The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 182: It's broken 20 billion! Venture Capital

On the morning of June 13, 2012.

The office of the chairman of Ciyuan Rhythm Company.

"Are you out yet?"

"Not so fast!"

Yang Mi remained as impatient as ever.

Less than half an hour later, Yang Mi asked again, "Is it out yet?"

"Not yet," Shen Qing denied again.

In the past few days, Yang Mi has been running around to Shen Qing's side every day. When Shen Qing works at Maoyan Movies, she follows him to Maoyan. When Shen Qing works at Ciyuan Rhythm, she follows him to Ciyuan Rhythm.

Actually, she didn't have anything important to do. The box office of "Bad Genius" was about to break the 20 billion mark, and Yang Mi wanted to witness this crucial moment with Shen Qing.

The real-time box office system of the Special Fund Office is not yet online, and relevant parties will have to wait until noon the next day to get the latest box office data.

Buzz————

Just then, Shen Qing's phone vibrated, and Yang Mi immediately leaned her head against Shen Qing's chest, excitedly asking, "This time it's definitely true!"

Shen Qing took out his phone and saw that it was indeed yesterday's box office data.

截至2012年9月12日24时，《天才枪手》累计票房19.46亿元。

"The increase is so slow!" Yang Mi said, frowning. "I thought it would break 19.5 billion today."

Shen Qing said, "It's good that the increase is slow. It's already the fourth week. If it didn't slow down, it would have broken the 3 billion mark."

Yang Mi pouted and said, "It would be great if it really broke the 30 billion mark."

Shen Qing understood what she meant: if it really broke the 30 billion mark, its domestic box office would surpass that of "The Great Wall".

Actually, whether or not it surpasses "The Great Wall" isn't that important to her. What's important is that 30 billion is enough to surpass Liu Yifei, who starred in "The Great Wall".

Yang Mi stayed at Shen Qing's house that night, and came to the company with Shen Qing again the next day.

This girl is determined to spend the next few days snuggling up with Shen Qing until they break the 20 billion mark.

April 9st morning.

Yang Mi continued to linger in Shen Qing's chairman's office, temporarily acting as an administrative staff member serving tea and water when subordinates came to report on their work or when external clients came.

When no one was in the office, she would sit on the sofa and play on her phone, occasionally chatting with Shen Qing for a few minutes. When she saw that Shen Qing was seriously working, she didn't dare to disturb her.

At noon, the box office statistics from the previous day were released again.

Yesterday, it garnered another 1300 million yuan at the box office, bringing the total domestic box office for "Bad Genius" to 19.59 billion yuan.

"Finally surpassed 19.5 billion, will it break 20 billion this week?"

Yang Mi pestered Shen Qing for a question.

Shen Qing shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. There's hope, but I can't guarantee it."

Yang Mi sighed, "Breaking 20 billion is really difficult!"

Shen Qing was speechless. Breaking 2 billion was of course difficult. Let alone breaking 20 billion, how many movies have ever broken 20 million in this day and age?

"Chairman, Mr. Shen from Sequoia Capital China and Mr. Xu from Today Capital have arrived."

The assistant came in to report to the supervisor.

"understood."

After agreeing, Shen Qing personally invited the two into the office.

Shen Nanpeng and Xu Xin were both somewhat surprised to see that the person serving them tea and water was Yang Mi, a top-tier actress.

This entrepreneur who owns a top-tier film and television company is truly exceptional.

The two were very interested in Shen Qing, whose identity was truly extraordinary: a director ranked among the top five in global commercial value, a top global superstar, the founder of Magic Film and Television Media, the founder of Jumei Entertainment, the founder of Maoyan Movies, the founder of Ciyuan Rhythm, and the founder of WiFi Master Key.

Shen Qing is very special. Her identity is special, and her experience of succeeding in every business venture is even more special.

"I wonder if Mr. Shen has ever heard of Zhang Yiming?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Shen Nanpeng spoke first.

