The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Chapter 156 Twitter
East of Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley.

In the old office with red roof and yellow walls, Qasim scratched his smooth forehead, his face full of worry.

Across from her, brown-haired Laura asked, "Is selling the website really our only option?"

Kasim said, "There is still the road to bankruptcy." He looked outside and saw his three subordinates still busy. "How long has it been since we, the five of us, had any income? People can't just work on passion. Now we still have money to eat, but what will we do when we can't afford food or rent?"

Laura gritted her teeth and said, "Bennett, this bastard, ran away after transferring the equity. How can we two, who only know technology but not business, maintain it?"

"He has no choice. He has no money." Cassim did not complain to Bennett. Before the other party withdrew, he transferred all his shares to him and Lola.

At the beginning of last year, the three saw that blogs were very popular and many blog companies received investment. They took out all their savings, created the "Window" blog website, and joined in this trend.

Nearly a year has passed, and the reality is quite cruel. There are too many homogeneous companies. It is very difficult to carve out a path among them. It requires funds, resources, and operations.

Among the three of them, Bennett actually only knows technology, and he has a little knowledge of operations, and now he has run away.

The phone rang at this time. Kasim picked up and said a few words. After hanging up, he said to Laura: "They are here."

Laura knew this was the only way to keep the website alive, and said, "I hope they are sincere and not just crazy for a moment."

The two of them left the office and came to the stairs under the expectant gazes of the other three.

Not long after, two men and one woman went up the stairs together.

All three of them were wearing expensive business suits, especially the woman, who was wearing either Hermès or Chanel.

Kasim took a step forward and stretched out his right hand: "Are you Mr. Hawke Osmond?"

Hawke shook his hand and said, "Hello."

The two men made a brief introduction, and Kasim led the way: "This way, please."

Hawke followed the two men to an office with a plaque on the side of the door that read "Window Company".

The office is not big, with two rooms inside and outside. In addition to the computers and servers, the outer room can barely accommodate three people.

The inner room is also very crowded and the office conditions are average.

Hawke said directly: "You plan to sell the window site?"

The transfer notice was posted on the blog website. Kasim admitted: "The company is in trouble. Lola and I are good at technology but not management. The website... Forget it. We only have one request: don't close the website after the transfer."

Laura replied, “This is our hard work for a year.”

Hawke looked at the two men carefully. They were wearing glasses, had greasy hair, were unkempt, and wore ordinary clothes.

Very much like a tech geek.

He said: "I bought the website, so I naturally want to develop it."

Kasim scratched his greasy hair, looking a little embarrassed, but since the matter was at hand, he could only force himself to speak: "How much do you plan to pay for the acquisition?"

Hawke has many options, and he certainly won’t offer a high price: “$10.”

"How much?" Laura couldn't believe her ears: "This amount of money is not even enough for our investment..."

Caroline held up her Hermès, raised her chin, and stepped forward like a loyal lamb. She took the conversation and said, "You seem to have forgotten. Let me remind you that Window is a website that is about to go bankrupt!"

She smiled quickly, revealing two small fangs, and began to tear her prey apart: "There are hundreds of blog sites like Window in the United States, and some go bankrupt every day. You are close to us, so we came here first to take a look."

Cassim and Lola were not good at speaking and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Carolyn has enough knowledge about the companies and websites she hand-picked: "The Window Blog website has been online for less than 11 months, with 2.33 registered users. Since November last year, the average daily active users have been 11. By last month, the average daily active users had dropped to 1140."

Laura looked at the background data and lowered her head.

How can this be described as tragic?

Caroline's sharp horns were already sharpened, and she pushed directly into the opponent's vital points: "You haven't been paid for more than 7 weeks. If this continues, will you still have money to eat?"

Qasim was speechless; the reality was too cruel.

As the boss's number one sheep leg, Caroline was very aware that she was the sheep on Satan's mark. She looked at Hawke and said, "Boss, $10 is too high. $5 is enough."

Hawke waved his hand: "If I said $10, it's $10."

The two of them did not discuss it beforehand, but they cooperated very well.

Faced with wolves and sheep, the two tech geeks are no match at all.

Kasim sighed secretly, with no other options, and said, "10 US dollars, we will handle the transfer procedures."

After a brief contact, Hawke could basically see that these two people were relatively simple, just technicians.

He asked, "What are you going to do after you sell the website? Leave this industry?"

Laura said: "I haven't thought about it yet."

Hawke winked at Caroline and shook hands with Cassim and Laura: "That's it, Caroline will talk to you about the details. I have something else to do, so I'll leave now."

