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WeChat isn't simply a messaging service. It's pretty much Amazon, Facebook, Yelp, Dash, Venmo, Stripe/Paypal, Square, Wix, and WhatsApp combined. The reach of

WeChat isn't simply a messaging service. It's pretty much Amazon, Facebook, Yelp, Dash, Venmo, Stripe/Paypal, Square, Wix, and WhatsApp combined. The reach of WeChat is stupidly vast and making a competitor will be extremely difficult.

giancarlostoro 8y ago
Baby steps. Amazon was just a book store, Google was just a search engine, Nintendo was just a cards company or something of the sort. You do not build Rome in a day.
- syntaxing 8y ago
  I'm not saying it's impossible, just very hard. Especially given the nature of internet business in China. To get to a good growth, you're going to need some help from a higher up in the government which makes it even harder to establish a profitable company.
- screye 8y ago
  Well, you sort of proved OP's point. Investing in a company whos win condition is to become the next Amazon, Google or Nintendo isn't very encouraging.
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    I think the beauty is that you don't invest in companies directly attempting to be that big, companies just need to be good at what they do enough to invest in other spaces. You invest in a company that has the potential to dominate their existing market. Trying to be an all in one company is only doable if you got a nation state actor funding the whole damn thing, or someone with enough money to blow. Eventually though people start getting suspicious about your company if it covers too much ground. People are getting more weary of Google, Amazon and others.
- dna_polymerase 8y ago
  Yeah, baby steps. Alright. But all those examples had the advantage that they essentially built their whole realm. Amazon in the beginning needed not more than books to be of interest. However any competitor to WeChat had to offer much more than WeChat does now because why would I switch? Especially considering these Apps are walled gardens, meaning I'd cut myself off of my friends and connections in the other app.

giancarlostoro 8y ago

Baby steps. Amazon was just a book store, Google was just a search engine, Nintendo was just a cards company or something of the sort. You do not build Rome in a day.

syntaxing 8y ago
I'm not saying it's impossible, just very hard. Especially given the nature of internet business in China. To get to a good growth, you're going to need some help from a higher up in the government which makes it even harder to establish a profitable company.
screye 8y ago
Well, you sort of proved OP's point. Investing in a company whos win condition is to become the next Amazon, Google or Nintendo isn't very encouraging.
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  I think the beauty is that you don't invest in companies directly attempting to be that big, companies just need to be good at what they do enough to invest in other spaces. You invest in a company that has the potential to dominate their existing market. Trying to be an all in one company is only doable if you got a nation state actor funding the whole damn thing, or someone with enough money to blow. Eventually though people start getting suspicious about your company if it covers too much ground. People are getting more weary of Google, Amazon and others.
dna_polymerase 8y ago
Yeah, baby steps. Alright. But all those examples had the advantage that they essentially built their whole realm. Amazon in the beginning needed not more than books to be of interest. However any competitor to WeChat had to offer much more than WeChat does now because why would I switch? Especially considering these Apps are walled gardens, meaning I'd cut myself off of my friends and connections in the other app.