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墨書 Inktalez
Song Rushi did not know where her boss's inexplicable confidence came from, but at least now he finally faced it and stopped slowly learning how to live in America, finding the most suitable rhythm.
"Is what you said true?" Song Rushi took a long break before asking Jiang Yizhou. There should be some basis for boasting; with such a massive plan as Social Network, if it weren't for Plan as evidence, she would really think it was made up.
"Of course it's true. How could it be false? I've already planned everything, but we need to wait until the two existing products, Qi and Fail, occupy a certain market share before we can continue. Without economies of scale, many products are hard to present!"
Jiang Yizhou was also worried. Although Qi was currently far ahead, it had not yet reached the point of monopolizing a large portion of the market. There were always capable people in the world, and the first to eat crabs might not necessarily be the one who laughs last.
If they rashly launched a series of additional products based on Qi and Fail without timely capturing the market, the risk would be significant. He preferred to proceed steadily.
Song Rushi carefully reviewed Plan, which was the latest version. Jiang Yizhou had only shared it with Zhang Xiaolong. As for whether venture capitalists would take Plan and go solo, that was unnecessary worry; it would damage their reputation.
"I think you should prepare early. The products in your plan require a certain talent reserve and development time. It’s best to start recruiting now; creating a prototype would be even better to increase negotiation leverage. Of course, this also means you need to speed up the financing process. If things expand too much, you might not last even a month."
Due to her professional ethics, Song Rushi clearly recognized that what Jiang Yizhou planned could easily touch on venture capitalists' sweet spots. The prospects were significantly better than Qi's thin outlook with no visible profit future.
"And for the upcoming meetings, you also need to..." Song Rushi assisted Jiang Yizhou with some simple training on conversation techniques and key points, hoping to impress more venture capitalists and secure higher offers.
……
The weekend quickly passed. Although everyone was enthusiastic, Jiang Yizhou still felt both excited and anxious. Every moment refreshed his previous abilities' limits, making him increasingly aware of his need for improvement. However, with a series of plans like space and blogs coming into play, Jiang Yizhou fell into busyness again.
Fortunately, Zhang Xiaolong lived up to his later reputation; although still somewhat immature, he was already enough to help alleviate Jiang Yizhou's pressure.
"Do you want to see me, McGowan?" Jiang Yizhou received a call from Xiong Xiaoge amidst his busy schedule and was somewhat surprised to hear that the founder of IDG wanted to meet him.
This was because IDG China already held a 40% stake from the beginning, and if they were to introduce more capital, Jiang Yizhou was quite concerned about his position. From the start, when Xiong Xiaoge subtly inquired about the next round of venture capital, he had clearly declined IDG's investment, even though the terms were quite favorable.
It still didn't help that there was no dual-class share structure; if there were, the founders wouldn't have to worry so much about the control of the company they created. Of course, Ailumese was something he built from scratch and was temporarily irreplaceable.
"Brother Jiang, I think you should still meet. I know you're worried about control issues, but this time we are sincere!" Xiong Xiaoge understood Jiang Yizhou's pain points. In China, due to being foreign-funded, there were often issues with shareholding that prevented cooperation with entrepreneurs.
"Alright then, give me the time and place, and I'll be there!" After serious consideration, Jiang Yizhou decided it was worth meeting at least once. In his previous life, while learning about the history of the Internet, he had developed a good impression of IDG and also learned about Xiong Xiaoge, Zhou Quan, and McGowan. If IDG had only held 0% of the shares from the beginning, he would have been more than willing to accept their investment.
From what he knew in his previous life, McGowan was at least a decent person. As Xiong Xiaoge's mentor, he left a good impression on him, but that was about it.
"Are you going to continue talks with IDG?" Song Rushi looked slightly surprised upon hearing this news. If it was proposed by them, it likely meant they would make significant concessions, such as offering to give up some voting rights—conditions that would reassure Jiang Yizhou as the founder.
"Yes, I have a good feeling about IDG. The other venture capitalists are too unfamiliar; naturally, it's better to go with someone I know well," Jiang Yizhou said with a slightly serious expression. He wasn't like he was at the beginning anymore; he couldn't fight alone now. Many matters could only rely on Zhou Quan and others from IDG for sufficient help. It seemed they were still trustworthy.
At least now he had an independent choice while also being somewhat worried about losing absolute control after one or two rounds of financing soon.
He and a few subordinates had previously tacitly placed IDG low on their priority list; if McGowan hadn't approached him proactively, he probably wouldn't have considered talking to them at all.
As for how it would turn out, that could only be determined after discussions.
McGowan had not paid much attention to qi and Ailumese, but after learning that it was a Chinese company invested in by IDG, he became interested.
He contacted Xiong Xiaoge, who was still in the United States, to inquire about the details. From Jiang Yizhou founding Zheng Yi to its development in the United States, upon learning that Xiong Xiaoge had previously wanted to continue investing in Ailumese but was rejected by Jiang Yizhou, he felt it was necessary to have a conversation with that guy.
The meeting place agreed upon by McGowan and Jiang Yizhou was a café. Jiang Yizhou spent quite some time finding the place; the name on the sign was somewhat obscure, and when he read it to the taxi driver, it was misheard, leading to a lot of detours.
Upon arriving at the café, as soon as he walked in, he saw McGowan, a typical Caucasian, along with a Chinese man beside him, who was Xiong Xiaoge. The two smiled and waved at him.
Jiang Yizhou quickly walked over to their table, repeatedly apologizing, "Sorry, I ran into some unexpected issues on the way. I'm not very familiar with this area yet!"
He opened the menu and casually ordered a cup of coffee; for him, there wasn't much difference among the types of coffee.
"Hi, nice to meet you. I thought you would refuse me outright," McGowan said enthusiastically.
"How could that be? My collaboration with IDG has been quite pleasant; it's just due to certain reasons that we couldn't continue working together, which I regret!" Jiang Yizhou had improved his spoken English since arriving in the United States and no longer felt awkward or stumbled over his words.
During these discussions, he learned an important lesson: never easily make promises. Many times when he thought the other party had reached their limit, a reminder from Song Rushi under the table shifted the conversation back to her. He realized he was still too young; negotiation was not his strong suit.
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