Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

When Tencent first started marketing the company, they didn't ask for much, just three million RMB.

Honestly, at this price, buying an internet instant messaging software with millions of registered users is an absolute steal.

But the reality is that nobody is interested at all.

Later it dropped to two million, and finally to one million...

As for the rumor circulating online that it costs 300,000, that's just a rumor. After all, the shareholders have invested a million yuan in real money, so how could they possibly sell at a loss?

The 200,000 yuan that Wang Feiyang had left in his card was for this purpose!

Of course, he doesn't have enough money to buy Tencent outright right now, nor does he have the ability to add more operating funds. As the number of users continues to increase, the monthly operating costs will be over 100,000 yuan, and they will only keep rising...

Even if Wang Feiyang were a reborn person, he couldn't earn that much money in a short period of time.

Therefore, his plan is to become a shareholder of Tencent, even if it's just a small one, before Tencent successfully secures venture capital.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these shares will become the "ballast" of his career. No matter how well he does in other businesses more than a decade from now, he will become a super-rich man with a net worth of tens of billions just by relying on his Tencent shares!

This is arguably the greatest benefit that rebirth brought him!

However, for this investment to succeed, it is necessary to grasp the right scale and timing.

It wouldn't be good to go too early, because Mr. Ma and his team were still very ambitious and wanted to make a name for themselves. If Wang Feiyang had gone there with 200,000 yuan, they probably wouldn't have even bothered to look at it.

It won't work if it's too late. By early next year, Tencent will have attracted well-known VCs and secured millions of dollars in venture capital before the global internet winter arrives, propelling it to new heights!

They could only do so when Tencent was at its most difficult time, when no one wanted to buy the company and venture capitalists hadn't noticed them yet. Even if it was just 200,000 RMB, it could help Tencent survive for another month or two. It was like sending charcoal in snowy weather, and it was the least likely thing that Jack Ma and his team would refuse.

…………

"Zhidong, Aqing, I went to SEG Group again yesterday and talked to President Li. I lowered the price to one million, but they still aren't interested."

In the cramped office, Mr. Ma, with a worried expression, spoke to the two young men sitting opposite him.

"Hey, why can ICQ sell for 300 million US dollars, while we can't even sell it for a million? It's just one letter different!" the young man named Zhidong said indignantly.

"Hehe, they've started expanding globally, with hundreds of millions of users in over a hundred countries! Can our OICQ compare? They're not even in the same league." Aqing was quite open-minded and well aware of the huge gap between OICQ and ICQ.

Mr. Ma sighed deeply, "If I had known, I should have canceled this project the day we didn't win the bid. We invested so much money, and the user base reached over a million, but now it's become a burden—unprofitable yet too valuable to discard!"

"How about... we contact some of the well-known internet giants in China, like Sina, 8848, and China.com? These are real big players. I heard that 8848 just got its second round of funding. Their last round was in September, right? It's only been two months, and the total amount raised in the two rounds is a whopping 9 million US dollars! Are those investment institutions crazy? Why is an e-commerce website worth so much money?"

Aqing's tone was full of envy; clearly, the $60 million raised by 8848 in two rounds of financing had spurred him on.

"They're in e-commerce, and they're the first B2C e-commerce company in China, comparable to Amazon in the US! E-commerce is the hottest sector in the internet industry right now, with great profit prospects," Zhidong remarked.

Mr. Ma said thoughtfully, "If our OICQ finds sellers, shouldn't we consider developing an e-commerce platform for our next project? The Chinese market is so big; it's impossible for 8848 to monopolize the entire market share."

"This year alone, many e-commerce companies have emerged, such as Alibaba, eBay, and Dangdang, making the competition very fierce."

"Sigh, although we are all optimistic about the long-term development of the Internet industry, there are obviously many discerning people. In the past two years, the Internet industry has become the most competitive industry, without exception! Moreover, in this industry, if you want to do it, you have to be at least in the top three in the country, otherwise you might as well not do it. It's a typical winner-takes-all industry," Mr. Ma sighed again.

The three of them were racking their brains for a solution when the phone on their desk suddenly rang.

To reduce operating costs and save money, they set up a landline in their office area, which can be found in the contact information at the bottom of their simple official website.

We also receive phone calls from time to time, mostly from users offering feedback, which serves as a communication channel between the company and its users.

"Hello, this is Tencent." Mr. Ma skillfully transformed into a customer service representative.

"Hello, I'm a loyal OICQ user. I registered a while ago and found it very convenient to use. It's much better than the ICQ I used before. Thank you for developing such great software." A young man's voice came from the phone.

Upon hearing that it was a compliment to the company, Mr. Ma couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for your recognition. We will continue to work hard."

Mr. Ma had assumed it was just a customer calling to praise the company and was about to hang up when the next sentence from the other end stunned him.

"Recently, when I use OICQ, I've noticed significant lag and disconnections, and occasionally messages are even being swallowed. Is it because the company is short of funds, and the servers and bandwidth can't keep up with the increasing number of users?"

The first thought that popped into Mr. Ma's mind was that the person on the other end was an expert!

He gave a wry smile and said sincerely, "I really have to apologize. The company's funds have indeed been a bit tight recently. The leased server room and bandwidth are insufficient, but we are working hard to solve this problem."

"As a loyal OICQ user, I don't want to see such a good software hindered by funding issues. How about this, I'd like to invest some money in the company, not much, just 200,000 yuan, hoping it can help the company during this difficult time."

Mr. Ma instinctively thought the other party was joking, but the other party's tone sounded very serious, so it didn't seem like a joke.

"Are you... serious? You can invest 200,000 in our company?" Mr. Ma asked tentatively.

"Yes, I know this amount of money might not make much of a difference, but it's a small token of my appreciation. Also, if you invest in the company, could you give me a better OICQ account?" The person on the other end seemed a little embarrassed as they spoke.

Mr. Ma felt like he was dreaming. He was just worrying about money when suddenly a windfall fell from the sky!

Although the pie isn't huge, 200,000 is still a considerable sum, enough to keep the company afloat for at least two more months!