Cassim glanced at the arrogant and somewhat mean woman and wanted to talk to Hawke directly, but he was unable to stop Hawke from leaving.

Hawke and Edward left the window company and went straight downstairs.

Edward saw through it: "Boss, aren't you going to recruit them?" "That's not for me to say." Hawke simply said: "If the people Miss Mee recruits are not suitable, I will come forward and fire them directly."

Edward suddenly realized: "I understand, Boss, Miss Mee can take the blame."

Hawke nodded casually, remembering the promise he had made to Hei Xiaoshuai.

Hei Xiaoshuai’s abilities are indeed average, but he is trustworthy and can provide emotional value.

Sometimes, ability is not the first priority. Hawke said directly: "Prepare some money and invest in the company's website, and you will be included in it."

Edward has received a lot of bonuses in the past six months, but he has also spent a lot: "I should be able to collect 5 US dollars."

Hawke said, “Okay.”

Meanwhile, in the office upstairs.

"If your website is acquired, you will be unemployed, and you may even have to leave the industry you love." Miss Mee got on the pirate ship and took the blame obediently, becoming a black goat. She said to Kasim and Laura: "How about this, you all come to my company and continue to do your previous jobs. Salary... Where is your salary list?"

Laura took it out.

Caroline took a look and said, "Then, we will increase it by 15% on the existing basis."

Qasim asked, "Or do program development and website architecture?"

Caroline nodded: "Yes."

Qasim thought about his failed business and uncertain future, and said, "Give us some time to discuss it."

"Okay." Caroline turned to discuss the specific acquisition matters with them.

A letter of intent was signed that day.

Among people like Kasim, two believed that this line of work had no future and were ready to change careers after receiving their overdue salaries.

The enthusiasm has been almost exhausted in the past year.

Cassim, Lola and another person, with no better choice, prepare to join the new company.

Hawke put aside other things for the time being and focused on setting up the new company.

The new company was registered in Delaware.

Hawke rented a four-story building as the company's office in the area where Santa Monica and Venice meet, which is also the Silicon Beach that Los Angeles has just developed vigorously.

Companies set up here can receive benefits such as rental subsidies and a high proportion of investment tax deductions.

Hawke also hired a young man named Harland from Island Blog Company at a high salary to temporarily serve as the technical director of the new company.

As for the name of the new company and the new website, Hawke wanted to keep it simple and just call it Twitter, which he would hold a controlling stake in through West Coast Studios and a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

Hawke himself served as CEO and director of operations, and Caroline served as his assistant and handled internal administrative and personnel matters.

The company also starts external recruitment.

New versions of the website and program updates are top priorities.

Hawke had several meetings with Haaland, Kassem and others. He only had some ideas but didn't understand the technology, so he had to rely on these technicians to turn his ideas into reality.

"Last year, camera phones were not common, but now they are becoming popular."

In the conference room, Hawke stood at the front of the conference table and said loudly: "When you shoot something new or take a photo at a tourist attraction, do you want people around you to know and see it?"

He looked at Miss Mee and said, "If you buy a new luxury item, will you take a photo so that others can see it?"

"Of course I do!" Caroline straightened her neck, stretched out her left hand, and showed a new Cartier women's watch: "The greatest significance of luxury goods is to be different and make others envious."

Hawke said: "On the website side, you need to surpass the blog in terms of interactivity. If the people you follow update their Twitter, you will receive a notification in an easily visible place!"

The tall but menacing-looking Haaland understood what Hawke meant: "More focus on interactivity and sharing?"

Hawke said: "Yes, interaction and sharing are important purposes of human social interaction. It allows people who want to show off to show off, and people who want to share their experiences to share. In addition to interactive messages, people can also chat with others privately and set up groups like MSN."

As for video sharing and mobile terminals, we will talk about it after the Internet has initially developed.

The road must be walked step by step.

Hawke continued, "On the right side of the webpage, we need to reserve a news section to publish hot news and establish a news hot search list. Our initial goal is to focus on entertainment news and sports news, with a gossip-oriented tone."

Qasim, a Hollywood lover, said: "Gossip and scandal are more attractive."

Laura whispered, "That's just what you like."

Kasim said softly: "You have seen a lot of those selfie scandals."

For these tech geeks, gossip and scandal are one of the few pleasures.

Hawke added: "Our users can forward news anytime, anywhere within Twitter, including to individuals and groups."

The meeting lasted until the end of the working day.

What Hawke transmitted were all ideas from his previous life.

(End of this chapter)