Matchmaker to Educator

by Hua Mao

This August， Rose Gong （Gong Haiyan） and her team spent day and night in their Zhongguancun （Beijings high-tech nucleus） office working on product details and curriculum design for the English elearning site 91 Waijiao. Gong launched 91 Waijiao several months earlier. On December 24， 2012， Gong resigned as CEO of Jiayuan， Chinas most popular dating site， which she founded. She remains non-executive co-chair of Jiayuan， which means her only interaction with Jiayuan now is their quarterly general meeting.

Rags to Riches

In 1976， Gong was born to a humble family in Hunan Province. When Gong was in her second year of middle school， she dropped out to start a business. Three years later she returned to high school， and as the top student in her county， she was admitted to Peking University.

In October 2003， during her second year of graduate studies at Fudan University， Gong launched a website in her dorm room. At first， she wanted to start a site related to journalism or economics， but ultimately opted for a dating website because she was single at that time. Both Gongs mother and grandmother were reputed matchmakers in their towns， and she was proud to inherit and adapt this traditional role for Chinas rapidly growing and evolving internet.

The websites popularity snowballed. By 2006， it had a million registered users and venture capitalists began laying down money. In 2008， Jiayuan announced its core profit model： two yuan to send or receive a message. “The 20 percent minority of beautiful girls are sought by 80 percent or more of the men，” Gong explains. Fierce competition between suitors makes them willing to pay for the ability to send messages.

By 2011， Jiayuan had 56 million registered users， positioning it as Chinas most popular dating site. Gong flew to New York for her initial public offering. At the time， her share of stock shot up to nearly US$70 million， and she was the only Chinese woman to see her company go public on foreign soil that year.

Bottlenecked Business

However， along with the development of Jiayuan， Gong faced increasing problems. The founder of the site believed in offering clients a chance to find Mr. or Miss Right from thousands of choices， but wasnt very concerned about finding new avenues of expansion for her shareholders.

This attitude hampered the further growth of Jiayuan. Although their online products were selling well， Gong didnt invest more time and energy into developing offline services or creating new profit models. Since Gong didnt hail from a tech background， she never established big data management system for Jiayuan. Gong remained only a professional matchmaker. In 2011， she suffered her first big setback. That year， a registered member filed a lawsuit against the website claiming they misrepresented their service. At the time， Chinas entire online dating industry became embroiled in controversy as the public learned stories of fabricated personal information， one-night-stand seekers， and con artists. As the countrys largest serious online dating service， Jiayuan was accused of failing to shoulder proper social responsibility.

“Maybe by nature， Im not a businesswoman，” Gong admits. “Although Jiayuan was still developing and its profits were increasing， I could hardly find breakthroughs.” She was not sensitive to the nature of the internet. For example， even after the 2011 lawsuit， she still argued that Jiayuan was an information-providing platform， which couldnt possibly guarantee accuracy.

Since Jiayuan went public， its stock price hasnt been performing well. Jiayuan dropped on its first day on NASDAQ. The stock closed far below its expected price of 18 dollars. The slumping stock mirrored various problems plaguing the company such as a market bottleneck and disjointed organization compounded by managerial issues.

Second Chance

After resigning from Jiayuan， Gong immediately started her second business.“I am the kind of woman who immediately begins a new life after breaking up with a boyfriend，” she grins. Just like the establishment of Jiayuan， 91 Waijiao was born of a difficult personal experience. When she traveled to the U.S. to introduce Jiayuan in 2011， Gong was embarrassed by her lack of English language skills， which she felt hindered her communication with potential investors. “To answer questions from investors， I always needed a translator， which wasted a ton of time，” she recalls， explaining that that was the moment she decided to find a way to improve her oral English.

In Gongs eyes， 91 Waijiao is a pioneer. Native English speakers are recruited as teachers after interviews and appraisals， while learners register and pay for the ability to select teachers and courses. Gong didnt reuse much of Jiayuans operational mode for 91 Waijiao. In her opinion， Jiayuan was a platform. “As a platform， Jiayuan needs to integrate both ends and collect abundant resources，” she explains.“However， 91 Waijiao is not a platform， but a quality content provider.”

Gong admits that the pressure she faces is even greater this time around. When establishing Jiayuan， she didnt expect much， yet the company went public and she got rich. “This time， the situation is different. I have more experience and my starting point is higher，” she sighs. “This creates greater pressure. However， since I am more skilled at my job now， I enjoy the process more.”

It has been two decades since 37-yearold Gong started her first business. Like many entrepreneurs who started from scratch， she believes “people dont drown by falling in water， but drown by staying in water.” Her philosophy is simply to keep swimming and moving. When asked whether she will go to New York to ring the bell at NASDAQ a second time， she replies： “Thats not my goal. Im just going to work today.”