Chapter 194: Fortune Myth! Stand Your Ground

In Lin Xiao's opinion, Masayoshi Son has a problem: he has too big an appetite.

Especially for small start-up companies, he enjoys being a savior, giving a lot of money but also a lot of shares.

And at least for Facebook in China, Lin Xiao does not need too much money, at least for the time being.

Even though next year's expenses will be very, very huge.

Xia Xi has calculated many times that there will be a lot of projects launched next year, and the conservative estimate of the expenditure may be 400 million, or even more.

Therefore, she contacted Secretary Lian in advance and borrowed 80 million yuan to maintain the health of the capital chain.

According to very conservative calculations, the revenue from ringtones alone plus the advertising revenue share of If You Are the One may exceed 400 million next year.

Not to mention that the company has other income.

Therefore, the company will have sufficient funds next year and will not really need much money.

However, one additional expense the company may have is the development of Facebook overseas.

This cannot even rely solely on money, but must rely on the power of foreign capital.

"Mr. Sun, in the next few years, the development of Facebook in our country may have more funds." Lin Xiao said: "Of course, even for the sake of friendship, we can symbolically sell a portion of Facebook's shares."

"But I think our cooperation in another aspect may have more chemistry."

Son: “I’d like to hear more about it.”

Lin Xiao: "Do you know our subsidiary, Jiayuan?"

Masayoshi Son immediately took out a thick stack of information, which was all about Jiayuan.com.

"That's the business intelligence given to you by the investigation company, which may not be detailed." Xia Xi handed over a very complete and true document.

"So far, the TV program If You Are the One has a viewership rating of over 2.8%. Including reruns, the audience it reaches is probably over 60 to 70 million, and will soon exceed 100 million."

"The key is that this is a group of China's most elite people. Their profile is very young and they are at the peak of marriage and consumption."

"According to the data just now, the number of registered users of Jiayuan.com has exceeded 6.9 million."

"And its growth rate is unprecedented, even to our own surprise. Maybe within this year, the number of registered users will exceed 10 million."

"Because of its seriousness and authenticity, it has a complete monopoly in the Chinese market and has formed a certain authoritative effect."

"We have not yet opened any paid services on the website. We are very cautious about this. But you should know that men and women are willing to spend money on dating and finding a partner."

"In the past month, Jiayuan.com has organized a total of 19 large-scale matchmaking events, three of which were high-end events, with a total revenue of more than 8.9 million yuan."

While Xia Xi was selecting important data reports, she also let him see the relevant clear statements.

Son asked, “What is your goal for this website?”

Xia Xi: "Monopoly, long-term, restrained money-making have become the hallmarks of the industry."

"When the time is right, we will expand to Japan, South Korea, and East Asia, but it is only the right time, there is no urgency."

Masayoshi Son: "How much money, how many shares?"

Xia Xi: "32 million US dollars, 25% of the shares."

This price is neither high nor low.

It cannot be compared with this website in history, because this website in history was too weak.

In this world, Lin Xiao took just over half a year to achieve the same level of performance as he had achieved in several years of history, and gained an absolute monopoly position.

But to outsiders, this price is undoubtedly very high.

Masayoshi Son: “What are your short-term goals for this website?”

Xia Xi: "It will be our first listed company."

Masayoshi Son understood that it was for the purpose of going public that he was willing to sell so many shares, and wanted to rely on SoftBank's help to achieve the goal of going public.

Masayoshi Son: “What about the second cooperation intention?”

Lin Xiao said: "Overseas Facebook, to be precise, is divided into two parts, one is East Asian Facebook, and the other is North American Facebook."

“Facebook of East Asia, $30 million, 30% of the shares.”

"Facebook North America, $30 million, 20% stake."

This is a sky-high price!

But, this is also a bargain price.

Those who give money will feel crazy and think that Lin Xiao is completely crazy.

You have absolutely zero knowledge in East Asia and North America, you are just getting something for nothing.

You haven't even demonstrated dominance in the Chinese market, and you want to expand overseas? And you want to get $50 million from me?

Do you really think my money fell from the sky?

But those who were given shares also felt heartbroken.

For just tens of millions of dollars, he gave away several tens of percent of his shares.

Besides, Lin Xiao doesn’t lack the money at all.

Not to mention anything else, just the three variety shows "If You Are the One", "Crazy Brain" and "China's Got Talent" can probably bring him hundreds of millions of dollars in income every year.

It's simply because he is weak and alone abroad and needs to tie up a powerful ally.

