Introduction: Sina Technology has invited the founder of the Open Applications Alliance, Wang Yuquan, and renowned technology commentator Jin Cuodao to launch a series of interviews on mobile internet titled "Jinyu Liangyan". The theme of the second episode is "The Three Major Taboos of the Weibo Entrepreneurship Era". In the program, the two guests delve into discussions about the three major taboos that Weibo entrepreneurs should avoid during their entrepreneurial processes: infrastructure construction of the platform, actions detrimental to the platform's interests, and actions harmful to the entire industry chain.
"Jinyu Liangyan" Episode Two: The Three Major Taboos of the Weibo Entrepreneurship Era - Media Source: Sina Technology
Below is the interview transcript:
Jin Cuodao: Hello everyone, this is "Jinyu Liangyan", talking about the mobile internet era. I am Jin Cuodao.
Wang Yuquan: I am Wang Yuquan.
Jin Cuodao: Recently, Pony Ma mentioned something significant. The Ministry of Public Security reported ten cases of copyright infringement, including the "Luobo Home" pirated software case. The future of China's SNS lies in Weibo. This statement has extraordinary meaning and has sparked widespread discussion. The underlying implication is that Weibo is China's Facebook, with infinite opportunities. However, before discussing the opportunities for entrepreneurship on Weibo, we would like to address another issue first.
As Mao Zedong once said, "Who are our enemies? Who are our friends?" This is the primary question of revolution. For Weibo entrepreneurship, the primary question is to first identify the forbidden zones of Weibo entrepreneurship. Wang Yuquan has conducted extensive research on Weibo entrepreneurship and made some highly valuable discoveries. I am also quite interested in what constitutes a forbidden zone. I think one major taboo is the infrastructure construction of Sina Weibo. Is such a thing an obvious forbidden zone? Wang Yuquan, what do you think is the biggest taboo?
Taboo One: Infrastructure Construction of Weibo
Wang Yuquan: You're absolutely right. It seems that so-called Weibo infrastructure construction should be a zone that everyone should try not to focus too much effort on. Since Weibo is constructed by Sina, it's equivalent to Sina building a new city, where the basic municipal planning should be completed by Sina. If completed by third parties or several third parties, many problems will arise.
One problem is that if everyone builds roads, they might discover that the roads don't connect properly. It's similar to old Shanghai, where each concession built its own roads, but when the concessions opened up, the roads didn't align well, resulting in twisted streets in Shanghai. The best approach is for one entity to plan and construct uniformly. If this task were handed over to a third party, it could lead to unfairness. Giving it to you means you'd profit greatly, giving it to me means I'd profit greatly. So, how do we handle this? Originally, the unified municipal planning and construction should be done by Sina. Everyone should stop trying to build roads or traffic lights because if others attempt construction, it would be difficult to reflect Sina's overall architectural design for Weibo.
Specifically, Sina has already implemented cloud storage and Weipan (micro-disk). There's no need for third parties to develop another content storage tool for use on Weibo. Including Location-Based Services (LBS), although Jiapang, Wantuan Si Fang, and Sina Weibo are interconnected now, LBS applications can exist, but providing LBS functions like specific location points on Sina is clearly a basic function best handled by Sina. Even further, if payment systems are involved in the future, Sina might introduce a trustworthy payment function. Infrastructure often refers to basic tools, which frankly, if done by third parties, could lead to inefficiency or unfairness. Third parties must exercise caution here.
Jin Cuodao: For Weibo entrepreneurship, most people may not know what constitutes infrastructure, especially in the early stages when rules aren't clear. Do entrepreneurs need a certain level of common sense and sensitivity?
Wang Yuquan: Yes. We encountered similar issues when collaborating with MENG Network previously. Entrepreneurs thought they could do it, but eventually, it was taken back. Like weather forecasts, most users need them, sourced from one place, with no differentiation, which we gradually understand as infrastructure-like services. It’s unfair for anyone to do it because there's no differentiation. If you do it, you have to find ways to acquire users, possibly through cutthroat competition or even deceitfully, since users can obtain these services without going through you. This leads to market chaos. Having one entity provide these services uniformly is more scientific. Just like CCTV weather forecasts provided by one source or city municipal services where traffic lights cannot be managed separately by different companies, they must be uniform. There are common-sense elements here. Common sense dictates that if everyone needs it and there's no differentiation or technical barriers, then it should be uniformly planned by Sina, which is the best option.
