Thirty years ago, he was called "the godfather of e-commerce", founded "the oldest Internet enterprise in China", and created 126 millionaires overnight, and was called the originator of e-commerce in China. )
1992, when he started his business, Ma Dasan, Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Chaoyang were in the United States, and Ma Yun was an English teacher before Liu graduated from high school.
Thirty years later, the market value of his enterprise is only 6 1 100 million, which is equivalent to Tencent and Ali, Baidu and JD.COM. The company has not only failed to make progress, but also regressed a lot. He is the founder of HC Network: Guo Fansheng!
More than 20 years have passed, and he used to be all-powerful, but now he is forgotten and embarrassing.
As a company that started its business earlier than Ali, but entered B2B later than Ali, HC's development course is almost synchronized with the development history of B2B industry in China, with twists and turns.
His experience is a legend. He went to the countryside, became a soldier, gave up his position as an associate professor, started a business in the sea, and created a large enterprise with a capital of over 654.38 billion yuan.
Guo Fansheng was born in Beijing, 1955. Like people of that era, he went to the countryside and served as a soldier in Inner Mongolia. 1978 after resuming the college entrance examination, he was admitted to the industrial economics major of the National People's Congress.
I have been doing academic research since graduation. In eight years, I have published five monographs and more than 65,438+000 papers. 65,438+0988, promoted to associate professor level, is a well-deserved academic strength. )
However, when studying, I always hear people say that scholars can only reason, but not put it into practice, which Guo Fansheng doesn't like. 1990 give up the position of associate professor and start a business in the sea. Guo Fansheng said, "We want to prove to the world that our scholars are not in name only."
It is admirable to prove that one's knowledge can be turned into wealth, so that one's wife and children can be fed and clothed. At that time, he could give up his professorship, lose his iron rice bowl and start a business in the sea.
1992, Guo Fansheng founded HC Company, which is now HC Network. At the beginning, Smart Network published the information classification magazine "China Business Express-Household Appliances", which published information about the supply, procurement, bidding and agency of enterprises, similar to the yellow pages made by Ma Yun later.
In order to collect information, Guo Fansheng and a dozen employees rode bicycles through the streets to collect quotation information from dealers such as computers. At that time, as long as someone bought electrical appliances and took out Guo Fansheng magazine, they could buy the lowest-priced products. Therefore, it is called "the father of classified advertisements in China".
Around 2000, the Internet rose in China, and many enterprises began to do foreign trade. In order to provide all the goods for Chinese and foreign businessmen to choose and buy, Ma Yun founded Alibaba, while Guo Fansheng moved the magazine to the Internet and formally established the website "HC Network".
(Ma Yun developed Cheng Xintong as a commodity, and Guo Fansheng developed Maimaitong as a commodity. Although they deal in different products, the competition is fierce. Therefore, there is a saying in the industry that "there is wisdom in the north and Ali in the south", just like Murong in Jin Yong's martial arts. )
But at that time, Ma Yun, like Mu Rongfu, was still one grade behind Guo Fansheng in Qiao Feng. After all, Guo Fansheng has been in business for a long time, and his foundation is relatively solid.
When he founded HC Network, he only invested 74,000 yuan, but he listed the company! In June 5438+February 65438+July 2003, HC International Information was successfully listed in Hong Kong.
It is said that the stock market is the manufacturing machine of wealth! HC's listing created 126 millionaires overnight, which was as awesome as the subsequent storm.
(When the market value of an enterprise reached its peak, it exceeded 654.38+000 billion, so Guo Fansheng was called the master of management and the godfather of China family business. )
Talk to Ma Yun from a distance: "Ma Yun doesn't apologize, I'm not finished yet"! Guo Fansheng is nine years older than Ma Yun, and they are also enemies. They often talk to each other from a distance and never leave the room. This is also a flavoring agent when the Internet in China started.
In 2003, when Ma Yun just started Taobao, the Taobao shop moved in and implemented the free policy of 12 months. Three years later, the enterprise was unprofitable, and Guo Fansheng thought that Ma Yun was crazy.
(Later, Taobao's business improved, and Ma Yun boasted: "Even with binoculars, I can't find where Alibaba's competitors are." )
In 2007, Ma Yun organized the "West Lake on Sword" and invited many people, but Guo Fansheng was not invited. Lao Guo didn't want to. When interviewed, he immediately spoke out his grievances: "He invited me, I will definitely go, and I was not invited in 2004 and 2005." He also said that if Ma Yun can't find his opponent with a telescope, what will HC become? The implication is: Ma Yun, you are crazy!
