Talking about the founding of Tencent, he told The China Daily in a 2009 interview that "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," paraphrasing a quote attributed to Isaac Newton and referencing the similarities between ICQ and OICQ.
Since Tencent's prized service QICQ was offered free of charge, the company looked to venture capitalists to finance its growing operational costs.