Critical Early Decisions with Long Lasting Results

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Duration: 6:44
Source: Stanford ECorner
Author: Robin Li, Baidu
Copyright: Creative Commons: by-nc-nd
Found: Nov 5, 2009

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Think back to the first few years of Baidu. What were the three strategy decisions--or pick any number--that you now recognize in hindsight were both pivot points of inflection points that really changed the trajectory of the company? Robin Li: Sure. That’s a very good question. It's very critical for any startup, I think. When I reflect on the first couple of years of Baidu's operation, I think there are three things that's very critical. First is, as you know, we started at the height of Internet bubble. When we brought US$1.2 million back to China, it was like peanuts comparing to a lot of other Internet startups in China. And our engineers constantly hear from other friends working for other Internet companies in Beijing--they living the most flashiest office spaces in Beijing and their salary is raised three times a year. But our engineers work in a three-star hotel, not very flashy, not on the spotlight, and I only promised them to raise their salaries twice a year. So they thought, "Alright, if the company is so great, if we have such a bright future, why you don't do a better job for your employees than the other Internet companies?" It was a tough call for me. I really thought as an entrepreneur, as a startup, you really cannot spend money like hell without thinking about tomorrow. So the first critical decision I made is that when I raised the money, $1.2 million, I told our investors that money would last for about six months. But when I actually start to spend the money, I told my people, "We need to spend this over the next 12 months. We cannot just run out of money six months later." What happened was, six months later, Internet bubble burst. It was much, much harder to raise money. But I was not worried because I still have more than half of the cash in my bank account. So I started to talk to the VCs and asking for $10 million at a very, very difficult time in Internet history. Many of the VCs passed on that opportunity. They though...
Language: English
Category: Business
Tags: Robin Li, Baidu
Country: United States


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