Dufy rarely admired a young man, and rarely looked forward to something as much as she looked forward to the composition of these two songs.
When she thought that one of these two songs should be written for her favorite sister, Du Wei, she was so happy that she couldn't hide her excitement.
After reading the lyrics of the two songs, she immediately called Chen Ze back and blurted out, "Are you choosing one of these two songs? I'll choose 'Years in a Hurry' for Xiaowei. "
Chen Ze was stunned for a moment before he realized that he didn't make it clear to her that Li Mu was going to write two songs for Du Wei this time.
So he said with a smile, "These two songs are written for Xiaowei. Li Mu wants to choose one as an interlude song for the movie, and the other one will be recorded at the same time. When the time comes, he will put it on Yi Ting after the movie is broadcast."
Dufy asked him in surprise, "Really? How can Li Mu be so generous? He gave both songs to Xiaowei? "
Chen Ze coughed twice and said, "I have a very good relationship with Li Mu. After I told him about this last time, he was very concerned, so he directly gave the two songs that he had composed and planned to keep for himself to Xiaowei. Otherwise, how could he come up with two high-quality songs in such a short time?"
Logically speaking, a person of Chen Ze's intelligence shouldn't have done something like this. However, no matter how smart a man or woman was, in the face of true love, their IQ and EQ could be reduced to zero. Just like what he was doing now, his overall performance was more like that of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
However, Dufy appreciated his kindness. After all, he helped her solve her request in a perfect way that was many times beyond her expectations. She really wanted to ask for a good song for her sister, but she didn't expect to get two songs. Just from the lyrics alone, among these two songs, one was a good song that met her expectations, and the other was a classic song that greatly exceeded her expectations.
Therefore, Du Fei said gratefully, "Chen Ze, you are so kind. I have nothing to say. I will thank you properly when I return home!"
Chen Ze had been so busy just for this sentence and immediately felt incomparably satisfied. He chuckled and said, "It's good that you're satisfied. You don't need to be so polite with me. Last time you said you would be back at the beginning of February, right? Have you decided on a specific date? "
"Not yet." Dufy said, "There have been quite a lot of things in the office recently. I guess we won't know when we can leave until the end of the month."
Chen Ze said, "I think you should resign and come back to China. What's so good about living in America? It's so far away from home, and there's no guarantee that you'll be able to advance your career."
Dufy smiled and said, "In the end, I will have to return to China to develop my career. It's just that modern architectural design in China is still far behind that of the West. If I return to China to develop my career, my personal vision and ability will have very little room for improvement. I want to gain more experience before going back."
Chen Ze asked her, "How long will it take?"
Dufy said, "Three to five years. Anyway, I'm still young."
Chen Ze changed his approach to comfort her. "But you're always floating around outside. Uncle and Auntie will definitely miss you. They will definitely want you to stay by their side."
Dufy said, "If I'm the only one in my family, then I might not even be able to stay abroad for a month. But don't we still have Xiaowei at home? She also goes to school at home and doesn't go far. With her accompanying Mom and Dad, I feel much more at ease. Moreover, Mom and Dad don't have any plans to retire yet. They are still busy with their business every day and don't really need my company. I'll seize the opportunity to improve myself while they are still in their prime. When they get older, I'll go back and accompany them."
Dufy's words were reasonable. After listening for a long time, Chen Ze couldn't find a point to refute. He could only sigh and said, "We'll talk about these things when you come back. Let me know in advance when you're coming back. I'll pick you up at the airport. In addition, my mom always nags that she misses you. She said that when you come back, you must come to eat at home. "
Dufy smiled and said, "Tell my Auntie Xie that I'll definitely visit her at home when I get back. I also want to eat the sweet and sour pork she makes. It's simply the best sweet and sour pork in the world."
Chen Ze was overjoyed. "That's settled then. I'll tell her this later. She'll definitely be very happy."
Dufy replied, "Okay. Oh, by the way, one more thing. Have you asked Li Mu when he can help Xiaowei record these two songs?"
Chen Ze said, "Li Mu wants to finish the music by the weekend. Call Xiaowei over on the weekend and let her familiarize herself with the songs. If there's no problem, she can go to the recording studio next week."
