You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 465

Qin Shaoyan extended a sincere invitation to the other side of the ocean. Fred Weisler, one of the founders and CEO of Facebook, gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in Beijing three days later.

After a day's rest, Fred Weisler was invited to visit the campus network.

This was Fred's first visit to China and also his first time to see the birthplace of Facebook. He was curious about every aspect of the campus network.

He watched with great interest how the campus network employees worked on a daily basis, and discussed some technical issues with the campus network CTO Wang Jun.

Fred then went to the largest department of the campus network, the customer service department.

The number of employees in the customer service department accounts for more than half of the campus network. Their daily work is to review illegal information in the background and help users solve problems.

Fred was very shocked that Qin Shaoyan actually hired more than 200 employees just to do the audit.

“The labor cost will be very high.”

"No, on the contrary, the salary in the customer service department is not as high as in the United States. From the perspective of cost performance, it is still very cost-effective." Qin Shaoyan replied, "Many of them are disabled people. Providing them with jobs will bring some hidden benefits and tax benefits."

"And since last year, we have introduced an artificial intelligence recognition system, and the trained AI can automatically identify illegal pictures."

Fred was even more shocked. “Have you started using AI for review?”

"Strictly speaking, this AI review system is still in the research and development stage." Qin Shaoyan explained, "We only use it for assistance, and most of the work still relies on manual labor."

"AI's participation in auditing is itself a training process, which helps AI become smarter and more accurate."

"Cool!" Fred exclaimed. "Can I see that AI system?"

"The Artificial Intelligence Research Institute is not here. I will take you there for a visit tomorrow." Qin Shaoyan agreed casually.

"It would be great if artificial intelligence could really assist in review. I would like to introduce this system on Facebook. What do you think?" Fred asked excitedly.

"It's not perfect yet. I'll tell you if it works." Qin Shaoyan changed the subject. "Do you want to take a look at our game operations department? That's the cash cow of our campus network."

"Of course!" Fred became excited again, and said impatiently, "You need to tell me how you made an online game so profitable."

Today, Facebook has evolved into a global social platform, constantly gaining ground in various countries. It is many times larger than the campus network in terms of influence and size.

However, the profitability of the campus network far exceeds that of Facebook. It relies on the online game operation business, which brings a steady stream of profits to the campus network.

Facebook currently can only rely on advertising to support its revenue. Although the advertising business is not small, it still cannot make Facebook profitable.

Fred was eager to learn the money-making secrets from Qin Shaoyan so that Facebook could develop rapidly.

However, after a tour of the game operations department, Fred was somewhat disappointed to find that the campus network's methods seemed very special and did not seem to be very suitable for the American market.

For example, the operating model of free online games and charging for props cannot be described as subversive to the North American game market, but rather as heresy.

The North American gaming market is dominated by console games. Online games are a niche market, and players can only accept the time-based payment model.

Even the time-based paid online gaming market is crowded with competing products such as World of Warcraft and EVE. Moreover, the gaming business and the Internet are two completely different industries. Facebook has no experience in this area, and there would be huge risks if it were to rush into another industry.

I can only say that I couldn’t learn anything.

"John, your online game model is really not suitable for us." Fred said with regret, "The current model of the campus network is not of much reference value to us. Thank you for sharing this with me."

"It's okay. I didn't think it through. The traditional online game model does test the operation ability and level." Qin Shaoyan changed the subject and said, "But I found a game that is more suitable for Facebook, a web game."

"This is a new version of the ship that you haven't played before. It's definitely a good thing."

"Web game?" Fred was surprised. He had never heard of such a thing.

"Come, let's go to the conference room." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "I have prepared a PPT and a trial version of the game for you. You will definitely be interested."

……

Fred fell into deep thought as he looked at the test version of "Happy Farm" displayed on the projector. To be honest, he had never seen this kind of web game model before.

However, the fun of this "Happy Farm" cultivation and construction still attracted him.

Especially after Qin Shaoyan fully explained the logic of the entire game, the target audience, and the operational strategy, Fred's ideas suddenly became clear.

Casual social games are a natural fit for Facebook users and play a huge role in expanding users' social circles.

