Those who have achieved great things through the ages must go through three realms. "Last night, the west wind withered green trees. Standing alone on a tall building, looking at the end of the world "is the first place." ""the belt is getting wider and wider, and I will never regret it, which will make people haggard for Iraq. "The same is true of this second situation." Looking for him in the crowd, suddenly looking back, the man is in the dim light "is the third realm." It's amazing to have achieved something through hard work, but it's just right! At Baidu headquarters near Peking University, Robin (English name) recalled his life-people only saw Robin after Baidu successfully went public, but few people noticed that when he was most proud, Robin, who worked in the United States, resolutely gave up the generous treatment and options of foreign companies and returned to China to start Baidu. He has always been a very successful person, and he can constantly deny his own success to achieve greater success.
Peking university jiaozi
"I am psychologically stable, and the bigger the occasion, the better. In the college entrance examination, I should be able to be admitted to Peking University through normal play, but not necessarily the first (he was the first to be admitted to Peking University in Yangquan, Shanxi). "
1968, Li Yanhong was born in an ordinary family in Yangquan, Shanxi. "When I was in elementary school, I passed the drama school and later gave up. Now I feel that giving up is not bad, and technology can bring greater influence. " Li Yanhong recalled. When I was young, I fell in love with China traditional opera and was admitted to Shanxi Yangquan Jin Opera Troupe. But in middle school, Li Yanhong returned to his "main business" and devoted himself to his lessons.
From 65438 to 0987, diligent Li Yanhong was admitted to the library and information major in Peking University with the first place in Yangquan City. "The free academic atmosphere of Peking University is very helpful to the formation of my independent thinking ability." Li Yanhong said. However, in the ivory tower, there are many joys and sorrows. His excitement of leaving Yangquan for the highest university in China was gradually melted by the tedium of library and information science. It is urgent to plan the future life path. "At that time, the domestic atmosphere was rather dull, and it was a very good choice to enter government agencies and units after graduating from college. In my opinion, choosing to go abroad is a natural path. "
"I am a very dedicated person. Once the direction is determined, it will not change if it is not done well. " Since junior year, Li Yanhong has no distractions, bought books such as TOEFL and GRE, and lived a "classroom-library-dormitory" life. The goal is to study in the United States, and the direction is locked in computer science.
Studying in America
"I didn't go abroad smoothly. I just came to the United States to study computer because I changed my major. At first, I couldn't keep up with many homework. Sometimes when interviewing professors, because they are in a hurry, they say something they don't know much about. As a result, those professors thought I couldn't. "
199 1 year, Li Yanhong crossed the wooden bridge again and received the admission notice from the Computer Department of the University of New York in Buffalo, USA. At the time of Christmas, 23-year-old Li Yanhong carried his bags, parted the clouds and embarked on the second journey of his life.
New york State University in Buffalo snows six months a year. Here, he endured the cold at night. Have classes during the day, cram English at night and write programs. I am often busy until two in the morning. Here, he experienced the hardships of all the overseas students in China. "Looking back now, I think it was quite bitter at that time, but I should have suffered when I was young." Li Yanhong commented on this experience.
"There is always justice in the world, and there is always a reward for giving." Li Yanhong has the spirit of diligence, tenacity and persistence in his bones, which makes his professional skills improve rapidly. After staying in school for one year, Li Yanhong successfully entered Panasonic as an intern. "The three-month internship has played a vital role in my future career choice." Li Yanhong said.
Chicheng Silicon Valley
"The biggest feeling that Silicon Valley gives me is that I hope to change the world and change my life through technology."
1994 Before the summer vacation, Li Yanhong received a letter of appointment from Dow Jones Company on Wall Street. "After the internship, the research results have been appreciated by the most authoritative people in this field, and relevant papers have been published in the most authoritative journals in this industry, which is also very helpful for future doctoral papers." Li Yanhong said: "But at that time, there was a general trend among China international students, that is, once they found a job, they would give up their studies. At first, I didn't think I would. But the boss of this company is also a technical expert, and he appreciates my research very much. The two felt reunited after a long separation. A scholar died as a bosom friend, so I decided to drop out of school and accept the position of senior consultant of this company. "
During his three and a half years on Wall Street, Li Yanhong dealt with real-time financial news every day, and successively served as a senior consultant of Dow Jones subsidiary and the designer of the online real-time financial information system of The Wall Street Journal.
From 65438 to 0997, Li Yanhong left Wall Street and went to Infoseek, a famous search engine company in Silicon Valley. In Silicon Valley, Li Yanhong witnessed the infinite scenery of Infoseek in the stock market, and the subsequent bleak.
