Shanghai Daily News

Unlike those Internet trailblazers or pioneering IT geeks, Pang Shengdong has became a millionaire through the Worldwide Web in his early twenties - and he is by no means an expert at technology or computers.

Though once accused of "raping thousands of the country's computers by setting up Websites full of viruses," the controversial 29-year-old Zhejiang native was born with an instinct for business.

He was savvy enough to gain an early foresight into the information industry and talented enough to attract media attention when he established himself as an IT icon representative of the thousands of young entrepreneurs longing to make their fortune through cyberspace.

"I like doing business," Pang said understatedly. "And I'm not afraid of taking risks, not like my parents who have been diligent and conscientious workers all their lives."

Born in a small village in Zhejiang Province, this carpenter's son didn't follow in his father's footsteps. Pang's business talents were evident in his early days and were brought into full play in his college years.

"I started doing business and making money when I was a sophomore. I organized many profit-oriented events, such as plays and karaoke contests. We lobbied many companies to sponsor the activities and earned a lot from tickets and signing-up fees," he said with pride. "In those days in China, college students were rarely seen to do things like this."

In 1997 when the Worldwide Web was still relatively unknown to many, Pang was one of the earliest to surf the Internet and he became a certified Intel operator. At the time, there were no more than 600,000 Internet surfers in the country.

"I paid attention to the Internet in 1995 after I read Bill Clinton's speech on the information technology industry. My first instinct told me that this amazing and magic virtual space was a great opportunity for me," said the Pudong-based Pang. "It proved right."

Upon his graduation from Ningbo College in 1999, he found a job in the city's information center. "My only duty was to search financial news on the Internet. It was very easy, so I had a lot of time to do what I liked."

That year, Pang established his first Website. By sending spam e-mails, the Website's daily visits reached more than 1,000 IPs and 8,000 pageviews.

"At that time, advertisement banners were priced by CPM, or cost per thousand. That means every 1,000 impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors) could earn one to two dollars," he said. "I got more than US$10,000 from it, which was really a large fortune for me."

As they say, once the wheel gets started, it's hard to stop.

Three months later, he set up his second Website "Who Is the Coolest in Chinese Cyberspace" which earned him about US$2,000.

In 2000, Pang started a financial Website which netted him about 14,000 yuan. Later that year, he established zhanzhang.net that helped him to a profit of 16,000 yuan.

The following year, Pang resigned from the information center and became his own boss.

"Many people thought it was stupid to quit such a decent and stable job," he said. "But I looked at it in a different way."

Taking an aggressive stance, the ambitious young man said that he could no longer stand his boring job where he could finish a day's work within one hour. "When I saw my friends were busy attending various training courses and working on all kinds of certificates, I suddenly felt hopeless if I didn't change."

In the following years, Pang not only harvested financial reward from the the Websites he established, but also in real estate.

Within three years, he had earned more than five million yuan and now his assets are about 100 million yuan.

"Some people tend to keep a low profile, but I don't. I like to be focused and to get other's attention," Pang said.

Last year, his blog - pangshengdong.com - which claimed to be the first blog application in China - suddenly aroused the public's interest putting him in the media limelight.

On the blog, Pang posted his experiences, achievements and even his life philosophy and dreams.

"It is my unique way to recruit employees," Pang said.

Through the blog, he employed up to 150 IT elites from all over the country for his new Website 51.com whose domain name cost him 980,000 yuan.

"51.com is a channel for young people to meet new friends, just like myspace."

He said that the Website currently has more than 20 million registered members and the number increases by 5 million each month. "No one in the country can compete with us," he boasted.

For pang, doing business is quite simple. ''For me, success is determined by three things - sincerity, wisdom and luck."