Dufy said excitedly, "Go buy a digital recording pen. I can't wait to record the version in the recording studio. Record it for me when Xiaowei audition on the weekend and then send the MP3 file to me."
"Okay, I'll go buy it later."
…
On Friday afternoon, Hui Ka Ming and Chen Ze came to Makino Technology with their respective lawyers, ready to sign the Series B financing agreement of Makino Technology with Li Mu.
Series B financing was an extremely critical hurdle for Li Mu. Currently, although Makino Technology had already made Tieba and Happy Farm popular all over the country, the amount of funds on its books was no more than a million. Without a huge amount of funds, it would be impossible for it to fully sprint forward in the future. After the Series B financing, Hui Ka Ming's 80 million would be directly transferred to Makino Technology's account. For Li Mu, this 80 million would be enough to burn until YY went online.
At the end of the day, YY was the core product of Makino Technology for the next five to eight years. As long as YY got rid of QQ, it would immediately follow QQ's trajectory and immediately build a comprehensive ecological closed-loop. When the mobile Internet arrived in 2010, it would create WeChat. These two aircraft carrier level products would ensure that it would not be defeated for the next twenty years.
As for e-commerce, Li Mu's own arrangement was to launch it after YY went online. E-commerce was too taxing, so he had to find a suitable partner. Alibaba's Boss Ma was now worth hundreds of millions, so it was unrealistic to look for him. Besides, this person's skills were first-rate, so cooperating with him in the field he was best at might not necessarily yield good results in the end. However, Senior Brother Liu Xiaodong was not a big shot yet. If he could be hoodwinked over, he could start Taobao first.
As for his future Gou Dong, his level was still much lower than Taobao. If he could cooperate, he would guide him to become Taobao first.
In the meeting room, Li Mu brought Lin Ching-ah and a partner legal officer to confirm the contract template with Hui Ka Ming, Chen Ze, and their lawyers. The specific financing details were: Hui Ka Ming would invest 50 million in the name of Mingcheng Capital and hold 5% of the shares. He would invest 30 million in his own name and hold 3% of the shares. Chen Ze would invest 20 million in a shell company owned by his mother and hold 5% of the shares. The two investors would not have any special privileges. When the company received another round of financing in the future, they would be diluted equally with the other shareholders.
The three parties did not have any objections to the contract. After signing the contract, the two arranged for the finance department to transfer the money.
According to the normal financing process, the investors were usually more powerful. They would not transfer the money immediately after signing the contract. Some would even wait until the industry and commerce department changed the shareholding structure before transferring the money to the account in batches. However, Hui Ka Ming and Chen Ze trusted Li Mu more than ordinary investors. Therefore, they requested for the finance department to transfer the money to the account in the afternoon.
80 million was transferred to the company's account, and 20 million was transferred to Li Mu's personal account after the tax returns.
After signing the contract, Hui Ka Ming and Chen Ze were ready to leave. Before they left, Chen Ze pulled Li Mu aside and whispered, "Don't forget about Xiaowei's audition this weekend."
Li Mu nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll contact you tomorrow."
After sending the two off, Li Mu gathered all the core staff of Makino Technology in the meeting room. Everyone was sitting in the meeting room excitedly, staring at the two contracts in Li Mu's hands. Everyone knew that the Series B financing agreement was signed today, but they were still waiting for Li Mu to announce the good news personally.
Li Mu took the two thick financing agreements and shook them in his hands. He said in high spirits, "Our Series B financing has been completed. 80 million in cash will be transferred to the account before the end of the day. From today onwards, the company will enter the second stage of development!"
The meeting room was filled with thunderous applause.
The biggest pursuit of an entrepreneur was the company's valuation in the capital market. Makino Technology's valuation of 800 million in half a year was almost a legend in the Internet industry. Although this valuation was a premium given by Hui Ka Ming, as long as the investors were willing to pay for it, it proved the value of this valuation!
