Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 488 One Sing One Harmony (Two in One)

An ordinary ball game, an ordinary kiss cam shot.

That night, the Rockets lost to the Knicks again. Both Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong felt a little regretful.

Compared with Fang Zhuo's purpose of using the team to build a public image, Yu Hong's love for basketball is more pure. She will go to the scene to watch Dayao play in New York, and occasionally go to New Jersey, which is very close. Nets.

Because the Rockets had to rush back to Houston overnight to prepare for the next game, Fang Zhuo and Yao Ming did not make an appointment for supper tonight.

It was still Yu Hong who drove Fang Zhuo back to the hotel, but the atmosphere between the two was rather strange.

It's not the first time that President Fang and Director Yu are alone. If they were in the car as usual, they would already be chatting with great interest about the company's development, market competition, or commenting on the football game they watched together.

But today...

One concentrated on driving, and the other turned his head to watch the night view of New York, all the way in silence.

"Come back, see you tomorrow."

Yu Hong didn't get out of the car after arriving at the hotel, yawned, and didn't look at Fang Zhuo, the co-driver.

On the contrary, Fang Zhuo stared at Director Yu's appearance and laughed: "See you tomorrow, I have an appointment for afternoon tea with Stringer, he is British, he will pick me up at two o'clock."

Yu Hong mumbled, "You really think of me as your driver."

Fang Zhuo got out of the car and stood at the door of the hotel watching the car drive away.

Yu Hong sat in the driver's seat, stepped on the accelerator slowly, and looked at the boss behind the car through the rearview mirror.

Although she couldn't see the expression, she vaguely felt that he was smiling.

Director Yu curled his lips and hurried home.

The two of them are so familiar that they have fought side by side for several years, listening to each other's speeches in the conference room, communicating with each other about the company's plans in private, discussing market developments on the phone, and researching business processes on the Internet.

Back then, Guahao.com completed its third round of financing, and Yu Hong had cashed out her shares, and then changed hands and invested in the newly established Yike without hesitation.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with it, she didn't think there should be more calculations, she just trusted Fang Zhuo naturally.

This kind of naturalness is also Fang Zhuo's attitude most of the time. He naturally transfers the young director Yu from the domestic market she developed to the American market, and he doesn't think she will complain.

Too familiar, the two are too familiar.

But sometimes it is also very strange. If the familiarity between two people is like a quiet lake, a small thing is like throwing a stone into the lake. There will be no big waves, but there will be endless small ripples. rippling.

Fang Zhuo thought about it while looking at the Sony data on the computer in the room at night, and finally came to a conclusion that he didn't know what the problem was.

too busy.

Entrepreneurship is something that dogs don’t even do. Two years ago, how could it be possible to run to the hospital while thinking about love and romance, thinking about venture capital every day, and closing your eyes is the company.

In the past two years, a big stall has been spread out between going in and out, dealing with predators, talking and laughing at the leaders, and not paying attention to solving personal problems.

To say that Zhang Chaoyang has more fun in life after he got the company, so he insisted on relying on the entertainment industry.

But... how did that guy get depressed afterwards?

Fang Zhuo's thinking jumped, thinking of the head of the domestic portal website, and thinking about the development situation of Yike and Sina along the way.

After thinking about it, he called Wang Yan, the president of Sina, and asked about the progress of the company's introduction of games.

At present, Sohu and Netease are both earning good income from games, Shanda is also very bright in this regard, but Sina has not made any achievements in the field of games. A while ago, it took the initiative to attack the online value-added market, and encountered the coldness of the secondary market.

Although Sina knows that the company is considering importing games from abroad, even Wang Yan, the president, does not know whether this bet is right or not.

Fang Zhuo and Wang Yan chatted for a long time, from games to blogs, and finally back to Sina's best portal content.

After such a night, the brain nerves before going to bed are still excited.

In the dream, for a while, it was the cooperation between Sony Music and Bertelsmann; A little panicked look.

The next day, New York was lightly raining, which was a suitable weather for afternoon tea.

In the morning, Fang Zhuo had another phone call with league president Stern, Rockets owner Alexander, and league board representative Lewis, and confirmed that he would fly to Houston to formally sign the team acquisition contract two days later.

In other words, on April 4, the Rockets will change hands and have an Eastern boss who knows the ball very well.

Seeing Director Xiao Yu who came to pick him up in the afternoon, Fang Zhuo happily shared the news.

"Congratulations, congratulations, soon I will see our far-sighted Mr. Fang kissing the ass of a donkey. I will save this picture to make a photo and put it on my office desk." Yu Hong teased Said.

"If you want to put my photo, I can give you a more elegant one. Turn right and go straight at the second traffic light." Fang Zhuo directed with a smile.

