After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 458 Reputation
“This…this is too much…” Gao Defen said with a bitter expression. “We are just a startup company, we can’t afford this much.”

"Is $500 million a lot?"

Zhou Haoran frowned.

Gao Defen said, "Let alone 500 million US dollars, we can't even come up with 50 US dollars."

"Just kidding..."

Zhou Haoran shook his head, looking incredulous.

Gao Defen said sincerely, "Really, we simply can't come up with that much money. Before coming here, we had discussions, and we really hope to cooperate with you to help us improve some of the functions of ICQ."

What about the service fee?

Zhou Haoran glanced at him.

Gao Defen gritted his teeth and said, "At most $50."

Zhou Haoran's expression changed. "It seems you have no sincerity in cooperating at all!"

Gao Defen quickly replied, "No, it's true!"

"$50 isn't worth all this trouble!"

Zhou Haoran didn't give the other party a friendly look and immediately stood up, intending to turn around and leave.

“Mr. Zhou…” Gao Defen stood up in a panic, “We really intend to cooperate.”

Qiao Hai, standing nearby, added, "Mr. God, to tell you the truth, we've already developed an instant messaging product. It's incredibly powerful, far better and superior to your ICQ. For a mere $50, we might as well open-source the product framework and share it with the world!"

"and many more!"

Gao Defen quickly stopped the other party, as his biggest concern was open source.

If the other party develops a product with the same technical level as ICQ and then open-sources it, ICQ will completely lose its competitiveness and appeal in the market.

That would be a huge loss!
If ICQ were sold to an American company, it would fetch at least several hundred million dollars.

To save face and refuse to pay $500 million ultimately led to the failure of the deal and the startup, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars... This price is too high, and it's a result that no one in the startup team can afford.

ICQ is not the same as Microsoft's.

Microsoft doesn't care, but ICQ won't.

Gao Defen quickly replied, "Mr. Zhou, the $500 million fee is not unnecessarily negotiable!"

"Oh?"

Zhou Haoran's expression then improved.

Gao Defen said with a wry smile, "Can we sit down and talk?"

Zhou Haoran then sat down again with Qiao Hai, Ning Yuanjia, and the others, and said with a smile, "As long as you show sincerity, the cooperation will definitely be achieved."

“Sigh…” Gao Defen sighed, and began to look worried again. “A price of 500 million US dollars is too high.”

Zhou Haoran said calmly, "What I dislike most is haggling."

Gao Defen said, "Personally, I really want to cooperate with Mr. Zhou, but the board of directors has not authorized me. This matter cannot be rushed. I need to go back and discuss it with the board of directors."

Why is it so slow?

Zhou Haoran looked displeased.

Gao Defen explained, "The negotiations with the board of directors were very complicated. It involved not only our founding team but also many investors. I needed to contact each of them individually and explain things clearly..."

Zhou Haoran stated assertively, "The deadline is December 31st of this year. If we haven't reached a cooperation agreement by then, I will open-source the relevant products to the world on January 1st of next year, just like I open-sourced all my papers before."

Gao Defen was on the defensive and had no ability to compete with such a master.

They could only submit humbly.

After the talks, without even inviting the other party to dinner, they had already booked the earliest flight back to Israel.

"This is a delaying tactic!"

After the event, Qiao Hai complained to Gao Defen, immediately seeing through her intentions.

Zhou Haoran nodded. "They simply can't come up with $500 million."

Qiao Hai said, "Then you still want it this tall?"

Zhou Haoran glanced at him, "No money? But you have shares, right?"

"Shares?"

Qiao Hai opened his eyes wide.

Zhou Haoran said, "Once ICQ sells the company to the United States, all the participants will be able to get a share. I believe that even if ICQ has money, they won't be willing to spend it, if they are smart enough."

Qiao Hai agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "Having shares is like binding you to ICQ. You've extorted me once, but with shares, we're family, and I won't be extorted a second time."

Zhou Haoran retorted angrily, "Who extorted me? The way you're talking makes it sound like I'm a criminal."

"Anyway, your trick..." Qiao Hai thought of the newly opened internet cafe under Zhongbo Software and couldn't help but laugh, "I heard that many internet cafes are being hacked. They either pay the hackers or they're constantly harassed. It sounds a lot like yours. If the internet cafe owner is smart enough, like you said, they can give shares to the hackers, tie themselves to them, and become one family. Then they won't only be free from the hackers' extortion, but they might even receive technical protection from them."

Zhou Haoran was speechless. "Shut up!"

The guest has left.

They stayed at the Peace Hotel for a meal.

There are more foreigners than locals at the Peace Hotel, and the Western food selection is quite comprehensive.

During the meal, Ning Yuanjia couldn't help but say, "Right now, we're just waiting for the results from ICQ." Zhou Haoran nodded, "That's why we need to stand on Bill Gates' shoulders."

Qiao Hai asked, "As long as Microsoft compromises, ICQ will definitely follow suit."

Zhou Haoran has given up. "Microsoft won't compromise. Even if Bill Gates comes next month, we won't get any good results."

