"Do you want to keep control of the company that badly?" Boss Jia asked with a smile.
"Yes, our company must be controlled by us!" Huang Yiming nodded. "That's what Jader and I think too. We will never hand over control of the company to anyone, even if it's …"
"Even if it's me …" Boss Jia smiled. "Don't worry, I don't actually want to take control of your company. But I have a question. Is four million really enough?"
"It should be enough. We just need to add five more servers and four optical fibers. Even if there are 500,000 people accessing at the same time, it will be enough!" Huang Yiming said confidently.
"Is that so?" Boss Jia nodded. "What if there are one million people?"
"Ah …" Huang Yiming was stunned for a moment, then said, "There are less than 500,000 netizens in the country now. How can there be one million …"
"Not now, but there will be in the future, and it will be very fast. I estimate that by the end of this year, the number of netizens in the United States will exceed 600,000. By this time next year, there will be more than two million netizens in the United States. If these two million netizens use our 51 search, will four million dollars still be enough?"
"Impossible, the speed of development can't be so fast!" Huang Yiming exclaimed. The Internet in the United States had been developing for five years, and there were less than 500,000 netizens now. How could it increase to more than two million in a year?
"That's because the Internet was not stable enough before, and the number of websites that could be accessed was not enough. There were also no practical tools like Yahoo and 51 search."
"But it's different now. There are more than six large Internet service providers in the United States, and there are more than 20,000 different websites. There are also more and more Internet services, as well as practical tools like 51 search and Yahoo!"
"Let me ask you, if you were just an ordinary netizen, and I asked you to leave the Internet now and never go online for the rest of your life, would you agree?" Boss Jia's question stunned Huang Yiming for a moment. Then, he began to imagine himself losing the internet connection. He immediately shook his head vigorously.
"That's right. The development of the Internet is the trend of the world, and no one can stop it. According to my estimates, by the year 2000, there will be more than 30 million Internet users in the United States, and more than 300 million Internet users worldwide. These 300 million Internet users will most likely use 51 search to search for websites that they are interested in. Do you think 4 million USD will be enough by then?"
"This …" Huang Yiming was speechless. If there were really 300 million users, forget about 4 million USD, even 400 million USD wouldn't be enough!
"Also, does your website have a profit model now?" Boss Jia asked again.
"Profit model …" Huang Yiming's head hurt when he heard Boss Jia's question. This was what worried Huang Yiming the most because 51sSearch really couldn't find any way to make a profit.
Even though 51sSearch had a huge amount of Internet traffic, it didn't have a single cent of income. This was also a common problem for most Internet companies, and that was, there was no actual income.
In the early days, some websites tried to charge for use. One had to buy a membership through a bank transfer before they could use the website.
However, this model was quickly eliminated because there was no service provided by any website that could make a large number of members willingly spend money to use it.
"I've thought about it. With so many users, we can make a profit through advertising!" Huang Yiming wasn't stupid. He wasn't completely unable to think of a way to make a profit.
Advertising was also recognized by all Internet companies at the moment. It was also the best way to make a profit for a website.
Put up some advertisements for real-life products on the website's page, and then make a profit. It was very simple.
But Huang Yiming did not have much confidence because Yahoo had tried this method. As a portal with the same traffic as 51sSearch, Yahoo had a lot of real-life product advertisements on its page.
But in reality, the effect wasn't very good. First of all, the Internet was a brand new media platform, and now all companies' attitudes towards the Internet were quite disdainful. They didn't think that the Internet, which only had a few hundred thousand netizens, could be compared with traditional television media, which had tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of viewers.
That's why not many companies invested in advertising on Yahoo. Even if there were a few companies, they faced the problem of low conversion rates. That means less than 100 people bought the product because of the advertisement, and the conversion rate is less than 1%.
With this conversion rate, it's hard to attract customers. Although TV's conversion rate is only 1%, it's only 1%.
Now, all Internet companies are operating at a loss, and no one has found a way to make a profit. But everyone doesn't care. After all, all the Internet companies are operating with investors' money, and they don't have to worry about making a profit.
"Mr. Jia, since you said so, you must have a way!" Huang Yiming looked at Boss Jia expectantly.
"Of course!" Boss Jia smiled and nodded, "But I can't tell you now!"
"Understood!" Huang Yiming smiled awkwardly. If he wants to get Jia Yapeng's advice, he will have to wait until 51sSearch completes the acquisition!
"Fatty, let's be honest. I only have one plan, and that is to buy all of 51sSearch's shares!" Boss Jia revealed his intentions, "My conditions are the same. 20 million USD for all of the shares. As the CEO and CTO, each of you will get a monthly salary of 50,000 USD. At the end of the year, there will be additional bonuses according to the website's development."
"In addition, I can give each of you 10% of the stock options. When the company becomes profitable, each of you will get a 10% bonus every year!"
"As for the control of the website, I have no interest in it, and I don't think I can do a better job than the two of you. So, I can promise you that as long as there are no major mistakes in the website's operation, I will not touch your control of 51sSearch."
"What do you mean by major mistakes?" Huang Yiming pondered and asked.
"It's very simple. If there is another search engine company that has more online users than you, then you have committed a major mistake!" Boss Jia said very simply.
"No problem!" Huang Yiming nodded vigorously. Although he knew that many other Internet companies were developing search engines, 51sSearch had a huge advantage. If they were surpassed by other search engines, then it would be a major mistake, and the two of them should be fired.
"So, it's decided?" Boss Jia asked with a smile.
"I have no problem!" Huang Yiming smiled slyly, "But my partner hasn't agreed. He also has 50% of the company's shares. Whether or not you can convince him depends on your ability!"
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