'YouTube' dream of the British

Now, it's hard to believe that any 'netizens' don't know the term Web 2.0. Created by Tim O'Reilly, the leading American computer book publisher in 2004, web 2.0 has truly become a 'trendy' word in the mass media.

Web 2.0 sites have created a revolution in using the Internet, bringing practical benefits to both dotcom companies owning them (physical aspects) and web surfers (spiritual aspects). ).

YouTube story: 1.65 billion

One of the most successful new generation websites today is YouTube. YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim on February 14, 2005 (Jawed Karim then left YouTube to continue his studies at Stanford University). At first, YouTube was just a personal video sharing service. However, its reputation has spread on the Internet quickly and surprisingly. After receiving the investment of Sequoia Capital in November 2005, YouTube really entered a period of accelerated development. With YouTube, users can upload, label and share videos; watch videos introduced by other members; Create your own group of people who share the same interest in watching videos and insert videos into your own website.

YouTube's rapid development has caught Google's attention. After a period of negotiation, Google agreed to pay $ 1.65 billion to buy YouTube, a number that shocked the IT industry in general and Internet services in particular. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have now become two of the richest young dotcom entrepreneurs in history.

A successful YouTube-style movement

In life, when a person succeeds, everyone else wants to be more successful or at least equal to that. The success of Chad Hurley and Steve Chen with YouTube has made Internet business people in other countries covetous and envious. In it, of course, it is indispensable for the British, who for many reasons always want to outweigh the Americans. The British felt angry because before YouTube was born, in the last 'dotcom boom', there were a number of successful Internet companies in the UK, but ironically, people knew little about it but only remember the 'famous' failures like apparel retailer Boo.com and ClickMango health advisory website. For the same reason, at first, the British were a little hesitant at the wave of Web 2.0. But then, the dream of "You Tube-style success" caused British Internet entrepreneurs to ignore the worries to enter the race.

In the past 12 months, a series of 2.0 websites have been launched in the UK. Some popular names like Shozu.com (free app to share photos, videos and music with mobile phones and social networking sites), Indiestore.com (their music stores) non-popular music), Bebo.com (social networking site like MySpace), OnOneMap.com (real estate brokerage service) and TrustedPlaces.com (a social networking site that specializes in restaurants, High quality hotels and cafes according to personal experience). It can be seen that even if you want to imitate YouTube, the field in which Web 2.0 business companies operate is very diverse, not limited to watching and sharing videos.

Limited year of 'YouTube' in the UK

The advantage of web 2.0 companies is the low input cost. Much of the budget is used to develop new products rather than marketing. The 'crazy' stage in the late 1990s when investment money kept going up and profits were not over. Paul Lee, Director of Deloitte's technology, communications and telecommunications division, commented: 'We are no longer in 1999-2000. Now dotcom companies spend much more reasonably. '

Philip Sheldrake, co-founder of the site OnOneMap.com, commented: 'Now it's easier to start a business than before because of lower business costs than before.' Peter Linthwaite, CEO of British Venture Capital Association, reviews UK has favorable conditions for developing web 2.0 business companies such as strong infrastructure, highly qualified human resources and trust and abundant capital. from venture capital funds.

However, UK web 2.0 companies also face certain difficulties. The first is the problem of shortage of highly qualified human resources. American giants like Google and Yahoo! often use the reputation available to attract British IT young talents to do it for themselves. Secondly, the big shadow of BBC caused many difficulties for newly established online media enterprises. Third, if compared to the United States, office rent in the UK is much higher (For example, in London it is 4 times higher in San Francisco). Fourth, the desire to get rich quickly can potentially contain many risks. Fifth, while most of the UK web 2.0 projects start in the University or are initiated by simple Internet enthusiasts, most of the projects in the US tend to be commercial from the beginning. . In addition, there is a subtle reason for culture. In the US, you can recruit employees right at a buffet party, while in the UK, doing so is not suitable for business culture.

All of this makes it difficult for British dotcom companies to scale up like American companies. So some companies like Bebo chose the solution to start a company in the US and then open a representative office in London.

THANH TUNG