2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 693 Investment Directions for 2010?

"A professor from Luzhou University of Technology has submitted an investment proposal to us on behalf of someone. It's a startup project by a professor and a few students from Harbin Institute of Technology. I'm unsure what to do. Would you like to take a look?"

"How much should we invest? If it's not much, then we'll invest."

Tan Jincheng was in a good mood when he got home from get off work and didn't pay too much attention to it. He teased Tan Jinyue while casually replying.

There are actually quite a few investments in this kind of facial recognition system, and people usually invest based on the circumstances; that's how it is in a society based on personal connections.

Normally, such investments would either go directly to Tan Jincheng, who would then have Gu Qingqing's controlled fund invest a few hundred thousand or a million to get rid of the investment. As for whether the invested project would succeed, that was up to fate.

This time, Gu Qingqing was found through connections at the university. Gu Qingqing wasn't indecisive; she just told Tan Jincheng that there was such a thing, otherwise the favor would have been given for nothing.

Tan Jincheng visited Luzhou University of Technology last time and there are many cooperative projects between them and Weilai Automobile.

Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "It's not a lot of money, just 100 million. If you have no objections, I'll have my secretary transfer the money. It's just a little funny."

"Hmm? What's so funny about it?"

Tan Jinyue got a little annoyed by her older brother's teasing and ran away.

“A previously niche model aircraft company now wants to transform its niche single-rotor product into a quadcopter, but it has no investors. It’s all the students’ professors who are trying to get funding by making connections here and there.”

The person who used facial recognition was a female professor named Zhu Xiaorui. Zhu Xiaorui was the least senior among these professors. Since she couldn't find a place to use facial recognition, she obtained the contact information of ByteDance from her former colleague, who is now a professor at Luzhou University of Technology.

ByteDance's advertising platform has a certain reputation in the investment circle, and given Wei Lai's relationship with Luzhou University of Technology, Zhu Xiaorui was thinking of trying her luck.

Which company is it?

"From Shenzhen."

Huh? Tan Jincheng's nerves twitched. A model airplane maker in Shenzhen, with a background at Harbin Institute of Technology? No way? He's got that kind of luck?

"Do you have the plan? If so, let me take a look."

Gu Qingqing looked at Tan Jincheng with some surprise. He usually didn't pay much attention to these kinds of investment opportunities based on personal relationships, so why was he interested today?

"Yes, wait a moment, Jin Yue will go get your bag for your brother."

Then he asked Tan Jincheng the question that had been bothering him: "Why are you interested in this today? It's just a 100 million yuan investment."

Gu Qingqing wasn't interested in model airplanes or anything like that, nor did she understand the technical aspects involved; the circle was too niche.

Furthermore, in a city like Shenzhen with a highly developed investment atmosphere, attracting investment requires professors to have connections, which suggests that the investment community doesn't have much faith in this project.

"Oh, Harbin Institute of Technology is a very prestigious university. I'm just curious what kind of project would make professors willing to go to such lengths to get involved."

He wasn't sure if it was the one he was looking for, so Tan Jincheng wasn't sure either.

Gu Qingqing agreed with this explanation. A professor's reputation is worth more than 100 million yuan, especially since he is a professor at Harbin Institute of Technology. Is it just because he is their student?
With a pout, reluctant little Tan Jinyue ran upstairs, picked up Gu Qingqing's bus bag, and ran down to hand it to Tan Jincheng.

Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Hehe, this little guy wasn't spoiled for nothing after all. Now he can help us with some small things."

Tan Jinyue snorted in dissatisfaction and went to play with her little toys.

Pulling a proposal out of his briefcase, Tan Jincheng recognized it immediately upon seeing the cover – it really was him!

Concealing his excitement, Tan Jincheng casually flipped through the project proposals inside, including things like the mass production and commercialization of quadcopters. To be honest, he couldn't understand any of it, but knowing the company's name was enough.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that they can't attract investment. After the subprime mortgage crisis, the capital market is very cautious about investing. Even internet companies like Yiche, which are aiming for an IPO, have difficulty attracting investment.

During its fourth round of financing, Yiche's market value had decreased compared to its third round.

And for a company founded by students that doesn't even have a proper office space, and whose projects are currently very niche, who would believe that this thing can be commercialized?

Facial recognition is probably a last resort.

“Go ahead and invest. Transfer the 100 million yuan tomorrow. Keep a close eye on this company in the future. By the way, this 100 million yuan investment will be made in our private names.”

After pretending to look at it for a while, Tan Jincheng put the document back into his briefcase.

They wanted to invest more, but unfortunately, the other party wasn't stupid. They raised 100 million here and 100 million there. Boss Wang even brought in a sum of money from his own home, just like the venture capitalists when Orange Technology was first established.

Some things are already good enough to encounter, so there's no need to be too greedy.

Do you believe this project has the potential to succeed?

This kind of investment based on personal connections is the first time Tan Jincheng has asked her to take the initiative to pay attention to it, and to transfer the money tomorrow is just too fast, isn't it?

If you don't have a positive outlook, why would you do this?

