"Congratulations to Chairman Ma, for being elected Economic Person of the Year for the second time. That's it."
In a hotel reception room, Tang An and Ma Yun sat down side by side.
Tang An first gave a few compliments. Although the Economic Figure of the Year organized by CCTV is not as good as Fortune Magazine's Global Leaders, it is known as the Oscar of China's economic circle and is considered very important in the country.
Moreover, this is hosted by CCTV, and the 100-member jury is professional and authoritative enough. Among them are selected economic figures of the year, financial media CEOs, heads of well-known domestic business schools, and well-known domestic economists and entrepreneurs.
It’s not just that you are rich and famous, or your company is big enough, you can nominate. The reputation of the nominated entrepreneur is also very important.
So far, no entrepreneur has committed a crime.
In 2006, the CEO of Gome became the richest man in the country. In the same year, he was investigated for suspected illegal loans. Although nothing was found, CCTV still excluded him from the list of candidates.
But what is supposed to come will come. In 2008, the richest man Huang entered.
Even in the next few years, only one Economic Figure of the Year will be involved in an accident. He is the CEO of Huaguo Gold Group who was elected last year. In the next two years, he will be involved in the earthquake in the officialdom of western Shanxi.
Those who have committed any business violations will not be nominated. Basically, if you can be elected, it will prove that you are a person, that this company has a good reputation and is relatively clean.
Facing Tang An's compliment, Ma Yun didn't take it seriously, waved his hand and smiled.
"Mr. Tang, you don't have to be modest. With the development speed of Hantang Media, you will be able to stand in the position of Mr. Lei next year."
Lei Jun is the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year this year, and next year he will be ranked as Ma Yun, one of the top ten economic figures of the year.
Tang An smiled and said, "I dare not think about this. Xiaomi has achieved a valuation of US$4 billion in less than three years, and it is expected to reach US$10 billion next year."
Ma Yun said, "Tang Dong has been in business for four years and has a net worth of more than 20 billion, which is no worse than Xiaomi."
That's right. Xiaomi will earn US$4 billion in three years, and Tang An will earn more than US$20 billion in four years.
However, in terms of potential, Xiaomi still has a lot of potential to tap, and Hantang Media is already the largest film and television company in the country, so it is incomparable.
After exchanging business blows for a while, Ma Yun went straight to the topic.
"Dr. Tang, you are a professional film maker. Now the domestic box office of a single movie has exceeded 1 billion, and the annual box office is nearly 20 billion. Every year is a new level. What do you think will happen in the next three to five years, eight years from now, by 2020?"
, how big can the film market be?”
After hearing this, Tang An smiled heartily.
As expected of a master of pie painting, he first told how big the market was, and then said that you can’t eat this piece of pie. Follow me and take you to eat the big pie.
Tang An smiled and said, "In ten years, the domestic box office total will exceed 100 billion."
Ma Yun's tone paused, but Tang An said the number he wanted to say first.
He did not expect that Tang An had such great expectations for the film market. It was only 18 billion in 2012 and could reach 100 billion in 2020.
Seeing that Tang An's expression didn't look like he was just guessing or randomly reporting a high number, Ma Yun began to re-examine Tang An.
Although the total domestic box office was 1.5 billion 8 years ago and has now increased 12 times, it is not calculated that way.
Ma Yun smiled noncommittally, "Dr. Tang, are you so confident? You must know that after the film market matures, the development speed will only become slower and slower. The total box office in North America four years ago was 10.6 billion US dollars. Last year, the box office was
It’s just US$10.8 billion, and there’s almost no increase.”
Tang Andao said, “The domestic population is four times that of North America. The average movie ticket in North America is 8 US dollars and 52 yuan, but there are 1.35 billion moviegoers, with an average of 3.7 movies per person per year.
In China, it is about a little over 30 yuan. There are 600 million moviegoers throughout the year, and each person watches an average of 0.46 movies per year.
Not to mention that each person watches 3.7 movies per year, as long as each person watches 2.5 movies per year, the domestic total can exceed 100 billion."
Tang An opened his mouth and came up with a lot of numbers. After speaking, he looked at Ma Yun with a smile.
Why is it that such a trivial matter is so difficult to convince Ma Yun? Which of the Eighteen Arhats in the team was not fooled by him and followed him for more than ten years?
If he didn't pay lip service and the team members went elsewhere to make a fortune, and no one followed him, Ma Yun wouldn't be able to make a fortune by himself.
Ma Yun answered, "Dr. Tang's idea is good. We have a large population in our country and no one buys one more ticket every year. That's an incredible number."
He first affirmed Tang An's statement. When talking about cooperation, you can't just start talking to others.
Then he added, "However, the North American film market has developed for a hundred years, and domestic films have only been commercialized for more than ten years. It will take time to make them official. Ticket prices are still relatively expensive compared to Western countries. Audiences who are willing to go to the cinema
It’s still a minority.”
Tang An said, "What if the ticket price can be lowered? Today's blockbusters generally cost forty or fifty yuan a ticket. If they only sell for ten or twenty yuan, some viewers who do not have a high income but love movies will most likely choose to go in."
Watch it in the cinema.”
Ma Yun shook his head, "The ticket price is set by the state. Cinemas can adjust it randomly. It is impossible to significantly reduce the price."
Tang An smiled and said, "Dr. Ma, in the Internet era, we should believe in miracles. Nothing is impossible. Last year and the year before that, the "Thousand Group War" in the group buying industry allowed many people to spend more than ten yuan on a good-quality Western restaurant.
