As the three of them sat in the office, dreaming up future plans, Nikas Bede, the outsourced general manager of Claire's Custom Tours, rushed in from outside, looking travel-worn.
Seeing his future mentor, Claire enthusiastically grabbed a chair for Nikas. The American's usually dull complexion flushed with pride—after all, Claire Lee, Britain's hottest pop star, personally setting out a chair for him was a big deal! As for Claire's status as a footballer? Nikas wasn't impressed. Claire's on-again, off-again performances in the Premier League had already frustrated some United fans, and Nikas, being American, didn't care much for that side of him.
What really convinced Nikas to join this company wasn't Claire's celebrity status or the company's backing. It boiled down to one thing: capital. If you want to bet on an industry or company's growth over the next three to five years, you look for capital investment.
And Claire's Custom Tours, despite its clunky name, had the backing of Google-affiliated capital. When Nikas learned that tech giants Steve Chen and Kai-Fu Lee had both posted on Facebook about the company securing an $8 million investment, he made up his mind to switch bosses.
Claire also gave Nikas plenty of trust, letting him run with his ideas and even granting him authority to spend up to £100,000 without approval—a big deal abroad, where anything over £30,000 typically needs CEO sign-off.
When Nikas met Steve Chen—the legendary figure stirring up the U.S. tech scene—in person for the first time today, he couldn't help but feel a thrill. Chen, used to being admired, said casually, "Hey, you're doing great work at the company. If the first-quarter financials look good, I'll push Claire to give you some stock options!"
Nikas glanced at Claire, then stood and bowed to Chen. "Thank you all for your trust. I hope Claire's Custom Tours has a bright future."
Claire nodded, pleased that Nikas knew his place. "How's the Tesco ticket agency and advertising deal going?" he asked.
Nikas pulled a contract from his briefcase. "Without your suggestion, I doubt Tesco would've agreed to handle ticket sales in Newcastle. But when they heard we'd invest £500,000 in store ads there, they signed on quick—though their commission's steep."
Claire wasn't surprised. "Spend money to get things done" was an age-old principle. He didn't know Tesco's top brass personally, but showing up with cash and sincerity? They couldn't say no.
Nikas's next words, however, made Claire wince—he'd have to spend more. "I spoke with Sky TV's ad department. Their quote for marketing our website isn't cheap. Our site's user experience and unique travel offerings are solid, but your cross-border tourism project relies on ads and United's fame in China. The website itself barely adds value. Even getting Ronaldo to endorse us for £1 brought some UK traffic, but that's it."
Steve Chen, hearing Nikas's point, felt the $400,000 annual salary was well worth it. Claire's core idea was to emulate Ctrip's growth model, blending "internet-based cross-border tourism" with "unique commercial football tourism" to go public. The football tourism concept had taken off, but the "internet" part? Not so much.
In the U.S., post-bubble internet startups needed something truly unique to attract traffic fast. So far, Claire's Custom Tours' website had only a trickle of "over-the-wall" traffic—basically nothing. After spending on infrastructure, ads, acquisitions, and legal and financial consulting, the company was down to less than £2 million in the bank.
Chen was curious to see what Claire would do next.
Claire, digesting Nikas's words, realized buying traffic through ads was too costly for their small operation. While profitable, the company leaned heavily on United's popularity. His uncle's connections and some lucky breaks had secured the rights to United's off-field friendlies this season at a low cost, but Claire knew Malcolm would fleece him for next season's contract.
Claire grimaced at the thought.
The room fell silent. Ogmondu Ford, a Merrill Lynch client manager, handed Claire financial reports for Ctrip and Hawaii Travel Agency. Claire studied them, surprised.
In Q3 2006, Ctrip's revenue hit 1.4 billion RMB, while Hawaii Travel Agency's was $310 million. Yet Ctrip's $1.4 billion quarterly transactions pushed its market cap $7 billion higher than Hawaii Travel Agency's measly $160 million valuation. Sure, Ctrip was profitable, backed by the world's seventh-largest hotel chain, with broader business coverage. But it highlighted the era's truth: the real economy couldn't match the internet economy's cash flow.
The four men sat in silence. Claire stared at a newspaper and a leftover KFC coupon from his takeout, lost in thought.
Chen hesitated, then said, "I could invest more if you're open to it. We could also scout better opportunities in the U.S."
But Claire, clutching the KFC coupon, had a spark. "Mr. Chen, what if we added a coupon redemption section to our website?"
The idea caught everyone off guard. They'd been discussing tourism websites, and now—coupons? The leap was jarring.
Seeing their puzzled looks, Claire calmly searched his phone and pulled up Coupons.com, handing it to Chen. Founded in 1998, Coupons.com started as a small U.S. coupon newspaper. The coupon concept began during World War I when Mars, Dove Chocolate's parent company, ran a "buy one, get one free" ad in the New York Times. Coupons typically appeared in print, but as the internet slashed print sales, Coupons.com pivoted, moving merchant coupons online. Users browsed products, entered their email, and received a coupon code.
The site was still a small, struggling operation, lacking capital, with limited products and clients, teetering on collapse.
Chen, browsing the site, asked, "You want to build something like this to drive traffic to our tourism site?"
Latest chapter first released on 69 Book Bar!
Claire, jotting down the site's contact email, didn't answer immediately. He turned to Ogmondu Ford. "How hard would it be to acquire this website?"
Ford glanced at it and scoffed, "I don't see any profit potential. It's got a newspaper arm, but media's struggling these days."
"Great, then it's on you," Claire said, shrugging. Seeing Chen's stunned look, he added, "Oh, I'll personally fund the acquisition."
"The traffic issue should be solvable now. I've clarified the website's positioning: we'll focus on ticketing for sports events, concerts, and attractions. It's the fastest way to grow. Our business will have three segments: Custom Tours, Sports Ticketing, Concert Ticketing, and Attraction Ticketing. Once Custom Tours can sustain the site, we'll launch a second funding round to subsidize and dominate the European and U.S. ticketing markets. Acquiring Coupons.com will let us roll out travel coupons to drive traffic. Ads are expensive—buying this is worth a shot."
Chen's eyes lit up. While the U.S. and UK had ticketing sites, they lacked clear positioning or unique offerings. With Claire's uncle and Warner Music connections, going public wasn't a pipe dream. The U.S. ticketing market alone was worth tens of billions annually.
"If we can, we could also partner with UK cinemas for online ticket sales—once we secure that second round of funding," Claire added.
Chen felt like his mind had been unlocked. He shot a glance at Ogmondu Ford, whose eyes were gleaming. Ford, sensing the scrutiny, raised his hands. "Hey, I'm under an NDA! Breaching it costs 30% of the project's value. If you nail that second round, selling me wouldn't cover the penalty!"
Claire, lost in thought, mused, "It started as a tourism site, but cross-border tourism might be overkill."
Chen chuckled. "No rush. If the company goes public, split the businesses. Sell what's not core. But for now, cross-border tourism is our unique hook."
"Tech's on you, then?" Claire asked.
"I don't do tech—you do!" Chen laughed, standing and brushing off his slightly sweaty pants, heading out excitedly. The three left behind sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts.
Ford got to work, tasked with acquiring the U.S. coupon site. Nikas, meanwhile, fidgeted. Claire's offhand idea had just flipped his job description.
"Nikas," Claire said, "start by listing all major UK sports events. Hire some staff to expand our sports ticketing business. Traffic should be easier now—start with London. Don't drop the ball on custom tours, though. We need that first-year profit, and it's all about our unique tours."
With that, Claire left, feeling lighter, leaving two men with heavy thoughts behind.