Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 21 Technology Company
Song Ci shook his head and, drawing on his memories from his past life, explained to Zhang Yong: "Chen Tianqiao's idea aligns with industry trends, but not with the national conditions. The essence of Shanda Box is a media terminal."

Even if the telecommunications industry supports him, the optoelectronics industry won't agree to his actions. Without government support and endorsement, it will all be for naught in the end.

For internet companies, a flawed strategic development direction is fatal. The more Chen Tianqiao invested in his "box project," the faster Shanda declined.

Song Ci's analysis, which was both relevant to the national context and well-reasoned, cast a shadow over Zhang Yong's mind.

Years of experience in the business world have given Zhang Yong exceptional insight. He knew that Song Ci's analysis was completely correct, which made him feel heavy-hearted. Anyone who knew that the company he was about to take over would decline or even go bankrupt in a few years would find it hard to accept.

Looking at Zhang Yong, who was silent with his head down, Song Ci emphasized her tempting tone: "Old Zhang, join my Tengda. Shanda is at its peak now, and its market value has reached a new high. If you go there to be the CFO, Chen Tianqiao just wants you to make the accounts look better. At most, you'll get a high salary."

"If you join my Tengda Technology, your salary will definitely not be lower than Shanda's. You'll also be a co-founder, able to realize your ambitions, and enjoy original shares. Once Tengda goes public, becoming a billionaire will be within your grasp."

Zhang Yong scoffed inwardly. This young man in his early twenties was making empty promises to him. No matter what happened to Shanda in the future, it was at least a small internet giant now.

What does Tengda Technology, a newly registered company, have? No products, no funds, no manpower—it's a company with nothing.

However, Zhang Yong was quite shrewd. Even though he looked down on him, he didn't show it on his face and calmly asked, "As far as I know, Mr. Song's Tengda Technology currently has nothing; it's just an empty shell company. Even putting aside the current situation, I wonder how Mr. Song plans to develop the company in the future?"

Song Ci sighed, realizing that his ability to make empty promises was still inferior to Ma Jieke's. Talented people were hard to come by, and if he wanted to recruit Zhang Yong, he could only offer him some real substance.

Song Ci organized his thoughts and eloquently explained Tengda Technology's initial development plan: "Games are an important cash cow and will be one of the company's main businesses. The company has already planned several excellent game products, which will be launched soon. Moreover, Tengda will focus on building its own game platform."

Secondly, the company will develop a portal website. However, unlike Sina and Sohu, which focus on information dissemination, Tenda's new portal website will develop a content creation model and value-added services.

Once the company has established a foothold in the gaming and new portal sectors, it will gradually enter the social networking field. Tengda's future positioning is a pan-entertainment media group based on internet social networking.

Zhang Yong will only reveal some of his ambitious plans for mobile internet, big data, and cloud computing after he joins Tenda Technology.

The grand vision depicted in the Song Dynasty poem finally piqued Zhang Yong's interest. He sat up straight and humbly asked, "Leaving aside games, it's the fastest way to monetize in the internet industry."

Even a few percent market share is enough to create a listed company. Regarding the new portal development model you just mentioned, could Mr. Song please share your insights and elaborate?

Song Ci didn't hold back, nor was he afraid that Zhang Yong would steal his teachings. He frankly stated, "The current three major portal websites are just copying news and not creating any news. My new portal website will increase content creation."

Attracting users through cross-industry partnerships, such as collaborating with the NBA and UEFA (making the website the official Asian operator for these leagues), or sending journalists to Hollywood for in-depth entertainment coverage, can all attract a large user base.

What Song Ci was talking about were things that the three major portal websites only started doing four or five years later. Hearing them now was indeed refreshing for Zhang Yong. "President Song's strategic development plan really amazes me, but what about the company's development funds? If we can't quickly open up the market with a large amount of funds in the early stages, Sina, Sohu, and NetEase will soon realize what's going on and copy it, hindering the development of the new portal."

Zhang Yong is also quite capable; he pointed out the core problem incisively. There are no technical bottlenecks in the planning of Song Ci. Although it was your idea, others can follow suit.

Song Ci, confident in his abilities, handed Zhang Yong a pre-prepared document.

"I already had a plan to deal with the funding problem. Although I am young, I have some talent in the financial field. After the National Day holiday, I will gradually sell off these shares, which will be enough for the company's early development."

Finance is Song Ci's true trump card. He went to Peking University to study finance, hoping that through systematic learning and advanced studies, combined with the memories in his mind, he could ensure that he would be invincible in the financial market. The subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis will be great opportunities for him to obtain funds.

Zhang Yong flipped through the document in his hand. His years of accounting experience allowed him to recognize at a glance that it was an asset certificate containing hundreds of millions of yuan worth of stocks and copyright value certificates for several best-selling novels.

Zhang Yong stared, speechless with astonishment. After a long pause, he asked incredulously, "President Song writes novels?"

Song Ci grinned and said, "Some romance novels for young people are not worthy of being considered highbrow."

Zhang Yong was captivated by Song Ci's talent, and at this moment, he had already given up the idea of ​​working for Shanda. "What does President Song hope I will do after joining Tengda Technology?"

Song Ci was overjoyed. With Zhang Yong, a strategist capable of overseeing the entire situation, the great undertaking was within reach.

"I hired Mr. Zhang as the CEO of Tengda Technology, so he is naturally responsible for the operation and development of the entire company. Also, I will be going to Peking University after the summer vacation. When I am not here, Mr. Zhang, you need to take good care of the company's affairs and supervise and ensure the progress of the company's project development."

Zhang Yong's eyes widened like saucers; he almost doubted his ears. Go to university!
Although Song Ci did look unusually young, he only guessed that Song Ci might be a college student starting a business, since there were already precedents of college students starting businesses abroad.

But the meaning behind Song Ci's words was beyond his imagination. A high school student starting a business and already having hundreds of millions in assets—was that even possible?

As if in a dream, Zhang Yong asked tentatively, "Mr. Song, if I may ask, how old are you this year? Are you going to Peking University to pursue a master's degree?"

Song Ci rarely showed a shy expression, and said in a light and easy manner: "I have just been admitted to the Department of Finance of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University with the highest score in liberal arts in Beiping City. I will turn 18 next New Year's Day."

Zhang Yong gasped. At less than 18 years old, a top scorer in the college entrance examination, a bestselling author, and the owner of a technology company—could anyone really be this talented? But the facts before him forced him to believe it; this was far beyond genius, and could be called a prodigy.

(End of this chapter)