2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 811 "High School Student Boss Tan" VS Dinner Party
P.S.: Thank you all for your support. We've reached 3000 high-quality tracks. It wasn't easy to get this up from 300 subscriptions, haha!
"Why didn't your wife come? Didn't your game, Honor of Kings, become popular?"

Currently, my country has 6.3 million internet users and 12 billion mobile phone users. With the promotion of 4G, smartphone users have gradually replaced feature phone users.

This brings us to the Redmi phone priced at 799 yuan.

With the advent of 4G, Honor of Kings ran much more smoothly, providing a much better gaming experience. Various promotions, including traffic support for Honor of Kings streamers on Orange Live, contributed to the game's rapid rise in popularity.

With downloads increasing, starting in October, Honor of Kings began to rank among the top ten in Android and iOS game download charts. From being unknown to gaining some fame, the Orange version of Honor of Kings took just over a year.

The number of downloads for Honor of Kings has now exceeded 10 million. Going from zero to one is a very difficult process, but once the user base increases to 10 million, it's only a matter of time before it reaches 100 million.

"The child is still too young and at the age where she is mischievous. Under normal circumstances, she does not go on business trips unless there is something particularly important."

Cheng Hao came from Orange Technology, while Yao Xiaoguang, the head of TiMi Studio, came. Yao Xiaoguang deserves a lot of credit for the current success of Honor of Kings, as he was originally the head of its development.

From the perspective of a user, Tan Jincheng can offer some opinions, but if it really needs to be developed, it still requires the understanding of professionals regarding King of Glory. Tan Jincheng believes that being able to recruit Yao Xiaoguang is his greatest contribution to TiMi Studio.

Speaking of children, Lei Jun felt that Tan Jincheng was even more unusual. At the age of 29, his child was already four years old. There were very few entrepreneurs like him in the whole country.

"Shall we find somewhere to talk tonight?"

Old Ma gave a passionate speech on stage, going from a little awkward to fluent and natural. His eloquence was truly outstanding. It's just a question of how many people were listening attentively. In any case, Tan Jincheng and his trio didn't seem to be paying much attention.

Shen Nanpeng extended an invitation to Tan Jincheng. The three-day event was very packed with activities, and in addition to participating in the events, they also had to give interviews to the media, which were all assigned tasks.

"Okay, let's find a quiet place tonight to chat."

It's probably about acquiring a Southeast Asian car company, or it could be about Xiaomi's financing, as Lei Jun just mentioned. Xiaomi will be raising funds again at the end of the year, which should be Series F, and probably the last round of financing before its IPO.

Since the venture capital funding round, Tan Jincheng's stake in Xiaomi has decreased from the initial 20% to 17.63%, but he is still the second largest shareholder after Lei Jun.

Of course, maintaining this market share cannot rely solely on venture capital funding. Over the past five years, ByteDance's investment in Xiaomi should amount to at least $100 million.

It had a return of over 400 times before it went public, which is incredible.

"What are you two discussing in private? If you have any good projects, please let me know."

"Haha, Mr. Tan asked me to help collect some information, about cars, but you're not interested."

"How do you know I'm not interested? Can I listen in, you two executives?"

Lei Jun really doesn't stand on ceremony. In fact, people like him are all quite thick-skinned, and they won't miss any opportunity.

Shen Nanpeng pointed at Tan Jincheng, meaning that he didn't care as long as Tan Jincheng agreed.

"If you don't have any plans for tonight, I can book a place for us to grab a late-night snack and chat, or maybe we can invite a few more people over to come and talk?"

It wouldn't be appropriate to refuse Lei Jun, but it wouldn't be convenient to have a detailed discussion with him present. It would be better to invite a few more people to have a meal together and chat.

"Sure, let's invite a few people over for a late-night snack and a chat tonight."

Having said that, Lei Busi couldn't say anything more. It seemed that this was something that Wei Lai didn't want outsiders to know. Although he also held shares in Wei Lai, it was only a financial investment.

The first World Internet Conference was a novel experience for both visiting tourists and invited entrepreneurs.

The morning's activities proceeded smoothly, with Lao Ma's speech being as standard as usual. The schedule was quite tight, with the opening ceremony ending at 12:30 pm, just one hour before the Zhejiang Provincial branch venue.

