From “knowledge hub” to “opportunity facilitator”: The development of Zhihu

Editor’s note: This was contributed by Elliott Zaagman a trainer, coach, and change management consultant who specializes in aiding Chinese companies as they globalize. He is ezaagman on WeChat. Disclosure: In addition to writing about China’s tech scene, the author of this piece is a corporate trainer and executive coach. One of the many companies he has worked with is Zhihu, the subject of this piece.

Zhihu, the Chinese Q&A-based site often referred to as China’s version of Quora, is setting its sights on disrupting how companies recruit talent.

The Beijing-based knowledge-sharing platform already has evolved from its Q&A roots. Over the past two years, it has become a leader in China’s burgeoning paid knowledge-sharing industry. Its “Zhihu Live” service, launched in May of 2016, allows users to participate in paid Q&A sessions with experts in professional and academic fields. For its contributors, it has enabled a “Column Reward” feature, which allows readers to voluntarily “tip” their favorite experts a small amount of money to show their support. In September 2016, “Zhihu Read” was launched, a publishing initiative which allows Zhihu to be involved in the distribution, purchase, reading, and discussion of published works, creating online communities for books, their authors, and their readers.

What you get

Full access to all premium content and our full archives

Members'-only newsletters

Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events

Direct access to the TechNode newsroom