After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 521 Yellow Pages Needs a Shell to Lay Eggs
"Internet projects?"

Upon hearing Zhou Haoran's explanation, not only Lao Zhang, but even Xu You, the person involved, was quite surprised.

Zhou Haoran nodded and said with certainty, "Yes, it should revolve around the internet!"

"How do you do this?"

Xu You found it somewhat inexplicable.

“Why can’t we do it?” Zhou Haoran’s knowledge of the internet far surpassed theirs. “Didn’t you want to find an internet project to start a business after the documentary was finished? Perfect, it’s not contradictory.”

"Isn't it... trademark certification? Are you going to turn this business into an internet project?"

Xu You found it really hard to understand.

How can this kind of business be adapted to the internet?
Zhou Haoran said, "Everything can be connected to the internet, even foot massage can be turned into an internet product!"

"what?"

Xu You opened his eyes wide, but he just couldn't understand it.

Zhang Chaoyang, standing nearby, seemed to understand. "Are you suggesting we create a business information directory?"

Zhou Haoran smiled and said, "Almost."

What does this mean?

Xu You has been working in Silicon Valley for many years and has a good understanding of various aspects of the internet.

Yellow pages...

It's been rampant for a long time.

The most typical examples of personal information directories are Yahoo! in the United States and Sohu in China.

Zhang Chaoyang thought the same thing. He had just raised 500 million yuan from Mr. Da and said thoughtfully, "Mr. Da, are you going to cooperate with Sohu?"

Zhou Haoran then understood.

Although these two people are both considered internet giants, they are still limited by the times they live in and have very obvious limitations.

I can only tutor these two in detail, just like I would tutor apprentices like Hu Xiaochen and Qiao Nuo.

"That's right, we want to create a world-class, authoritative trademark platform. There are many well-known brands and products around the world, but information gaps exist in different regions, which can lead to brand confusion and other issues."

Zhou Haoran said something.

Further explanation was provided.

The most typical example is the domestic luxury brand Montblanc.

In an era when the average income was only a few hundred yuan, a Montblanc shirt could cost over 1000 yuan. It's fair to say that Montblanc was a luxury brand in China at that time, similar to Hermes, Dior, and Chanel.

However, is this really a brand of this caliber?
Hermès and Chanel are truly the world's top luxury brands.

In Europe, Montagut isn't even considered a third-rate brand!
The reason it's so popular in China is entirely due to the country's current lack of openness and the exploitation of information asymmetry to take advantage of domestic consumers, much like paying an "intelligence tax."

If only there were an internet information platform.

This allows consumers to easily access information.

For example, if you want to buy a shirt that costs more than 1000 yuan, you can search for what kind of luxury goods in the world are worth that price.
The website will provide a fair answer.

This would prevent the phenomenon of Montblanc counterfeiting top luxury goods.

Let alone the 90s.

Even 20 or 30 years later, many similar things still happen in cross-border e-commerce.

A can of milk powder that costs 3 euros abroad can be sold for 300 yuan in China.

A bottle of obscure red wine costs 2 euros abroad.

Imported into China, it goes unnoticed, yet it can be marketed as top-tier red wine, selling for 2000 yuan per bottle, making wealthy people feel proud and smug.

"So that's it!"

Upon hearing this, Xu You immediately became excited.

Zhang Chaoyang said excitedly, "This is a great entry point! As far as I know, no one is working on this track yet! Mr. Zhang, how did you come up with this idea?"

"Inspired by the gold medal awarded to Antarcticians at the United Nations."

Zhou Haoran doesn't need to be ambiguous about this.

This is an original project he launched based on his understanding of the internet and his discovery of market demand.

It's a product that never existed in my previous life.

"An Antarctic man receiving a gold medal at the United Nations? That's utter nonsense!" Zhang Chaoyang found it hard to believe. "How did you come up with such a brilliant internet idea from such an absurd event?"

Zhou Haoran said, "After Antarctic received the award, many well-known companies in China contacted me, asking if I had any way to get the award presented at the United Nations, just like Antarctic did."

“You’re a big shot…” Zhang Chaoyang wasn’t surprised, but he hadn’t quite grasped the situation yet. “What does this have to do with your trademark certification website?”

Zhou Haoran glanced at him and said calmly, "Because I'm the one who pushed the Antarctic people to go to the United Nations to receive the award!" "Huh?"

Zhang Chaoyang was dumbfounded.

Xu You chuckled and said, "Charles, it's not hard to understand. Zhou Haoran is a big shot, a timely helper in the business world. So many business friends ask him for help, and he can't refuse. Another point is that this phenomenon fully illustrates that there is such a demand in the market today! Well-known companies have a need for certification, and consumers also have a need to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit trademarks!"