During the one-hour break, they still had to arrange several brief interviews. These reporters didn't even spare someone like Zhang Yiming, who was relatively low-profile.

Anyone you can name, you have to ask them a few questions when you catch them.

As one of the key figures at this conference, Tan Jincheng was frequently stopped by reporters during the one-hour lunch break.

"Don't you guys eat lunch? And don't just take pictures of us, take pictures of the scenery in Wuzhen too. Wuzhen is really beautiful."

"What's it like? If I had to describe it, the night view of Xizha is very nice. The commercial atmosphere is a bit strong, but that has its advantages, namely, it's more modern."

"Personally, I still prefer Dongzha. Staying inside the scenic area, strolling along the bluestone paths early in the morning before everyone else is awake, gives me a feeling of traveling back to ancient times."

"Why does it look so familiar? Haha, my wife and I came here to visit before. I really like ancient architecture."

"Oh, I'm attending this conference mainly as an investor. If there are any good projects, ByteDance is naturally happy to invest. There are many people from both China and abroad attending this conference, so there should be some opportunities."

"What areas will you focus on? Artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, I guess. If any companies in these fields are looking for investors, feel free to call me."

Tan Jincheng spoke eloquently. As the newly minted second richest man, the youngest tycoon in the room, and the actual controller of a company worth hundreds of billions, there was no room for him to keep a low profile. Since he couldn't resist, he might as well accept it calmly.

"Mr. Tan, as of today, your net worth is still about 100 billion yuan less than that of Mr. Ma of Ali. Looking at the stock trend, Weilai shares continued to hit a new high today, while Ali's stock price entered a downward trend after the Double Eleven climax."

"You might become the richest person in the country in just one day. What are your thoughts on this?"

Ultimately, we can't escape this problem.

The reporter who asked the question clearly has a good understanding of the stock market. After the Double Eleven shopping spree, stocks related to e-commerce, such as Ali, Jingdong, and Orange Technology, have entered a correction trend, with the leading stock, Ali, experiencing four consecutive days of decline.

The stock price trends of Jingdong and Orange Technology are similar, but stocks related to the automotive concept are showing strong performance, which may be related to the hype surrounding the Guangzhou Auto Show. Stocks such as Weilai, BYD, and Tesla are performing very well.

Not only are car-related stocks performing well, but Apple's stock is also showing strong momentum.

Apple implemented a 7-for-1 stock split in early June, after which its stock price consolidated around $90 until mid-October, before rising steadily to $116.

Between August and September 2012, Tan Jincheng sold nearly $17.6 billion worth of Apple stock. Over the next two years, after a 1-for-7 stock split, the value of his shares exceeded $21 billion.

Judging from the stock price trend, with a difference of just over 100 billion, Tan Jincheng does indeed have the possibility of briefly becoming the richest man in the country.

However, the performance still needs to be presented.

"There's no point in talking about this. I can't sell all my stocks to cash out. Besides, our company is still far behind Mr. Ma's Ali."

That's absolutely true. Alipay is a money-making tool. If it goes public, it's bound to be worth trillions. Competing with Jack Ma for the title of richest man is pointless.

Although Tan Jincheng had the support of those above him, in 2014, before Lao Ma (Jack Ma) had todredged up his disguise, Ali was clearly more popular, and the Internet Conference was his home turf.

This reporter's comparison of his wealth with that of Old Ma might be seen as an attempt to stir up trouble.

After all, it's rumored that Ah Li's Boss Ma and Wei Lai's Boss Tan have a rather ordinary relationship.

The afternoon was filled with meetings one after another. After attending the Zhejiang Province session, Tan Jincheng rushed to the next one, which was today's highlight, the summit forum.

True leaders don't judge success by market capitalization; they have forward-thinking business models, which is very helpful for Tan Jincheng, who is currently facing challenges, in planning for the future.

Often, a single sentence from a big shot may just be their vision for the future, but Tan Jincheng is able to discern opportunities within it.

For example, Li Dashuai, the CEO of Baidu, spoke at the summit forum about his vision for artificial intelligence, which is the business model that will be called AI in the future. In addition, Baidu's president advocated that the Internet and traditional industries should embrace and integrate with each other.

