Although Cheng Congwu didn't know Lei Jun personally, he knew that Lei Jun was a very capable person and that Lei Jun was the real president of Xiaomi. If Lei Jun said no, then there would be no point in negotiating, and Gaode might miss this opportunity for cooperation.
"Then, Mr. Lei, please come up with a plan."
Lei Jun glanced at Lin Chen and said, "Let our CEO Lin make the offer; he has the final say on this matter."
Lin Chen took over and said directly, "I think we can adopt a tiered pricing model: 1 million a year for a 10-year agency, 2 million a year for a 20-year agency, 5 million a year for a 30-year agency, 10 million a year for a 50-year agency, or we can offer 1 billion to permanently buy out the internet agency rights for Gaode Maps."
1 billion?! To be honest, Cheng Congwu was genuinely tempted. Wasn't this much better than struggling to develop a software program himself and losing hundreds of thousands? How many physical navigation systems would Gaode have to sell to recoup 1 billion?
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Lin and Mr. Lei. Please allow us to discuss this. Have some tea here first. I will be back soon."
Cheng Congwu refilled everyone's teacups and then hurriedly left the office for the adjacent conference room. Everyone who had attended yesterday's meeting was there, including Xiao Jun. Although the meeting last night had been unpleasant, he still had to be present at this meeting that would determine the company's future.
After Lei Jun saw Cheng Congwu leave, he quietly asked Lin Chen, "Brother, is 1 billion too much? Is Gaode's internet business really that valuable?"
“Brother Jun, it’s not much at all. They can’t make money with them because they don’t know how to use the internet. I can make it work in a whole new way.”
Seeing Lin Chen's confident expression, Lei Jun felt relieved and said with a smile, "Brother, let's consider this a joint investment by Xiaomi Technology. I'll put in 600 million and you put in 400 million."
"Alright, Brother Jun, once this deal is done, you can just sit back and count your money."
In the conference room, Cheng Congwu relayed Lin Chen's offer to everyone. Sure enough, most people's breathing quickened when they heard 1 billion. Xiao Jun sighed. He knew that Lin Chen's offer was already very reasonable. Putting aside the importance that Gaode's current leadership attaches to the internet, whether Gaode's internet business can actually earn 1 billion, and even if it could, how many years would it take? It would be more reassuring to have the money in his pocket now.
However, Cheng Congwu, being the cunning old fox he is, tapped the table and said, "I think we don't need to sell it to him for 1 billion. 800 million is enough. Gaode will hold 20% of the shares. That way, whether he makes a profit or a loss, we can bear it, and we won't regret it later."
Everyone nodded in agreement; these were indeed wise and insightful words. A vote was taken, and the document passed unanimously.
Twenty minutes later, Cheng Congwu returned to his office.
"Gentlemen, thank you for waiting. After discussion, our company's senior management has decided to proceed with President Lin's proposal. However, Gaode will hold a 20% stake, while President Lin will invest 800 million yuan for an 80% stake. What do you think?"
After a moment's thought, Lin Chen replied, "Okay, but I have one condition."
"What are the conditions?"
"The iPhone version of Gaode Maps will be owned by Xiaomi Maps. This will save us time in developing new projects. If the programmers who developed the iPhone version of Gaode Maps are still around, we'll ask them if they'd be willing to come and continue working at Xiaomi Maps."
“Okay, no problem.” Originally, they were planning to sell all their internet businesses to Lin Chen. Moreover, the Gaode Maps iPhone version was now affecting Gaode’s own physical navigation and would be taken down after a while. It was better to give it to Lin Chen now as a favor.
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
Cheng Congwu shook hands with each of the four people.
Next, Lin Chen discussed some details with Cheng Congwu, while the people from Gaode's legal department took notes, as they would be drafting the contract later and all the details would be included.
It was almost noon, and Cheng Congwu and a group of senior executives took Lin Chen and others out for lunch.
"Come on, Mr. Lin, let me toast you. You truly are a young hero."
"You're too kind, Mr. Cheng. You are all senior professionals, and there is still much I can learn from you."
The two men shared a drink, and Xiao Jun raised his glass as well: "President Lin, President Lei, I would like to propose a toast to you both. I sincerely hope that Gaode's internet business can flourish under your leadership."
"Dry."
Lin Chen didn't make any guarantees. The contract hadn't been signed yet, so who knew if Xiao Jun was some kind of clown sent by a monkey?
What Lin Chen didn't expect was that Xiao Jun's words came from the bottom of his heart. At this time, he had already decided to leave Gaode. As one of the founders, he was financially free after selling his shares. Compared to when he had nothing, he had nothing to regret.
After lunch, the group returned to Cheng Congwu's office, where the staff from Gaode's service department had already worked overtime to draft the contract.
Lin Chen glanced at the contract and saw a clause stating that "Xiaomi Maps shall not list any products related to free navigation or provide any services related to free navigation within five years." Lin Chen smiled; his goal had been achieved.
He never intended to offer free navigation services, because he was going to charge for them!
Then, he sent a scanned copy of the contract to Shen Yue and made a phone call to her.
"Hey, Lin Chen, what's up? I'm in class."
"Miss, stop class and let Dad take a look at this contract to see if there are any problems. If there are no problems, I'll sign it. I'm waiting online, it's urgent."
"Oh, okay." Shen Yue blushed when she heard the words "our dad."
After hanging up the phone, Shen Yue secretly slipped out of the classroom and called her father.
"Hey, honey, what's wrong? Out of money? No, wait, you're richer than me now."
"No, Dad, I just sent you a contract to your email. Could you please take a look and see if there are any problems? Lin Chen is waiting for his signature."
"That brat! He pays you a salary but makes me work for free! He's a bloodsucker! Wait a minute, don't hang up, I'm going to check the computer right now. Holy crap!"
"What's wrong?"
"This is a contract involving 800 million yuan. My dear daughter, Lin Chen truly believes in you, no, he believes in me. Contracts like this usually require a legal team to study them clause by clause. Why is he only showing them to me now that the contract is almost signed?"
"Oh, Dad, please take a look quickly."
Half an hour later.
“I’ve taken a quick look, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Let him sign it. Tell him that if he doesn’t bring me two bottles of wine when he gets back, I’ll teach him a lesson.”
"Hehe, okay, I'll hang up now."
After hanging up the phone, Shen Yue sent Lin Chen a message via SMS.
“My dad checked it, and it’s fine.”
"Okay, love you, muah!"
Shen Yue smiled sweetly as she read the message Lin Chen sent her.
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