2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 339 Kaixin.com's Financing Plan

Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing stayed in the office all afternoon with the door tightly closed, causing Cheng Hao and Gu Yanning to glance at them from time to time, but they did not dare to knock on the door to disturb them.

Compared to Jay Chou's album, Chris Lee's album sounded much more perfunctory, and Tan Jincheng's mood returned to normal.

"I'm going back to my hometown in a few days. Would you like to come with me and see my hometown?"

Given Tao Qinian's sincerity, it would be somewhat unreasonable for Tan Jincheng not to go back. What if the man becomes successful and gets promoted in the future?
When that time comes, old grievances will be brought up again, and Tan Jincheng really doesn't dare to gamble on this.

Some things are more sincere when discussed face-to-face than over the phone.

Business owners should always maintain a cautious mindset, avoiding offending people whenever possible. This is not weakness, but wisdom.

"Go to your hometown?" Gu Qingqing suddenly felt a little nervous.

If I remember correctly, this should be the first time Tan Jincheng invited her to his hometown.

“Yes, how about we go together? Although it’s not a holiday now, National Day is coming soon. How about we go back and stay for a while? We can bring my mom and sister with us too.”

Now a junior, and with her career path no longer aligned with her current major, coupled with the influence of Kaixin001, Gu Qingqing no longer prioritizes her studies as much as she did in her freshman and sophomore years, and taking leave has become quite common.

When her roommate Zhao Wenjia changed her major, even Li Manli and Chen Yanan began to waver, wondering if they should consider their future more carefully.

If freshmen and sophomores are still in a relatively clueless state, then junior year is a watershed moment, when everyone has to start thinking about the future.

"Do you understand the significance of a boy inviting a girl back to his hometown?" Gu Qingqing said with a light laugh.

A guy usually only takes a girl home if he really approves of her. But it's different with Tan Jincheng. Because of work and other reasons, although he has met her parents, he has never been to her hometown.

Gu Qingqing is a girl who dares to love and hate. She is decisive, knows how to seize opportunities, and understands Tan Jincheng's personality. She speaks her mind directly.

Tan Jincheng pulled her close and said with a smile, "Of course I know, don't think of me as such a straight man."

I like this kind of straightforward personality. How annoying is the guessing game and green tea behavior?
Caught off guard, Gu Qingqing fell directly into Tan Jincheng's arms. The ambiguous conversation made her breathing quicken.

"Straight man?"

"It means someone who lacks charm and has low emotional intelligence."

"You always come up with some really weird words. I really want to dig out your brain and see what's inside."

"Open my mouth first." Boss Tan's hands began to wander.

"Yes, this is an office, so be careful."

"You've made me even more excited now that you've mentioned it. I don't think we've ever done this before, have we?"

Gu Qingqing felt her head was throbbing with blood, and she couldn't think straight.

Boss Tan isn't straight; he's just busy and lazy. He knows far more than someone like Zhang Xupeng, who's really in his early twenties. If he wanted to be a playboy, he could probably do it without any problem.

He even said that he would never have that so-called "most affectionate man in Jiangnan" again in his life.

However, he probably won't be involved in anything for the rest of his life. With the rise of mobile internet, Boss Tan's current level of fame is something that no internet celebrity can compete with.

While the office play was underway, Zhou Ao had already started to capitalize on Jay Chou's popularity. He also contacted Jay Chou's management team, asking them to cooperate, and Flash would also help promote his album.

It was a mutually beneficial deal, and Flash's promotional capabilities have always been well-known in the industry, so Jay Chou's team readily agreed.

One thing is worth acknowledging: although FlashCare likes to ride the coattails of trending topics and is shameless when competing, it is still not something that people can dislike, because FlashCare never tries to capitalize on negative news or engages in moral blackmail.

This is why even though Greenfield and Bedwin were rendered speechless by Flash, they couldn't say much.

Privately, Flash has donated a lot of money in various places. For example, in the last Kaixin.com poll, which was held in two rounds, Flash donated teaching buildings for five schools in a certain area of ​​Sichuan Province.

Besides winning both games and acquiring three schools, Chun Ge's fans also donated one school each in the names of Jay Chou's and Liu Yifei's fans, showing their generosity.

These are all things known to their peers, but Flashlink has not engaged in excessive advertising, which has earned them great appreciation from their business owners.

If Flash Motors were to promote this matter extensively, they would inevitably have to spend some money as well.
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"Boss, what do you think Boss Tan and the boss are doing inside? The door has been closed all afternoon."

Gu Yanning rolled her eyes at him and said, "Is this something you should be concerned about? Have you finished writing your code?"

"No, there are a few things in the new game that I don't quite understand. I wanted to ask Boss Tan what he thinks. Boss, could you go knock on the door for me?" "No time. And don't knock on the door. Boss Tan is here today to discuss something very important with the boss. You are not allowed to disturb them."