At this time, ByteDance had completed its Series A funding round and officially launched its flagship product, Toutiao, in August of this year.

Wang Qiong, one of the Series A investors, thought that ByteDance and Zhang Yiming would have a smooth journey after the Series A funding. However, when she took Zhang Yiming to meet with more than 30 investors, no one was optimistic about Zhang Yiming at all.

Shen Nanpeng and Xu Xin had only met Zhang Yiming not long ago, and neither of them were optimistic about Zhang Yiming's new startup project.

These two people did some research on Toutiao's competitors and discovered that all the major companies were making similar products, including Sina.

Sohu wants to do it, Xiaomi wants to do it, Tencent wants to do it too. Almost all investors believe that the market competition is too fierce, and it is difficult for a small company to have a chance.

When Zhang Yiming was explaining his ideas, he would inadvertently mention Shen Qing's name. Shen Nanpeng and Xu Xin were both very interested in Shen Qing, which is why they came to visit together today.

"Zhang Yiming, I've heard of him. He recently launched a product called 'Today's Headlines'," Shen Qing replied.

"I wonder what Mr. Shen thinks of Zhang Yiming and his Toutiao account? Zhang Yiming has been very high-sounding in his praise of you," Shen Nanpeng said with a smile.

Shen Qing's CiYuan Lvdong will eventually need to raise funds externally, and there are only a few top-tier venture capital firms.

He cannot belittle Zhang Yiming's pattern too much, because his word rhythm is actually the same as Zhang Yiming's byte.

At the same time, he can't exaggerate too much about being a top celebrity or making headlines.

Zhang Yiming will undoubtedly be Shen Qing's strongest competitor in the future, and this is precisely the time when Zhang Yiming is in the most trouble. The investors in ByteDance's angel round and Series A round have limited strength, and now ByteDance is about to face a situation of running out of funds. If Shen Qing praises him, people who would not have invested in ByteDance in the first place will invest instead. If ByteDance has money and turns around to threaten his CiYuan LvDong, that would not be good.

"Zhang Yiming's idea is correct, but the product risk is too great," Shen Qing said.

"What do you mean?" Shen Nanpeng asked.

Shen Qing said, "Toutiao scrapes content from traditional media. If it doesn't develop well, that's one thing, but if it does, it will inevitably be besieged by traditional media. Toutiao is at risk of being shut down in the future. I think the risk of ByteDance's Sharp Quotes and Neihan Duanzi being shut down is also not low."

Xu Xin said, "So, President Shen made it a nationwide check-in activity instead of a news report?"

Shen Qing smiled and nodded.

Shen Nanpeng asked, "Could you please disclose the DAU data for your various products, Mr. Shen?"

Shen Qing smiled and said, "Quanmin Daka has 2500 million activated users and 300 million DAU, while Quanmin K Ge has 2100 million users and 100 million DAU."

Xu Xin asked, "What about WiFi Master Key?"

Shen Qing said, "You even know about it? It has 7000 million users."

Shen Nanpeng said, "It's only been five months. In another two or three months, Universal Key will be close to 100 million users, right? It has basically already secured the record for the fastest app to reach 100 million users."

Xu Xin asked, "Does President Shen have any financing plans?"

Shen Qing fell into deep thought.

He originally had no plans to raise funds. Given Zhang Yiming's rare talent and his extensive network across Asia, he had met with dozens of investors, but none of them were optimistic about his information and his ideals. Before CiYuan Rhythm achieved success, Shen Qing did not want to waste his energy trying to persuade investors.

You'd be better off making a movie; a casual film like that could easily rake in a couple hundred million, and a blockbuster might only bring in 10 million.

Revenue of 100 million.

This is much easier than convincing investors.

But now that venture capitalists are approaching them, that's a different story.

Venture capital can offer far more than just money.