1998, Li yanhong analyzed and summarized in his "Silicon Valley Commercial War": "Technology itself is not the only decisive factor, but the commercial war strategy is the key to winning thousands of miles; Allow failure; Let good ideas hatch conditionally; Tolerate creative confusion; Share happiness ... "
These typical Silicon Valley business experiences were later easily applied to Baidu's entrepreneurship.
"On the road of life choice, I don't seem to have a bad process, but I am faced with some choices." Li Yanhong said. From Peking University to Buffalo, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, when the opportunity came, Li Yanhong seized it. The accumulation of these years laid a solid foundation for him to create Baidu in the future.
Return to China for business
"Don't ask whether it is too late to join the commercial war. According to the current development speed of the information economy, who can bear the responsibility of not participating in the war? "
During Li Yanhong's eight years overseas, the Internet industry in China is undergoing earth-shaking changes. Starting from 1995, Li Yanhong will return to China for inspection every year. 1999, Li Yanhong decided that the environment was ripe and it was time to join the war, so he set off for home.
I don't know if it's a coincidence or a coincidence. Another Christmas, Li Yanhong flew from the east coast of the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, returned to an important starting point of his life-Peking University, and quietly started his business. Li Yanhong rented two rooms in Peking University Resource Hotel, and started to establish Baidu Company with 1 accountant, five technicians and partner Xu Yong, and eight people and one party.
Then, Li Yanhong began to return to America to look for money. He does not like driving. He drove all day to lobby venture capitalists in San Francisco. Finally, he successfully raised the first venture capital of $654.38+$200,000, exceeding the planned $654.38+$00,000. Nine months after Baidu was founded, venture capitalists De jie feng and IDG invested100000 dollars in Baidu.
Regarding why Baidu is favored by venture capital, Li Yanhong said: "Investors have a belief that Baidu will get better and better." In fact, when he decided to start a business, Li Yanhong was among the top three in engine technology in the world. And Li Yanhong's persistence, dedication and professionalism are well-known in the industry. In addition, the China market cultivated by Baidu has great potential. The combination of the three factors makes Baidu naturally full of infinite temptations for investors. Li Yanhong said: "At that time, financing was relatively easy, but most enterprises still could not get financing. These investors we selected should be said to be excellent and very able to see long-term goals. "
Today, Baidu has gone through five years, during which there are many thrilling changes-fierce board debate, partner Xu Yong's withdrawal, ruthless competition in shopping malls and other challenges, all of which are testing and impacting Li Yanhong from time to time. However, Li Yanhong has always remained calm and calm. With the continuous increase of capital and the continuous maturity of technology, Baidu has developed by leaps and bounds. In 2002, Baidu search engine technology really matured. In 2003, Baidu's traffic increased seven times compared with the previous year. In 2004, Baidu brand was widely recognized by netizens. Baidu successfully went public in 2005.
How to take the road after success? The reporter asked.
"Changing life with technology is still my unchanging belief. Listing is only the beginning of success, and the real challenge is yet to come. " Li Yanhong replied.
The woman behind Li Yanhong
"Hong Yan, I love you and really want to marry you." Perhaps it is such a joke that it is often posted on Baidu's Li Yanhong Post Bar. Some people even discussed which part of his five senses looks best: "If you have to choose one, it's still your mouth, like Gallen Lo's."
"Handsome, successful and outstanding in talent" has the boldness of entrepreneurs, the charm of mature men, and the elegance, calmness and calmness of scholars. Such a man makes some women feel that teaching people how not to love him-
It's a pity that he is married.
Li Yanhong belongs to a "flash marriage" family. He and his wife got married after only knowing each other for six months, and now they have a daughter. Li Yanhong and his wife Ma Dongmin met at an international student gathering in China. Ma Dongmin graduated from the Junior Class of the University of Science and Technology of China. When they met, she was studying for a doctorate in biology at the University of New Jersey.
Li Yanhong said: "My wife has a great influence on me. She is quick-tempered, and she will act immediately when she makes a decision, while I am a slow-witted person. I did it after consideration. Our personalities are complementary. I worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley before returning to China to start a business, and I felt quite happy about all kinds of flowers and plants. But my wife encouraged me to join the company. At that time, I wanted to make it bigger and control my own direction. Therefore, returning to China to start a business is the most suitable choice. But it's a challenge for her. Generally, girls who go abroad prefer the foreign environment. But for my career, she resolutely returned to China to support me, which is not easy. "
"Among the returnees who have returned to China to start businesses, the divorce rate is very high. But now my wife and children have returned to China. " Speaking of this, Li Yanhong smiled, and his handsome face showed infinite warmth and happiness.
Jinghua Times (B35 Edition 12, September 2005)
Baidu's listing is not about performance, but about expectations.
Our reporter Zhang Jianyue.
