Chapter 160: Inspecting Zhao Yutong's Company

Zhao Yutong led Qin Ze to a small conference room.

Inside the conference room, three people were already seated.

Seeing Qin Ze enter, all three stood up.

Zhao Yutong introduced them:

"Qin Ze, let me introduce them to you."

"This is Pang Dahai, our technical lead."

"This is Sun Wenfeng, in charge of product design."

"This is Ai Jin, in charge of market operations."

"The three of them all returned from abroad with me."

"They are all top-tier talents who graduated from prestigious universities and returned from studying abroad."

Qin Ze nodded and took the initiative to reach out his hand:

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Ze."

Pang Dahai reached out and shook hands with Qin Ze:

"Hello, President Qin."

Sun Wenfeng also reached out and shook hands politely.

But Ai Jin merely glanced at Qin Ze indifferently, reached out, gave a perfunctory touch, and pulled his hand back.

Qin Ze saw his attitude but didn't mind.

Qin Ze sat down in a chair and looked at Zhao Yutong:

"You said yesterday that you wanted me to come and see your results."

"You can show them now!"

In fact, Qin Ze knew that Zhao Yutong saying she wanted him to visit the company and see the results was,

to put it bluntly, still because they lacked money!

She still wanted him to invest!

Zhao Yutong nodded:

She then turned on the projector and began to show Qin Ze the software they had developed during this period.

Qin Ze watched the demonstration on the screen, his heart completely calm.

After waiting for Zhao Yutong to finish the demonstration, he asked:

"Yutong, does your product have any users right now?"

Zhao Yutong was stunned for a moment:

"This... we are still looking for seed users."

Qin Ze asked again:

"Then do you have a promotional plan?"

Zhao Yutong thought for a moment:

"We plan to wait until the product is perfected before starting promotion."

Qin Ze shook his head:

"If you wait until the product is perfected to promote it, it will be too late."

Zhao Yutong looked at him:

"Then what do you mean..."

"You need to start promoting now."

Qin Ze leaned back in his chair and looked at the people present:

"I've looked at your product."

"The functions are not bad, and the interface is okay too."

"But the problem is, how many people know about your product?"

"No one knows, which is why you can't find investment!"

Pang Dahai frowned:

"President Qin, we mainly want to perfect the product first before going into the market."

"If the product isn't done well, even if we promote it, we won't be able to retain users."

Qin Ze smiled:

"You're right."

"But have you ever thought that if no one knows about your product, no matter how good it is, it's useless?"

Pang Dahai was stunned.

Qin Ze continued:

"This is the internet era."

"You can't just bury your heads in development; you also need to look up at the market."

"I suggest you spend a portion of your funds on promotion first."

"For example, post on various startup platforms, promote on major app stores, and find bloggers on TikTok and Little Red Book to do reviews."

"Get the exposure of your product up first."

Ai Jin heard this and suddenly spoke up:

"President Qin, it's not that we haven't thought about what you said."

Qin Ze turned his head to look at him:

"And then?"

Ai Jin leaned back in his chair, his tone carrying a hint of disdain:

"But we feel that these methods are too common."

"What we want to do is rely on the product's own word-of-mouth to spread."

"Instead of relying on burning money for promotion."

"That would only make us look low."

Qin Ze laughed when he heard this.

He looked at Ai Jin:

"You think you can rely on word-of-mouth?"

"Then let me ask you, where is your word-of-mouth right now?"

Ai Jin was stunned.

Qin Ze continued:

"Your users are at zero."

"You don't even have a single user, so what word-of-mouth are you talking about?"

"Your product doesn't even have a single download, so what spreading are you talking about?"

"Do you think you're Apple, that you can ignite the market as soon as you release a product?"

"But the reality is, you don't even count as Xiaomi."

Ai Jin's face turned somewhat ugly.

He opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but for a moment, he couldn't say a word.

Pang Dahai tried to smooth things over from the side:

"President Qin, what you said also makes sense."

"But we really feel that we should perfect the product more first."

"And then consider promotion."

"Moreover, we have great confidence in our product!"

Qin Ze looked at them and sighed in his heart.

He finally understood why Zhao Yutong couldn't raise money.

It wasn't that the product was bad; it was that these partners were too stubborn.

They thought they were geniuses, thinking that as long as the product was good, they could become an overnight success.

But the reality is, without promotion, no matter how good the product is, it will only rot in their hands.

Qin Ze looked at Zhao Yutong:

"Yutong, what do you think?"

Zhao Yutong hesitated for a moment:

"I think what you just said really makes sense."

"But we really hadn't considered the promotion aspect before."

As she spoke, Zhao Yutong finally revealed her true intentions.

She immediately got straight to the point.

"But Qin Ze, you also know! All the funds we have now are the money you invested."

"Even if we want to do promotion now, we are powerless."

"The fact that the company can continue now is all because we few are struggling to support it..."

"Now that the company is open, the expenses far exceed our budget..."

Qin Ze gave a direct, dismissive response:

"Then let's do this."

"You all deliberate and calculate some more!"

"If you have any good ideas, tell me! I have another meeting this afternoon."

"But I still suggest you find a way to promote first!"

"If you promote well, the funds will come looking for you, instead of you looking for funds."

"But if you continue like this! You'd better make other plans, because you won't be able to grow big!"

Pang Dahai and Sun Wenfeng looked at each other, both understanding that Qin Ze was unwilling to put up more money.

The one called Ai Jin on the side suddenly sneered:

"President Qin, as an outsider, what makes you think we can't grow big, just because we don't listen to you?"

"There is an essential difference between a company like ours that focuses on the product itself and what you call relying on false promotion to attract investment!"

"Do you think money can solve all problems?"

"What we at Qingyun Technology want to do is build a great company."

"Not a bubble company built by burning money!"

"We are grateful that you were able to invest money, and after we succeed, you will get the dividends you deserve!"

"But now, if you are unwilling to continue investing, there is no need to make such sarcastic remarks."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the conference room instantly became tense.

Zhao Yutong hurriedly tried to smooth things over:

"Ai Jin, say less..."

Qin Ze, however, smiled, not angry at all.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at Ai Jin:

"You're right."

"Money indeed cannot solve all problems."

"But without money, you don't even have the qualifications to bring up problems."

"You've been at this for so long, has anyone else invested a single cent in you?"

"You say you want to be great, but the prerequisite for greatness is being able to survive."

"You can't even survive, so what greatness are you talking about?"

Ai Jin's face turned bright red instantly.

He wanted to retort, but Qin Ze's words were reasonable in every way.

He couldn't find any angle to retort from.

Qin Ze stood up and looked at Zhao Yutong:

"Yutong, I've already given you my advice."

"You and your partners should discuss it some more!"

"To be honest, that little bit of money of mine is nothing; I don't care at all whether you can make it or not!" ===== CHAPTER 161 =====