If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 178 Intense Conflict

Today is the day for the enrollment of graduate students at Jiaotong University. As a first-year graduate student, the founder of Mingfan Technology arrived at the Mingfan Technology office early, waiting for the first board meeting.

With the full arrival of the $2500 million Series B investment in Mingfan Technology, the company's development has entered a fast track, or rather, it has grown so rapidly that it's almost too fast.

The company has recruited a large number of employees in R&D, product, testing, operations, marketing, customer service, legal, finance, and administration, and has set up an office in Beijing, expanding its size to more than 300 people.

In terms of business, Momo's core business, Lingxi business, and innovative businesses are all flourishing.

First, there's Momo's original core business.

Under Tang Yan's leadership, Momo has continuously innovated and launched new features such as [Momo Bar] and [Momo Points], which have continuously enlivened the community atmosphere and promoted online and offline integration with great results.

By the end of last month, the number of users of the Momo app had exceeded 700 million, and the daily active users exceeded 200 million.

This achievement is remarkable considering the competition and diversion efforts from dozens of other products such as Private, Micro-Gathering, and Digu.

Secondly, there's the Lingxi business.

Since the launch of the [Lingxi] section, it has been inherently controversial, surging ahead amidst praise and skepticism, and its popularity has never waned.

Those who praise it would love to exaggerate its merits.

Lingxi truly understands user psychology and can precisely match people who are "on the same wavelength," allowing two like-minded souls to meet and chat freely on the same planet. It's simply a blessing for socially anxious and lonely people.

However, there are also many people who question it, and the core criticism is that Lingxi's entry point is actually grafted onto the Momo APP!

Momo has been labeled a "hookup app." Placing an artistic product that focuses on soul matching on such a platform feels particularly incongruous to users who seek spiritual resonance, like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung.

Amidst a cacophony of criticism and suggestions online, the most prevalent demand is:

Separate Lingxi from Momo and make it a separate app, completely separating "emotional resonance" and "LBS location-based social networking" so they are not confused.

As a product that places great emphasis on user experience, Momo will naturally listen to friendly suggestions from its users.

Therefore, under the planning of Sun Xiaowen, the new head of Lingxi's business department, Lingxi launched a voting campaign called "[Lingxi Independence Movement]".

The voting activity is very simple to play:

The Lingxi operations team launched a poll within Lingxi. If 666 million users voted in support of Lingxi's independence during the 33-day campaign, Momo would agree to split Lingxi off.

This delighted users who supported Lingxi's independence. They were all incredibly excited, urging their friends and family to register and log in to Momo, just to cast their vote for Lingxi.

Lingxi also capitalized on this wave of popularity, achieving a period of explosive growth and a surge in user numbers.

Just three and a half days after the voting campaign started, Momo's new users surged by more than 110 million compared to usual. Even many long-dormant users were awakened by this campaign and logged in to vote.

Soon, the number of votes supporting Lingxi's independence exceeded 400 million, bringing them one step closer to their goal.

This voting campaign directly boosted Momo's total registrations to over 800 million and daily active users to 250 million, essentially giving it a free, large-scale promotion.

Following this trend, once [Lingxi] becomes independent, it may instantly gain three to four million registered users, successfully completing its cold start once again.

Moreover, after [Lingxi] became independent from Momo, it was no longer bound by Gengzhi's earlier claim of "Momo will be free for 100 years."

With this solemn commitment, more revenue-generating models can be explored to generate income for Momo.

Third is innovative business.

Needless to say, this was a project personally overseen by the founder, Geng Zhi, and under the leadership of Liao Jun, Ju Shibao, and others, the development of WeChat accelerated significantly.

WeChat on PC has now been officially launched. Not only is it used by all employees within Guangmingfan Technology, but its neighbor Ele.me and dozens of other small and medium-sized companies in Shanghai have also adopted it as an internal communication tool, and the feedback has been quite positive.

The development of the mobile app is also in its final stages. 90% of the basic functions have been completed, and it's only a matter of time before it goes live. All that's left is to polish and optimize it.

With Momo's core businesses growing steadily, Lingxi becoming a huge hit, and WeChat about to launch, the only thing missing from the company's business portfolio is its "cash cow," the gaming business, which hasn't taken off yet.

As chairman, Geng Zhi initiated this board meeting precisely because of the game business, a crucial cash cow.

