Throughout April, Lu Hao and Ma Fangzhou had frequent phone calls, and the focus of their work inevitably shifted towards Meng Video.
Although the 300 million yuan he gave in the early stage had not been spent in half a year, there was not much left. With the resumption of work and production, the rapid growth of Dream Video also came to an end.
It's time to start a new round of financing.
It’s also time to look for new sources of traffic.
After all, for a software, growth is the top priority.
Without growth, there is nothing.
Since the Chinese New Year, Ma Fangzhou has started receiving calls from various investors. Every time he receives a call from a company that feels similar, he will report it to Lu Hao.
As of the end of April, the number of investors and investment institutions that have been contacted has exceeded 100.
They can be roughly divided into three categories.
The first category is professional investment funds, organizations that specialize in venture capital, such as Sequoia Capital, GSR Ventures, Capital National Investment Fund, and some individual investors with strong influence in the industry.
Foreign teams, state-owned teams, national teams, and big-name teams all came on the scene and showed varying degrees of interest in Dream Video.
The second category is Internet companies.
Cao Zhengyang of Weibo, after discussing with Lu Hao, also talked a lot with Ma Fangzhou, and has proposed more than once that Weibo should invest in Dream Video as soon as possible to avoid any further complications.
The other two more influential ones are Penguin and Alibaba, absolute giants in the Internet field.
They want to get involved in any track, waving handfuls of checks in their hands and stirring up the world.
This is a real dog owner.
However, the investment styles of the two companies are slightly different. Penguin focuses on strategic cooperation, holding a certain share through investment and becoming part of the company's ecological chain.
Alibaba, on the other hand, is more focused on swallowing up companies, turning acquired companies into its own traffic pool and directing traffic to its e-commerce base.
The third category is film and television companies.
Although the industry experienced a downturn last year and was hit hard during the Spring Festival this year, some film and television companies with strong financial resources can still come up with some surplus funds.
The prospects of short videos are now relatively clear. Coupled with Lu Hao's outstanding vision, he is bound to make money.
DreamWorks does not allow anyone to interfere, but as for Dream Video, many people want to get a piece of the pie.
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Ma Fangzhou said...it's too difficult!
It’s really too difficult!
When it comes to business matters, he is quite proficient. He can talk about each business segment in detail and has a clear plan for the company's development.
But in the field of investment, I am really confused, especially in the current situation.
Financing requires not only money, but also the resources behind the investment institutions and future development paths, including long-term and short-term development paths.
What's more, it depends on the person.
Some investors are gardeners who are willing to give sunshine and sweat to help start-ups grow and reap the rewards when they grow up.
Some investors are idlers. They enter the market with a small cost in the early stage and hold a certain share. When the company grows to a certain level, they do not necessarily need to go public, but seek opportunities to cash out.
Some investors are even wolves who use capital as bait. After entering the market, they start to make all kinds of tricks, maneuvering and seeking various voices and control rights.
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In short, Ma Fangzhou feels that the complexity of the current situation is far beyond his control.
Which one to choose and which one to reject are matters that require careful consideration.
It also requires careful consideration which company or companies to choose for the first round of financing, and which companies to choose for the second round of financing.
But his greatest strength is that he knows what he is doing.
He knew very clearly what he could handle and what he couldn't, so he kept communicating with Lu Hao and asking for help.
After all, although Lu Hao never interferes in the company's specific operations, he is the company's major shareholder.
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To be fair, Lu Hao was also a little scared by these crazy capitals.
These people are really fucking rich!
Not to mention the film and television industry, although it is also an industry with a higher profit margin, it is still within the imaginable range. But Internet companies and investment funds are really breaking through the sky.
Financing units are calculated in 100 million yuan and US dollars.
Lu Hao made a simple summary. The current valuation of Dream Video by various investment institutions is between 300 million and 1 billion. Yes, the unit is still US dollars.
And this is the first round of financing.
In other words, the 300 million yuan he invested six months ago has at least increased sixfold by now. If he wants to sell it, there are plenty of people who want to take it.
The key is, I didn’t do anything!
Just throw the money out there and sit at home every day, and the profits will naturally multiply. It's much faster than making money by making movies.
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And the other side.
As Dream Video faces difficulties in making choices due to the influx of hot money, the entire film and television industry, except for a few leading companies, other small and medium-sized companies can be said to be living a miserable life.
Last year's cold winter was already very difficult.
This year's Spring Festival is a fatal blow.
Data from the Film Association in the first quarter showed that in just these three months, 236 companies went bankrupt, more than 500 projects were aborted, and the total investment amount fell by 80% compared with the same period last year.
It can be said that it has reached the bottom.
These data shocked Lu Hao, but he also saw some opportunities.
I am fearful when others are greedy, and I am greedy when others are fearful.
The entire industry is now littered with corpses, and it is the time when the cost of harvesting is the lowest. Although many companies have cut off their cash flow, they still have many high-quality assets.
What is the most important asset in the film and television industry?
Naturally, it is copyright and talent.
Excellent directors and excellent actors are unique and cannot be cultivated even if you spend money.
As for copyright, it is a very profitable business and the most important part of the third phase of Dream Video's strategic layout.
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After considering these things for nearly a month, Lu Hao finally made a decision.
Having come this far, I no longer have any previous paths to learn from. I have to explore every step on my own. No one else can help me, nor are they qualified to help me.
Decision-making is the most core ability of a boss.
Home.
While changing Xiao Ping'an's diaper, Lu Hao called Ma Fangzhou in a cheerful tone, guiding his work ideas.
"Don't worry about the nature of the investment institution. They want money, a lot of money. We'll take whatever they're willing to give us. We'll take 20% of the shares in this round of financing, and we'll raise at least 500 million US dollars."
"After I got the money, I started preparing for acquisitions, acquiring copyrights, directors and actors. I wanted to grow fat first, then I would do anything else."
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