About

A treasure in heart – Lamabang.com

It was the golden ear for startups from 2012 to 2015 in China. Lots of Chinese had their very first smartphones and the market was booming. Founded with smartphone-related cutting-edge technology, Lamabang.com released one of the earliest pregnant moms’ online community Apps on iOS and Android. After six years of a fulfilling journey with Lamabang.com, I waved goodbye to the company I had deeply loved.

Market Trend and Business Model

On March 31st, 2022, Lamabang ceased all active operations. Although Cvid is one thing to blame, we always knew that the biggest problem was the unbalanced business model.

Since 2017 the advertising market for area-specific media (or so-called vertical media) has dramatically declined. This is mainly due to the emergence of new giant social media platforms, such as WeChat public accounts, Douyin – the Chinese version of Tiktok – and Xiaohongshu – the little red book. The advertising revenues generated by our not-so-small sales and engineering teams were not able to cover our operating costs.   

Newborns in China have been decreasing dramatically since 2017. The cost of acquiring a pregnant mom outweighs the contribution she can make during her short lifespan on our App. Users’ needs shift dramatically and swiftly once their babies are born. A large percentage of mons won’t be active on the APP anymore.

Vertical E-Business never becomes mainstream, and most of them cannot survive once the investors backing them step backward. Users have no reason to stick to a small e-commerce website, while Taobao, jd.com, and Pinduoduo offer nearly unlimited choices.

Fatasic Teams

Although there were difficulties and unavoidable market trends, I had the most talented teams. They are what I have treasured most. The BI team developed Lamabang’s recommendation system and AI chatbot. The marketing team explored the WeChat community’s Online-2-Offline models. The product & design team is still a source of pride in our industry. Their faces are etched into my heart, as are those from many other teams. 

Next Journey – Dictionary.video

Now the entire world is still absorbing what the pandemic has brought to us; people are getting used to the newly established norms of working from home; businesses no matter how small or big, are adjusting strategies to survive or thrive. It is time for me to dive into the next project on my entrepreneurial journey.  

With the treasures I possess and the lessons I have learned, the next project’s business model must be balanced and sustainable, and the flywheels must continue to spin. How profit is generated shall be clear from day one. Until the business model is successfully validated, a small and condensed team is preferred. The aimed population shall be large enough and the users’ natural life spans should be extensive. We will utilize the current content and resources to the fullest extent possible. We do not generate content by ourselves but motivate the community and influencers to create.

The development of Dictionary.video is actively ongoing. A healthy business model is always the most important thing we consider. Making a positive impact on society and our lives more meaningful are the two other objectives that Dictionary.video shares with Lamabang.com.

Blogging along the Way

wwwinsights.com is my personal blog since March 2023. I am writing down my exploration of the Web while I am working on new projects. I hope you can always come back and check what is here and what I am experiencing.