Luo Chuan: If the sky is in love, the sky is also old

Luo Chuan, 2002 EMBA of Tsinghua University, former general manager of Microsoft MSN China, CEO of MySpace China

His feelings are particularly rich, whether he is studying for an EMBA or at work, this is true

Grassroots business representative→project manager→product manager→strategic cooperation manager→company deputy General Manager → Director of a large company business department → EMBA on the job → General Manager of a joint venture → Resignation to start a business

Won the "Most Successful Product Manager" of Microsoft China China's share has increased from 60% to 92%; the MSN Chinese website has been brought on a stable development track.

"MySpace.cn China's leading Web2.0 website is under construction. Copyright 2006 by Beijing Maxbei Information Technology Co., Ltd." . Before resigning at the end of last year, he had successfully introduced MSN to China for the first time as a website.

After completing a master's degree in civil engineering from Tsinghua University, Luo Chuan worked at Microsoft China for 12 years. In the meantime, he went back to his alma mater's EMBA class to practice for two years. Those who miss the old are the most affectionate, just as he reflected on himself at an important moment: on May 28, 2005, his MSN signature was changed to "If there is love in the sky, the sky will grow old".

At that time, the MSN Chinese website led by Luo Chuan had just been launched. Afterwards, he graduated from Tsinghua EMBA class with the graduation thesis "The Feasibility Study Report of MSN in China". A news item beamed about the incident, with the headline "MSN Opens EMBA Graduate".

Grateful Heart

At the beginning of June 2005, Luo Chuan's EMBA graduation thesis defense was in progress in the lecture hall of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University. Before and after the defense, he expressed his gratitude to his parents again and again. Off the stage, the parents who came to congratulate their son on his graduation from Tsinghua University once again had tears in their eyes.

As his name suggests, Luo Chuan is from Sichuan, and his home is in a remote area. In 1987, he had always made up his mind to give up the college entrance examination and accepted a recommendation from a university. What attracts him is that part of the tuition can be waived, so that he can share some for the family. However, how could parents not know their son's Tsinghua dream. "My parents thought that I would definitely be admitted to Tsinghua University, and they were willing to pay for my tuition fees, so I have been very grateful to my parents to this day." The sharpness of the meeting.

With his "Tsinghua dream" and his father's "engineer dream", he obtained a master's degree in the famous Tsinghua civil engineering major. "I have always liked to study management. When I was admitted to Tsinghua, I wanted to study economics and management." In order to fulfill his filial piety, he changed his major without hesitation. However, since becoming the director of Tsinghua University's radio station, he has never given up his original ambition.

In 2003, he entered his alma mater again and entered the School of Economics and Management, which he missed when he was young. Luo Chuan cherished it very much. Although he was busy with the preparations for MSN's entry into China during the two years of studying EMBA, he hardly missed classes. "I remember that I missed two classes in total, but I made up for them later." Luo Chuan, who has been studying here for seven years, is well aware of Tsinghua's strictness. However, he is a salesperson, and he is best at "win-win". In the EMBA class, the exchanges between students and the guidance of teachers constantly improve their work. Finally, the EMBA graduation thesis became his two-year work report.

"Luo Chuan is a good student", this is what Professor Liang Xiaomin, an EMBA teacher and economist, said to him when he graduated. In addition to nostalgia, having such a famous teacher is also the reason why Luo Chuan returned to his alma mater as a student. In his evaluation of his alma mater, he thanked Tsinghua University for "providing the most nutritious soil for cultivating entrepreneurs with Chinese characteristics and an international perspective."

Thanks to his parents, his alma mater, and he could not but thank Microsoft for cultivating him soil. The twelve-year "fate" with Microsoft began when he was a graduate student. Introduced by friends, he often translates for Microsoft's events in Beijing, and he also serves as a simultaneous interpreter for Bill Gates when he comes to China. After graduating in 1994, Luo Chuan entered the Microsoft Beijing office with only twelve people.

Many years later, he still remembers the scene vividly. "I was sitting outside Mr. Du's office. Sometimes when I didn't make a good phone call, Mr. Du would call me in. Tell me what should be told to customers and what should not be told to customers." The manager, Du Jiabin, taught Luo Chuan, who had just walked out of the campus, by hand.

Before 2000, he had grown from a sales representative to "the most successful product manager", increasing the share of Microsoft Office in China from 60% to 92%. Soon, he was selected and sent to Microsoft headquarters for on-the-job training, becoming the first Chinese employee to receive this honor. Now his English expression and intercultural communication skills are not inferior to Americans, which is due to the meeting and discussion that was rushing to speak at that time.

“I have done six different jobs at Microsoft, responsible for major customer sales, channels, and value-added services, almost all starting from 1.” He is the first product manager of Office in China, and also MSN The first general manager of the Chinese website. It was Microsoft who made him what he is now, and Luo Chuan, who has left his job, will not forget, "I like Microsoft very much. To use a very common saying, if you give me another chance to choose, I also hope to choose this company; if there is a If the deadline is met, I also hope to work for it for more than ten years."