Zhou Haoran said calmly, "For someone from Antarctica to go to the United Nations to receive an award, that's like hunting a pheasant. If I were to do it myself, I'd have to attract a golden phoenix!"

"It really is!"

Although Xu You had previously communicated with him to reach a consensus, he was still deeply shocked at this moment.

Mr. Big!

It really wasn't fake!

That's some truly profound business insight.

I thought it was just a shady project, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better and we've entered the internet industry... The internet is like a phoenix tree; now we can really fly to the top and become a phoenix.

Zhang Chaoyang's thoughts wandered in the ocean of the internet for a long time before he finally came to his senses and said admiringly, "So you really understand the internet, sir! My apologies for not respecting you!"

Zhou Haoran chuckled, "You two are both internet experts. If this project can impress you two, it's enough to fool those financiers on Wall Street. It's highly feasible!"

"what?"

Xu You was taken aback.

Zhang Chaoyang was even more stunned. "Fake?"

"All internet projects are initially a mix of truth and falsehood, reality and illusion. The logic of internet entrepreneurship is to walk on the edge of law and morality. A moral saint cannot succeed in the internet industry."

Zhou Haoran first made a high-level conclusion.

Zhang Chaoyang was speechless.

I feel humiliated.

Zhou Haoran continued, "If it fails, it's fake. If it succeeds, it's real. This industry is truly a winner-takes-all world. So for this project, in the short term, we need to use some tricks to firmly establish our foothold!"

Zhang Chaoyang remained silent.

I can no longer keep up with his train of thought.

Xu You was also somewhat discouraged, feeling that he and the Master were not on the same level in terms of business understanding. "Master, just tell me what I should do. I am your professional manager."

Zhou Haoran smiled slightly before slowly saying, "To build a global trademark certification business, there's a prerequisite: you need to be authoritative enough. If you're not authoritative, businesses won't be interested, and they won't care whether we issue certified trademarks or not."

Zhang Chaoyang understood this time and cooperated, saying, "It's like the 'well-known trademark' in China, which is a national certification. Because it has authority, businesses care about it. That's why some companies are willing to spend tens of thousands of yuan to obtain certification through official channels, and millions of yuan to buy certification through unofficial channels."

"Yes, selling trademark licenses is actually the main source of income for this type of business."

Xu You knew exactly what was going on.

In this kind of business, there's bound to be some gray income. Selling trademark certifications is essentially no different from selling UN gold medals. The only difference is that one is a phoenix, and the other is a pheasant that looks like a phoenix.

"So, authority is a prerequisite!" Zhou Haoran knew what he lacked: reputation and experience. "In the global business information field, there are only a few authoritative institutions: The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Barron's, Reuters, and Bloomberg. Almost all of them have decades or even centuries of history. Their authority and credibility come from decades of accumulation and experience."

Xu You nodded. "Yes, a single corporate report published by Fortune can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in public relations fees. Any business ranking will prompt countless companies to actively pay money to be listed. That's what authority is. We can't achieve that effect in a short time by creating a trademark authentication website."

Zhou Haoran has already formulated a development strategy: "The solution is to use another company as a shell to generate revenue."

"Backdoor listing?"

Xu You and Zhang Chaoyang exchanged a glance, neither of them quite understanding.

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and the like are all top-tier media outlets in the world, worth billions of dollars, so we don't need to even think about them. Fortune, Forbes, Barron's, and The Economist are different; they're all magazines. They're all poorly managed, constantly hovering on the edge of profitability, so they're very cheap."

"You want to acquire it?!?"

Xu You suddenly realized what was happening.

Zhou Haoran said with a smile, "No business information company in the world has done trademark certification. If someone does, it's just a peripheral business without any authority. Only if we can secure contracts with a few authoritative financial magazines such as Fortune, Forbes, Barron's, and The Economist, and conduct this business under their names, can we truly demonstrate our authority!"

Xu You frowned. "Even if these magazines aren't expensive, they'd still cost at least several hundred million dollars, which is astronomical."

That's why we're doing internet business.

"what?"

"As you've all seen, internet companies like Yahoo and AOL have seen their stock prices multiply several times over, and their market capitalization has been soaring. Yahoo's market capitalization is already several times that of The Wall Street Journal."

"Using bubbles to boost market capitalization!"

Xu You then realized what was happening.

After all, he came from a sales background, and his understanding of the market was faster and deeper than Lao Zhang's.

Zhou Haoran nodded and put forward his first small goal: "Our internet project needs to actively seek out favorable advantages and must go public within two years! The market value should be at least $50 billion, or even $100 billion. With such a high market value, acquiring a few magazines worth several hundred million dollars shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

(End of this chapter)