Business Closed Loop: Starting with Ringback Tones to Take Down Giants

[Jiang Yilei's Work Diary - Top Secret]

April 2nd: The school's legal team arrived, consisting of two teachers and two interns.

April 3: Xianming Studio seems to be different now.

Oh! It's gotten crowded.

People fear becoming famous, just as pigs fear growing fat; Ma Xiaojun embodies both.

April 4: "Shocking! People's Entrepreneur Wang Song Appears at Securities Bureau and Industry and Commerce Bureau"

Accompanying personnel: 1 legal/financial counselor, 2 interns.

This is a report from our reporter Jiang Yilei.

April 5: Three hundred thousand, just like that, they gave it to me like that.

What kind of nonsense is this, public accounts and private accounts, limited liability, and paid-in capital? This is going to kill me!

April 6: Urgent!

People's entrepreneur Wang Song was invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of his studio's recording studio.

After the ceremony, the entire studio went to the train station to see off Sister Yao and Sisi.

April 7: Breaking News!

It is suspected that the school had given instructions, and Wang Song personally removed the "Xianming Studio" sign.

Oh, no, it's now called: Xianming Culture and Art Co., Ltd.

The two interns stayed on; their names were Zhao Lan (legal counsel) and Luo Dan (finance).

Their base salary is actually higher than mine, a founding father!

Wang Song said this is called professionals doing professional things, but I think it's called discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose; it's the work of a wicked, heartless capitalist.

April 8: Great news! Irremarkable good news!

The Super Girl auditions went well! Senior Sister Yao and Chang Sisi didn't let Xianming down!

November 9st

What does it mean that SkyNet invested 500,000 to purchase 10% of the company's shares?

I did a quick calculation, and 10% is 500,000. So, my 5% original shares would be worth... 250,000?!

Good heavens, does this mean I, Jiang Yilei, will never have to worry about food and clothing in this lifetime?

Jiang Yilei slammed the diary on the table and looked at Wang Song: "Boss, tell me the truth, why don't you want the 500,000?"

Wang Song was looking at the company's articles of association that Zhao Lan had just drafted, without even looking up.

"If you accept their investment, your shareholding will be reduced proportionally."

"Why...is this happening to me?"

"It's complicated here, go look it up yourself." Wang Song turned a page.

Wang Song couldn't very well tell her that the ringback tone market was about to collapse, that SkyNet itself was in dire straits, and that they were still investing in it.

Little did they know, this decision...

Jiang Yilei was stunned, and then asked a different question.

"Does that mean SkyNet's valuation of us is... five million?"

"Maybe someone will value it at ten million someday?"

"Um."

Jiang Yilei thought about it and realized that it seemed a bit unfair for his five percent to be diluted now.

"I second that! I don't think SkyNet is a good company."

Ma Xiaojun listened to the conversation between Jiang Yilei and the boss.

At first, he didn't pay much attention to the equity structure diagram hanging on the wall, since he only owned 0.54%.

Fortunately, Liu Jianjun only charged 0.46, so he must have secretly added money while we were away.

Come to think of it, he should be the one calling us "Ma" (a respectful title).

But now.

Ma Xiaojun had been standing in front of that picture for ten minutes.

"Jianjun," his voice trembled, "pinch me."

Liu Jianjun didn't pinch, he just pushed up his glasses: "Why pinch? Do the math yourself. 0.54% multiplied by five million equals twenty-seven thousand."

"You earned 11,000 from that 16,000 in half a month."

Ma Xiaojun slowly turned his head: "So now... I'm a shareholder?"

"You've been one for a long time," Liu Jianjun said. "You just know how much it's worth now."

Ma Xiaojun got cocky and turned to the two newcomers, shouting, "See that? Follow Fourth Brother, and you'll get the meat!"

One of the girls whispered to the other, "Does our newbie... get stock options?"

Another shook his head: "It says in the manual that there's no internship period; performance will be considered after you become a full-time employee."

Suddenly, Ma Xiaojun felt a surge of ownership and walked over to pat the girl on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, there's another wave coming. Keep up the good work, there will be more in the future."

The girl nodded, her smile somewhat forced.

Chen Shu sat at her workstation with the revised manuscript of "A Little Thing Called First Love" spread out in front of her, but didn't turn the page for a long time.

She remembered that when Ma Xiaojun took out the money, she thought the two of them were crazy.

Sixteen thousand, in exchange for a single sheet of paper.

That piece of paper is now worth 27,000.

She glanced down at her savings; not much, just over 30,000. If she invested it all, she could...

She didn't continue calculating; instead, she turned her gaze back to the manuscript.

The pen hovered in mid-air, not falling for a long time.

Immortal Recording Studio.

There were two items in front of Li Ran.

One document is the "Xianming Culture Project Contract Template" that Zhao Lan just sent out, and the other is the "New Employee Handbook".