Taboo Two: No Harm to Platform Interests
Jin Cuodao: We've discussed infrastructure. Beyond that, what other taboos exist? I’ve recently noticed that some third-party Weibo applications have been shut down. What signals lie behind these closures?
Wang Yuquan: A category of closures relates to the second major taboo of Weibo entrepreneurship—damaging Sina's interests. Specifically, what damages Sina's interests? You extract resources from Sina, divert user groups away, but don't contribute anything back to Sina, causing harm. If everyone keeps extracting, the platform itself will cease to exist. As the saying goes, “If the skin does not exist, where will the hair attach?” If Sina Weibo ceases to exist, there’s no point in talking about entrepreneurship. Therefore, doing anything must first consider whether it harms Sina's interests.
Some third parties operating within Weibo have interoperability issues with Sina Weibo. If a third party primarily relies on Weibo and has sufficient interconnectivity with Sina, it means exchanging information both ways. Sina generally adopts an open attitude and doesn’t necessarily block such operations.
However, some third parties have large social platforms that remain closed while separately creating small entities called Weibo, demanding Sina Weibo to interconnect with them. This type of openness is unequal. Platforms like Kaixin001 and Renren are interconnected with Sina without being blocked because their largest resources are open. If a third party uses Weibo to extract resources from Sina while competing against Sina, regardless of who it is, such cooperation will certainly be terminated. We’ve seen some products that attempted Weibo interoperability being taken offline recently. I believe Sina didn’t theoretically analyze why they were blocked as I did, but they definitely recognized that this Weibo differs from others. We believe their decision to block was justified.
Jin Cuodao: Wouldn’t this make the trial-and-error cost too high for entrepreneurs? Including Sina Weibo's platform, which continuously fosters and incentivizes third-party applications, it seems the forbidden zones are like black boxes. For example, if I create something good, but Sina has its own reasons and shuts it down, this concern is indeed significant.
Wang Yuquan: Yes, what you said is very correct. Here are a few things to discuss. First, the rules of cooperation must be very clear. The clearer Sina's cooperation rules, the easier it is for third parties to understand how to start businesses or ensure they don't harm Sina's interests or violate its rules. Ideally, within the allowed rules, entrepreneurship should thrive. But we must admit that this involves a process of exploration. Such Weibo-based entrepreneurial cooperation hasn't been experienced by Sina either. Thus, Sina inevitably undergoes a learning, absorbing, digesting, and clarifying process, which is necessary.
Secondly, during this process, how can entrepreneurs minimize harm? This involves utilizing common sense effectively—how can I ensure that this action won't harm Sina's long-term interests or infringe on infrastructure development? I believe judging this by common sense isn't overly difficult.
For instance, many people are developing clients that resemble Sina's official client. By common sense, you should realize that Sina has already developed a client. Developing another client offers no value other than stealing some users and creating differences among them, akin to piracy. Or hoping to add a couple of features to your client—not offering these features as independent applications to customers—but adding functionality to turn your client into a shell, aiming to enhance Weibo's publishing capabilities. Long-term, this approach won't work.
In wireless internet entrepreneurship, don't block the path of giants. Giants will inevitably perfect their own business. Saying, "I'll slightly improve your business and make it mine," or even making users only log into your client instead of Sina Weibo, logically equates to someone creating DOS and another person creating Windows, thereby stealing DOS users—Microsoft wouldn't agree, nor would anyone else.
Previously, in wireless internet ventures, some entrepreneurs made minor improvements on the Android operating system, diverting users to themselves unless those improvements surpassed Android rapidly. When we say don't harm Sina's interests, we're thinking about developers. After a few days, Sina might declare something as its infrastructure. Even if Sina doesn't block your infrastructure, it might create something similar and attract significantly more users, ultimately harming the entrepreneur.
Taboo Three: No Harm to Industry Chain Interests
Jin Cuodao: Regarding Weibo entrepreneurship, someone posted on a forum that it resembles parasitic entrepreneurship. Whether called parasitic or symbiotic entrepreneurship, mutual benefit is crucial. If you're a Weibo entrepreneur, you should treat win-win as an essential part of your business model. Now, we've talked about two major taboos, mostly from the Weibo platform's perspective—one being infrastructure, the other being the platform's interests. Are there any others beyond these?