Upon arriving at the destination, Jin Taiheng was already waiting downstairs.
After seeing Chen Pingjiang, he was very enthusiastic.
"Chairman Chen, please come in. Our company's negotiation team is already waiting in the conference room."
As a group of people prepared to head for the elevator, Chen Pingjiang let out a sound of surprise.
He didn't expect to encounter Liu Chiping here.
Liu Chiping was also quite surprised to see Chen Pingjiang:
"Chairman Chen, why are you here?"
Chen Pingjiang blinked, smiled, and said,
"I think President Liu already has the answer in his heart, doesn't he?"
Liu Chiping gave a wry smile:
"I didn't expect your Renren.com to also be interested in the game DNF."
Chen Pingjiang nodded:
"Renren.com itself has a gaming business, but it's social games. We also want to expand our product line and develop more diversely."
"Saying this might cause a misunderstanding, but I still have to say, Neople's requirements are quite high, and your company might not be able to meet them."
From Liu Chiping's perspective, it was truly absurd that Renren.com would come to represent DNF.
It's not that social media companies can't make games, but Renren.com hasn't even won its current battle yet, so how dare it step into another industry?
Liu Chiping couldn't help but think:
"Ah, it's a common problem with young people, they are a bit too ambitious and not steady enough."
Chen Pingjiang shrugged:
"You always have to try, even if I myself think it's just going through the motions."
After the two groups separated, a colleague next to Liu Chiping sneered:
"This President Chen of Renren.com is very energetic. He says he's 'going through the motions,' but he looks very confident."
"He's talking nonsense. As long as Neople hasn't gone crazy, there are ten thousand reasons to oppose their agency."
"I think so too. They've never done traditional online games, have no operational experience, no promotion team, and no point card channels."
Liu Chiping heard the chatter of his colleagues behind him and deeply agreed.
The last time they met, he thought Chen Pingjiang was a very capable young man, but now it definitely looks like he's making a bad move.
Normally, such business negotiations would take place in a third-party hotel's conference room, but Neople placed the negotiation venue within their company.
Jin Taiheng seemed to want to showcase the company's strength to Chen Pingjiang, and specifically took Chen Pingjiang on a tour inside Neople.
When they arrived at the conference room, Neople's negotiation team, led by Li Shixin, had been waiting for a long time.
"Chairman Chen is truly young and promising. We were very surprised to learn that you are still attending university. As far as I know, in Korea, no young person can compare to you."
Chen Pingjiang smiled modestly, and after a few polite exchanges, both sides began their initial contact.
Li Shixin immediately cut to the chase:
"As far as I know, Renren.com itself is a startup and does not have independent experience in operating an online game. I don't know what your advantages are?"
Chen Pingjiang shook his head:
"Shanda also had no experience in game operations before operating Legend, but that didn't prevent 'Legend' from becoming a very popular game. Experience can be learned; I can poach employees from competitors. But if we're unwilling to invest full resources into DNF, it will only lead to the game being lukewarm and ultimately missing out on a great opportunity."
"Although we lack experience in operating online games, don't forget that Renren.com is also a mature internet company. System hardware and advertising are not issues for Renren.com at all.
We can quickly build a ground promotion team and customer service system, and we can cooperate with large distributors for physical card distribution through various channels. Telecom value-added services and cross-industry collaborations are also not a problem."
"As for the advantages you just mentioned about us, let me show our sincerity. One hundred million RMB annually, with a revenue share of 60% for us and 40% for you."
Sure enough, as soon as Chen Pingjiang made the offer, Li Shixin raised an eyebrow, appearing somewhat tempted.
"These terms seem average?"
He was deliberately trying to trick Chen Pingjiang.
Chen Pingjiang smiled and said confidently:
"The information I received seems to indicate otherwise? My agency fee should be the highest, and other companies with the same revenue share ratio as mine would definitely not exceed me in terms of agency fees."
Chen Pingjiang had no intention of taking advantage; in fact, the Koreans are very shrewd, and Chen Pingjiang wouldn't be able to gain an advantage.
And even if Chen Pingjiang offered a high price, he wasn't afraid.
After DNF became popular, Neople would undoubtedly demand a price increase.
If Chen Pingjiang refused to increase the price, Neople would definitely terminate the cooperation and look for a new agent.
Blizzard is the best at this.
First, it abandoned The9 for NetEase; after NetEase worked hard for Blizzard for more than ten years, it was ruthlessly discarded again.
It was all about money.
"May I ask where you got this information? This kind of information should be confidential, right?"
Of course, Chen Pingjiang wouldn't tell the other party that he saw it in historical news.
"Excuse me, we need to suspend the meeting for a team discussion."
Li Shixin called a halt to the meeting and took a few of his subordinates to the room next door.
This is often encountered in negotiations, where participants on one side need to exchange ideas and report back.
After a while, Li Shixin returned with his people and sat down again.
"Chairman Chen has offered a price that is difficult to refuse, and I feel your sincerity in this regard. However, the problem remains that we have sufficient reason to worry about your operational capabilities. Please understand, this is very important to Neople; we are very optimistic about the Chinese market, we do not want to fail and cannot afford to fail."
After hearing the translator's rendition, Chen Pingjiang didn't bother to waste time and directly stated:
"If your side has a suitable plan, you can propose it for discussion."
Li Shixin said:
"The first option is to jointly register a joint venture company for co-operation. The second option is for your side to pay an additional sum of money, and we will send a guidance team."
Chen Pingjiang would naturally not agree to the first option.
