You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 262 Good News for Qvod

Qin Shaoyan and Zhang Pingyi spent a day sightseeing in the world-class mansion "House of the Future", and not only visited Bill Gates' private library but also the luxurious home theater.

The two also picked out two luxury cars from the large underground garage and drove around for fun. When they stayed overnight, they also experienced the future world created by smart homes.

For an experienced veteran like Qin Shaoyan, the so-called smart home is just that.

In a dozen years or so, we will be able to build a smarter home system at a lower cost, and with more functions than this.

But for Zhang Pingyi, this set of concepts was extremely destructive and had a huge impact on his thinking.

It turns out that the scenes in science fiction movies are so close to reality. For the first time, people are so close to the future.

Even after the two said goodbye and left, Zhang Pingyi was still in a state of excitement, and he kept exclaiming, "Bill Gates is so amazing."

"It's really amazing that he spared no expense in the 1990s and used the most advanced technology at the time to build his own smart home system." Qin Shaoyan commented very objectively, "He realized the concept of smart home, but this thing has no other meaning to him except showing off, so it can only be said to be a failure."

"Huh?" Zhang Pingyi was a little surprised. "How can you say it failed? You can see that this thing is very powerful and very smart."

Qin Shaoyan said calmly: "In terms of functionality, it only meets the most basic requirements and is still far from being a truly intelligent system."

"It's very expensive in terms of cost. Spending so much money to integrate existing technology into a system is equivalent to spending money on the research and development of a smart home system."

"But after the development, I have nothing to use except for my own home."

"We have spent all the money to build a system. Shouldn't we continue to research how to start mass production and bring it to market?"

Zhang Pingyi thought about it and it seemed to be the case. He said hesitantly, "Maybe this set is too expensive."

"Isn't it what businessmen should consider to reduce costs?" Qin Shaoyan smiled. "Bill Gates can certainly be considered a technical talent, but he is also a successful businessman because he has made Microsoft so big."

"Now it seems that this businessman is not doing his job properly."

Zhang Pingyi coughed and said, "Isn't it a bit too hurtful to him to say that?"

"Injury..." Qin Shaoyan also coughed, "It's really a bit rude to comment on the host who entertained us like this."

"But his smart home system does have some merits. We can study it later."

“If only Bill Gates could transfer the money to me directly.”

"Transfer money?" Zhang Pingyi was a little surprised. "Are you trying to trick Bill Gates behind my back again?"

"How is that possible?" Qin Shaoyan denied casually, "You were there the whole time when we were chatting."

"I wanted to trick him, but he interrupted me just as I started."

"He didn't invite us here to listen to what I said. He was eyeing Facebook and YouTube and wanted to acquire them."

"Acquisition?" Zhang Pingyi suddenly realized, "Are you going to cheat Microsoft again?"

"What do you mean by 'cheating'?" Qin Shaoyan began to complain, "I didn't intend to cheat Bill Gates. If he really wanted to buy it, I would have sold it to him. I was afraid that he couldn't pay so much money, so he gave me stocks to pay for it."

"Hey, do you really want to sell it this time?" Zhang Pingyi was a little confused.

"Well, it's almost done." Qin Shaoyan nodded, "You should hurry up too. If it's too troublesome, you can give me a letter of authorization and I'll help you deal with it."

"Okay." Zhang Pingyi agreed without hesitation, "I'll sign the power of attorney when I get back."

"Don't be in a hurry to spend the money I've raised for you." Qin Shaoyan reminded him, "You can buy a few stocks for long-term investment and a few houses to keep. Don't think about building a mansion. It's really a waste."

Zhang Pingyi frowned, "What should I do with so much money?"

"You can invest with me." Qin Shaoyan thought for a while, "I'll take out a part of the entire investment fund and do venture capital like Xiong Xiaoge."

"Forget it." Zhang Pingyi shook his head. "If I encounter an entrepreneur like you, I'd rather not invest."

"Then I have another way. It's a little risky and not easy to follow, but if you succeed, you will make a lot of money." Qin Shaoyan asked with a smile, "Do you want to follow me?"

"What road?" Zhang Pingyi asked.

"I want to invest in cutting-edge technology, mainly to do some real business." Qin Shaoyan thought for a while, "Smart phones, new energy vehicles, drones, artificial intelligence."

"Huh?" Zhang Pingyi's eyes lit up. "You were not stimulated by the things in Bill Gates' mansion, were you?"

