Looking back at the development history of the Internet in China for more than ten years, grassroots, rich, angel investment, Nasdaq? It has repeatedly become a key word. The growth story of Sina, the first portal in China, is full of upward, leading, lost and breakthrough flavor. However, Cao Guowei gave many accidents to the industry. Many people guessed the beginning of Sina's story correctly, but they didn't guess the end. Let's take a look:

Choose

In the office on the 21th floor of Sina, the reporter saw Cao Guowei sitting behind a big desk, busy. He wore a navy suit, but it was obviously a size bigger. During the greeting, Cao Guowei said that he lost more than ten kilograms after the Spring Festival. Why? Just want to be light? .

Of course, in the impression of his assistants and some friends, Cao Guowei is a gourmet. He knows all kinds of delicious food, but he easily controls his weight. This very rational person, when facing important choices in life, In fact, in many complex environments, it is difficult to make a very clear argument and judgment, and big decisions are almost always made by intuition? .

But for Cao Guowei, 33, choosing to come to Sina in 1999 was full of accidents.

in 1999, Cao Guowei was a certified public accountant of PricewaterhouseCoopers. That year, Cao Guowei was sent to Beijing to guide the audit of a company by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Only two weeks later, Cao Guowei returned to America. At that time, many Silicon Valley companies had extended an olive branch to Cao Guowei and invited him to join. After some consideration, he is a little hesitant about how to choose the last two companies.

meanwhile, Wang Zhidong, then CEO of Sina (and founder of Sina. com), is looking for a CFO, and Cao Guowei is also looking for new job opportunities. He has been in Silicon Valley for six years. Cao Guowei has many choices, and two Silicon Valley companies invited him. Cao Guowei hesitated in his choice, so he asked an old friend with rich social experience, that is, Mao Daolin, then chief operating officer of Sina.

Cao Guowei told Mao Daolin: I want to change my job. Can you help me see which one is better? After listening to Cao Guowei's introduction, Mao Daolin felt that every choice was very good, but he still suggested that Cao Guowei try Sina. After two days' consideration, Cao Guowei made a choice and came to work in Sina. At that time, Sina's headquarters was in the United States, and it worked in a warehouse, which was not comparable to Silicon Valley, where there were many buildings.

　? I have always felt that in the United States, if Chinese want to go up, there is always a ceiling, at least at that time, it is obvious, and Sina is a company linked with China. ? Although, the Internet in China in 1999 was obviously not as beautiful as it is today. Sina, Sohu and Netease have taken shape, and the prelude of Ma Yun's entrepreneurship has just begun. Ma Huateng of Tencent just developed the predecessor of QQ based on Chinese in February.

Cao Guowei became Sina's vice president in charge of finance. Six months later, under his impetus, Sina was successfully listed on NASDAQ and became the first China portal to be listed in the United States. The form initiated by Sina, in which domestic companies are listed through offshore companies, has also become a common mode for domestic internet companies to list overseas, and is called? Sina mode? .

after Sina went public in 2111, Cao Guowei didn't? Get out of here Instead, he became a hero behind the scenes.

Therefore, the industry has labeled him introverted, rigorous and logical. In addition, he is extremely low-key and the frequency of interviews is not high. There is an interesting detail. He was born on October 11, 1965, but in many media reports, his birth date is July 1969.

the hero behind the scenes

? I have worked as a CFO for more than three times, which is rare in general companies. On the one hand, it shows that I am still very competent in this position, and every CEO believes that I can do this position well. On the other hand, it shows that I am still valuable to this company. ? Cao Guowei recalled his early years at Sina.

under the leadership of Cao Guowei, Sina completed the important mergers and acquisitions of Guangzhou Xunlong and Shenzhen Crillion in 2113 and 2114 respectively, which made Sina become one of the top wireless value-added companies in one fell swoop, and gradually turned from loss to profit.

There is a background that needs to be explained. In 2114, Sina's online advertising had a bottleneck. Although it was still growing naturally, its scope was far behind that of its competitors, and there was a trend of further deterioration. In 2115, Cao Guowei was sent to be in charge of advertising business. In the second quarter of that year, Sina opened the gap with its competitors.

During that time, it was a particularly difficult time for Cao Guowei. After IPO, when I was a CFO, I mostly did back-end management. After I also worked as COO in 2114, I managed both the front-end and the back-end. These two roles have division of labor and conflicts, such as managing marketing and performance. In financial management, it is contradictory to control risks and costs. ? Cao Guowei said.

