Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 141 Multitasking

On the last day of July, the summer air was originally scorching and oppressive, without a trace of coolness.

However, the afternoon sky in Beiping suddenly turned gloomy, with dark clouds surging in from all directions like a thousand horses, quickly obscuring the dazzling sunlight.

With a deep rumble of thunder echoing across the distant sky, the summer downpour finally arrived as expected.

The torrential rain pounded against the windows of Song Ci's office, making a crisp, crackling sound.

At this time, Song Ci summoned Zhang Yong, Wang Jing, and several other senior executives of the group, as well as some key technical personnel of the company, to give them instructions.

Because it was an impromptu meeting, Song Ci called everyone to his office for a short meeting, and the originally spacious office was soon filled with people.

A young technician sitting in the corner reacted quickly and cleverly went forward to close the window, preventing rainwater from splashing into the office.

Wang Jing held a document and reported on the latest data of TT Voice. Since its launch, the product has been widely praised and the number of users has grown very rapidly.

After the report, Wang Jing said anxiously, "President Song, the latest news is that Tencent is also developing a similar product, imitating our optimization of QQ Voice. The new version is expected to be launched before the end of the year."

Song Ci stared at the computer screen in front of him, listening to the report while typing and chatting with Liu Shishi. He had been online on QQ, and when Liu saw that he was online, they started chatting.

Two notification sounds came from Liu, who sent two photos on QQ. Song Ci opened them and saw that they were two official photos of his girlfriend, Mu Nianci.

Her hair was styled in a high bun, with a few wisps falling across her cheeks. Her complexion was soft and beautiful, her makeup was elegant and refined, and she wore a simple pink dress that was light and graceful, exuding a gentle and tender charm.

The other face was beautiful, with long hair cascading down her shoulders, eyebrows like distant mountains, lips slightly parted, and eyes that were slightly upturned, carrying a sword in her hand, her clothes fluttering in the wind.

LionKK: Is it pretty, YiYi?

Song Ci smiled knowingly and nodded slightly. Xiao Qingmei's ancient costume look was absolutely stunning, exuding a fresh and refined beauty with a gentle yet resilient charm.

Composing poems and essays: Beautiful, so beautiful, as beautiful as a serene Song Dynasty poem.

Liu Shishi, far away in Hengdian, sent a shy emoji. The young man was so good at praising people; she had to use this line in the press release.

Seeing the chairman busy typing on the keyboard with a gentle smile on his face and not responding to her, Wang Jing became puzzled. What was the boss busy with? After a while, seeing that Song Ci still hadn't responded, she asked, "President Song, are you listening?"

Song Ci composed herself and focused more on the scene, quickly replying, "I'm listening. It's alright, Sister Jing. We can't stop Tencent from developing similar products. Just stick to the plan from the beginning of the year and focus on differentiated competition. TT Voice will prioritize serving game users."

Wang Jing sighed, not very optimistic: "Okay, I understand."

Composing poems and essays: Is there no martial arts training today?

Song Ci, multitasking, sent a new message, then looked up at the group of executives and technical staff in the office and smiled:

"Everyone, have you thought about the question I posed at the group's mid-year meeting last week? Since the beginning of the new century, the internet industry has been developing rapidly. So, for internet companies like ours, what is the most valuable thing?"

Everyone looked at each other, completely baffled. They had no idea what the chairman was up to, that he had called them all over just to ask this question.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment, and Song Ci didn't urge anyone, seemingly giving everyone time to prepare.

LionKK: Martial arts training is over. I'm resting today. Tomorrow, August 1st, the "Legend of the Condor Heroes" crew will officially start filming. This time, I practiced wire work, it was so tiring.

Reciting poems and composing verses: Safety must be paramount when performing wire work. Since there's no training today, I'll rest well and recharge. How's things going in Hengdian lately? Are the actors on set easy to get along with?

LionKK: Everything went smoothly. I was basically with Sister Yichen. She's a really nice person. She treated us to dinner on our first day in Hengdian.

Poetry and prose: You've only known her for a few days, and you're already praising her. Did the real Queen really win you over with just one meal, you fake Queen?

LionKK: Oh dear, don't say that. Yichen and I are friends now. Yiyi, wait a minute, I'll copy everyone's photos onto my computer and send them to you.

