“Why?” Zhao Yao asked, a little agitated after Huang He rejected him, no longer caring about fear.
“Because you’re not suited to be a secretary!” Huang He laughed. “Or rather, it would be a waste of talent to make you a secretary. I have a new plan, and I intend for you to be the first one to try it!”
“What plan?” Zhao Yao’s curiosity was immediately piqued. Huang Boss didn’t waste time, picked up a document from his desk, and placed it in front of Zhao Yao.
Zhao Yao picked up the document and glanced at it. It read, “Jiangnan Star Cultivation Plan.”
The Jiangnan Star sounded a bit like a “Star of the Kindergarten” or a “Star of the Class” in elementary school, a kind of honor. Zhao Yao initially found it somewhat childish.
However, after carefully reading the entire plan, he felt a surge of excitement from his pores.
In fact, the Jiangnan Star Cultivation Plan was more accurately a Jiangnan Satellite Cultivation Plan. Huang Boss intended to cultivate satellites orbiting the Jiangnan Group.
The core concept was to scout for outstanding young individuals nationwide each year, invest in them, fund their entrepreneurial ventures, and then wholeheartedly help them grow their businesses.
Ultimately, these burgeoning businesses would become satellites orbiting the Jiangnan Group. While not directly owned by Jiangnan Group, their shares would be intertwined in Huang Boss’s hands, forming a galactic system with Jiangnan Group as the central star and countless startups as its satellites.
Simply put, this was an investment plan by Huang Boss. He aimed to create an investment company like Goldman Sachs, ultimately building a vast network of companies that would mutually support each other’s growth and development, eventually dominating the market.
This was a plan that was just beginning, and he, Zhao Yao, seemed to be the first target of Huang He’s investment.
Thinking this, Zhao Yao was naturally incredibly excited.
However, Zhao Yao still had many questions, and Huang Boss noticed. He smiled and said, “You can ask me anything you want. I’ll answer whatever I can.”
“Why do you choose to invest in ordinary people like us instead of starting companies yourself? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?” Zhao Yao asked, puzzled.
“No, you’re wrong. This is more troublesome!” Huang He shook his head.
“How could it be more troublesome?” Zhao Yao asked, still confused.
“Let me ask you this: if you were to start your own business, not a big one, just a small shop responsible for delivering express packages for a district, how many people would you need to recruit? And that’s assuming you only manage the business and don’t do the actual work, leaving everything to your employees,” Huang He asked.
“Well… if it doesn’t require high skills, then probably just two or three people would be enough. I’d be responsible for managing the business, and then two or three delivery personnel should be sufficient!” Zhao Yao replied.
“Exactly, you only need to recruit two or three people. But if Jiangnan Group were to do this, it would be different. First, a dedicated direct affairs department would need to be established at headquarters, which would require at least one person!”
“Then, the finance department would also need to assign someone to handle financial matters, so that’s another one!”
“At the same time, we would definitely need to station a management person locally, so that’s another person.”
“Finally, this person would still need to recruit two or three employees. So, what takes you only three recruits to accomplish would require six people for the company!”
“This is the common problem companies face when they become large, which is the significant increase in management costs. You might not believe it, but currently, headquarters spends over 200 million yuan annually in additional management costs just to manage one national branch company.”
“However, if this branch company were not directly managed by the head office, but instead entrusted to entrepreneurs like you to be responsible for, the company would only need to supervise the finances and receive dividends based on its shares. This would save a lot of expenses on management costs!”
“Of course, these management expenses are all minor details. The most important thing is that my personal energy is limited. The number of companies I can manage is currently my personal limit. Any more, and they would have to be entirely handed over to senior executives. While I trust senior executives immensely, these companies are ultimately the company’s, not their own, so they definitely wouldn’t be as dedicated as if they were running them themselves.”
“More importantly, they would be afraid of making mistakes, wouldn’t think of innovation or change, and would only act according to my orders. Even if they encountered problems, they wouldn’t proactively make adjustments, causing the entire company’s administration to become rigid, and the development prospects to become stagnant!” Huang He said with a smile.
“Let me tell you a story. There were once two companies, one called Xiao Lan and the other called Xiao Ju. Both companies grew very large later, reaching trillion-dollar scales.”