Qiao Hai said excitedly, "Bill Gates is really coming? When he comes, you have to take me with you!"

Zhou Haoran didn't take the bait. Instead, he analyzed, "Cooperation with Microsoft is almost impossible. The most urgent thing now is to see if our actions can deter ICQ after Microsoft officially announces its acquisition of Hotmail and the failure of our cooperation!"

Qiao Hai hummed in agreement. "Even without the cooperation, if you managed to outmaneuver Microsoft, ICQ would definitely be shocked and terrified. At that point, they would have no choice but to come knocking on your door seeking cooperation."

"almost."

Zhou Haoran also had this in mind, which is why he wanted to accelerate the development of the email product.

These days, developing an email service is more difficult than developing an instant messaging product.

Qiao Hai thought for a moment, but still couldn't help asking, "This is a great idea. Why not target more companies? You can't afford to mess with big companies like Microsoft, but there are so many small companies. Wouldn't it be easy to catch them all? One ICQ can bring in $5 million. If you find 100 such companies and extort them collectively, wouldn't you make $500 million in one go?"

Zhou Haoran retorted angrily, "Don't you care about my reputation?"

Qiao Hai said dismissively, "If I really had $5 million, I'd be the richest person in the country, right? What need would I have for fame?"

"A mere $5 million..."

Zhou Haoran scoffed.

"I bet you didn't expect that, did you?"

Qiao Hai shook his head, looking quite similar to Qiao Nuo; they could almost be considered siblings.

Zhou Haoran said, "I carefully selected ICQ. Do you know why? Because it's an Israeli company with little influence, weak strength, and shallow roots. If I dared to do this in the US, wouldn't I be infamous? How could I ever work in the US again?"

Qiao Hai's eyes widened. "You still want to build a business empire in America?"

Zhou Haoran neither confirmed nor denied it.

Eggs cannot be put in one basket.

……

Zhou Haoran took the lead and organized a dinner party.

I introduced Gu Hao, the director of Red Star TV, and Jiang Feibiao to each other.

The "Youth Host Competition" is still in the planning stages and progressing very slowly. One of the important sponsors is Narcissus Electric Appliances.

Jiang Feibiao's ambition was simple: he wanted to organize a beauty pageant.

He wasn't the only one.

And there was a group of friends around him.

Zhou Haoran felt that such things were too sordid and would ruin his reputation, so he never wanted to participate. Therefore, he kept pushing the project to be bigger, aiming to make it a national benchmark. The outcome was predictable: he got the credit stolen.

Gu Hao, the executive vice president and director of the lifestyle channel, personally took over this project.

Zhou Haoran was pleased to see it happen.

Jiang Feibiao didn't care.

All he wanted was to organize the beauty pageant and then enjoy himself with his bunch of cronies. Just like in ancient brothels, he'd hire a few courtesans and cultivate a few famous courtesans from Jiangnan… no, I mean famous socialites from Jiangnan.

The person most moved was naturally Deputy Director Gu Hao.

After the meal, Gu Hao felt honored. He hadn't expected Zhou Haoran to have such strong connections, being able to know such a talented person as President Jiang.

Then, they started to treat him like one of their own.

"Haoran, I heard you've had some trouble with the entertainment channel lately?"

Gu Hao felt he should reciprocate.

Zhou Haoran wouldn't waste his precious favors on such a trivial matter, and said with a smile, "There's no dispute, it's just a ratings battle between 'Everyone's Art Up' and 'Happy Family'."

Gu Hao smiled and said, "I've heard about it. For two consecutive episodes, the regional viewership ratings for 'Everyone's Art Up' exceeded 20%. Yi Changping's program only had a 4% viewership rating?"

"Pretty much." Zhou Haoran also felt that Yi Changping was being a bit too stubborn. "After such a serious failure in the first episode, I thought Director Yi would make some changes and adjust the schedule of 'Happy Family' to avoid clashing with my program. I didn't expect him to insist on doing it his way!"

"That's just how Yi Changping is. If he changes his schedule, wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting defeat? He can't afford to lose face like that!"

Gu Hao is also a conservative, and he and Yi Changping are in the same camp, so they are quite familiar with each other.

Zhou Haoran said in a deep voice, "So what if it's embarrassing? If it ruins the program's ratings, it will damage the collective interests of Red Star TV!"

Gu Hao was unimpressed by such arguments. What era are we living in? Who still emphasizes collective interests?
That's so outdated!
“This Yi Changping…” Gu Hao had his own analysis, “He would rather lose than admit defeat. He’s the kind of person who would rather die standing than live on his knees.”

Zhou Haoran asked, "Will he die standing up?"

Gu Hao raised an eyebrow, glanced at him, and remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "I don't know."

Zhou Haoran didn't want to pry too much.

In his view, Gu Hao took over the "Youth Host Competition," and he himself was in a precarious position.

"Haoran, why don't you come to the 'Youth Host Competition'? Aren't you the assistant producer at 'Everyone's Artistic Awakening'? You can be the assistant producer at Red Star TV too!"

Gu Hao extended the invitation with sincere eyes.

(End of this chapter)