"What's wrong? Is it about financing?"

The valuation of Kaixin001 has recently become a hot topic of discussion in the industry. Currently, Kaixin001's registered users and daily active users have been firmly in the top 15. After rejecting the financing requests of several institutions, the industry is speculating when Kaixin001 will be able to accept its first round of financing.

As the first employees of Kaixin001, they were also concerned about financing, because financing meant that their compensation would increase again, namely stock options.

That's right. Tan Jincheng's initial promise regarding employee stock options was that Kaixin001 would exercise stock options for all employees after its first round of financing.

This is one of the benefits of joining an internet startup. Startups that lack talent often promise employees stock options, allowing them to receive a certain amount of bonuses from the company each year in addition to their regular salary.

Orange Technology is no exception. In addition, the salaries of Internet companies are very different from those of physical companies. Employees who can obtain stock options have to work at least several years less than the average person.

The people Gu Yanning brought weren't particularly outstanding in ability, but unfortunately, they were lucky. In the workplace, luck is more important than ability.

When I first joined Orange Technology, my classmates ridiculed me, thinking it was unwise for us to give up the stability of a big company for some short-term gains. However, no one expected that Kaixin001 would become a viral sensation a few months later.

"Stop asking questions and focus on your work. Boss Tan has his own plans for when the company will raise funds, or is it that your current treatment is poor?" Gu Yanning said sternly.

"No, no, I was just chatting casually. Time to get back to work."

"Don't worry, you'll get your share of rewards if you work hard. Just ask the employees at Flash, Boss Tan always keeps his word."

After several months of intense work, Gu Yanning has developed some leadership qualities. Even with her classmates, she can still be strict when necessary.

As a woman, and because of her special relationship with Gu Qingqing, Gu Yanning was the only one at Orange Technology who could freely enter and leave Gu Qingqing's office.

Tan Jincheng signed a contract with the property owner of the Financial Building today. She knew about this and was originally curious about the details of the purchase, thinking she would inquire about them later.

Who knew that when I was passing by the office just now, I could faintly hear moaning and groaning sounds coming from inside!

"I didn't expect Qingqing to be so bold, and neither is Boss Tan, who usually seems quite mature and composed."

She wasn't some clueless newbie; she really didn't expect these two to dare do this in the office. How embarrassing would it be if the employees heard about it?

What's infuriating is that I actually have to cover for them!
However, we really need to talk to Qingqing about the financing issue. Orange Technology currently has enough money in its accounts to last until the end of the year, and there are only three months left until the end of the year. We can't wait until the money runs out before we raise funds, that would be too passive.

Although Gu Yanning knew that as a major investor in Orange Technology, and even her uncle was not short of money, supporting Orange Technology's next round of money-burning plans was not a problem at all.

But the internet industry can't just keep burning money all the time. Besides, if they keep refusing to raise funds, the project team members will start to have their own issues.

Regardless of the outcome, it's necessary to contact some venture capital firms first, even if it's unsuccessful, to reassure the employees.

It wasn't until 5 p.m. that Gu Yanning finally saw the door to Gu Qingqing's office open.

The two walked side by side toward Gu Yanning's seat. Gu Qingqing said to Gu Yanning, "Sister, I might be away from the company in a few days. I'll leave the company's affairs to you and Director Cheng."

"Oh, where are you going? You shouldn't be too busy with your studies this year, right?"

"Go to Yicheng, and come back after National Day," Gu Qingqing said, blushing.

Gu Yanning looked at her in surprise. She knew what her cousin meant, otherwise she wouldn't have called her "sister." Congratulations to her.

But this isn't the time to talk about that. These two are going to be gone for half a month, leaving the company to her and Lao Cheng. There are some things that need to be explained, right?
"Mr. Tan, can we talk for a bit?"

Tan Jincheng just wanted to go home right now and didn't want to talk about work, so he smiled and said, "Make a long story short, what's up?"

"Regarding Kaixin001's financing plan, I wonder what Mr. Tan's plans are?"

She is the CEO's assistant. Gu Qingqing has been at school recently, so she is the one who handles the company's daily affairs, including receiving financing institutions.

"Oh, you mean this? Go ahead and spread the word that companies with a valuation of less than 1 million should not apply, and we will only accept investment from one venture capital firm in the first round."

Valuation is a sensitive issue. For Orange Technology, which has already passed the venture capital stage, the first round of investment cannot be too high, so as not to affect subsequent financing, but it certainly cannot be too cheap either.

A valuation of 1 million is the minimum. Anyway, these venture capitalists have plenty of money, and they'll take advantage of them if they can.

Hey bosses, if you have any monthly passes, give me some!

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(End of this chapter)