Masayoshi Son looked at Lin Xiao, feeling deeply moved.

He himself was considered a radical, but in front of the handsome young man, he turned into a conservative.

After a long while, he said, "I know that your proposal for cooperation with Facebook overseas is a real gamble. It may make me lose everything, but it may also allow me to earn astronomical profits."

“But it’s starting from scratch now.”

"The most important thing is that Facebook has not yet demonstrated its dominance in China."

“So I’m interested, but I need to put it on hold for now!”

"Also, regarding Jiayuan.com, the price you offered is very high, but... it is still a conservative and profitable project, but it lacks passion and gambling nature."

Lin Xiao said: "Not necessarily, Mr. Masayoshi Son. According to our experience, and even according to my own old experience, I think the highest market value of Jiayuan.com is probably only about 300 to 400 million US dollars. But... as long as we stick to the original strategy and continue to maintain our monopoly, as time goes by, its market value will reach a height that we can hardly imagine."

"Because this market will always exist and will grow bigger, and all we need is to remain patient and use a very restrained attitude to collect the portion we deserve from this market. We must not dry up the pond and overdraw the future."

Masayoshi Son: "I am inclined to conclude this cooperation, even though the price you offer me is much higher than what you have offered to Hong Kong venture capital funds."

Before If You Are the One became a big hit, when Jiayuan.com was still relatively unknown, Lin Xiao offered Miyazaki $5 million for a 13% stake, which was truly a friendship price.

But now Jiayuan.com is popular, so the price has increased several times, which is normal.

Even... Lin Xiao doesn't lack the money, he just wants to form an alliance and lay the foundation for the next cooperation.

After everyone cooperates, they understand each other and increase trust.

Of course, for Masayoshi Son, this transaction is too weak of a gamble.

After all, he once spent $100 million to acquire 37% of Yahoo's shares, and also spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire several tens of percent of Alibaba's shares.

What a coincidence, when he invested in Alibaba, he really relied on Ma Yun's words. At that time, Alibaba had no performance at all.

Lin Xiao said: "There is another cooperation, are you interested?"

Son was surprised: "There is still cooperation?"

Lin Xiao: “About film and television production companies.”

Masayoshi Son: "Are you willing to sell your shares in Lightning Entertainment?"

Now Lightning Entertainment has become a cash cow. It does not need any investment at all and it just makes money continuously.

Lin Xiao said: "It's not Lightning Entertainment, but an entertainment company that caters to overseas markets."

Son: “I’d like to hear more about it.”

Lin Xiao: "Lightning Entertainment, Softbank, Columbia Asia, and even related Korean companies can be brought in to form a joint venture if necessary. Sell variety show copyrights or co-produce movies."

Is Masayoshi Son interested in the entertainment industry? Yes, he is.

In 2014, he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to gradually acquire some shares of Legendary Pictures.

People in the future who heard Lin Xiao's words at this time would probably think that it was the opposite of Tian Gang. In the past, foreign countries imported TV variety show copyrights to China, but now you are actually importing them overseas, especially to South Korea?

But...what's wrong with that?

Facebook in one hand, entertainment in the other, assisting each other and coordinating traffic.

Of course, promoting culture overseas is not just talk.

Moreover, when it comes to cultural exports, one cannot do it alone. One must cooperate with local companies and disguise oneself as a local company.

Lin Xiao: "Amy Pascal, President of Columbia Asia, is also in Hong Kong, attending this cocktail party of HSBC. We have had a conversation before, but it was very brief. Perhaps my influence was not enough. If possible, if she is free, please ask Mr. Masayoshi Son to invite her over so that we can have a chat."

Columbia is backed by Sony. Although it does not have much in common with Masayoshi Son, both parties are Japanese chaebols after all.

Of course, the most important thing is that now is the golden period of the relationship between Sony and China, especially Sony Entertainment, which is eager to enter the Chinese market. Some people joked that when China Film moved to a new home, Sony Entertainment would give away a fortune tree.

Without much hesitation, Masayoshi Son took out his phone and invited Amy Pascal.

About twenty minutes later, the female president appeared in front of Lin Xiao.

"Nice to meet you again, Mr. Lin Xiao."

If it was Lin Xiao who made the appointment, she would probably still meet him, but she would not leave much time, nor would she discuss cooperation seriously.

But once it is Masayoshi Son who calls over, the situation will be completely different.

