Chapter 203 Ergou's big investment: hundreds of millions of dollars!
Inside the brand new Renren office building.
Liao Feng, Wu Lingxi, Chen Yizhou and others watched the programmers do the final internal test.
This merger is a huge project, not just the merging of databases, but even the entire website and the entire system need to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Today, it is still proceeding in full swing.
Open the new Renren website and browse through it one by one, and you will find that it is almost exactly the same as Facebook.
The internal logic, structure, and classification are exactly the same.
It's really just a complete copy.
Of course, on the surface it looks different.
The page design, art, and so on are much more exquisite, even more flashy.
The reason for doing this is to deliberately distinguish it so that users won’t be able to tell that it is plagiarism at a glance.
But as Wu Lingxi said, the wise are the teachers. Since you are learning, you should learn to the end. When you find problems during the operation of the website, you can distinguish and correct them bit by bit.
Nowadays, the whole company is working overtime.
Because the new Renren.com will be officially launched on New Year’s Eve.
Now, the countdown is clearly displayed on Lingxi Island and even on the chinaren page.
On the day of going online, they will make a big move.
Very, very big move.
They have a code name internally for this day.
At first, they wanted to call it the attack on Pearl Harbor, then it was changed to Midway Island, and finally it was decided to be the landing in Normandy.
Everyone unanimously agreed and thought this code name was very good.
Although the Battle of Stalingrad was actually the strategic turning point that reversed World War II, people in the West prefer to promote the landing in Normandy. They feel that from here on, the Allies turned from defeat to victory.
Liao Feng could have focused on his Lingxi Island e-commerce business, but for the so-called love, he paid a huge price and supported Wu Lingxi's desperate gamble.
For this so-called Normandy landing operation, several capital parties paid a huge price.
There were even very fierce arguments within the company.
Several investors and even Miyazaki felt that Wu Lingxi was too radical and that this was more like a Great Leap Forward.
According to the thinking of Miyazaki and others, if you want to learn Facebook, you should learn from the root.
Facebook developed calmly over the past year, building its social genes bit by bit, and constructing its moat of social interaction among acquaintances bit by bit. By the time school started in September, everything had fallen into place and it saw a big explosion.
Now that chianren and Lingxidao's social departments have completed their merger, the number of users has directly surpassed Facebook, and most of the users are relatively active.
So what is needed now is to be neither arrogant nor impatient, to cultivate and educate users, to make the Facebook-like transformation, and to inject mature social genes.
It took more than half a year for the entire website to mature, and a year to completely defeat Facebook.
That is to learn from Lin Xiao’s previous strategy of slowly becoming king on Facebook.
Wu Lingxi scoffed at this and criticized Miyazaki for being a typical case of trying to find a sword by looking at the mark on the mark.
Educate users, spend half a year to let them learn, and inject mature social genes into them? Are you kidding? Today's users don't need to be educated anymore, Facebook has already educated them, they have already learned.
Therefore, what is needed now is to grab users. More precisely, it is to grab the users' time.
"The teacher said that the war of resistance should be slow, and the war of liberation should be fast!" Wu Lingxi asked: "Then let me ask, is our war with Facebook a war of resistance or a civil war?"
When these words came out, the board of directors was stunned.
You, a girl from Hong Kong, actually know this?
"This is a promising track, but it is also a narrow track." Wu Lingxi said firmly: "This track can only accommodate one giant."
"And now Facebook has not completely gained a foothold because it has not yet opened up national registration."
"It is still a relatively small-scale business. At least in the minds of netizens and the general public, social networking is not equal to Facebook."
“So the reputation of social interaction is still hanging in the air.”
"And we want to grab this reputation, the number one social website in China, or even the number one social website in the world."
"We copied Facebook, but... whoever gets the title of the number one social networking site in China, the number one social networking site in the world, will own the reputation? They will be the authentic one!"
"The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit!"
"So when you tell me to take it slow, it's a joke."
"The Lightning Group is now facing a huge storm. Their largest traffic portal and biggest source of revenue, Lightning Entertainment, is facing a crisis and they are completely overwhelmed."
“So, we must take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, invest a huge amount of money and a huge amount of manpower, and land in Normandy.”
