Representative figure
Zhang Chaoyang, the representative of Qin merchants
The largest drum in Qin Shang culture was recently made in Yangling, with a diameter of 3 meters and a waist of 3.2. ...
Zhang Chaoyang, male, 1964, from Xi, Shaanxi. 1986 graduated from the department of physics in Tsinghua University, and in the same year won the Li Zhengdao scholarship to study in the United States. /kloc-0 received his Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the end of 1993, and continued his postdoctoral research at MIT. 1994 served as the contact person for Asia Pacific (China) of MIT. /kloc-0 returned to China at the end of 1995 and served as the chief representative of American ISI company in China. 1996 With the support of venture capital from Professor Negroponte, director of MIT Media Lab, and Professor Edward Robert, MIT Si Long Business School, ATTEX Company was established, becoming the first Internet company established by venture capital in China. 1On February 25th, 998, ATTEX officially launched the "Sohu" product, renamed Sohu Company, and successfully listed on Nasdaq on July 2nd, 2000. In 2002, Sohu gradually established a 2C business development model with Sohu characteristics.
1998 10 was named as one of the "50 digital heroes in the world" by American Time magazine. 1999 ~ 200 1 was rated as one of the "Top Ten IT Man of the Year" by China Youth Daily for three consecutive years. 1999 was selected as the cover of July by Asia Weekly. In May, 20001year, it was selected as one of the 25 global new enterprise stars of Fortune magazine. In 200 1 year, it was rated as one of the "tomorrow's leaders" in the world by the World Economic Forum.
He brought western venture capital back to China and founded the first China portal. His fate fluctuates with the ebb and flow of the new economy; His name has entered thousands of households together with the Internet, and he wishes all netizens "a more exciting life from now on".
On August 1 1, 2004, Zhang Chaoyang appeared at the 64th General Meeting of the International Management Society, the highest academic institution in the field of world management in New Orleans, USA, and won the only highest award "Management Academic Award" at the meeting, which was the first time that the association awarded the award known as "Management Oscar" to China people.
Rebellion and return
198 1, Zhang Chaoyang was admitted to the Physics Department of Tsinghua University with excellent results. He 17 years old that year. Looking back on his college days many years later, he said: "People who study physics are pure, so the competition is particularly cruel. Constantly compare, who finishes homework first, who studies the longest ... my grades have been in the top three. When I can't get the first place, I will go swimming in winter. The water is really biting ... just to prove that I can. "
Studying in the United States opened a door to the world for Zhang Chaoyang, and everything was so fresh. The bondage is reduced, the freedom is increased, and the rebellious spirit and romantic feelings suppressed for many years due to learning competition can be expressed as much as possible. "After arriving in the United States, I became very rebellious. I never have a deposit in the bank. If you want to buy a car, it must be a convertible. When you drive past the store, you should stop in an emergency and go in to buy a pair of sunglasses to wear. You must wear POLO when you wear clothes. Even, "his tone is full of romance", I combed my ponytail. I wanted to live a cool life at that time. "
As China students majoring in physics, Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao are Zhang Chaoyang's role models, and winning the Nobel Prize is Zhang Chaoyang's long-cherished wish.
1993, Zhang Chaoyang received his Ph.D. from MIT and later became a postdoctoral fellow in physics. At this time, he felt that the physics he had studied for many years was not suitable for him. "In physics experiments, I found that I am an operational person, paying special attention to results, and I can't tolerate a set of theories, which will not be verified until 100 years later."
Zhang Chaoyang is going to give up physics research and go into business. His strong China complex made him like business activities related to China. He soon got the role of Asia-Pacific (China) liaison officer at MIT, which gave him many opportunities to return to China. 1When he returned to China in July, 1995, he saw the rapidly developing motherland, which had a strong shock to his mind and he also saw business opportunities. Zhang Chaoyang suddenly had a strong idea of returning to China to settle down. He vowed to return to China in three months. We need to find the best way to return to China. Zhang Chaoyang hopes to find an American company and let them send themselves back to China. He looked for many companies but couldn't find them. Finally, he got the support of the American ISI president who had known each other and had similar ideas about collecting China's economic information and publishing it in the United States, and became the chief representative of ISI in China.
