You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 313 Mr. Xiong, send me money!

"Alas, it's not easy." Qin Shaoyan sighed with emotion.

He really didn't expect that there was such a wonderful story behind the cooperation with Shonan TV.

I have to say that the three coal bosses played their tricks quite wildly, full of the unruly atmosphere of the old times.

This can also be regarded as the limitation of the times. The coal bosses at that time worked in an environment where their business tactics were more brutal.

The early 21st century still retains some traces of the past, except that it is not as violent as before, but it is just as fancy as before.

What Liu Yuanrui did was much more civilized. If he had been more ruthless, PP's newly established startup company would have gone bankrupt by the end of the year, and these college students would still have to face endless lawsuits.

"Boss Qin, we have the PP company in our hands now." Liu Yuanrui said proudly, "Life or death depends on your words."

"Let's be merciful when we can." Qin Shaoyan sighed and advised, "It's not easy for a group of college students to start a business. Why kill them all?"

"Let's just leave it at that."

The main reason is that they are not a threat, and there is no sense of accomplishment in gathering a group of college students, not to mention that there is no need for it.

This group of college student entrepreneurial teams have not graduated yet. They are still college students and if they are not careful, they will get into trouble.

The equity dispute is a messy issue that is difficult to resolve. In the absence of right or wrong, public opinion will naturally favor these students.

College students’ families don’t have much background, but they have the school and alumni association behind them.

Liu Yuanrui and his people are out to cause trouble, and there is no chance of winning the lawsuit even if they continue to sue.

What's more, there's no benefit in winning, so why bother?

"We've spent a lot of money on them, and we were planning to see what we could squeeze out of them." Liu Yuanrui then changed the subject, "Since Boss Qin said forget it, then forget it. I'll let the lawyers settle with them out of court."

"I'll reimburse you for whatever you spent." Qin Shaoyan said generously, "I'll just have someone take over this PP company. Don't make it too ugly."

Liu Yuanrui was a little surprised, "Boss Qin wants to acquire this company?"

Qin Shaoyan looked at the other party with interest, "What do you think of this company, Mr. Liu?"

"Not so good." Liu Yuanrui shook his head. "A company run by a bunch of nerds, even if we don't take it over, someone else will."

"This company claims to be engaged in online TV viewing, but it has no unique skills, no funds, no connections, and no background. It is impossible for it to compete with others."

"The most important thing is that even if you don't have the strength, you still have to compete with TV stations for users. Now that you are small, you can still get by."

"Once it reaches a certain level, it will definitely be eliminated."

"Of course, it's different for someone like you, Mr. Qin."

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said nothing. Liu Yuanrui's eyes were still very sharp. As expected, these coal bosses were not easy to deal with.

Edward was already dealing with the aftermath in the Shanghai Stock Exchange at this time. He sat down and talked with Yao Le and others, acquired PP Company for five million, and helped them resolve the litigation issue.

Yao Le and others were deeply moved, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

To be honest, the lawsuit initiated by Liu Yuanrui and others has made them exhausted. Everyone has become depressed and has no energy to do anything. Even the company's business can't proceed.

Even if they win the lawsuit, their startup company will be ruined, so it makes no difference whether they win or lose.

In order to deal with the lawsuit, they were tortured and unable to sleep or eat.

Now that someone is willing to help them settle the problem, they are happy to be relieved. What's more, the other party is willing to pay to buy their shares, which can be regarded as helping them cash out.

Although the money was not as much as they had expected, each person still got hundreds of thousands of dollars, which meant that the entrepreneurial venture was not in vain.

When Edward invited them to stay and continue working, some of them readily agreed, while others became discouraged and quit directly.

After suffering a setback, Yao Le still had the desire to start a business. He wanted to pull other members of the entrepreneurial team to continue the business, take a break for a while and start again.

Those who stayed behind were quickly taken away by Kou Hongfei and directly put into new business.

Although PP company looks inconspicuous and only a shell is left, at least they have accumulated a group of users before, and these users have become the first batch of users of the newly established "Qvod Online".

Well, this wave is a win-win-win.

……

"The concept of video websites is so popular now that a bunch of entrepreneurs are flocking into this field."

“Not only are entrepreneurs trying their best to get in, but many investors are also pouring money into it, completely disregarding the market situation.”

"Now there are at least a dozen video websites launched every month, too many to count."

"The team I met today is already the seventh one that wants to build a video website."

"They are also video sites. What advantages do they have?"

"No, as soon as I asked, they said they copied Qvod.com and asked for five million."

"If they can copy the essence of Qvod, five million won't be too much."