"Who cares about your photos? I just want to know how Mr. Xiong and Mr. Ni will react when they see the image of the big boss above the news." Yu Hong talked about an angle that Fang Zhuo hadn't considered.

Fang Zhuozhen thought about it seriously for two seconds, and replied: "Either I think the media writes indiscriminately, or I think I am rich and play more frivolously. It doesn't matter. When the person from the PH company made such a proposal, I also find it unreliable."

"What about now?" Yu Hong paid attention to the traffic lights.

"Now I think ph company created me according to the image of a western cowboy. The enthusiastic and reckless fan can be regarded as a model, and it is mainly rendered by the media." Fang Zhuo pointed in another direction, very Stop the car quickly.

Yu Hong watched the boss get out of the car in bewilderment, and after a while, he saw him sitting up with two exquisite cardboard boxes.

"what is this?"

"Small biscuits and cakes, we all know that the British have the habit of drinking afternoon tea, of course we must prepare small food made by ourselves." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "This is what you should think of as a friend."

Yu Hong shook her head, and said after a while: "Even as a friend, your dignified president is a bit better."

Fang Zhuo smiled without saying a word.

The two took a short ride in New York City, and then arrived at the tea restaurant next to Sony at 03:30.

Stringer made an appointment for afternoon tea at a place he often goes to. According to his phone call, this is an old shop opened from London.

"Hi, Stringer."

Fang Zhuo greeted the head of Sony America first, and put the two cartons on the table.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Howard." Yu Hong also greeted, different from the boss and this familiar name, she gave a more respectful name according to the distance.

Stringer was waiting alone in the tea restaurant like an ordinary old man. At this time, he saw that the two young men did not pose as the chairman of Sony America, but were very peaceful.

Fang Zhuo opened the two paper boxes and said with a smile, "These are the biscuits and cakes made by our Ms. Yu herself. It's the first time for me to try her desserts. It seems that you are more proud of Stringer."

Stringer laughed and thanked Yu Hong.

Yu Hong exchanged greetings, and while Stringer reached out to taste the biscuits, she glared at the boss.

She contributed a wave of ingenuity and ingenuity. She didn't try to gain a sense of presence, but just quietly listened to the chat between the two, and considered a timely entry point.

This afternoon tea was arranged by Fang Zhuo on the phone, but he also answered Stringer's phone call in Tokyo before. He heard the other party mention the further cooperation between Sony Music and Yike, and the two sides seemed to be a bit concubine.

Fang Zhuo did not speak in the direction of the foreign director, but talked about the market situation of Yike this year.

In the field of Mp3 music players, [-]% of the U.S. market is divided between Apple and Echo, and this [-]% is divided into four or six.

Because both Apple and Yike are listed companies, there will be regular information disclosure, so interested people can get a general understanding of the development of emerging markets.

This year, in the US market alone, the sales of mp3s are three times that of last year.

This is of course due to the fact that the sales volume was not high last year, but it can still see a fairly strong growth.

At the same time, it also represents that physical records are facing increasing challenges. The development of the Internet is the main reason, and mp3 players are responsible for part of the effect of tools.

Stringer didn’t change his mood when he heard about the product market. He couldn’t help asking when the young president talked about the usage of Apple’s iTunes software: “What about your company’s iMusic?”

Fang Zhuo was a little surprised and said: "Of course there are more users than iTunes. After all, our software provided the Microsoft Windows version earlier. In fact, if we don't care about copyright and we don't close the one-way recording function, the number of users will inevitably be more than that of iTunes. very many."

He said with a smile: "After all, it is the Internet age."

Stringer is 62 this year. Although this age is a common age for many business leaders, he also has similar problems, and his ability to accept and judge new things is delayed.

The so-called three laws of technology:
Any technology that I had when I was born is commonplace.

Any technology born between the ages of 15 and 35 is revolutionary and will change the world.

Any technology born after I am 35 years old is against the laws of nature and will be condemned by God.

In many cases, the slowness of large companies is certainly related to the variety of departments and businesses, but it is also inseparable from the misjudgment of technological development by high-level executives.

The older you get, the rarer the ability to keep up with the times.

Following Fang Zhuo's in-depth chat, Stringer also semi-actively talked about the cooperation between Sony Music and Bertelsmann in response to the Internet shock.

The night before yesterday, Fang Zhuoyou and Yu Hong talked about the cause and effect. They wanted to talk about it in detail last night, but they couldn't proceed because of an episode of a scene.

At this time, he heard Stringer's chatty content and gave Yu Hong a wink.

Yu Hong knew the elegant meaning when she heard the string song, and said with a smile: "Mr. Howard, in the era of Internet development, not only record companies like Sony Music need to consider how to deal with it, but also emerging companies like our Yike must be prepared."

