You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 326 Stimulating the Market
Facing Xiong Xiaoge's questioning, Qin Shaoyan remained calm and replied calmly: "The purpose of making two-dimensional anime content is to improve the content ecology of the website."

"Qvod's online content is all-encompassing. Apart from advertisements and content for the elderly, it basically includes most TV programs, but lacks content for young people."

"Teenagers?" Xiong Xiaoge looked strange. "Do young people watch cartoons? You mean content for children, right?"

"No." Qin Shaoyan's face straightened and he said in a serious tone, "I'm not wrong. The two-dimensional anime channel is aimed at teenagers."

"Animation is not just for children, it is also for teenagers. It is a wrong perception and stereotype to think that only children watch animation."

"Among young people, there are quite a few who like anime..."

"Alright, alright." Xiong Xiaoge interrupted Qin Shaoyan and said impatiently, "You are talking about a minority of people. Can they account for 1% of the user group? "

"It's a complete waste of resources to create this anime channel. It's meaningless."

Qin Shaoyan frowned and retorted in a serious tone: "Boss Xiong, I am not wasting resources by doing the two-dimensional field. It is a very meaningful market segment. I am exploring the blue ocean."

Xiong Xiaoge was so angry that he laughed, "What kind of market can there be for a group of people who watch cartoons? A blue ocean? It's more like a puddle."

Qin Shaoyan did not argue and said firmly: "Even if Mr. Xiong is right, cartoons are for children, but they will eventually grow up."

"In another five or ten years, these children who grew up watching anime will become loyal users of the website. That's when their consumption potential will be tapped."

"Mr. Xiong, you are a venture capitalist. There is a saying in venture capital that investment is about future value."

"I am running an anime channel, and I am also investing in the future."

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said, "What you said is quite interesting. Investing in the future, but your investment line is long enough."

"It's only ten years. I can wait." Qin Shaoyan replied seriously.

"Let's put aside what will happen in ten years and talk about what's happening right now." Xiong Xiaoge felt that it was pointless to talk to Qin Shaoyan about cartoons, so he changed the subject again. "Besides the money-burning plan of subsidizing creators, what else has this anti-Qvod alliance prepared?"

"This should be the only head-on collision. After all, Qvod is too strong and they don't have a good breakthrough point." Qin Shaoyan thought for a while, "As for the shady tricks behind the scenes, there should be some. The business world is like a battlefield."

"Don't worry about the dirty tricks. They won't cause any trouble." Xiong Xiaoge's tone was very calm, but his words were full of weight.

"Does Qvod have any obvious evidence?" Xiong Xiaoge asked, "For example, something that is illegal or against the law."

"That's definitely not the case." Qin Shaoyan assured, "I have always been strict with the Qvod team and have put a lot of effort into reviewing the content. I have hired a content review team with 20 to 30 reviewers alone."

"What about piracy?" Xiong Xiaoge suddenly asked, "Hasn't Qvod always said that they buy the copyrights of movies and TV series? There are a lot of uncopyrighted content, right? Will it become an excuse for them to attack?"

"Don't worry about that. Piracy is a taboo topic." Qin Shaoyan smiled, "They don't dare to bring this up. As for copyright, none of the content on their website is copyrighted."

"Nowadays, netizens are particularly disgusted by the issue of copyright. There will be no public support for saying that our website has pirated content."

Xiong Xiaoge was puzzled. "Hasn't your Qvod been promoting copyright awareness? Why do you still tolerate piracy?"

"We didn't promote copyright awareness, we just said we bought the copyright." Qin Shaoyan said confidently, "Although I support genuine products, I'm not against piracy."

Xiong Xiaoge was a little confused, "Don't you think that what you said makes you look like you have a split personality?"

"China has its own national conditions." Qin Shaoyan joked, "Users just think piracy is good, talking about copyright is hooliganism, and the Internet should be free. This is public opinion, what can I do?"

Xiong Xiaoge frowned again, "If that's the case, and netizens have little awareness of copyright, how will Qvod charge in the future?"

"Charge?" Qin Shaoyan was stunned.

"Have you not considered charging fees?" Xiong Xiaoge looked suspicious. "You have been purchasing copyrights for movies and TV series. Aren't you preparing to charge membership fees in the future?"

