Reinventing the Millennium

On December 21, as time approaches the most important Christmas in Western countries, the snow in New York finally stopped.

This also means that Pan Ben will be busy again.

Fortunately, President Fangda categorically stated that Yike's third batch of personnel had already boarded the plane, which finally gave Pan Ben, who wished he had forty-eight hours a day, some hope.

The airport resumed normal operations, and machines from China’s Foxconn re-entered the warehouse rented by the company.

At present, Yike's offline channels in the United States are mainly Kroger, the second largest supermarket chain in the United States. Other teams can only connect small chain stores at most. This sales structure is very unhealthy.

Pan Ben and Fang Zhuo discussed twice, planning to wait until after Christmas to use Kroger's first-month sales results to discuss supply issues with other large supermarket chains. It would be best to enter Wal-Mart with their own strength.

Yike does not plan to open direct-operated stores in the United States for the time being. It strives to make its role as a brand supplier bigger and stronger first. In this way, although a lot of profits will be shared, it can distribute and sell the goods as quickly as possible, so that it can continue Seeking the necessity of software construction.

That night, Pan Ben returned to the hotel from the warehouse exhausted, and unexpectedly bumped into President Fang Da who smelled of alcohol at the elevator door.

"Mr. Fang... are you busy?" Pan Ben was too tired to complain, so he just asked.

"It's basically settled. The Li family is still easy to talk to." Fang Zhuo replied with a smile.

Pan Ben waved his hands feebly, followed the elevator and entered the room to drink a cup of coffee before regaining consciousness: "Mr. Fang, last time you said you wouldn't let people from Anliang buy shares, how else can they cooperate?"

Fang Zhuo had already turned on his computer and started browsing online Amazon reviews for the M1. He replied casually: "We discussed a small framework and started a private placement for fun. The Li family invested five million, and I invested five million."

"Ah?" Pan Ben was confused, "Are the funds from the company's books going to be transferred? Isn't it coordinating orders and publicity?"

"Didn't the Li family give me 4 million?" Fang Zhuo turned around and said, "This is for half a year. If I personally raise another 1 million US dollars, the 5 million in the first half of the year will be settled. The company will not suffer too much. Influence."

Pan Ben was even more confused: "In other words, a total of 10 million, the Li family will get 9 million themselves???"

Fang Zhuo asked in confusion: "Why is it 9 million from the Li family? That 4 million was lent to me by the Li family, and I will pay it back in half a year."

"..."

"The private placement agreement is for a two-year period, and you can withdraw after one year. If I need to pay back the money in the first half of the year, I should be able to come up with the money. If I can't, I can sell some shares. There is a risk, but in Within the controllable range." Fang Zhuo's conversation became more interesting, "The Li family and I promise to make a profit of about one million a year."

Pan Ben thought for a while and asked: "Mr. Fang, if I remember correctly, the Li family seems to have asked you to be their company's consultant for a salary of 600,000, right?"

Fang Zhuo touched his chin, nodded and said: "Well, it's their 4 million interest. I guess Anliang wants to build a line to the country. This development direction is correct."

Pan Ben understood. Nine million of the ten million in co-authorship of this so-called private placement was the Li family's own funds. Counting the six hundred thousand salary, at least within half a year, Mr. Fang would only need to get 400,000. …

He felt both surprised and ridiculous, and asked: "Mr. Fang, how could the Li family agree? What are they trying to do?"

"You are trying to make money with private equity, otherwise what else can you do?" Fang Zhuo said, clasping his fingers, "The main direction of this private equity is Chinese concept stocks and the U.S. subprime mortgage market. There is no doubt that Chinese concept stocks are undervalued. This It will definitely rise in two years as the bubble ends."

"As for the subprime mortgages." Fang Zhuo had a strange expression on his face and shook his head. "The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates 11 times in a row this year, a fucking 11 times! Hey, the U.S. real estate boom is coming!"

Pan Ben couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Fang, do you know anything about subprime mortgages and the like?"

Just as Fang Zhuo was about to speak, he suddenly couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Pan Ben was laughed at inexplicably: "Mr. Fang, why are you laughing?"

Fang Zhuo waved his hand: "It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something funny."

He suppressed his smile and said with full confidence: "No one understands American subprime mortgages better than me."

Pan Ben: "..."

Mr. Fang must have had a disagreement with that associate professor of economics two days ago.

He finally tried to express his feelings: "Are the Li family really willing to cooperate like this? Well, Mr. Fang, don't they think it's sloppy?"

"There is a profit clause and a stop-loss clause. Everything is a formal business. I can't run away. Shencheng still has a company. What are they afraid of?" Fang Zhuo said nonchalantly.

Pan Ben felt that those people might not dare to chase Shen Cheng.

