What makes Facebooks $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp all the more intriguing is the contrast between the two companies founders.Facebook耗资190亿美元并购WhatsApp的交易可谓大手笔;对比一下两家公司创始人的理念详,这笔交易越发耐人寻味。Jan Koum, WhatsApps co-founder and chief executive, has resisted advertising and built a mobile service that makes money from 99-cent subscriptions.WhatsApp的牵头创始人兼任首席执行长(CEO)库姆(Jan Koum)仍然拒绝接受在应用程序内引进广告,其主要收益就是用户缴纳的每年99美分的使用费。Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, has pioneered a new form of online ads targeting users based on their interests and relationships.与此同时,Facebook的扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)则首创了一种在线广告的新模式,需要根据用户的兴趣和关系有针对性的投入广告。These differences have been a continual topic of discussion for the two men as they developed a friendship over the past two years and ultimately negotiated the deal that would make Mr. Koum a multi-billionaire and bring his 55-person startup inside the social network.上述差异仍然是这两人间大大辩论的话题。
他们在过去两年间结为友谊,并最后谈判达成协议前述交易。这宗交易不足以令其库姆沦为一名亿万富豪,并将这家共计55名员工的初创企业划归Facebook这张社交网络。In an interview Thursday with The Wall Street Journal -- his first since the deal was announced -- Mr. Koum said Mr. Zuckerbergs offer to keep WhatsApp operating as a standalone business with no ads was a key turning point in convincing the startup to sell. Rather than be absorbed into Facebooks business, Mr. Koum sees WhatsApp functioning as a separate arm that will help the social network diversify its revenue streams as it grows.周四库姆拒绝接受了《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)采访,这是他在交易宣告后首次拒绝接受媒体专访。
库姆称之为最后劝说他变卖WhatsApp的关键巨变是,扎克伯格明确提出WhatsApp将作为一块独立国家业务之后经营,且维持不内置广告的模式。库姆指出今后WhatsApp将分开作为Facebook的一个实体之后运营,协助Facebook在茁壮的同时构建收益来源的多元化。Below are edited excerpts of the interview with Mr. Koum:以下是经过编辑的专访内容:WSJ: What have the past 24 hours been like?《华尔街日报》:过去24小时你的感觉如何?Mr. Koum: Pretty amazing. To say that were excited and humbled at the same time would be an understatement.库姆:棒极了!激动和荣幸足以传达我们此刻的心情。Mark [Zuckerberg] stopped by the office yesterday after the announcement. We thought it would be good for him to stop by the office and answer any questions people might have and reassure the team that we will stay independent, we will stay autonomous. He talked about how the last thing we want to do, given how much we have achieved, is get in the way of our growth.交易宣告后马克(即扎克伯格)在周三顺路造访了我们的办公室。
这次造访很好,他问了员工有可能明确提出的任何问题,并萌生团队顾虑,确保WhatsApp维持自己独立国家运营。马克说道考虑到WhatsApp早已获得的成就,他最不不愿做到的一件事就是妨碍WhatsApp的茁壮。WSJ: You have said repeatedly that you want to build an independent business. How did Mr. Zuckerberg finally change your mind?《华尔街日报》:您曾经回应要打造出一块独立国家业务,扎克伯格最后是如何转变了你的主意?Mr. Koum: It was very difficult for him to find a good way that would make us be interested in a conversation. But as we got to know each other, we got to respect each other more and more over the years. Once he made it very clear that they are committed to not make changes to the user experience by introducing ads or cluttering the user experience, it became very interesting for us to have a conversation.库姆:对马克来说,要寻找一个令其我们感兴趣的对话切入点十分无以。
但在我们了解对方后,这些年来我们对彼此愈发认同。一旦马克确切指出Facebook绝不会引进广告转变或被打乱用户体验后,我们之间展开一场对话的点子就显得很有意思了。Mark proposed something very interesting two weeks ago, where he positioned it more as a partnership. He positioned it more as WhatsApp will stay completely independent and autonomous.两周前马克明确提出了一些十分有意思的点子,他对我们两家公司关系的定位更加看起来一种伙伴关系,即WhatsApp将维持几乎自我独立国家。
