Lao Duan's reading notes: Zhou Hongyi's autobiography

I read "Zhou Hongyi's Autobiography" with the psychological expectation of reading "Shi Yuzhu's Autobiography", and Lao Zhou did not disappoint me. The opening is Lao Zhou's style, without any recommendation from peers or praise from the media. The preface talks about himself and his values: "In the Internet, nothing can be more thorough than making a product to change the world"! This is also what I especially want to say to my friends at iQiyi! A few interesting points, learning records are as follows:

1. Free is the essence of the Internet business model: WeChat subverted SMS with free, Taobao subverted EBAY with free, and 360 subverted antivirus software with free. When we are making products, we all want to learn from Steve Jobs and try to make all products into iPhones, but in fact, it is easier to subvert the business model, that is, to subvert the traditional industry with free. In fact, the video we are engaged in is the same. In the past, even pirated DVDs had to be bought with money, but now watching videos is free. The Internet integrates CPU, bandwidth, and storage together. Under the channel of technological revolution, the costs of the three are all decreasing at an astonishing rate. By integrating the three, Internet software reaches a large number of users with a production cost close to zero and a circulation cost close to zero. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired, once said that free is a unique feature of the networked era.

2. Product-driven companies are more likely to succeed: Most Internet companies are technology-driven, and the technical staff is stronger than the product, so the user experience of the product is not good. But in fact, product-driven companies are more likely to succeed. WeChat is a typical product-driven company, and Apple is a thorough product-driven company. Gates often laughed at Jobs for not being able to write a line of code, but this may be what made Jobs the greatest product manager in the world. Of course, it would be best if we could find an employee who is both a technical expert and a product expert.

3. Rapid iteration can create great products: Lao Zhou said that we should not expect a revolution to be brought about by one version of Internet software, but rather by many small version iterations. Therefore, we should not plan a huge technical system from the beginning, but start from one point, or even make a simple prototype, a very rough first version, and then release it as soon as possible, develop users as soon as possible, and improve the product after market verification. Therefore, we should not be afraid to change the product, nor be afraid to redo the product.

4. What did 360 Security change about antivirus software? First, it solved the problem of lag, mainly in the boot speed. That is, it will alarm only when the virus attacks, instead of alarming when the computer is turned on to scan. Second, it changed the way of scanning at startup, instead of scanning at the beginning, it scans in the background after startup. Third, it changed the antivirus interface, which has only 3 buttons, which is very simple and even crude. Fourth, it does not disturb users, and the Do Not Disturb mode is turned on by default.

Finally, Lao Zhou described Alibaba as the most traditional business model on the Internet. The three business models of the Internet are: 1. E-commerce, the wool comes from the sheep; 2. Advertising, the wool comes from the pig. 3. Value-added services, the wool comes from another sheep. Haha, this is my invention.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.