Song Ci shook her head slightly. What a lovely silly girl. When you have power and background, everyone around you is a good person. You even helped Hu Ge get the male lead role in "Orange Born in Huainan". Tangren will definitely treat you like royalty.

While Liu Shishi went to copy the photos, no one spoke during the break in the chat, so Song Ci started to call on someone: "Old Zhang, why don't you start and say something?"

Zhang Yong and Wang Jing sat across the desk from Song Ci. When they heard the chairman call on him, Zhang Yong smiled and declined, saying, "Let the younger ones go first!" He vaguely understood Song Ci's intention: to cooperate with the chairman and finish this grand performance; it would be pointless to reveal the answer right away.

"Then let me say a few words. Please correct me if I am wrong, Mr. Song."

Yang Junfeng, president of Toutiao.com, offered a preliminary point: "I think the most important thing for an internet technology company like ours is talent. We need professional technical talent to develop one product after another to meet market demands and ensure that the company continues to move forward."

Song Ci nodded. Yang Junfeng's answer was standard and unoriginal, but it wasn't wrong either; talent was indeed very important. However, his question was about what was most valuable to the company! "Does anyone else want to share?"

"Chairman, I think our core products are the most valuable. Toutiao and TD gaming platforms are the most valuable assets in our company, while QQ is the most valuable product in Tencent. Internet companies are all asset-light; their most valuable and core essence lies in their products, and the products with the most users are the most valuable." The next speaker was the company's chief security technician.

Once someone started talking, the conversation flowed freely, and everyone began to share their thoughts, even engaging in heated discussions on the spot, making the office quite lively.

"Alright, quiet down. If you want to speak, speak properly one by one. What kind of behavior is this, making a ruckus in President Song's office?" Zhang Yong shouted as soon as he saw the commotion in the office. The room immediately fell silent. Song Ci looked around and asked, "Does anyone else want to say a few words?"

After waiting a moment and no one speaking, Song Ci asked his capable assistant, "Old Zhang, what do you think is the most valuable thing about an internet company?"

Zhang Yong lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then, remembering the three research centers that the chairman had always been so concerned about, he guessed, "Data?!"

Song Ci clapped and laughed, "That's right! In the Internet age, the most valuable thing is data! The company's next core development strategy, and the key technology that will allow us to remain invincible for decades to come, is big data!"

A new term was passionately uttered by Song Ci, leaving everyone bewildered. They didn't understand the significance of the data the chairman was referring to. Was studying those common, everyday data the core strategy for the company's future?

Zhang Yong had heard Song Ci mention the term "big data" many times, but he didn't quite understand the specifics, since he wasn't from a technical background. So, on behalf of everyone, he said, "Please, Chairman, don't hesitate to enlighten us and explain what big data is."

After a moment's thought, Song Ci considered how to express the meaning of big data more intuitively: "Let me give you an example. Why is it that Toutiao's advertising revenue far exceeds that of Sohu, Sina, and NetEase, even though they are all portal websites?"

As the person in charge of Toutiao.com, Yang Junfeng naturally knew the reason and answered without hesitation: "Because Toutiao.com's backend will push similar product advertisements based on the number of times users click."

For example, if a user clicks on the lifestyle and leisure section of Toutiao and views fishing-related pages multiple times, we will push fishing gear ads to them. Our advertising is more efficient, so product owners are more willing to advertise on Toutiao.

Song Ci nodded: "Yes, that's the basic application of data. The reason why Toutiao was able to surpass the top three and become the number one portal in China is because we have a higher utilization rate of data and we use big data technology."

At this point, Song Ci paused briefly, giving everyone some time to think and digest the information. Just then, Liu Shishi sent over a dozen more photos, all of which were costume photos and group photos of the main actors in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

One of the photos, in which Ms. Liu and Lin Yichen are side by side, head to head, pouting and acting cute, is particularly adorable. Seeing Song Ci makes one smile.

Immediately typed a compliment: "Beautiful, the most beautiful Mu Nianci, surpassing all the previous versions."

Liu Shishi sat in front of her computer in her dormitory, beaming with joy: "Hehe, keep it low-key! By the way, Mr. Song, are you going to visit the film set during the summer vacation?"
Whether you come or not depends on whether you can fulfill one of my requests!
LionKK: What kind of request is this? I feel like you're up to something again!

"You need to keep these costumes of Mu Nianci safe. When I come to Hengdian, wear them for me tonight. The boss of the investors wants to audition for me."

