The first phase of the financing plan was even 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 Queen Investment. All three showed immense interest, repeatedly asking about the company's future plans, especially concerning business operations. It was clear they were very worried about the profitability of a social networking company.
ShowMe started as a free service. Free products always grab attention, but if they were to forcibly change the existing model mid-way—adding paid services like memberships and privileges—it could easily lead to a mass exodus of existing users.
Luke didn't offer a lengthy explanation for their concerns, simply presenting a few creative ideas he had for monetization.
After the calls ended, Luke stepped out of his office and instructed Charlie, who was waiting by the door.
"Tell Robert to come to my office."
"He hasn't come to work."
"It's 9:30, and he's not here?"
Charlie shrugged, indicating he didn't know why.
"Have Cindy come see me, and call Robert."
The Internal Competition
When Cindy walked into the office, Luke was finishing a call with the Vice President of Citibank. Seeing this, she quietly sat on the sofa, her right hand gripping a folder, looking somewhat tense.
She had heard about the company's planned financing, but as the Accounting Manager, she was completely sidelined, feeling like an irrelevant outsider.
Compared to her, the boss clearly trusted Robert Downs more.
Competition is brutal. If you're not up to scratch, you'll quickly be replaced. Having been laid off before, Cindy knew this deeply. For her future, she decided to take a gamble.
"Boss, this is a strategic proposal I prepared, related to the financing."
"Oh?"
Luke's interest was piqued. He opened the file and quickly scanned through it. Cindy stood tensely at his side, nervously clenching the hem of her clothes, her eyes glued to his unusually handsome face, trying not to miss any change in expression.
After a while, Luke closed the document and smiled.
"This is a very good plan. Excellent, in fact."
Cindy immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then Luke continued,
"I happen to have a task for you. This afternoon, the business departments of Wells Fargo and Citibank are coming to the office to negotiate. You will be responsible for hosting them. Remember, don't show any impatience, but don't be too cold either. This negotiation will last several days, and we have plenty of time to maneuver with them."
"Understood, Boss. I'll make the arrangements right away."
Cindy turned to leave, but hesitated at the door.
"What about the proposal?"
"Keep it here for now. I want to look over it a few more times."
"Alright."
Cindy managed a strained smile. A flicker of reluctance crossed her bloodshot eyes, but she said no more.
Luke understood her thoughts and how much effort she had put in, but some things can't be achieved by effort alone.
If Robert's financing proposal was rated at 90 points, Cindy's was only 70. There was a gap in both her control of the pace and her overall strategic vision. As for the details, there was no comparison.
For an internet company to grow big and strong, strategic investment is a necessary hurdle. To clear this hurdle, you need top financial talent to guide you. Look at any internet company that started from scratch and grew to be world-class—Alibaba had Joe Tsai, Tencent had Martin Lau, Facebook had David Ebersman, and so on.
ShowMe needed talent like that, too.
A Bruised Financial Mind
Just then, the person he was thinking about arrived.
Robert, his left arm in a sling, limped into the office. The left side of his face was swollen and red, and the right side was covered in bruises, where the faint outline of a handprint was visible upon close inspection.
Seeing his appearance, Luke immediately frowned.
"What happened? Who did this?"
"It's nothing!"
Robert forced a smile. "I ran into a few street thugs this morning on the way out."
"Did you call the police?"
"I've already notified the police, but I don't think it'll do any good."
Luke stood up to help him, complaining, "You're this badly hurt and you didn't call ahead? Come on, don't stay here. Let's go to the hospital first!"
"No need. They're all external injuries. They won't affect my work."
"No matter how busy work is, your health is more important."
"I know my body well. I'll take time off if there's a problem. I hope the boss will approve it then."
With that, Robert opened his satchel and took out a dirt-smudged document.
"This is the proposal I organized overnight. Take a look and see if anything needs to be revised."
Luke gave him a long, searching look. He opened the document and carefully read it. The proposal was exceptionally detailed. Not only did it describe all the possible mishaps and solutions during the equity transfer process, but it also provided a detailed analysis of the potential shareholder companies and consortiums, listing all their pros and cons.
After reading the proposal, Luke felt like a fog had cleared.
"Hiring you was truly the right decision."
Robert smiled faintly. "This is just me doing my job."
"Alright, if you don't want to go home, you can recover at the company. I'll have Charlie find you a quiet room to rest in a bit."
"What about the afternoon negotiation..."
"The negotiation will be handled by someone else. Your job is to supervise and sign off."
"Okay, I'll be going then."
"Mhm."
Luke nodded. After watching him leave, he reopened the document, reviewing every single word line by line. After three complete readings, satisfied that nothing was missed, he closed the file and locked it in his drawer.
"Charlie!"
Charlie hurried in. "Boss, you called?"
"Go to the Queens Police Department. Check if there was any brawl reported around the Sterling community this morning."
"Got it."
Luke then called in the heads of the other departments, assigning their tasks, before dedicating all his attention to coding.
Superhero Showdown
Gotham City suburbs, Wayne Manor.
Alfred pushed open the master bedroom door and said to his young master, who was yawning on the bed,
"Master Wayne, I must remind you that it's only half an hour until noon. Will you be having breakfast, lunch, or a combination of both?"
"Alfred, don't always tease me about that."
"Very well. Let's change the subject. This morning, Blair sent an email. That social networking application you're following is starting a financing plan."
"Oh?"
Bruce's interest was piqued. "What's the situation?"
"The asking price is quite steep. They're only selling 20% of the shares but demand an offer of no less than 40 million dollars."
Bruce didn't care about money; he cared about the plan.
"20% is too little."
"Indeed, not enough. If you truly plan to use public opinion to combat organized crime, you'll need at least 50%."
Bruce got dressed and said gravely,
"I suppose I need to have a good talk with Blair."
Alfred pulled back the curtains, letting the sunlight chase away the darkness in the room.
"One more thing: ShowMe has created a 'Hero' column on its homepage. They've centralized all videos and pictures related to Superman and Batman into their respective sections. The users are showing immense enthusiasm, particularly for the fierce debate over who is stronger and who is weaker."
Bruce looked exasperated.
"Alfred, don't talk about such meaningless things."
"I find it quite amusing. Aren't you curious who's more powerful: you, or that hairy-chested muscle freak?"
Bruce: "..."
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