"Oh, about that." Qin Shaoyan coughed and said, "I'm still exploring the business model of Qvod.com, and the membership fee model is just one of them."

"In addition, we also have advertising placement, film and television drama investment, genuine authorization, advanced screenings, and paid customization of film and television drama endings."

Xiong Xiaoge was a little confused, "What is the advanced screening?"

Qin Shaoyan explained: "Some TV series can only be watched by users who have purchased VIP membership. Two to three episodes are updated every day for VIP members to watch. If there are members who want to see the later content in advance, they can pay an additional preview fee to watch it."

"..." Xiong Xiaoge was speechless, "I bought a VIP membership, but I still have to spend more money to watch it? Then what's the point of buying a membership?" "It's so that I can spend more money to watch the later content in advance." Qin Shaoyan replied.

Xiong Xiaoge sorted out the logic and quickly figured out Qin Shaoyan's train of thought. He couldn't help but sigh, "You are really evil."

"It's making money, it's not shameful." Qin Shaoyan said frankly.

"What do you mean by paying to customize the ending of a TV show or film?" Xiong Xiaoge asked curiously, "Is it technically feasible?"

"This is simple." Qin Shaoyan explained, "We will shoot a few more finale scenes during filming, and then put them on the website so that the audience can choose their favorite finale to watch. Of course, this requires users to pay."

After listening to Qin Shaoyan's long speech, Xiong Xiaoge did not doubt him. "Well, the business model does need to be carefully considered. I see that the advertising income of some websites is not ideal, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the operating costs."

"I've been thinking about advertising. The traditional way of hanging banner ads on the page is too outdated." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I designed several other advertising models, such as adding ads at the beginning or in the middle of the video."

"When you pause a video, ads pop up. When you pause a video in full screen, the video screen shrinks and the ad page enlarges."

"For example, after watching a certain number of minutes of video, an ad will pop up for the user to watch."

Xiong Xiaoge was stunned after listening to this. He felt that Qin Shaoyan had indeed done in-depth research on the business model, but his way of doing things was a bit ugly.

"After all, the website has to make a profit." Qin Shaoyan said confidently, "We can't always spend the money of American investors."

Xiong Xiaoge didn't comment, but just said, "You are the boss of Qvod.com, you decide for yourself."

After saying that, Xiong Xiaoge stood up and was about to leave.

"Please stay, Mr. Xiong." Qin Shaoyan shouted hurriedly, "What do you think about the next round of financing?"

"Let's study this matter first." Xiong Xiaoge replied, "You can contact other venture capital firms first."

"Then you have to study it quickly." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "Don't let us start a fight. You haven't come up with any results yet."

"That's not the case." Xiong Xiaoge smiled. "Even if your peers want to take action, they have to get the next round of financing first. How can they fight you without money?"

After Xiong Xiaoge left, the smile on Qin Shaoyan's face instantly disappeared. He sat on the sofa with a stern face and complained to Zhang Pingyi, "It seems that it is a bit difficult to cheat money from Xiong Xiaoge. I have to think of other ways."

Zhang Pingyi did not respond, as if he was thinking about something. After a moment, he said, "Are you serious about those advance screenings and ad placements you're researching?"

"What are you serious about?" Qin Shaoyan was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, "I just said that, don't take it seriously. If you really do that, the reputation of Qvod will be ruined."

"It's about making money, not shameful." Zhang Pingyi joked.

"I never thought about making money." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "It's not that easy to make money on a video website."

Zhang Pingyi was really shocked. "How can you run a video website if it doesn't make money? You can't always rely on the money of American stockholders to maintain it, right?"

"I never thought about maintaining operations." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "My original idea of ​​setting up the website was very simple."

"They just wanted to make a big profit, then sell it and run away."

"..." Zhang Pingyi looked at Qin Shaoyan speechlessly, trying to tell from his expression whether he was joking or not.

Qin Shaoyan ignored Zhang Pingyi and continued to sit on the sofa thinking.

After a long while, Qin Shaoyan said quietly, "The market confidence in the video website market is low, and it's all my fault. Qvod is running too fast for everyone to catch up."

"This is not good. If it goes on like this, no one will play anymore."

"We have to think of some way to stimulate the market."

Zhang Pingyi frowned, "How do you want to stimulate it?"

“I want to give the market some positive news.”

(End of this chapter)