“In the shortest possible time, we will become the number one social networking site in the country.”
"We need to instill a concept in everyone in the shortest possible time: the best place to socialize is Renren."
"Our capital and strength in all aspects far exceed Facebook's. We can definitely do it."
"This is a civil war, the sooner the better!"
To a large extent, what Wu Lingxi said was right, and it was full of great courage and execution.
Historically, Ele.me was the first to start the food delivery business, and Meituan was a latecomer. However, Ele.me was slow to act, and Meituan immediately took over and became the largest food delivery platform, becoming a synonym for food delivery.
In this way, Wu Lingxi first persuaded the co-CEO Chen Yizhou, and finally persuaded the entire board of directors to launch the operation to land in Normandy.
We implemented a strategy of rapid progress.
Even a huge amount of two or three hundred million was allocated for this operation.
It's like a big gamble.
At this time, Liao Feng looked at Wu Lingxi as if he was a little strange, yet fascinated.
When he first met Wu Lingxi two years ago, he felt that she was very quiet and didn't talk much.
When she started Lingxi Island, she was still very quiet, as if she was a perfect virtuous wife. Basically, all the ideas came from Liao Feng, and she only assisted and obeyed.
But ever since Lingxi Island Social lost to Facebook, she has become more aggressive.
She overdrew all her family funds, made a desperate effort to convince Zhang Chaoyang, and promoted the merger of the two major social networking sites. Now she has single-handedly convinced the entire board of directors to fully implement her strategy.
And Liao Feng seemed to have become a helper.
He even wondered, as a biological sister, why didn't Xia Xi show such aggression and dominance? But he immediately figured it out. In fact, Xia Xi was also so strong and aggressive. It was just that Lin Xiao was always right, so Xia Xi always assisted and became a loyal executor.
The Spring Festival is very close, and so is Renren’s big action.
Although Liao Feng was silent from beginning to end, and even supportive, he was also frightened.
A total of two or three hundred million yuan in funds.
It will burn up in a short time. It's a huge gamble.
He had never done anything like this before, and even all the investors had never thought of making such a big move at the beginning.
But once on the chariot, everything was out of your control.
A few years later, this will be nothing. The battles between Meituan and Ele.me, Didi and UBER, and the shared bike war, all of them cost billions or even tens of billions.
But it is still very thrilling to burn two or three hundred million at one time.
"The Normandy landing on New Year's Eve was the first battle, and the night of the people ten days later was the second battle!"
"I hope that within a month, we will be the number one social networking site."
"Defeat Facebook within half a year." Wu Lingxi said, "During this period, please give your family your full support."
Liao Feng: "Okay."
"By the way, what tactics do you want Lin Xiao to use in his battle against us?"
Wu Lingxi said: "It's the same strategy as ours, constantly burning money. This is the track we are best at."
Liao Feng: "He has a lot of money, too."
Wu Lingxi: "But his battle lines are scattered. He needs to invest his money in movies, variety shows, and games, so there is not much money left for Facebook. We only focus on Renren.com, and we have many times more money than him. And as long as we can win, whether it is your family or my family, as well as those investors, they will continue to invest money in us."
Liao Feng: "We once spread our focus too thin, causing social networking to lose to Facebook. Now it's his turn to make the same mistake, and his focus is spread even thinner."
…………………………
Lin Xiao and Xia Xi were in the back seat of the Bentley, heading to the airport to greet Columbia President Amy Pascal.
The previous meetings were rather casual and direct, but this time, because it involved a big collaboration, it was much more formal.
"Renren.com will have a big action, a huge action."
Lin Xiao: "A war of grabbing users and burning money."
Xia Xi: "Is this considered a feint to the east and attack in the west?"
Lin Xiao: "Not really. It's true that they want to hunt down our Lightning Entertainment. It's also true that they want to attack our Facebook base and take away our social media business. These are two parallel fronts, not a covert operation. It's an alliance between power and capital, each hunting down the targets they want."
Li Shuang, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly turned around and asked, "Xiaoxiao, now it seems that for you, Lightning Entertainment is more important, or Facebook is more important."