(He also said: "It is not the incompetence of all other entrepreneurs in China or his own ignorance that Ma Yun can say such a thing. Ma Yun does not apologize, I am not finished yet. " )
Once Guo Fansheng participated in a TV program, and an audience in the audience did not give Lao Guo face at all. In front of Lao Guo and the national audience, he said: "I am not optimistic about the future of HC, because I think only Alibaba can do the best in that industry in the future."
This made Lao Guo very unhappy. He smiled and said, "I have always been successful, but you don't believe me. Why do you want them to trust you? " Unexpectedly, the young man's prediction not only succeeded, but also founded a company, which was acquired by Ali for 540 million. This man is Zhang Xiangdong, and the company he founded is Wang Wan.
It takes 5 years to surpass Ali, and the result is 3 years and 2 trillion! In 20 13, HC's share price rose 2.5 times, and Guo Fansheng set himself a goal: the company should surpass Alibaba in five years.
And HC, a traditional enterprise that provides business information services by printing, how to deal with the powerful impact of the Internet? As a result, the financial performance plummeted, and the loss was as high as100000 yuan almost every month. The share price has also fallen into the "fairy stock", which has been below 1 HK$ for several years. The team is also brilliant, and the glory of the 126 millionaire created at the time of listing is already yesterday.
Slowly, HC's market value is only HK$ 6.046 billion, while Alibaba's market value is US$ 386.406 billion, a difference of more than RMB 2 trillion. At present, HC will never surpass Ali.
Once upon a time, HC was the leader of the e-commerce industry, and Guo Fansheng was the Beidou of Mount Tai, calling for rain. Why did the oldest Internet company in China go downhill in just over ten years?
(Family business, without the right-hand man, will inevitably go down the historical stage! It can be seen from the acquisition of Coolpad last year that in the 2 1 century, it has been difficult for family businesses to maintain a strong momentum. The same is true of HC. Since 2006, Guo Fansheng has been the chairman of the company, and his nephew Jiang Guo has been the chief operating officer. As far as a two-person lineup is concerned, it is difficult to compete with four hands with two fists. )
(Since Ma Yun started his business, there are 17 people around him, and Ma Yun claims to be 18 arhats, all of which hold up half the sky. For example, Sun Tongyu got Taobao, Wu Yongming got Alipay, Peng Lei got Ant Financial Service, and so on. When it comes to borrowing from Ant Financial Service, it is the gospel for loan lovers. The maximum amount of 300,000 yuan is low, and the next one will arrive in seconds! )
Vision and strategy are equally important, and courage is also the key to success! Once, Zhang Chaoyang said that going public in the United States was the sorrow of the Internet in China. After hearing this, Guo Fansheng immediately criticized: "If you don't go public in the United States, I ask you, will there be Sohu today?" He knew the importance of capital at that time, and today, capital is also the top priority of enterprises. )
Some people commented on Guo Fansheng's business way: HC's business and profit model now look too backward, and it has been focusing on media portals, and then turned to B2B online transactions, with no foundation at all. Moreover, HC doesn't have its own flagship products at all, and its flagship services are all in cooperation with Baidu and 360, but the effect is that there is no chance. But it is undeniable that the industry calls HC the Whampoa Military Academy in the field of sales!
From the beginning, Guo Fansheng's vision and strategy were very long-term. However, with the rapid development of Internet in China, his vision and strategy have been greatly reduced.
In 2006, Guo Fansheng sold China's search and TV advertising business, focused on B2B, and gave the search market to Baidu in vain. In the field of B2B, when Ma Yun allowed enterprises and individuals to settle in Alibaba and Taobao for free, Guo Fansheng received a lot of money, which was superior to Ma Yun in both vision and strategy.
(In the Internet melee of recent 10 years, Guo Fansheng chose to hold his ground and Ma Yun chose to take the initiative. Where is their Ma Yun? )
Finally, there is still only one HC network in Guo Fansheng, but besides Alibaba and Taobao, Ma Yun now owns a large number of Internet companies such as Tmall, Yahoo Search, Word of Mouth, Alipay, Ali Mama, Ant Financial, Wang Wan and so on.
In the wave of Internet entrepreneurship, if you make bold innovations, you will definitely have your own acre of land. On the contrary, Wangjiang will be discouraged, and even if it is not eliminated, it will stagnate!
This is thirty years east and thirty years west.