(单词翻译:单击)
What makes Facebook's $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp all the more intriguing is the contrast between the two companies' founders.
Facebook斥资190亿美元收购WhatsApp的交易堪称大手笔;对比一下两家公司创始人的理念异同,这笔交易愈发耐人寻味。
Jan Koum, WhatsApp's co-founder and chief executive, has resisted advertising and built a mobile service that makes money from 99-cent subscriptions.
WhatsApp的联合创始人兼首席执行长(CEO)库姆(Jan Koum)一直拒绝在应用程序内引入广告,其主要收入就是用户支付的每年99美分的使用费。
Facebook's 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)则开创了一种在线广告的新模式,能够根据用户的兴趣和关系有针对性的投放广告。
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.
上述差异一直是这两人间不断讨论的话题。他们在过去两年间结成友谊,并最终谈判达成前述交易。这宗交易足以令库姆成为一名亿万富豪,并将这家共有55名员工的初创企业并入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. Zuckerberg's 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 Facebook's business, Mr. Koum sees WhatsApp functioning as a separate arm that will help the social network diversify its revenue streams as it grows.
周四库姆接受了《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)专访,这是他在交易宣布后首次接受媒体采访。库姆称最终说服他卖掉WhatsApp的关键转折是,扎克伯格提出WhatsApp将作为一块独立业务继续经营,且保持不内置广告的模式。库姆认为今后WhatsApp将单独作为Facebook的一个实体继续运营,帮助Facebook在成长的同时实现收入来源的多元化。
Below are edited excerpts of the interview with Mr. Koum:
以下是经过编辑的访谈内容:
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 we're excited and humbled at the same time would be an understatement.
库姆:棒极了!兴奋和荣幸不足以表达我们此刻的心情。
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.
交易宣布后马克(即扎克伯格)在周三顺路拜访了我们的办公室。这次到访很好,他回答了员工可能提出的任何问题,并打消团队疑虑,保证WhatsApp保持自己独立运营。马克说考虑到WhatsApp已经取得的成就,他最不愿意做的一件事就是阻碍WhatsApp的成长。
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》:您曾多次表示要打造一块独立业务,扎克伯格最终是如何改变了你的主意?
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,要找到一个令我们感兴趣的对话切入点非常难。但在我们认识对方后,这些年来我们对彼此越发尊重。一旦马克清楚表明Facebook绝不会引入广告改变或打乱用户体验后,我们之间进行一场对话的想法就变得很有趣了。
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.
两周前马克提出了一些非常有趣的想法,他对我们两家公司关系的定位更像是一种伙伴关系,即WhatsApp将保持完全自我独立。
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:我们都担负着连接世界、提高世界开放程度的共同使命。很显然我们做的工作是沟通,这是连接世界的一部分。但我们也有非常长远的眼光。有时我们会谈论五年、十年后移动通讯的可能模样。他对这一问题的预见和我几乎一样。
WSJ: Where do you think WhatsApp fits into Facebook's broader plans for growth?
《华尔街日报》:你认为WhatsApp如何在Facebook宏大的增长计划中找到自己的位置?
Mr. Koum: Mark deserves a lot of credit for realizing that it's good to have different business models in your company. If you look at firms like General Electric or other large companies, they don't 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 it's good to have diversification in your business.
库姆:Facebook能够意识到一家公司可以包容多种不同的商业模式,这一点在很大程度上要归功于马克。只要看看通用电气(General Electric)和其他大型企业,你就会发现他们不会只做一件事情。他们会做很多业务以创造种种收入来源。其实今天早上我还在思考,为何上世纪90年代末期只专注跑车业务的保时捷(Porsche),现在却涉足运动型多功能车(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。
We're actually making this business stronger by bringing in yet another type of revenue stream in the future.
实际上我们是在通过引入另一类收入来源让我们的业务在今后变得更强。
WSJ: You are taking a seat on Facebook's board. Was that his idea or Mr. Zuckerberg's?
《华尔街日报》:你将加入Facebook董事会,这是你还是扎克伯格的想法?
Mr. Koum: It was all his idea.
库姆:这完全是他的主意。
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,你是否想推动这家公司的变革,并在保护隐私和用户数据等问题上发表自己的看法?
Mr. Koum: To be fair to Mark, I don't understand a whole lot about Facebook's 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、产生收入的种种来源真的不是很清楚。我把这一情况告诉马克,但他仍然坚持我加入董事会并帮助他进行决策,对我来说这真是莫大的恭维。
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.
我想我永远会有我的观点和理念,我也会和他分享。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》:决定这宗交易在今后几年成功的因素是什么?
Mr. Koum: For us, it's about staying independent. It's about staying autonomous, as was discussed and announced during the deal. And it's 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 won't 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,关键是保持独立。这事关我们能否保持自己运营,正如我们在交易谈判和宣布时强调的那样。同时这事关我们的成长。我们仍然肩负使命,我们的用户规模要继续扩大,达到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靠的方式和朋友爱人沟通为止。