The ABC of netting millions
Li Xiang, now 25, was never the model son. Skipping classes, refusing to sit the university entrance exam, perennially logged on to the Internet and keeping to the fast lane on the roads and in life.
But the renegade son has made it big. After giving up the chance of a shot at university at the age of 18, Li, from Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province, focused on running his own IT business and in five years took its market value to more than 200 million yuan ($26 million) and propelled himself into the ranks of China's billionaires.
Li Xiang, 25, has built one of the most popular IT websites in China in only six years. |
Sitting in his spacious office on the 11th floor of a building in Zhongguancun in Beijing, China's silicon valley, Li, in a casual jacket and jeans, has confidence written all over him.
"My success is a special case and cannot be duplicated by others," he deadpans.
Without any investment or professional guidance, the high school student built one of the most popular IT websites in China in six years. By providing comprehensive news and authoritative appraisals of the latest digital and web products, his website has attracted nearly 5 million registered readers and millions of advertisement fee from IT manufacturers.
But there is not a trace of pride in the young man's eyes. "There are a lot of goals ahead," he told China Daily. "The first is to list my IT website www.pcpop.com and Automobile website, www.autohome.com.cn on the stock market in 2008, then to expand their market share to 20 percent in 2009."
The plan may sound like a brag to many professionals, as there was no Chinese IT company listed on the market in 2006, and for a 20 percent market share, Li's business has to expand at least 10 times in the coming three years.
But for Li, nothing is impossible. "I have always proven others wrong," he smiled.
Early signs
Li's rebellion started quite early. "I seldom answered the teachers' questions in class and always got low scores in exams," Li laughed.
Not interested in the school's subjects Li put all his time into reading. When given his first computer in the first year of senior middle school, Li soon became hooked on to it.
Putting his homework and classes aside, he spend all day and night studying different digital products and software. He then tried to write columns for PC magazines, introducing readers to the latest digital products.
"I was not surprised to know he was only a middle school student then. The Internet is wide open to the younger generation," said Chen Minghui, former editor of Home Computer and Appliance.
"His articles were so well written and that we soon decided to employ him as our columnist."
Chen later became good friends with the boy and after a few years, joined Li Xiang's company as the chief editor of the website.
While in the second year of his senior middle school, Li was already making 2,000 yuan ($256) every month in regular contribution fees.
"Later, I got the idea to start my own website focusing on such content." That time Li had no plans of making money through the website. But he diligently wrote and posted articles on the latest IT products on his website, and this attracted many hits.
"One day, a man called and asked whether I could add links of some websites and he would pay for it." Li agreed and added the links. After two months when Li had almost forgotten about the deal, he was pleasantly surprised to find 6,000 yuan ($770) in his account.
"I felt like being hit by a bolt," Li recalled. The high school student then found a new way of making money through advertisements from IT manufacturers.
When Li graduated from high school, he was making 10,000 yuan ($1,282) per month from advertisements, much more than his parents' combines salaries.
Li was then faced with the first hard choice in his life whether to take the national college entrance exam, a test all students prepare for throughout their childhood.
Li knew that his website, which consumed most of his time and energy, would wind up once he went to university.
"I didn't want to lose it."
He quickly made his decision and persuaded his parents that the traditional path was not for him.
In 2000, Li registered pcpop.com with his 10,000 yuan savings in his native city of Shijiazhuang and moved to Beijing at the end of 2001. Revenue from this website grew to 500,000 yuan (US$64,100) in 2002, quadrupled in 2003 and reached 20 million yuan (US$2.56 million) in 2005.
Li then opened another website, www.autohome.com.cn in 2004, which also grew in two years to become one of the most influential professional automobile websites.
Li's company expanded from five people to more than 150 employees. Most of them are university graduates under 24, and only a few high rank managers are middle-aged professionals.
Li said that an applicant's formal qualifications were not the main consideration in employment. "Too many university graduates don't have a clear idea of what they want to do after graduation. They often start from a low position and stay there for a long time."
As one with the shortest school education in his company, Li admitted to being a little embarrassed while interviewing older, highly qualified applicants. "I try to be good friends with them and avoid being a law unto myself," Li said.
But Li has won the hearts of many of his employees. Sun Yu, a 30-year-old in charge of the company's scheming and development admitted feeling uneasy at first when facing a boss much younger and richer than himself.
"But I love the atmosphere here. Everybody know his job and is encouraged to do his best," Sun said.
He said his young boss, though a little immature in management, "is sincere and has the patience to listen to his employee's opinions."
(China Daily 01/31/2007 page18)