Looking at the photo of Liu Shishi, with her slender figure and exquisite features, Song Ci was momentarily lost in fantasies. After quickly typing a sentence, she continued:

"In the information age, users leave traces and data whenever they go online. By collecting, statistically analyzing, classifying, and categorizing this data, we can summarize the user's preferences and habits. After in-depth mining, we can make targeted and efficient use of this data."

Whether out of shyness or something else, Liu Shishi did not reply immediately. The executives and technical staff present listened with great interest; some nodded in agreement, while others pondered deeply, unconsciously immersing themselves in the big data era depicted in Song Dynasty poetry.

Song Ci, full of spirit, spoke eloquently: "Big data, simply put, is a massive, rapidly growing, and diverse information asset. It is not merely a huge collection of data, but also contains countless values ​​and opportunities."

Big data is characterized by its scale, with massive amounts of data covering all aspects of a company's business; its speed, with extremely fast data generation and processing, allowing it to reflect market dynamics and user behavior in real time; and its diversity, including structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data such as text, images, and audio.

Song Ci spoke eloquently, explaining the background, meaning, and importance of big data development in one go.

After a long silence, Wang Jing took the lead in clapping, and everyone else immediately followed suit, applauding and praising the Song Dynasty poem. They were all impressed by the Song Dynasty poem's foresight.

Wang Jing stared at the handsome face so close to hers, thinking that Boss Song's legend was still going strong, and said loudly:

"The chairman's presentation on big data was excellent, and I think everyone should have a clear understanding of the value of big data."

This is not only a technological innovation and advancement for the group, but also a key aspect of the company's future strategic transformation. "Mr. Song, given the importance of big data, should we establish a separate department to operate it?"

Zhang Yong glanced at Wang Jing without leaving a trace. COO, you're trying to seize control of the company's future big data applications!
Song Ci understood Wang Jing's idea, shook his head and instructed, "The next step for the group is to establish a big data research center, which I will personally oversee. The data resources of all departments in the group will be integrated and configured by the research center to optimize and improve data utilization."

The reason I've called all of you key technical personnel here today is to let you know the core priorities for the company's next stage of development. Each department needs to ensure proper data copying, replication, and dynamic monitoring, and also needs to develop a rectification plan to improve data utilization efficiency.

"President Song, the company may be under some financial pressure. At the beginning of this year, the financial project plan did not allocate any budget for the construction of a big data research center." Zhang Yong frowned slightly. When the director first proposed the big data R&D plan, he had assured him that he would solve the funding problem.

Song Ci reached out to stop Zhang Yong from continuing, saying, "I'll handle the funding issue. I'll talk to you privately after the meeting." The nearly $3 million he earned from World Cup betting came in handy at this moment, more than enough to lay a foundation and build a big data research framework.

Seeing that Song Ci had his own considerations, Zhang Yong nodded and said no more.

After giving a few more instructions and repeatedly emphasizing the importance of big data for the company's future development, Song Ci dismissed everyone, leaving only Zhang Yong and Wang Jing behind. He said that for important matters of Tengda Group, the three leaders just needed to reach a consensus.

The QQ icon on the screen flashed, and Liu Shishi, who hadn't replied for a long time, sent several more pictures. Song Ci glanced at them and noticed that the style of these photos was quite different from the previous ones.

Liu Shishi was dressed in ancient costume, her hair slightly disheveled, strands fluttering gently, subtly alluring. Her bare shoulders revealed skin as delicate as white jade, radiating an alluring glow under the dim light.

Her body was exquisitely proportioned, her slender waist seemed so delicate it could be grasped with a single hand, and her eyes seemed to hold a pool of spring water, their shimmering light exuding charm and allure.

Lion KK: This was taken by Yuanyuan, a special edition exclusively for Mr. Song.

Reading Song Ci made his blood boil and his face flush red. A surge of desire rose within him, and he wished he could immediately fly to Hengdian and take his girlfriend right there and then. Oh no, oh no, his childhood sweetheart knows how to manipulate men now!
Lion KK: Chairman Song, do you want me to wear this outfit for a screen test?

Composing poems and essays: This set, and the previous sets too!

Song Dynasty poetry thoughts soar, keyboards fly, only children make choices, adults naturally want it all!
(End of this chapter)