Open business day-to-day

Chapter 290 Investing
Changwan Technology rented an old-fashioned office building in an old industrial area as an office location.

The founders like Yang Ming are obviously good at budgeting. The office furniture is bought in the second-hand market, and many of the computers used by the company are also second-hand.

When Lin Rui arrived at the place, Yang Ming accompanied him to look around and introduced everything.

Next, Lin Rui put aside Yang Ming and went about on his own.Constantly talk to other founders and employees of the company to understand the specific situation of the company.

The real situation of Changwan Technology is even worse than what Yang Ming introduced. First of all, since September this year, the company's finances have been very tight.

At that time, while the company continued to apply for loans, it also called on the company's employees to take money to buy shares. The founder took the lead, and together with some employees, they collected more than 30 yuan.

Everyone thinks that as long as they can persist until the release of the mobile game, part of the investment can be recovered, and even a small profit can be made.It's a pity that the reality is very cruel. The mobile game is overwhelmed, and the business loan is naturally gone.

The future of the company is bleak and the prospects are worrying.

The founder and management of Changyou Technology have stopped receiving salaries since September, only living expenses.But you have to pay the wages of ordinary employees, and they have no equity, they are just part-time workers.

October is finally over, but what about this month's salary?There is not much money in the account.

In addition to the 50 due loan at the end of the month, if there is no solution in a short period of time, the company is basically over.

It's not that they didn't think about financing before. In fact, since April this year, the company's second web game was launched. Not only did they recover the cost, but they also made some profits, so they began to worry about financing.

But financing is not that simple. Los Angeles is not a first-tier city. There are not so many venture capital funds and venture capital companies.

They didn't gain anything in Los Angeles, and they also gained little in Shangzhou, the provincial capital. In the end, they went directly to Shanghai, which is the place with the most various venture capital and industrial funds in China.

Changwan Technology is not very good in the first place, and such start-up companies are everywhere in the first-tier cities.People can't invest in the projects under their noses, so they still have the energy to pay attention to a start-up company in an inland city.

It’s okay for you to be outstanding, but the key is that you are not very outstanding.There are many such companies on people's watch list, who will come to you from all the way.

So the first fundraising journey came to an end.

After all, the company still had some working capital at the time, so financing was not in a hurry.I went to Shanghai again in June, but still had no results.

It just so happened that the second batch of 80 loans came down, and they had a lot more money in their hands, so they were not in a hurry.

As the saying goes, you need to be hardworking to make an iron. If you want to raise funds and make your company stand out among many start-up companies, you need real products and achievements to support it.

So they started to enter mobile games, imagining that the mobile game project would be a big success, and the company would definitely stand out.

The result was obvious, the mobile game was overwhelmed, and the company's liquidity was also consumed.They went to Shanghai, BJ, and Shenzhen many times, visiting venture capital companies one by one.

Facing a company that has no outstanding achievements, is far away in Los Angeles, still owes bank loans, and is about to go bankrupt at any time, no one pays attention to it.

For a while, people in the company panicked, but there was nothing they could do. In order for the company to continue to survive, they had no choice but to raise funds while holding out hope.

At the same time, he begged his grandpa to sue his grandma, hoping to lend another loan to tide over the difficulties.

But it's a pity that there is no hope for these two things. If the financing is so easy, they would have already done it.What's more, the company's current situation is getting worse every day, and the financing is even more uncertain.

The loan matter was even more unreasonable. Facing a company that was about to go bankrupt, he would not approve it if he had no conscience.

If there is no hope after the above two efforts, they can only hope for a grace period for the 50 loan due at the end of this month.At the same time, the company immediately began to lay off employees, cutting off a large number of people and projects, so that the company can survive and breathe slowly.

To be honest, Yang Ming and others visited Limetou everywhere in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, begging grandpa, suing grandma, and pretending to be grandson was useless.I no longer have any hope for financing, and I have prepared for the worst.

By chance, I found out that the boss of Weiyang Technology is actually an alumnus of Luo University, and after inquiring carefully, I heard something even more unbelievable, that he is only a third-year student.

