Ten years later, if anyone recalls June 2021, he will notice that the Chinese education community this month is exceptionally extraordinary.
On the one hand, the people of the whole country watched the students who have been studying hard for more than ten years into the college entrance examination room; on the other hand, the online education industry was full of rumors. Talk about a few dark clouds that online education can't get around.
And also this month, 51Talk (COE.US), the first Chinese online English education stock listed in the United States, ushered in the fifth anniversary of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
At the company’s 5th anniversary celebration, facing the eyes of many employees, the founder and CEO of 51Talk, Huang Jiajia, who has always been known for less-spoken words, changed his style of the past, generously delivered speeches, and had a firm vision. It seemed to be happening to the online education industry today. The storm was well prepared.
"Under the regulatory environment in 2021, the entire industry is undergoing drastic changes. I can say unceremoniously that we will face a huge challenge, and this challenge may surpass everyone’s perceptions. This is the case in the industry, and the company will also Of course." Huang Jiajia does not whitewash the current industry environment, but is outspoken.
In June, the "storm" in the online education industry can be described as one wave after another.
The online education industry, which is welcoming the most stringent supervision, is starting a "domino" effect. The market value plummeting, the wave of layoffs, the suspension of financing, the suspension of listing, and the low tide of investment are taking place.
The reason is that Huang Jiajia hit the nail on the head: "The madness of the 2020 epidemic has generally matured online education. When billions and tens of billions of dollars of hot money flooded into such an industry that should have been positioned as a'long-distance running', all'long-distance running' 'All have been matured as a'sprint', which will inevitably cause many problems. And in 2021, I think online education is about to return to education, about to return from excessive capitalization.
Talking about education, Huang Jiajia does not change his original aspiration. Education should be a "long-distance running" and education should return to value. This is the belief he has always adhered to and the line that 51Talk has always adhered to.
In the face of such storms in the industry, some people may be curious as to where 51Talk should go. "In fact, I think that when the entire industry returns to calm, value, and essence, we have come to our home court. Every 51 person should be like this. I am excited about the tremendous changes." The sky fell in the eyes of others, but in Huang Jiajia's eyes it was "good news."
Huang Jiajia shared that 51Talk can be said to be "alternative" in the industry.
51Talk was established as early as 2011, and it was listed in 2016. It can be described as a "prehistoric animal" in the online education industry. However, after ten years of establishment, the scale of financing and the amount of money burned are far behind the industry players that were born later.
Is the larger the financing scale the better?
In Huang Jiajia's view, this is not the case. The intervention of huge capital may have brought about short-term growth in the race. However, the company's refined management capabilities, basic skills, and brand "internal strength" cannot be achieved overnight, and can be improved without burning money.
The education industry is different from other industries in that it must insist on long-term and value-oriented, and short-term over-capitalization will inevitably create internal and external risks for long-term operations.
It is not difficult to see that this is also the intervention angle of supervision. Excessive capital investment has caused online education to completely deviate from the original intention of education and fall into a trend of blind expansion and disorderly development.
Under this trend, supervision continues to be tightened. Recently, the Ministry of Education has established a special off-campus education and training supervision department. Education experts commented that the important role of the supervision department is to allow off-campus education and training to return to its own functional positioning.
"If you look at the big brands in almost all industries in China, we will find that the secret of success is not complicated. The'leftover' is king, and the'leftover' wins. Those who can survive the cycle will have the last laugh." Huang Jiajia looks back on the past, 51Talk has gone through ten years, and is confident that 51Talk will stick to its value and look to the long-term.
51Talk has made preliminary achievements in training "internal strength" and fine operation. Industry authoritative reports show that 51Talk is present, user usage rate, parent word-of-mouth, spoken language enhancement effect, user impression index, user loyalty, user preference index, and curriculum richness. As well as the interestingness of courses and other important user-side indicators, 51Talk has performed well. In the future, 51Talk will continue to insist on being user-driven, and fight the three must-win battles of quality service, product innovation and user connection.