The first person to eat a crab doesn't necessarily get rich; they might also be poisoned to death.
Innovation can be very valuable for internet companies, or it can be worthless.
If you implant Flash mini-games into web pages and develop new profit models for social networking sites, then I'll just copy it.
Essentially, everyone copies everyone else; no one should criticize anyone.
Orange Tech's offer for Kaixin001, stating that anything below 100 million is non-negotiable, was not recognized by venture capital firms.
They even felt that Tan Jincheng was too arrogant, thinking,
'You, a traditional business owner, understand the internet?'
Since you won't let me invest, I'll find someone else or create a website platform myself, and try copying your model.
That should be acceptable, right?
Based on innovation, you need to continuously iterate and innovate, letting the market see your new highlights—the kind that can't be caught up to even by copying—only then will institutions recognize your capabilities.
This is why investment firms like to use the phrase, 'When investing in a startup, you're investing in the founder.'
In fact, just a week after Kaixin001 went online and attracted investors' attention, in less than half a month, websites had already started replicating the social networking site + Flash mini-game model.
After being rejected multiple times for investment, some investment firms also turned to seek cooperation with other social networking sites.
Kuang Ping also had contact with some other imitation websites, but he continued to pay attention to Kaixin001, not giving up directly like other venture capital firms.
From the beginning of July to the end of September, Kaixin001 integrated MSN data and launched a one-click sharing function.
These can all be seen as ways for Kaixin001 to accumulate users.
Before accumulating 5 million users, Kaixin001 hadn't made any big moves or launched any new features.
Refusing to negotiate with institutions, raising the valuation to over 100 million, and wholeheartedly accumulating users—Kuang Ping originally thought this situation would continue for a while.
Who would have thought that Tan Jincheng, this cunning guy, would launch a surprise attack on the market during the National Day holiday?
Unlike the previous viral marketing, Kaixin001's promotion of Happy Farm this time was open and legitimate, utilizing the National Day holiday crowd by arranging large-scale advertisements at bus stops and subway stations in major cities and popular tourist destinations nationwide.
Meanwhile, online promotion was as sharp as ever.
Social + mini-game, Kuang Ping created several accounts and played Happy Farm for two full days in the office.
Weeding, pest control, watering, stealing vegetables—this style, close to real life yet rarely experienced normally, combined with social attributes, was indeed quite addictive.
Kuang Ping's accounts were for self-planting and self-stealing. He couldn't even imagine what kind of experience it would be if these accounts belonged to real friends.
Additionally, the store offered decorative items. Players could purchase these items to decorate their farms. Decorative items had time limits; currently, some were free, and some were paid.
Aside from decorative items, there was nothing else, but it was already clear that Happy Farm's game mode was quite mature, with paid items already designed.
After playing for two days and calculating the crop maturation times, Kuang Ping's main account's land area had increased from the initial six plots to eight plots, and his level had risen to 7.
Of course, if he relied solely on his own account, he definitely wouldn't have leveled up so quickly. The main reason was stealing crops from other accounts and selling them for in-game gold.
"Can't wait anymore, I must contact Orange Tech's actual controller as soon as possible."
Based on his gut feeling, Kuang Ping believed Happy Farm would definitely be a hit. It perfectly captured human weaknesses: just remember the crop maturation times and harvest at the right moment.
For Kaixin001, which targets white-collar workers, this was simply too good. It provided entertainment without occupying work hours.
Not to mention what other moves Tan Jincheng might make later, these three mini-games alone—Friends for Sale, Parking Wars, and Happy Farm—could accumulate a large number of users for Kaixin001.
And if paid items were launched later, Kaixin001 could even achieve direct profitability.
October 3rd, still during the National Day holiday, with only three days until the Mid-Autumn Festival.
But Kuang Ping couldn't wait any longer. If he didn't want to lose this investment opportunity, he had to act fast.
"Mr. Cheng, could you put me in touch with your boss?"
Early in the morning, Kuang Ping called Cheng Hao.
It was really frustrating; after several contacts, Kuang Ping hadn't even gotten Tan Jincheng's contact information, mostly communicating with Cheng Hao and Gu Qingqing.
Compared to Gu Qingqing, who was pushed to the forefront by Tan Jincheng, Kuang Ping preferred to interact more with Cheng Hao.
On one hand, Cheng Hao understood the internet, and on the other, it was to build a good relationship with him, just in case the investment didn't work out, to see if he could poach Cheng Hao to start his own business and replicate a Kaixin001.
Cheng Hao was still asleep at this time, receiving the call in a daze.
These two days, including him, the entire company was quite excited. Happy Farm had been online for two days, and the revenue from farm decoration items had already reached 527 yuan.