According to Liu Yunli, Cao Guowei's assistant, who has worked for Sina for 11 years, Cao Guowei in CFO stage is a bit stingy, and the approval of many projects was rejected by him.

Cao Guowei at that stage successfully solved Shanda's attempt to control Sina from the stock market.

　? I remember very clearly that night, the trading volume of Sina shares soared, with more than 41 million shares. It was New Year's Eve, and February 8th was New Year's Eve. The next day, I was flying to Australia with my family. When I was in Sydney, I received a call from Chen Tianqiao. ? Cao Guowei recalled the scene at that time.

Shanda's Chen Tianqiao told Cao Guowei about this matter. Shanda spent $231 million to acquire about 19.5% shares in the secondary market and became the largest shareholder of Sina. Chen Tianqiao's phone call made Cao Guowei leave his wife and children behind, and immediately returned to China to attend the board meeting to discuss countermeasures.

at 22 o'clock on the evening of the fourth day after the grand raid, Cao Guowei formulated? Shareholder stock option plan? (that is? Poison pill plan? ), successfully resisted Chen Tianqiao's sneak attack. If Shanda buys more than 1.5% of Sina's equity, it will start? Poison pill? . At that time, other shareholders of Sina have the right to buy ordinary shares at half price, thus diluting Sina shares, and Shanda will also suffer losses by holding Sina shares.

　? If a company controls another company from the secondary market without obstacles, this should not happen. ? He told reporters.

Go to the front desk

In the camp of Internet companies in China, Sina is probably the one with the highest attention, and it never lacks news.

in 2116, Cao Guowei was pushed from behind the scenes to the front. On May 11, a press conference was held on the 21th floor of the Ideal Building in the Northwest Fourth Ring Road of Beijing. The protagonist was Cao Guowei, and the host explained the theme of the conference in one sentence. On the recommendation of Mr. Wang Yan, the board of directors unanimously agreed that Mr. Cao Guowei would take over as CEO of Sina. ?

at this new meeting, Cao Guowei was described as? A rational person who likes to talk with numbers? .

when the reporter asked about some details of becoming CEO, he said:? I only remember one thing. After I became CEO that day, the analyst of Citibank gave a report, which upgraded Sina's stock. I was a little impressed, but I didn't remember anything else. ?

For Cao Guowei, the meaning of power change seems less obvious. I don't mean who will choose me as CEO, but I decide whether to do it or not. If I want to do it, I must do it. ? Cao Guowei considered this matter for half a year, and he took the plate.

Cao Guowei's caution, looking back at Sina's past history, may help us find some clues.

the CEO of Sina is always full of challenges, because Cao Guowei's previous CEOs? Sha Zhengzhi, Wang Zhidong, Mao Daolin, Wang Yan, are all doomed when their performance is not good? Two years? Fate. The industry generally believes that this is related to Sina's decentralized shareholding structure.

among all the CEOs of Sina, Wang Zhidong's departure best illustrates the logic of Wall Street. After Sina went public, it coincided with the winter of the Internet, and its share price had fallen to $1. Wang Zhidong's strategy was to change with the constant. In the face of more than one question from the directors, he was calm and calm. Sina still has $1 billion in cash, and at the current loss rate, it can last at least five years. ?

　? We took thousands of dollars and made a name for Wang Zhidong? Duan Yongji's words are enough to express? Isn't it acceptable logic for the CEO to wait for a turnaround? . Looking back at this period of Sina's history, perhaps we can understand more deeply why the rational Cao Guowei spent half a year thinking about whether to take over the post of CEO of Sina.

　? I know, in fact, when you become CEO, it is not a question of whether you can do it or not, but that you have to bear greater responsibilities; You can't say to try it today, and I'll leave if I don't do it well. This is very irresponsible. So you must think clearly whether you are willing to take on greater responsibility, which is to shoulder the future of this company. ?

Sina was in 2111

But in 2119, the outside world's views on Sina were revised bit by bit. First, in May of that year, Sina Weibo was launched. At that time, the industry thought that Weibo was not a big news, but an extension of Sina's future product line at most. That year, the most sensational was Sina's MBO.

here is a background to explain. In April 2118, Duan Yongji stepped down as chairman of the board. What was the industry's evaluation of him? Deep as the sea, rich and skilled? . Duan Yongji stepped down and Wang Yan returned as the acting chairman. In the eyes of some IT observers, this means that Cao Guowei has completely controlled the overall situation of Sina, and has also cleared the way for MBO of management in advance.

the opportunity of Sina MBO began with the merger of Sina and Focus in 2118, which was denied by the regulatory authorities, and the merger was not realized. Jiang Nanchun told Cao Guowei that as a founder, if the company still operates independently, he wants to increase his stake in Focus. ? This touched me. ? Cao Guowei later said.