In fact, Luo Chuan never said anything that might hurt his employer after leaving Microsoft for more than a month. As for why he resigned, his reason other than planning to start a business was to retire bravely.

“Change can be changed”

On November 8, 2006, Luo Chuan announced that he would leave the company before the end of the year. People close to him expressed "surprise" and "very abnormal". A person familiar with the matter said, "Mr. Luo is still talking about how soon we will move to Wudaokou to work as a 'neighbor' with Google. I didn't expect this resignation to be so sudden."

For Luo Chuan, this It may be an accident to resign at that time, but starting a business was early in his plan.

It was February 2002, and he thought it was time to leave. "At that time, the IT companies that wanted to do software outsourcing and system integration preferred technology." But in the end, he was persuaded by the boss. "They said that they would give me the opportunity to start a business within the company, which is to plan MSN's Chinese business."

At MSN When the Chinese online was launched, he asked about his MSN signature "If there is love in the sky, the sky will grow old". He said, "This is a poem that Mao Zedong recited just before he entered the city of Beijing." He just expressed his feelings for the new MSN Chinese website, and reminded himself to be less emotional as a manager.

In the past two years, Luo Chuan has carefully designed a "third way" of foreign websites for MSN while studying EMBA. Previously, only foreign direct investment or acquisition of local websites, and MSN Chinese website by domestic partners to provide the content of each channel, and pay a certain fee. In this way, the problem of MSN applying for an ICP license in China is cleverly avoided, and at the same time, the localization that Yahoo is difficult to solve is better achieved.

Limited to a promotion budget of $10,000, he and his assistant even "published articles on BBS as netizens". "The business itself has an undeniably personal emotional element." The idealism in Luo Chuan's heart was ignited by the fiery Chinese Internet. MSN Messenger, MSN Spaces and the subsequent LIVE strategy, he invested a greater affection. Going out to start a business was temporarily put on hold by him, saying he would wait until "MSN enters a stable stage."

Now, Messenger has just expanded from white-collar workers to college students. According to his plan, Messenger will further compete with QQ for state-owned enterprises, foreign and private enterprises, and even those born in the 1980s and 1990s who are immersed in gaming in Internet cafes. The traffic of MSN Chinese website is also not surprising. Windows Live Spaces, which is the only one that may take the lead in the Chinese market, is not as fast as before after the technology upgrade. MSN at this time is indeed not "stable", and China's Internet is ushering in the second spring after the first bubble.

"A thousand sails pass by the side of a sinking boat, and a thousand trees spring ahead of a sick tree." He had long since abandoned his promising technology entrepreneurship plan. The more he understands the Internet, the more Luo Chuan is attracted by the popular Web2.0 all over the world. As a frontier official, he is in control, but the Messenger and Spaces in his hands are quite constrained by the headquarters. Compared with the Web1.0 website, its localization is already difficult. There is even more unfavorable news from the United States, saying that Windows Live Spaces may not be widely promoted in China. Analysts pointed out, "If this is true, then Luo Chuan probably doesn't want to stay."

Luo Chuan once said on different occasions, "China's Internet development has really great innovation and soil", because The development of Web 2.0 in China has even surpassed the development of the United States in some aspects. As a manager, he is naturally responsible for defending the soil. However, Microsoft, which was once a fertile ground for his growth, seems to be unable to carry his current enthusiasm. And the innovation soil of the Internet is ahead, but he has been unable to plant the ground according to the blueprint in his heart. Undoubtedly, the enthusiastic Luo Chuan was unbearable.

"To change what can be changed, don't think too much about what can't be changed." Kai-Fu Lee, who was still at Microsoft, made Luo Chuan realize this truth. Now, he has made the biggest change in his 12 years, and what remains the same is that he puts love first. The same goes for my gratitude to my parents, Tsinghua University, and Microsoft, as well as my passion for Internet entrepreneurship. Just one month after his official resignation, the Chinese version of MySpace, with Luo Chuan as president, is about to come out.

Sima Guang once sighed that "if the sky is in love, the sky is also old" and "there is absolutely nothing wrong with it". Today, some netizens spoofly say, "If people are ruthless, there is no Internet", which is used to embolden the budding Web 2.0. MySpace, which embodies Luo Chuan's passion, may successfully condense the family, friendship and love of Chinese netizens.

Attachment: Luo Chuan's resume

1994-2006: After graduating from the Department of Civil Engineering of Tsinghua University with a bachelor's and master's degree, he joined Microsoft China. He has successively served as business representative, partner project manager, product manager, manager of strategic cooperation department and deputy general manager of the company.

2002-2004: On-the-job learning EMBA of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

2002-2004: Director of MSN Division of Microsoft China.

2004-2005: Director of Greater China, MSN Division, Microsoft Corporation.

2005-2006: General Manager of Microsoft Online Services Group China, and General Manager of Shanghai Messen Network Communication Technology Co., Ltd. (a joint venture between Microsoft and Shanghai Lianhe Investment Company).

2006 to present: Resigned to start a business, now negotiating cooperation with News Corporation MySpace.