Chapter 447: Take a Bigger Step

Chapter 447: Take a Bigger Step

Chapter 447 Take a Bigger Step

Businessmen who deal with business all day long will more or less develop some business sense.

If you want to know about the prospects of a project, basically just listen to the plan and you can draw a conclusion whether it can be done or not.

Fan Wumian proposed to try to launch an American version of Weibo through Penguin Group.

Pony Ma thought it was obviously worth a try. A few years ago, he considered whether he could bring QQ to the United States and find ways to open up the international market.

Unfortunately, there was not enough money at the time and I couldn't spare much energy, so I focused my attention on developing the mainland market.

By the time they had a little more money, Facebook, which had become popular since its launch, had already become popular and replaced QQ in some aspects. Foreign instant messaging software had also matured and the market had long been divided up.

The international version of Weibo is different, its business model is a little more novel.

Deep city.

Xiao Ma Ge had just finished breakfast and had not yet gone to the company. He sat on the sofa at home and thought carefully for a while. He felt that this business could really be done.

The advantage is that as a star, Fan Wumian has the opportunity to ask other celebrities to help attract users and reduce the cost of publicity and promotion.

In the early stages of Penguin Weibo’s expansion, Pony Ma had already tasted the sweetness.

With his strong appeal, Fan Wumian at least helped attract millions of users to try out the product, directly building the basic base and saving tens of millions of RMB in advertising fees.

There is also a business model in which members can enjoy privileges by recharging their membership fees, which is a little new in the United States. Pony Ma thinks that young people abroad also like to show off their personality and compete with each other on the Internet.

In China, you can only earn Hong Kong dollars, RMB, etc., but in the United States, you can earn US dollars, and the net profit margin may be much higher than that in the mainland.

By then, we can build a platform through the American version of Weibo to promote games such as "Dungeon & Fighter", "KartRider", and "Audition". We will also have the opportunity to earn US dollars and monetize users continuously.

It is worth mentioning that the development companies of the two games "KartRider" and "Audition" were acquired by Penguin Group in the first half of the year.

It was mainly aimed at the development team, which is currently planning several other large-scale online games, including "Emperor of the Wilderness" in collaboration with Fan Wumian.

When it comes to how to start a new project, I only have a general idea for now.

However, apart from the unfamiliarity with the local climate and possible suppression by local forces, Xiao Ma Ge can't think of any other risks, because the potential benefits are huge enough and he is very tempted at the moment.

He hurriedly got into the car and asked the driver to take him to the Penguin Group headquarters. After taking the elevator to the office, Pony Ma immediately found two executives and asked them to form a team to begin researching the product "American Weibo" and plan how to enter the US market.

At this moment.

A vice president named Ge stood behind Xiao Ma Ge and read the simple webpage of "American Weibo". He asked in a surprised tone:
"Mr. Fan asked you to acquire it? I've seen that the most popular post has only about 20 likes. The user base is too small."

Xiao Ma smiled and said:
"Well, Mr. Fan told me that this team is very small and relatively poor. At most, it would cost 700,000 or 800,000 US dollars to acquire it."

"The product itself is not the point. The point is that we spent money to acquire a local Internet company in Silicon Valley, so we have a legitimate reason to go to Silicon Valley to do business, rather than being completely treated as an outsider."

“If the acquisition goes through, we will also have to support the three co-founders. A local brand and an outsider who is disrupting the market will give people a very different impression. In the early stages of development, the lower the profile, the better. Try not to attract too much attention, so that it will be easier to gain a foothold and survive.”

Unlike the brutal expansion in the mainland, large Internet companies are frantically crossing borders.

The antitrust regulations in the United States are relatively strict. The Silicon Valley has its own business order and will not easily reach into other people's bowls.

But if you spend money and buy someone else's bowl directly, it doesn't matter, such as Google's acquisition of YouTube.

If it had relied on its dominant market position to open a similar video website, it would have easily aroused public anger in the industry. However, if it had spent money to acquire YouTube, it would have been a reasonable and logical way to layout its video website.