He thought about it, and it seemed like it wasn't much. After all, two days ago, Sony was willing to pay 50 million US dollars in real money. If the time came, he would be able to hold on to the bottom line, but... Mr. Fang wouldn't jump in head first. Have you gone to another field?

Fang Zhuo took a sip of tea, saw Pan Ben's look, and said with relief: "Don't worry, if the loss from 10 million to 7 million is over, the private equity business will be over. If the full amount is calculated, the loss will be 3 million. The loss will be shared equally between the two families." ."

Pan Ben nodded, knowing that this was the stop loss line mentioned earlier, but it looked like a whim of luck, but the Li family of the Anliang Chamber of Commerce was determined to follow suit. It was really worthy of it. A gang that wants to earn some usury.

"Oh, yes, do you want an extra portion?" Fang Zhuo asked kindly, remembering Pan Ben's recent fatigue.

Pan Ben said decisively: "No, Mr. Fang, I don't understand these."

Fang Zhuo said patiently: "Even if you don't talk about subprime CDOs and CDSs, the value of Chinese concept stocks here is really undervalued, did you know?"

Pan Ben politely refused: "No, no, Mr. Fang, thank you for your kindness. My wife makes the final decision on my family's investment."

Fang Zhuo had no choice but not to mention this matter again.

Regarding private equity, he plans to invest in two more companies, and the remaining $1 million gap will be covered by the newly established Yike Investment Company.

"Mr. Fang, I guess our sales this week will not be too bad. Christmas is here, and Americans give gifts during the New Year. M1 is a good choice." Pan Ben got down to business, "I went to Kroger today to see it. Look, the location of our machine is quite conspicuous."

"This is like this in New York, but I don't know how it is in other cities." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "Speaking of which, I have to thank the Anliang Chamber of Commerce."

Pan Ben agreed: "Yes, but we have to expand to other channels as soon as possible to avoid being hampered by the Anliang Chamber of Commerce in this regard. Even if there is a contract, if Anliang breaks up, the time spent wrangling will be a waste for us."

He reminded Mr. Fang.

"That's the reason. On the way back, I made an appointment with Miller from IDG to talk about development after Christmas. By then, the P1 machine will also arrive in New York." Fang Zhuo thought for a while, "I think this Miller and Mr. Xiong The relationship should be good. If IDG America can cooperate, I believe channels like Walmart will be much easier to handle."

"Smith really made a mistake." Pan Ben criticized. "He was far from realizing the market development of MP3 machines. If Mr. Xiong hadn't contacted Miller again, IDG would have missed a booming market."

Fang Zhuo said calmly: "Don't worry, we may not necessarily cooperate with IDG. The more our products are distributed, the more institutions we can talk to."

Pan Ben said "Uh": "Yes, Mr. Fang, we should shop around. IDG may not be able to give us the best conditions."

Fang Zhuo glanced at the IDG employee: "Well, the third batch of eight people from China has arrived. They should arrive tomorrow night. Find someone to pick them up."

"No problem." Pan Ben's spirit perked up.

Fang Zhuo explained a few more work matters and ended today's arrangements.

Taking advantage of the time he could spare recently, he followed the advice of his associate professor of economics and bought a few textbooks, and took the time to read them every day.

However, when Pan Ben left, he watched the president take out brand-new teaching materials, and couldn't help but mourn in his heart for the private equity that had not yet appeared.

…

The next day, at five o'clock in the evening in New York, a transoceanic flight from Shanghai stopped at LaGuardia Airport.

Yike's eight-person team, led by manager Kong Yu, silently waited for the pick-up vehicle. It was said that the vehicle had been hit by scratches on the road, so it would be late.

Except for Kong Yu, everyone in the eight-person team was very young, and they quickly talked about their first impressions of New York.

“The airport here is so big!”

"There were a lot of planes taking off and landing just now!"

"Hey, hey, there's a group of foreigners over there, it's so dark!"

"Wow, that's really blonde hair!"

Kong Yu listened to the young man's chatter and suddenly turned around and said: "Don't say 'that' or 'that' when you pause, and don't discuss other people's skin color. Also, you are the foreigners here."

"Hey, Manager Kong is right. Let me give you some popular science. The pronunciation of 'that' in Chinese is similar to the word used by white people here to discriminate against black people." A newly recruited young college student answered with a smile and did not hesitate to express himself. knowledge.

Kong Yu smiled and continued to listen to their chat, thinking about this trip to New York.

About half an hour later, Kong Yu waited for Pan Ben to pick him up from the airport, and successfully boarded the bus with seven people and went straight to the hotel.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuo saw eight people from the third batch of Yi Ke in the Hilton restaurant. He just looked at them for a moment and laughed.

"Mr. Kong, I didn't realize it was you on the list before. We can't use any drastic measures in New York this time."

