the attributes of social interaction are similar. As for the differences reflected in products, this requires you to track and adjust. In my opinion, Chinese netizens, I prefer the text on the school website; then, will Facebook netizens prefer the photo sharing on it..."