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Standing at the entrance of South Beauty Restaurant, Lin Fan looked at the "Facial Makeup" logo on the signboard several times.
He smiled, withdrew his gaze and thoughts, and walked into the restaurant with Zhang Chenguang.
After reporting the private room number to the front desk clerk, the other person led the way and led Lin Fan and Lin Fan to a private room with an elegant and quiet environment.
As soon as Lin Fan entered the box, two middle-aged men wearing glasses greeted him.
"Mr. Lin, nice to meet you!"
The first person to shake hands with Lin Fan was a middle-aged man wearing black T-shirt, wearing glasses, about forty years old, with a loud voice and a hint of Northeastern accent.
"Hello, Mr. Qi!"
Lin Fan shook hands with the other party and looked at the middle-aged man named Qi Xiangdong.
Many people outside the world don’t know that this is the original founder of Qihoo 360.
Another man wearing a red T-shirt is about thirty-five or sixty-six years old.
He waited until Qi Xiangdong finished shaking hands with Lin Fan before he came forward.
"Mr. Lin, hello, I'm Zhou Hongyi."
While Lin Fan shook hands with the other party and exchanged greetings, he looked at the red dress on the other party's body.
It seems that the other party really has a special liking for the color red, otherwise he would not have earned the nickname "Red Cannon".
This man, whom Chen Yizhou calls the smartest person in Hubei Province, is also a first-rate critic, and he is never shy about talking to others.
However, Lin Fan had just returned from the United States and had no grievances with him. He even took the initiative to invite him to dinner. He did not talk nonsense, but greeted Lin Fan politely.
"Why is this?"
Qi Xiangdong looked at Zhang Chenguang.
"This is my assistant, just call me Xiao Zhang."
Seeing that Lin Fan didn't intend to introduce them in detail, Qi Xiangdong and Zhou Hongyi didn't ask further questions, so they just shook hands with Zhang Chenguang, which was regarded as a greeting.
After the four people sat down respectively, Qi Xiangdong opened up the conversation and asked: "Mr. Lin, the transaction between Lin Capital and Ahri should be coming to an end soon, right?"
Qi Xiangdong used to be the general manager of 3721. After 3721 was acquired by Yahoo, he served as the vice president of Yahoo China. The president was Zhou Hongyi.
After receiving the message from Yahoo headquarters, both of them chose to leave their jobs.
However, because I am in a high position, I also know that Lam Capital has also participated in this very large financing and merger.
So Lin Fan didn't hide anything, nodded and said, "The final adjustments have come to an end, and the news will be announced in the near future."
Zhou Hongyi on the side smiled and said: "Yahoo did make a good deal, exchanging Yahoo China for Ali's shares, it's not a loss."
Qi Xiangdong kicked the old guy under the table who was talking too much, hinting that he should stop talking.
This old guy is good at everything except he loves to antagonize the sky, the earth, and the air.
Lin Fan didn't notice the movement under the table, and only saw Qi Xiangdong give Zhou Hongyi a look.
He secretly found it funny.
"I know a little bit about what you two are doing at Yahoo China."
Lin Fan smiled and said: "Foreign-funded enterprises entering China have this common problem. They don't trust the Chinese people and don't think the Chinese people do a good job.
Failure and setbacks are inevitable, and you can’t blame others.
The previous 3721 was quite good, and even I heard the name of this product when I was in the United States."
This is just Lin Fan talking nonsense. He has never heard of 3721 in the United States, but this website still has a certain reputation in China.
Complimenting each other in business can improve favorability and increase the possibility of cooperation. Lin Fan feels that this is really not a rumor.
Soon, Zhou Hongyi, who heard the good words, regarded Lin Fan as a sensible person and started to feel bitter.
"Mr. Lin, you don't know how disgusting Yahoo's headquarters is. It approves tens of thousands of dollars in funding and still asks me to write a discount."
“I think the people at Yahoo are too lazy and don’t have the energy of startup employees, so I propose to revise the performance appraisal.