This is the concept of "Internet Plus," which uses the internet to support traditional industries.

Tan Jincheng also benefited greatly from the big data concept proposed by the CEO of Youku Tudou and the Internet of Things concept proposed by the former president of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

AI, big data, IoT, cloud storage, and the increasing emphasis on internet marketing by traditional industries are all part of the visions that business leaders envision for the next five to ten years, but for Tan Jincheng, they are real experiences.

After the experts analyzed the situation, Wei Lai's future path became increasingly clear.

Unlike his absent-mindedness at the opening ceremony, Tan Jincheng listened attentively to this summit forum, even taking notes, which attracted everyone's attention and resulted in more and more flashes of light being pointed at him.

Before the meeting even ended, footage of Boss Tan taking notes was uploaded online, a stark contrast to his absent-mindedness and whispering during Lao Ma's speech that morning.

"Haha, he was whispering to each other when Mr. Ma was giving his speech this morning, but now he looks so serious, like a high school student."

"You know what, with Boss Tan's face and the way he's taking notes so seriously, he really does look like us back in high school."

Boss Tan, who was at the venue, was unaware that the hashtag 'High School Student Tan Jincheng' had already gone viral on the internet, becoming the focus of traffic this afternoon. It wasn't meant to be derogatory; it was mostly just a joke.

Mr. Tan, who was at the venue, was unaware of all this. This summit forum was indeed an eye-opening occasion for him, as many bigwigs were genuinely sharing their insights.

As the deputy editor-in-chief of the Japanese newspaper, she keenly sensed from a media professional's perspective that short videos would rise in the future. The rise of short video apps such as Kuaishou, Weipai, and Miaopai, with their visual and fragmented communication methods, is refreshing.

In addition, these traditional media professionals also mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of over-mediaization, such as the rampant rumors in the era of self-media.

Many things that will happen in the future were actually predicted by people ten years ago, but they were so caught up in the prosperity that they did not pay attention or were deliberately ignored.

Compared to the speeches of these industry leaders, the speeches of Jack Ma and Pony Ma seemed much more perfunctory. Perhaps it was because it was the first day, but although Jack Ma was full of charisma today, his speech didn't have many highlights.

His speech at the summit forum was about how the Internet will affect the world, society, and human civilization in the next 50 years. Isn't that just pure nonsense?

As for Xiao Ma, this guy seems to be like a sneaky old man from a cultivation world. Today, his topic is that communication and social networking have great potential in the mobile internet field.
One spoke in endless bureaucratic jargon, the other only talked about his company's core business—neither of them really knew anything. However, Tan Jincheng gleaned quite a bit of useful information from the CEOs of Baidu. Compared to the two stingy individuals unwilling to share much, the handsome Li was genuinely willing to share.

The summit forum ended at 6:30 p.m. In winter, Zhejiang Province was already completely dark, but Wuzhen Scenic Area was brightly lit. As Tan Jincheng walked out of the venue, he felt a slight chill and became much more awake.

From 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., this kind of high-intensity meeting, with the entire process exposed to the media and the need to maintain an image, is something he has never experienced even during the Two Sessions.

Not only that, there will be a dinner party next, which will actually end at 8:30 pm.

"Mr. Tan, you've become an internet sensation."

Lei Jun caught up with a grin. If you were to ask which of the CEOs Tan Jincheng knew was the most fond of surfing the internet, Lei Jun would definitely be at the top of the list. The number of Weibo posts he made in a month was more than Tan Jincheng made in a year.

Tan Jincheng was somewhat confused: "What do you mean?"

Lei Jun pointed to the notebook in Tan Jincheng's hand and said, "The footage of you taking notes diligently in the meeting this afternoon was uploaded to the internet by reporters during the meeting. These people know how to seize the timeliness of news."

He didn't sit with Tan Jincheng in the afternoon, but he did notice Tan Jincheng's actions. Of course, he didn't think much of it, since he was listening attentively himself.

I just browsed through Weibo and found it quite interesting.

“Look, you can also respond to netizens at the same time. Although you have been interacting with netizens these past few days, I think you could do it more frequently.”