Furthermore, if Shen Qing doesn't raise funds, is it possible that these two companies will turn around and invest in ByteDance? Just because the original timeline didn't invest doesn't mean that this timeline won't invest either.

Shen Qing said, "Originally, I planned to wait until the middle of next year, when the situation was clearer, before raising funds. Now that President Shen and President Xu have come, it means that we are destined to meet. If the two of you want to invest in CiYuan Rhythm, I would of course welcome you."

Shen Nanpeng then asked about the "Word Rhythm Research Institute," and he indeed mistook it for something like the "Shanda Research Institute."

something like that.

Shen Qing then talked to the two about the concept of the so-called large middle platform and small front platform. CiYuan Rhythm Research Institute is the technical middle platform of CiYuan Rhythm Company, which is different from Shanda Research Institute.

The two then asked about CapCut, a software that seemed to have no potential for profit and required continuous investment every year. Neither of them knew what Shen Qing's purpose was in creating it.

Shen Qing's purpose was, of course, to incubate Douyin, but he couldn't tell the two of them yet. Douyin was still a long way from launching, and taking too long would exhaust the investors' patience.

Moreover, this is Shen Qing's biggest strategy, and it must be kept strictly confidential before the official development of Douyin.

The two also inquired about Shen Qing's previous 2.5 million yuan purchase of a payment license company, Netbank Online, feeling that the money wasn't well spent.

"I've always had a strong intuition. Whether it's making movies, acting, or starting a business, intuition has always been an important part of my decision-making. This time, I'm starting CiYuanRhythm because I have the strongest intuition I've ever had. Quanmin Daka, Quanmin K Ge, Jianying, Wangyin Online, CiYuanRhythm Research Institute, and WiFi Master Key are not isolated products. One day in the future, these products will eventually incubate the most valuable product. If you two CEOs trust my intuition, then invest. If you can't see the future clearly yet, then wait a little longer."

"I wonder what Mr. Shen's thoughts are on the valuation of morphological rhythm?" Shen Nanpeng asked again.

Shen Qing said, "The valuation is $2 million, and the Series A funding is $2000 million."

Shen Nanpeng and Xu Xin exchanged a glance, both agreeing that the valuation was too high.

"We need to think about it."

"certainly."

"You own so many companies, isn't it tiring to manage them all?"

After the two investors left, Yang Mi stared at Shen Qing with her big eyes wide open.

Shen Qing laughed and said, "I'm not tired at all. I'd feel uncomfortable if I didn't do more work."

"Why?" Yang Mi asked curiously.

Shen Qing said, "Maybe I have too much energy. I don't feel uncomfortable doing things, but I feel uncomfortable when I'm idle."

Yang Mi was surprised that Shen Qing would say such a thing, but after thinking about it again, she realized that what Shen Qing said might be true, because she knew best how strong Shen Qing's energy was.

On September 15th, Yang Mi arrived at Shen Qing's office again, as usual.

At noon, the box office statistics from the previous day were released, showing that "Bad Genius" had accumulated a total box office of 19.71 billion yuan.

It was Saturday, so the box office should have rebounded. I wonder if it will be able to break the 20 billion mark this week.

Actually, it's not just Yang Mi; many netizens across the internet are waiting for the box office data of "Bad Genius" every day.

Everyone is waiting to witness the moment when its box office surpasses 20 billion.

Yang Mi's fans are particularly active, spending every day monitoring the latest data on Yang Mi Bar, Movie Bar, Movie Box Office Bar, Weibo, and other platforms.

On September 16, Shen Qing and Yang Mi checked the box office data that had just been sent over again. As expected, the box office rebounded yesterday, Saturday, and grossed 16.5 million yuan, bringing the cumulative box office to 19.88 billion yuan.

"It should surpass 20 billion by tomorrow, right?"

Yang Mi excitedly grabbed Shen Qing's arm and asked.

Shen Qing said, "It should break the 2 billion mark by midnight tonight, but we won't know the exact number until noon tomorrow. I feel there shouldn't be any major problems."