Hey, guess what? Yahoo employees jumped over the top and reported it to headquarters and sued me."
Zhou Hongyi became more and more angry as she talked, looking like she was blowing her beard and staring.
After such a long time, the other party still hasn't let go, which shows how angry the other party is.
Lin Fan secretly found it funny. Hearing Zhou Hongyi's tone, even if Yang Zhiyuan came out to apologize to him in person, he would not get his forgiveness.
Qi Xiangdong was also a person who had personally experienced these unbearable events, but he was more open-minded than Zhou Hongyi and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, old Zhou, let him let go of the past.
Now that Yahoo China is about to be merged into Ali, there is nothing we can’t let go of.”
Zhou Hongyi said angrily: "You deserve it. If you had listened to me, you wouldn't have ended up like this."
Qi Xiangdong frowned, why did he become more and more addicted the more he talked about it?
So Qi Xiangdong quickly raised his glass and changed the topic, "Come on, Old Zhou, let's toast Mr. Lin together. He is in the United States, but he has made us famous as a Chinese Internet person.
Aren’t Americans very arrogant? They claim that Chinese people don’t understand the Internet.
But Mr. Lin taught the Americans a good lesson and also gave Chinese Internet people a sigh of relief..."
Qi Xiangdong has worked for Xinhua News Agency for seventeen years and was promoted to the position of deputy director of the Communications Technology Bureau. He is very eloquent and can praise people in all kinds of ways.
Lin Fan repeatedly expressed his humility.
Interrupted by Qi Xiangdong, Zhou Hongyi also forgot about Yahoo's unhappiness. She raised her wine glass and had a drink with Lin Fan, smiling and saying:
"I, Lao Zhou, don't convince others easily, and Mr. Lin is one of you."
The red-clothed cannon raised his thumb, "It's truly a legend!"
Lin Fan was amused by the formal red cannon, and had no choice but to return the favor: "3721 pioneered Chinese Internet services, making it easier for Chinese netizens to access the Internet, which is also very admirable.
When Chen Yizhou and I had dinner a few days ago, he even praised you as the smartest person in Hubei Province, and Lei Jun was only ranked second."
Zhou Hongyi smiled "hehe" and said, "That boy Chen Yizhou is a big mouth, he dares to say anything."
Lin Fan touched his nose. Isn't it inappropriate for you to say this?
The three of them ate food, drank wine, and talked about the development of the industry. After drinking for three rounds and becoming familiar with each other, Qi Xiangdong asked: "Mr. Lin, you are having a drink with us today. You should have other things to talk about."
Bar?"
Lin Fan waited for the other party to ask this question and nodded, "I heard that President Qi founded a company called Qihoo after he resigned?"
"good!"
Qi Xiangdong and Zhou Hongyi looked at each other, and the former replied calmly.
"search!"
Lin Fan pursed his lips and smiled, glanced at the two of them, and said, "If I guess correctly, you two are still unwilling to accept this market."
Qi Xiangdong didn't know where Lin Fan got such secret information. Instead of telling the truth casually, he was careless:
"Now search is dominated by Baidu, the Internet company with the highest market value in China, who dares to challenge it?
With the support of Lin Capital, Yahoo, and SoftBank, Ali will definitely be able to gain a foothold in the search field.
We at Qihoo have just been established, and we currently want to set up a community, forum, etc.
Now is not the era of WEB 2.0. We are not afraid of your jokes, Mr. Lin, we also want to catch up with the trend."
Lin Fan had no choice but to make it clear, "Community search, I understand, this is looking for blank areas between several companies."
Qi Xiangdong glanced at Zhou Hongyi, who looked innocent. He really didn't reveal this. He and Lin Fan just met for the first time today. Where could he reveal it?
Qi Xiangdong no longer cared about exposing the problems of the project, and forced a smile and asked: "Mr. Lin, I admit, Yahoo is currently working on a small project, which will be officially launched in a few days. What do you want to ask about this?
