Chapter 65

Chapter 12: Negotiation Chips

After a night of deliberation with Liu Yingying, Lin Feng convened an emergency meeting the next day.

At the meeting, Lin Feng announced that Liu Yingying would become the company's second largest shareholder, holding 10% of the company's shares. He also decided to split the current market sales department into the Planning Department and the Marketing Department, with Liu Yingying as the head of the Planning Department and Su Xiaomei as the head of the Marketing Department, both under Liu Yingying's jurisdiction. The focus of work would shift from the online trading platform to the fast-food restaurants that Lin Feng and Liu Yingying had discussed in Beijing. The goal was to spread the fast-food restaurants throughout Chu City by the end of the month, to gain more leverage against Xia Qianhe's aggressive moves.

Due to the shortage of funds, although a 30-square-meter fast-food restaurant required an investment of about 50,000 yuan, forming a chain would require much more. Lin Feng made a quick decision to adopt a franchise model, charging a franchise fee to expand the fast-food chain and strengthen the company.

For the initial franchises, Lin Feng directly approached relatives from both his parents' sides. The animosity he had felt towards his relatives due to his father's accident had long dissipated, and the relatives had always complained that Lin Feng had not provided them with a path to wealth. This time, Lin Feng could repay their past care for his father, make them owe him a favor, and expand the fast-food chain, achieving multiple goals at once.

"Alright, everyone has reviewed the contract. If there are no objections, please sign it," Lin Feng said to the elders.

"Um, just one question, your conflict with the vice mayor..." Clearly, the relatives, after witnessing the stock market and the growth of Lin Feng's internet city, did not doubt his judgment but were concerned about his conflict with the vice mayor.

"Don't worry, I will handle it. And this time, the company's representative is not me, so there shouldn't be any problems," Lin Feng explained.

"Okay, that's good." The relatives all breathed a sigh of relief and signed their names. Two families jointly invested 50,000 yuan, with a profit return rate of 100%, such a good deal, if they hesitated, they would be truly foolish.

After that, Lin Feng entrusted Liu Yingying with the tasks of selecting locations and standardizing the interior design, while he rushed to Shenzhen.

With only three days left until September 11th, when "Counter-Strike" would be available for global download, Lin Feng's online trading platform, despite his relentless efforts to promote it, had seen little success, with no transactions yet.

Just as Lin Feng was frowning over this, he noticed an employee logging into QQ, and an idea struck him.

Tencent was founded in November 1998, with the strategic goal of "providing users with one-stop online life services."

In April 2000, QQ had 5 million registered users.

In May, the number of simultaneous online users first exceeded 100,000.

On May 28th, the People's Daily reported that at 20:43 on May 27th, the number of simultaneous online users first exceeded 100,000.

In June, QQ's registered user base exceeded 10 million.

Although Tencent was not yet as prosperous as it would later become, its future prospects were widely recognized by industry experts. However, Tencent, like many other internet companies, faced the challenge of balancing income and expenses. Most internet companies at this stage were maintained by venture capital and had no substantial income.

Earlier domestic companies like Sina and NetEase only began to grow and become industry leaders after raising sufficient funds through listings on NASDAQ. For Tencent, listing on NASDAQ or in Hong Kong was still a distant dream. Despite having 10 million registered users, Tencent was still a relatively small company struggling in Shenzhen.

Lin Feng's trip to Shenzhen was to discuss cooperation with Tencent's chairman, Ma Huateng, who at the time still had the title of engineer on his business card. Liu Yingying had wanted to go with him, but Lin Feng decided to leave her in charge of the fast-food chain, as it was now more critical. Not only did they need to face Xia Qianhe's aggressive moves, but also the competition from the fast-food industry leaders, KFC and McDonald's. Without Liu Yingying's presence, Lin Feng was not at ease.

Moreover, this cooperation, to a certain extent, was an opportunity Lin Feng was giving to Tencent, not the other way around.

On September 7th, Lin Feng, accompanied by a person with extensive knowledge and experience in the astronomy industry, arrived in Shenzhen.

"Mr. Lin, what brings you to Shenzhen from so far away?" Ma Huateng was very curious about this young man, who was 10 years his junior, and what kind of cooperation plan he would propose. Although his company now had 10 million users and a bright market prospect, no company had yet proposed a cooperation plan, which made Ma Huateng both frustrated and more determined to make Tencent the best internet service company in the country.

Lin Feng smiled slightly but did not speak, instead gesturing to Cheng Peijia, who was about to take out the cooperation plan contract.

"Mr. Ma, what do you think of your company's prospects?" Lin Feng asked.

"Tencent will become the best internet company in the country," Ma Huateng said without concealing his ambition.

"What do you think of online trading platforms?" Lin Feng asked again.

"About this..." Ma Huateng had done some research and knew that Lin Feng owned a small online trading platform that was struggling, similar to his own company's current situation. However, in terms of registered users and prospects, they were not comparable.

After a moment's thought, Ma Huateng said, "In China, the leading online personal trading platform is EachNet, and Alibaba dominates the business-to-business trade. Your company..."

Ma Huateng did not finish his sentence, but Lin Feng understood his meaning. Lin Feng was not bothered by this and waited for Ma Huateng to continue.

Ma Huateng, seeing that Lin Feng was not displeased, nodded and continued, "I have roughly browsed your online trading platform. You seem to be focusing on personal transactions, which makes EachNet your main competitor. However, in terms of popularity, you are far behind EachNet, and in terms of transaction volume, even more so. However, your initial registration and verification system is more rigorous than EachNet's, which, although it has deterred many users in the early stages, will be more beneficial in the long run. EachNet's verification system is too simple, leading to a mix of good and bad merchants, which can easily result in a credit crisis. If this continues, it will eventually lead to problems."

Ma Huateng's insight indeed impressed Lin Feng, and this was indeed one of the main reasons for EachNet's decline later on.

"But what I want to ask is, how does Mr. Lin plan to cooperate with my company? You should know that my Tencent has 10 million registered users, and this number is still growing every day," Ma Huateng said, shifting to a more assertive tone.

Lin Feng had anticipated Ma Huateng's assertiveness. Given the current disparity between his online trading platform and Tencent, what he was proposing might seem more like begging. However, this "begging" would not come without a cost, and Ma Huateng would not agree without a significant benefit.

"Very simple, I hope your company can add a pop-up window when users log into QQ, displaying my company's website and a brief introduction," Lin Feng said, handing over a prepared cooperation proposal to Ma Huateng.

Ma Huateng only glanced at it briefly, more interested in what Lin Feng had just said.

Add a pop-up window! — Ma Huateng immediately thought of using it for advertising to ease the company's financial strain. However, he then shook his head. The company was still in its development stage, and competitors were trying to enter the instant messaging market. If he added advertisements rashly, he might lose a large number of users.

After some thought, Ma Huateng looked at Lin Feng, waiting for the young man, 10 years his junior, to reveal his bargaining chip. If the chip was compelling enough, he might consider it.

After all, for the vast number of QQ users, this online trading platform was not an advertisement but an additional service.

In business, everything is about interests first!

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