You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 270 The Second Wave of Public Opinion

More than a dozen celebrities registered accounts and posted videos. This spectacular scene of collective blessings was last seen in the behind-the-scenes footage of the Spring Festival Gala.

It is a rare occasion for a group of people to come together to show their support for an Internet company, and there are many popular first-line stars among them.

Of course, not all of the dozen or so stars are top-tier celebrities, there are only seven or eight of them.

The rest are second- and third-tier stars, who were also put together by the agency to make up the numbers.

There are also some smart little stars who started to do the ice bucket challenge and invited others to join.

It was the first time for netizens of this era to see such a grand spectacle, and they began to call their friends to come and watch the fun.

Soon, the news that celebrities had collectively posted videos on Qvod began to spread, and people were discussing it on major community forums.

Just like the last time Bill Gates released a video, people from all walks of life flocked to QVOD, found the video posted by the celebrity and left messages.

“Check in and take a souvenir.”

Some people also searched the stars’ names one by one, found the stars who posted the videos one by one, and compiled them into a post for other netizens to view.

Later, a competition was formed to see who could find more stars and collect more video addresses.

The people who are most keen on checking in and commenting on celebrity videos are naturally the fans. After getting the news, the fans spontaneously gather together and start registering accounts to leave messages and comments.

Various messages of encouragement and compliments kept appearing under the video.

The influx of a large number of people caused the server of Qvod to overload. Fortunately, these people did not come in all at once, which gave Kou Hongfei enough time to deal with it.

But the bad news is that more and more people are coming in.

Qin Shaoyan took a look around the campus network and understood what had happened on Qvod.

He thought about it for a moment, then called Xiong Jiajia and said, "Tell all your people to get to work quickly. The work is coming now."

"Let them all go to Qvod, find the videos posted by the stars, and argue with them."

Xiong Jiajia was a little surprised, "I remember that you opened Qvod, right?"

"Yes, it's mine." Qin Shaoyan answered without hesitation, "Any questions?"

"You do this in your own business?" Xiong Jiajia found it unbelievable. "Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

"What we want now is popularity, what we want is something to happen." Qin Shaoyan said firmly, "Let the fans fight with each other, that's the only way to get popularity, that's the only way to get topics, that's the only way to get traffic."

“Only in this way can the website gain exposure, become well-known, and its valuation go up!”

Xiong Jiajia thought for a moment and asked, "Can you please stop scolding Bingbing? I like Bingbing."

"Don't bring your personal preferences into work." Qin Shaoyan criticized harshly, "Work is work, life is life."

"Tell your employees to go all out and not let any star go!"

Qin Shaoyan then called another Mr. Xiong, Xiong Xiaoge.

"Boss Xiong, the new wave of hot topics on Qvod that you requested is here."

Xiong Xiaoge was meeting with entrepreneurs looking for investment at the time, and was very surprised to see Qin Shaoyan calling.

"Boss Qin, what are you doing again?"

"It's a small cross-border cooperation with the entertainment industry." Qin Shaoyan said lightly, "This is a kind of expansion attempt. You know, Qvod has been looking to get involved in the entertainment industry."

Xiong Xiaoge immediately asked his assistant to bring a laptop. He opened the Qvod website and immediately understood what was happening.

In addition to the recommended spots on the first row of the homepage, the second row is filled with videos of various celebrities.

"Hey, why haven't I heard you say that you have connections in the entertainment industry?" Xiong Xiaoge was a little surprised.

"If it didn't matter, how would I dare to open up a business in the entertainment industry?" Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly, paused for a moment, and said slowly, "This wave of traffic can last for a while. Although it is not as sensational as Bill Gates, it is more durable. We must seize this opportunity."

Xiong Xiaoge nodded in satisfaction, "As expected of Mr. Qin, what a great method."

"It's just a trivial trick. The rest of the key still depends on Mr. Xiong." Qin Shaoyan flattered Xiong Xiaoge subtly, hinting to him that he should put more effort in negotiating with YouTube.

Xiong Xiaoge naturally understood what Qin Shaoyan meant and agreed immediately.

After hanging up the phone, Xiong Xiaoge continued to look at the PPT in his hand.

Coincidentally, this is also a project for a video website.

The concept of video websites has become very popular recently, and many video website entrepreneurs have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, looking for investment everywhere.

Recently, Xiong Xiaoge has received financing plans from several video websites. Some of them are just demo versions, and some even only have a PPT.

Zhang Youshan, the entrepreneur sitting opposite Xiong Xiaoge, talked a lot about the business plan, but Xiong Xiaoge remained silent.

After the entrepreneur finished speaking, Xiong Xiaoge suddenly asked, "What are the special advantages of your project?"