On August 5th, China search engine Baidu landed on NASDAQ. On that day, the share price rose by 354%, the highest increase on the first day of new shares in the past five years. "Baidu is not relying on past performance, but investors' future expectations of the China search market! "On September 8, one month after listing, Robin Li, president and CEO of Baidu, concluded to reporters." From the day of listing to now, I have been busy accepting media interviews almost every day. It's time to get back to normal work! "In the China search market, there are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Alibaba, and Sohu and Sina are in it. How to compete with these giants for food and increase the scale of income has become a problem that Li Yanhong needs to face in the flowers.
Vedoit (We did it! )
"The final pricing of the issue price: $27 per share!" On the evening of August 4th, US time, after three price increases, Li Yanhong and Baidu's listed underwriter team finally determined the price.
Two weeks ago, Li Yanhong and his party set off from Hong Kong and went to Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States to explain the story of Baidu to local investment institutions. The enthusiasm of investors clearly exceeded Li Yanhong's expectations. "The breakfast meeting scheduled for more than 90 people came 140 people, and many billions of fund managers stood against the wall and listened."
The best way to deal with investment enthusiasm is to raise prices. Therefore, the original issue price range of 17 to 19 dollars has become 19 to 20, then to 23 to 25, and finally to 27 dollars.
"The final issue price has been determined, and the listing work has basically come to an end. The rest is to go through the procedure. " Wang Zhansheng, chief financial officer of Baidu who followed Li Yanhong's roadshow, recalled: "At this time, Li Yanhong took out his mobile phone and dialed the phone of Liu Jianguo, chief technology officer who was waiting for news at Baidu's Beijing base camp."
"Vedoit! (We did it! ) "Li Yanhong, who was on the phone, finished this sentence, and his tears fell straight down, choking and speechless. "At that time, I was suddenly moved by the hard work of the employees for many years, so I shed tears!" Afterwards, Li Yanhong explained.
The next morning, Baidu shares were officially listed on Nasdaq. 1 1: 20 completes the first transaction, and the transaction price is $72 per share. And this is just the beginning. Baidu's share price continues to rise all the way. The prices of 100, 120 and 150 were broken one by one, and the whole Nasdaq stock market was boiling. Since the bursting of the internet bubble in 2000, such a stock market myth has never appeared again.
"I didn't cry when I saw the stock price!" Li Yanhong recalled. In fact, Li Yanhong has no time to sigh. Half an hour after the first transaction was completed, he was invited to the studio by the American Consumer News and Business Channel (NBC), and then the major news organizations in the United States took turns to interview him until the market closed in the afternoon. At this time, Li Yanhong noticed that the market value of Baidu increased by 3.5 times compared with the previous night, reaching 4 billion US dollars, becoming the first Chinese concept stock in the market.
"Subsidiary Business" Achieves Baidu
Baidu Company was registered at the end of 1999. When naming names, Li Yanhong listed three rules: to represent the culture of China; It should be related to search, not too straightforward; Keep it simple. People in China can understand. "The combination of several conditions reminds me of Xin Qiji's sentence" Look for him in the crowd "."
At the beginning of 2000, Li Yanhong started his business in two small rooms of Peking University Resources Building, his alma mater. His positioning is search technology, and his business is to provide Chinese search technology services for other online enterprises-this is the "concept" that Li Yanhong got the first investment of $654.38+$20,000 from venture capitalists. Soon, major domestic portals, including Sina and Netease, used Baidu's technology in succession, and Baidu charged a certain technical service fee.
"We quickly occupied the absolute leading position in China's search technology service market, but we still have no profit. This business model is obviously problematic! " Li yanhong soon realized this key problem. Therefore, in addition to the original technical service business, Li Yanhong began to open up Baidu's "subsidiary business"-establishing a search portal for netizens to use, and then selling keywords through bidding ranking. The higher the bid, the higher the information.
In early 2002, Li Yanhong concentrated on improving his Chinese search engine. In the second quarter of 2003, supported by the rapid growth of bidding ranking income, Baidu achieved profitability. According to the data of the listing prospectus released in July 2005, at present, more than 90% of Baidu's revenue comes from the so-called network promotion, that is, the revenue from bidding ranking, while the original "main business" search software service revenue only accounts for 7%. Yesterday's "affiliated business" made Baidu today.
For years, the relationship between rivals has been very delicate.
When Baidu's share price soared on Nasdaq, almost all critics in the industry believed that it was inseparable from the excellent performance of Google, a global search giant that went public in advance. Google and Baidu, one is the world's largest search engine and the other is the world's largest Chinese search engine. Both sides are the two strongest rivals in China's search market, but at the same time Google is also one of Baidu's shareholders. Such a subtle relationship can't be found in the internet world. Over the years, Li Yanhong has been skillfully leading this relationship, directing scenes of "emotional drama" between Google and Google that is difficult to distinguish between true and false.