Tan Jincheng nodded: "Yes, Harbin Institute of Technology's strength is obvious to all, and they have already mastered the core technology in single-rotor aircraft. If they can apply the single-rotor technology to the lighter quadcopter, mass production and commercialization are actually possible." It must have been a success, Tan Jincheng naturally knew that, and it was no ordinary achievement.

The US imposes sanctions on this and that, but it's the only one that stands firm: if you impose sanctions, I'll raise prices. In the end, the US is forced to lift the sanctions.

"So, does that mean we actually got a good deal?"

There are many aspects to the commercial application of drones, and Gu Qingqing has learned about some of them. If it can really be commercialized, then the 100 million yuan is definitely worth it.

"It's too early to say whether it's a bargain or not, but it's only 100 million yuan. You can treat it as doing someone a favor and you won't lose out."

"Too."

Gu Qingqing thought for a moment and then swallowed back the question of whether she should throw in more.

The reason why Zhu Xiaorui approached Tan Jincheng was actually due to recommendations from her connections within the university circle. Her foundation focuses more on the education of students in impoverished areas and spends a lot of money on universities in Ningbo and Luzhou.

Through these lavish spending sprees, Flash Group has accumulated considerable connections and resources in the education sector. Ningbo city has relatively scarce higher education resources, but Luzhou is a major base for engineering schools.

One drink, one peck, has its own destiny.

Tan Jincheng, inspired by Dajiang's stroke of luck, wondered if he should start investing in some high-tech sectors for the future.
Lei Jun should be preparing to launch his Xiaomi company soon, right? Is there any chance?

Apple will release its most famous fourth-generation iPhone, once dubbed the "kidney phone," in June of this year. It was after the iPhone 4 was released that the domestic smartphone market experienced explosive growth.

Before Xiaomi phones came out, there were countless small manufacturers in China that copied Apple phones. Brands like Nica were practically identical to Apple phones in appearance.

In 2010, Flash Group adopted a low-key approach, focusing on selling cars and clothes, conducting research and development, and developing new models.

However, keeping a low profile does not mean ceasing development, which makes the investment in ByteDance's advertising platform particularly important.

During the years that Lei Jun was supposed to be "empty-handed," he wasn't completely idle. His own investment company was also making investments everywhere, the most famous of which was probably his love-hate relationship with Vancl.

Vancl was quite famous in 2009. It was also lucky to complete its third round of financing before the subprime crisis, which gave it enough funds to expand significantly in 2009.

Among Vancl's third round of investments was Qiming Venture Partners, which was the first to invest in Orange Technology.

Throughout 2009, Vancl expanded aggressively, entering the women's and children's clothing markets after its initial focus on men's wear.

By burning through large sums of money and leveraging its low-price advantage, Vancl held the top position in the 2009 ranking of self-operated clothing B2C websites with a market share of 28.4%.

At the end of the year, it ranked first in Deloitte's 2009 Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Companies list with a three-year growth rate of 9576%.

However, this thing is a bit like self-promotion; it's just capital creating hype for itself.

However, it must be said that Vancl's growth rate is truly astonishing, and its popularity even surpassed that of Taobao at one point. In addition, Vancl also has the support of the municipal government, with the top two officials visiting the company from time to time.

The power of capital and government support made Vancl stand out in 2009, when everyone else was cutting back on spending, but Vancl was increasing its investment.

Having weathered the cautious period of 2009, institutional investors should be more active in 2010, and ByteDance's advertising platform can also get moving.

However, apart from Xiaomi, which he knew about, Tan Jincheng couldn't think of any other good projects.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of his social circle in his previous life, all Boss Tan knew about investing was from hindsight news reports.

What are some good projects?

"This year, let's do more investments besides stocks. We can discuss the specific directions with Mr. Huang and Mr. Cheng, or we can also talk to Mr. Cheng and Mr. Sun."

As for stocks, there's probably not much hope for A-shares this year. The rebound throughout 2009 saw the Shanghai Composite Index rise from a low of 1664 points to over 3400 points, a rebound of more than 100%.

As a retail investor, I may not know much else, but I am very clear that the A-share market has been hovering around 3000 points for a long time. Around 3000 points, it is time for those who have made a lot of profits to clear their positions and do something else.

Just like when they cleared out their BYD shares in Hong Kong, the HK$8.7 million they received has already been invested in US tech stocks such as Google and Apple.

If you don't have enough capital, there's no need to follow Buffett's example and not run away after making several times your initial investment.
"Sure, what kind of investment area are you looking for?"

January was her fourth month of pregnancy. She had passed the danger period and her belly was starting to show. The baby would be born in another six months.

She's unlikely to leave Ningbo for the next six months, but she can still handle tasks like reviewing documents and making decisions.

Being pregnant doesn't mean you have to stay in bed all the time.

"As for investment direction, I need to think about that. Let's talk about it after our supplier conference in Weilai in a few days. I'll go and check on ByteDance's massive engine and how much capital our fund can use then."

The funds for ByteDance's advertising platform are constantly changing, and Mr. Tan hasn't paid much attention to them. He's not really sure how much money they can actually use right now, but he knows it's a lot.

(End of this chapter)