As early as last year, Google spent 5000 million US dollars to acquire Android.

Android's original goal was actually just to develop an operating system for digital camera systems, but due to the slowdown in the digital camera market, the team decided to turn to developing a mobile phone operating system and was eventually acquired by Google.

With the development of technology, many companies have begun to plan for the mobile smart terminal market in advance. Apple, which is also headquartered in Silicon Valley, is busy making a big move quietly, recruiting many engineers who are proficient in mobile phone research and development, and applying for a large number of technical patents.

Spending a little money to borrow a shell from Silicon Valley might help avoid a lot of trouble. It's just a few hundred or a million dollars, and Pony Ma and his friends don't take it seriously.

Vice President Ge continued in an excited tone:
"Some time ago, those American companies were clamoring to take over the mainland market, and many institutions were predicting our failure. Things have changed. They can still keep their eyes on the mainland market, so why can't we attack them? We should have taken a bigger step and tried our hand in the United States a long time ago."

"Once we can make a name for ourselves in Silicon Valley, it will be much easier to enter other international markets. We may even be able to take over other markets in Europe, South America and Asia. Then our company will make a lot of money."

"Once we have accumulated enough funds, we will directly ring the bell at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and try to make a lot of money."

Xiao Ma laughed and said:
"You're still sleepy so early in the morning? Don't daydream yet. I've discovered that Mr. Fan is not a stable person and has a big appetite."

".Needless to say, who can't see that?"

Vice President Ge is a veteran of Penguin Group and did not have many reservations during the conversation:
"With how little money he has, he dares to swallow up so many Penguin shares at once. Sometimes I think if the company's stock price plummets, he might go bankrupt directly. He has such confidence in us."

"You said that Mr. Fan wanted to enter the U.S. market. Was it to create favorable news in the capital market and then raise the stock price to make money?"

"I owe the bank so much money. If it were me, I would definitely sell off some of my holdings at a high price and use the money to reduce debt, or keep it in my hands as ballast in case I run into a crisis and can't squeeze out enough cash."

These executive directors have accompanied Penguin Group's growth step by step and have deep feelings for the company.

On the other hand, Fan Wumian is more like an outsider who comes here to speculate. Vice President Ge and others will inevitably worry that he is busy making money for himself and ignores the life and long-term interests of the company.

Xiao Ma Ge didn’t have many contacts with Fan Wumian, so he just said:

"I'm not sure, but the premise for cashing out is to let the stock price go up first. He and we are in the same boat. Just looking at the US version of Weibo project itself, if it is really done, the potential is likely to exceed our Penguin Group itself. If the market value of the subsidiary is higher than that of the parent company, it will be great."

Vice President Ge shook his head and said:

"It's a bit difficult. Last month, Yahoo tried to acquire Facebook, but the total price was only $10 billion. Later, the price was reduced to $8 million, but Facebook rejected it. Like us, Facebook has a large number of users, but its monetization ability is insufficient. We can still make money from games and online virtual products, but it can only rely on advertising."

Brother Xiao Ma raised his arm and pushed his glasses up, then said:

"By the way, Mr. Fan also suggested that we move the membership privileges over. Another thing is to develop a self-destructing function, allowing users to send pictures and the other party to delete them directly after reading them, to prevent them from being saved by others. This is very suitable for sharing private photos between men and women."

Vice President Ge pondered for a moment, with a mysterious smile on his face, smacking his lips:

"Mr. Fan is really not simple. Young people are really good at playing. Maybe they have this kind of demand in their daily life, so they thought of launching such a function. I have to admit that this function is quite interesting. Some photos that users usually don't dare to post can be released with it. Young people will definitely like it very much. It can also be launched in the mainland market."

After a brief exchange, everyone agreed that it was worth a try.

For now, let's finalize a big framework.

On the same day, the head of the human resources department was called in, and employees with a background of studying in the United States were selected from various departments to form a temporary small team to brainstorm and plan how to enter the US market.
(End of this chapter)