After seeing the box office results of "The Purge", Kyle felt relieved and decided to go to Silicon Valley.
You know, at the same time as the movie was released, the official website of Kyle's other company, LinkedIn, was officially launched on the market.
LinkedIn, Inc.
"Jeff, what's the status of the current LinkedIn users?"
Kyle inquired.
Upon hearing this, LinkedIn President Jeff Weiner's face did not look very good.
Kyle was also shocked.
"Boss, LinkedIn has been on the market for ten days and the results are very mediocre. In the United States, there are currently fewer than 800,000 IP addresses that have logged into the website, and more than 14,200 registered users. The conversion rate is only 1.77%, far below our expected 5%." Jeff Weiner said in a deep voice.
"Is that so... It's okay, just keep working hard."
Kyle appeared calm on the surface, but, he was filled with anger and resentment in his heart.
$10 million in publicity funds!
You should know that ICQ only spent US$1 million on its initial promotion, but soon after its launch, the market quickly accepted it, and the number of registered users soared to more than 300,000 in just ten days; however, LinkedIn now has ten times the promotional funds of ICQ, but the results are not at all satisfactory.
This made Kyle deeply realise the difficulty of starting a business!
Deep frustration.
Think about the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, the Netscape and Yahoo investments, the investment in ICQ, the creation of Page Pictures, the acquisition of UPN, the acquisition of California Standard Bank, the creation of Waterworld Animation Studios, and the launch of "Got Talent"...
Thinking about the experiences in the past two years, Kyle has achieved incredible achievements almost as if he were assisted by God!
But!
This time, Kyle stumbled on the LinkedIn project!
Ten days ago, when LinkedIn's website was launched, the data was not high, but Kyle did not pay too much attention to it. After all, at that time, his main focus was on the movie "The Purge".
It was difficult to distract myself, but now that I have come to my senses, I just have to grit my teeth and accept the failure of LinkedIn.
Recover?
Of course, I have to save it!
Not to mention how brilliant LinkedIn will be in the future, not to mention that Microsoft spent $26.2 billion to acquire it, Kyle cannot give up just for the $10 million in pre-promotional funds.
Of course, spending 10 million in publicity funds does not mean that they are completely gone and completely wasted.
After spending 10 million yuan in publicity funds, the publicity contracts signed with major media, network, television and other companies are not short-term contracts, and the overall publicity period is 3 to 6 months.
"Boss, I admit that I made a fatal mistake, but I don't think we've completely failed!"
Just as Kyle was lost in thought, Jeff Weiner suddenly spoke.
"Oh?"
Kyle immediately became interested: "Tell me more about it."
Made a fatal mistake?!
What a mistake!
Jeff Weiner said solemnly, "Boss, this is what I think. LinkedIn is a company whose primary function is online recruitment. We are fundamentally different from instant messaging platforms like ICQ, portals like Yahoo, and e-commerce sites like Amazon."
"Our company, LinkedIn, is essentially a social service company. Our target users are mainly job seekers, including elites who are looking to change jobs and earn high salaries."
"But!"
"Currently, the main Internet users are young people like high school and college students. They don't have the pressure of job hunting, so they can't be quickly converted into our users."
As soon as the words fell, Kyle understood.
Kyle nodded and said, "In other words, the mistake you made before was not focusing on promoting the product to job seekers?"
"Yes, boss."
Jeff Weiner frankly admitted his mistake, "My previous publicity plan was only focused on promoting LinkedIn, while ignoring the current main audience groups on the Internet. This is an unforgivable mistake I made."
It is just as he said.
He made a huge mistake.
If you get the target audience wrong, how much use can you expect from the publicity?
It's like you were originally in the catering business, and now you're switching to the car business. If you still promote your business according to the old catering promotion method, you will inevitably suffer a miserable failure!
Crossing industries is very difficult!
Jeff Weiner has become much more sober after his failure.
"Hey~~!"
Kyle also sighed repeatedly.
"I'm responsible too!"
"I've been so successful for so long that I once thought I could achieve success if I just found the right people. But now reality tells me that things are not that easy!"
"So what if I failed once?"
"If it doesn't work once, try a few more times. I just don't believe in this!"
Suddenly, Kyle thought about it and cheered up again.
Kyle looked at Jeff Weiner, who was gritting his teeth, and said in a deep voice, "Jeff, the failure of the promotion is not your responsibility alone. As the boss and the only shareholder of LinkedIn, I did not put my full energy into the promotion. I also have an unshirkable responsibility."
"Boss, I..."
Jeff Weiner hesitated to speak, feeling extremely moved.
Anyone who caused his boss to lose $10 million would probably fire him on the spot, but how could Kyle's actions not move him and make him feel ashamed?
Kyle shook his head and smiled bitterly.
ItKyle indeed admitted that he was wrong!
A person's energy is limited!
Those protagonists in the entertainment industry, both bosses and directors, are truly impressive. However, in reality, it's incredibly difficult. Expecting success without dedicating yourself to a single endeavour is nearly impossible. Even if it were possible, the likelihood of success is low.
Look at the big directors in Hollywood!
For example: Spielberg.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he was one of the most famous directors in the world. All the movies he produced were big hits, making him highly sought after by Hollywood!
But!
Everything changed when he and others founded DreamWorks!
In the early days of DreamWorks, Spielberg was able to produce hits and Oscar-winning films. However, after DreamWorks expanded, many of Spielberg's films flopped. In the 21st century, he has had very few works to show for it.
Even such a great director cannot guarantee his energy, so Kyle certainly cannot do it either.
"My dream of becoming a director hasn't even officially begun, and it's fucking over!"
This is like the protagonist of a martial arts novel who has been practising hard in the mountains for many years. Once he comes out, he wants to experience the thrill of the world, but he suddenly finds that he is invincible. This is not easy to accept!
There is no joy in levelling up and killing monsters!
Is there?
Kyle feels this way now.
"I'd better just be a big boss in the future. Well, I have to set up a team of assistants, otherwise, I will not have enough energy." Kyle thought.
In the following period, Kyle, Jeff Weiner, and a group of LinkedIn executives adjusted the publicity plan regarding the target population of the social employment group.
....
"Ding ding ding!"
That evening, Kyle received a call at home.
The person who called was lawyer Paul Goodman.
"Boss, the equity swap negotiations with Amazon are over!"
..........
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