dkrc Chapter 196 Cooperation with Du
Chapter 196 Cooperation with Du
Lu Ran said, word by word, "Baidu will invest 30 million yuan, taking a 5% stake. The remaining 5% will be exchanged for Baidu's equity."
Zhao Mingyuan fell silent.
Lu Ran continued, "TUTU's current valuation, based on a 10% return of 30 million, is 300 million. Does Mr. Zhao think this valuation is reasonable?"
"...That's reasonable."
"What if TUTU's daily active users increase tenfold in a year, and its valuation rises to 3 billion?"
Zhao Mingyuan didn't respond, but he also felt that Lu Ran's words were an exaggeration. Even if it didn't increase tenfold, but only three or five times, Baidu would still make a profit.
"At that time, that 10% of Baidu will be worth 300 million." Lu Ran ignored Zhao Mingyuan's thoughts and said to himself, "Holding Baidu's shares in hand will also appreciate in value. Our cross-shareholding and shared interests are more stable than a simple capital investment."
This time, Zhao Mingyuan did not agree immediately; he also began to take this young man, who was much younger than himself, seriously.
Equity swaps are usually a method used by companies of similar strength. Lu Ran's Rabbit Technology is just starting out, yet he has such audacity.
However, Lu Ran is right. This equity swap will bind the two parties more closely, and they will be teammates on the same boat from now on.
"Mr. Lu, who taught you your negotiation skills?"
"I taught myself," Lu Ran smiled. "What does Mr. Zhao think?"
"I need to consult headquarters." Zhao Mingyuan stood up. "But personally, I think this plan is worth discussing."
"Okay." Lu Ran stood up as well. "Then I'll wait for your news."
"Then I'll wait for your good news."
After seeing Zhao Mingyuan off, Lu Ran returned to his office and found Zhou Mingzhe waiting for him at the door again.
"How did the talks go?"
"Not bad." Lu Ran handed him the document. "Baidu is investing 30 million, and they want 10%."
Zhou Mingzhe took it, flipped through it, and adjusted his glasses: "The terms are pretty good. You agreed?"
"They didn't agree to everything," Lu Ran said. "I talked to them about a share swap."
After hearing this, Zhou Mingzhe couldn't help but give a thumbs up in admiration.
"high."
"The main reason is that I have confidence in our TUTU." Lu Ran leaned back in his chair. "It's completely impossible to reach an agreement with WeChat, but I want to try to secure a closer relationship with Baidu."
"What if Baidu doesn't agree?"
"If they don't agree, we'll talk again." Lu Ran smiled. "Anyway, there are many other giants. Although Weibo is fierce, we're not completely dead yet. If Baidu wants to pick up the scraps, they'll have to show some sincerity."
...
Three days later, Zhao Mingyuan arrived with a new plan.
"Mr. Lu, headquarters has approved it." He pushed the document in front of Lu Ran. "Baidu will invest ten million, taking a 5% stake. The other 5% will be exchanged for Baidu shares. According to the latest valuation by both parties, Baidu's shares will account for 5% of TUTU's shares, and TUTU's shares will account for...0.02% of Baidu's shares."
Lu Ran looked at the string of numbers and couldn't help but laugh.
"0.02%, that sounds like a lot."
"That's quite a lot," Zhao Mingyuan said seriously. "Baidu's market value is 500 billion, so 0.02% is 100 million. When TUTU grows bigger, who knows how much that 0.02% can grow further?"
Lu Ran nodded, and after the legal department reviewed the contract and found no problems, he picked up a pen, signed his name on the last page of the document, and affixed the company seal.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Zhao."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you." Zhao Mingyuan shook his hand, then suddenly lowered his voice, "By the way, Mr. Lu, I have some inside information that I wonder if you'd be interested in."
"What news?"
"Weibo is preparing to launch a pet service," Zhao Mingyuan said. "They've transferred a technical team from Starlight Entertainment, and it's said to be online within a month. You'd better hurry."
Lu Ran felt a pang of anxiety, but remained outwardly calm.
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Zhao."
After seeing Zhao Mingyuan off, Lu Ran returned to the conference room and found Zhou Mingzhe waiting for him again.
"Signed?"
"Signed." Lu Ran tossed the documents to him. "Weibo might add pets within a month, so we need to hurry."
Zhou Mingzhe adjusted his glasses: "There's still time. We have a few options: pet working, pet battles, pet training competitions... You can choose one."
Hearing these suggestions, Lu Ran thought they were all good.
Many aspects are similar to QQ in the previous life, but the timeline of this world is different after all.
My own games, "Rabbit Pet" and "Happy Farm," are now deeply intertwined, and have almost become one game.
TUTU currently has a 50/50 user base on mobile and PC. Lu Ran agrees that Zhou Mingzhe's suggestions are worth implementing, but the goal is to maintain the PC user base.
As for the mobile version, Lu Ran had a better idea.
"Brother Zhou, what do you think would happen if our rabbits could learn to swear?"
Zhou Mingzhe was taken aback: "Swearing?"
"For example..." Lu Ran thought for a moment, "When someone comes to steal vegetables, the rabbit jumps out and shouts, 'Let go of that vegetable, let me have it.' Or we can have users record a sentence themselves, so that when someone steals vegetables, they can give the other party some verbal output."
If users record their own audio, it will give them a stronger sense of immersion while playing.
Upon hearing Lu Ran's words, Zhou Mingzhe adjusted his glasses.
"Mr. Lu, what's wrong with your brain?"
"It's innate." Lu Ran stood up and walked to the whiteboard. "Come on, let's discuss how to teach a rabbit to talk dirty."
...
A week later, TUTU Pets received a major update.
The update announcement reads:
[New Feature: Rabbit's Talking]
Your rabbit can now learn the words you teach it! Teach it a new phrase each day when you feed it. Once it learns it, it will jump out and shout that phrase when someone tries to steal your vegetables.
[Special Note: Please do not teach the rabbit to swear, otherwise the system will automatically block it.]
The comment section exploded:
"Holy crap! I taught my rabbit to say 'You steal my vegetables, I'll steal you,' and it learned it! My roommate came to steal my vegetables, and the rabbit jumped out and shouted that. My roommate heard it and blushed. Now he keeps wanting to shower with me. What should I do?"
"What I teach is 'Stealing vegetables is fun for a moment, but your whole family will be cremated!'"
"You're too ruthless upstairs. I taught you to say, 'Friend, if you steal vegetables, remember to return them.'"
"I taught the saying, 'Today you steal my vegetables, tomorrow I'll steal your heart'... and then my girlfriend saw it and asked me if I was seeing someone else."
"Hahahaha, this is hilarious!"
"Could we teach it to say 'I love Shen Yuege'?"
"To the person upstairs, I suggest you don't try this lightly; there's a risk of your account being banned!"
...