On the contract template, the section for his project responsibilities is blank and needs to be filled in.

He was responsible for three songs for the Super Girl competition: "Chasing the Light," "The Wind Rises," and "Dust in the Fireworks."

Each project is signed separately, and the 8% profit-sharing percentage is particularly glaring.

New employees are in an even worse situation. During their three-month internship, they receive a basic salary. After becoming full-time employees, they participate in project performance evaluations but are not eligible to purchase stock options.

Li Ran closed the manual and looked at Zhou Tao.

Zhou Tao was flipping through his own document, flipping through it once, then flipping through it again.

"Stop flipping through it," Li Ran said. "It's just the same few lines of text."

Zhou Tao looked up: "Tell me, shouldn't we...?"

He didn't finish speaking, but Li Ran understood.

When Wang Song first introduced the new regulations, the two of them remained silent.

It's not that I don't trust Wang Song, it's just that I feel they are just composers, not the core members, so why invest? Taking a share of the project revenue is fine and stable.

The project contract is now in front of us, with the profit-sharing ratio clearly stated.

They seem to have relinquished their greatest power.

That evening, everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of the new year.

until.

"Boss!!! Boss!! We're back!! We've lived up to your expectations." Chang Sisi's excited voice broke the eerie atmosphere in the studio.

"Hey! Is this a god or demon?" Her gaze fell on the equity structure diagram on the wall.

Jiang Yilei leaned over and gave a brief explanation.

Wang Song came out from the inner room and greeted, "Our great hero is back! What would you like to eat?"

Chang Sisi turned around and asked directly, "Boss, I want to buy options, why didn't you notify me?"

Wang Song was stunned.

Jiang Yilei was also stunned.

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Wang Song looked at her, making sure she wasn't joking, and then said, "Sisi, you were there when the new regulations were being explained."

"I didn't understand," Chang Sisi said matter-of-factly.

"What options and what call options? I thought the boss was just making empty promises."

"And now?"

Chang Sisi pointed to the picture: "Now I understand why this thing is valuable."

Wang Song didn't say anything, while Jiang Yilei was trying so hard not to laugh that his shoulders were shaking.

"Sisi," Wang Song said, "if you buy it now, the price won't be the same as before."

Chang Sisi was taken aback: "The price has gone up?"

"Yes, the company is valued at five million, and the shares in the option pool will be valued based on this." Wang Song looked at her.

"Do you still want to buy it?"

Chang Sisi didn't hesitate: "Buy it."

Wang Song raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you going to ask how much it costs?"

"I won't ask." Chang Sisi took out her bankbook from her bag. "I've saved 30,000. Is that enough? If not, I'll borrow from Sister Na."

Yao Beina raised her hand and said, "I'll lend it to you. You can decide on the interest rate."

Wang Song looked at Chang Sisi and suddenly smiled.

He turned to Zhao Lan and said, "Teacher Zhao, get it done for her."

Zhao Lan nodded and began preparing the materials.

Chang Sisi stood there, clutching the bankbook. She turned to look at Yao Beina: "Sister Na, did I do something wrong? Why are they all looking at me?"

Yao Beina patted her on the shoulder: "You did nothing wrong, you're the first one."

"The first one?"

"The first person who was willing to board the train even after the ticket price increased."

Li Ran stood up, and Zhou Tao followed suit.

Chen Shu looked up from her workstation and put down her pen.

Zhang Zhen peeked out from the corner, looked around, and then stood up as well.

"Boss," Li Ran said, "I... want to buy one too."

Wang Song looked at him: "Have you thought it through?"

"I've made up my mind," Li Ran said.

Zhou Tao nodded in agreement: "Me too."

Chen Shu walked over, clutching the passbook in her hand, and stood next to Chang Sisi without saying a word.

Zhang Zhen scratched his head: "Boss, I don't have much money. I'll buy as much as I can, okay?"

Wang Song didn't answer, but looked at Zhao Lan and said, "Teacher Zhao, please take care of everything."

Zhao Lan adjusted her glasses and opened her notebook: "One at a time, don't push."

A girl looked up at him and asked, "Brother Ma, how did you dare to buy it back then?"

Wang Song was leaning against the table, watching the group of people scrambling to fill out the forms, a smile playing on his lips.

Jiang Yilei leaned closer to him and whispered, "Boss, the way you look at him makes it look like you're looking at a bunch of leeks."

Wang Song glanced at her and said, "Comrade Xiao Jiang, your thinking is dangerous."

Jiang Yilei chuckled: "Seriously, they're all on the bus, so what's next?"

Wang Song didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the emails lying in his inbox.

"Congratulations... Super Girl... We will be visiting the studio this Wednesday."

Huayi Records.

"Next, we're about to get to the real channels," Wang Song thought to himself.