Even when Lin Xiao and Masayoshi Son sat together, she was a little surprised.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lin Xiao said, "I have a suggestion."

"Lightning Entertainment, SoftBank Group, and Columbia Asia are working together to form an entertainment company that will be responsible for film production and TV copyright development."

"Of course, the television industry in Japan and South Korea is very developed, and you may think that we are simply the importer, not the exporter!"

"So don't be in a hurry. Our original programs will become popular in the Chinese market first, and then we will try to replicate them in South Korea and Japan."

"Of course, if you still think these are too trivial, then within the next year, our joint venture can only have one work."

"You can make a movie with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and even a few American actors."

As soon as these words came out, the female president of Columbia frowned slightly.

Because the previous Sino-Japanese co-production "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" is still fresh in our memory, although it has not yet been released in overseas markets, Lin Xiao almost directly concluded that it will fail miserably in overseas markets, even in the Japanese market.

On the contrary, Columbia's pure investment "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and next year's "Kung Fu" were both great successes.

Amy Pascal said, "It's the movie you told me about in the cinema not long ago. You said it would conquer China, Japan, and South Korea, and even Southeast Asia, and would bring us three to five times the revenue?"

Lin Xiao said: "That's right!"

Amy Pascal said: "I'm not doubting you, but based on my understanding of the Asian market."

"First, there is a certain overlap between the Chinese and Japanese markets, but it is limited to historical and martial arts themes."

"Hong Kong films once conquered the Southeast Asian and Korean markets, but now they have completely withered. Since the success of films such as "Memories of Murder" and "Old Boy", Korean films have shown a very self-centered and relatively closed market environment."

"So the possibility of a movie conquering the Chinese, Japanese and Korean markets is almost zero, not to mention that you have to conquer Hong Kong and Taiwan."

To some extent, the female president is right.

Especially the later Korean films, the completion level is very good, but only a few of them can truly go global.

Ultimately, the best-selling movies in South Korea all have their own unique national characteristics. "Parasite" is of course a huge success worldwide, after all, it won an Oscar, but what was the price? The price is actually the complete takeover of the Korean entertainment industry by American capital, or more accurately, Netflix's takeover of Korean entertainment.

But there is indeed a Korean movie that has conquered multiple markets, including the Japanese market, Hong Kong market, Korean market, Vietnamese market, Singaporean market, Thai market, etc., and all of them are annual box office champions.

That's "Train to Busan".

Of course, it failed to sell well in the Chinese market because it never passed the review and was not released!

Why wasn't it released? Is the Chinese market too conservative?

Of course not, it’s just because the production company is too weak. “Resident Evil” is also a zombie-themed movie, can’t it still be released in China?

So this movie has inexplicably become the omnipotent key to the entire East Asian market.

The key is that the investment is not high and the market performance is at a sweeping level.

It would be a shame not to use it to expand territory and become the first shot in the overseas expansion of culture.

It is definitely impossible to rely solely on Lin Xiao's Lightning Entertainment. It's not that they can't come up with the money. Historically, the investment in this film was only about 80 million RMB. Now it is even less, at most 40 or 50 million.

As for what you said about exporting overseas, why not a Chinese-language film but one shot overseas?

All we can say is, conquer the market first, then add private goods.

Look at how Capcom did it? How did Hidetaka Miyazaki do it? How did Hideo Kojima do it?

To conquer overseas, we must first make the conquered party feel that this is our local product.

Moreover, in addition to Chinese capital, the new version of "Train to Busan" can also include Chinese actors and even Chinese directors.

At least the core producers are also Chinese.

Besides, you can't even shoot this movie in Hong Kong, and make it into "Travel to Hong Kong"? The male protagonist takes a train from Guangdong to Hong Kong? What a joke! Zombie movies can be released in China, and murder movies can also be released, but the place where they take place must be abroad.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

How could such a discordant thing happen in China? Lin Xiao took out the script of Train to Busan, which even had a large number of split-shot images. Moreover, these shots were not drawn by the people of Lightning Entertainment, but by the depressed senior sister of Aurora University, Li Ning, the campus beauty of the philosophy department.

She is such a genius! Li Duanduan is also an art designer, but she is not as good as Li Ning from the philosophy department.

Senior Sister Li Ning has now become the most outstanding graphic designer in Lightning Game.

On the contrary, Li Duanduan, who was engaged in art design, also joined Li Shuang's Shuanglin Production.

"The investment in Heroes of Heaven and Earth is about 10 million US dollars, and a considerable part of it is from Columbia." Lin Xiao said: "Even though you may not like it, I still have to say that this movie will make Columbia lose all its money."

