Chapter 66

Yu Xing returned to Jin Ling, and the first thing he did was to meet with Song Yufeng, get the guest pass for the Internet Conference, and confirm the specific time for his stage appearance.

4:30 PM, September 24, 2008.

The second thing was that he prepared to visit his teacher again.

But just before he finalized the time, Liu Wan Ying contacted him again.

To Yu Xing's surprise, this potential angel investor sent a famous quote.

Liu Wan Ying: Keynes said that even if humanity remembered all the mistakes it had made in the past 2,000 years, when 100 pounds were placed in front of it, it would quickly forget everything.

Yu Xing: Did you cut your losses on the stocks?

Liu Wan Ying: The essence of financial regulation should be to stifle the seeds of greed and to be constantly vigilant against the greed behind financial innovation.

Yu Xing: Didn't you cut them? What else is there to wait for?

Liu Wan Ying: However, finance does not exist in isolation; behind it are people, and this makes human nature unavoidable.

Yu Xing: If you ask me, draw the sword and end it in one stroke.

The three messages exchanged, each talking about their own thing.

Liu Wan Ying stopped sending messages and angrily called directly: "Yu! Are you just gloating over others' misfortune!"

"Sigh, Sister Ying, why do you misunderstand me so much? I feel very sorry for you. If you were willing to invest in me earlier, you could have escaped some losses." Yu Xing explained, "I care about you, but seeing that you have already started reflecting on financial innovation, I have an idea: resign from Bain and sell this kind of chicken soup for the soul; maybe that wouldn't be bad either."

Liu Wan Ying sneered, then sighed: "This time it has completely become a crisis, and it's uncertain whether I'll be laid off. Our project in Shanghai has already been suspended. When the economy is on the upswing, it's all about consulting on acquisitions and mergers, or expanding organizational capabilities to deal with future strategies."

She paused and continued: "Now, consulting on organizational optimization has already begun; we need to do structural adjustments and personnel optimization."

Yu Xing feigned concern: "Can you still find a job if you're laid off? If not, come to our Love Network with unlimited potential."

Liu Wan Ying laughed in anger. So, go to this Love Network that is about to be sold, right?

She sighed: "You are truly cold-blooded!"

"Just as you said yourself, projects are tools, and people are also tools. In such an era of waves, a small entrepreneur like me is inexplicably affected, and an elite like you is the same." Yu Xing became more serious, "One can only try to maintain a normal heart."

Liu Wan Ying was silent for a while and said: "Should I really cut my losses?"

Yu Xing actively gave advice: "If it were my money, I definitely wouldn't be able to bear it, but since it's not my money, then I must cut them."

Liu Wan Ying: "..."

Yu Xing asked: "Do you mind me being so blunt?"

"It's very annoying at first hearing." Liu Wan Ying thought about it, "Thinking about it carefully, it seems even more annoying."

"Sister Ying, actually, it's not just about investment, or rather, investment is just a small matter." Yu Xing earnestly recruited, "If you are unhappy at Bain, or if you have thoughts of leaving during this period, my side is actually very suitable for you. I want to build a short-selling agency, and I'm just missing you."

Liu Wan Ying was taken aback. She had heard Yu Xing mention it once before, but she didn't expect to hear it a second time now.

She thought for a moment and confirmed: "Are you serious?"

Yu Xing answered concisely: "Of course."

Liu Wan Ying asked in disbelief: "Do you understand this?"

Yu Xing asked back: "What would I need you for if I understood it?"

Liu Wan Ying was speechless, only feeling that the man on the other end of the phone was having a pipe dream.

"But I think understanding the logic of short-sellers is not a difficult thing." Yu Xing remained serious, "Discover weaknesses, borrow stocks and then sell, attack weaknesses, buy stocks and then return them, isn't that it?"

He was talking about the common margin trading operations of short-selling agencies, while "discovering weaknesses" meant checking anomalies and conducting research, and "attacking weaknesses" meant releasing relevant reports to the public, prompting stock prices to fall, and ultimately completing the profit.

Liu Wan Ying was silent for ten or so seconds and replied: "Roughly that's it, but..."

"It's not so easy to research, and it also requires a certain amount of influence." Yu Xing analyzed himself, "I think it's worth a try, and as a grassroots entrepreneur, I think we can do more than just 'discover weaknesses'; we can also 'create weaknesses'."

What to do if there are no weaknesses?

Create weaknesses and go for it!

As he envisioned, the situation of giants is always in motion, and the era is developing. Fishing in troubled waters can lead to catching big goods.

"Yu Xing, I have often thought about your positioning of 'Hundred-Know-All' these past two days." Liu Wan Ying suddenly brought up the previous matter, "Do you know what I am thinking?"

Yu Xing guessed: "Thinking about cutting your losses?"

Liu Wan Ying ignored such cruel teasing and gave the answer: "I am thinking about what you said, 'Penguin has a stance.' The more I think about the nature of your project, and the more I think about the situation in the Internet industry, the more I feel... Yu, how did you come up with it?"

