rebirth from small pockets

Chapter 376 The person who forgot to bring his wallet

"Did the deal break down?"

"Yeah~ OK, I get it!"

"It's okay~ Business is business~ It won't affect you!"

In the red Xiali parked on the side of the Third Ring Road, Chen Li shook his head after hanging up the phone.

"What? I'm in love with you. I'm worrying for nothing."

"Huh~!"

Chen Li was speechless and even muttered to himself, but in the end he let out a sigh of relief.

Two days ago, Chen Li abstained from voting on Red Pony's acquisition of Tengxun after discovering that his management was a bit lenient.

Originally, Chen Li was ready to influence the world again, but as a result, the matter took a turn and was shelved.

Logically speaking, if one wants to sell and the other wants to buy, this matter should be resolved easily.

However, the reality is that the price cannot be negotiated!

Yes~ Both parties directly caused this acquisition to reach a deadlock due to price issues.

This thing is actually quite normal~

Because this time Ma Xiaoteng went to Yanjing to seek buyers interested in OICQ, which was considered the first time for Tengxun.

In the past life of the Internet, there were many related rumors about Tengxun and later QQ.

For example, in the early days, Ma Xiaoteng almost sold Tencent and QQ.

This is actually not a rumor, because this program was born from the beginning. It was actually intended to be sold.

It's just that although Ma Xiaoteng and others made the things at that time, they did not sell them in the end.

In other words, the early OICQ was actually a waste.

Of course, it is somewhat exaggerated to say that it was a hit in the hand. Anyway, in the early days, OICQ did not achieve the expected results of Ma Xiaoteng and other five tigers.

If it's something ordinary, if it fails, you'll have to open a new instance again.

But at this time, the overseas ICQ that OICQ imitated was acquired by an American company for nearly US$300 million.

When ICQ was acquired by the American company, its registered users had just exceeded 10 million.

It is precisely for this reason that the acquisition price of ICQ is as high as US$287 million.

After several people from Tengxun learned about this situation, they thought of finding another way and planned to officially operate OICQ.

It's just that Internet companies have a big problem, and that is burning money.

If the 500,000 yuan invested by Tengxun Company in its early days was thrown away in the Internet industry these days, it would probably be nothing.

The biggest trouble in operating OICQ is that it is impossible for OICQ to bring any income to Tencent in the short term.

In fact, it’s not that Ma Xiaoteng and others don’t know how OICQ should make money, they know it. But they can’t do it.

For social software, the best and most direct benefits are advertising and membership fees.

But this is simply impossible for OICQ, which has just established and started operations!

During this period of time, it is impossible for anyone to seek out OICQ for advertising, and it is also impossible for users to pay Tengxun membership fees for using OICQ.

At the very least~ it’s impossible in a short time!

Therefore, Ma Xiaoteng and others know very well that without new sources of funds, Tengxun and OICQ will not be able to survive the day of dawn.

So here comes the multiple-choice question~Should we persevere until we win? Or should we cash out in time?

Ma Xiaoteng and others chose the latter!

The reason is very simple~ Ma Xiaoteng and others founded Tengxun without many lofty reasons.

To put it bluntly~ Since you are starting a company, the ultimate goal is to make money.

In order to establish Tengxun, Ma Xiaoteng and others invested more than half a million yuan in it. If they cannot make a profit before the money is burned out, then the situation they will face will be very uncomfortable.

In fact, before coming to Yanjing, Ma Xiaoteng had already found some people in cities such as Shencheng and Yangcheng.

It's just that the Internet in China has just started these days, and most people actually don't know much about the Internet.

The Internet is booming now, so many people are actually very interested in the derivatives of the Internet.

But it is precisely because of their lack of understanding that everyone is a little cautious about the Internet.

To put it bluntly, many people in China have very little understanding of the Internet, and they are not willing to invest heavily in the Internet.

Many people are willing to pay for the Internet ~ but there is actually a limit.

Once this limit is reached or exceeded, people will be less willing to pay.

This is actually the reason why early domestic Internet companies were unable to raise money from domestic bosses, because they wanted far more than those bosses were willing to give.

In fact, it’s not the bosses’ fault.

After all, China at this time has unlimited business opportunities and there are so many ways to make money. Why choose the Internet?

If nothing else, take real estate as an example. As long as you have money, invest in the real estate market. Basically, just wait and count the money!

It’s not that you can’t invest in the Internet, but compared to many traditional industries, the Internet is too risky and not worth investing too much money.

This is also one of the reasons why Ma Xiaoteng in his previous life went around selling Tengxun but could not sell it.

In his previous life, when Ma Xiaoteng was selling Tengxun, he was almost at the end of his rope. If he had not found financing later, Tengxun and QQ would probably not exist in the future.