"And my movie Train to Busan may only require an investment of around US$7 million, but its global box office will reach US$70 million, or even US$100 million!"

As soon as these words came out, the female president's face changed and even her body trembled slightly.

If such a result is true, it would be a more successful investment than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which had an investment of 15 million US dollars and eventually grossed 218 million US dollars, but the core reason was the huge sales in the North American market, which accounted for more than half of the total.

And what is Columbia Asia's core goal? To conquer the Asian market.

The North American market has always been Colombia's core market, while the Asian market has not been developed.

What Lin Xiao meant was that most of the box office revenue of "Train to Busan" came from Asia, which perfectly fits Columbia Asia's strategy.

But... she felt that Lin Xiao's words were too sensational.

That's an exaggeration.

$7 million investment, $70 million global box office?

To promote his own project, he made such exaggerated claims? In fact, after a rigorous analysis, Lin Xiao felt that the probability of this happening was very high.

First, in 2016, Train to Busan grossed almost $100 million worldwide. Of course, the film market in 2016 was much bigger than in 2004.

However, in the core markets of South Korea and Japan, the box office may not be lower than in 2016.

Because the Korean domestic market in 2004 was in a period of development and hunger, "Taegukgi: Flying Taegukgi" was a movie of that year. The number of viewers in Korea reached a terrifying 11 million, and the box office reached 56 million US dollars.

Moreover, the 2016 version of "Train to Busan" lacked two major markets, China and the United States.

It was not released in China, and although it was released in the United States, the scale was very small because there was no background.

Moreover, the movie "Train to Busan" was considered very good in 2016. But in 2004, it was super exciting, super amazing, and super good.

Because in this era, people have not received similar baptism.

Lin Xiao: "I can even sign a bet agreement, and the amount of the bet is 70 million US dollars in global box office!"

Female CEO Amy Pascal said, "Mr. Lin Xiao, if it's just an investment in a movie, then $7 million is nothing and doesn't need to be considered seriously. But you obviously want more than just a movie. You want a strategic tie-in and want to establish a joint venture with us."

"But you also know that a company of China Film Group's level has established a joint venture with Warner."

Lin Xiao: "Let's assume that our film is a huge success, and even if it earns more than 70 million US dollars in the Asian market, or even more, is it worth it for Columbia to form a company with us? To jointly develop the Asian market?"

The female president said: "Of course, this level of success is more than enough, but... that's just the success you expected, isn't it?"

Lin Xiao: "So, let the market prove my vision and ability."

"You've already seen Crazy Stone, and you weren't very optimistic about it. Do you know what my box office target is for it?"

The female CEO said: "You mean it's better than Heroes of Heaven and Earth. I think that's a little weird because Chinese people are used to going to the cinema to watch blockbuster movies."

Lin Xiao: "My expectation for this film is ten times the investment cost. My original investment in this film was 8 million, but I didn't spend it all, so it's about 7 million. So I expect its box office to be 70 million, and it will win the box office championship in the mainland market this year."

Female CEO: "I still can't believe it, let reality tell us the result."

In the end, it returned to the box office performance of "Crazy Stone".

A typical characteristic of American capitalists: convince me with money, convince me with the market, not with your mouth.

But this is normal. Lin Xiao didn’t expect to achieve it all at once.

Then the three-party talks came to an end temporarily.

Female president Amy left first.

Masayoshi Son and Lin Xiao returned to the Facebook negotiations.

“Although there may not be much surprise about the investment in Jiayuan.com, I am willing to make this investment as the beginning of our cooperation.”

"But the most important thing is Facebook's investment."

"According to my business intelligence, Facebook will soon have a very powerful competitor in the Chinese market, which will far surpass Facebook in terms of user scale, capital, and background," said Son. "They even approached me for investment, but they were not very eager because I don't like a crowded environment."

"In the coming time, you need to demonstrate Facebook's dominance in the Chinese market and show me the hope that it can be quickly replicated in other countries. Then my SoftBank Group will spare no effort to support your overseas expansion."

"Of course, as for the three of us setting up an entertainment company, that's a piece of cake. As long as Colombia agrees, I can do it at any time, and I can also provide you with great help in the Japanese market."

"So you need to fight on two fronts, Mr. Lin Xiao. Defeat your opponents in the movie industry, and defeat the giant that is about to be born on Facebook."