The banquet will not start for another half hour, so attendees can take a short break.

Lei Buss's serious expression piqued Tan Jincheng's curiosity: "Really? Let's find a place to sit down and I'll come and see what's going on."

As for his point about interacting more with users, he certainly can't compare to him in that respect. Tan Jincheng considers himself to be very close to being a physical business owner in the internet industry, but he still can't compare to someone like Lei Jun, who is like an internet addict.

They found a spot and sat down. Tan Jincheng took out his phone and started looking at it.

"Ha, this is a good angle, not bad at all."

I casually browsed through the comments and entries, and there were quite a lot. The internet is like a large-scale reality show, putting countless celebrities under the spotlight for netizens to comment on. It's better than a live broadcast.

One after another, entrepreneurs and social celebrities appear in the media with their words and images, and the level of discussion they generate varies depending on their popularity.

Before the Internet Conference began, Tan Jincheng, whose net worth had skyrocketed due to the surge in stock price, was just as popular as the BAT giants. Even Lei Jun, who is known for his internet marketing and frequent interactions with netizens, was not as popular as him.

"That's interesting, but they're right, I am indeed a high school student."

Tan Jincheng has never shied away from the topic of education. Although he has acquired some fancy academic titles after becoming famous, he has never mentioned them. When the topic of education comes up, he will still say that he graduated from high school.

Many entrepreneurs like to present themselves as high-class and sophisticated after they become famous, but don't underestimate the power of netizens. If they really want to dig deep, they can expose your very secrets.

"You can respond and interact with netizens; this is a rare opportunity."

Dongzi once said, "Don't try to compete with Lei Jun in marketing; you can't beat him." His eyes were full of envy. He truly wouldn't miss any marketing opportunity.

"Haha, come on, let's take a group photo, I'll post it on Weibo."

Lei Jun is a marketing genius, but Tan Jincheng is no less so. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run, right? When it comes to being approachable, he's second to none.

Lei Jun laughed heartily.

Five minutes later, Mr. Tan updated his personal Weibo with a photo of himself and Lei Jun at the Wuzhen conference. In the picturesque Jiangnan water town, with its small bridges and flowing water, the two highly popular entrepreneurs smiled at the camera.

Compositionally, Mr. Tan's selfie is not bad, but what's most interesting is his design.

In response to the trending topic on Weibo during the recent meeting: "High school students VS top students".

"Haha, no wonder you started out in marketing, this plan is very well done."

"Hey, hurry up and send me a red envelope. Old Ma doesn't seem to be in the right state today. Once he recovers tomorrow, we won't have anything to do with him."

Little brat, you won't have it so easy tomorrow. Lei Jun being harassed by Apple executives and the female host on set will be a memorable moment that will be remembered for years to come.

It's true that the media is really unfair to Xiaomi these days. As the world's most popular mobile phone manufacturer, it's understandable that Apple's executives are a bit arrogant, but it's just unacceptable that a female host would make things so difficult for Lei Jun.

In 2014, Xiaomi ranked first in China and third in the world in terms of shipments, with a company valuation of over 400 billion US dollars. And this was only its fifth year of operation. Shouldn't such an internet hardware giant be respected?

It can only be said that the mentality of worshipping foreign things and fawning over foreigners was still very prevalent in 2014.

The dinner party is an occasion to network, but it is also an occasion where you wear a mask. Unlike the daytime meetings, which are open to the public, the dinner party requires an invitation to enter. Although some media people manage to sneak in, it is still not as noisy as the daytime events.

Where there are people, there is a social hierarchy. Those attending the banquet quickly discovered that the entrepreneurs and investors present had spontaneously formed several groups.

The companies in Alibaba's camp revolve around Ma Huateng, the companies in Tencent's camp revolve around Pony Ma, and the group of internet "veterans" led by Baidu are gathered together by Ding Lei.

Interestingly, Tan Jincheng, who is under 30 years old this year and attended the meeting as the president of ByteDance's investment arm, was also surrounded by a group of people.

Tan Jincheng is surrounded mainly by founders of emerging companies, investment institutions, and Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, who stands on the same level as him. Lei Jun's circle of friends is also among them.

