Compared with Hoffman who likes to stay in the United States and Silicon Valley, Milner prefers to travel around the world.
Of course, it's not that he likes it, but in order to do business, to connect with partners, and to discuss efforts to deal with the market, Milner can only run around the world.
So he soon came to Chengdu for the second time in three months.
Sitting in the sunroom on the top floor of a five-star hotel, the air conditioner made the room very comfortable. Milner was very comfortable drinking a medium-strength vodka produced in Russia and looking at the starry sky outside.
"When I'm outside, I'm embarrassed to say that I like vodka, because in the upper class society in Europe and America, vodka is only drunk by rude people." Milner said with emotion: "But when I was a child, my family was very poor.
The first time I drank was vodka. It was winter at that time. After drinking it, I felt warm all over my body and I felt more energetic while reading."
"Things from my own country and things from my childhood memories will always occupy a very important position." Xiao Qi said with a smile, "However, in order not to be isolated from the crowd, compromises of one kind or another will always be made. This
It’s also understandable.”
Milner nodded, "So I used to think, if I were like you, Qishao, would I go my own way? The answer is no, because I am already very old and cannot be as young as you.
Like people, they do things that are inconsistent with their age and experience."
Xiao Qi laughed dumbly and said: "Are you saying that I am stubborn and willful and don't conform to the customs and rules of the business world at all?"
"It's not that, it's just that I envy Qishao, who can do things according to his own will and not worry about other things." Milner said with a smile, "At least I can't withstand the pressure and dare not be open at all. Let the app go.
The store’s permissions are out.”
Although the app store's valuation has continued to rise in the past two years, it also has a lot of troubles.
The most important thing is that it controls almost all app developers in the world and has unparalleled influence. Moreover, the entire app store is a closed system, so it is naturally said to be unfriendly competition.
If it weren't for the fact that developers had been asked to sign an agreement before, allowing them to cooperate with the Microsoft Store and the Android Store, the app store would have to be split.
In the previous life, Gang Leader Qiao did not encounter this problem. The reason is that the major shareholders of Apple are all important large companies in the United States, and the entire interests are owned by Americans. Of course, they will be tolerant.
But now that most of the shares in the app store are in the hands of Fairy Company, of course there will be people who deliberately come to cause trouble.
As a result, the app store has been constantly litigated in the past two years. Even Gang Leader Qiao lamented that this is completely cheap Xiao Qi's Mario Law Firm. How many opportunities for training does the app store provide them?
Even so, Xiao Qi, Gang Leader Qiao and Li Jianxi have no intention of giving in. This is related to the foundation of the three companies to settle down and build a career in the future. How can others share it?
Anyway, the monthly profit of the app store has soared to 4 billion U.S. dollars. Excluding the necessary increase in servers and the deployment of cloud storage, there is now about 1 billion U.S. dollars left every month. In addition to dividing the profit, it is used for lawsuits.
The expenses are not too much.
But one thing should be noted, that is, the monthly sales reached 60 billion US dollars in November last year. It has now been 8 months, but the sales have dropped directly to 50 billion US dollars.
Although many developers gave up the 20% profit share and chose non-exclusive contracts, which increased the app store's net profit margin to 8%, an increase of US$1 billion from the previous US$3 billion, the reduction in turnover is not a good thing.
Son.
The reason is that on the one hand, the market has gradually stabilized, unlike when smartphones were first launched. Everyone will buy any good gadget they see, and buy a lot. People now are much more rational.
On the other hand, the number of users has not actually increased much. Without more people joining in the use of smartphones, sales will naturally not increase.
On this point, Xiao Qi, Gang Leader Qiao and Li Jianxi all have a clear understanding.
Maybe the sales of the app store will continue to decline in the next step, and even the profit margin will also decline.
But these are not important. The app store is not judged by temporary wins and losses. What it has to do is to do a solid job in every detail and firmly capture the hearts of users. Only then can it always become a leading smart app application.
of overlord.
Of course, the current net profit of 4 billion US dollars per month is already very, very scary. The envy, jealousy and hatred of countless people are also an important reason why they have attacked the app store.
Thoughts passed by in a flash.
Xiao Qi nodded and said: "It is not easy for us Chinese and you Russians to make some achievements in Europe and the United States. But just because we have come to this point, I have no reason to give up or give in. I can only
Only if you keep going will you live up to your hard work."
These words spoke to Milner's heart.