Lin Xiao said: "Of course, if I can't defeat these two opponents, then I won't be qualified to expand overseas."

………………

After Son Masayoshi left, Lin Xiao, Xia Xi and Lian Yi returned to the hotel suite.

The three of them were silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Xia Xi said, "It's really magnificent!"

Lian Yi said: "I thought it was just an ordinary meeting, I didn't expect it to be such a grand narrative."

Xia Xi: "Don't little girls like you hate grand narratives the most?"

"No, it's not." Lian Yi said.

In fact, Lian Yi was very fascinated by the feeling just now.

She originally thought that Lin Xiao brought her here just to see the world, just like a fan meeting his idol, to meet the investment god, Masayoshi Son.

But I didn't expect it to be such an important meeting.

It can even be said that this is an important starting point for Lightning Group's overseas expansion.

Although Lin Xiao repeatedly said in front of Director Ouyang Tang that he wanted to conquer culture and go overseas, it always gave people the feeling that it was just empty talk and a distant future.

But I didn't expect that it has already started now.

Although it is just a layout, it is still some distance away from being truly completed.

But, at least the two giants have been tempted.

Just waiting for Lin Xiao to prove himself on two fronts.

Movie battlefield and Facebook battlefield.

Because, so-called investment, after all, is investing in someone.

If Lin Xiao really demonstrates extraordinary abilities and wins great victories on both fronts, then these two giants will not hesitate to invest in Lin Xiao and become a huge help in his overseas conquests.

Because at this time, China and the United States are far from being in confrontation, and it is the golden time to go overseas.

Just now, Lian Yi was Lin Xiao's assistant and she hardly spoke from beginning to end.

But... in the past few hours, Lin Xiao's image really fascinated her.

Even Xia Xi felt that the scene just now was very magnificent.

Although there were only a few people and the amount involved was not very high, I felt it was a big scene.

There is a feeling of being able to strategize and make decisions.

At this time, she had a feeling that Lin Xiao was not her brother, but a man, a powerful man.

"SoftBank Group's investment in Jiayuan.com of US$32 million should be considered a done deal," Xia Xi said.

Lin Xiao: "Although this price is on the high side, and it's definitely not a bargain, given his personality, it's basically a done deal, and we're just waiting to sign the contract."

Xia Xi: "It's crazy. One of our subsidiaries has only been established for less than a year, and it's already valued at around $130 million."

Lian Yi: "Then the shares held by Sister Su Tao and Sister Lin Yao, even after dilution, are worth hundreds of millions?"

Xia Xi: "Once this news gets out, it will become another legend."

Girls like Su Tao, Lin Yao, Huang Yaner, etc., suddenly became wealthy ladies with a net worth of tens of millions.

And this is just the beginning of the lightning wealth myth.

Lian Yi: "I suddenly realized that the box office of Crazy Stone is not money at all, but a key."

In Lin Xiao's eyes, the box office of "Crazy Stone" is certainly not money, but a lever to leverage the strategy.

Even in the future, if "Train to Busan" really takes shape or even becomes a huge success, it won't matter how much money it makes, but it will be a bigger lever to support the overseas strategy.

So whether it is the movie front or the Facebook front, we must win!

At this time, Lin Xiao took out his mobile phone and called Liu Dehua.

"Brother Hua, hello."

"Hello, Mr. Lin, hello."

Lin Xiao said: "Are you free for this year's Facebook Night? We sincerely invite you to participate."

Liu Dehua: "Master, I'm so sorry, I'm afraid I won't be able to arrange the time by then."

The other party didn't even ask the specific day and just refused directly.

Because next year Andy Lau will be working with Huayi on "A World Without Thieves".

Next, Lin Xiao called Zhou Jielun and invited him to attend Facebook Night.

"Oh, I'm so sorry..."

"During that time, I was fully booked."

Lin Xiao said: "Did you see that? In fact, the battlefield has already begun."

"In the eyes of many people, we have gone to war with the Beijing circle."

"Everyone stood in line based on their instincts."

Xia Xi: "So, Columbia is the outside god. Once she stands on our side, the situation will change."

Lin Xiao: "Yes, so this year's Facebook Night is a meeting to stand up for the team."

"'Crazy Stone' is our first battle of the Lightning Department. It is the key!"

“Capitalists only believe in numbers, not stories!”

……………………

Note: I finally finished writing. I'm going to eat rice noodles! Benefactor, do you still have a monthly ticket in your pocket? Can you give me some cakes? (End of this chapter)