Surprised, hope was ignited in his heart, especially when he saw that Weiyang Technology was willing to spend tens of millions to sponsor a broadcasting and hosting competition, and he looked like he was rich and not short of money.

In addition, he is an alumnus, and he is still so young, what if he voted for it!
With the hope of what might happen, and in order to highlight his identity as a Luo university student and get closer, he began to visit Lin Rui at school.

It's just that Lin Rui's whereabouts are really erratic, and sometimes he doesn't even come to school once a day or two, and he misses several times in succession.

Fortunately, I asked a lot of people in the end, and finally found out from a classmate who had a good relationship with Lin Rui, which classes Lin Rui usually likes to take.

Yang Ming stood by and waited for the rabbit, and he missed again, and finally let him wait for Lin Rui today.

Thinking of the company's situation, I was so anxious that I could only rudely interrupt Lin Rui who was in class.

Fortunately, although Lin Rui was not very happy, he didn't blame him.

Especially after listening to his introduction to the company, he even showed a certain interest.I am willing to take a trip with him and visit the company.

It made him a little excited in his heart, and he clenched his fists secretly happy for a long time.

In any case, as long as the company does not go out of business, it is a good thing.

Lin Rui walked around the company a few times, and with Yang Ming's permission, he checked the company's financial statements for the past year, various income expenditures, and whereabouts of funds.

It turned out that Yang Ming was not lying. In terms of browser games, except for the first one, which barely recovered the cost, the remaining browser games were all profitable.

Even now, there is still a web game that generates income continuously, but unfortunately the income cannot keep up with the expenditure.

And the specific amount of profit is really a little less.

From the establishment of the company to the present, the total profit of several web games plus one piece is less than 100 million.

Of course, their games earn more than this, but the bulk is from the platform, and the money they earn, after deducting R&D costs, is only this.

With the expansion of the company's scale, the monthly expenses are steadily increasing. These profits can only cover the company's expenses for two or three months at most, which is really not much!
As for the mobile game that brought down the company, Lin Rui thought how much money they invested in R&D!

In fact, there are only more than 120 million.

Lin Rui just downloaded it and tried it out. Although it has some features, it is not very playable.In particular, the company was too frugal in production, and the results presented in many places were not good.

Although the fee is saved a lot, it also makes the game a lot more mediocre, making it harder to shine.

Lin Rui estimates that if this mobile game is developed by Weiyang Technology, the research and development cost will be at least 300 million.

However, the final effect is definitely much better than it is now.

It is not nonsense to say that Changwan saves on technology. The total R&D cost of their company's first web game is only 80 million.

And Weiyang Technology is currently developing the page game Fighting the Sky!500 million has already been spent, and another 300 million will be invested next.

The total R&D cost plus one yuan is 800 million.

There is a ten-fold difference in R&D costs between the two. Although Dou Break Sky is a boutique web game, the quality is definitely much better than the former, but it can also be seen how much savings Changwan has made in technology.

In fact, there are so many web games developed by Changwan Technology. The development cost of each one does not exceed 100 million. Also pounced.

It's just that their policy was implemented very well in web games, but it was out of play in mobile games, which directly caused the company to fall into a dilemma.

Even up to now, they still have two web games in production, one has been completed more than half, and the other has just been established.

This also just answered some of Lin Rui's doubts. Even if the mobile game lost money, it is impossible for the company's funds to be spent on the mobile game. It turns out that these two web games also took up part of the funds.

In Changwan Technology, as Lin Rui finished understanding the situation, he fell into deep thought.

Almost all the people in the company looked over with hopeful faces, full of nervousness and apprehension. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the moment that determines the life and death of the company.

Everyone didn't even dare to make a sound, and the office was quiet for a while, and a needle could be heard.

In Lin Rui's view, from the perspective of a professional investor, the investment value of Changwan Technology is not great.Because there are too many such start-up companies, but not many can survive, it is completely a bet on how long it can survive.

But it is wrong to say that there is no investment value at all. Although the performance of Changwan Technology is not outstanding, at least the team's technology is still acceptable.