"Haha, is it so easy to copy Mr. Qin's success? If it were easy, what would we VCs do?"

"Qvod is developing so fast, who wouldn't be jealous? Even Microsoft is investing money in it."

The VPs of IDG gathered together and had a lively chat, collectively complaining about the current hot topics in the industry.

Following the trend is not scary, what is scary is following the trend blindly.

Among the ten Internet startup teams they came into contact with, five or six wanted to set up video websites. After reviewing them, they found that there was basically no investment value in them and that it seriously took up their time.

Zhou Dao made a cup of coffee on the side, listened to other people's complaints with a smile, then turned and walked towards Xiong Xiaoge's office.

"Boss Xiong, would you like some coffee?"

Xiong Xiaoge threw the information in his hand onto the table and pinched his forehead tiredly, "No need."

"Find a few people to sort out the information of current video websites and select ten."

Zhou Dao was a little surprised, "Boss Xiong, are we still going to invest in the video website?"

"Pick one or two and have a look." Xiong Xiaoge said casually.

Zhou Dao hesitated for a moment and persuaded: "I think that Qin Shaoyan's Qvod video website is enough. There is no point in investing in another one."

"Hmm?" Xiong Xiaoge glanced at Zhou Dao, leaned back on the soft chair, and said with interest, "Tell me what you think."

Zhou Dao said slowly: "There are too many video websites now. More than a dozen are launched every month. According to estimates, there are already 150 to 200 video websites online."

"This number is really too much. By next year, there will probably be 300 video websites. In the US market, there are only a dozen or so besides YouTube, and they are all in a state of contraction."

"With the domestic Internet going this way, there is a clear oversupply. Most of them won't survive more than a year, and the rest will be caught up in the fierce competition."

Xiong Xiaoge nodded and said, "There are indeed too many video websites, and only one or two will win in the end." "Then Mr. Xiong, do you want to invest again?" Zhou Dao was a little surprised.

"Qin Shaoyan can't take over all of China's Internet market. There will definitely be two or three competitors left." Xiong Xiaoge said with a smile, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Zhou Dao frowned, a little doubtful. "Boss Xiong, video websites are burning too much money now. Qvod.com spends at least $100 million a month on bandwidth. The money he raised last time can only last for a year at most."

"If other websites want to compete with Qvod, they have to reach the same level of scale, which means they also have to burn $100 million a month."

"The difference is that Qvod has revenue now, and it will be hard for them to reach the level of Qvod."

"Huh?!" Xiong Xiaoge was a little surprised, "Qvod.com has already started collecting money?"

"Qvod.com already has advertising now," Zhou Dao explained. "It's not clear how much advertising revenue it has, but other video sites are just burning money."

"Also, regarding the issue of charging, copyright is a big problem. Right now, only Mr. Qin's Qvod.com is buying copyrights. All other video websites are pirated. Compared with advertising revenue and bandwidth fees, it is simply a drop in the bucket."

Xiong Xiaoge said thoughtfully, "Qin Shaoyan talked to me about this question before."

"In the early days of video websites, Qin Shaoyan said not to expect video websites to make money within four or five years. Early video websites will continue to burn money, and the money will keep burning more and more."

"He also told me that it is difficult for video websites to collect money. Chinese Internet users are used to not paying, and it takes time to cultivate their awareness of paying."

"Ah?" Zhou Dao was stunned. He had no idea what Xiong Xiaoge was talking about.

Zhou Dao found it unbelievable when he heard Qin Shaoyan's judgment. "From what Mr. Qin said, video websites can't expect to make a profit in at least the next four or five years?"

"Four or five years?" Xiong Xiaoge smiled. "According to him, it will take at least seven or eight years."

"Seven or eight years?!" Zhou Dao was shocked. A video website would have to burn money for seven or eight years in a row, and it was not certain how much profit it would make after that. How long would it take to get its investment back?

"I thought he was deliberately deceiving me at the time, but now it seems that he has rarely told the truth." Xiong Xiaoge was calm and seemed not to care about the matter at all.

"I never thought about the possibility of making money from a video website. Our goal should be to go public."

At this point Zhou Dao understood everything. Whether the video website could make money or how much money it could make was not an issue. As long as it could be successfully listed, any money invested could be doubled back.

"Qin Shaoyan's goal is to go public within two to three years," Xiong Xiaoge said. "As long as we can survive this period, we'll be considered successful."

Zhou Dao nodded as he thought about it.

Two or three years may seem like a short time, but in a fiercely competitive industry, it can be a long time.

