You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 457

Young is the industry’s first impression of campus networks.

Although most people working in the Internet industry are young people, campus networks are different.

In addition to being established early, these companies that went public previously also have another common characteristic: their founders are over 30 years old.

Shanda’s Chen Tianqiao was born in 1973, and Ma Huateng and Ding Lei were both born in 1971.

Baidu's Robin Li, Sohu's Zhang Chaoyang, Alibaba's Ma Yun, and the founder of Ctrip.com were all born in the 1960s.

Qin Shaoyan, the CEO of Campus Network, is the youngest CEO of a Chinese Internet company and a domestic listed company, and the only one born in the 1980s.

Just when those born in the 1970s were about to become the main force of young people in society, the new generation of Internet users could not wait to step onto the stage of history.

"It's true that the younger generation is pushing the older generation forward. Mr. Qin is young and promising," Ma Huateng said when he called to congratulate him. "The future of the Internet will be dominated by you, the post-80s generation."

"Brother Xiao Ma, that's an exaggeration." Qin Shaoyan responded with a smile, "It's too early for those of us born in the 1980s to become the main force of the Internet. You Internet predecessors started earlier. By the time the people born in the 1980s rise up, you will have grown into towering trees."

Ma Huateng was stunned. He felt that Qin Shaoyan was hiding something.

Towering trees or something like that, doesn't that just mean that we have big roots and deep roots?

You are not simple either, otherwise how could you become a CEO with a market value of 9 billion US dollars at such a young age, let alone the second brother, the eldest brother.

At that time, Penguin was not yet one of the Internet giants that it later became, and it was not even among the BAT Big Three. It was not even among the top five Internet companies.

Ma Huateng laughed in silence, "Boss Qin, you are joking. What towering tree? Our Penguin is just a small tree, with a market value of less than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars."

"The market has seriously underestimated Penguin." Qin Shaoyan said firmly, "Those people who invest in Hong Kong stocks are all good-for-nothings who can't recognize gold and jade. In a dozen years, Penguin will definitely become the number one listed company in Hong Kong stocks."

"Thank you Mr. Qin for your good wishes." Ma Huateng also laughed.

"I'm not just being polite." Qin Shaoyan said immediately, "I will actively buy Penguin's shares and hold them for a long time. I'm supporting you with real money, Brother Xiao Ma."

Ma Huateng was startled, then said with emotion: "Mr. Qin is thoughtful. I also plan to buy some campus network stocks. I am very optimistic about campus network."

"Mr. Ma wants to buy our campus network's shares." Qin Shaoyan pondered for a moment, "Wait two months before buying. Campus Network has just been listed, and there are some small fluctuations now."

"Fluctuation?" Ma Huateng was stunned, then quickly asked, "Is it okay?"

"Well, it's just some technical adjustments, don't worry." Qin Shaoyan said lightly, and added, "I don't know the details, but it will be fine in two months."

Ma Huateng was tactful enough not to ask any more questions. He believed that stock price fluctuations were indeed normal and there was nothing to be surprised about.

"Boss Qin, I'm leaving our company's gaming department in your hands." Ma Huateng immediately changed the subject, "Give them more lessons and train some talents."

"That's easy." Qin Shaoyan pondered for a moment, "But Penguin's performance cannot all rely on the game business. After all, online games are only a temporary emergency. If we want to last long, we have to develop other revenue-generating businesses."

"Mr. Qin is right." Ma Huateng nodded in agreement. He didn't think he could make money from games for long. Although many Internet companies are trying their best to get into the game market, they are still a minority. The entire Internet industry does not attach much importance to games.

After all, the real business of Internet companies is how to make money from users and then make money from the stock market.

Making games is somewhat unprofessional.

Even though Shanda, NetEase, and Campus Network all made money from games, there were a lot of companies that lost money.

Making games is considered a cross-industry move. Instead of entering an unfamiliar field and gambling on the odds, it is better to focus on your own business and wait to be noticed by venture capitalists or acquired. The chances of this are much greater than the chances of getting rich by making games.

After chatting with Ma Huateng for a few words, Qin Shaoyan hung up the phone.

Mingyue was sitting next to him wiping the newly bought handwriting tablet. When she saw Qin Shaoyan put down his phone, she asked curiously, "What is a technical adjustment?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated to explain." Qin Shaoyan thought for a while, "It's the term for cutting leeks, or you can call it the term for fishing. You'll understand it in a few days."

"Oh." Mingyue didn't ask any more questions. She lowered her head and continued to wipe the writing board in her hand carefully.

This was a gift Qin Shaoyan gave her, and it cost several hundred dollars.

Although Qin Shaoyan is already the CEO of a company with a market value of 9 billion US dollars, Mingyue still feels a little distressed when she sees Qin Shaoyan spending lavishly on gifts.

"Everything in the United States is so expensive." Mingyue picked up a notebook and recorded various expenses one by one. After converting the exchange rate between RMB and US dollars, she was so distressed that she almost cried.