Zhang Youshan was stunned for a moment, then said confidently, "I have an EMBA from China Europe International Business School and have worked for large foreign companies such as Motorola, Alcoa, and Bausch and Lomb. I have profound theoretical and practical experience in management training."

"Our video website has a unique philosophy and values, and will try to adopt a business model that is different from other video websites."

Xiong Xiaoge frowned, "I'm not asking you that. I'm asking you what's so special about this video website?"

“For example, website technical solutions, website features, and marketing strategies.”

"Well, I don't understand technology, but the team I recruited are all programmers who came back from Silicon Valley in the United States." Zhang Youshan said immediately, "Some of them worked for YouTube."

Xiong Xiaoge glanced at Zhang Youshan and asked expressionlessly, "Can you get the "Information Network Audiovisual Program Distribution License"? "

Zhang Youshan was stunned. What was that?
Xiong Xiaoge continued to ask: "Do you know Bill Gates?"

Zhang Youshan was even more confused. If I knew Bill Gates, why would I come to you to seek investment?

Xiong Xiaoge asked one last question, "Do you have any connections in the entertainment industry?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xiong, I'm in the Internet industry," Zhang Youshan said, "I don't know anyone in the entertainment industry."

Xiong Xiaoge closed the financing plan without hesitation and said calmly, "You go back first, we will think about it again."

Looking at Zhang Youshan who left in disappointment, Xiong Xiaoge sneered a few times.

You have nothing and yet you dare to come out and cheat people for money.

Go back and practice some more.

……

The next day, Qvod once again dominated the headlines of newspapers.

Well, it’s the headline in the entertainment section.

Last time, Bill Gates, the world's richest man, was qualified to be on the front page, while the rest of the Internet giants could only make the tech and economic pages.

Popular film and television stars are only eligible for the entertainment version, but the entertainment version is more eye-catching.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Internet tycoons are just like that, not very attractive, and far less familiar than entertainment stars.

Ordinary people are more concerned about gossip, rumors and the like about entertainment stars.

Seeing entertainment stars collectively posting videos on QVOD naturally aroused the curiosity of the crowd, and they started discussing it.

And Qvod.com has become more lively than usual.

Under Qin Shaoyan's instruction, Kou Hongfei opened the video playback rankings and added some water to the celebrity's video. In just one morning, Lu Yi's video climbed to the first place and was ranked in the most prominent position on the homepage.

The number of views of the first place is far ahead of the second place Hu Jun, which makes him stand out.

Then Ren Quan’s fans couldn’t stand it anymore and started mocking Lu Yi in the comment section, and started a war of words with the other party’s fans.

The more the quarrel got heated, the more Lu Yi’s blessing video soared.

By the afternoon, Ren Quan's video playback volume also soared, squeezing out Hu Jun's position and catching up closely.

This was really fun, as people from all the major social networking platforms including Campus Network, Tianya, and Mop flocked to watch, and some people kept broadcasting the battle situation.

For a time, the hot topic of discussion on major social platforms was which celebrity was the most popular on the Internet.

Fans of Lu Yi and Ren Quan were fighting each other. Although everyone was enjoying the fight, they were confused and didn't understand how the fight started.

Fans of other stars were not busy watching the show. When they saw that the number of views of the stars they supported was obviously lagging behind, they began to organize themselves and went to support them.

Fans who heard the news began leaving comments crazily, and some fan leaders even called on everyone to watch the video several times to increase the number of views so that they would be ranked higher in the rankings.

Never underestimate the persistence of fans. Unlike the fake traffic brought by data workers in later generations, the fans at this time are basically real people.

And they are no different from the fans in later generations. There are moderate fans, extreme fans, crazy fans, and sasaeng fans.

In the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Hong Kong and Taiwan stars fought against each other, fans fought each other, and they used all kinds of means to insult and blacken each other. The fan circles in later generations are just leftovers from their tricks.

……

The fierce battle on Qvod.com lasted for several days, and the intensity of the incident remained high.

Davis's face became more and more grim when he saw the background data provided by Qvod for several consecutive days.

He was both surprised and happy. He was happy that Qvod was so popular and the data was growing like a rocket, but the curve seemed fake.

What was surprising was that Qvod's performance was so good that the other party took the opportunity to ask for a huge price, insisting on the price of 320 million US dollars.

Davis also took the time to visit Qvod.com, where the other party generously showed him the backend and displayed the data changes of Qvod.com in one day.

Since the other party was so frank, Davis knew that the data must be true, and even if it was fake, it was not too exaggerated.

Davis asked his assistant to collect newspapers in China and some comments on the Internet, and finally compiled them into a PPT, which was sent back to the headquarters by email.