Xiong Xiaoge's cell phone rang. He glanced and saw that it was Qin Shaoyan. His heart skipped a beat.

Does this guy belong to Cao Cao?

As soon as I mentioned him, he called.

Xiong Xiaoge frowned and thought for a moment, then reached out and answered the phone, "I'm Xiong Xiaoge."

"Boss Xiong, I'm Qin Shaoyan." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "I'm here to give you a surprise."

"What's a surprise?" Xiong Xiaoge asked casually.

"Qvod.com is going to raise funds again at the end of the year. Isn't this a big surprise?" Qin Shaoyan said happily, "IDG will be able to obtain more valuable shares of Qvod.com again."

"..." Xiong Xiaoge's mouth twitched, "Oh, this is called a surprise."

"Isn't this a surprise?" Qin Shaoyan asked confidently, "Every financing means that the shares you hold have appreciated in value."

Xiong Xiaoge said expressionlessly: "Then tell me, how did Qvod achieve self-value sublimation once again?"

"Recently, Qvod.com acquired a small company and took over nearly 200,000 of their users." Qin Shaoyan said slowly, "We have also reached a cooperation with Xiangnan TV to provide Internet live broadcast for the Super Girl program, and will also open Internet voting."

"What is Super Girl?" Xiong Xiaoge was stunned.

"You'll find out if you ask around. Anyway, it's a very popular show." Qin Shaoyan said happily, "Then I'll show you what it's like to have 100 million people watching online."

"Huh?!" Xiong Xiaoge perked up. "One million people online? Watching TV programs on the Internet? Are you sure it's possible? Is there any technical problem?"

"The programmer assured me that there will be absolutely no problem." Qin Shaoyan said confidently, "This is just a technical verification. The National Games will be the real test."

"Very good." Xiong Xiaoge was very satisfied. "Then I will wait and see your data."

"The data will definitely have an explosive growth. I hope Mr. Xiong will not forget to prepare the money by then." Qin Shaoyan hinted heavily.

Xiong Xiaoge smiled without saying anything. After hanging up the phone, he cleared all the documents on the table and said casually, "Have someone clean all of these up."

Zhou Dao was stunned for a moment as he watched Xiong Xiaoge's actions, and asked tentatively, "Do we need to sort out the information from other video websites?"

"no need."

……

Qin Shaoyan put away his phone with a smile on his face, "Boss Xiong is very generous. He always meets my financing needs."

Zhang Pingyi, who was sitting next to him, was a little puzzled. "Didn't we raise 48 million US dollars last time? Why do we need to raise funds again?"

"The financing money is for next year." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "Video websites are too expensive. The number of users is growing too fast. It used to cost 100 million US dollars to buy bandwidth every month. I'm afraid that by next year, even million will not be enough."

"We have to ask for money now that we have made some progress. The more funds we have in reserve, the greater our chances of success."

"There are hundreds of video websites now, and they are all cut from the same mold. They can't even differentiate themselves, and the only thing they can do is to see who has more financial resources."

During the period of wild growth, the models and contents of video websites were almost the same, and you could get traffic by grabbing good content.

The industry's potential problems were also exposed. As the main content evolved from short videos to TV series and movies, the number of users increased, and bandwidth traffic and content copyright issues became urgent.

Due to the lack of corresponding copyright protection mechanisms, the massive amount of pirated content on video websites has no sales value, because once it is used for commercial profit, it will lead to lawsuits from copyright holders.

In addition, consumers' payment habits have not been cultivated, and video websites can be likened to a bottomless pit. Money is never enough, and whoever raises more funds will be the industry leader.

"It's hard for a video website to stand out by its own characteristics. Now it's all about who has more money." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I plan to sell YouTube next year and cash out all my shares. You can join me."

"Okay." Zhang Pingyi agreed without thinking, and then asked, "What are you going to do with such a large sum of money?"

"I haven't decided yet." Qin Shaoyan looked at Zhang Pingyi and said seriously, "If you want to invest, why not buy a house?"

"Buying real estate?" Zhang Pingyi was a little surprised. "Just collecting rent like this?"

"No, hold it for ten years before selling it." Qin Shaoyan reminded, "Remember, ten years."

"Okay." Zhang Pingyi nodded, and then saw Qin Shaoyan get up and leave, and was a little surprised, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet the investors." Qin Shaoyan said casually.

"Meeting an investor?" Zhang Pingyi looked at Qin Shaoyan suspiciously. He was dressed casually, and he didn't look like he was going to meet an investor. "Are you going on a date?"

"The date is also a meeting with investors." Qin Shaoyan said confidently.

(End of this chapter)