People like Li Xiang from Autohome, Li Bing, CEO of Bitauto, Zhang Yiming from ByteDance, Chen Nian from Vancl, and He Xiaopeng from UC, etc. Interestingly, Wang Xin, who should now be considered part of the Ali camp, also appeared in Tan Jincheng's circle.

With Tan Jincheng, Lei Jun, Shen Nan, and Peng San all gathered in the center, a quick glance around the scene reveals that while this small circle may not be as powerful as the BAT giants, it certainly has a promising future.

They have money (investors), hardware (Xiaomi, Weilai Auto), software apps, and even media resources.

"It's gaining momentum."

It was unclear which guest was muttering to himself, but his companion beside him nodded in agreement.

As for who it refers to, everyone knows perfectly well.

Of course, these groups also occasionally interact with each other. For example, Tan Jincheng, who had just finished socializing, took the initiative to walk up to Ding Sanshi and Baidu Li.

"Brother Ding, it's been a long time! How about sending me a few pigs for the New Year?"

Ding Sanshi has been neglecting his proper business for the past year or so, raising his free-range pigs, and you know what, it's doing quite well.

When was the last outbreak of African swine fever in my country? I vaguely remember Ding Sanshi being caught in it, and he made quite a bit of money doing it as a hobby.

"You little rascal, you're almost the richest man now, how come you still try to take advantage of everyone you meet? You can't even afford pork, can you? Go buy it yourself."

Ding Sanshi smiled wryly. In fact, he was one of the first people in the internet circle to know Tan Jincheng. Back in the early 2000s, when Tan Jincheng was still nobody, the two of them met at the Ningbo Entrepreneurs Annual Meeting.

It's no exaggeration to say that they watched Tan Jincheng grow up little by little, and they also provided him with a lot of help. This kind of help is different from Tan Jincheng's cooperation with Tencent, Xiaomi and other manufacturers. It can be regarded as an elder guiding a younger generation.

Tan Jincheng always remembered this kindness. Although the two did not have much business interaction, they would still exchange greetings during holidays.

He also supported Lao Ding's pig farming venture, ordering a batch to supply the headquarters canteen.

"Hehe, what you buy yourself doesn't taste as good as what you get for free. It's settled then. Send a few to my family for the New Year."

This interruption eased the atmosphere considerably, and Tan Jincheng immediately struck up a conversation with Li from Baidu: "Mr. Li, I benefited greatly from the speech given by the Baidu team today. I'd like to propose a toast to you. If there's an opportunity, we can talk about artificial intelligence."

During the afternoon summit forum, Tan Jincheng took the most careful notes on the speeches of several people from Baidu. When talking about artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, he said that Baidu really relies on its domestic counterparts and has made huge investments.

It's a pity that there haven't been any major breakthroughs. This may be related to their system, but it doesn't hinder their technological accumulation. If Weilai wants to develop intelligent driving, it's indeed worthwhile to cooperate with Baidu.

"No problem, I'll go and experience your L2 intelligent driving system tomorrow."

Li, the handsome young man, readily agreed. Tomorrow, Weilai will be giving a demonstration on the ES6, focusing on intelligent driving technology. In terms of advancement, it is the best in China. He had already heard that Weilai was working on this, and had even established a chip company.

Go and experience it for yourself to see if it's really as advanced as they claim.

“Okay, then I’ll be there tomorrow to wait for Mr. Li.”

Old Ding's eyes darted around as he looked at everyone, then turned to Tan Jincheng and said, "We have another gathering tonight, do you want to come along? I'll let you have some of the pork I brought."

There aren't many people in Lao Ding's circle, but almost all of them are veterans from the portal era. They have a high status in the industry, but they are somewhat out of touch with the mobile internet era.

No one was offended by Lao Ding's invitation; on the contrary, they thought it was a good thing.

It's a good thing to inject some fresh blood into the industry, especially the most popular young entrepreneurial leaders of that time, both politically and economically.

Tan Jincheng was taken aback: "Uh, I also have a gathering tonight, I've invited President Shen of Red Robe and President Lei and the others."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. It was Dr. Li from Sohu who spoke up: "Then let's just sit at the same table. It's not a big deal."

"Alright then, I'll go talk to Mr. Lei and the others."

(End of this chapter)