She said: "The Internet is developing too fast, and it will get faster and faster. Emerging technology companies will face the test of being left behind if they are not careful. This is a situation that we all face together."

Stringer thought the pretty lady was just a vase being brought in today, oh yes, she does make pretty good biscuits and cakes.

Unexpectedly, Ms. Yu had some insights.

Stringer politely listened to what the lady had to say.

"Whether it's Mr. Fang, Apple or other companies, there has been a very recognized judgment recently." Yu Hong was not afraid of the gaze of the head of Sony America, and said, "This kind of coincidence may be a relatively correct one. The answer is the integration of software and hardware.”

"Software is a tool, and hardware products are also tools. They should be treated as a complete product, so as to provide consumers with the best experience."

"But in my opinion, specific to our field, the field of content applied to tools can also have deep cooperation prospects."

When Stringer heard this, he heard the meaning: "Is Yike interested in our cooperation with Bertelsmann?"

He looked at Yu Hong, and then at Fang Zhuo.

Fang Zhuo said slowly: "Actually, Mr. Yu is talking about the future development trend."

Yu Hong nodded: "That's right. The development of the Internet will inevitably require closer cooperation between companies. Apple has made a judgment that it needs to cooperate with the Windows platform, and has quickly won the cooperation of many record companies. They will definitely further consolidate this alliance. .”

"But in fact, what I want to say is that this kind of cooperation is not simply due to the cooperation of the company's cash, copyright, and shares. It can also look forward to the cooperation based on the more cutting-edge development of the Internet."

"This is a deeper solution for the Internet age."

Stringer felt the vigor of the two in front of him, which is one of the reasons why he likes to communicate with young people.

Fang Zhuo took over the words: "Whether it is Yike's iMusic or Apple's iTunes, it is not that such a song-by-song payment download mode is proposed, and everything will be fine. The development of the Internet and technology will continue to change and create better music. Way."

He said with a smile: "For example, based on the faster click-to-listen music service, neither tapes nor downloads are required. It is more convenient and faster, and it will also impact physical records."

Stringer frowned. Today's Internet, today's iTunes and iMusic have launched a big challenge.

If we were still skeptical about the impact of the Internet on records at the beginning, we are even more fortunate that Sony Music has done a good business bundled with Yike in the past two years.

This is the right choice to maximize the benefits that Sony Group can't launch mp3 players.

"Emerging industries always contain more opportunities." Stringer said with a sigh, "Fang, your description moved me. I think there can be greater cooperation in the music business, but Bertelsmann may not think so. "

Fang Zhuo said calmly: "Stringer, you may have misunderstood me. Yi Ke is not in a hurry to participate in the cooperation between Sony Music and Bertelsmann."

Stringer was surprised.

Fang Zhuo changed the topic: "But you can also participate. The development of the Internet is still just the beginning, just like Sony Music chose to cooperate with Yike, and now it can still provide a piece of delicious cake."

Sony Music exchanged music and cash for Yike's shares after listing, and now it is close to 9%.

The small cake in this metaphor is nothing more than a small share of shares.

Stringer thought silently.

"This can be used as the key for everyone to face the new era. Whether Bertelsmann agrees or not, Yike can sign a concerted action agreement with Sony Music. We are not interested in the operation of the record company at all." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, " It’s also one of the reasons why I became a director of Sony Music.”

Stringer heard what he had mentioned on the phone.

However, in this case, Fang does not need to be an external director, but can also become an internal director.

Stringer asked directly: "Fang, next month's Sony Music shareholder meeting will discuss cooperation with Bertelsmann. We plan to replace two directors. Are you interested in becoming one of them?"

Fang Zhuo said clearly: "External directors are fine, but internal directors are fine. My mission is to bring better music player products to consumers, not to set foot in fields I am not familiar with. What's more, your record company has enough Talent to decide the strategy."

Stringer nodded slightly, with a tendentious judgment in his heart.

He looked at the two young men in front of him, the president was full of confidence, and the director had charming eyes, and said with a smile, "Fang, you and this lady must be ready to come here today."

"No, no, we watched a football game last night, and we didn't communicate with each other all night." Fang Zhuo shrugged.

Stringer asked curiously, "Why?"

"She was angry that I didn't meet the camera's expectations during the kiss cam session, and thought it was rude." Fang Zhuo joked.

Stringer laughed loudly, seeing the lady's sulky expression, he couldn't help but said, "I'm afraid it's another kind of impoliteness, Fang, Yu, are you interested in visiting Sony?"

Fang Zhuo said with a smile: "It's an honor."

Yu Hong also politely replied: "I am very interested in visiting our most important partner."

The two of them sang and harmonized, with five fans and three opinions, with a tacit understanding and like-mindedness, they completed a lobbying afternoon tea with the head of Sony America.

(End of this chapter)