Yang Mi hugged Shen Qing's arm and shook it, saying, "It would be great if there were real-time box office figures, so we wouldn't have to wait until noon the next day to find out the results every time."

Shen Qing said, "It will be soon. The thing you're talking about will be realized in no time."

"Really?" Yang Mi was a little skeptical.

Shen Qing said, "Of course it's true. Maoyan Movies is working on it and is almost in internal testing. Based on Maoyan's internal data, they use a formula to estimate a rough box office figure. It's not as accurate as the data from the Special Fund Office, but it's about enough. They calibrate it every day based on the Special Fund Office's data, iterating little by little, and it will become more and more accurate."

Yang Mi laughed and said, "I almost forgot, Maoyan Movies is also your company. By the way, Maoyan Movies predicts that 'Bad Genius' will break 21 billion."

Shen Qing said, "There is indeed hope."

9 month 17 day.

Yang Mi followed Shen Qing to Ciyuan Rhythm again.

Shen Qing has been focusing her work here recently.

She seemed more excited today than ever before.

11:30 AM.

Buzz————

Shen Qing's phone vibrated.

Upon hearing this, Yang Mi immediately leaned closer.

As of 24:9 on September 16, "Bad Genius" had grossed 20.02 billion yuan.

"Bad Genius" has surpassed 20 billion yuan at the domestic box office.

Yang Mi excitedly kissed Shen Qing, then wiped her mouth, took out her phone and made a call: "Send the things over, soon, yes, it's broken the 20 billion mark."

After saying that, she hung up the phone decisively. Just as she put her phone in her back pocket, she swayed and was pulled into Shen Qing's arms.

He kissed Shen Qing, then wiped his mouth and went to make a phone call.

What do they take Shen Qing for?

Shen Qing pulled Yang Mi, who had just finished making a phone call, into his arms and kissed her.

He released Yang Mi several seconds later, and only then did he ask, "What did you say you were bringing over?"

Yang Mi was a little dazed from the kiss. When she was suddenly asked a question, she hesitated for a moment before saying, "The cake, I had my assistant prepare it in advance. If it makes over 20 billion today, I'll have it delivered today. If it doesn't break today, I'll throw it away and make a new one tomorrow."

"What a waste. It's only 20 billion. Is it really that important?" Shen Qing asked again.

Yang Mi beamed with joy and said, "Of course! And I'm the lead in this movie; almost all the scenes revolve around me. For a movie like this to gross 20 billion yuan is extremely important to me."

Shen Qing said, "Strictly speaking, this film hasn't even broken the 20 billion mark yet, but there are over 1 million in ticket subsidies."

""

Yang Mi didn't take it seriously and said, "So what if there's a ticket subsidy? 20 billion is 20 billion."

1

As news of "Bad Genius" surpassing 20 billion yuan spread rapidly, online forums such as Yang Mi Bar, Movie Box Office Bar, and Weibo became lively, with countless netizens joining the discussion.

"After waiting for a week, it has finally broken the 20 billion mark."

"Yang Mi is amazing this time, she's the lead actress."

"Has no one noticed that Jing Tian's reputation has completely turned around? Mo Jue in 'The Great Wall' was outstanding, and the second female lead this time is also excellent. Of course, Yang Mi is still the most outstanding in 'Bad Genius'."

"Wang Zhicai rose to fame overnight, first playing the third female lead in 'Bad Genius,' then playing Shirley Yang in 'Ghost Blows Out the Light,' and I heard she'll be playing the second female lead in Shen Qing's next movie."

"If 'Bad Genius' is this good, I can't imagine how 'The Martian' will be."

Less than half an hour later, Yang Mi's assistant delivered the cake that had been ordered in advance.

Right there in Shen Qing's office, Yang Mi personally cut a piece for Shen Qing, and also cut a piece for herself, distributing the rest to the company's employees.

The employees cheered.

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