Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 155 Dialogue with Lei Jun

"You are…"

The person on the other end hesitated a little at the sudden voice.

Li Xueling gave Chen Xuebing a reproachful look and put away the phone in her hand.

It scared my older brother!
Lei Jun, a prodigy, is 36 years old and has served as the general manager and president of Kingsoft, a leading software company in China, for seven years. Yet, in media interviews, he still maintains a shy and gentle demeanor.

But that's just on the surface; this gentleness is tempered with strength, and even a bit sharp-tongued.

Chen Xuebing smiled apologetically, but shamelessly moved closer to Li Xueling.

"Mr. Lei, I'm that investor. I've heard so much about you. Can we chat for a bit?"

"Oh...you're an individual investor?"

"No, it's a company, Gu'an Group. We have a subsidiary called Changzheng Capital. My name is Chen Xuebing. You can find me online."

After Chen Xuebing finished speaking, it seemed that someone was indeed in front of the computer, and soon there was a sound of a mouse and keyboard.

In the brief silence, Chen Xuebing felt somewhat fortunate that he had spared no effort in promoting the company in newspapers and online to attract Liu Chiping. Now, a simple search would reveal Gu'an's "strength," which became the foundation for building trust with people remotely.

When the person on the other end spoke again, their voice was much more polite.

"Mr. Chen, you sound very young."

"The investment and internet industries should both be open to the concept of 'young,' right? What I wanted to talk to Mr. Lei about was also the concept of 'young.'"

"Please go ahead, Mr. Chen."

The other end spoke, and Li Xueling handed over the phone, her gaze becoming focused.

Lei Jun agreed, so the matter became feasible, and his interest was piqued.

Chen Xuebing coughed lightly, gathered his thoughts, and said:

"Mr. Lei, the first generation of the Internet was an era of information explosion, portal websites, and forums. The second generation of the Internet should move towards the development of user-created content, social networks, and personal IP, so that people can find their own place online."

"Yes, grassroots media, Blogcn is a good example."

"The term 'grassroots media' is too narrow. Let's call it 'self-media'; that's more accurate."

The name Chen Xuebing made Lei Jun pause.

Before Lei Jun could even process what was happening, Chen Xuebing threw out another new term:
"The multi-billion dollar industry I'm referring to is 'Internet-based pan-entertainment.' It involves uncovering the stories and talents of ordinary people, creating celebrity IPs, developing a fan economy, and building a platform where ordinary people can earn a living like celebrities, thus completely revolutionizing the entertainment industry."

Lei Jun: "..."

That's too much to say.

However, smart people have their own thinking efficiency, and he figured out the relationship between this platform and star-making a few seconds later.

"Even if a game voice chat platform has music or even a radio station, it's still far from creating stars, right?"

Chen Xuebing smiled slightly: "The voice platform is to create a convenient entry point to let users come in first. As for how to guide them, that's the company's business. The method doesn't have to be limited to voice. Once the software platform is big enough, we can add video when conditions allow. One person can showcase their talents, and many people can watch. What's the difference between that and a live TV broadcast? With tens of thousands of viewers and fans, isn't that being a minor celebrity? Users can also find some niche talents and celebrities outside of mainstream media based on their own preferences, such as... MCing, you know? And alternative, like rap, all those things in internet culture can be brought in."

Lei Jun was a little confused.

Actually, Chen Xuebing couldn't quite explain it either, because he wasn't interested in the things that were becoming popular on YY.

The rise of YY culture was entirely brought about by one person.

Zhao Xiaolei.

Swearing, shouting, and stuff like that.

Back then, people like that were called "five-item doers".

Alternative, cliché, casual chat, MC, rap.

Later, they were collectively referred to as MC.

Chen Xuebing summarized it as a "niche talent," and Lei Jun could only offer a perfunctory expression of understanding before asking:
"What kind of profit channel are you referring to? Advertising?"

Chen Xuebing shook his head: "Advertising won't work, the ceiling is too low, and the income of the streamers must be considered before anyone will be willing to do it."

"Then what do you mean..."

"Platform top-ups and tips are split 50/50 between the streamer and the platform. Only by targeting user spending with no upper limit, coupled with derivative spending from creating stars, can a money-making effect be formed, attracting a large number of streamers and viewers, and potentially surpassing the gaming sector."

The gaming industry is the real goldmine of the internet today, having produced two companies with a market value exceeding $20 billion to date.

Shanda, NetEase.

They only earned a few hundred million RMB, but given the generally high price-to-earnings ratios in the internet industry, they achieved an extremely high market capitalization.

This is a multi-billion dollar race.