Lin Xiao: "Facebook is like an aircraft carrier, but it has not yet formed combat effectiveness. Lightning Entertainment is like a destroyer and frigate, which has already formed combat effectiveness."
Xia Xi: "Lightning game, is it a submarine? Or even a nuclear submarine?"
Lin Xiao: "Next, it will probably be the first real war on the Internet in our country. I hope some people will not be scared."
In his previous life, Lin Xiao watched many Internet wars as a bystander, and the first one that could truly be considered a war in scale was probably the 3Q War.
Later on, there were more and more wars, and their scale became larger and larger.
Often, hundreds of billions of funds would be wiped out.
A certain giant was completely defeated.
In fact, before the 3Q war, there was another war, which happened to be the social war.
Renren vs Kaixin.
The war started when Tencent invested in Kaixin.com to fight against Renren.com and lasted for almost a year.
Eventually, Renren acquired Kaixin001 and became the largest social network in China. It was listed on the NASDAQ in 2011, and its market value once soared to around US$7.5 billion, second only to Tencent and Baidu, becoming the third largest Chinese stock by market value.
There was a very brief moment of glory, but it was not dazzling.
Because it has never established a real social gene of acquaintances, nor has it really laid a solid foundation. It is more like a carnival.
And now, because of Lin Xiao, this war will start four years earlier.
And it seems that Lin Xiao's side is indeed weak and outnumbered.
After the merger, there are several powerful capitals behind the other party, as well as the largest portal giant in the country, a combination of politics and business, a behemoth.
Lin Xiao: "I'm curious, what will they name this operation?"
Li Shuang: "Attack on Pearl Harbor?"
Lin Xiao: "Perhaps they don't want to admit that this was a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. They would rather think that this was a direct landing on our social homeland and breaking into our base."
However, the other party thought this was a sneak attack and wanted to catch Lin Xiao by surprise.
But in fact, in Lin Xiao’s mind, he had already thought about this battle countless times.
He had thought about not only how to fight but also the outcome of the war countless times.
The only difference is that Lin Xiao will not accept surrender. He will not merge with the other party like Renren.com did, which is useless.
……………………
At around six o'clock in the evening, the Columbia president's plane landed at the airport.
The Lightning Group held a small but grand welcome ceremony, then picked up the other team and headed to the hotel.
By 2004, there were already many luxury hotels in Shanghai. The once glorious Huating Hotel had lost its glory, and the Garden Hotel, Hilton and New Jinjiang Hotel were no longer popular. The popular ones were Four Seasons and Grand Hyatt Shanghai.
Lightning Group booked the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel for President Amy. Perhaps Americans all have a special feeling for Portman.
Of course, it is no longer at the top in 2025, but it was still top-notch in 2004, and it was just renovated in 2003.
After the welcome dinner, the two sides held emergency talks.
"Mr. Lin Xiao, you are truly a miracle man."
"When you said that the movie was going to hit 70 million RMB at the box office, I thought it was a bit unrealistic, but I didn't expect the final box office to be 120 million RMB."
“It’s incredible, like magic.”
"Even in Hollywood, this is a commercial miracle and a masterpiece of genius."
"I know you are facing some troubles now and are under siege by conservative forces in the industry. So the parent company suggested that I be cautious in cooperating with you, so as not to offend the largest conservative force in the Chinese entertainment industry."
"But that group of people would just stay in their office, look at the relevant reports, and come to a very stupid decision."
"On the contrary, I believe even more that a genius in adversity can create greater miracles."
“So regarding our new project, I’m very happy to push forward, the sooner the better.”
"You said the budget for this movie is $7 million, but I can easily extend it to $10 million."
Lin Xiao thought for a while and said, "Madam, what if I want to upgrade our cooperation again?"
President Amy: "Upgrade again? To what extent?"
Lin Xiao: "I have four goals."
President Amy: “Please go ahead.”
Lin Xiao: "The first goal is to cooperate with "Train to Busan" and the investment amount is between 7 million US dollars and 10 million US dollars."
"The second goal is for Lightning Entertainment, Columbia, and SoftBank Group to set up a joint venture to sell the copyrights of TV variety shows to Japan, South Korea, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, etc. At least one show will become popular in the West and around the world."