If it were true that in his previous life, Ma Xiaoyun came out and said that he wanted to spend two to three million to buy Tengxun, I guess Ma Xiaoteng would have laughed so hard.

But at this time in the first half of 1999, Ma Xiaoteng was still dreaming of selling Tengxun for a lot of money.

Ma Xiaoteng’s idea is very simple~ICQ’s 10 million registered users have sold nearly 300 million US dollars.

Although there are currently less than 200,000 registered OICQ users of Tengxun, the current growth rate of Tengxun users is there.

Not to mention selling for 300 million US dollars, but 5 million Chinese coins are still worth it, right?

Yes~ In Ma Xiaoteng’s opinion, Tengxun is currently worth at least 5 million!

But in Ma Xiaoyun's view, the current OICQ, let alone 5 million, is actually not worth even 2 million.

The reason why he was able to give a high price of 2 to 3 million was because he felt that Chen Li was very optimistic about this project.

Ma Xiaoyun is not stupid. He knows that Chen Li values ​​this project, which at least means that the OICQ project must be headed.

Therefore, he is willing to pay a little more for Chen Li's vision. But this price is limited!

Three million is the limit that Ma Xiaoyun can afford, because if it is any higher, it is actually not worth it.

It's very simple~ If you spend millions to buy OICQ, it is actually better than Red Pony spending money to re-create the instant messenger software.

Ma Xiaoyun believes that if he is willing to spend 3 million to build an instant messaging software similar to OICQ, the final effect will definitely exceed the current OICQ.

The reason why he didn't choose to do it himself was because the current red pony was really short of people.

The supporting facilities for a red pony security guard have not yet been developed. It is really difficult for the red pony to open a new dungeon!

So ~ Ma Xiaoyun feels that if Tengxun and OICQ can be acquired at a price of three million, it is still within an acceptable range.

But if it exceeds this price, it’s not worth it!

Rather than spending more money to acquire Tencent and OICQ, it would be better to wait for the red pony to recruit troops and open a new copy.

So here’s the problem. Ma Xiaoteng thinks that Tencent and OICQ are worth at least five million, but Ma Xiaoyun is only willing to pay three million for Tencent and OICQ at most.

Under such circumstances, the two sides naturally cannot reach an agreement!

In fact, it's not that we can't reach an agreement, but that Ma Xiaoyun in 1999 was not as comfortable with business negotiations as he was later.

This guy is good at deceiving people, but he is far worse at serious business negotiations than his assistant Cai Qixin.

Unfortunately, it was Ma Xiaoyun who made the decision on this matter. Cai Xinxin, who had just joined Red Pony, did not have much say yet.

And according to Ma Xiaoyun, Cai Xinxin is actually not very optimistic about OICQ.

The reason why Cai Xinxin is not optimistic about OICQ is not that he is not interested in social software.

But Cai Xinxin knows very well that OICQ is actually a copycat of ICQ.

If OICQ is from Tengxun, it will naturally not matter. But if OICQ becomes a product of Red Pony, then there are some things that need to be paid attention to.

Cai Xinxin's worries are justified, because in his previous life, Stenxun was sued by the American company that acquired ICQ.

It is precisely for this reason that Ma Xiaoteng changed the name of OICQ to QQ.

But to be honest, this is actually opportunistic.

That is to say, Tengxun is a Chinese company, and international litigation is really troublesome. If it were an American company, Tengxun would probably be sued directly for bankruptcy by the company that acquired ICQ.

To be honest~ It is probably because of this time that Ma Xiaoteng tasted the benefits, so Tengxun later habitually imitated and copied others for a long time.

If that American company had chosen to sue Tengxun from the beginning, would Tengxun in its previous life have been so keen on copycats and imitations?

Uh. Okay~ This doesn't really make sense.

Because if that American company really wanted to sue to the end, Tengxun would probably be gone by now.

In short, even in 1999, smart people like Cai Xinxin had actually seen the hidden crisis in Tengxun.

This is one of the reasons why Ma Xiaoyun is unwilling to increase the price!

In short, in the end, the negotiation between Red Pony, represented by Ma Xiaoyun, and Tengxun Technology, represented by Ma Xiaoteng, failed!

But this matter has nothing to do with Chen Li!

Because as early as when Chen Li agreed to Ma Xiaoyun's acquisition of Tengxun instead of taking a stake, he had already informed both parties.

This acquisition is a matter between two companies, Red Pony and Tengxun Technology, and has nothing to do with Chen Li personally!

Therefore, even if the negotiation fails, Chen Li and Ma Xiaoteng’s personal netizen relationship has not suffered any losses.

Not only was there no loss, but because Chen Li spoke frankly, his relationship with Ma Xiaoteng got closer.

