Chapter 38 of 100
Chapter 38
13 min read3,162 words
Chapter 39: Online Trading Platform
In August 1999, two Harvard Business School graduates, Shao Yibo and Tan Haiyin, founded EachNet in Shanghai, China.
In January 2000, according to the results of the fifth "China Internet Development Status Statistical Survey" by CNNIC, EachNet topped the list of domestic auction websites, becoming the most popular auction site in China.
In July 2000, EachNet launched a personal online store service.
This information was not from Lin Feng's memory but from online research. With nothing to worry about, Lin Feng reviewed several offices found by Cheng Peijia and decided on a 120-square-meter residential unit. After entrusting a decoration company to renovate it, supervised by Cheng Peijia, Lin Feng sat in front of a computer for the first time in six months.
As soon as he went online, he discovered the news about EachNet launching a personal online store service.
EachNet, once the No. 1 online trading platform in China, unfortunately, was later surpassed by Taobao due to a series of scandals, including the leakage of customer information and credit fraud. Taobao eventually became the No. 1 online trading platform in China, capturing 80% of the market share, with daily transactions reaching over a million and a total value of 400 million yuan.
Right, I can open a personal online store to promote the Chinese version of "CS: Counter-Strike" that I'm about to launch. — Lin Feng snapped his fingers.
He applied for an account, created a username, and uploaded a copy of his ID, then waited for approval.
However, at this time, EachNet only provided a trading platform. After an initial agreement was reached online, the parties had to communicate offline to confirm the payment method. This heavily relied on personal integrity; good people could buy high-quality, affordable goods, while bad people might receive substandard products or even lose their money entirely.
At this stage, online transactions lacked the security and credibility provided by third-party platforms like Alipay. There were no guarantees in terms of integrity and safety.
Perhaps I can also establish an online trading platform. Given EachNet's future trajectory, I could definitely surpass it and become the No. 1 online trading platform in China. — Lin Feng silently calculated the feasibility.
Initially, he would only need one server, a 10M fiber optic connection, a website maintenance person, and a data manager. As the user base grew, he could expand the server and bandwidth.
After careful consideration, Lin Feng decided the plan was feasible but would require registering another internet company.
Hmm! This is...
Just as Lin Feng was about to log off, he accidentally saw another financial news item.
In April 2000, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) went public overseas and signed agreements with Western oil giants like Shell, Exxon, and BP Amoco to jointly operate 2,000 gas stations in exchange for their strategic investment.
Lin Feng remembered that China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) would also go public overseas at the end of the year. These two most profitable oil companies in China would subsequently launch acquisition plans for gas stations across the country, making a lot of people a small fortune.
However, the acquisitions seemed to be scheduled for 2004, which was still a few years away. There was no rush. He would wait until Sinopec and CNPC started their nationwide acquisition plans and then make a substantial profit. These monopolies had made a lot of money from the public, so it wouldn't be wrong for him to reclaim some of it on behalf of the people.
After finalizing his plan, Lin Feng found the accountant, Zhang, to calculate the company's current funds.
750,000 yuan. After establishing the Lin Family Catering and Entertainment Co., Ltd., opening six "Murder Club" branches, and giving his mother 200,000 yuan to buy a house, Lin Feng had 750,000 yuan in cash left.
Of this, 150,000 yuan was budgeted for the first barbecue city in the Special Economic Zone, 100,000 yuan for the flower tea processing plant, and 100,000 yuan for working capital, leaving Lin Feng with about 400,000 yuan to use. However, to fund his future catering plans, he needed to reserve 300,000 yuan as startup capital, leaving him with a maximum of 100,000 yuan to use.
In August 2000, the telecommunications department in Chu City began planning for broadband services, and ADSL started appearing in their advertisements. However, at this time, a 512Kbps broadband connection for home installation cost 308 yuan, including a caller ID phone and a modem, with an annual network usage fee of 600 yuan and a monthly limit of 200 hours.
As for the fiber optic connections for internet cafes, due to line issues, only a few cafes near the city's telecommunications office had installed them. Most cafes were still hesitant, as local area network (LAN) games were still dominant, and although online games like "Stone Age" had appeared and would later become popular, they had not yet spread to Chu City.
"Age of Empires" and "StarCraft" were the absolute mainstream games. The real boom in online games would come with the release of the Korean game "Legend," but that was still a year away.
To facilitate the fiber optic connection, Lin Feng spent 800 yuan renting a 100-square-meter residential unit in the city center near the telecommunications office. After simple renovations, his first internet company was born there.
Lin Feng hired a recent graduate in network information and a file manager, while he temporarily took charge of daily management. Since the company was just starting, there was almost nothing to keep him busy in the early stages.
He then hired a web design company to help design the website, spent 20,000 yuan on a server, 20,000 yuan on a 10M dedicated fiber optic installation, and 60,000 yuan annually for fiber optic usage.
Lin Feng knew that this would definitely result in a loss in the early stages, but with his current assets and company size, he could afford a loss of over 100,000 yuan per year. As long as he persisted until the number of registered members reached a certain level, the profits would be substantial. Not only would advertising revenue be substantial, but the daily transaction volume would also provide significant cash flow.
Of course, this was not possible at the moment. The country had not yet launched online banking services, and he would have to wait for these services to be available and then purchase third-party credit platforms like Alipay. This method of making money, while not as much as that of listed companies, was safe and legitimate.
As for the company name, Lin Feng directly used the name and domain of Taobao, which would not appear for another three years. This became the international domain of Lin Feng's internet company. Although the website was established, there were no merchants joining yet. While his two employees posted ads on various forums, Lin Feng became the first store owner on his online trading platform.
Pre-sale of the world's top-ranked online first-person shooter game — "CS: Counter-Strike." Available on September 15. Pre-order now. — In the most prominent position on Taobao, Lin Feng placed the most eye-catching advertisement for his product.
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---