Reborn in Russia as a Big Shot

Pavel Durov was a prominent figure at the university, and it was easy to find out where he had gone.

Li Xiang came here after hearing about VKontakte's reputation and visited the studio. Judging from the studio's environment, VKontakte's initial capital did not seem to be much.

"Do you need funding? I can invest some money in you."

"You're quite direct." Little Durov opened the refrigerator, looked inside, and turned to ask Li Xiang, "There's only Coke and bottled water. What do you want to drink?"

"Cola."

"Give me one too." Pavel's brother, Nikolai Durov, was a mathematical genius, and the core technological force behind VKontakte was these two brothers.

"then."

Little Durov threw the can of Coke to his brother, then came back to chat, handed the Coke to Li Xiang, and drank mineral water himself.

"I heard you're in the clothing business. What brings you to the internet all of a sudden?"

"Earning money in the clothing industry is all hard work; nothing beats the speed of the internet." Li Xiang held the cola in his hand without opening it.

Durov's attention was focused on the code. He opened a can of cola and spilled it all over the table. After a flurry of activity, he interrupted Li Xiang to chat, saying, "If you had come two months earlier, we might have actually included you in the quota. We've already raised enough start-up capital. You've made a wasted trip."

Li Xiang said, "There's still a chance. We'll need to raise funds in the future, won't we?"

"I'll definitely contact you if I need anything," Durov replied casually, not taking it to heart, as there was absolutely no possibility of cooperation.

The internet is a wealth-creating machine; once a business succeeds, its valuation multiplies.

If VKontakte successfully develops to the financing stage, even someone like Li Xiang, who works in the clothing industry, wouldn't be able to afford to invest.

Even if they can afford to invest, VKontakte will prioritize Russian domestic giants with resource advantages when choosing financing targets.

However, we can't be too absolute. If VKontakte's startup fails and he starts another project to find investors, then Li Xiang might be worth considering.

Li Xiang tried talking to the Durov brothers again, but they were completely out of sync. The little programming knowledge he had was nothing compared to theirs.

Discussing business models?

VKontakte is a copy of Facebook with localization. Its business model has already been proven in the US, so just copy it. There's not much to talk about.

Durov was busy writing code and had stopped talking.

Although Durov Jr. appeared very enthusiastic, he began to steer the conversation toward Chinese culture, and his hidden emotion turned into impatience.

Li Xiang took out his phone, glanced at the time, stood up, and said, "I have class in the second period this afternoon, so I have to go back to school. Last semester, because I missed too many classes, they didn't let me take the final exam and made me take it directly."

"I'll take you." Little Durov breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xiang was a foreigner, and Durov wanted to see his guest off but didn't know how to start, fearing that there might be a cultural barrier and he might say something wrong.

Finally, I left on my own.

According to the original plan, VKontakte was to officially launch on October 1st. However, the domain name was not settled, the data center was not completed, there were bugs in the code, and a lot of things needed to be done.

-

Just a few hours after Li Xiang left VKontakte Studio, a beautiful woman came to his door.

Are you also from St. Petersburg State University?

Neither of the Durov brothers had a stable girlfriend; they frequently changed partners.

It wasn't that the jerk wanted to break up; it's because to maintain a relationship, you need at least one of the following: money or time, and they had neither.

However, they are both quite good-looking, and girls often pursue them, but the relationships don't last long.

Galina smiled sweetly and said, "No, but my boyfriend is your junior."

Upon hearing that they had boyfriends, both the Durov brothers became somewhat disinterested.

Galina added, "He was just here."

"Li Xiang?" The Durov brothers both looked surprised.

"Can you tell me why he came to see you? We were supposed to go to the movies together, but he stood me up." Galina craned her neck, looking around, and asked with a pitiful expression, "Don't you have any women here?"

"We'd like to hire a few female programmers, but no one's willing to come," Durov bluntly stated. "Li Xiang wants to invest in our project, but we've already raised enough start-up capital, so we can't."

"You need to go to the school to find him; he's gone back to class."

"What project is it?" Galina bypassed Durov and went to talk to her brother.

"Have you ever used Facebook? We'd like to make a Russian version." Durov was clearly easier to talk to.

Galina, with her innocent and naive demeanor, said expectantly, "Isn't it true that the more money you make in a project, the better? My boyfriend wants to invest, so why don't you let him invest a little?"

Durov was a little slow to realize what was going on, but he also realized something was wrong. He turned to his brother and exchanged a glance, then said, "He'll make the decisions about the investment."

"Did Li Xiang send you? What does he mean by this?" Little Durov asked warily.

Galina smiled slightly and said, "I lied to you. Li Xiang isn't my boyfriend yet. I'm the one pursuing him. If I help him accomplish what he couldn't, he'll definitely be happy, and maybe he'll agree to be with me."

It's common for Russian women to pursue men, but the Durov brothers didn't find Li Xiang particularly charming, except for his wealth.

They had only heard that Li Xiang was rich, but they didn't know exactly how rich he was.

However, even the wealthiest Chinese second-generation students who come to Russia to study cannot compare to the privileged children of the independent Commonwealth countries, who are all regional lords.

However, Galina's face is too flat and lacks definition, so she can't be considered a top-tier beauty.

Little Durov refused, saying, "Little sister, I can't help you with that."

"Wait a moment." Galina found a place to sit down and fiddled with her phone. After a while, she showed Durov a multimedia message. "Do you have a girlfriend? If not, I can introduce you to someone. You don't need to pursue her."

Upon hearing this, Durov hurried over to look at the photos. "Not bad. I don't have a girlfriend either. When can we meet up?"

Little Durov nudged his brother, reminding him, "No need to chase after them, don't you know what that means?"

"I'm going back to work." Big Durov pursed his lips. He didn't need to chase after him to pay. With this kind of attitude, even if he wanted to spend money, he couldn't afford it.

There were other programmers in the studio, and the three of them chatted, while many others listened intently.

Durov pulled Galina aside, frowning, and said, "Who exactly are you? This is our workplace; we can try to drum up business after get off work."

Galina seized on the wording and used it as an opportunity to provoke me: "I kindly introduced my friends to you, and you said they were prostitutes. You insulted them, which is an insult to me. I'm very angry."

"You have to give me an explanation today, or nobody's leaving."

Galina has already started sending mass text messages to call people.

Less than five minutes later, the roar of motorcycles could be heard outside.

Little Durov peered out the window and saw a group of motorcyclists below, one after another.

He finally knew who Galina was, and he also knew who Li Xiang was.

"I have no reason to be intimidated by you. I'm calling the police right now."

"You can call the police once, but can you call the police every time?" Galina asked Durov threateningly, her face full of smugness. "Have you ever heard of the Tambov Gang?"

Durov's expression changed slightly.

"Judging from your expression, you're a local." Galina straightened Durov's clothes and said slowly, "If you agree to let Li Xiang invest and let me curry favor with him, I'll call him away immediately."

"Having more friends means having more options. If you encounter any trouble in St. Petersburg in the future, I can step in and help you solve it."

After struggling for a while, Durov Jr. compromised and said, "The company doesn't belong to me alone; I have to discuss it with the other shareholders."

Galina smiled and said, "If we can discuss it, then I won't bother you any longer."

"By the way, Li Xiang doesn't like my gang background, so I told him that I've left the Tambov gang."

Galina gestured with her hand as if she were zipping up a zipper over her mouth.

"Don't say what you shouldn't say."