The following is an oral account from Greenfield’s current CEO, Zhuo Guang:
Early-stage user aggregation
Greenfield doesn’t really have a founder in the traditional sense. Initially, Greenfield was a utopia, a grassroots organization.
In 1998, a girl registered a domain name, and outdoor enthusiasts used this website to organize meetups, outdoor activities, hiking, and more. In 1999, she left Beijing, and another group took over, applied for a new domain name, and changed it to lvye.org. By then, Greenfield already had considerable influence and recognition, with strong appeal among university outdoor clubs and significant growth within the youth community. Everyone was a volunteer and everyone contributed ideas.
As the forum grew, democracy became unsustainable due to the increasing number of users. A few individuals decided to form a company to run it, but at the time, everyone was doing it out of interest while holding other full-time jobs. In 2006, Changgong and another person quit their jobs to focus on this project and began commercial operations.
(iHeima also interviewed Changgong, Vice President of Greenfield and one of its founders, who witnessed Greenfield’s entire growth journey. He said that before establishing the company, he hadn’t figured out what Greenfield’s commercialization model should be. The team initially wanted to turn Greenfield into a communication platform for outdoor enthusiasts. Coinciding with the internet bubble period, they rapidly expanded the user base and community activity through organizing events via the community, making the community more vibrant.)
In addition to organizing activities through community operations, Greenfield went through several major initiatives during its development, boosting its reputation and attracting a large number of loyal users:
1. In 2007, the Greenfield Rescue Team was established. It was the first to arrive at the Wenchuan earthquake disaster zone and was interviewed by CCTV, playing a highly effective role, which significantly raised Greenfield’s profile.
2. In 2008, Greenfield collaborated with AIG to launch outdoor insurance, which was a pioneering move. Previously, travel insurance did not cover altitudes above 3,500 meters—there was no such policy. AIG saw the long-term potential of this business and was willing to offer the insurance, and Greenfield was keen to establish the standard. Thus, “Greenfield Freewalker” was created, gaining user recognition. Even today, platforms like Qyer and Mafengwo still sell “Greenfield Freewalker.”
3. During this process, Greenfield tried many things, such as leading tours, selling ski resort and scenic area tickets, and organizing PR exhibitions. These efforts gradually increased Greenfield’s influence in the outdoor sector and built competitive barriers that others could not easily overcome.
Establishment of the Business Model: “Outdoor Activities Taobao”
I joined Greenfield in July 2012. Before that, I was just a user. I graduated from university in 2002 and worked in telecommunications. After a year and a half, I quit and joined a startup. In 2008, due to the company’s split and IPO, I led a team to start my own business, creating the Lüzújiǎo App, an application for recording travel routes and photos.
Lüzújiǎo operated for a year and a half. When our funds were running low, we started writing a business plan and seeking funding. At that time, Greenfield was also looking for investment. I met Changgong, who was good at business operations, but Greenfield’s team was unstable—the technical partner kept changing, and the product was constantly being modified. Greenfield needed someone with some technical knowledge who could help avoid the mistakes they had made. We clicked immediately, so I led my team to join Greenfield, and I became its CEO.
Previously, Greenfield’s profits came from insurance and website banner ads. The Greenfield forum used a plugin-based model for users to directly sign up for and pay for activities, but we were not involved in the transactions. Now, Greenfield has become an independent trading platform similar to the early days of Taobao, allowing users to complete the entire process—from transaction and payment to reviews, guarantees, settlement, travel, and sharing. The profit model is simple: everyone can post activities for free, similar to Taobao’s Direct Traffic, but if you want to rank higher or get featured with large images, you need to pay a promotion fee. It’s an auction system—those who bid the highest get the top spots. I believe this model’s formation was inevitable for three reasons:
First, the outdoor travel market is a segment of the larger tourism market. In 2020, China’s tourism market was worth 10 trillion yuan. Assuming outdoor currently accounts for 2% of the market, I believe that by 2020, the proportion will rise to 5%–10%. The market is growing, and our share is growing too, and the segment we’re targeting is growing even faster than the traditional tourism market.
Second, the team leader model in the outdoor community is similar to the business landscape in China around 2004–2005 when small businesses were everywhere. Greenfield has already paved the way. Over the years, Greenfield has gathered more than 4,000 team leaders, but lacked an information-based platform.
Third, this is also determined by market demand. In the past, outdoor activities were closer to a pay-your-share (AA) model, which was relatively pure. Later, team leaders could no longer sustain themselves through passion alone and began to professionalize. Once professionalized, they needed to make a living and earn profits. They started paying us, hoping their activities would get more exposure. At first, we held firm, but as more people were willing to pay, we began to share in the fruits of this commercialization, and the model gradually took shape.
(Note from iHeima: Changgong said in the interview that the relationship between Greenfield and team leaders is similar to that between Taobao and shop owners. Greenfield provides training and credit evaluations for team leaders. Collaboration is not mandatory. Team leaders take responsibility for their own actions, and users can rate team leaders to determine their credibility. Greenfield also recommends team leaders with higher approval ratings to users, ensuring safer trips.)
During the auction process, we notify the website’s auction slots one month in advance and categorize the content to avoid price and product homogenization. Then, participants bid through replies, QQ groups, and WeChat groups. We assign staff to maintain order and keep records. Once the auction is successful, the listing is valid for one month. Auctions are held monthly. The auction system will gradually improve to allow direct bidding on the website.
Actually, using Taobao as an analogy isn’t entirely accurate. We now define Greenfield as a platform for outdoor activities, serving small and medium-sized outdoor enthusiasts. We hope they can survive, earn money, and thrive in the industry through this platform. Currently, Greenfield’s activity revenue is increasing year by year, insurance remains stable, and advertising revenue is declining annually.
After receiving funding from Toread, we will primarily invest more in building informational products, improving the quality of outdoor products, and product operations. In the future, we will also collaborate with distributors to offer mid-to-high-end personalized services and charge commissions, ultimately creating differentiated competition.