What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 389 Patience
Carbon Silicon Data Company needs to invest more in technology, both subjectively and objectively.

Despite the seemingly turbulent external environment, Carbon Silicon Data has moved from a cold start to a stage of large-scale operation. It no longer needs to rely so heavily on partnerships with companies like Sina and NetEase. However, as the total number of users increases, the growth in daily active users is not as expected, which is a very alarming sign.

The actual number of users of the latest trending topics has not yet exceeded 5000 million, but the number on the Sohu News app is more than that.

Judging from the current market competition, the latest hot topics are among the top news items but have not gained a significant advantage. If they cannot better meet the needs of users in the mobile internet era, they will eventually fade into obscurity.

When Yu Xing talked about how technology restructures business models, he looked at the past development of the three major portals, thought about the future trend of ByteDance, and then suddenly considered the electric vehicle project of Silicon Carbon Group. In the end, only one sentence came to mind: science and technology are the primary productive forces.

Only by increasing investment in technology can we drive the expansion of business models.

He held meetings at Carbon Silicon Data Company for two consecutive days. On the second day, he even called Zhong Zhiling back to discuss adjustments to the company's budget allocation. Ultimately, they decided to add 1 million yuan to the budget for Zhai Yifei's technical team and set aside another 1 million yuan to solve the licensing issues in the content field.

"Your decision-making changes very quickly. One allocation is for the present, and the other is for the future?" Liu Wanying learned about this while having dinner with Lü Haiying, and then they talked about it when they met.

“No, both allocations are for the current situation.” Yu Xing shook his head and denied it. “The user activity of the latest hot topics cannot keep up with the overall growth, which is quite dangerous. This kind of trend of aligning with users... Look at Taobao, they also want to do ‘personalized recommendations’. In fact, the underlying idea is the same.”

Liu Wanying suddenly felt a thought and smiled, "With the rapid growth of users, as long as we meet their increasing needs, we will succeed."

Yu Xing was somewhat surprised: "You remembered this?"

This is a speech he gave at an internet conference a long time ago, and it is now considered one of his more well-known statements in the industry.

Liu Wanying nodded: "Yes, from the market to users to demand to traffic and then to data, I remember that the theme of your Internet conference was 'Integration promotes development, penetration creates value'. From this perspective, what Carbon Silicon Data is doing is still within this framework."

Yu Xing smiled slightly: "Yes, but theory is easy to talk about, but practice is not. Don't be fooled by the fact that Carbon Silicon Data Company is touted as having mastered the software of two super apps that will surely succeed. If Zhai Yifei and his team can't produce better results with their algorithms, I think this company will have to find another owner."

Liu Wanying's smile vanished instantly. "Not for sale" was a label recently attached to Carbon Silicon Data Company in the media. As several buyers came into contact, Yu Xing's firm stance became known.

She asked, "Has it really come to this?"

"It's true. If it doesn't innovate in technology, it's just a mediocre company like Sohu News. It's better to sell it for a high price. I remember Tianji.com, which briefly competed with Baixiaosheng. Back then, it just had a bunch of dead accounts and couldn't pose any threat to Baixiaosheng at all. The principle is the same."

Liu Wanying smiled and said, "If you say that, Mr. Zhang will have to ask for his $1000 million investment in you back!"

“The contract has already been signed, so why doesn’t he go back? Sigh, we need to pay more attention to the technology field, not just to the silicon carbon group. This is my problem.” Yu Xing reflected, “Xiaoying’s suggestion was very good; she has put her heart into the research.”

Liu Wanying said, "If you put it that way, she'll settle down and study it properly, unlike the people before her who didn't."

Yu Xing frowned and remained silent.

After a long pause, he said, "Just like the execution of the pre-installed market, this needs to be discussed from another angle."

We still need to use events to explain this indirectly.

Three days later, while adjustments were still underway at two internal meetings, news came from outside Carbon Silicon Data Company that 360 had acquired the Ad Buster APP under Carbon Silicon Data.