As the applause gradually stopped, Li Mu put down the contracts and said to everyone in a serious tone, "2002 is the most crucial year for us. Our battle against QQ is already brewing, and YY is now in full swing. What makes me most happy is that our Happy Farm has already accumulated and migrated users in such a short period of time. This will be the foundation of our victory. Therefore, all the people in charge must be clear of our focus in 2002. Everything must be based on rapid development. In the future, team building, operation, and promotion, don't worry about money anymore. Instead, we must prioritize efficiency! We must burn through this 80 million financing in a reasonable and efficient manner within a year of 2002. Before that, we will start Series C financing. By then, we will be the leader of the instant messaging industry! "
Li Mu's words made everyone excited. When Li Mu first created the Easy Listening Network, the veteran employees had never thought that Makino Technology would one day reach such an astonishing scale. Many times, Li Mu's ideas were very radical, but everything he said was realized one after another. Everyone firmly believed that after YY was launched, it would definitely replace QQ and become the top instant messaging software in the country. By then, Makino Technology would really enter a stage of explosive development.
Li Mu said to Lin Ching-ah, "Qingya must continue to prepare the talent pool for the company. Find a few headhunting companies to work with, and search for suitable talent information in the entire internet industry. In addition, Lingyu must plan the team well. The technical team is the foundation of our future survival. I'd rather have the technical team be overstaffed at all times than to see the technical team stretched thin. Do you understand?"
Lin Ching-ah and Kong Lingyu agreed without hesitation.
Li Mu continued, "There's still a month before the Spring Festival. If I remember correctly, the Spring Festival should be on February 12th. Our finance department must be prepared to pay the salaries in advance. The salaries will be paid around February 5th. All the employees will get a triple-salary year-end bonus at the end of this year!"
The triple-salary year-end bonus stunned all the middle and senior leaders present. This kind of year-end bonus was unimaginable for any industry in China. Even national enterprises and institutions with excellent pay couldn't get a triple-salary year-end bonus at the end of the year. It was even more impossible for the internet industry to do so now. If word of this got out, the people in the industry would probably die of envy.
From the perspective of the employees, they would be very satisfied with a double salary at the end of the year. However, the development of Makino Technology was so fast that Li Mu couldn't care less about employee incentives. When Chen Tianqiao's younger brother, Chen Daqiu, gave one of his product teams a Tesla as a year-end bonus, Li Mu was quite touched. He wasn't jealous that others could have such good luck, but he felt that it was rare for a boss to be willing to share profits with his employees. In contrast, the internet companies were mostly stingy bosses. Putting aside those big bosses, especially in the internet start-up companies, nine out of ten bosses were stingy, and eight out of eight were scammers. Such companies, no matter how powerful they were in the early stages, could not escape the curse of being unable to keep people's hearts.
Just when everyone had not digested the great news of the triple-salary year-end bonus, Li Mu said, "After the Lunar New Year, the company will formulate an outstanding contribution award. The company will give out ten suites and ten cars to the employees who have made significant contributions in 2002. In addition, I will personally give out a certain percentage of shares as employee options, so everyone must work hard. If you work hard in 2002, at least 50% of the people in the company will become millionaires."
After that, Li Mu said to Lin Ching-ah, "Qingya, remember this. You don't have to buy the car first, but you can buy the ten suites first. It's in Zhongguancun. It's about 100 square meters, and the unit price is about 600,000 yuan. Find a suitable new building and buy ten suites in the company's name."
There was a sudden cheer in the meeting room. As a boss, Li Mu was indeed generous enough. In addition, he did have the ability to lead everyone to rapid growth, so it was easy for the employees to feel a sense of belonging to such a boss.
Ten suites cost only six million yuan, which was nothing for the current Makino Technology. However, once these suites were bought, the incentive for the employees would be unimaginable. In the future, when many people in Beijing lamented that the housing prices in Yan Jing were too high and low, they did not seize the opportunity. In fact, they were just comforting themselves. Yan Jing was the top first-tier city in the country, and its housing prices had been difficult for the average working class to afford since 2000. Although the current housing prices were cheaper than ten years later, the income was also lower than ten years later. It could be said that any time one wanted to take root in Yan Jing, the biggest gap was the house price.
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