President Amy narrowed her eyes slightly.
She didn't know why Lin Xiao was so obsessed with this. But for Lin Xiao, it was very important. The country was not only about the economy, but also about politics.
Frost Production is backed by the three major satellite TV stations and is making huge profits, with a share of the profits even exceeding that of the TV stations. This makes it very passive in public opinion, but it is even more impossible to reduce the share and give up the initiative.
In the current environment, it is difficult to break up the satellite TV alliance.
Therefore, the skill lies beyond poetry.
Previously, China could only accept foreign cultural inputs unilaterally, not only from Hollywood in the United States, but also from Japan and South Korea.
Cultural output is almost non-existent.
Once the TV programs produced by Shuanglin are produced, they will not only be used for cultural exports, but will also be a big hit in Europe and the United States.
At that moment, word of mouth and public opinion reversed.
At least in the television industry, this is a breakthrough.
It's a little sad, but... that's the reality.
Twenty years later, China has released "The Wandering Earth" and "Nezha 2". Countless Chinese people can be justifiably proud of them and push them to unparalleled heights. As for whether they can conquer the West, they almost don't care.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
But in 2004, European and American culture was extremely strong, and even Japanese and Korean culture was very strong.
Once a domestic program emerges that can conquer the developed and powerful Europe and the United States, it will bring huge reputation in the country.
Especially in the eyes of leaders, that is huge political reputation.
Cultural output is still crucial in the eyes of the above even twenty years later.
In this era, winning glory for the country can even overwhelm all negative public opinion. At that time, many people will think that Shuanglin Production is so awesome, so it is reasonable for you to get nearly 60% of the share in the cooperation with the satellite TV station, and it is reasonable for you to be so strong.
"The third goal is for our joint venture to produce a TV series that will be popular around the world."
"Squid!" became popular all over the world in just over ten days, becoming one of Netflix's most successful projects in history, ranking first in ratings in 94 countries.
Of course, without Netflix as a platform, would it still be so popular?
However, Sony Entertainment is also a global leader.
So it will definitely be popular, it’s just a matter of level.
"The fourth goal is for us to collaborate on an animated film with pure oriental elements, and its goal is still to sweep the world."
And this target project is "Kung Fu Panda".
This film is the most suitable for a Sino-US co-production, and it is also a work that can truly achieve huge box office success and award success.
Among the Hollywood films that have oriental elements and have achieved huge success, there is of course the Disney animation "Mulan".
But in terms of word of mouth and box office performance, "Kung Fu Panda" far exceeds them.
Even Kung Fu Panda has a very high reputation in China, and the oriental elements in it are relatively pure.
It’s just a pity that historically, "Kung Fu Panda" was completely dominated by Hollywood.
Moreover, animated films have a huge impact on special effects and the film industry.
Even if it's done right, it might not just get nominated, but actually win an Oscar.
Lin Xiao talked a lot and put four project plans in front of Amy Pascal as he spoke.
Suddenly...
The female president was speechless and looked at the young man in front of her in disbelief.
If she had not dealt with him several times before and Lin Xiao had not achieved great success, she would almost feel like she was dealing with a madman.
The inner surprise is incomparable.
I'm... coming to talk to you about a $7 million to $10 million project.
After meeting...
You just magnified the target dozens of times? She glanced through the project book and found that the total investment in the four projects had reached an astonishing nearly 200 million US dollars.
She suddenly didn't know what to say.
But in Lin Xiao's eyes, the female president in front of him is the perfect partner.
Because she has been in charge of Asian affairs for a long time, she will be in power for the next decade or so, and even directly reach the top of Sony Entertainment.
So there is potential for long-term cooperation.
After a few minutes, President Amy said, "Are you trying to get me the chairmanship of Sony Entertainment, the parent company?"
If all these projects achieve the expected success.
Then... this female president will really climb to the coveted high position in a short period of time.
She is still far from the top position of Sony Entertainment.
Columbia is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment, Columbia Asia, which is in turn a subsidiary of Columbia.
"But I still want to tell you that your four projects are very fantastic." President Amy said: "Although we are a Hollywood giant, you know that our investment is very cautious. Both Sony Entertainment and Columbia attach great importance to the Chinese market and the Asian market. But all our previous investments were only at the level of tens of millions of dollars."
