Internet Asymmetric Warfare
This article is quoted and translated from a popular Chinese blog. The points in the say are rarely to see from most populary categories, I translate it here and glad to share with my readers if you can pay a minute to read over. Maybe it will give you some ideas if you're in process of creating your internet business or other IT working.
Primers: Why facebook acquired Instagram with such high cost of 1 billion? I heard it's only a ten people team on the photo sharing application. What makes this small team to win the entrepreneurial success? I think it is "asymmetric warfare".
In the history, Microsoft released free IE to blow away the paid browser Netscape. In fact, many sino corperations realised the browser's importance to Internet till today. That's why whenever they do client end Apps they will always refer to browser. Microsoft against Netscape, because it's the whole Internet behind browser. QQ(the most popular IM software provider in China) develop mobile browser, because it's the battle of mobile Internet entrance.
It's wap times when UC do browser, traffic is very expensive. The speed is also slow, this led to a small niche market for UC, but it's indeed hard-demand. However this niche market is a large market for Netscape (we have to admire the Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, the vision of consciousness). Of course, the UC's entrance effect is highlighted now because of the outbreak growing up mobile Internet.
Now let's review the GOOGLE development course. When google came out, there're also lots of search companies. But they did not focus on search, or not even take it as the company's core competitiveness. For Yahoo, search is just part of it's business. Of course, the google algorithms innovation as well as the vision of the search market and insist on doing well in this market, these are core reasons they can conquer Yahoo.
We must see: they all share the same point — make it a big market from which is not optimistically recoginized by others at the beginning.(Of course, the premise is it's really likely to become a big market).
Now let's go back to analyze, why facebook acquire Instagram — a small product from a little team. The instagram traffic, can be analyzed easily by facebook because many instagram users shared photos to facebook. After data analysis, facebook found the surprise traffic growth from this application, maybe some day later will replace facebook to be the main player in mobile social.
What is facebook mostly fearing about? Being the hottest social platform? The fear to be abandoned by Mobile Internet?
Fear not be able to keep up with the Internet development trend, fear … to be no longer cool!
Large companies are fearing of too many things. Like Tencent, everything gets done but only several products did the best. The five-star products are always thousand people involved in research and development from big companies. The input and output rate is far beyond cost-effective comparing to instagram. So facebook acquires instagram product plus a ten people team, the founder might really think: damn good deal!
Fearing, means: asymmetric warfare
Large companies are mostly afraid of the "subversive innovation" products developed by small teams. Such small teams may have less than ten people, even five people, or even a single person? ! Internet competition is too horrible and too cruel. So in fact, Big group is the weak for entrepreneurship and competition on the Internet!
American fears of terrorism, it might be a joke in the eyes of many. It's only a pretext of the war. However, the Microsoft founder Bill Gates said, they have only 18 months left away from bankrupt. What makes an empire-style company resulting in 18 months bankrupt idea? Is the Internet! So there's story Microsoft against Netscape, Microsoft combat … and more!
This is why we say competition on the Internet is asymmetric. It has nothing to do with about how many people and how much money investment. It's all with the founder, with will, with humanity.
The growing prosperity of the Internet gives creators unlimited possibilities. Ten people a year, created instagram, worth one billion dollars. What else is more suitable for creative products other than Internet? Quotations: product designer is standing at the side of God. Too many philosophers in hisotry, famous few. Perhaps the greatest Confucius in China. Because he is more than a saint but greatest product manager. His "product" is very simple, but deeply rooted!
Creative work on the Internet is undoubtedly soul style. It's the same as theology, religion, philosophy, culture, art. Internet competition is definitely applied to: asymmetric warfare.