An open new world
1995165438+1October, Zhang Chaoyang returned to Beijing with two boxes and started his "first generation" career. "That time was very, very painful, especially when I first came back from the United States. I don't know anyone who has two boxes in Beijing, and the living conditions are very difficult. As soon as I came back, I lived in a place without hot water and thought about how to solve it all day. "
But at the same time, Zhang Chaoyang also feels very happy. "I have been immersed in a state of special excitement for a long time. I saw the scenery of the distant mountains and reported the place names to the taxi driver ... just like eating cabbage without salad dressing for a long time, I suddenly ate delicious Sichuan food. The numbness and indifference of subculture life are heating up gradually. I can gradually realize the complete enthusiasm, support and dependence of China people on their own lives, and understand that a person must live in his own culture to be happy. "
Zhang Chaoyang found that the market potential of Internet in China is huge. "China accepts the concept of the Internet faster than Indian and African countries, and understands the Internet more thoroughly than them. This may be because there is a "scholar-bureaucrat" class in China, who discuss doctrines and concepts every day. These discussions have made China a society full of wisdom and spirituality. However, these discussions have always stayed in concepts and categories and failed to move forward and put them into action. "
1in April, 1996, Zhang Chaoyang began to seek investment in the United States with his work achievements and an idea of starting a business, but it did not attract attention. "Talking to others and talking about the Internet in China, only a few people know what the Internet is. Then I will go to the United States. I don't know how to raise money, so I will go to venture capital from the beginning. At the beginning, when you have the first idea, you have to find someone. But I went to some venture capitalists. For them, you must have a good business plan. They are ghosts. They played tricks on you and so on, so they hit many walls. The earliest financing experience is the most painful. I was alone in the streets of new york, looking for someone to raise money in a high-rise building. This process is little known. "
Zhang Chaoyang priced his "idea" at 2 million dollars. Unexpectedly, this pricing was first accepted by Professor Edward Robert of his alma mater, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Robert is a famous investment expert. He is willing to invest $50,000 to buy Zhang Chaoyang's shares. But the condition is that Zhang Chaoyang wants to persuade an investor to invest, and he is willing to invest together. At this time, a student named Bond, the son of a billionaire at MIT, also expressed his willingness to invest in Zhang Chaoyang.
With the commitment of these two people,1July 1996, Zhang Chaoyang lived in the United States for a month, wrote a business plan and registered his own ITC company. The Chinese name of the company is Aitexin. The investment of Robert and Bond is * * * 65438+500,000 USD. Negroponte invested $20,000 in advance, and then added $55,000. A total of * * * 225,000 yuan, Zhang Chaoyang used the money to start his own business.
What do you do with money? Zhang Chaoyang started with domain name registration and web page production, and immediately made a profit. He started his own attempt. On a snowy day at the end of 1996, Zhang Chaoyang took a taxi and sent the server with a deposit of 1000 yuan to China Telecom. "We regard the Internet as an open new world for mankind. There are many content providers on this continent. They build content and host servers. We don't have an information license, we can only be free, and the open platform will start from now on. "
199765438+1At the beginning of October, the ITC website was officially opened, and Negroponte's "Digital Survival" was put up first, without any content. The ITC website has also talked about cooperation with some newspapers, but it has no idea what the website will do. At that time, the positioning of the website was only used to promote ITC company and undertake web page production business for the company.
By1997,65438+February, Zhang Chaoyang entered a difficult stage again. His first financing of $225,000 was so small that he couldn't even pay his salary. In desperation, Zhang Chaoyang sent an emergency call to investors. Although these three investors paid little attention to the company's work, they provided Zhang with a "bridge loan" of 654.38 million US dollars. This loan is not an investment, but as a "relief" for Zhang Chaoyang to get the next sum of money, and they should be given some ITC shares when they are returned. This money solved the urgent need.
On February 25th, 1998, ATTEX officially launched the "Sohu" product and changed its name to Sohu Company. 1in March, 1998, Sohu received an investment of $2 15000 from Intel and Dow Jones.