Chapter 190: This Betting Agreent Won’t Work
The next morning, in Shenzhen, at the Deep Bay Hotel.
This hotel is one of the few five-star hotels in Shenzhen, known for its luxurious architecture and esteed reputation in the city.
Ma Huateng and his group of five, along with a secretary, arrived at the hotel early and waited in the lobby.
A little while later, at half-past eight, two black Buick business sedans arrived at the hotel entrance almost simultaneously.
Two middle-aged n with slicked-back hair alighted from the cars; one wore gold-rimd glasses and a suit, while the other was dressed in a casual jacket, slightly overweight, with a kind face.
Ma Huateng and his group went up to greet them with smiles, saying, “President Gong, President Sun, good morning!”
The man in the suit was Gong Feizhang, the Vice President of IDG, attending the eting on behalf of IDG.
The other man in the jacket was nad Sun Feng, the President of the Investnt Division of the Telecommunications Corporation.
“Ha ha, you guys are really early. Has the person from Xifeng Company arrived yet?” Gong Feizhang asked with a smile.
Looking at the ti, Ma Huateng replied, “Just called them, they’ll be here soon.”
Sun Feng said with a smile, “President Ma is really capable, securing new investnt so quickly, congratulations.”
Although he was smiling, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes.
He had been discontent with Ma Huateng for a while. If Ma Huateng failed to manage the company successfully, their investnt of over a million dollars would be completely wasted.
Introducing new investors and capital was all well and good, but if it didn’t solve the revenue dilemma, it wouldn’t address the root problem.
For investors who don’t involve themselves in the daily operations, what matters most is the return on investnt. If they could recoup their investnt instead of losing it all, it would be a significant investnt failure.
Telecommunications and IDG had a joint investnt. They shared the sa view: introducing new capital was acceptable, but the most fundantal issue was improving the company’s profitability.
Tencent had been established for nearly two years, with most of its funds spent on staffing and server expenses, yet a profitable model had yet to be discovered, and several attempts had failed.
This situation led them to doubt Ma Huateng and his team’s abilities deeply.
Ma Huateng bowed slightly, “Introducing new capital is urgent. As long as we get through this difficult ti, the company will recover.”
Gong Feizhang just smiled noncommittally.
Sun Feng nodded, smiling, “Let’s hope so. By the way, I’ve looked at this investnt and shareholding plan. Is Xifeng Company really willing to sign the betting agreent?”
“Yes, President Sun, they are quite sincere. Moreover, their company is also developing an internet product that seems to be a hit. It looks like they have the capability to et the betting agreent,” Ma Huateng replied.
“If they can achieve it, that would be great. I’m just worried it’s all talk, hehe. But it doesn’t matter, we have to try sothing to know the result,” Sun Feng shrugged and laughed.
He didn’t care much about the 1 million investnt; it was minor to him. He hoped the new investor would increase Tencent’s profitability, thus raising the value of their shares. That way, it would be easier to find soone to take over their shares later, ensuring the investnt wouldn’t be lost.
As they were talking, a black Audi 100 sedan arrived at the hotel entrance.
Everyone instinctively looked towards the entrance.
Two young n dressed in white shirts and black trousers got out of the car.
The doorman took the keys to park the car, and the two young n quickly entered the hotel lobby.
The young man leading, with a side-part hairstyle, handso, and a confident smile on his face, wore a gleaming wristwatch.
Seeing the newcors, Ma Huateng’s eyes lit up, and he quickly went forward to greet them with a laugh, “Ha ha! Welco, welco, welco Yi Feng to Shenzhen!”
“President Ma, sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope I’m not late?” Yi Feng replied with a hearty laugh.
“Not at all, we’ve only just arrived ourselves,” Ma Huateng reached out to shake hands firmly with Yi Feng.
Then, Ma Huateng introduced Yi Feng to everyone.
Yi Feng shook hands with them, getting to know each other.
Sun Feng scrutinized Yi Feng closely, noting how young he appeared.
Probably in his early twenties, although dressed maturely, his face still bore traces of youthfulness.