"
Lin Fan smiled, "I want to invest in you."
After hearing Lin Fan reveal his purpose, Qi Xiangdong had an expression on his face.
Zhou Hongyi didn't interrupt, thinking quietly on the side.
Qi Xiangdong is currently managing Qihoo Company. He has only invested a small amount of money and is currently focusing on angel investment. In addition, he also serves as an investment partner of IDG.
Zhou Hongyi is not particularly optimistic about Qihoo Company at the moment.
Because Baidu and Yahoo China are already very powerful, and Google is about to enter, this track is already extremely crowded.
"The Rebirth of Financial Giants"
The company will let Qi Xiangdong work hard first, and if the business improves later, it won't be too late for him to join full-time.
Now that he heard that Lin Fan was going to invest in Qihoo, he felt quite happy.
He knew how strong Lin Fan's financial resources were. It was definitely good news that Qihu could attract investment from such a golden boy.
It's just that he is shrewd. No matter how happy he is in his heart, he cannot show it on his face, otherwise it will not be conducive to the subsequent negotiations.
Qi Xiangdong and Zhou Hongyi had similar ideas. Knowing that Lin Fan was rich, they were happy inside but did not show it on their faces.
Seeing that the two of them were silent, Lin Fan asked: "How about it? Lin Capital invests in Qihoo, and you use the money to speed up product development.
If the delay continues, Google will also come in, and the competition will be even greater and more difficult."
Qi Xiangdong smiled and said: "As Mr. Lin said, Qihoo is targeting blank areas, community search. Whether Google can get in or not, it has little to do with us.
At present, Qihoo has developed a product and will launch it next month as a BBS search engine.
The representatives of search engines in the WEB1.0 era are Baidu and Google. Although they are doing very well and are very large, real estate searches, shopping searches, and travel searches are like wildfire that cannot be burned.
As for community search, it has always been a blank area to be developed."
Lin Fan knew that the other party was a bit "waiting for price", which was normal. Rushing to buy someone was not a good deal.
So Lin Fan also kept silent about the investment and started to accompany the other party in circles.
"We know that when a company's growth starts to slow down, they look for new meat."
Lin Fan spread his hands and said, "If you don't build your own moat before the giants enter this segment, maybe it's not stable enough, it will be shattered in one fell swoop."
Qi Xiangdong smiled, "Actually, Qihoo's development has not been slow. All its employees are from Yahoo China, and they are very proficient in search business.
And because it is an old team, they can be hired immediately without training.
So in terms of efficiency, we are still very efficient and will never give any competitor a chance."
Zhou Hongyi interjected, "In terms of funds, I still have a little money left from selling 3721, and I can support Qihoo at any time.
In addition, I am still working as a temporary employee at IDG, and they have been paying attention to Qihoo's development."
The two of them sang and harmonized, one said that the team was awesome, and the other said that they were not short of money. Wasn't this just a show for themselves?
Lin Fan knows very well that it is difficult to deal with veterans in this kind of industry.
Especially for someone like Zhou Hongyi who has a lot of bad money, it is even more impossible to use money to stun the opponent like a grassroots entrepreneur.
Of course, the money spent here refers to a reasonable range. If it really cost 100 million US dollars, Lin Fan believed that the two of them would sign the contract without saying a word.
But this is a huge disadvantage in terms of return rate.
It is also easy to send a signal to the outside world. If people are stupid, money will come quickly. Although it can attract more projects, it is estimated that all entrepreneurs will follow the same example and they will all be open-minded.
It can leave a "heroic" impression to the outside world and entrepreneurs, mainly reflected in the speed of making money, the amount of investment, etc., but it must not be labeled as "stupid".
Lin Fan accompanied him in circles for more than an hour, but the food was already cold and no substantial progress had been made.
This made him a little anxious, because if it continues to be delayed until Qihoo Company launches anti-virus software and Security Guard, the valuation will not be the same as before.