This is because they directly target user consumption, exchanging the number of users for scale.

Chen Xuebing has provided a new consumption path, which is invaluable in this era.

Although Lei Jun felt that the figure of 10 billion US dollars was definitely an exaggeration, the platform's recharge mechanism alone gave him hope.

Furthermore, if players can exchange their real-money purchases for valuable items at the online streamer's shop…

He thought of a word.

“Cash-like virtual currency…” he murmured unconsciously.

Chen Xuebing smiled knowingly.

"Yes, it's about turning virtual currency into cash, but there must be losses and taxes in the process. If it's a one-to-one exchange, then it'll just become Q coins."

When he mentioned it, Lei Jun burst into laughter.

"Mr. Chen is so humorous!"

This year, Q coins are the most popular virtual currency. Some people within Tencent were quite bold and began to explore the right to issue currency on the Internet, proposing to use Q coins to pay salaries. As a result, it was accidentally leaked, which attracted the attention of regulatory authorities and resulted in an official warning.

Everyone felt both envious and amused.

Who the hell wouldn't want to hold a money-printing machine in their hands?
Li Xueling, standing next to him, had a bright look in his eyes and clenched his fists.

This business is completely different from the business he's doing now!
No need to do B2B or beg advertisers; just go directly to C2C and improve your service!
He used to think about how to get more than 100,000 users, or even 200,000, and then find one-tenth of the customers from that huge user base to become members who spend 10 yuan a month.

On average, each user earns one dollar per month, and that's the upper limit. This is also the way the internet survives today.

However, if a single user has the potential to consume without limit, the profit margin becomes enormous!

"Brother Lei, this is a good business opportunity," he couldn't help but interject.

"Don't rush, Xue Ling." Lei Jun pondered for a moment: "President Chen, you just said I wanted to help Xue Ling, what exactly did you mean?"

“I’ll provide the ideas, you provide the technology, and Mr. Li will handle the operations,” Chen Xuebing said decisively. “This platform is new. I’ve checked, and there’s no precedent for it in the West. To achieve the desired effect, we need an exceptional user experience. It must be led by outstanding software engineers, preferably with R&D experience in graphics and multimedia software, and they should also understand human-computer interaction and memory simplification. Their capabilities must be high.”

Lei Jun, who was thousands of miles away, frowned.

"...It doesn't need to be that high..."

"It has to be high," Chen Xuebing insisted.

Not high. How can my mobile phone R&D department use it?
This requirement is specifically aimed at mobile UI development!
“These kinds of talents should all be working for large companies. If we try to poach them, the cost would be too high and it would be uneconomical. Xue Ling’s company can’t afford to keep them.”

Upon hearing Lei Jun's words, Chen Xuebing laughed. "It's alright. I happen to have a tech company in Shenzhen that needs talent in this area. Mr. Li, move your company to Shenzhen, to the same office building as me. The software development can be done part-time, paid according to the work done. As for the staff, leave it to me. You can set the salary however you like. I can afford to support any kind of talent."

He made no attempt to conceal his true intentions, because Lei Jun would find out sooner or later; there was no way to hide it from him.

Lei Jun also suddenly realized what was going on.

"Mr. Chen, your methods for poaching talent are quite unique. You wouldn't happen to have your eye on someone from Kingsoft, would you?"

"Mr. Lei, you're joking. Who would joke about spending so much money? I'm genuinely investing, and I'm doing this for everyone's benefit. How expensive is it to maintain a high-end team? Don't worry, I'm not interested in anyone from Kingsoft. You know Microsoft Asia Engineering Institute in Beijing, right? There's an engineering director named Lin Bin. Just ask him for me. As for the others, just find anyone you like. Three or five is not too few, ten or eight is not too many."

Even Lei Jun, known for his good temper, felt like yelling.

How precious are top IT talents in China these days? Ten or eight? Even the entire Kingsoft couldn't gather that many!
"Lin Bin, I don't know him," he said, suppressing his temper.

Chen Xuebing was taken aback.

do not know?
It's 2005 already, and you still don't recognize Xiaomi's CEO?!
He was a bit stumped. Of the Xiaomi MIUI system R&D team, he only knew this one person by name. It seemed that the others were all brought in by Lei Jun and Lin Bin.

"...They're all engineers from your Beijing circle, why don't you ask around?"

"...Mr. Chen, Beijing is a very large city, with more than two thousand software companies alone."

"Don't worry about anything else, just focus on this one. Can you help me figure out a way? If you can help me poach this person, I'll hand over Mr. Li's YY Inc. to you, and I'll have you seeing the product within six months."

