Chapter 453 The World of Fortune

The next day, the morning light was dim.

Song Ci stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, overlooking the bustling streets of the ancient city of Peking.

Recently, he has become more and more fond of this posture of looking far into the distance from a high place, enjoying the sense of openness that stretches across the entire field of vision.

"Knock, knock, knock." The crisp knock on the door broke the silence in the room.

"Come in."

Wu Yi pushed the door open and walked in, his face filled with unconcealed joy. He walked straight to the chairman by the window and said, "Director Song, I'm here to report the results of our battle to you."

Song Ci turned around with a faint smile on his face: "If you have any good news, tell me about it."

Wu Yi raised the report in his hand, his tone full of excitement: "Last night, 8 million users participated in the new WeChat feature, and the initial red envelopes reached 40 million!

During peak hours, 25,000 red envelopes were opened every minute.”

Song Ci nodded slightly and asked, "How many WeChat users have linked their bank cards?"

"4.12 million!" Wu Yi replied quickly. "The amount of card bindings we made this evening alone is equivalent to a normal month's work."

"Okay!" Song Ci punched his palm hard, his eyes gleaming with vigor and vitality.

The huge success of WeChat red envelopes means that the most critical "cold start" problem of mobile payments has been solved. This will definitely become a turning point for WeChat Pay to completely defeat Alipay.

Wu Yi held up the report and continued, "82% of users who receive red envelopes tend to give them out again, forming a perfect 'reinforcement loop'.

Last night, the activity level of WeChat groups increased by 7 times, and the "crowd effect" was greatly strengthened.

He paused for a moment and deliberately kept the topic a secret: "Mr. Song, there was an unexpected surprise last night."

"Oh? There's another surprise?" Song Ci raised his eyebrows.

Wu Yi was very excited: "Although WeChat adopts the 'no intermediate account' model, judging from last night's data, a large number of unclaimed and unwithdrawn red envelopes have formed a short-term capital pool.

According to backend calculations, if 30% of users send 100 yuan red envelopes after the New Year's Eve Spring Festival Gala red envelope event, the company can generate 6 billion yuan in cash flow and approximately 4 million yuan in daily accumulated income.

After hearing this unexpected surprise, Song Ci's smile became even wider: "4 million a day, that's 1.4 billion a year, it's really a lot."

As he was speaking, there was another knock on the office door. "Come in."

Secretary Jian Ning slowly opened the door, and Zhang Yong, Wang Jing and Chen An followed in.

"Why are you all here at the company on Saturday?" Song Ci was slightly surprised, and then instructed the secretary, "Jian Ning, pour tea for everyone."

"I came here specially to congratulate Mr. Song."

"Congratulations, Mr. Song! The WeChat red envelope was a huge success!"

Although today is Saturday and a holiday, the news about WeChat red envelopes has touched the hearts of every executive of Tengda Group.

Zhang Yong, Wang Jing and others rushed to the company early in the morning to wait for news. As soon as they learned the specific data, their hearts finally settled down, and they immediately rushed to congratulate the chairman.

"Everyone, sit down and talk." Song Ci smiled broadly, his words full of confidence, "From today on, Tengda will have no rivals in the mobile payment field.

As long as we proceed steadily and without making mistakes, and develop step by step, we will soon be able to control half of the industry."

Everyone sat down on the sofa in the meeting room. After serving tea to several executives, Jane Ning quietly left the office.

Song Ci leaned back on the sofa, feeling indescribably comfortable. "Mr. Chen, 2012 is almost over. What are the group's revenue and profits for this year?"

Chief Financial Officer Chen An paused for a moment before answering, "Based on the growth trend of the first three quarters, the group's annual revenue is expected to be 230 billion yuan, with a profit of 80 billion yuan."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this. Even Song Ci couldn't hide his surprise and felt very pleased with Tengda's operating results this year.

Unexpectedly, despite investing huge R&D expenses and market subsidies, the net profit can still reach 80 billion.

Chen An added with a smile, "WeChat is rapidly expanding in the global market, and the domestic mobile payment sector is also growing steadily. In fact, the group's profit margin this year has decreased by 4% year-on-year."

However, thanks to the surge in global smartphone users, mobile app advertising and mobile game profits are experiencing explosive growth.”

After introducing the main performance growth and profit sources, he changed the subject and began to compliment: "In the final analysis, it is Director Song who has a far-sighted vision!

The group's early deployment of mobile applications enabled it to seize the first opportunity in the global mobile wave and secure the first dividends."