Of course ~ This is how Chen Li feels. The reason why he feels this way is because Ma Xiaoteng wants to take him to meet someone.

"This way~!"

Chen Li, who was sitting in the car, saw Ma Xiaoteng and Zeng Lijing entering the parking lot. Chen Li rolled down the window and waved to the two.

After the two of them got in the car, Chen Li started the borrowed Xiali and drove out of the parking lot while asking:

"where to?"

"Master~ How much does it cost to go here?"

Ma Xiaoteng handed a piece of paper in his hand to Chen Li. He was making a joke, but he was enjoying the hardship.

It has been three days since he came to Yanjing. In addition to discussing the sale of OICQ with Ma Xiaoyun from Red Pony, Ma Xiaoteng actually met with several CEOs of companies engaged in Internet-related industries.

But the situation is very bad ~ almost everyone is not very optimistic about Ma Xiaoteng’s Tengxun and OICQ!

After all, Ma Xiaoyun gave him an offer of three million! But Ma Xiaoteng simply didn't want to mention the price others offered him to Chen Li.

But even if Ma Xiaoteng didn't mention it, Chen Li could actually guess a thing or two.

In fact, before the success of Tengxun’s QQ, social software was not viewed favorably in China at all.

There is only one reason why it is not favored. That is profit!

No one opens a company to do charity. Since it is a company, it is natural to make money.

So, how should OICQ make money? How much room for profit does it have?

Ma Xiaoteng doesn’t even know about these issues!

He only saw foreign ICQ being acquired at a high price, but at this time, the development of the domestic and foreign Internet markets were completely different.

The foreign Internet market is relatively mature. Someone can pay for the same operation in the United States, but it will take some time for this acceptance process in China.

In other words, before Tengxun's OICQ develops to a certain scale, and before user stickiness reaches a certain level, Tengxun's desire to make a profit is somewhat of a fantasy.

Ma Xiaoteng didn't know how long it would take. It might be one to three years or even longer.

But Ma Xiaoteng knows very well that if he cannot solve the financial problem, then Tengxun may not be able to persist for that period of time.

But here’s the problem~ He and a few classmates and friends raised half a million yuan and spent more than half a year on R&D and operations. Naturally, they wanted to make more money.

This is also the reason why Ma Xiaoteng rejected Ma Xiaoyun’s offer of three million!

Because Ma Xiaoteng is very smart, he thinks that Ma Xiaoyun can offer a price of three million, which means that OICQ is more than this price.

So. After communicating with several other founders, Ma Xiaoteng made a decision!

He decided to invest an additional 500,000 yuan with several other founders!

Didn’t the foreign ICQ sell for US$287 million after having 10 million registered users?

What is the difference between OICQ and ICQ?

The biggest gap between the two is registered users!

Today's registered users of OICQ are only around 200,000, so naturally they cannot afford the price.

But what would happen if this number were expanded to one million or more?

In the end, Ma Xiaoteng and others decided to wait a little longer until the number of registered users of OICQ reaches a certain stage before discussing whether to sell it!

Ma Xiaoteng was like this in his previous life. He relied on the founders of Tengxun to raise funds again to survive the relatively difficult days in the early stage.

Later, the biggest reason why Tengxun was able to raise funds was that the number of registered users of OICQ at that time had reached more than one million.

Don't underestimate this difference. The difference between one million and two hundred thousand is not the slightest bit.

Anyway, when Ma Xiaoteng goes to find people to discuss the sale, some people don't even look at him seriously.

But if the number of registered users exceeds one million, the number of people interested in OICQ will definitely increase a lot.

Of course, although Ma Xiaoteng made such a decision, it does not mean that he will not be depressed.

I hit a wall several times in Yanjing, and it would be weird if I didn't feel depressed.

So Ma Xiaoteng is enjoying himself in suffering. There is nothing wrong with him at all!

Chen Li naturally knew Ma Xiaoteng's current state very well, so when faced with Ma Xiaoteng's joke, Chen Li just smiled and did not answer.

Soon, Chen Li drove the borrowed Xiali to the destination of his trip.

This is a restaurant located in Zhongguancun. After Chen Li parked the car, he followed Ma Xiaoteng and walked in.

But what's a little embarrassing is that the three of them have already arrived, but the person who originally said they wanted to treat has not arrived yet!

"He's been busy lately!"

"You know~ that guy just got a lot of financing recently."

"Now is the time for him to be proud of himself, I guess"

Ma Xiaoteng was explaining, but midway through his words, his cell phone rang.

"He should be here~ He made the call."

Ma Xiaoteng answered the phone, and then heard the voice from the phone through the speaker of the mobile phone, which was not very private these days.

"Lao Ma~ Have you arrived?"

"Then what. Come out and help me pay for the taxi."

"I forgot my wallet!"

(End of chapter)