You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 562

"My secretary," Qin Shaoyan paused for a moment, "is so good that I feel I'm not good enough for her."

“Sentinel Technology can no longer provide her with opportunities for learning and promotion. She should be sent out into the market and given to other companies.”

As he spoke, Qin Shaoyan made a phone call to his secretary, Xiao Chen.

Soon, Secretary Chen rushed to the president's office. Upon entering, she saw President Qin with a serious expression and immediately felt a little uneasy.

"Mr. Qin."

Qin Shaoyan didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Did you arrange my new secretary?"

"Yes...it's me." Secretary Xiao Chen looked at Qin Shaoyan hesitantly. "Mr. Qin, did the new secretary do something wrong? I will criticize her."

"Criticism?" Qin Shaoyan looked at the other person with some surprise. "I thought you would fire the person directly, but you just told me it was a criticism?"

Secretary Xiao Chen hurriedly explained, "I'm sorry, Mr. Qin, if you are not satisfied with the secretary you have chosen, I can help you find another one, but firing someone... is a bit difficult."

"Why?" Qin Shaoyan found it unbelievable. "You are the director of the president's office. All the secretaries and assistants in the president's office are under your management. Can't you even fire an unqualified secretary?"

"Because this secretary was recommended by someone else," Secretary Chen said in a low voice.

"Who is this 'other person'?" Qin Shaoyan asked, frowning.

"It's Mr. Yang from Dream Creation Capital."

Qin Shaoyan frowned even more. Two years ago, Dream Creation Capital acquired 9% of Sentinel Technology's shares through the acquisition of other venture capital equity, making it one of the top shareholders.

This Mr. Yang is Yang Hong, the CEO of Dream Venture Capital. He worked as an investor in the United States for ten years before returning to China to found this venture capital firm specializing in internet investments.

Yang Hong had worked with Xiong Xiaoge for several years, so they were old acquaintances.

With this connection, it's not so easy to fire this secretary.

“Since we can’t send this secretary to the workforce, let’s give her some experience on the front lines.” Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment. “Zhou Yuan is in charge of the ground sales department and needs talent. Let’s recommend this secretary to him.”

Secretary Xiao Chen immediately wrote it down, "I'll get you a new secretary right away."

Qin Shaoyan suddenly asked, "The new secretary isn't someone else recommended by so-and-so, is she?"

“Uh…” Secretary Xiao Chen fell silent.

"Are there any secretaries in the CEO's office who weren't recommended?" Qin Shaoyan simply changed his question.

"To my knowledge, no." Secretary Chen answered decisively this time.

"..." Qin Shaoyan was speechless.

"Am I, the chairman of the board and CEO, not even allowed to choose my own secretary?"

Secretary Chen quickly said, "Then I'll get you another batch of secretaries, but you'll have to wait a while."

"Forget it." Qin Shaoyan waved his hand. There was no point in hiring another batch of secretaries. No one knew whether the newly hired secretaries had infiltrated other people's eyes and ears. They were not as good as the ones in front of him who were open about it.

"From now on, you will continue to be my assistant until a suitable replacement is found."

"Yes, Mr. Qin." —Secretary Xiao Chen.

"Look at this mess," Qin Shaoyan sighed and complained to Zhang Pingyi.

“They say a small temple has a lot of evil winds, and a shallow pond has many turtles. But actually, a big forest has all kinds of birds. It’s normal for such a big company to have a mixed bag of people.” Zhang Pingyi also sighed. “I’m still not entirely at ease with my secretaries and assistants who are all relatives from my hometown, let alone you.”

Qin Shaoyan doesn't like to place relatives and friends in the company, which sometimes leads to the awkward situation where he doesn't have enough reliable candidates.

Although relatives and friends can't be trusted either, at least their backgrounds are clear. Qin Shaoyan's CEO office not only takes care of his food, clothing, and lodging, but also provides him with access to confidential documents from the company's top management.

Being Qin Shaoyan's personal assistant and spending every day with President Qin is a shortcut to instant success, so everyone wants to squeeze into the president's office.

"We should promote and train some of our own people in the company. This can't be rushed." Qin Shaoyan put the matter aside for the time being. "I called you here today mainly to talk about the group-buying business. Let's get this over with first."

Zhang Pingyi sat up straight. "So you're thinking of getting into group buying too?"

If we're talking about the hottest sector in the internet industry this year, it has to be "group buying".

Just how popular is this track?

More than 5,500 group-buying websites were established in just over half a year, truly a vibrant and thriving scene.

This kind of situation made even someone as knowledgeable as Qin Shaoyan feel his scalp tingle, let alone the entire internet.

The "group buying war" is even more outrageous than the video website war back then.

Zhang Pingyi found it strange. Sentinel Technology had always kept a low profile in recent years, not participating in any trending topics and just quietly doing its own business.

Now that Qin Shaoyan is saying he wants to get into group buying, it seems he's getting restless and is eager to make a move.

"Didn't you hate following trends? What's gotten into you this time?" Zhang Pingyi asked in surprise. "With over five thousand group-buying websites, the market must be in complete chaos. It's not really appropriate for us to get involved."

“This time is different,” Qin Shaoyan said very seriously. “Doing a good job with group buying is of great significance.”

"Besides, I'm the pioneer of online group buying. Can't I just follow suit?"

"Huh?" Zhang Pingyi exclaimed in surprise, "Group buying? The pioneer?"

"That's right. Now, all the group buying websites in China are copying Groupon from the US, which I started," Qin Shaoyan said casually. "Now that this trend has reached China, there's no reason for me not to get involved."

"When did you do this?" Zhang Pingyi asked in surprise. "I've never heard you mention it before."

"I mentioned this concept when we were working on Facebook. We used the group-buying concept to fool Sequoia Capital into investing. Have you forgotten that?" Qin Shaoyan said disdainfully.

Zhang Pingyi was a little confused, "But in the end you didn't make it work."

"Later, Facebook was able to raise funds without the group-buying concept, so it didn't have time to grow big," Qin Shaoyan said with a smile. "Later, we set up a separate website, and unexpectedly, it gradually took off."

Groupon's success is largely due to Facebook. In its early days, it leveraged Facebook's channels to accumulate users, gradually growing larger and becoming a hit on the American internet.

In January 2010, the first group-buying website in China, Manzuo.com, appeared.

After that, one group-buying website after another sprang up, with hundreds of new group-buying websites being established every day.

Group buying has become another hot spot for venture capital. When the trend takes off, capital becomes irrational, and people are investing money in any group buying website.

At this point, it was understandable that Qin Shaoyan wanted to get into the group buying business. Zhang Pingyi also figured it out: as long as he announced his entry into the group buying business today, Sentinel Technology's stock would rise tomorrow.

They'll do anything for the sake of stock price.

"A new department has been established for the group-buying business. Have you decided who will be in charge of it?" Zhang Pingyi continued to ask.

“I want to set up a separate company, instead of putting it under Sentinel Technology.” Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment. “Sentinel Technology will invest part of it, I will personally invest part of it, and we will raise some venture capital. That should be enough. Would you like to invest some as well?”

“Me?” Zhang Pingyi shook his head. “I’m not interested in that.”

"Which venture capital firm have you set your sights on this time?"

"How could I not tell Boss Xiong about such a good thing?" Qin Shaoyan joked. "I'll tell Xiong Xiaoge in a bit and have him get the money."

(End of this chapter)