She had planned to buy a suit for Qin Shaoyan as a return gift, but was shocked when she saw the price of the suit. It cost more than 20,000 US dollars, which is equivalent to 160,000 RMB.

With her current income, she would have to go without food or drink for two years to save this money.

Oh, it seems I have to work harder to make money in the future!

Mingyue secretly made up her mind to work hard and strive to earn some money in the future.

Qin Shaoyan couldn't help but laugh as he watched Mingyue keeping accounts seriously. This was a habit Mingyue had developed since childhood, and she would calculate every penny carefully.

He particularly liked the way Mingyue kept accounts. She told various tips for saving money with a sweet and naive look on her face, while looking forward to how she would spend money after she became rich in the future.

No matter how much Mingyue's imagination ran wild, she had only imagined that the two of them won a lottery of 10 million, and then had their own house and could settle down.

Now Qin Shaoyan’s financial resources are not enough to buy a house, let alone a few buildings, but he still likes Mingyue like this.

Just as beautiful as I remembered in my previous life.

When Qin Shaoyan was reminiscing about the good times, there was a knock on the hotel room door.

Secretary Xiao Chen reported seriously, "Boss Qin, a reporter is here to interview you. Do you want to meet him?"

"Interview? What interview?" Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised when he heard the report from his secretary Xiao Chen. "What interview? I didn't arrange any interview?"

He has met too many reporters recently. In order to promote the listing of the campus network, Goldman Sachs arranged more than a dozen media newspapers and magazines. He feels like vomiting when he sees reporters now.

"Just tell the reporter that I'm busy and we'll talk another day." Qin Shaoyan then said, "Send them away."

"They are not American reporters, but domestic reporters." Secretary Xiao Chen said quickly.

"What's the difference?" Qin Shaoyan asked, "Send them away all the same."

"It's different. It was arranged by the New China News Agency and CCTV." Secretary Xiao Chen quickly took out a business card and said, "Please take a look first."

Qin Shaoyan took the business card and glanced at it for a few seconds, frowned and thought for a while, "Forget it, let's call them over, but tell them that I have limited time and can only do a brief interview."

These journalists are quite troublesome creatures.

Qin Shaoyan originally wanted to send the person away directly, but when he heard that it was a domestic reporter, he gave up this plan and prepared to fool him with a few words, give him some travel expenses and writing fees, and then send him away.

After all, domestic journalists are, not because of their own kindness, but because domestic journalists are generally narrow-minded, vindictive, and their quality, ability and ethics are very worrying.

I'm being hated. I don't know how the newspapers will portray me.

There is no need to offend these guys at this critical juncture, and since they are from the Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, we should give them some face.

The reporter who came to interview was a female reporter named Li Jingsi. She was wearing a white women's suit and looked intellectual. She was also very reasonable.

After communicating with the secretary Xiao Chen, she only asked for a ten-minute interview.

After simply tidying up his clothes, Qin Shaoyan was interviewed in the reception room of the presidential suite.

In addition to Li Jingsi and her female assistant, there was also a photographer holding a camera. It looked like a simple interview. Li Jingsi first congratulated Qin Shaoyan on becoming the youngest CEO of a Chinese Internet company listed on the US stock market.

"Campus Network's current market value has reached 9 billion US dollars, making it the second largest Chinese Internet company after NetEase." Li Jingsi quickly got into the mood and asked, "Do you think Campus Network will surpass NetEase in the future?"

Qin Shaoyan pondered for a moment and said slowly: "NetEase is one of the first batch of Internet companies in China, and also one of the first Internet companies to go public in the United States. It can be said to be a pioneer and predecessor of Internet companies."

"CampusNet was established only three years ago, and its performance in the past two years is obvious to all. I have full confidence in the future of CampusNet, and it will definitely become one of the top companies in the Internet."

Li Jingsi was a little surprised. She didn't expect that the person in front of her was so young and spoke so slickly.

But she wasn't here to cause trouble today, so she continued to ask questions according to the prepared interview outline, "After the campus network went public, the stock price has been rising all the way, and the market value reached 9 billion US dollars on the first day. How long do you think it will take to exceed 10 billion US dollars?"

"The stock market is a barometer of the market and a reflection of the business conditions of enterprises." Qin Shaoyan said slowly, "The share price of Campus Network reflects the general evaluation of it by the investment market. Now that the share price of Campus Network is rising, it shows that the market is very optimistic about the development prospects of Campus Network. I believe that Campus Network will get better and better in the future."

"As for when the market value will exceed 10 billion US dollars, this will be judged by the market."

Li Jingsi maintained a professional smile on her face, but she was already pouting in her heart. It was the same as if the other party had said nothing.

"Boss Qin, the campus network has achieved great success since its launch. Do you have any bigger development plans for the campus network in the future?"

Qin Shaoyan was excited, "Our campus network will continue to put users first and provide more and better product experience for the users of the campus network."

"We will launch more new features at the beginning of next year, implement new social concepts, continuously iterate and optimize the existing industrial layout, and create a new social 2.0 ecosystem."