"Not really." Qin Shaoyan said with emotion, "I think that having money is not just about squandering and enjoying life. It would be good if you can make some contribution to the technological progress of human society while enjoying it."

Zhang Pingyi agreed and said, "As expected of President Qin, your thinking is so high."

"Just go ahead and do it. I'll follow you."

"Just your words are enough." Qin Shaoyan smiled as he watched the mansion gradually disappear into the distance.

The future is not in the house, the future is in my hands.

……

After visiting Bill Gates in Seattle, Qin Shaoyan did not rush back, but went to Valve.

Gabe was surprised by Qin Shaoyan's arrival and asked happily, "John, what good news have you brought me?"

"There's no good news." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "Modern Warfare is still under development and will not be available until next year."

"Don't you have any new games?" Gabe Newell complained, "I thought you were here with your new work?"

"Sorry, I've been a bit busy lately." Qin Shaoyan shrugged. "If Bill Gates hadn't invited me to be his guest, I wouldn't have come to Seattle during my visit to the United States."

"Don't you have any respect for the game?" Gabe Newell said angrily, "Have you even forgotten about the selection?"

"Selection? What selection?" Qin Shaoyan was stunned.

"Of course it's the Golden Keyboard Award!" Gabe Newell said dissatisfiedly, "John, you established this award, how could you forget about it?"

"Oh no!" Qin Shaoyan couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

He has been so busy conning people out of money lately that he has completely forgotten about this matter.

"Isn't it still early for the awards ceremony?" Qin Shaoyan asked with some confusion, "Isn't it too early to start the selection now?"

"Fuck it!" Gabe Newell was a little upset, waving his fist and saying angrily, "How long have you not read the email I sent you?"

"Of course I read it and replied." Qin Shaoyan argued, "It's just that I can't remember it at the moment. You know, I manage several companies."

"Shit!" Gabe Newell complained, "You can't forget about this. I'm busy too. I can't help you look after the Golden Keyboard Awards."

"We Chinese have an old saying, 'The more capable you are, the more work you will do.'" Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "It actually means that the greater your ability, the greater your responsibility. You are so outstanding, it is God's arrangement for you to bear these responsibilities."

"Fuck!" Gabe Newell didn't buy it and directly retorted, "I don't believe you." "You're a liar! John!"

Qin Shaoyan changed the subject directly, "Let's talk about the golden keyboard."

"Oh, where were we just now?" Gabe Newell rubbed his hair.

"It's about the selection time." Qin Shaoyan reminded, "It's not even March yet."

"After discussion, everyone felt that the last selection was too informal, with voting being done randomly on the spot, and not rigorous at all." Gabe Newell said seriously, "After discussion by our selection committee, we decided to improve the selection rules."

“Every year, the best game products of the previous year are selected and the awards are chosen by voting of the jury.”

"Starting from January, game manufacturers will register themselves instead of being nominated by the selection committee."

"The selection committee will select and score the registered products, and finally decide through voting."

“The voting results will be announced in the media and the awards ceremony will be held in May.”

"John, do you have any questions or additions to this set of rules?" asked Gabe Newell.

"Oh, no." Qin Shaoyan shook his head. "This set of rules is very good. I will go back and study it carefully to see if there are any loopholes."

"Then you'd better hurry up. Also, let me remind you, it's almost March now." Gabe Newell rolled his eyes, "But we haven't received any applications from Chinese game manufacturers yet."

"Ah?!" Qin Shaoyan was stunned for a moment, then said seriously, "I will deal with this matter immediately. This is too outrageous. The Chinese manufacturer is too slow in doing things. I will seriously criticize them."

"The registration deadline is March 3th, and you don't have much time left," Gabe Newell added.

There are indeed not many left. It takes a lot of time to tell the manufacturers to organize the selection materials, familiarize themselves with the rules, and study the loopholes.

When Qin Shaoyan was thinking about it, Gabe asked again: "John, this is not the most important thing."

"Do you have any estimate on how many stand-alone games China will release on Steam this year?"

"Huh? Estimate?" Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised. "How can I estimate? I can't control the project establishment of Huaxia Game Company."

"You promised me that you would provide a large number of games to the Steam platform every year, but last year's number was far from enough, with only more than 100 titles."

"I need at least 300 games this year, and the content of the games cannot be reduced."

"We want to attract users as much as possible and keep them playing games on the platform for longer."