Song Ci nodded in agreement. "The mobile internet era has just begun. I predict that the mobile sector will maintain its upward momentum over the next ten years. As long as the product foundation is solid, maintaining growth will not be difficult."

Zhang Yong calculated silently for a moment, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he exclaimed: "Converted into US dollars, the group's revenue reached 32.8 billion and its net profit was 11.4 billion.

This is already enough to make the Fortune Global 500! I estimate that next year's ranking will be around 400."

"Really?" Song Ci was surprised and happy.

He clearly remembered that Penguin and Alibaba in his previous life did not enter the Fortune Global 500 until 2017, while Tenda, which he built with his own hands, achieved it four years ahead of schedule.

Zhang Yong's expression straightened, and he said confidently, "The group's 2011 revenue and profits put it just one spot away from the bottom of this year's Fortune 500. With Tengda's current growth momentum, we're sure to be on the next Fortune list."

"Good! Good! Good!" Even though Song Ci was usually calm, he was delighted at this moment, his heart surging so much that he could hardly speak.

Tenda's entry into the Fortune Global 500 is more than just a glory brought by revenue figures; it means the company has officially entered the top tier of global business.

We will gain systematic competitive advantages in dimensions such as brand influence, voice in the industrial chain, and depth of strategic layout.

This is a leap in global brand value, allowing Tenda Technology to truly transform from a "Chinese enterprise" into a true "world giant."

Song Ci could no longer suppress his excitement. He stood up and paced around the office, muttering to himself:

"The group has entered a new era! My Tengda will stand shoulder to shoulder with international giants like Walmart, Apple, and Microsoft!"

At this moment, Zhang Yong and Wang Jing were also very excited and had mixed feelings. They were the first veterans to follow Song Ci in starting a business.

Witness with your own eyes how this helmsman, with his strategic wisdom and courage, transformed a little-known small business into a global Internet giant in just eight years.

Chen An and Wu Yi were equally proud of the opportunity. Although they didn't hold original shares like Zhang Yong and Wang Jing, they were core executives at Tengda and held equity incentives.

The title of Fortune Global 500 is incomparable to the listing of ordinary companies. The two have already foreseen that when Tengda is officially listed in the future, it will surely set off a wealth feast that will sweep the world.

"Pay money, we must!" Song Ci said firmly, his excitement barely concealed. "Tengda's current scale is due to the hard work of everyone. Every employee in the group has put in real effort!"

After calming down a bit, he sat down again and began to instruct: "This year's year-end bonuses for all employees will be increased by 30% on top of the original amount. The HR and Finance departments should speed up the implementation of the assessment."

"Okay, Mr. Song." Wang Jing agreed immediately.

As his excitement faded, Song Ci gradually calmed down and muttered, "Being in the Fortune 500 is not the end, but the starting point for Tengda to truly participate in the global value chain game.

It gives us a ticket to the top, but whether we can become the winner depends on how well we play the "technology card," "ecological card," and "efficiency card." There's still a long way to go.

As he sighed, he suddenly seemed to remember something and took out his phone while saying, "Wilson, the president of WeChat North America, sent me a little thing yesterday. You guys should try it too."

As he spoke, he forwarded the mini-program installation package shared by Wilson to Zhang Yong, Wang Jing and others.

"Snapchat?" Everyone installed it on their phones as instructed, and when they found out it was actually a social software, curiosity showed on their faces.

While they were adding each other as friends, Song Ci introduced: "This is a product made by several Stanford students last September.

There is a special feature called "burn after reading", which means that photos and videos sent by users can be set to automatically destroy after 1 to 10 seconds.

As Zhang Yong scrolled through the screen to experience the software, he asked, "Mr. Song, how many users does this software have now?"

“Less than 100,000.”

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Yong paused.

He thought Wilson specifically reported this because the software was popular, but he didn't expect it to have only 100,000 users a year, which is simply not worth mentioning compared to WeChat's global size of nearly 1 billion.

Song Ci smiled and asked, "What do you think of using Snapchat?"

Several people looked at each other, unable to figure out the chairman's thoughts, so they just told the truth.

“It feels average, nothing new or exciting.”

"This 'disappearing' feature is, to put it bluntly, a bit silly. No wonder the user base is growing so slowly."

You and I both made negative comments.

Song Ci didn't respond, but he knew in his heart that if it weren't for foresight, no one would have thought that the number of users of this software would experience a viral explosion next year.

