Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Chapter 810 What I Need, What I Want
Alan Abelson, who is now in his 70s, is the bellwether of the US stock market and is very trusted by investors.

In the stock market crash in 1987, Alan Abelson published an article in "Barron's Weekly" in advance, heralding the subsequent bear market.

Nowadays, Alan Abelson's sudden sword pointing at Deep Space Corporation's acquisition of BenQ Dentsu has also made people who had trusted Deep Space a lot. After all, Alan Abelson's authority is still very strong. Yes, his vision is very accurate, and he rarely makes mistakes.

However, the doubts from the outside world do not have much impact on Deep Space, after all, they are not listed and do not need financing.

Just when there was a lot of discussion about Deep Space's acquisition of BenQ, Yu Dong, who was writing a new book "Pounding Heartbeat" in his office, received a cross-border call from Jimmy.

After learning that it was Jimmy who called, Yu Dong couldn't help but look at his watch. It was more than three o'clock in the afternoon, which meant that it should be midnight at Jimmy's side.

"It's three or four o'clock in the morning over there, why haven't you slept yet?" Yu Dong said unexpectedly.

Jimmy said with a smile, "Why don't you sleep, this period is a critical moment."

"Critical moment?" Yu Dong's tone was a little puzzled, "Are you talking about the box office of "Infernal Affairs"? I didn't know you paid so much attention to this movie."

Even though he guessed like this, Yu Dong himself thought it was impossible.

"Infernal Affairs" is an unremarkable one among the many film and television projects of Deep Space Company. The box office of this movie is on the line. It is impossible for Jimmy to stay awake for this movie.

"Of course not. The reason why I didn't sleep was because I was looking at the information on pets.com." Jimmy said.

"pets.com? Are you talking about the pet supply retail store that is about to close?"

"That's right, that's it, but it will take at least half a year to shut down. The money in their hands is still enough for a while."

In fact, pets.com just raised over $8000 million in an IPO in February, so there's no way they're going out of business anytime soon, and that's enough money to keep them going for a while.

If it weren't for Amazon, no one would even be looking at them and bringing these things out.

In addition to the IPO in February, the company has previously accepted four rounds of investment, which provided them with a total of [-] million US dollars in funding.

But in just half a month, pets is considering diversifying its business, and even thinking about making money by registering patents for sock puppet products.

The sock puppet is the mascot of the pets company. It is a talking dog. This mascot is very cute. Its popularity in the United States is extraordinary. Some time ago, it appeared in the prime advertising time of the Super Bowl and was also printed on the on a balloon in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

It's just that no matter how cute the mascot is, there's no way to save the pets company. Since its listing in February, their stock performance has been very poor. After such a long time, the price has not exceeded the initial issue price of eleven dollars.

"What do you hope to gain from such a company that is about to go bankrupt?" Yu Dong asked very puzzled.

Jimmy replied, "I hope that when pets.com is liquidated, they will be taken down directly and let him become our experimental field."

"Experimental field?" Yu Dongyue became more and more confused.

"Well, the experimental field, the current business model of pets has a big problem. I don't agree with it. If I can win pets, I hope to change the business model."

Yu Dong pondered: "If you don't agree with Pets' business model, you don't necessarily have to win Pets. As far as I know, their company burns too much money and spends tens of millions on marketing and promotion. They There are not many warehouses, and even the few competitors that have just been acquired have not yet been integrated, so could it be that you have taken a fancy to their dog food channel?"

Jimmy denied, "Of course not. In my opinion, it is very difficult for this website to rely on pet rations to make a profit. First of all, the shipping cost of pet rations is not low, those canned cat and dog food are not cheap, and secondly, the profit point of the product itself It’s very low. I’ve also done some research and surveys. The profit margin of cat food and dog food is only about [-]% to [-]%. Don’t say that pets can’t raise money, even if they can raise a sum of money now , I am afraid that it is impossible to achieve profitability within three or four years. Even if it is profitable, the profit point is not considerable. The most important thing is that the irreplaceability of this website is too low. Compared with comprehensive e-commerce, they do not have much Advantages. Sooner or later, there will be many third-party pet product stores on comprehensive e-commerce sites like Amazon, and pets will be even less competitive by then.”

"That's true." Yu Dong nodded, which was his approval of Jimmy's last words.

Vertical e-commerce companies like pets are at a disadvantage compared with comprehensive e-commerce companies like Amazon.

Under normal circumstances, if consumers choose to shop online, the first thing they think of is Amazon, a comprehensive e-commerce company that has everything, instead of going to a website for dog food, a website for sporting goods, or another website for electronic products Going to a website is too much trouble for consumers, and they prefer to solve all their shopping needs on one website.

Some people may say that Amazon also made its fortune from simply selling books back then. Why can’t pets copy Amazon’s success and start from pet products?

But in fact, there is a big difference between pet products and books. First of all, the shipping cost alone cannot be compared.

Moreover, Amazon has cooperated with Ingram from the very beginning to get the best book channels. It can be said that you can buy any book you want on the Amazon website.

But pets is different. They cannot cover all kinds of pet products, and there is no comprehensive wholesaler like Ingram in the field of pet products.

There is another key point that cannot be ignored, that is, when Amazon was founded, there were no decent websites for e-commerce, so there were many opportunities for them.And pets appear at this point in time, let alone other websites, just an Amazon is enough for them to choke—even if Amazon is their investor.

Since the establishment of pets, on the one hand, it has relied on a lot of marketing, on the other hand, it has also won the market with ultra-low prices, and the number of pet toys sold by the website is not large.

But when Jimmy said this, Yu Dong was even more confused, "Since you are so unfavorable about this company, why did you take them down? Isn't this contradictory?"