“Even for local Hollywood projects, over $100 million is a very huge investment.”
"You should know that Windtalkers cost $110 million to make, but it was a box office failure, causing MGM to lose more than $80 million, putting the once-powerful Hollywood giant on the brink of bankruptcy?"
Of course Lin Xiao knew this, and next year in 2005, a consortium led by Sony would acquire MGM for approximately US$4.8 billion.
President Amy continued, "And you should know that Hollywood giants are very cautious about joint ventures with China, and even pay attention to equality."
Lin Xiao also knew, for example, China Film Warner and Oriental DreamWorks.
Only when both parties are big giants can they be listed in a joint venture. Oriental DreamWorks is a joint venture between Shanghai Media Group, Shanghai United and DreamWorks.
Lin Xiao just wants to raise his own status, so he wants Lightning Entertainment, Softbank Group, and Columbia to form a joint venture, and it would be best if they could also bring SMG Group along.
In this way, foreign capital and state-owned capital work together to protect the company.
If others want to hunt down Lightning Entertainment again, it will depend on whether they are strong enough.
If you want to impress big bosses, the project must be big enough.
If the investment is large enough, the foreign capital is strong enough, and it is also a political mission for cultural export, then the leaders will have enough reasons to escort you.
This is what Lian Zheng said, to expand the scale, carry out political sublimation, and create a grand narrative.
And this thing can be boasted about.
The four projects together amount to nearly 200 million US dollars, leveraging a value of more than one billion US dollars, with even higher potential value.
With just a little sublimation, the output value can be multiplied several times.
"Mr. Lin Xiao, you have greatly overestimated my power and ability."
"It can be said that the scale of this cooperation far exceeds the capabilities and trust between both parties."
Lin Xiao: "I know this very well, so can this be done?"
“We set the first and second goals as established completion targets.”
"Take the third and fourth goals as your intended goals."
“We collaborate on a ladder.”
President Amy said: "Please be specific."
Lin Xiao said: "We will still set up a joint venture company, a joint venture between SoftBank, Columbia, and Lightning Entertainment."
"We took the lead in launching our first project, Train to Busan, with an investment of US$7 million, or 100 million RMB."
"For this project, I can sign a bet agreement that the global box office will not be less than 70 million US dollars."
"Once this project is successful, if the global box office really exceeds $100 million, then with other copyright income, Columbia's net profit will exceed 20 to 30 million US dollars."
At present in the country, other copyrights of movies are not valuable, and the biggest part is box office revenue.
In the United States, box office revenue only accounts for about one-third of profits. And Sony Entertainment is not only a producer, but also a distributor, so the profit will be higher.
Lin Xiao said, "If, and I mean if, the first movie we collaborated on makes Columbia's net profit reach more than 20 or 30 million US dollars, then is it possible for our fourth project, a 100 million US dollar animation, to be completed? Although it is an investment of about 100 million US dollars, you may only need to pay one-third, Lightning Entertainment will pay one-third, and the remaining one-third will attract other investors to join."
Amy Pascal fell into deep thought.
There is no doubt that if the first project can really achieve such a huge success, then the fourth project will be a natural outcome.
According to Lin Xiao's plan, an investment of 7 million US dollars will leverage the global box office of more than 70 million US dollars.
The fourth project, "Kung Fu Panda", with an investment of about US$100 million, generated a global box office of about US$600 million.
It doesn't even need $600 million, even $300 million in global box office would be a huge success, because animation films are currently Sony Entertainment's weak point, and Hollywood animation is still dominated by Disney and DreamWorks.
As the largest giant, Sony Entertainment undoubtedly wants to enter the animation film industry.
Lin Xiao continued, "And my third project, the TV series "Squid Game", is a collaboration between China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, with an investment of about 7 million US dollars."
“But it’s also leveraged by the second project.”
"I will fully authorize the overseas copyright of the TV show "Got Talent" to our joint venture company, and use your connections and strength to promote it overseas."
"If it succeeds, whether it becomes popular in the UK, the US, Australia, Japan or other places, the profits earned will be used to leverage the development of the third project."
