"Crazy. Lin Feng had completely lost his mind."
"I'm so disappointed. Some lousy algorithm was worth 20% of Bilibili's shares? More valuable than the development plan that could turn Bilibili's losses into profits?"
"That's right. It was only a ten-year license to use an algorithm, yet he claimed it was worth 20% of Bilibili's shares. Ridiculous."
"Lin Feng was stomping our intelligence into the ground."...
Many discordant comments appeared in the livestream chat. From them, Lin Feng knew they had been posted by people jealous of him or by Bilibili uploaders.
And those comments had an effect. After seeing them, Bilibili's more than 2.5 million viewers could not help showing doubtful looks.
"Looks like everyone doesn't understand the significance of a recommendation algorithm. In your view, what is most important for succeeding in business?"
As soon as Lin Feng asked this question, the chat exploded.
The comments mainly fell into categories such as "core technology is most important," "having good connections with the higher-ups is most important," "marketing genius is most important," "luck is most important," "service is most important," and "a comprehensive development plan is most important."
Facing so many opinions, Lin Feng shook his head and smiled.
"Every answer you mentioned is one of the factors that affects business success.
"But in my view, the most important thing in business is being able to sell tangible and intangible products to consumers. Otherwise, everything else is empty.
"Unless you don't want to make money and only want to have some fun or earn a reputation, the ultimate goal is to sell tangible and intangible products to consumers.
"Core technology, development plans, and marketing talent are all merely means to achieve that ultimate goal. That is where my recommendation algorithm came into being.
"The most terrifying thing about it is that it can use big-data analysis to examine a user's personality, preferences, behavioral patterns, and other data.
"It can directly push information on every kind of tangible and intangible product that interests the user, including news, novels, videos, movies, television dramas, food, travel, and merchandise.
"Theoretically, once this recommendation algorithm is completed, it will affect the commercial landscape of the entire world and change every single person.
"Because from then on, users around the world who use phones and computers will discover that the news, novels, videos, movies, television dramas, food, travel, and merchandise they see every day are all things that interest them.
"And now, I have granted Bilibili a ten-year license to use such an algorithm. This will definitely give Bilibili tremendous competitive potential.
"Once Bilibili uses the recommendation algorithm I developed, users will find that the videos, livestreams, and other content promoted on Bilibili are always things they are interested in.
"After that, everyone will naturally enjoy browsing Bilibili. As Bilibili's user engagement and retention rise, more uploaders will naturally be drawn to submit videos to Bilibili.
"With more and richer videos, combined with the recommendation algorithm's precise pushes, users naturally won't be able to stop once they open Bilibili.
"With this mutual reinforcement, Bilibili will grow stronger over time, while websites without recommendation algorithms will grow weaker. That is the importance of a recommendation algorithm."
After hearing Lin Feng's words, the more than 2.5 million viewers finally understood what he meant and also understood the importance of recommendation algorithms.
If the recommendation algorithm Lin Feng developed could truly achieve what he had described, then Bilibili really could become stronger and stronger.
No wonder Lin Feng said that the profitable development plan was worth 10% of the shares, while a ten-year license for the recommendation algorithm was worth 20%.
After all, the profitable development plan only solved Bilibili's operational problems, while the recommendation algorithm could give Bilibili formidable competitiveness, stronger momentum for growth, and the ability to defeat other competitors.
"Amazing. I can already sense how terrifying it will be when an algorithm like this is born."
"Indeed. Everything you see when you open your phone will be things you like, things that have been arranged for you. Just thinking about that kind of world is a little terrifying."
"I just wonder whether Lin Feng could really make it. Don't just make sweeping claims."
"Why are you all making so many malicious guesses? No matter what, I think it would be a good thing if such an algorithm could really be created."
"Yeah. Finding videos right now is such a hassle. If it could automatically recommend videos I like to watch, I'd be very supportive."...
The chat became sharply divided.
Some believed that the emergence of such a recommendation algorithm would not be a good thing for humanity, as people would lose their freedom.
Others believed that the emergence of such a recommendation algorithm would be a good thing, saving them the time wasted searching through a vast pile of videos for something good to watch.
However, among the more than 2.5 million people present, there were quite a few with sharp business instincts. They also asked Lin Feng in the chat whether he had any plans to seek investment.
Although there was no evidence that Lin Feng was proficient in algorithm development, judging by his confidence, he could definitely create such a recommendation algorithm.
Even if it could not achieve the effect Lin Feng described, it would still be incredible if it achieved even one-fifth of it. That was why they desperately wanted to invest in his research.
Naturally, Lin Feng would not give them the chance to invest. Since they could keenly detect the potential of this recommendation algorithm, how could he, a transmigrator developing the algorithm, possibly fail to recognize it?
Over the next dozen or so minutes, Lin Feng chatted casually with the viewers. Then he said that he needed to develop the recommendation algorithm and would be unable to answer any more questions.
The camera would then switch to an overhead view of the entire room, allowing everyone to watch him work remotely.
There would only be background music to keep everyone company. They could watch from afar as he worked, and if they found the screen too boring, they could go do something else.
The viewers in the livestream naturally nodded in understanding and went about their own business.
Before long, more than a million viewers had left the livestream one after another.
Some went to watch videos, while others went to watch the livestreams of streamers Bilibili had poached. In the end, only a little over two hundred thousand people remained, curious to see how Lin Feng worked.
By the time Lin Feng ended the livestream at eleven that night, he found that a total of 2.81 million viewer visits had entered the stream.
That number was far lower than the three or four million he had expected, but it was also higher than his minimum estimate of just over two million. It was a fairly good result.
As for income from livestream tips, it was not low either, reaching 520,000 yuan. After accounting for his 70-30 non-exclusive split contract with Bilibili's livestreaming platform, Lin Feng had earned 360,000 yuan before tax.
Overall, being an internet celebrity really was profitable. Just casually starting a livestream could bring in hundreds of thousands of yuan. If he could earn that much every day, it would be more profitable than selling Handwriting Robots.
But Lin Feng knew that was impossible, because the reason he had earned so much from this livestream was that many teachers were grateful to him and tipped him when they saw him.
That was obvious from the huge number of people who tipped him, while the average tip was less than 100 yuan.
So, earning 10,000 yuan before tax per day in the future would already be considered quite good.
After all, his livestream really had nothing worth watching—just a non-looping piece of background music and a distant overhead shot of the entire room.
If Lin Feng did not occasionally take some time to chat with viewers, it would already be impressive if his concurrent audience reached 1,000.
However, just as Lin Feng thought time would pass slowly like this, and that he would quietly conduct research until he created the recommendation algorithm and shocked everyone in one stroke, a public opinion crisis quietly descended.
Before you continue