After speaking to his boss at headquarters, Davis discussed the matter with other shareholder representatives.

Finally, YouTube agreed to acquire Qvod for $300 million and refused to add any more.

A day later, Qvod.com received a reply from Zhang Pingyi on behalf of Qin Shaoyan, agreeing to the price.

Davis finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although it cost an extra $60 million, the matter was finally settled.

Whether Qvod is worth $300 million is a matter of opinion.

From the scale and size of the website, to the market prospects and development potential, to the entry ticket to the Chinese market.

Finally, the valuation of YouTube itself has increased, so this deal is still a good deal.

The next step is for both parties to sign a letter of intent for cooperation.

Although signing a letter of intent for cooperation does not mean an acquisition, there are still countless details to be dealt with before the formal contract can be signed.

But signing the letter of intent means that both parties have reached an agreement, and the rest is just a matter of going through the process.

On the day of the signing ceremony, the entire YouTube team and shareholder representatives attended, and everyone looked a lot more relaxed.

When the convoy arrived at the hotel, David Banks noticed something seemed wrong around him as soon as he got out of the car.

There are always reporters waiting at the door during every meeting, but today it was deserted and there were hardly any people around.

David Banks was a little surprised, "Why don't I see any reporters?"

Davis was feeling very proud of himself and didn't care about it at all. "I don't see anything strange about the reporters. After the signing is completed, we will hold a press conference together, and the reporters will naturally come then."

As he spoke, Davis led his men towards the hotel entrance.

David Banks felt that something was not right. The signing ceremony was such a big event, even if no reporters were interested, Qvod should have notified a few reporters to come.

Everyone walked into the conference hall prepared by the hotel, which had been decorated long ago.

The background curtain for the signing ceremony was hung up, with the logos of YouTube and Qvod printed on it, and "Signing Ceremony" written in Chinese and English.

The scene was arranged in an orderly manner, with a row of snacks and a row of wine glasses on the tables on both sides.

Two bottles of champagne were specially placed on the table for the signing ceremony.

Davis walked over happily, picked up the champagne and took a look, "They are really thoughtful in preparing it. This wine looks good."

Everyone started chatting and laughing in a relaxed mood, and the atmosphere gradually became relaxed.

People from Qvod also came in soon and greeted the YouTube team enthusiastically.

Davis glanced at the crowd and found that all the shareholder representatives of Qvod.com were present, and the representative of the last company, Cash Power Co., Ltd., was also there.

But the only person he didn't see was Qin Shaoyan.

Davis was very surprised and asked Zhang Pingyi: "Zhang, why didn't John come?"

"Boss Qin is ill and has a high fever." Zhang Pingyi sighed, "His health is not suitable for attending such an occasion. I will sign on his behalf."

Davis was stunned. He thought Qin Shaoyan was pretending to be sick to avoid him and let Zhang Pingyi come out to play the good guy.

He didn't even show up for such an important occasion as the signing ceremony. It seems he is really sick.

However, Davis no longer cared about Qin Shaoyan's condition and said with a smile: "Let's get started."

Zhang Pingyi and David Banks each sat at the signing ceremony table as company representatives and took out the letter of intent to look at it.

David Banks signed his name on the letter of intent in front of him with a flourish of his pen, and then prepared to hand it to Zhang Pingyi.

But as soon as he turned his head, David Banks was stunned. Zhang Pingyi was holding a pen, looking at the letter of intent, and did not move.

"Zhang, sign it." David Banks urged.

Zhang Pingyi's face was solemn. He slowly picked up the pen. As the tip of the pen just touched the paper, he suddenly put the pen down.

David Banks was stunned, and Davis next to him was also stunned.

Before they could ask, Xiong Xiaoge suddenly stood up and said, "Sorry, we don't sell it anymore."

Waterfalk? !
Davis was confused. What kind of plane are you guys using?
The price has been negotiated, and you've agreed to it, right? Now we're about to sign, so what do you mean by going back on your word?
Is there any further price increase?

What's the difference between what you do and Yahoo?
What’s the difference between them and those companies that are vulgar, unscrupulous and have no business ethics?
The representative of Chao Neng Li Co., Ltd. also stood up and said, "We are very sorry and hope to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future."

Afterwards, one by one, the shareholder representatives stood up silently and followed Xiong Xiaoge out the door.

Zhang Pingyi looked at David Banks with an embarrassed expression, "Sorry, it looks like this signing ceremony will end early."

Davis was instantly furious, "Zhang! Where is Qin Shaoyan?! I want to see him!"

"He must give me an explanation!"

"Otherwise I will file a complaint with the United Nations."

(End of this chapter)