So, after Jiang Nanchun announced that he would increase his stake in Focus by 3%, Cao Guowei also announced Sina's MBO plan. Sina will issue 5.6 million ordinary shares to its investment holding company, with a total purchase price of about 81 million US dollars. He said in an email to employees,? Starting today, we will realize the transformation of our roles and face our future with the mentality of an entrepreneur. ?

Since then, the management of Sina, headed by Cao Guowei, has become the largest shareholder of Sina, which means that Sina will end the state of decentralized shares and the management will really have the right to speak on the board of directors. This is also the first MBO on the Internet in China. Looking back now, Cao Guowei is quite touched.

he told reporters? Looking back at the past, it is very unfavorable for Sina to formulate and deploy its long-term strategy because of the scattered ownership or insufficient control over the ownership. Being a CEO only focuses on the short-term profit, or because of the recent pressure, it is impossible to make a long-term layout. Therefore, at that time, it was considered that if we continued to do it in Sina, we should think of changing Sina's shareholding structure and management's control. ?

It is said that character determines fate, and Cao Guowei is no exception.

this native of Shanghai is extremely competitive in his bones. When he was in junior high school, he chose to go to the best middle school in Shanghai? Shanghai middle school chose the most difficult major in liberal arts when taking the college entrance examination? Fudan journalism department. In the year when Cao Guowei graduated, there were only 151 journalism graduates in China. Later, I went abroad with my girlfriend and chose the No.1 accounting major in Texas University in the United States.

writing the story here may better understand the path curve chosen by a professional manager.

Of course, Cao Guowei is not a legendary mythical figure. When he was very tired, he also had the idea of taking a step back. He once considered leaving to invest. However, for Cao Guowei, leaving is also a very difficult thing. I think I have a responsibility to this company. In fact, I am in the office almost every day, and it is difficult to leave. ?

With the success of Sina MBO, some commentators believe that Cao Guowei, as the most successful professional manager in China's Internet industry, can be regarded as one of the biggest winners of the Internet in 2119. Among the economic figures of CCTV in 2119, he was also the only Internet entrepreneur who won an award.

that year, besides MBO, Cao Guowei did something that made the industry stir. On 11/16, China Real Estate Information Group (hereinafter referred to as E-House), a joint venture between Sina and E-House China, was officially listed on NASDAQ. After listing, its market value approached Sina. It is equivalent to recreating a Sina in terms of market value.

According to industry insiders, in 2119, Cao Guowei solved two major problems in the development of Sina, MBO solved the historical problems of Sina, and the listing of E-House provided the future for Sina.

Start again

Two years after the launch of Weibo, it finally set off the internet trend in China. Of course, Wall Street is also very optimistic about the prospects of Weibo. Sina's share price rose to more than $111, and Time gave the honor of 2111 to Cao Guowei.

According to Time, in 2119, Sina CEO Cao Guowei saw the opportunity, seized the opportunity when the situation was not very favorable, and launched Sina's own Weibo. Nowadays, Sina Weibo has become an influential service, which Cao Guowei calls? Twitter and Facebook hybrid? .

At the end of February this year, the number of users of Sina Weibo reached 1 billion. User groups include stars, athletes, scholars, artists and ordinary netizens.

Cao Guowei seized the opportunity. Weibo, we recognize that this direction is a very promising product. If we want to make it stronger and bigger, we must put down our income and profits and go all out to do it. This is why Weibo can grow up, and on the other hand, we can judge the trend. ?

Speaking of Cao Guowei's Sina track, Yu Feng, the founder of Yufeng Fund, told reporters that Cao Guowei was the first CFO in China who successfully turned into CEO, and now he has become a real entrepreneur. What is the supporting force behind the three turns? With such a short story, maybe we can see something.

On New Year's Eve in 2119, Cao Guowei was still in his office after 3 pm. Liu Yunli wanted to say hello to his boss and then go home. At that time, Cao Guowei was a little drunk. Liu Yunli poured the boss a glass of water and asked, Are you okay? ? Liu Yunli didn't go home early that day and talked with Cao Guowei for a long time.

to this day, he is still deeply impressed by Cao Guowei's words. ? In fact, many things must be faced with optimism, and many things you are anxious and crazy to pursue may not be available. More often, be serious, you just have to face it seriously. As for the result, success or failure is beyond your control. But in this process, you are actually learning, and you should learn to enjoy the process. ?