The reason for holding a board meeting was that Geng Zhi originally planned to spend a high price to acquire the rights to AvengersGames' new game, Temple Run.

Geng Zhi's original intention was to make Momo's newly launched "Game Center" a hit by exclusively distributing the game "Temple Run," laying the foundation for the subsequent game co-operation model and further increasing Momo's daily active users, achieving two goals at once.

More importantly, this would allow him to quickly accumulate a huge sum of money for his covert operations, providing ammunition for subsequent investments by Arctic Capital.

But there are risks involved, because Geng Zhi is the mastermind behind AvengersGames.

If Momo directly enters into a deal with AvengersGames, it will trigger a related transaction, which will not only subject it to regulatory scrutiny but may also expose its true identity.

Although he can operate in batches through compliant means to temporarily cover up his actions, Mingfan Technology will face stricter scrutiny when it goes public in the future. If this hidden danger comes to light, the consequences will be unimaginable.

After much deliberation, Gengzhi decided to find a third-party company to act as a bridge.

However, when he privately communicated with Shen Nanpeng about wanting to spend 600 to 800 million US dollars to buy the exclusive agency rights for the game "Temple Run", he was met with a firm rejection from Shen Nanpeng.

Shen Nanpeng believes that Geng Zhi violated the promise made during the fundraising process that [in the early stages, he would only do game distribution].

His deeper concern was that, given the impending attack on the penguins, spending so much money on games was putting the cart before the horse and not worthwhile.

And will Temple Run really become a hit?

Shen Nanpeng actually held serious reservations.

Despite his best efforts to persuade Shen Nanpeng, Geng Zhi could not convince him. In desperation, he had no choice but to convene a board meeting to formally discuss and decide on the matter.

At 9:58 a.m., the Mingfan Technology office, which had been filled with the sounds of employees discussing business and typing on keyboards, suddenly became completely silent.

All eyes turned to the doorway—

Shen Nanpeng from Sequoia Capital, Zhang Ying from Matrix Partners China, and Yu Feng, the two board observers from Yunfeng Capital, arrived at the company on time under the enthusiastic guidance of Lü Siyu and went straight into the "Penguin" conference room.

At 10:00 AM sharp, the first meeting of the new board of directors of Mingfan Technology officially commenced.

As the chairman, Geng Zhi naturally took on the role of host for this meeting.

At this board meeting, directors Geng Zhi, Tang Yan, and Shen Nanpeng attended, along with observers Zhang Ying and Yu Feng, as well as supervisors Gu Wanning, CFO Gong Shijun, and board secretary Lü Siyu.

The air was a little heavy.

Without any pleasantries or formalities, Chairman Geng Zhi got straight to the point at the beginning of the meeting: "At this board meeting, three directors, Geng Zhi, Tang Yan, and Shen Nanpeng, are present, along with observers Zhang Ying and Yu Feng, and all other attendees. This is in accordance with the meeting's agenda."

He paused, picked up the proposal on the table, and continued, "Now, let me introduce the contents of the proposal, everyone—"

After completing the formalities, Geng Zhi began to passionately introduce the board proposal in detail: "Proposal on Strategically Introducing the Exclusive Agency Rights for the Game 'Temple Run'".

"Distinguished board members and observers, Momo aims to make money through games—make a lot of money—to repay the trust of our shareholders."

Temple Run is a revolutionary parkour game with exquisite graphics and revolutionary gameplay—endless running, one-handed operation, and short bursts of play perfectly suited for mobile users. It doesn't require a complicated storyline or high-end hardware; it can be played by three-year-olds and sixty-year-olds.

After Geng Zhi finished his introduction, a 5-minute internal test video of Temple Run was played on the spot.

"Therefore, I propose that we spend 600 to 800 million US dollars to exclusively distribute the Temple Run game, so that our Momo Games Center can become an instant hit."

After speaking, Geng Zhi put down the proposal and turned his gaze to Tang Yan and Shen Nanpeng, waiting for their response.

As expected, Shen Nanpeng was the first to jump out, his face grim and his emotions quite agitated.

"President Geng, your proposal is completely unreasonable; I strongly oppose it!"

"When we discussed the Series B funding, we made it very clear that the funds raised for the game division would be used for building the game department team, operating the game business, and co-publishing games. We are following a light-asset approach, and the risks are controllable."

"We've never discussed exclusively distributing a new game, and I can't accept diverting so much money all at once."

.