"Wilson discovered it by accident," he said slowly. "He saw his daughter really enjoyed using it, so he looked it up and discovered that the app was slowly spreading among young people in the United States."

Zhang Yong, Wang Jing, and the others' expressions suddenly darkened. Young users are the foundation of social media. If Snapchat can truly capture this demographic, its future potential will be unimaginable.

"Wilson has always been cautious in his actions," Song Ci continued, "He was not optimistic about it at first, just like you, but he felt that since young people were so interested in it, it must have some outstanding features.

Later, after consulting with social psychology experts, I realized that the core of Snapchat is that it accurately hits the psychological needs of teenagers and young adults and solves their social pain points.”

“Content on traditional social platforms is permanently stored and can be easily found by parents and teachers.

However, "disappearing messages" use technology to forcibly destroy content, cutting off the means of information tracing. Users are more willing to share private information without fear of "social demise."

Wu Yi's eyes lit up. As the president of WeChat, he instantly grasped the key point: "I understand! Ordinary social platforms are encouraging users to showcase their carefully packaged lives. To put it bluntly, it is "competitive social networking."

But Snapchat goes the other way. Content is fleeting, and its short-lived existence doesn’t require a pursuit of “like value.” Instead, it reverts to the joy of sharing itself.

"That's exactly the point," Song Ci sighed. "With Snapchat, users don't have to worry about being 'socially ruined' by taking bad photos or having low-quality images.

The "burn after reading" setting naturally tolerates imperfection and encourages improvisation, which perfectly matches the social attitude of young people who pursue authenticity and dislike excessive embellishment.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's minds suddenly became clear and they understood why the chairman valued Snapchat.

Wu Yi tried the "burn after reading" function several times and had a rough idea of the core logic of the software.

I immediately suggested: "Mr. Song, the 'burn after reading' feature may seem technically complex, but its core is nothing more than the mandatory timeliness of sharing, coupled with an anti-screen recording mechanism.

As for development, our company can definitely do it. Since you're optimistic about this direction, why don't we just make a similar product and launch it on the market?"

Before Song Ci expressed his opinion, Zhang Yong pushed up his black-framed glasses and rejected the proposal: "I personally think it would be more appropriate to invest in Snapchat.

The overseas market is different from the domestic market. Imitation that is too aggressive can easily give others a handle, which is inappropriate.”

Tenda does have the ability to bypass Snapchat and create a social software with similar functions. Even with the traffic support of WeChat, it won’t take long for it to crush its competitors in terms of user scale.

But if it really does this, Tenda's reputation will inevitably be damaged, and it will also arouse collective hostility from local European and American companies, which will not be worth the loss.

Song Ci nodded in agreement, "Mr. Zhang is absolutely right. Tengda Group wants to go global, and its business reputation and word of mouth in the global market are more important than anything else."

After a brief pause, he continued, "There will be more and more products with potential like Snapchat.

In China, we are at home, so it’s OK to be a bit strong; but in the international market, we can’t just copy and attack every company we see, right? That’s unrealistic and won’t get us far.

He had already made up his mind: Tenda wanted to be an "enabler" rather than a "predator" in the global market. Investing in and supporting products like Snapchat was essentially exchanging capital for time and using equity to build an ecosystem.

This is particularly well-suited for markets like Europe and the United States, where local barriers are high, compliance requirements are strict, and rapid market entry is crucial. Ultimately, this type of lightweight collaboration is about trading ecosystems for efficiency and openness for win-win outcomes.

Seeing the chairman and CEO reach a consensus, Wu Yi stopped insisting. He knew his place, and unlike the other two, who needed to focus on a global strategy, he naturally had fewer concerns.

Just thinking about the development history of WeChat, I can't help but sigh. As WeChat's overseas twin brother, WeChat has had a thrilling journey. It is far from easy to reach its current size. It is not as smooth as WeChat in China.

"I've asked Wilson to follow up," Song Ci said. "The goal is to spend a large sum of money to acquire more than 51% of Snapchat's equity. However, Tengda will not interfere with the founding team's management rights, and WeChat will also moderately divert traffic to it."

He sighed softly and added, “In the final analysis, whether it’s investing or conducting independent research, there is no absolute right or wrong, only whether it’s suitable or not.

Core technologies like cloud computing and AI, which will impact the future, must be mastered by the Group and the Group must not cede an inch of global market share. However, more often than not, open collaboration can actually go further.

(End of this chapter)