The news came as a surprise. It was initially exposed on the Baixiaosheng Forum, but was not taken seriously by the internal staff of Carbon Silicon Data Company. They thought it was just a rumor. However, they soon received an internal notification that "Ad Buster," one of the software products in their software matrix, had indeed been sold to 360 Company for 4500 million yuan.

Although the latest hot topic + WiFi Master Key is currently the most popular, Ad Buster also has nearly 2500 million users.

Shocked, Zhai Yifei went to the boss to inquire about the transaction.

“Ad Buster is just a software we use to drive traffic to the latest trending topics. 360 also has a similar standalone app now. Instead of investing resources to compete in this area, it’s better to scale back our efforts and develop our core business,” Yu Xing explained. “This money will also be added to our technology investment. If we don’t see results from these two investments in our algorithms, Carbon Silicon Data Company can look for a buyer.”

Zhai Yifei was even more shocked.

“‘Laugh Out Loud’ can be kept for now, and ‘Financial Hotline’ can be considered for merging into ‘Latest Hot Topics’,” Yu Xing pondered. “The software matrix is ​​meant to generate its own traffic, but development has slowed down at this stage. We’ll see how things go next year.” Zhai Yifei hesitated, feeling that “see how things go next year” had a dangerous undertone.

Yu Xing saw Zhai Yifei's expression, but that was exactly what he wanted, so he simply said more directly: "There are no non-sale items in the carbon silicon data."

He concluded by saying, "I only have 1.45 million in patience."

Zhai Yifei fell silent; his boss's temper flared faster than turning the pages of a book...

However, the speed at which these two sentences spread was even faster.

—No carbon silicon data is off-limits.

—I only have 1.45 million in patience.

Given the rapid sale of 'Advertising Buster' and the restructuring of 'Financial Hotline', these two statements are particularly persuasive. With the technical investment from the sale of the project, the additional 1.45 million will likely be available no later than the year after next.

Moreover, there isn't much time left this year.

The external problems have not yet been resolved, and the company is already experiencing considerable turmoil internally.

Zhong Zhiling privately discussed this matter with his wife, saying with a hint of sarcasm, "Brother Xing suspended my people last time, and this time he sold the project, trying to intimidate us again."

Looking at her daughter who was engrossed in playing with her toys, Lü Haiying thought for a moment before shaking her head and saying, "Maybe she really does have that kind of plan."

Zhong Zhiling raised an eyebrow: "Xing-ge talked to you?"

"No, I didn't ask, it's just..." Lu Haiying pondered, "Look how fast the mobile internet is developing. Did you ever imagine that so many apps with tens of millions of users would appear so quickly? Pre-installed by brands, customized operations, offline app flashing... the user numbers are really skyrocketing. If I were my senior..."

She paused for a moment: "If I were him, I would be busy with operations and raising funds, and after two or three years there would be no progress. I might as well sell it and use the money to build cars. Anyway, if the algorithm is not good, there is really no long-term competitive advantage."

Zhong Zhiling looked up and sighed, "You... I added the carbon and silicon data halfway through."

Lu Haiying nodded: "If you can enter midway, you can exit in a liquidation. In particular, if the Silicon Carbon Group is doing well, and Silicon Carbon Data cannot reverse its decline, then it will be even more useless."

Zhong Zhiling: "..."

There's a subtle competition even among our own sister companies.

The internal restructuring at Silicon Carbon Data Company continues, while its neighbor has received some good news.

Zhong Zhiling was working overtime at the company on Sunday, discussing the development of the technical team with Zhai Yifei, which involved the talent transfer benefits at his former employer, Baidu.

He was talking for a while when he saw several vans drive in through the window, and then his senior brother introduced the newcomers with a smile.

"Old Zhai, who are these people coming down here? They don't seem like leaders," Zhong Zhiling asked casually.

Zhai Yifei actually knew about the visitors: "I heard in the cafeteria last night that a cooperation with a foreign company is about to be finalized. A car technology team is arriving today, it should be them, what's their name again..."

Zhong Zhiling found out; it was the Lotus Group.

He rubbed his face. Good news, good news!

(End of this chapter)