Chen Xuebing figured Lei Jun must have a solution, so he resorted to shameless tactics.

At this moment, Lei Jun, sitting at his desk, stared into deep thought at the two search interfaces on his computer: "Online Live Streaming Platform" and "Online Entertainment".

Just as Mr. Chen on the other end of the phone said, it really was a blank.

Is this just a concept that was made up on the spot?

If that's the case, this concept is brilliantly crafted.

"Mr. Chen, what industry are you in? What kind of talent do you need?" he asked, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I want to develop my own smartphone operating system. Mr. Lei, if you are interested, I can come to Beijing to discuss this with you in person. We can cooperate."

Lei Jun's heart skipped a beat.

Self-developed system.

His eyes flickered as he picked up the Dopod PDA phone on the table, which he had disassembled and reassembled several times.

He's an electronics enthusiast.

This phone uses the Windows Mobile system, which he has never been very satisfied with. He has fantasized about how wonderful it would be if such a phone had an interactive system that was truly compatible with it.

The future he had vaguely imagined many times was ignited by this young voice.

He is easily ignited.

This young man appeared in his field of vision. He was capable, had ideas, and possessed strong initiative. He was always willing to travel around for an idea. He was just like him and also like the partner he had been looking forward to.

But reality has him trapped. Kingsoft has been preparing for its IPO for so many years, and victory is in sight. He can't leave now.

However, he was willing to do something.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Chen. You're Lin Bin, right? Can I ask him for you what your company in Shenzhen is called?"

Singularity Technology.

Lei Jun hesitated for a moment, then nodded:

"I'll come visit when I have time."

“My factory is not very mature yet, it is still in the early stages of research and development. If you want to come and see it, wait a few months.”

"It's okay. I like watching immature companies grow. The process of growth is actually more beautiful."

"Okay, welcome, Mr. Lei. Please call ahead before you come so we can meet. I'll send you a text message from my number in a bit."

"Give the phone to Xue Ling, I want to say a few words to him."

……

Li Xueling mumbled a few "uh-huhs" and hung up the phone. Looking at Chen Xuebing, she felt a deep sense of emotion.

Within minutes of entering the room, after a brief conversation and a ten-minute phone call, Lei Jun agreed to the collaboration.

Lei Jun spent a long time thinking before he decided to invest in him.

This time, the decisiveness of both sides left him somewhat bewildered.

Chen Xuebing also felt somewhat emotional.

I've heard that Lei Jun always prefers to work with people he knows well, so his quick agreement probably means that the phone issue really resonated with him.

Lei Jun was a huge fan of Meizu M8. Before starting Xiaomi, he went to Meizu's office to talk to founder Huang Zhang about cooperation. Huang Zhang insisted that he work for Meizu and not let him join the board of directors, which angered Lei Jun and led him to create Xiaomi.

In this life, if he also barged into my office and wanted to join my board of directors, would I agree or not?

咝…

Lu Weibing and Lin Bin, it seems you've taken too much of their luck.

"Mr. Chen, are you going back to Shenzhen?" Li Xueling suddenly asked.

"Oh, I have to go back to the Chongqing headquarters in a bit, there's a meeting tomorrow."

Li Xueling hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "About the investment..."

Are you moving the company or not?

"...Mr. Lei said that the salaries of the team you want will be very high. If the research and development time is too long, I really can't afford to support them. I have to move whether I want to or not."

“Okay, call me when you get to Shenzhen, and I’ll have someone pick you up. I’ll arrange an office for you. Once the people Mr. Lei sent arrive, we’ll sign the contract, and the funds will be in your account very quickly.”

As Chen Xuebing spoke, he walked up to him and shook hands with him.

"Pleasant to work with."

Li Xueling, however, held on tightly.

Hehehe smiled.

"Mr. Chen, I've heard that Chongqing is a beautiful mountain city... Could I go with you to take a look?"

Chen Xuebing's expression froze for a moment, then he understood that Lei Jun had arranged for him to go and investigate.

He was still debating whether or not to accept Lei Jun's offer to join him, and it turns out Lei Jun doesn't even trust him yet.

Thinking it over, he gave a dry laugh: "When can I leave?"

"The cooperative probably can't get plane tickets for today. Could you give me your address? I'll come to Chongqing to find you tomorrow."

Chen Xuebing waved his hand, walked into the office, and called to Ren Ying, "Use their computer to download Alipay, book him a flight to Chongqing, and put him in the same cabin as me."

Having said that, he turned back and offered some advice:

"Mr. Li, since you're here, you should pay more attention to the development of the internet, and not just focus on the areas you're familiar with."

(End of this chapter)