The next morning, Li Mu held a meeting in the company. He first mentioned that Xinlang was going to create an instant messaging software, then he led the topic to discuss how to acquire Hao123.
Li Mu did not need to say much about Hao123. The people in the meeting were all experienced internet users, so they naturally knew Hao123, the number one personal website in the country.
Initially, everyone did not understand why Li Mu wanted to acquire Hao123. A navigation website that did not require much technology but relied on a large amount of traffic to make money was indeed very useful to traditional internet companies. However, for a company like Makino Technology that focused on client products, it did not mean much.
However, when Li Mu mentioned during the meeting that he wanted to create a web portal, everyone finally understood Li Mu's intentions.
Xinlang wanted to create an instant messaging website, but it also wanted to compete with Makino Technology for talent. It seemed that Li Mu was angry and wanted to teach Xinlang a lesson. Or rather, he wanted to get rid of Xinlang and be done with it.
Therefore, everyone began to seriously discuss Hao123.
Those in the technical faction supported building a navigation website that mimicked Hao123. They would use YY's large traffic to support it, then use YY's cash flow to promote it across the entire internet, and even offline. It was only a matter of time before they surpassed Hao123. However, those in the operational faction were more inclined to acquire it. Based on Hao123's current profitability, Li Xingping's annual net income was at least three million. The starting valuation would not be lower than ten times the net profit. Therefore, if they were to acquire it with money, thirty million was the minimum. Moreover, they were not sure if Li Xingping would agree to it.
Li Mu also felt that it was too difficult to acquire Hao123 with money at the moment. This was because its operating costs were low and its advertising revenue was high. It was like a hen that laid golden eggs. If it were him, he would definitely not sell it for thirty million, unless it was in exchange for Makino Technology's shares.
However, Li Mu did not want to acquire Hao123 at such a high price. The strategic significance of this thing to him was not as significant as it was to Baidu. Therefore, Li Mu raised his own expectations during the meeting.
"I need to think of a way to buy Hao123 with money, and the price can't be too high. I don't want to be a sucker."
Just as everyone was scratching their heads in confusion, Ding Jian, the director of the commercial department, asked, "Can we buy first?"
Li Mu said, "Sure, tell me what you think."
Ever since Ding Jian was poached by Lin Ching-ah from a multinational company to Makino Technology, he had not really worked on any major projects. Makino Technology had not launched an official acquisition until now. Today, when Li Mu mentioned that he wanted to take down Hao123, he was immediately motivated.
Ding Jian carefully organized his thoughts and said unhurriedly, "Right now, Hao123 is at its best. It has no competitors, its operating costs are extremely low, its user traffic is huge, and its income from advertising and ranking is very high. At this time, the other party will also be the strongest psychologically. With such a healthy business model, I'm afraid he won't be interested in any company that wants to acquire him. The cost of trying to impress him is too high."
Li Mu nodded. Ding Jian was right. If a person could easily make a net profit of a few million in a month, he would not lose to Bill Gates, unless he was offered an extremely high price to make him compromise.
At this time, Ding Jian said, "If we also make a navigation website, we don't need to invest too much in this area. Then, we can use YY to guide traffic to the navigation website. All we have to do is let people know that we're doing this, and let them think that we're going to do everything we can to push this forward. I think with Makino Technology's current momentum in the internet industry, Hao123 will definitely be very nervous. He only has Hao123, but we have too many. When he's nervous, worried, and afraid, then we can talk to him about acquisition. Then, his psychological value will definitely be greatly reduced."
Ding Jian's strategy of attacking first and buying later was probably the best way to fulfill Li Mu's request. Otherwise, as the value of internet traffic increased, Li Xingping's income would definitely increase. By that time, it would be too difficult to get his hands on Hao123.
In his previous life, Li Xingping had received tens of millions in cash from Baidu, as well as Baidu shares that were worth far more than that. Although Li Mu did not know the exact amount, he could imagine that Li Xingping's actual income was calculated in the hundreds of millions. If he kept his Baidu shares, then his actual remuneration might even be higher.
Ding Jian's suggestion was very reasonable and very feasible. Attacking first and buying later was not uncommon in the internet industry. Many companies were very good at this and had benefited a lot from it. These four words gave Li Mu some inspiration, and it also made Li Mu wonder why Baidu had bought Hao123 in his previous life.
Based on Li Zong's personality, it did not make sense to spend so much money to buy Hao123. He had a huge amount of internet traffic, and the barrier to entry for navigational websites was so low that it made one's hair stand on end. Baidu could have done the same with just a little tweaking, so why would he spend so much money to buy Hao123?
However, when he remembered that Hao123 was bought in 2004, Li Mu's mind was instantly enlightened.
There was only one reason — to go public in the United States.