"Because how to develop when facing such giants has already become a problem that the industry needs to consider." Yu Xing pondered, "Penguin's traffic is top-tier now, and the effect of wielding such a weapon is too easy to use, so it has been using it." "Like Alibaba and Baidu, their businesses are relatively narrow, but they must also think about similar problems in areas related to their core businesses."

"What is placed before this era is that if you want to do Internet business, you must directly or indirectly face big companies and giants."

"Love Network is a living example. Who could have thought that a big Internet company like NetEase could still have a matchmaking business?"

"NetEase is just a microcosm. Alibaba, Baidu, and Penguin will inevitably have more and more various possibilities for businesses you can't imagine at all."

"The current workplace field is still not well developed. Just from the perspective of entrepreneurship, this is a market very suitable for vertical segmentation."

Yu Xing gave a quite comprehensive description of his thoughts.

Following these words, Liu Wan Ying seemed to see the tentacles of companies standing at the top of the industry spreading downwards, whether it was capital, business, or traffic.

She pondered for a while and said: "I've decided to cut my losses!"

From the 15th until now, in just a few days, Lehman went bankrupt, Merrill Lynch was acquired, stock indices plummeted, and panic engulfed the global financial market like a flood.

Liu Wan Ying's losses this time were quite heavy. In addition to the shrinkage of stock value, there was also a portion of fund allocation that used leverage to pursue higher returns.

However, gradually recovering from the initial shock, although she was in a low mood, she was also thinking about new outlets for her funds.

Does the project Yu Xing wants to do have a future?

Judging from the development of Guiai Network and his operations, although he was a first-time entrepreneur, he was quite capable, and his understanding of vertical segmentation practice and industry competition was also worth looking forward to.

Although he was not a true angel investor, the angel round indeed did not have overly harsh requirements.

What was placed before her now was a quite clear business plan, a startup team that had been initially built, and a market demand that truly existed, so it was worth a try.

"Sister Ying, congratulations." Hearing Liu Wan Ying's decision, Yu Xing immediately said enthusiastically, "You have made an extremely correct decision!"

Liu Wan Ying wanted to laugh hearing his exaggerated tone: "Then should I say 'congratulations to you too'?"

"Um, but I still have to clarify a specific number." Yu Xing remained enthusiastic, "How much can you invest?"

Liu Wan Ying asked back: "How is the valuation of your project calculated? How is the equity divided?"

"Not counting your angel round, my initial idea is to take most of the funds from selling Guiai Network to do it." Yu Xing said matter-of-factly, "We will still reserve employee options, and the parent company will still use the one in Hong Kong, but we will change the name later. Looking at it this way, the starting point is around 1-1.5 million, and Song Yufeng has about 120,000 there."

The fluctuating numbers in between were the investments of Lu Haiying, Zhong Zhiling, and Song Yufeng.

Liu Wan Ying thought about it: "You are quite determined. Investing like this really makes me feel a bit more at ease. I'll take out about 500,000 here, um, let's round it up, confirm 500,000."

"Good, Sister Ying, then we will meet and talk later. While you are still in Shenzhen, or I will be in Nanjing for these few days, if you pass through here, we can also talk in detail." Yu Xing immediately finalized, "500,000!"

Thinking of the losses from cutting her losses, Liu Wan Ying said with some heartache: "I hope this investment won't need to be cut again."

"Rest assured, we are all our own people. Even if this company can't be built up, when we sell it later, its positioning and market are still there." Yu Xing thought about hearsay, "Let's make a clear exit mechanism when we sign the contract."

Liu Wan Ying agreed.

She hung up the phone, clutching her phone, thinking about the intention finalized in this call, and then thinking about the landslide and tsunami of the global financial market, suddenly feeling lost again. Would this be a good decision?

Perhaps, as long as it's not bad, it's not bad.

Different from the confusion of the angel investor at this time, Yu Xing's thoughts were very clear. He immediately called Song Yufeng.

"I've found an angel investor here, and we need to clarify the current equity based on the invested funds. Are you really going to pay your 120,000?"

When Yu Xing met with Song Yufeng, he briefly mentioned the funding matter and knew he had 120,000 in savings.

Song Yufeng was caught off guard: "Ah? Angel investor? I, uh, President Yu, I'm still considering it. You're moving so fast?"

"If everyone were like you, I don't know when the company would be able to develop." Yu Xing said straightforwardly, "We have initially determined that there are 500,000 in funds. If you take out your 120,000, the equity can still account for quite a bit."

Song Yufeng: "This, this..."

"Give me an answer tomorrow; it won't be valid after the deadline." Yu Xing emphasized, "Give me an answer on whether to invest or not. The specific equity figures need to wait a bit to be determined."

Song Yufeng took a breath: "Good."

Yu Xing ended the call, calculating the relevant equity division in his heart. Once Guiai Network was sold, he believed Song Yufeng could also accept the shrinkage of his expected equity share. After all, he only invested that much capital.

And if Guiai Network couldn't be sold smoothly, now he could basically lock in 620,000 in initial starting funds.

If something really went wrong, since Sister Ying had made the investment decision, she shouldn't mind if the investment turned her into a major shareholder.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 67 =====