“Then they both started diversifying and investing in more companies to expand their business territories.”
“However, in terms of managing their expansion, these two companies became vastly different.”
“Xiao Lan’s investment strategy was to only provide funding and obtain company shares, but they would never interfere with the management of the company or its founders. They simply acted as quiet angels, allowing these companies to develop independently.”
“Xiao Ju was different. Xiao Ju’s companies had their own corporate culture and management systems. Xiao Ju’s leadership believed their corporate culture and management systems were excellent and the best, and they wanted to promote this culture and system to all acquired companies!”
“Therefore, after acquiring a company, the first thing Xiao Ju would do was to parachute in senior executives, then push out the founders, and finally force the founders to leave, allowing Xiao Ju’s own executives to manage the company. Simultaneously, they would implement their own corporate culture and management systems within the company, completely turning the company into a subsidiary!”
“As both companies continued to expand and their markets increasingly overlapped, a war ensued between them, and the acquired companies became the front lines of the battlefield!”
“To everyone’s surprise, any company acquired by Xiao Ju was no match for Xiao Lan. These companies were all thoroughly defeated, lost their markets, and ultimately went bankrupt, were reorganized, or were quickly absorbed!”
“Therefore, I believe that companies should be managed by self-starting entrepreneurs like you, and I just need to be an angel providing funding!” Huang He finished his story, and Zhao Yao nodded vigorously, indicating he had deeply understood Huang Boss’s intentions.
However, Zhao Yao still had a question: “Then why me? If it’s me, why notify me now? Wouldn’t it be better at school?”
“Because the test of a person must be comprehensive!” Huang Boss said seriously. “You are the first target in my Starry Sky Project. You must succeed, otherwise, my plan will fail from the very beginning!”
“Therefore, I must test you comprehensively to see if you truly have the ability to shoulder this responsibility. In my opinion, whether an entrepreneurial project succeeds has little to do with the project itself, but a great deal to do with the entrepreneur.”
“You might not believe it, but after you left school, I have been paying close attention to you. I know your every move every day, even more clearly than you do!”
Then, Huang He gave two specific examples, both small incidents from Zhao Yao’s life that Zhao Yao himself couldn’t recall, but which Huang He recounted perfectly.
“…” Zhao Yao was stunned by what he heard.
Of course, Huang Boss’s behavior was a serious invasion of privacy, and Zhao Yao could have reported him to the police.
However, Zhao Yao didn’t consider these issues at all. He hadn’t expected Huang He to pay such close attention to him, which made Zhao Yao feel incredibly proud and honored, straightening his back.
“Boss, I, Zhao Yao, how can I possibly deserve this…” Zhao Yao was so moved that tears welled up.
“Actually, it is I who should be moved. You have not disappointed my expectations. Your performance over the past month has been excellent. You haven’t lost your composure due to unfair treatment at school, nor have you given up on yourself. Instead, you quickly adjusted your mindset, started planning for the future anew, and even began your own business. This is something I hadn’t anticipated, but you’ve achieved it. You are truly outstanding, the person I was looking for!” Huang He said with a smile.
“Then, Boss, since you know all these things, what do you think of the entrepreneurial project I’m currently working on…” Zhao Yao asked curiously after hearing Huang He’s words, as he himself wasn’t sure if his current errand-running business had enough development potential.
“How should I put this?” Huang Boss stroked his nose. “If you were just running errands at school, then let me tell you, your project has no future and is bound to fail sooner or later!”
“So…” Zhao Yao, who had been so excited moments before, suddenly looked very dejected.
“However, you’ve actually touched the edge of success. With just a slight adjustment to your plan, it will be a broad highway to success!” Huang He said with a smile. “And this is a highway that will be no less significant than the 00 network in the future.”
“Then how should it be adjusted?”
“I can’t tell you that. You have to try it yourself, comprehend it yourself, and find that path. After all, what others tell you is superficial. Only when you experience and discover it yourself can you truly grasp it!”
“But you can ponder these things slowly. For now, let’s sign the investment agreement. How much money do you want? Shall I invest one hundred million yuan for you first?”