This 527 yuan made the entire company extremely excited. Don't underestimate 500 yuan; in an era where recharging was inconvenient, this 500 yuan held significant meaning for Happy Farm.
Strictly speaking, this 527 yuan was Orange Tech's first revenue since its establishment.
The marketing plan previously provided to Zhongtai didn't really count; that was the boss's personal achievement and unrelated to the company's business.
"Mr. Kuang, isn't this too early? Besides, it's the National Day holiday now, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is in a few days."
"What holiday are you talking about? Aren't you also working? Can you contact your boss, or tell me your boss's phone number?"
"I can contact him, but our boss is in his hometown right now. Oh, right, our General Manager Gu is also with the boss; they went back to their hometown to visit elders."
"It's fine if he's in his hometown. Isn't it Yicheng? It's not far; I can go there."
"Are you that urgent?"
"Yes, I'm urgent. Just tell me if you can contact him. Consider it a favor to us, and I'll owe you one."
"Alright, but you'll have to wait a bit. It's not even eight o'clock yet; our boss might not be awake."
"Okay, I was too anxious. I'll go have breakfast first."
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Hao slowly got out of bed, completely awake and feeling very excited.
Happy Farm had only been online for two days, and investors were already restless. It seemed this round of financing was secured, and no one would question the boss's valuation anymore.
Now that the investors were anxious, Cheng Hao was not worried at all.
He woke up, had breakfast, and went to the company as usual. It wasn't until 10 AM that Cheng Hao called Tan Jincheng.
At this time, Tan Jincheng was accompanying Tao Qinian on an inspection in Xinba Township.
Tan Jincheng gave a slightly apologetic gesture, walked to the corner, and answered the phone.
"He wants to come to my hometown? Surely not?"
On the other end of the phone, Cheng Hao chuckled,
"It's not just that. Assistant Gu also received several calls this morning, all from investors. However, only Mr. Kuang from Qiming, knowing the boss is in his hometown, still expressed a desire to meet you."
Tan Jincheng also smiled,
"Alright, I'll send you my home address shortly. It's about time to start financing; if we keep burning through cash, we won't have enough."
These investors are truly interesting. Like cats smelling fish, their sense of smell is keen, but at the same time, they are extremely greedy.
It wasn't that no investors could accept the previous 100 million valuation; on the contrary, many could. But they immediately demanded a 30% stake. Who could agree to that?
Some didn't demand much equity, but they couldn't offer anything but money, which is why Tan Jincheng was too lazy to even talk to them.
Since you're so rich, let's make a big splash for you. Happy Farm's surprise launch on National Day, besides coordinating with the offline tourism season's promotion, was also to show investors who's boss.
The farm's gameplay and underlying logic weren't hard to discern. The combination of social networking + Flash mini-games had also been validated through Friends for Sale and Parking Wars. What truly moved investors was the farm's item shop.
Although currently there were only some simple skins, and they weren't expensive, no investor would be foolish enough to think that new items wouldn't be launched in the future.
With this item shop, Kaixin001 had found its own profit model and gained the confidence to refuse investment.
Even without investment, I can survive.
This was the reason why Kuang Ping and other investors were anxious: if they wanted to get on board, they had to do it early, otherwise the train would leave.
"Mr. Tan, do you have something to attend to? If so, we can finish early."
Seeing Tan Jincheng put away his phone, Nie Yunlai walked over and asked softly.
Xinba Township had no industries. The so-called inspection was just holding a meeting in town, visiting the nursing home, and schools were on holiday.
There was a bit of aquaculture, but it had no connection to Tan Jincheng's business. Apart from being a formality, Tan Jincheng had no interest in visiting for inspection.
Tan Jincheng didn't want to send any bad signals to his relatives.
Besides requiring hard work, this kind of business relied entirely on nature; if the Yangtze River basin had significant rainfall and flooded, nothing would be left.
"It's nothing, an investor is coming over. They should arrive in the afternoon or evening."
Tan Jincheng said as he walked towards Tao Qinian.
Tao Qinian, who had been watching this side, immediately brightened when he heard the word 'investor':
"Investor?"
"It's a venture capital firm that wants to invest in my girlfriend's internet company,"
Tan Jincheng chuckled.
"Oh, Kaixin001, I've heard about it recently,"
Tao Qinian nodded upon hearing this, immediately losing much interest.
In the minds of his generation, only seeing factories rise from the ground, and the improvement of employment and income for the people in the jurisdiction, felt most reassuring.
As for the internet, it was still too distant for Wangjiang, which couldn't even be considered an 18th-tier small county.
It wasn't that they didn't realize the benefits of the internet, but the infrastructure couldn't keep up.
Taobao online shopping was used by family members normally, but if they wanted to form an industry in a small county, at least the express delivery aspect would be difficult to solve.
(End of chapter)