Chapter 26: Who Leads the Way in the 3G Era?
After deciding on the company's name, the next major issue was selecting a team leader.
This decision was crucial.
At first glance, anyone among them could take on the role. The group shared a strong bond, and their technical skills were relatively balanced—except for Fang Hong, who was slightly weaker in technical development.
The question of leadership became a topic of discussion.
Finally, Xu Jingren proposed a solution: each member would present their vision for the company online, and the one with the most compelling argument would become the leader.
After all, leading a company requires more than just technical expertise. A leader must have vision, strategic thinking, and strong leadership abilities.
The group agreed with Xu Jingren's suggestion and began expressing their opinions freely online. Fang Hong was the last to speak.
To outsiders, the whole process might have seemed like a group of young men playing around. But the potential of youth is limitless. The greatest companies—Facebook, Apple, and Google—were all born in dorm rooms and garages.
As the discussion progressed, Fang Hong listened attentively, analyzing his friends' strengths through their speeches.
Technically, he had a shortcut: he could use an item card to view each person's detailed attributes, including their research and development index, management skills, and even health. However, each card cost 100,000 achievement points, and Fang Hong had only accumulated a few hundred so far.
Using the card was an impractical luxury. Even if he had enough achievement points, he would rather invest them in research and development than waste them on evaluating others.
That said, Fang Hong didn't need a card to judge them—his instincts were more than enough.
As the discussion continued, it became clear that Xu Jingren had the best leadership qualities and was the most suitable candidate for CEO of Quantum Beat. While Fang Hong's leadership skills were far superior, he had no intention of taking the position himself.
The others naturally fell into their roles:
Sun Xin, who always carried his Sony digital camera, was perfect for marketing and promotions. He was already documenting their journey, convinced that one day these moments would become priceless treasures.
Lou Gaoyuan, the strongest technically and most passionate about development, was the obvious choice for Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Wang Ping and Yuan Jie, more introverted by nature, voluntarily stepped back from leadership, preferring to focus on the technical side.
Although Fang Hong had already assigned everyone a role in his mind, he needed them to willingly accept their positions. The best way to do that? Establish his authority.
Once Lou Gaoyuan finished his speech, Xu Jingren turned to Fang Hong. "Your turn."
The others followed suit, with Sun Xin adjusting his camera and signaling that he was ready to record.
Finally, Fang Hong, who had been lying on his bed, sat up. He grabbed a whiteboard and a marker, walked over to the dormitory door where a nail stuck out, and hung the board.
"It's starting to feel serious," Yuan Jie joked, crossing his legs. The others chuckled in agreement.
Fang Hong ignored the comments and swiftly wrote a sentence on the whiteboard:
"Who will lead the way in the 3G era?"
Turning to face his friends, he casually twirled the marker in his hand before speaking.
"Let's start with a prediction," he began. "By the end of this year, most countries will begin issuing 3G licenses, and at the latest, they will be fully distributed by January next year."
Before diving deeper, he paused and posed a question.
"Before we discuss the future, let's reflect on the past. During the 1G and 2G eras, which companies emerged as industry giants?"
The sudden shift in discussion caught everyone off guard. The topic felt grander than expected.
But Fang Hong remained unfazed.
"The Chinese Internet has existed for just over ten years," he continued. "Back in the late 1990s, China was still dominated by traditional media—print newspapers, radio, and television. However, rapid economic growth led to an information explosion, and the traditional media landscape struggled to keep up."
"Then, a visionary entrepreneur—a Ph.D. graduate from MIT—returned to China, deeply influenced by North America's booming Internet industry. He went on to create China's first portal website—Sohu. That was in 1998. This was before Alibaba existed, before QQ was developed, and when Baidu's founder was still in Silicon Valley. At that time, only Zhang Chaoyang and Sohu had a presence in China's Internet landscape."
"If we were to name a godfather of China's Internet, Zhang Chaoyang would definitely be on that list."
Fang Hong let his words sink in before continuing.
"In the early days, Sohu had no serious competition. It took advantage of the Internet boom, went public in 2000, and dominated China's portal market. But it wasn't alone for long. Within a year, another major player emerged: Sina."
"The rise of portal websites was nothing short of miraculous. Although Sina was founded ten months after Sohu, it was listed on the Nasdaq three months earlier. The hunger for Internet portals was immense."
"But there was another competitor—NetEase. Founded in 1997, it began as a search engine and email service but soon shifted its focus to becoming an Internet service provider. By 1999, the three major portals—Sohu, Sina, and NetEase—had established themselves as the leading players."
"But while these three focused on information services, a young entrepreneur in Shenzhen was thinking about social networking. That man was Pony Ma, and in 1998, he turned away from his wireless paging project to develop something revolutionary—an instant messaging software called QICQ. On February 10, 1999, he launched the first version, which would later evolve into QQ—one of the most transformative products in China's Internet history."
Fang Hong's passionate storytelling captivated his audience. His roommates, who had initially treated this as a casual discussion, now sat upright, hanging onto every word.
At that moment, they weren't just university students dreaming of success.
They were standing at the dawn of a new era.