If they are more cautious and develop more smoothly in the future, they may still have something to do.

But even if there are venture capitalists who choose to invest, they will severely lower the price, lower the company's valuation, and get higher shares at a small price.

But regardless of the eyes of professional investors, Lin Rui can still find many highlights and values ​​of Changwan Technology when he looks at it as the CEO of Yang Technology.

At least their page games are doing well, and Weiyang Technology will develop its own page game platform next.

Let Changwan Technology play the leading role, they can't do it, and they don't have the strength.If you just take in a younger brother, it's okay to let them wave flags and cheer by the side.

And from another point of view, the Internet development environment in Los Angeles, or the Internet environment in the whole province is not very good.

There is not even a professional venture capital institution specializing in investment in the Internet field.

As a result, all entrepreneurs can only burn their own money to start a business. Before the company burns out its old background, the company has not gained a firm foothold and emerged, and the venture will be considered a failure.

The consequence of this is that there have not been many technology startups in the province.

Lin Rui has never felt that there is any advantage in being a monopoly. As the saying goes, there is no grass under a big tree. In fact, he really hopes that Los Angeles will have a few more good Internet companies.

Even a small scale can create an atmosphere, an atmosphere that is dynamic and suitable for innovation.

As long as there is such an atmosphere, relevant talents and industries can be attracted to gather here.

More utilitarianly speaking, a large number of talents flow in and start-up companies are established.

Under the big waves, those talents who have been tempered and emerged may eventually flow to the largest and best paid Internet company "Weiyang Technology" in the local area.

And due to the absence of venture capital institutions in this province, those good start-up companies will inevitably be held or even controlled by Weiyang Technology in the end.

What's so good about being a dominant family? Isn't it good to recruit a group of younger brothers to help attack the city?

From this point of view, it is also necessary for Weiyang Technology to select a few good local start-up companies and invest some money to support them so that everyone can have more hope.

Lin Rui has always had this awareness and idea before, but the company's strength is not enough, and the funds are not much, so it is temporarily pressed.

So far, Weiyang Technology finally has a certain foundation and wealth, and can try to make a move.

Since this period of time, there have been quite a few people looking for Lin Ruila to invest, and it is their luck that the performance of Changwan Technology is the most reliable.

However, investment is investment, and Wei Young Technology cannot be disadvantaged naturally. He is not doing charity.

In the situation of Changwan Technology, the company's fate is already in front of it, and Lin Rui is embarrassed not to severely underestimate the valuation.

Of course, he still has a bottom line, he will not squeeze too hard, and try to keep it within the range that the opponent can bear.

Finally, Lin Rui pondered for a moment, raised his head and glanced around, and saw the nervous and expectant expressions in everyone's eyes.

Then he said softly: "Mr. Yang, the situation of playing technology is even worse than I imagined. If there is no new funds to enter the market, it will be difficult to maintain it. It is hard to say what the future will be like!"

"And the investment value you have shown is not great. I am hesitant to invest in you now."

As soon as the words fell, the faces of the people around suddenly darkened a lot, and many people looked depressed, thinking that the hope that had been raised this time was about to be shattered again.

Yang Ming was also a little anxious: "Boss Lin..."

Lin Rui waved his hand, interrupted his words, and changed his tone: "However, the entrepreneurial spirit displayed by your team, this unyielding and persevering energy that is not afraid of setbacks is very precious."

Seeing that the eyes of everyone around him began to light up again, Lin Rui continued: "Recently, I have been thinking about another thing, the environment and foundation of the Internet in Los Angeles is too poor, and it is difficult for Weiyang Technology alone to reverse it. "

"I'm thinking about choosing a few good Internet companies in our city, investing and supporting them, and let's work together to create an Internet environment and atmosphere in Los Angeles."

Yang Ming's eyes were bright, he looked at Lin Rui excitedly and said, "Boss Lin, you mean..."

Lin Rui nodded and said, "As a whole, your company's development is indeed not very good, but it's not bad in Los Angeles."

"If I had to choose, you would be one of the good investment targets."

(End of this chapter)