If it was not for the fact that Baidu had to go public in 2004, they would not have paid such a high price to buy Hao123. If the plan to go public was delayed by two years, Li Zong would have definitely done something to Hao123. He would either kill her and replace her, or he would be scared of her. Then, both parties would shake hands and buy Hao123 at a low price. There was no way he would let Li Zong take away such a huge profit from his hands so easily.
To put it bluntly, it was all about each taking what they needed.
If Baidu wanted to get listed, they needed to brag more to the market and tell more stories. Taking down Hao123 would give them more capital to brag and tell more stories. When he wanted to reap greater benefits, he would naturally disregard the small details and let Li Xingping earn more as long as he actively cooperated with his strategic plans.
Therefore, Li Mu had a rough plan in his mind. He would follow Ding Jian's suggestion and attack first and buy later.
Therefore, Li Mu said, "The technical team will split into a few web development teams. Today, we will set up a navigation website project team to develop our own navigation website. Give me the website planning and design draft as soon as possible. Also, register the YY123 domain name. If it's already registered, find a way to buy it."
Sun Qian immediately raised his hand and said, "We must complete the task as planned."
Li Mu continued, "The operations team must find a way to integrate YY's resources and come up with an operation plan. We must figure out how to promote, how to direct traffic, and how to create a commotion. Also, investigate Li Xingping from Hao123. Make sure to advertise a lot in his hometown and give him the most pressure. We must make him feel pressured both online and offline so that he won't be able to eat or sleep in peace!"
The pressure that a tycoon brought to the industry was immense. For example, Teng Xun in the future. Any internet entrepreneur knew that they must always be wary of Teng Xun on the road to entrepreneurship. That was because once Teng Xun took a fancy to their business model, there were usually only two possibilities. Either he killed themselves, or they could not withstand the pressure and were taken in by him.
Makino Technology was now considered a tycoon in the domestic internet industry. Against an individual webmaster like Li Xingping, Li Mu believed that it would bring him a lot of pressure. Therefore, Li Mu instructed the operations team to find a way to build momentum so that Li Xingping would live in a constant sense of crisis in the future. Li Xingping was different from Li Mu. Li Mu was an ecosystem chain, and Li Xingping only had one section, Hao123.
The operations team immediately understood. Sometimes, there was a sense of achievement only when one tricked someone. This was not cunning, but the law of the market. Makino Technology had been coveted by many people since it had been established. It was understandable that they would occasionally covet others.
…
Chen Hui and Zhang Xiaodi's plane landed at Shenzhen Airport at noon. The two went to the hotel they had booked and checked in separately. Zhang Xiaodi said to Chen Hui, "I don't have much to do in the afternoon. Can you sort out a rough list and give it to me? I'll do the statistics."
Chen Hui nodded and said, "I've arranged to have dinner with my former subordinates tonight. You should come too. I'll tell them why you're here at the dinner table."
Zhang Xiaodi made an OK gesture and said, "Let's start with your subordinates first. We'll take them down one by one."
At this time, Zhang Xiaodi received a call from Li Mu. After listening to Li Mu's instructions, she hung up and said to Chen Hui, "Li Zong called me just now and instructed the finance department to advance 300,000 yuan to my salary card. He asked us not to be too stingy when it comes to business hospitality. When it comes to treating people to meals, we should try to set the standards as high as possible. It's also a show of our soft power to your colleagues. So, for dinner tonight, you should book as high a restaurant as possible."
Chen Hui thought about it and said, "Then let's choose the Ricky Hotel. It's a five-star hotel. I heard that the food there is very high-end in Shenzhen."
Zhang Xiaodi smiled and said, "Okay, we can also bask in the glory. I've never eaten at a five-star hotel in my life."
The two of them returned to their respective rooms. Chen Hui first called 114 and found the phone number of the Ricky Hotel. After that, he went online in his room and logged into YY. He said in a small group chat with his six subordinates, "Brothers, I've arrived in Shenzhen. I just checked in at the hotel. Let's eat at the Ricky Hotel tonight. Seven o 'clock, Manhattan Hall. I've already made a reservation."
A few unemployed technical men in the group were online. When they saw that Chen Hui wanted to treat everyone to dinner at the Ricky Hotel, they immediately exploded.
"Boss, you're rich? The seven of us at the Ricky Hotel can eat five to six thousand yuan a meal, right? "
"Yeah, the cost of living at the Ricky Hotel is too high. If you ask me, let's go to the old place. Three hundred yuan for seven people is enough for food and drinks."
"Boss, you're here on a business trip this time. Maybe you're using public funds. Isn't that right, boss?"
Chen Hui smiled and quickly typed a line of words. "Dinner tonight is indeed spending the company's money, so you don't have to worry about it. Just eat as much as you want when you're here!"
One of his subordinates said in the group, "Wow! Boss, how long have you been in the new company? You already have so much power to eat and drink with public funds? "
Chen Hui said, "Stop talking nonsense. Seven o 'clock, Manhattan Hall at the Ricky Hotel. Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Got it!"
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