What surprised him was that this young man showed no signs of nervousness, behaving and speaking in a very calm and mature manner!
Such performance from a young man in his early twenties was truly unexpected.
“Ha ha, President Yi, I’ve heard that your computer business in Guangxi is booming. So young and yet so capable, truly admirable!”
“This is what they call the new waves pushing the old waves. President Yi, your wave is quite sothing,” Sun Feng praised.
Yi Feng just smiled modestly, “President Sun is joking. It’s all thanks to the support of my seniors. I still have a lot to learn from seniors like President Sun and President Gong.”
Yi Feng’s response was neither humble nor arrogant, showing respect by calling them seniors, which also helped to close the gap between them.
Gong Feizhang appreciated Yi Feng’s attitude, “Ha ha, President Yi, you’re too modest. We should all exchange and learn from each other. I’m also interested in the computer market. Let’s find ti to have a good chat.”
His comnt was rely polite. For IDG, a few million was considered a small business, and they weren’t greatly interested.
“Sure, that sounds good,” Yi Feng replied with a smile, not pursuing the topic further.
This, in turn, increased Sun Feng’s esteem for Yi Feng. Previously, when he encountered small company CEOs, they would flatter him endlessly, eager to discuss investnt over drinks.
Now, it was clear to him that President Yi was different; confident, a confidence stemming from real strength.
“Since President Yi is here, let’s all head to the eting room,” Ma Huateng gestured for everyone to follow.
They chatted and laughed on their way to the pre-booked eting room.
Ma Huateng took the head of the table, with Yi Feng and Wang Tie to his right, and the rest arranged to his left.
Wang Tie, experiencing such a setup for the first ti, was understandably nervous, his palms sweating.
He whispered to Yi Feng, “Brother Feng, do I need to do anything later?”
His voice trembled slightly.
Yi Feng patted his shoulder, whispering back reassuringly, “Don’t be so nervous. Just be ready to offer them cigarettes when you see the opportunity; those two presidents smoke.”
“Got it,” Wang Tie took a deep breath, calming himself down.
He didn’t want to embarrass Yi Feng outside, knowing he needed to be stronger ntally.
Yi Feng smiled, “That’s the spirit. Just treat it like a chat; you just listen in.”
Yi Feng deliberately brought Wang Tie along to give him so exposure, hoping it would make him more composed in future discussions.
“Zhibei, distribute our proposal, and let Yi and everyone take a look at the details,” Ma Huateng instructed.
Zhang Zhibei stood up and distributed a docunt to everyone.
The eting’s agenda was to confirm the investnt plan, detailing the investnt amount, the ti of fund entry, the betting agreent, and more comprehensive information about Tencent, including background, scale, major shareholders, team, employees, products, operations, etc.
This detailed information was essential for investors to understand.
Yi Feng took over half an hour to carefully review the entire plan, which was mostly as expected.
The financial statents and condition revealed that Tencent was spending more than it was earning, especially on human resources and server setup costs, with server maintenance alone costing 200,000 a month!
No wonder QQ often crashed. Despite the high maintenance cost, it was relatively low given QQ’s vast user base.
These were indeed challenging tis for Tencent.
Yi Feng had no issues with the investnt amount and timing, able to complete the 1 million investnt within a week. However, the terms of the betting agreent…
One clause only granted Yi Feng advisory rights, requiring approval from other Tencent partners for any suggestions.
Yi Feng frowned slightly. Didn’t this minimize his operational involvent to the lowest possible level?
Without direct control, achieving the 10 million revenue target for the betting agreent might face unexpected obstacles.
Because he wouldn’t be able to directly oversee the progression of work projects, which was also detrintal to his effort to gain internal power within Tencent.
Ma Huateng noticed Yi Feng’s expression and asked, “President Yi, what do you think of this proposal?”
Yi Feng placed the docunt on the table, stating indifferently, “Everything else might be fine, but this betting agreent won’t work.”
“President Ma, is this the sincerity you’re showing?”
His words fell, and the room went silent.
Everyone looked at him with a mix of astonishnt and disbelief.
No one expected Yi Feng to suddenly take such a firm stance!
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