SubscribeInterview With Edwyn Chan of Blogku Media, Part I
Edwyn Chan is the founder of Blogku Media, the first blog network in China. In the interview, he talked about the history, difficulties and future plan of Blogku Media, and also Chinese blog network market.
China Web2.0 Review: Would you pls. briefly introduce the history and development of Blogku Media? What made you to get into blog network business?
Edwyn Chan: Late 2004 I started a company with a friend in Chengdu, Sichuan, that I met from the entertainment firm. We started off building a blog publishing platform (like Blogger) like everyone else, and pairing it with social networking, hoping it would be the next big thing. However, mid way in the development I realized that Blogcn and Blogchina(now renamed to Bokee) had the first mover advantage already and I was already behind. I also realized that competing to be the top blog publishing platform would be an uphill battle that I could not win. Hence, I figured out a blog media network of niche topic blogs which were branded (like Gawker Media) was a much better business opportunity as no one was doing this yet.
CWR: Would you pls. tell us some of your background?
Edwyn: I was born and raised in Hong Kong but I was sent to an international school for schooling because my parents believed being bilingual in Cantonese and English from the very start was an advantage. Went to New York University and co-majored in management and international business. Worked in entertainment (Stareast - 东方魅力) and citigroup after graduation. Now I am internet entrepreneur and MBA candidate at Tsinghua University.
CWR: Why you will start business in China Mainland instead of in Hong Kong?
Edwyn: There is no internet market or culture in hong kong. Actually there is no tech market period. Hong Kong is all about entertainment and finance now.
CWR: Are you still based in Chengdu? Why you choose Chengdu?
Edwyn: I was based in chengdu because I met my partner there in my previous job. My partner and tech team is still in Chengdu but I am now in Beijing.
CWR: What’s the biggest difficulty during the development of Blogku Media?
Edwyn: Blog media is still an uphill battle. Culture I think is the biggest difficulty. It’s hard to find writers as no one really understands blog media.
CWR: How many blogs in your network now? What are they about?
Edwny: Currently, i have 5 blogs that i own right now.
DianZiRen - gadgets and consumer electronics
Shuanga - funny stuff
Starpapa - celebrity gossip
Jiaexp - video games
movblog - film
we also have some affliated blog, such as Postshow, a boingboing-like blog about interesting stuffs on the net. There are quite a few affliates we are in talks with, so don’t have an exact number on affiliates yet.
CWR: Whick blog is most popular in your network?
Edwyn: Shuanga.com is most popular because the content is most mass market. I have had a lot of critisim from people saying Shuanga.com content is too crude or “low level”. However, I insist on shuanga.com to be that crude. This is because I believe that blog media is all about longtail theory and that there is niche markets. Most people that critizes Shuanga.com’s content are bloggers or web 2.0 users and maybe to them shuanga.com’s content is not classy enough. However, I think for blog media to accepted to the masses, blog content should also appeal to the masses.
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[...] Edwyn Chan是blogku media，中文最早blog network的创始人，做客china web2.0 review，讲述关于blogku计划的由来、遇到的困难、前景，以及中文blog network市场。简要摘录翻译如下，详情请查阅原文。 [...]
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[...] It’s so exciting to see the two Korea-based Web 2.0 sites, I am very much interested in joining their movement both tracking Korea developments and Hong Kong developments. I am still learning the Korean internet from my Korean friends/users and hope to grasp a more detail view as time rolls on. As for Hong Kong Web 2.0 development, there is hardly any besides your blogosphere. After seeing this development, I am going to take dive into Hong Kong’s Web 2.0. However, this can prove difficulties as it is overshadowed by China and there is no Internet market or culture in Hong Kong (according to Edwyn Chan of Blogku Media) but I’m always up for the challenge! unranked [...]
[...] It’s so exciting to see the two Korea-based Web 2.0 sites, I am very much interested in joining their movement both tracking Korea developments and Hong Kong developments. I am still learning the Korean internet from my Korean friends/users and hope to grasp a more detail view as time rolls on. As for Hong Kong Web 2.0 development, there is hardly any besides your blogosphere. After seeing this development, I am going to take dive into Hong Kong’s Web 2.0. However, this can prove difficulties as it is overshadowed by China and there is no Internet market or culture in Hong Kong (according to Edwyn Chan of Blogku Media) but I’m always up for the challenge! [...]