Geng Zhi didn't rush to refute. He took a sip of mineral water before continuing to explain: "Mr. Shen is right. We did not have that much budget planned for the game at the time, and we did say that we would do joint operation of the game first, but times have changed."

"In just two months, the mobile game market has changed dramatically. And having played Temple Run in advance, I can say that its disruptive nature is undeniable, and it definitely has the potential to become a hit, even more popular than Fruit Ninja."

Shen Nanpeng shook his head and continued to object: "President Geng, I admit that you have a very discerning eye, but no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

"How many games are hyped up before release, claiming they're guaranteed to be a hit, only to flop and be completely ignored after launch? What makes you so confident that Temple Run will be a success? How successful will it be? If this money goes down the drain, who will take responsibility?"

Geng Zhi patiently explained, "Mr. Shen, the development team behind Temple Run is the same team behind Fruit Ninja. They have successful experience and a keen understanding of the market. This game—"

Before Geng Zhi could finish speaking, Shen Nanpeng interrupted him, "You say this game has the potential to be a hit. What makes you say that?"

"Just because it's from the same team as Fruit Ninja? They think they can make every game that's successful? Are they gods?"

"Did they have foresight?"

How much luck contributed to the success of Fruit Ninja? It's a parkour game with innovative gameplay; without market testing, who can guarantee it will be a hit?

"I've investigated the development team of Fruit Ninja, and you were even a member of their team—"

He stopped halfway through his sentence, but the meaning was already self-evident.

He was implying that Geng Zhi's strong advocacy for distributing the game might involve the transfer of benefits and that he was seeking personal gain.

The moment those words were spoken, the conference room fell silent, and everyone looked surprised.

Everyone present knew Shen Nanpeng. He was usually gentle and refined, and always left room for maneuver in his words and actions. He had never been so aggressive and sharp-tongued before. What was wrong with him today?

Not only were the onlookers surprised, but even Geng Zhi was astonished; this was the first time he had ever seen Shen Nanpeng like this.

Maybe it's because there are so many people today, and I keep getting caught up in the crowd, making Lao Shen lose face?

But last time, my decisions were all correct, bringing huge profits to the company.

Or is Old Shen going through menopause?

"Mr. Shen, actually I—" Geng Zhi tried to continue explaining, but was interrupted by Shen Nanpeng as soon as he opened his mouth.

"President Geng! At this stage, we should focus on doing the most important things. You know what I mean."

"Why spend 800 times more to become an exclusive distributor when you can achieve the same results by spending $1 on joint distribution?"

Shen Nanpeng slapped the table and shook his head in confusion.

Geng Zhi went on to explain that only an exclusive blockbuster game could instantly boost Momo's user base to another level, increase Momo's daily active users, and lay the foundation for future business expansion.

No matter what he said, Shen Nanpeng remained unmoved and resolutely disagreed.

"Mr. Geng, it's not that I don't trust you. But as an investor, I have a responsibility to remind you—what you're doing now is not a decision an CEO should make. It's a gamble!"

Helpless, Geng Zhi could only turn to another director, Tang Yan: "President Tang, what's your suggestion?"

Tang Yan didn't actually agree with Geng Zhi's statement, thinking that spending a high price to buy a game that hadn't been tested by the market was too aggressive.

But he is a straightforward person, and his opinion will definitely be the same as Gengzhi's. Whether Gengzhi is right or wrong, he will follow him unconditionally.

"President Geng, President Shen, I have listened carefully to both of your viewpoints and I think they both make a lot of sense."

"The number of smartphone users has already exceeded 5000 million, and there is still a lot of room for growth in Momo's user base —"

"Momo's growth rate is slowing down because users' novelty is fading and penetration is gradually approaching saturation. We need a new stimulus. A hit game will be the key to expanding our user base."

Tang Yan rattled off a bunch of high-sounding words, finally concluding, "I think it's worth spending a few million US dollars to buy a calf now, which will grow into a big, golden-egg-laying cow in the future."

"Tang Yan, you can't follow your heart!" Shen Nanpeng snorted helplessly, then continued, "President Geng, may I request that the two observers participate in the discussion?"

With three seats on the board of directors, Geng Zhi and Tang Yan each held two, so the outcome of this meeting was already predetermined.

But Shen Nanpeng wanted the other two shareholders to step forward and put pressure on Geng Zhi.

"Okay." Geng Zhi smiled and gestured for Yu Feng and Zhang Ying to participate in the constructive discussion.

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