NetEase, don’t drift away

NetEase published a statement on its portal website and news client titled "NetEase's Statement on Former Employee Tang Yan's Violation of Professional Ethics", alleging that Tang Yan, the founder and CEO of Momo, who was the former editor-in-chief, used his position to obtain various information and technical resources from NetEase to privately start Momo, violating the non-compete clause; transferring economic benefits to the advertising company opened by his wife; and failing to report to the company when he was detained by the police due to lifestyle issues. The statement said: NetEase reserves the right to take further measures.

once

In the 1990s, the Chinese Internet began to rise, and my family happened to run an Internet cafe. At that time, people preferred to call NetEase 163. At that time, people born in the 1960s and 1970s, led by my father, would go to 163 every day to browse news and send emails. At the beginning of the emergence of online games, NetEase successfully occupied the top spot in the Chinese game market with Westward Journey Online and Fantasy Westward Journey, which made Ding Lei the richest man in the world.

NetEase seems to be drowning in its own halo. From the top of China's Internet, NetEase is now known as the "Huangpu Military Academy" of Internet entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs are very successful in various fields such as mobile social networking, vertical communities, online education, Internet medical care, food and O2O, and mobile games? Many people attribute this to NetEase's unique relaxed, open and free corporate culture. An article published on pingwest believes that NetEase's portal division has formed a "special culture" of freedom, encouragement of creativity, equal dialogue and discussion, breaking frameworks and anti-traditional thinking, and mutual support and help from within and from the bottom up over the years.

If you look closely at the characteristics of people like Tang Yan, Li Yong and Fang Sanwen that are very inconsistent with this circle but very close to each other, you will know why so many outstanding entrepreneurs come from NetEase's portal division rather than other places.

Do they really want to leave NetEase?

Since there is such an excellent corporate culture, why did they leave? Everyone knows that it is better to take shelter under a big tree, and NetEase also mentioned in its statement that they used NetEase's name to defraud financing. Before Tang Yan left, he had proposed to NetEase to enter the mobile social field, but it was considered to have no future and was shelved.

Looking back, what did NetEase do in the Internet boom? Mobile social networking, e-commerce, O2O, search, mobile application distribution, mobile games and mobile game channels, which have spawned countless successful entrepreneurs, seem to have nothing to do with NetEase.

NetEase has "floundered" in the tide of the Internet before, but most of them ended up drowning or having muscle spasms. Take Yixin for example, at least half of the users use Yixin for activation codes of Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. There are many users of Battle.net, but as a Blizzard game that is popular every time, NetEase cannot delay issuing activation codes to users. After the activation code is issued, the game becomes popular, so what should Yixin do?

On the other hand, Momo, with hundreds of millions of users and the third largest social tool in China, took only three years from its birth to its listing. In addition to Momo's CEO Tang Yan, the other NetEase portal executives who left around 2011-2012 included former NetEase editor-in-chief and founder of Yuantiku Li Yong, former NetEase deputy editor-in-chief and founder of Xueqiu Finance Fang Sanwen, former NetEase deputy editor-in-chief and founder of Chunyu Palm Doctor Zhang Rui, and former NetEase deputy editor-in-chief and founder of Fanben Chen Mengcang. Although these people were not as successful as Tang Yan, they were at least leaders in their respective vertical fields.

Goodbye

Looking at so many people from NetEase, each of them has achieved different degrees of success in fields that NetEase has never ventured into or failed in. It is impossible for NetEase not to be anxious or angry. However, there is an old Chinese saying that it is better to part ways in peace. Although they may not have been brothers in the past, at least they are colleagues who eat from the same pot. Why should we say that they have an affair with a girl from the next village or murder someone on their wedding night?

Ding Lei also publicly stated that sooner or later one will have to pay for what he has done. It is immoral to use NetEase's resources to start a business. After leaving the job, he used the NetEase name to cheat for jobs and financing... Ding Lei even reported the case himself, and then personally led the police across provinces to arrest employees who left the gaming department to start their own businesses. This spirit is also indomitable.

The author has no intention to belittle anyone. Although we may not have been close friends before, at least we were colleagues who ate from the same pot. Moreover, the Internet circle is so small that we will meet each other sooner or later. Will NetEase send out a lawyer's letter when all those Internet companies are listed on NASDAQ?

After so many years in the Internet industry, even ordinary people know the principle of leaving a way out for others so that they can meet again in the future. This time, NetEase attacked Momo, and the voices on the Internet were almost one-sided. Whether NetEase is a victim or not, it is human nature to sympathize with the weak. NetEase will be criticized no matter what. Why not, happy breakup, I wish you happiness. Sending a blessing, looking generous, and attracting better talents is the best strategy.

Treason is intolerable on the battlefield. Although the business world is like a battlefield, betrayal and deception are not that serious. It's just that people with different ideals cannot work together.

Hope

Now, in addition to suing Tang Yan and waiting to sue other "Whampoa Military Academy officers", it is better to get a piece of the pie before the layout of these emerging fields is determined. This is what NetEase should do, after all, the post-90s generation now prefers to browse Weibo.