Eat a steak for the money. The taxi-hailing software that became popular two months ago allows users to take a taxi for less money than a taxi.
Three years ago, in Room 807 of the Silver Valley Building not far from Jinshan Headquarters, Li Wanqiang's father brought a pot of millet porridge. Lei Jun, Huang Jiangji, Lin Bing, and Zhou Guangping each made a bowl of millet porridge, and the millet was ready.
If this was established, who would have thought that the valuation would reach 4 billion in just three years.
And you, Mr. Ma, many people said you were a liar back then. Looking back now, aren’t these all miracles created by the Internet?”
...
Tang An's long speech made Ma Yun stunned. This was one of the few times when he was the one being "educated" in a face-to-face conversation.
However, Rite also understood from Tang An’s words that group buying and taxi-hailing software are both platform subsidies.
Since the ticket price cannot be determined, the ticket sales platform can provide subsidies.
And Tang An acquired Nuomi.com.
Tang An is not afraid to reveal it in advance, since the Spring Festival is only less than a month away anyway.
One month is enough time to catch everyone off guard
Ma Yun stopped worrying about this and changed the topic, "Dr. Tang's investments are very extensive. The Internet industry is blooming. We need investors like you now."
Tang An shook his head, "Investment is not easy either. It would be great if only one of the hundred emerging Internet companies could survive the A round.
Regarding Didi, which I invested in the angel round last year, the founder Cheng Wei talked to me last year and said that one day a group of taxi drivers rushed up, threw a smartphone to the ground, and yelled: Liar, you Didi
Di software produces more than 10 trillion yuan a day, but there is not a single order.
Cheng Wei was a little confused. It took him a long time to understand that the driver was talking about traffic flow.
Mobile phone data charges are so high now, and they are no better than the 2G network in the past. Many drivers have the software on all day long, and their mobile phones are out of service due to arrears."
"You have to subsidize phone bills for drivers, not just passengers." Ma Yun, as an investor, immediately pointed out the problem.
"Dong Ma really hit the nail on the head." Tang An praised.
“Cheng Wei originally wanted to charge each driver an installation fee of three yuan, but now he has to subsidize the traffic fee.
But if there are no customers, sooner or later the driver will no longer use Didi because he has no business.
So I suggested to him that he send someone to use Didi app to hail a taxi around the Third Ring Road every day, which would cost him almost several thousand yuan every day.
It lasted for two months, and all the money on Angel Wheel was spent. The driver stayed on, but there were still no customers.
We have no choice, and I'm not afraid of burning money, but we can't burn money meaninglessly. Cheng Wei also went to all the mainstream investment institutions, including Ali, but no one was willing to invest money."
"Then what happened next?" Ma Yun asked curiously.
Today's Didi is just an ordinary emerging Internet company. There are many such companies across the country, but Ma Yun hasn't caught his eye yet and doesn't know much about them.
"God helped him." Tang An sighed.
“Last November, there was a heavy snowfall in Beijing, and many office workers couldn’t get a taxi at all, so they started trying Didi Taxi, which they had never used before.
That day, there were a thousand orders in the capital, and it started to get on the right track. In December, Zhu Xiaohu from Jinshajiang Venture Capital found Cheng Wei and wanted to invest US$2 million."
Ma Yun nodded, "Luck is also a necessary factor for success. Director Tang has found another good project."
"I hope I can survive the A round, but I invested another US$2 million." Tang An said.
A snowstorm left no one paying attention, and Didi, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, was resurrected, from an angel round valuation of less than 10 million yuan to an A round valuation of US$20 million.
Of course Tang An wanted to follow the investment and continued to invest another 2 million US dollars, leaving Zhu Xiaohu alone. The total shares reached 38.18%.
One person can monopolize the A round, but after the B round, other capital must be introduced, otherwise Didi will wait to be killed quickly.
Tang An and Ma Yun chatted here for more than half an hour, talking about everything from the Internet to real estate, domestically and abroad.
After listening to Tang An's talk about the scenery of Vatnajökull in Iceland, Ma Yun even said that he would definitely go back to the cinema to watch "Interstellar" in the summer next year. If it is really so beautiful, he would consider going there.
The two men chatted blindly for nearly an hour, but nothing interesting happened. Tang An lowered his head and glanced at the time, it was almost 10 o'clock.
Ma Yun then smiled and said, "It's getting late. I'm really sorry to have delayed Mr. Tang for so long."
"Being able to have a long talk with Chairman Ma is not an opportunity that ordinary people have. I have also benefited a lot."
After being polite, Tang An left.
Then Ma Yun's secretary Lin Qian walked in.
"Chairman, are you going back now?" Lin Qian asked.
"Let's go."
Ma Yun shook his head and sat up from the sofa.
Seeing him like this, Lin Qian thought for a while and asked, "Did your conversation with Director Tang not go well?"
Ma Yun smiled and said, "We talked about the film industry for three minutes at the beginning, and then we talked about serious matters."
Lin Qian was stunned. She didn't expect that Director Tang, who was so young, could not follow Ma Yun's rhythm during the conversation.
She still remembers how she agreed to be Ma Yun's secretary, and clearly remembers those two sentences:
I hope you can stay, see more, feel more. Give me a chance, and give yourself a chance to know more, and then I will support you in whatever decision you make.
Just two ordinary sentences, not even passionate or promising anything else, but at that time there seemed to be a kind of magic in Ma Yun's words that made people believe him without thinking.