The first phase of the financing plan was more successful than expected.
Early the next morning, Luke received private calls from the president of Chase Bank, the general manager of Wells Fargo, and the CEO of Quinn Company. The three showed great interest and repeatedly asked about the company's future plans, especially in terms of operations. It was obvious that they were very worried about the profitability of the social networking company.
ShowMe started out as a free service, and free things always attract attention. If the existing system is forcibly changed midway, or paid services such as membership and privileges are added, it is likely to lead to a large number of existing users leaving.
Luke didn't explain their concerns in detail, but simply offered a few creative ideas.
After the conversation, Luke walked out of the office and said to Charlie at the door,
"Notify Robert and ask him to come to the office."
"He didn't come to work."
"It's half past nine and he hasn't come yet."
Charlie shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.
"Have Cindy come see me, and call Robert."
When Cindy walked into the office, Luke was talking to the vice president of Citibank. Seeing this, she sat silently on the sofa, clutching the documents in her right hand, looking a little nervous.
She had heard about the company's financing plan a long time ago, but as the head of the finance department, she had no say at all and was like an insignificant outsider.
In contrast, the boss obviously trusts Robert Downs more.
Competition is cruel. If you are not good enough, you will be replaced by others soon. Cindy, who has quit her job before, knows this very well. For the sake of her future, she decided to take a gamble.
"Boss, this is the planning document I prepared about financing."
"Yeah?"
Luke became interested, opened the file and took a quick look. Cindy stood nervously by, pinching the corner of her clothes, staring at the overly pretty face without blinking, not missing any change in expression.
After a while, Luke closed the file and said with a smile,
"Great plan, very good."
Cindy breathed a sigh of relief, and then heard Luke say,
"I happen to have a task for you. This afternoon, the business departments of Wells Fargo and Citibank are coming to our company for negotiations. You'll be in charge of their reception. Remember, don't be impatient, but don't be too apathetic either. These negotiations will last for several days, and we have plenty of time to deal with them."
"Got it, boss. I'll arrange it now."
Cindy turned and walked out, and hesitated when she reached the door.
"That plan..."
"Leave it here for now. I want to read it a few more times."
"All right!"
Cindy forced a smile, a hint of unwillingness flashed in her bloodshot eyes, but she said nothing more.
Luke knew what she was thinking and how much effort she had put into it, but some things could not be achieved just by hard work.
If Robert's plan is rated at 90 points, Cindy's can only be rated 70 points. There are gaps in both rhythm control and overall view, not to mention the details.
If an Internet company wants to grow bigger and stronger, strategic investment is the hurdle it must overcome. To overcome this hurdle, it cannot do without the support of top financial talents. Looking back at those Internet companies that started from scratch and became the world's top companies, which one is not like this? Alibaba's Joseph Tsai, Tencent's Martin Lau, Facebook's David Ebersman, and so on.
ShowMe also needs such talents.
Just as I was thinking about it, the person arrived.
Robert limped to the office with a bandage on his left hand. His left cheek was red and swollen, and his right cheek was covered with bruises. If you looked closely, you could faintly see the mark of his palm.
Seeing him like this, Luke frowned immediately.
"What happened? Who hit you?"
"fine!"
Robert forced a smile and said, "I ran into some street thugs when I went out this morning.
"
"Have you called the police?"
"I've already notified the police, but it probably won't do any good."
Luke stood up and helped him up, complaining, "You didn't even call in advance when you were injured like this? Let's go, don't stay here, let's go to the hospital first!"
"No, they are all external injuries and will not affect work."
"No matter how busy you are at work, your health is not as important."
"I know my health very well. If there are any problems, I will ask for leave. I hope you can approve it then."
As he said this, Robert opened his bag and took out a document covered in dirt.
"This is the copy I compiled overnight. Please see if there is anything that needs to be revised."
Luke looked at him deeply, opened the document and read it carefully. The document was written in great detail. It not only described the various accidents that might be encountered during the equity transfer and the solutions, but also made a detailed analysis of several companies and consortiums that might become shareholders, with their advantages and disadvantages all marked out.
After reading the copy, Luke felt as if the fog had cleared and the light had appeared.
"It was the right decision to recruit you into the company."
Robert smiled faintly and said, "These are what I should do."
"Okay, since you don't want to go home, just stay in the company to recuperate. I'll ask Charlie to find a quiet room for you to rest."
"That afternoon's negotiations..."
"Leave the negotiations to others, and you'll be in charge of the review."
"Okay, I'll be leaving now."
"Um!"
Luke nodded, watched the other party leave, then opened the document in his hand again and checked it word by word. He read it three times in a row to make sure there was nothing missed, closed the file, and locked it in the drawer.
"Charlie!"
Charlie walked in quickly, "Boss, you called me."
"Go to the Queens Police Department and ask if there was any fight around Stanley this morning."
"knew."
Luke then called the heads of other departments, arranged their respective tasks, and then devoted all his energy to the work of writing code.
…
Wayne Manor, a suburb of Gotham City.
Alfred pushed open the door of the master bedroom and said to his young master who was yawning on the bed,
"Master Wayne, I have to remind you that it's only half an hour until twelve o'clock. Do you want to have breakfast, lunch, or both?"
"Alfred, please don't tease me about this all the time."
"Okay! Let's change the subject. This morning, Blair sent me an email saying that the social media app you follow is planning a fundraising round."
oh!
Bruce became interested, "How's it going?"
"The other party has a big appetite. They are only selling 20% of the shares, but they are asking for a price of no less than $40 million."
Bruce doesn't care about money, he cares about plans.
"20% is too little."
"It's definitely not enough. If you really want to use public opinion to combat criminal organizations, you need at least 50%."
Bruce put on his clothes and said in a deep voice,
"Looks like I'm going to have to have a good talk with Blair."
Alfred opened the curtains, letting the sunlight drive away the darkness in the room.
"Another thing is that ShowMe created a hero section on its homepage, grouping all videos and pictures related to Superman and Batman into their respective sections. Netizens showed great enthusiasm for this, especially the heated discussion about who was stronger and who was weaker."
Bruce said helplessly,
"Alfred, don't say such meaningless things."
"I find it quite amusing. Aren't you curious about who's more powerful, you or that muscle freak with black hair on his chest?"
Bruce: "…"
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Thanks for the support. Keep the Power Stones coming and I'll keep speeding up the chapters.