"Well, I'll try my best." Qin Shaoyan patted his chest and promised, "I will ask them to work hard to create games that are more suitable for the North American market. They are still a little uncomfortable in the first year in the North American market."

"It will get better and better in the future." Qin Shaoyan comforted him, "There are many games from North American companies on Steam now."

"There are about a dozen of them." Gabe Newell sighed, "Most companies are more accustomed to the previous distribution methods, and only some small companies and small studios come to cooperate with us."

"But now it seems to be working well, and the companies and studios we have worked with have expressed their willingness to continue the long-term cooperation."

"This shows that the Steam platform is better than traditional distribution methods. This is a good sign." Qin Shaoyan said happily, "Be happy, Gabe, we are on the road to success."

Gabe Newell's mood obviously improved. He stopped picking on Qin Shaoyan and started discussing changes in the gaming market.

Qin Shaoyan doesn't have the time to study the changes in the gaming market. He just started talking nonsense based on the development and changes of games in later generations.

After listening to Qin Shaoyan's predictions about the future market, Gabe Newell was amazed and felt that Qin Shaoyan had a deep understanding of the gaming market. The more they talked, the more interested they became.

The two chatted for the whole morning, and Qin Shaoyan politely declined Gabe Newell's invitation to lunch and left in a hurry.

Gabe Newell was the only one left who felt a little unsatisfied. It would be a pity to let him go now as he didn't know when they would meet again.

But it seems like I forgot something very important. Why can't I remember it?

……

Qin Shaoyan wiped his cold sweat after running away from Gabe Newell and secretly rejoiced, "Luckily Gabe Newell didn't think about Counter-Strike Online, otherwise I might not be able to leave today."

Zhang Pingyi mocked: "If you walk too much on the night road, you will always encounter ghosts. You have drawn too many cakes and you will get yourself into trouble sooner or later."

Qin Shaoyan coughed awkwardly, "We have to return home quickly before Gabe remembers it."

Of course, returning home is not something that can be done just like that. Qin Shaoyan has to wait for other employees to join him before confirming the itinerary.

In addition, Qin Shaoyan also wanted to inform Xiong Xiaoge and urge him to return home as soon as possible.

Without Mr. Xiong, the rest of the show couldn’t go on.

Xiong Xiaoge was a little surprised when she received Qin Shaoyan's call, "Did you finish your work in the United States so quickly?"

"It went relatively smoothly this time." Qin Shaoyan said modestly, "So we should proceed to the next plan."

Xiong Xiaoge asked curiously, "Is the YouTube acquisition over? How are you going to explain this to Yahoo?"

"I don't need to worry about this. Microsoft will take care of it naturally." Qin Shaoyan said lightly, "It's good to lean on a big tree for shade."

Xiong Xiaoge found it unbelievable. "Microsoft only invested in YouTube. Judging from the equity division, it is only a small shareholder. Can it work so hard to take the blame for you?"

"Of course, this is what Mr. Bill Gates promised me in person." Qin Shaoyan said calmly.

Xiong Xiaoge was even more surprised, "You met Bill Gates?"

"He invited me to his home." Qin Shaoyan said modestly, "I visited the House of the Future and the environment is really good."

If it were someone else, they might ask a few questions out of curiosity, but Xiong Xiaoge didn’t care at all what Bill Gates’ mansion looked like. He thought there was something fishy about this.

Why would Bill Gates meet Qin Shaoyan?
"What did Bill Gates want to talk to you about?" Xiong Xiaoge asked seriously.

"He wants to buy YouTube." Qin Shaoyan answered without hiding anything. "He is very optimistic about the development prospects of YouTube and is also very interested in Microsoft's plan to acquire YouTube."

"More importantly, Bill Gates is more generous and sincere than Yahoo."

"Microsoft is going to acquire YouTube?" Xiong Xiaoge was very surprised. "What does Bill Gates think of the $1.2 billion valuation?"

"I told you that he is very optimistic about the development prospects of YouTube." Qin Shaoyan emphasized seriously, "There will be some premium when the acquisition is made. I estimate it will be around US$1.5 billion, or possibly even higher."

"1.5 billion US dollars?!" Xiong Xiaoge was even more amazed, and then said happily, "Bill Gates is indeed bold. It seems that the video website track has great potential. This is good news."

"Mr. Xiong is right," Qin Shaoyan agreed. "YouTube's high valuation is very good for Qvod."

Xiong Xiaoge suddenly became alert, "Qin Shaoyan, you are not going to regret it again, are you?"

(End of this chapter)