In earlier 1 1 year, the company founded by Fang Sanwen, the former deputy editor-in-chief of Netease, had received a round of investment of 20 million RMB from Sequoia. Fang Sanwen never denied his luck. Unlike those struggling entrepreneurs, he always complains about bad luck or attributes his success to hard work. For example, he has long wanted to change to a bigger office space, but it is not ideal to find many places. Finally, one day, they couldn't stand it anymore and were ready to move. As a result, on this day, the company next door closed down and moved away. So in less than 24 hours, Fang Sanwen went through the formalities and rented the office next door. Spacious and bright, twice as big as the original office, it not only meets the demand, but also eliminates the fatigue of moving. Snowball Finance, founded by Fang, is located in Zhongguancun SOHO. When the company was founded, it was invested by the famous angel investor Xue Manzi. Now only after the first round of financing, Sequoia's 20 million has arrived. Because there is no financial pressure, "Snowball Finance" has never had a special salesperson. Until recently, there were many advertisers who needed to be received. Fang Sanwen found a colleague who used to be an administrator and transferred him to be in charge of sales. It is such a company that doesn't take sales seriously, and there are still advertisements delivered to the door. These advertising revenues have been able to cover 60%-70% of operating costs. Fang Sanwen wakes up naturally every day, gets off work at seven o'clock in the evening, has dinner with his family, and can climb mountains with friends on weekends. Fang graduated from the Chinese Department of Peking University, and worked in traditional media such as Southern Weekend, 2/kloc-0 Century Business Herald and Southern Metropolis Daily. The experience of being deputy editor-in-chief and director of news center at Netease has cultivated his keen sense of Internet products and brought him various rich resources. As an American investor, Fang can't find a website that can meet his information needs in the market: most of the information is incomplete, the update is not timely, and even many of them are old news two or three quarters ago. At the same time, the current financial reports mainly come from two channels, one is made by non-professional media, which is generally "disorganized and unprofessional"; One is an investment bank, but it is too deep, and the needs of most users are often in the middle. Fang decided to do it himself. In the second half of 20 10, when the website developed by Fang Sanwen of Netease and his colleagues was basically completed, it was good luck that Chinese concept stocks were listed in the United States and were well received by investors. Snowball finance is on fire. Fang Sanwen used "once in a blue moon" to describe his opportunity to start a business. To be sure, we have all experienced such an opportunity with Fang. As an entrepreneur, Fang Sanwen "has no pressure", but he has his own principles (maybe they have a causal relationship). He insists that advertising sales should be highly compatible with himself, and advertisements should not be related to the content of the website. He knows that many companies are usually willing to pay for two kinds of information, one is praise and the other is criticism. They are willing to spend money to block negative news. "We don't do either kind of information." Fang Sanwen said. He believes that investors want to get as detailed information as possible about listed companies, including good and bad. If a company doesn't publish its good news because it didn't put an advertisement on its website, or its bad news because it put an advertisement, it will hurt investors. He hopes that listed companies and investors can finally respect and agree with his website, because the information there is "the most objective and comprehensive". "If the' injury' business can earn millions a year, do you want it?" We asked him. "I don't want it!" Fang said positively. "If you want to make money quickly, the easiest way is to be a private equity fund. Send a private equity investment in US stocks and Chinese concept stocks in the name of the website, which is too easy to raise money, and it is aboveboard money. How is it necessary to earn those worthless money? This is not only a question of values, but also a question of improving social efficiency. That kind of work is to widen the information gap rather than narrow it. Against the historical development trend, I will not do it. " In Fang Sanwen's view, the most valuable information of "I American stocks" comes from individual investors, especially the best retail investors. Investment is just a job for analysts, but it is a lifetime for individual investors, and the difference in motivation is obvious. Therefore, the attention and energy of individual investors to individual stocks is unmatched by analysts. The website should not only have the content edited and produced by itself, but also the content shared by these individual investors. Is a very successful investor willing to share his information and experience without reservation? "Everyone likes to see beautiful women on Facebook." Fang Sanwen said with a smile: "In fact, a little beauty is enough." Fang is still sensitive to new things. He spoke highly of Weibo, a new media. He thinks that Weibo's characteristics of personalized customized information, directional push, user-produced content and communication function can subvert many things, especially the traditional website and homepage mode centered on editing. Therefore, he also made a personalized homepage for users on the website of "I American Stock Market", and endowed many unique functions in Weibo, making it more convenient for individual investors to communicate and share. He wrote in a blog ("Weibo Investment"): "If you only have gossip in your eyes, then Weibo is just a gossip carnival; If you are eager for investment opportunities, then Weibo may be an auxiliary tool for you. " In the "Snowball Finance" official website, there is a sentence particularly conspicuous on the blue-and-white refreshing interface: "Personal freedom comes from financial freedom." Maybe you can learn to invest and gain wealth through Fang Sanwen's website, and then realize personal freedom. If you are not interested in these, you can also read his blog and Weibo, at least for fun. After receiving the Series B financing of Sequoia with a price of US$ 6.5438+million, Mr. Fang Sanwen said that he was glad to see that snowball, as a distinctive social product for Internet investment, was being recognized by more and more investors. He is also confident that he will continue to innovate Internet financial information services and explore unique product types and business models suitable for China investors. The latest round of financing will focus on product research and development and human resources, and enhance product competitiveness by improving user experience.