On the one hand, it can increase user stickiness, and on the other hand, it can launch some paid services to increase revenue for Facebook. This is a win-win situation.

Fred thought for a moment and asked directly: "When will this game be completed and how long will it take to be connected to Facebook?"

"Within a month." Qin Shaoyan gave a clear answer, "Happy Farm will be launched on the campus network first, and then localized and translated before being connected to Facebook."

"Very good." Fred continued, "What's the price?"

"Just give me some indication of the copyright fee, maybe two million dollars." Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly, "But I want 30% of the total revenue from the game."

"No, one and a half percent." Fred immediately countered.

"Believe me, this thing can at least add more than 30 million users for you." Qin Shaoyan said confidently, "Do you want to sign a bet contract?"

Fred thought about it and said, "Twenty percent, that's already high."

"30%." Qin Shaoyan insisted, "If it was another partner, I would directly ask for 40%. If they don't agree, I will change partners."

"Thirty million users isn't enough." Fred shook his head.

"What about the 50 million users?" Qin Shaoyan asked again.

Fred thought for a moment and said, "Deal. If there are 50 million new users, I'll give you 30% of the profits."

"Trust my judgment, my friend." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "My judgment is very accurate."

"I hope so." Fred thought for a moment, "I will have the legal team come over soon. Your development team will also be responsible for the operation and technical maintenance of the game."

"Facebook should also set up its own operation and maintenance team." Qin Shaoyan suggested sincerely, "Some things may not be responded to in a timely manner due to the time difference, so you will need to handle them yourselves."

"Moreover, Farmville is only our first cooperative project, and we will have more cooperative projects in the future."

"Then I will transfer a few people over to provide training and learning while working with your team." Fred made the decision immediately.

After the deal was done, both parties seemed very happy.

Qin Shaoyan picked up a cup of coffee and handed it to Fred. "Can you ask all your assistants to leave? I have something I want to talk to you alone."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Pingyi, who was sitting next to Qin Shaoyan, stood up first and walked out of the meeting room with the people from the campus network.

Fred gestured to his assistants, and they left immediately. "This time, the Happy Farm project will definitely be a success." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I have full confidence. I can't say how much money Facebook can make, but it will be enough to make Facebook's revenue data look better."

"If we achieve our goal, I hope you can buy my shares."

"John, are you kidding me?!" Fred was so shocked that he almost threw away his coffee cup. "You still have at least 30% of the shares. Even according to the current valuation of Facebook, it would be nearly billion US dollars. Where can I get so much money?"

"You can get a mortgage from a bank, or borrow money from other institutions," Qin Shaoyan suggested. "I think they should be willing to lend you money."

"The interest alone would be a huge sum of money." Fred hesitated for a moment and still shook his head, "It's too much. It's really too much."

"Fred, you have to do this." Qin Shaoyan said in a serious and sincere tone, "This is not helping me, but helping you."

"Help me?" Fred was stunned. He said help me while asking me to take out a loan. Is this called help?
"Facebook's influence is growing, and my identity is too sensitive to be a major shareholder of Facebook anymore," Qin Shaoyan explained, "so I have to sell my shares."

"Now I only have two choices: either sell the shares to those institutions, banks, or some other Internet companies, or sell them to you."

"Think about what would happen if the shares were sold to other institutions or Internet companies. That's 30% of the shares."

"Once they get it, they will immediately take action against you, fire your CEO, and even deprive you of your right to speak, and kick you out of Facebook."

“There are so many examples of founders being kicked out that it’s even in the Harvard Business School textbooks.”

"If you want to avoid being seized, you need to have more shares in your hands."

"I give priority to selling the shares to you. This is all for your own good."

Fred hesitated for a moment. Qin Shaoyan had mentioned this to him after Facebook's last round of financing, but he had refused at that time.

On the one hand, it was too expensive and he couldn't afford that much money.

On the other hand, he also wanted to rely on Qin Shaoyan, the major shareholder, to suppress other shareholders. Without this helper, he would be under great pressure.

Now Qin Shaoyan is determined to sell his stocks, and Fred can't dissuade him.

"I'll consider this." Fred thought for a long time and finally gave an explanation, "I need to go back and think about it for a few days. Even if I want to buy it, it will take some time to raise funds."