He knew that DNF was bound to be a huge hit, so why would he share the profits with Neople?
Furthermore, it was foreseeable that the so-called new company would definitely face a lot of resistance from the Korean side during its operation.
As for the second option, it seemed feasible but was actually a trap.
Firstly, this amount of money would not be small.
Secondly, he didn't believe that Neople's operational experience in the Korean market could be applied to the domestic market.
"Sorry, I refuse."
Chen Pingjiang directly rejected it.
Li Shixin had originally thought Chen Pingjiang would seriously consider it, but he didn't expect such a decisive refusal.
"President Chen, won't you reconsider? In fact, this isn't a bad thing for your company, or if your company has any constructive suggestions, you can also put them forward."
Chen Pingjiang shook his head:
"No need to consider. Instead, I think your side should consider the price I offered."
Li Shixin chuckled, and although he hid it well, Chen Pingjiang could still discern a hint of disdain in his eyes:
"Then we'll talk again when there's an opportunity. I still have other companies to meet with, so please excuse me."
After leaving the Neople building, Liu Weimin was the first to approach, asking in confusion:
"President Chen, why didn't you consider their proposal?"
Chen Pingjiang scoffed:
"I'm here to discuss cooperation, not to find myself a father. And they dared to propose it, actually just waiting for us to refuse, merely looking for an excuse."
"So what do we do now?"
"We can't beat Tencent and the others through official channels. Let's try some unconventional tactics."
When they returned to the hotel, Shen Nanpeng had already arrived.
As soon as they met, Shen Nanpeng asked curiously:
"Why did you call me over in such a hurry, and what did you and your large group go to discuss?"
Back in Chen Pingjiang's suite, he said:
"A Korean online game company released a 2D fighting online game called 'Dungeon & Fighter' in 2005. It's currently being targeted by about thirty domestic online game companies, and we want to compete for it too."
Shen Nanpeng had thought of countless reasons for coming to Korea, but didn't expect this one:
"Renren.com is operating so well, why get into online games? Isn't the leap too big?"
"Big?"
Chen Pingjiang shook his head:
"Doesn't Tencent handle social games all by itself? In the future, I can completely spin off Renren Car Park and establish a new business group with the online gaming department. Moreover, I think this game will be incredibly popular in China."
"But..."
Shen Nanpeng was still searching for reasons to refute, but found none.
Yet, no matter how he looked at it, Renren.com getting into online games just seemed a bit out of place.
"Don't worry, everything is arranged on Renren.com's side. Xiaonei.com and QQ Zone won't be able to make waves, and I've even prepared pockets for Kaixin001, waiting for them to fall into. Besides, Sequoia is a shareholder of Renren.com, so Renren.com's interests are also your interests."
Renren Waimai had been spun off long ago and had no relation to Sequoia.
Chen Pingjiang sometimes even deliberately avoided suspicion, completely separating the people from Renren.com and Renren Waimai.
However, the game agency project could only be placed under Renren.com, so Sequoia would actually also benefit.
In the end, Shen Nanpeng nodded, acknowledging Chen Pingjiang's idea.
After all, Chen Pingjiang was not an ordinary founder; he was very strong.
With other weaker founders, Shen Nanpeng might have pushed back.
Furthermore, the explosive popularity of games like "Legend," "Audition," and "World of Warcraft" indeed made Shen Nanpeng somewhat tempted.
He trusted Chen Pingjiang's judgment; if "Dungeon & Fighter" could truly become a massive hit, it would be an immense fortune, and it would also mean Renren.com was one step closer to an IPO.
"So, what can I help you with? I don't have connections in Korea."
Chen Pingjiang said:
"Right now, domestic online game giants like Shanda, Tencent, The9, and other online game companies are all here. Renren.com truly cannot compete with them in terms of available resources; our initial meeting with Neople just now felt lacking in confidence."
"Although you don't have connections in Korea, you do in the US. Don't tell me a venture capital firm as big as Sequoia Capital has no projects in Korea. Besides, during the financial crisis in '97, Korean assets were bought up by Americans."
"Samsung is a shareholder of Neople, and its status in Korea is so high, who wouldn't give it some face?
And in Samsung's equity structure, foreign investors account for 55%, with over 80% of those shares held by American investment institutions, especially Wall Street's Citi and JPMorgan Chase. It shouldn't be difficult for your US headquarters to leverage some connections and link up with Samsung, right?"
Shen Nanpeng was completely enlightened by Chen Pingjiang's 'brainwashing'.
"You rascal, you're too cunning, to be able to play it this way. However, I have to admit, this move is indeed feasible. But, what do I get? Frankly, whether this game can become a huge hit is questionable. I don't think I can convince the US side to use so many connections for something uncertain."
Chen Pingjiang laughed heartily:
"Weren't you eyeing the Renren Waimai project before? We recently planned to add a group-buying feature to our external website, and I can directly let Sequoia in at an appropriate time."
The look of interest on Shen Nanpeng's face visibly intensified.
Internally, they were very optimistic about the new model of Renren Waimai.
Furthermore, for Chen Pingjiang, there was no loss at all.
Food delivery itself relies on a lot of manpower and will require a "hundred group-buy wars" later, necessitating a considerable amount of money.
Any investment is an investment, and Sequoia coming in is just perfect.
It's important to know that Meituan's rise was largely due to receiving seven or eight rounds of investment from institutions like Sequoia Capital, Alibaba, and General Atlantic.
A total investment of nearly four billion US dollars secured Meituan's future.
(End of Chapter)