WSJ: What do you have in common with Mr. Zuckerberg?《华尔街日报》:你和扎克伯格有什么共同点?Mr. Koum: We have a shared mission of connecting the world and making it more open. Obviously, what we do is communication, which is part of connecting the world. But we also have a very long-term vision. Sometimes we talk about where mobile and communication will be five years from now, 10 years from now. The way he thinks about it is almost the same way that I think about it.库姆:我们都承担着相连世界、提升世界对外开放程度的联合愿景。很似乎我们做到的工作是交流,这是相连世界的一部分。但我们也有十分将来的眼光。
有时我们不会谈论五年、十年后移动通讯的有可能模样。他对这一问题的意识到和我完全一样。WSJ: Where do you think WhatsApp fits into Facebooks broader plans for growth?《华尔街日报》:你指出WhatsApp如何在Facebook宏伟的快速增长计划中寻找自己的方位?Mr. Koum: Mark deserves a lot of credit for realizing that its good to have different business models in your company. If you look at firms like General Electric or other large companies, they dont just do one thing, they do many different things to generate sources of revenue. I was actually thinking just earlier today how in the late 90s Porsche only used to make sports cars. Now they make SUVs and sedans and all kinds of different models because its good to have diversification in your business.库姆:Facebook需要意识到一家公司可以多元文化多种不同的商业模式,这一点在相当大程度上要得益于马克。
只要想到通用电气(General Electric)和其他大型企业,你就不会找到他们会只做到一件事情。他们不会做到很多业务以建构种种收益来源。只不过今天早上我还在思维,为何上世纪90年代末期只专心跑车业务的保时捷(Porsche),现在却投身于运动型多功能车(SUV)、轿车以及其它种种车型,这是因为业务多元化是一件好事。
Were actually making this business stronger by bringing in yet another type of revenue stream in the future.实质上我们是在通过引进另一类收益来源让我们的业务在今后显得更加强劲。WSJ: You are taking a seat on Facebooks board. Was that his idea or Mr. Zuckerbergs?《华尔街日报》:你将重新加入Facebook董事会,这是你还是扎克伯格的点子?Mr. Koum: It was all his idea.库姆:这几乎是他的主意。WSJ: Now that you have a board seat, do you want to push for changes at this company and be a voice for protecting privacy and user data?《华尔街日报》:既然你在董事会有一席之地,你否想要推展这家公司的变革,并在维护隐私和用户数据等问题上公开发表自己的观点?Mr. Koum: To be fair to Mark, I dont understand a whole lot about Facebooks internal metrics and statistics and how the company works and different ways to generate revenue. I told him that. He still insisted that I join the board and help him with decisions, which is very flattering.库姆:实话实说,我对Facebook的内部指标和统计数据以及该公司如何运作、产生收益的种种来源知道不是很确切。
我把这一情况告诉他马克,但他依然坚决我重新加入董事会并协助他展开决策,对我来说这感叹莫大的恭维。I think I will always have my opinions and philosophy, which I will share with him. But for the next few months or few years my focus will be on WhatsApp.我想要我总有一天不会有我的观点和理念,我也不会和他共享。
但在未来数月或数年的时间里我的工作重点将是WhatsApp。WSJ: What will determine the success of this deal in the coming years?《华尔街日报》:要求这宗交易在今后几年顺利的因素是什么?Mr. Koum: For us, its about staying independent. Its about staying autonomous, as was discussed and announced during the deal. And its also about growing. We still have a mission. We still need to get to a billion users and then we need to get to two billion users. And we wont stop until every single person on the planet has an affordable and reliable way to communicate with their friends and loved ones.库姆:对我们来说,关键是维持独立国家。
这事关我们能否维持自己运营,正如我们在交易谈判和宣告时特别强调的那样。同时这事关我们的茁壮。
我们依然肩负愿景,我们的用户规模要之后不断扩大,超过10亿、20亿的量级。我们将不断前进,直到地球上每一个人都有一种能负担得起且可信的方式和朋友爱人交流为止。
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