"So, we advertised that there are four projects with a total investment of $200 million."
“But in reality, the real investment was only $7 million for Train to Busan.”
“That’s what I call step-by-step collaboration.”
"But please allow me to make this propaganda, especially when facing the relevant senior officials of our country, we are united in this regard. We are carrying out a great cause and the investment amount reaches hundreds of millions of dollars."
"Our tripartite joint venture is located in the Magic City!"
"It should give people the feeling that a new giant has been born, which will bring huge benefits and glory to the land of Magic City."
The female president of Columbia fell into deep thought again. Lin Xiao's words seemed like empty promises on the surface, but in fact they were not castles in the air. In her opinion, Lin Xiao was even full of confidence, as if this plan would eventually be implemented and even achieve huge success.
It’s just that Colombia is unwilling to take such a big risk, so it takes it step by step and proposes the so-called step-by-step cooperation.
"In fact, before I came to Shanghai, I received calls from some former Chinese partners. They said that you are facing huge turmoil and trouble." Amy Pascal said, "So, you want to use the names of Columbia, Sony, and SoftBank Group to fight against your capital enemies in China, to deter them and intimidate them. And use our names to convince your potential political supporters, right?"
"Yes, but the noun needs to be changed. It should not be a potential political supporter, but a far-sighted leader," said Lin Xiao.
Female President Amy: "You are really cautious."
"But Mr. Lin Xiao, I still need to think about it. Although the money paid is not much, our statement is also very important. We are a large multinational group."
"More importantly, we really need equal status to establish a joint venture. Of course, this is not a big problem because of SoftBank's participation. At least we are equal to SoftBank."
Lin Xiao said: "Okay."
"Of course, the time you have to consider may be very short. Because our leader may meet with me tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and then you will have to decide whether to go."
President Amy certainly knew that once she attended the meeting, it would mean some kind of investment commitment.
Although there are many cases where multinational corporations have promised investments that were not fulfilled in the end, we should still be cautious in expressing our views.
But the good thing is that at least at the level of Columbia Asia, she has the final say and does not have to report to anyone.
After Lin Xiao left, President Amy immediately returned to the room and took a bath for half an hour to completely relax her body and mind.
Then she fell into thought.
Should I agree to it? Although Lin Xiao kept saying that it was a step-by-step cooperation, and although the total investment at the beginning was only 7 million US dollars, and she only needed to pay about one-third.
But she fully saw Lin Xiao's huge ambition.
More importantly, Lin Xiao wanted to pull her into the battle against domestic forces, which was actually inconsistent with Columbia's strategy. Before this, she had only invested in movies in a scattershot manner without any in-depth cooperation.
But she was holding another report in her hand, and the data on it was simply amazing.
In the future, the small company Lightning Entertainment will have a revenue of hundreds of millions of RMB, and the cost it pays will be negligible.
It's like a money printing machine.
Moreover, all the works of this so-called Ergou leader from the beginning to now have never failed.
Not just a success, but a near-miraculous success.
This is a legendary genius.
He seems to be a traditional American dream achiever.
Working with such people really fills one with endless fantasies and longings.
Moreover, this meeting also brought her a great surprise. If they had just talked about the cooperation on "Train to Busan" in a dull manner, she would have been disappointed.
As a result, the other party offered a cooperation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
It seemed that this was what she expected, but it was a little beyond her tolerance.
………………
Everything happened faster than expected.
At about half past twelve in the middle of the night, Lin Xiao received a call from Lian Zheng.
The father-in-law's voice was full of fatigue and some excitement.
"I have accomplished my mission." Lian Zheng said, "The leader will meet with you at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. You have 45 minutes. Have you thought about what to say?"
Lin Xiao said: "I've thought about it."
Lian Zheng: "Have you figured out how to impress your leader?"
Lin Xiao: “I’ve thought about it.”
Lian Zheng: "It would be best if the president of Columbia went with you. This would be more convincing."
Lin Xiao: “Okay.”
…………………………
Note: I have finally finished writing. I am going to eat! Dear benefactors, do you still have monthly tickets in your pocket? I bow deeply to express my gratitude! (End of this chapter)