Qin Shaoyan smiled happily in front of the camera, with his teeth showing.

Li Jingsi was a little depressed. After she returned, she had to think of a way to extract useful information from Qin Shaoyan's speech. It seemed quite difficult at the moment.

I guess I can only mix it with some other information and ask someone to write some comments before I can read it.

After Qin Shaoyan gave each reporter and photographer a big red envelope, the other party left contentedly.

Mingyue was a little curious, "Why were you so perfunctory when talking to the reporters? Why didn't you take advantage of such a good publicity opportunity? Weren't you quite eloquent in the past?"

"Yeah." Qin Shaoyan nodded. "If it were any other time, I would definitely brag about it, but it's not appropriate to say too much at this time."

"Why?" Mingyue was very surprised, "Didn't the campus network go public?"

"It's a technical adjustment now." Qin Shaoyan answered mysteriously.

Mingyue soon understood what a technical adjustment was. On the fifth day after Campus Network went public, the stock price, which had been rising all the way, actually began to fall.

It fell slightly from $27.2 to $26.1. Although stock prices rise and fall and fluctuations are normal, many keen stockbrokers smelled something strange.

It seems like someone is shorting Campus Network.

Soon after the decline began, a stock commentator criticized that "Campus Network's stock price is inflated, and its performance does not match the market value of 9 billion US dollars."

"Campus Network is known as the Facebook of China, but its main users are students. The user growth has reached a bottleneck and it is difficult to grow further in the future."

"The advertising business of the campus network has the lowest revenue, which shows that the domestic Internet in China is not optimistic about the commercial value of the campus network. The earliest e-commerce business of the campus network is sluggish and the growth rate is too low, which is in a state of being better than nothing."

"The revenue of the campus network is basically supported by the game business, and its game business has been frequently involved in scandals, and its ability to continue to generate revenue is worrying..."

Various criticisms and rumors were spreading everywhere, and many institutions came over like sharks smelling blood.

Very quickly, as soon as the market opened the next day, Campus Network’s stock price began to fluctuate massively.

Although it briefly rose to $26.5 at the beginning, in less than an hour, the stock price began to decline and fell directly to $23.

In the following three days, Campus Network experienced three consecutive declines at $22.8, $21.7 and $20.3. There were slight increases in between, but the final $20 was quickly broken and even fell below the issue price.

After watching the stock price fall for several consecutive days, Mingyue was frightened and could not sit still. She carefully comforted Qin Shaoyan, fearing that he would be depressed.

But Qin Shaoyan was not panicked at all, "It doesn't matter, it's just a technical adjustment."

Although he said this, Qin Shaoyan was a little worried in his heart, wondering if they would get out of hand.

Then Qin Shaoyan went to visit Xiong Xiaoge, Zheng Nan, Taylor from American Sequoia and others, and found that each of them had a rosy face and was smiling from ear to ear.

Qin Shaoyan finally felt relieved.

Well, it is indeed a technical adjustment.

Taylor even started asking about the price of the yacht.

Xiong Xiaoge laughed as soon as she saw Qin Shaoyan coming over. "Boss Qin, it's better to come at the right time than to come early. We just bought a bottle of champagne today. Come and taste it."

Looking at the champagne handed over, Qin Shaoyan was very surprised, "Are you opening the champagne now?"

"Of course." Xiong Xiaoge and Qin Shaoyan clinked their glasses. "You should go meet George from Valve tomorrow. It's time to announce your Counter-Strike CS collaboration."

"Oh." Qin Shaoyan smiled and raised his glass, "I also think it's time to announce it."

Bruce from Goldman Sachs was even more excited. He raised his glass and said loudly: "Friends, cheers to the campus network!"

"Cheers to stocks and money!"

"Cheers to money!"

"cheers!"

Everyone laughed and drank the champagne.

After Campus Network’s stock price had been falling for a week, the newspaper suddenly published a piece of news about the gaming industry.

Valve and Campus Network signed a cooperation agreement, and the two parties will jointly develop and operate "Counter-Strike OL" and make this world-renowned phenomenal game into an online game.

After the news was exposed, the share price of Campus Network, which had been plummeting, suddenly soared from the ground like a falling leaf.

It started to rise wildly from $17 per share, all the way up to $24.

Then, Facebook announced that it would reach a strategic cooperation agreement with Campus Network to develop new products to actively promote Social Network 2.0.

Campus Network’s stock continued to rise, and the shareholders who bought at high prices and sold at low prices were no longer concerned.

Where some are sad, others are happy, including Valve's George.

"John, the stock market is such a great place." George said with emotion, "These past few days I've been feeling as excited as when the game was first released."

"You didn't buy campus network stocks, did you?" Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised. "It's okay, will you be investigated?"

"No, I didn't buy any stock," George replied. "I know a guy named George Seth who did."

"Who is George Seth?" Qin Shaoyan asked curiously.

"My grandpa." George smiled.

Qin Shaoyan felt that the stock market was a magical place, and even George, the gaming geek, had become a bad person.

(End of this chapter)