1At the end of 999, when Li Yanhong returned to China to establish Baidu, Google was already famous in the United States. At the beginning of 2002, when Li Yanhong focused his Baidu business on establishing a portal to promote Chinese search, Google Chinese search had been open for more than a year and became the first choice for most China netizens to search for information. "Fighting with the market leader, you can earn a reputation without winning!" This marketing technology, which is widely recognized in the IT industry, has also been put into practice by Li Yanhong.
In June 2004, Baidu suddenly announced that in the new round of financing, new shareholders included Google. Since then, Li Yanhong has started an "ambiguous" relationship with Google for more than a year. At this time, Google just went public and its share price continued to rise. Li Yanhong, who began to prepare for the listing of Baidu, carefully shaped Baidu into the concept of "China Google". "It is quite easy to communicate with investors, because there is already a ready-made Google in front!" Wang Zhansheng, chief financial officer of Baidu, introduced. More importantly, a large number of investors who are optimistic about the Google model are naturally optimistic about Baidu, and huge amounts of money flock to this tiny new share, so there is a myth that Baidu has skyrocketed on the day of listing.
One month before listing, Li Yanhong began to gradually adjust his strategy, announcing that Baidu refused to buy Google and insisted on independent development. After the listing, Li Yanhong further drew a clear line with Google. "Baidu is not only the largest Chinese search engine, but also the largest China website. If it cannot be controlled by China people, I think it can be said to be the sorrow of a nation. " Li Yanhong said.
Will compete with many rivals for food in the future.
On August 24th, Baidu released its first quarterly financial report after listing. In the second quarter of this year, Baidu's net profit was $654.38+$5,000, and Baidu's share price closed at $82 that day. According to this data, Baidu's price-earnings ratio is 4 10, while the price-earnings ratio of other Chinese concept stocks is basically only about 20. How to improve Baidu's profit scale as soon as possible has become Li Yanhong's most urgent task.
"Among the more than one billion people in China, netizens only have 1 100 million; Among these 20 million small and medium-sized enterprises, most business owners do not have a deep understanding of network promotion, and China has great market potential. " Li Yanhong said that Baidu's future depends on the expansion of China's search market. According to the 2004 China Search Engine Research Report of the third-party statistical agency iRe search, in 2004, Baidu occupied the first place in China search engine market with 36.29% user share, and Baidu benefited the most from the enlargement of China market. However, this is obviously not a beautiful thing to enjoy.
On September 10, the 5th West Lake Sword Talks hosted by Alibaba was held in Hangzhou, but Li Yanhong, who was originally scheduled to attend, was finally absent because he was "too busy". In fact, the reluctance to support new rival Jack Ma may better explain this temporary break-less than a week after Baidu went public, Alibaba announced the merger of Yahoo China, focusing on the China search market.
In China search market, there are Yahoo, Google, Alibaba, Sohu and Sina. For this piece of cake that is being enlarged, Li Yanhong will face fierce competition if he wants to share another piece of cake.
Jinghua Times (B34 Edition 12, September 2005)
The big exam can always play beyond the norm (reporter's note)
Our reporter Zhang Jianyue.
When Li Yanhong came back from new york and walked out of the Capital Airport, his tired eyes suddenly became a little surprised: five or six flowers and a dozen shots surrounded him at once. More than 20 China enterprises have landed on the NASDAQ stock market in the United States, which is estimated to be the first time that they have won such a great victory. Of course, Baidu is the only company whose share price soared by 350% on the first day of listing.
Half an hour after the completion of the first transaction of Baidu shares, Li Yanhong has been busy "appearing in the mirror" almost every day for more than a month, and the flowers and applause received are estimated to exceed the sum of the past five years.
"It's time to get back to normal work!" On September 8, Li Yanhong sighed to reporters like this. While Goofy's stock brings glory to Baidu and Robin Li, and even the whole Internet industry in China, it also brings a lot of pressure to Robin Li-after all, Baidu's income scale is still quite weak, and enthusiastic investors can't keep the P/E ratio as high as several hundred times for a long time. There are two answers: either Li Yanhong will increase Baidu's income or investors will lower Baidu's stock.
Li Yanhong said that every key "big exam", he is always outstanding, from the college entrance examination to applying for studying abroad, and then to Baidu listing, every performance is better than usual. Li Yanhong's next "big exam" will be early next year. By then, most Baidu employees can sell their shares. The level of Baidu shares will directly determine its true value.
Jinghua Times (B33 Edition 12, September 2005)
References:
/GB/4289 1/42894/3687320 . html