Qihoo Company first started doing community search, hoping to survive in the cracks of search. Security guards, browsers, malware family buckets, etc. were all launched later.
The current Qihoo is nothing remarkable, it is just a company with a somewhat speculative and experimental nature that does not have a very bright future.
Even so, Zhou Hongyi and Qi Xiangdong are still very cool, they look like they are not short of money, and a lot of capital is interested in me.
The play has gone a bit too far!
Lin Fan hinted that he should not be impatient, adjusted his mentality and tone, and said: "For a company that has not officially launched its product on the market, the pre-money valuation of five million US dollars is not low."
Zhou Hongyi smiled lightly, "Mr. Lin, I'm not boasting, my old Zhou alone is worth more than this."
Lin Fan choked and said, "Aren't you a partner at IDG?"
"That, eh!"
Zhou Hongyi waved her hand, "You are in this industry yourself, so you should know how much moisture there is.
Just like a franchisee, you can leave if you want and stay if you want, there is no compulsion.
As long as I want to leave, I can join Qihoo Company next month."
Speaking of this, Zhou Hongyi said with a "hehe" smile: "I actually just went in to learn how to play the system so that I can make angel investments in the future.
Otherwise, if you don’t even know how to evaluate projects and don’t understand professional terminology, this kind of angel investor will lose a lot of status if you go out!”
Lin Fan noticed that the other party's rogue nature had relapsed, and he mentally mourned for three seconds for IDG. He thought he was recruiting an industry boss, but he turned out to be a bastard.
Not only does it mix up experience, but it often creates confusion.
At that time, Huang Xin wanted to attract investment for the school network and came to Sequoia Capital. Shen Beipeng was away because of something, so he entrusted Zhou Hongyi to help look after it.
As a result, Zhou Hongyi said that Huang Xin and these turtles had eyes that reached the sky, and they were not here to attract investment at all, but to give charity.
So, the project went bankrupt!
Later, Huang Xin clarified: It was the first time I met a venture capital investor and it was because I was too nervous.
Lin Fan thought for a moment and replied, "How about you make a price?"
Zhou Hongyi's eyes lit up, and she looked at Qi Xiangdong. Both of them had smiles on their faces. They had been waiting for this sentence.
Qi Xiangdong compared his two fingers and said, "Twenty million US dollars, pre-money valuation!"
Lin Fan smiled and said nothing. He really regarded himself as an amateur and dared to offer any price.
"The price gap between our two sides is a bit big. Let's think about it again!"
After saying that, Lin Fan made a move to stand up and prepare to leave.
Anyway, today I have figured out the situation of Qihoo, and I have met the two founders. The most basic goal has been achieved.
He just recalled that Qihoo should be several months away from taking off, and there would be plenty of time in the meantime to adjust the price, so there was no need to rush.
Seeing that Lin Fan was about to leave, Qi Xiangdong glanced at Zhou Hongyi.
The latter shook his head slightly and signaled Qi Xiangdong not to stop him.
Lin Fan left very slowly. He turned around and straightened his suit jacket hanging on the chair.
Your coat is all sorted, why don't you keep me here?
OK!
Lin Fan pretended to dig around in his suit jacket pocket again.
After digging around for a long time, I finally found the business card box, took out two gold-gilt business cards, and handed them to the two of them.
He smiled and said: "You two, this is my business card. I will contact you often in the future. Thank you for your hospitality today. I have something to do tonight, so I will leave first."
Only then did Zhou Hongyi and Qi Xiangdong pretend to react and began to persuade them to stay.
Especially Zhou Hongyi, who shouted loudly: "Mr. Lin, are you leaving now? Let's have afternoon tea together? Let's get a massage or something together in the evening."
"Haha, you press! I'm so old, I can't enjoy this blessing."
Lin Fan waved his hand and left with a smile on his face as the two watched him off.
When walking past the front desk, Lin Fan thought about it and took the initiative to settle the bill.
He wanted to give the two of them a reason to invite him to dinner next time.