Huateng Ma

Huoteng Ma built Tencent from a text messaging software in 1998. The platform was free, no revenue model, Ma kept it alive watching. In 2005, Tencent launched micro payments. Players bought virtual items for three cents, a hat for a cartoon character, a sword for a game. 50 million users generated hundreds of thousands daily. The insight was behavioural physics. People resist spending money on something invisible, but they spend small amounts on something they see daily and use socially. A three cent item felt free. 50,000 players buying three cent items each day generated sustainable revenue. By 2015, virtual goods revenue exceeded one billion annually. Tencent had expanded into gaming, streaming, payments, social platforms and corporate software.