"Although I don't like their model, they have done some correct things after all. Among other things, at least their website has a high reputation. In addition, their channels and warehouses are also doing well. I estimated that if we build a similar website from scratch, it will take at least a year to have their current conditions. In this case, it is better to spend some money to take them down now and save This year, for us, time is more important than money."

Yu Dong pondered, "Since you have already decided, then I will not disagree with you, just take them down. However, we just acquired BenQ Dentsu, do we still have the money to take them down now? Can't because This company has affected the development of BenQ Dentsu."

Jimmy laughed, "So didn't I call you? The money in your hand has also come into play."

Yu Dong was taken aback for a moment, and then laughed loudly, "So you're eyeing the money in my pocket. Last time you said you would keep the money in my pocket for other purposes. Could it be that it's for the acquisition of this company?"

"That's not true. It was my temporary idea to win pets. After all, I didn't expect that pets, which was originally high-spirited, would be closed in a blink of an eye. If I could have predicted this, I would definitely not let Amazon invest. Tens of millions of real money, if the pets really arrive, the money will be for nothing."

It's not just Jimmy who didn't expect it, most people didn't expect this possibility, otherwise pets wouldn't be able to raise so much money.

"How much does it cost?" Yu Dong asked.

Jimmy smiled and said, "You didn't ask me about the specific plan, and you just agreed to pay for it?"

Yu Dong said nonchalantly, "I believe in your vision. Besides, since you said you want an experimental field, it's okay to lose a little money, and we can't afford to lose. If you don't dare to say a lot, it's a few hundred million." The dollar is still worth the loss.”

Jimmy laughed strangely, "Hey, my boy, you are inflated. But don't worry, even if you lose money, you won't lose much. Pets have received a total of more than 2 million US dollars in investment, but with their current In the current situation, it doesn’t cost much to acquire them. In addition to the follow-up operations, we need to spend between US$[-] million and US$[-] million. And the money does not need to be paid out immediately, as long as it is paid out successively in the next three years That’s fine. In my plan, the first three years are the preparation period, and I don’t consider profit.”

"In the next two or three years, we need to integrate channels and resources for pets, and enrich their product types. It is impossible to grow the business simply by selling canned dog and cat food. We also need to take into account other pets. Supplies, it took me some time to divide pet supplies into three major types."

"Food, utensils, medical treatment?" Yu Dong answered.

Jimmy on the other end of the phone snapped his fingers: "Bingo, pets has won a large market in terms of food, but it mainly focuses on cat food and dog food with low profits or even losses. It lacks competition, so after taking over the website , I hope to refine the types of food, such as food for young cats, food for adult cats, food for senior cats, and food for hairless cats, cat food for gills, cat food for sensitive stomachs, etc. As you know, refine Products are a sharp tool to make money. In e-commerce, what we have to do is not to sell what consumers need, but to sell them what consumers want.”

"In addition to food, there are also pet products, such as drinking fountains, feeding machines, climbing frames, litter mats... There are many things that ordinary consumers have never seen, but they will definitely want after seeing them."

"As for medical care, veterinary resources are too scattered and marketization is very difficult, but we can make some attempts to make pet medical care develop towards regional chains and standardization. In this regard, online and offline are equally important. We You can cooperate with some chain veterinary shops."

After hearing Jimmy say so much, Yu Dong probably understood his train of thought.

In fact, what Jimmy wants to do is not just a vertical e-commerce website for pet supplies, but a website similar to a pet community.

People who like pets can buy pets on this website, buy pet supplies, learn how to raise pets, and even treat pets.

And Jimmy is not only going to be a channel, he is also planning to invest in factories and control part of the production line.

This is just Jimmy's preliminary plan. After the preliminary goal is achieved, Jimmy also hopes that this website can develop in the direction of high technology of intelligence and IoT.

Although Jimmy didn't say it, Yu Dong already understood what he meant by the experimental field. Probably Jimmy wanted to explore an intelligent high-tech development path through the track of pet products, because sooner or later, Deep Space Company will reach this step.

Before that, it is of course a good thing to spend money to acquire a company to help Deep Space Corporation step on the thunder.

"The experiment is the experiment, but you can't put your mind on it too much. BenQ Dentsu has just acquired it, and there are still many things to work hard for you." Yu Dong still reminded that what he cares about most now is BenQ Dentsu. , and nothing else matters.

Jimmy smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I've already found the general manager of the new company. I'm only responsible for determining the company's general policy. Other things will be handled by someone else."

Yu Dong nodded, "That's good, you can handle this matter yourself, after you finish the formalities, I'll have someone transfer the money to you. It's getting late now, you should go to bed early, Britney You are quite a few years younger than you, if you stay up late like this every day, the gap between the two of you will grow wider and wider."

Yu Dong's words immediately hit Jimmy's lungs, "Okay, okay, I'll sleep right away."

……

Yu Dong looked at the phone with a busy tone in his hand, and couldn't help showing a smile.

Jimmy seems to be quite serious about Britney, which is a bit unexpected.

As for the pets, Yu Dong didn't think about them at all. He agreed to pay the money. On the one hand, of course he trusted Jimmy. He and Jimmy have known each other very well for so many years.On the other hand, he also took a fancy to the sock puppet, the mascot of the pets company.

Yu Dong believes that if this mascot is well developed, it can bring considerable profits.

As long as they can develop this mascot well, they won't lose much even if they lose money.

Because of the vigorous marketing of the pets company, this mascot is very well-known. With the foundation of IP operation, it can appear in the film management of the deep space department in the future. If the opportunity is right, it can even make a movie for it. .

In addition, having a pet supply website is also good for his and Jimmy's personal image.

(End of this chapter)