A group of people, including Pan Ben, looked at the middle-aged Kong Yu curiously after hearing this. He had another relationship with the boss.

Kong Yu said half self-deprecatingly, half embarrassed: "Mr. Fang, quit, quit."

As a project manager who switched jobs from 3i to Yike, and as someone who went straight to the president's office with a gasoline can to scare his boss, Kong Yu had honestly and deliberately not appeared in front of Fang Zhuo since he started working at Yike.

In addition, Fang Zhuo himself is very busy, and Kong Yu's job is to travel to develop sales channels, so the two of them meet less frequently.

Kong Yu’s spoken English is very good, but he didn’t fill it out truthfully in the first round of overseas screening at Yike because of the history between himself and his boss. In the second round, although he heard that the foreign machine market was good, he didn’t know the truth. Fake.

By this time, in the third round, the machine was already sold at Kroger, and I heard that a cheaper version would be launched soon. Kong Yu easily passed the ability screening and became the team leader.

He believed that a leader like Mr. Fang who could poach him to join the company would not mind... Gasoline, and he also believed that he could create higher value here.

"Sit, sit, everyone, sit down. I watch foreigners here every day. When I see you, I wish everyone could hug you." Fang Zhuo greeted his employees enthusiastically, and his generous tone did not make the female employees feel uncomfortable. offend.

There were ten people in the box, the eldest was the middle-aged Kong Yu, and the youngest was 21-year-old Qing Cong who had just left school.

The food is served, the drinks are poured, and the greetings are completed.

Fang Zhuo said happily: "Counting the eight of you, the four of the second batch, and the seven of the first batch, we Yike have a total of nineteen people here."

Pan Ben interrupted: "Mr. Fang, you are not counting yourself."

"Oh, and me, that's twenty people." Fang Zhuo joked, "Pan doesn't count people, that's twenty."

Pan Ben listened to the laughter in his ears and said "I am in Cao Ying but my heart is in Han" without saying it. He had already made a decision about his future career development. After all, venture capital was not there yet. It would be better to invest in the vigorously developing sunrise industry. future.

"As of today, our Yike M1 has sold 55,000 units in the United States. This number even exceeds that in China." Fang Zhuo disclosed the latest data to his employees, "Do you know what this means? This means a brand new The market has opened its doors to us!”

Fang Zhuo raised his glass: "Come, let's drink to this brand new market!"

The young people picked up their wine glasses excitedly.

Kong Yu, who heard the specific sales volume for the first time, did some calculations in his mind and excitedly picked up the wine glass.

After this glass of wine, the light drinker's face turned red and the atmosphere became lively.

Fang Zhuo no longer talked about specific work, but only talked about his experience in the New York market and the performance of foreigners. For example, foreigners are also human beings and they can also compare the prices of goods.

After a long flight for the domestic team, it is not suitable to talk about work, but it is suitable to drink some wine to relieve jet lag at night.

The meal lasted until nine o'clock in the evening. The young people were arranged in rooms to rest, and Fang Zhuo left Kong Yu alone.

He made a cup of tea for Kong Yu in his suite: "How does Mr. Kong feel about being in Yike?"

Kong Yu took the tea cup with both hands and said modestly: "We still need to adapt and work hard."

In fact, in the domestic northern market, the team led by Kong Yu is the most outstanding, and has been repeatedly praised within the company by marketing director Yu Hong.

Fang Zhuo nodded: "That's just right. New York needs someone to set up a private equity framework. Mr. Kong should take over this. The people in Yike's batch are quite young. Just join the first two batches."

Kong Yu didn't expect that his power would be taken away from him with just a humble word. He was stunned for several seconds, lowered his head and took a sip of tea, feeling that his heart was so hot that it hurt.

This is completely different from what I expected!

M1 has made a breakthrough in the United States, and the credit behind it is ready-made!

Kong Yu hesitated for a while and said tactfully: "Mr. Fang, I don't understand private equity."

"It's okay. You understand people and can communicate. We will set up a private equity firm that can carry out normal operations. As long as the personnel and company can pass the qualification review, there is no need to add any leverage." Fang Zhuo encouraged, "Your rise in Yike Can the space be as high as this?”

Kong Yu still declined: "Mr. Fang, I like the young people in Yikeli very much, and I have feelings for them when I get along with them. I really can't bear to let them go, and I want to continue to take care of them."

"Private placement has raised US$10 million, and the investment scope has been determined." Fang Zhuo said.

Kong Yu's expression remained unchanged, and he continued what he had just said: "But Mr. Fang is really short of people, and I am willing to study more and work harder. After all, young people always have to experience themselves to have more space."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly: "Well, I think so too."

I wrote until four o'clock in the morning the day before yesterday. I have been in a daze for the past two days. I thought I finished it yesterday, but it turned out that there was still one chapter left.

Three updates tomorrow.