If he were not Russian, how could the investment business be as difficult as it is now?
Isn't it just because the United States has always hated Russia that it doesn't even welcome him?
Shaking his head, Milner put all this behind his mind, put down his glass and said: "Qi Shao, I'm here to congratulate you this time. We bought 10% of aebook's shares for 4 billion US dollars and 600 million US dollars for it.
He holds % of the shares of Titte and is the largest shareholder of Titter and the top five shareholders of aebook. Haha, some people in the United States are saying sourly that our fund is increasing assets for Ms. Tang Mingxiang!"
Tang Mingxiang is the largest shareholder of aebook.
Because of Milner's investment, Tang Mingxiang originally purchased 40% of AEBO OK's shares for US$8 billion. In just two years, its value soared to US$12.8 billion, an increase of more than 50%.
Most people in this world cannot earn 4.8 billion US dollars in a lifetime, but Tang Mingxiang earned it in two years. It is simply unbelievable.
Xiao Qi smiled slightly, "Actually, she has a good vision. The future growth of aebook is worth looking forward to. Our investment can earn at least five or six times."
"I think so too." Milner nodded and said, "Although the value of ae wave ok is much higher than that of titter, its growth potential will also be much higher and its profits will be much greater."
"Yes, you have worked hard this time." Xiao Qi said, "Are you going to take a break for a while, or are you going to continue working?"
"The zulily flash sale website has just recruited people. I have to keep an eye on it. I won't take a break recently." Milner shook his head.
"So, you still have free time. Can you help me establish a few more Internet companies?" Xiao Qi asked calmly.
"You still want to start a business?" Milner was stunned. "How many business ideas do you have in your mind? Will you give other entrepreneurs a way to survive?"
Since Xiao Qi said he wanted to start a company, according to Milner's previous understanding of Xiao Qi, he must have started it with an expected valuation of at least US$1 billion. Only Xiao Qi had created several companies worth billions of US dollars in one go.
As far as I can think of, only Xiao Qi can have this ability.
"These are all things I have thought of in the past few years, and I don't necessarily know whether they are correct or not. But I think they are quite interesting, so let's give them a try first!" Xiao Qi shrugged. "Don't be so surprised, just think about Edison.
, compared with him, I’m simply far behind!”
Edison made thousands of inventions in his lifetime, so he was certainly a genius.
On weekdays, everyone compares Xiao Qi with Edison, and because of Edison’s genius, Xiao Qi is not regarded as such a weird person.
Milner nodded and shook his head, "Tell me, what kind of company is it?"
"The first one is called a crowdfunding website, which means that creative individuals or companies can put their ongoing research and development projects on this website and raise funds from everyone, which is called crowdfunding for short." Xiao Qi said
And Tan said, "The initiator needs to state how much money he needs and what return he will give to the investors. Only when the investors agree to their terms and the funds raised meet the needs will the project cooperation be established. In the project
After establishment, the website will withdraw 5% of the funds for operation and profit."
Milner closed his eyes and thought for a while, with a solemn look on his face, "This is to build a platform for middlemen, right? Creating a website is easy, but the most important thing is to supervise the funds and review the qualifications of the sponsors.
It cannot be used as a way to defraud money."
"That's it." Xiao Qi smiled and turned to the second project: "When I browse the web, especially when browsing pictures, I always have to click the mouse again after I see the bottom.
Page, this made me feel a little cumbersome. So I thought, could I invent a program so that a web page with pictures as its main content could load new pictures by itself every time I turned to the bottom?
Just let me continue reading. To use a vivid example, it is in the form of a waterfall, constantly pouring down."
"Is this just a little trick?" Milner didn't understand.
"Would it be interesting if I set up a picture-based social networking site based on this program so that pictures posted by everyone can be displayed on one page?" Xiao Qi asked.
"Uh... I don't know about this, but it's a bit too simple!" Milner still insisted on his opinion.
"Simplicity is not a reason for not being able to develop. Just find a professional team to handle this for me." Xiao Qi did not explain more to him, "I will do these two first in the past few months, plus zulily flash."
Buy the website!”
"good!"
Milner readily agreed.
Xiao Qi is the one providing the money anyway, he just needs to take the lead in finding the technical and management teams.
Whether it is losing money or making money, it has little to do with him. Only by helping Xiao Qi run errands and building relationships can we have the most important connections. (To be continued...)