"Okay." Qin Shaoyan then reminded, "But you can't delay too long. You must give me an accurate answer before the end of the first quarter of 2007."

After Fred finished his coffee, he had no intention of continuing to visit the campus network, so he left in a hurry with his assistant.

……

When Xiong Xiaoge saw the test version of "Happy Farm", he was very confused.

Although he doesn't understand games, he thinks web games are useless.

No matter from which aspect, web games do not have the conditions to compete with client games. He doesn't understand why Qin Shaoyan would come up with such a thing.

"You sold this for two million dollars?" When Xiong Xiaoge heard the news, his first reaction was that Qin Shaoyan was making up a story, and then he saw the contract signed with Facebook.

"How dare you ask that price?"

"Not only two million US dollars, but I also have to share 30% of their recharge flow with me." Qin Shaoyan added.

"You're just using this to fool Facebook." Xiong Xiaoge then looked at Qin Shaoyan with suspicion, "What secret deal do you have with Facebook? Are you exchanging benefits?"

"We are doing normal business dealings. There are no secret transactions or exchanges of interests." Qin Shaoyan replied with a smile, "Boss Xiong, I am serious about doing business."

"This thing brings in millions of dollars a month for Facebook, can you believe it?"

"Really?" Xiong Xiaoge frowned. He couldn't see how this thing could make any money. However, since Qin Shaoyan, the game production expert, said so, it must be certain.

Xiong Xiaoge changed his mind and thought that if there was income in the country, it would also be a good thing for the campus network’s stock price.

“Have you ever assessed the income in the country?”

"I don't plan to make money in the country." Qin Shaoyan answered frankly.

"Why do you do this thing if it doesn't make money?" Xiong Xiaoge was a little overwhelmed.

"Its main purpose is to attract new users." Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly, "to attract more new users through social games."

"Pull them all into the campus network?" Xiong Xiaoge cheered up.

"No, it's not the campus network." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "These new users are prepared for Social Network 2.0. Their final destination is Weibo."

"Weibo." Xiong Xiaoge sat up straight, "Are you ready to start officially promoting Weibo?"

"I think it's time." Qin Shaoyan nodded slightly, "Of course, this is only the first wave of traffic in the plan, and the follow-up will depend on the situation."

"Then how many users do you expect to convert?" Xiong Xiaoge asked casually.

"The user base of Happy Farm is probably between 30 and 50 million," Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment. "If the conversion rate can reach one-tenth, it will be a great success. This wave can bring in at least 3 million users for Weibo."

Hearing what Qin Shaoyan said, Xiong Xiaoge couldn't sit still anymore. "Can there really be so many?"

"This is a relatively optimistic estimate," Qin Shaoyan replied, "but the player base of Happy Farm will definitely be very large, more than you can imagine."

Qin Shaoyan was certainly not talking nonsense. According to relevant data surveys at the time, when Happy Farm was at its peak, the total number of registered users was 7000 million, and the number of active online users was nearly 2500 million.

This game was so popular that it was unimaginable. It seemed that everyone was stealing vegetables during that period of time, and countless players were addicted to it.

At that time, in order to prevent others from stealing their vegetables, some people deliberately set alarms to get up in the early morning to pick the vegetables, so that "Did you steal the vegetables?" became a common greeting when people greeted each other online.

Qin Shaoyan is naturally very confident about such a phenomenal product.

Xiong Xiaoge has always been cautiously optimistic about Qin Shaoyan's promises. He thinks that the data Qin Shaoyan said minus one zero should be the real data. But even so, it is still very impressive data.

Now, Xiong Xiaoge will gladly accept any news that is favorable to the campus network’s stock price.

"Since President Qin is so confident, I will wait and see."

"Mr. Xiong, just wait for good news and do some preliminary preparations at the same time." Qin Shaoyan secretly nodded to Xiong Xiaoge.

Xiong Xiaoge pretended not to understand and did not react at all.

"Mr. Xiong, I asked you to come here. In addition to reporting the next plan, there are some things I need your help with." Qin Shaoyan suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Xiong Xiaoge suddenly became alert and looked at Qin Shaoyan suspiciously, "Tell me what's going on first. I want to listen."

(End of this chapter)