Chapter 1 苏业豪的安排

A few months ago, when Su Yehao arranged to open a branch on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, he transferred a group of people from KOKO Ventures in Hong Kong.

The headquarters, on the other hand, recruited some new people.

Lin Youfeng, the vice president, was one of them. This 39-year-old middle-aged man had worked in Singapore for many years and held a doctorate from the Paris Business School.

Lin Youfeng originally thought that by latching onto a Yahoo shareholder and a third-generation entrepreneur, he would have the opportunity to show his talents. However, after joining the company, he ended up resting for more than two months, with his only task being to help Su Yehao collect some information.

A dozen people were stationed in an office building covering several hundred square meters, and they had to shout to call someone, otherwise they couldn't be heard from a distance.

What they usually did couldn't be said to be completely unrelated to venture capital, but Yinhai Software was independent, and TAT, TVT, TOT, and other companies with strange names each had their own management systems, not to mention the newly acquired ICQ.

The business seemed to be expanding quite a bit, but their achievements had nothing to do with Vice President Lin Youfeng. Occasionally, he collected some seemingly reliable projects, but they were all rejected by Su Yehao, who simply said that the company didn't have enough funds.

Little by little.

Lin Youfeng also learned from his other colleagues and placed a tea set in the office, drinking tea and surfing the Internet, browsing forums, reading news, and playing Spider Solitaire games when he had nothing to do, more leisurely than retirement.

If it weren't for the monthly salary of 20,000 yuan being deposited into his account on time every month, he would even think that Su Yehao had forgotten about the existence of this company.

He heard that things were also very idle on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, only needing to help Su Yehao's companies find reliable new technologies and do odd jobs such as helping to negotiate prices.

Today.

The fax machine suddenly printed out information about the Japanese SK-II cosmetics company, along with an asset appraisal report. It was obviously a matter of financing or acquisition, which excited Lin Youfeng.

After sharpening the gun for so long, it was finally time to use it. Lin Youfeng immediately gathered his staff for a meeting. Excluding the cleaning staff, front desk, and security guards, there were only eight people sitting in the conference room, which seemed empty.

At this moment.

Vice President Lin Youfeng asked everyone to spend five minutes going through the information at hand and excitedly said, "Let's all talk about it. What do you think of this investment project?"

A young woman asked with a puzzled tone, "Is this... a new project for us to be responsible for financing? Our company doesn't seem to be involved in this area. Most of it is the Internet, as well as tourism and real estate."

"Could someone have sent it to the wrong place? Our company's machine faxes automatically. It wouldn't be strange if someone entered the wrong number."

"..."

Lin Youfeng's expression froze. He thought that this was really possible and said, "It shouldn't be, right? McKinsey Consulting has our contact information. Otherwise, who will make a phone call and ask who requested the information?"

It was hard to come by a project, and the thought that it might be a misunderstanding made everyone present feel like they had swallowed a fly.

They were bored out of their minds every day.

To put it bluntly, they were really tired of this kind of work. Some colleagues who originally had no plans to work in the United States had signed up to be transferred to the Silicon Valley branch simply because it was too boring here.

Resting for a day or two was comfortable, and resting for a week or two was also comfortable, but some people had been spacing out for more than half a year.

They went to work confused and left work confused. When their wives and husbands asked them at home, they couldn't even say what they had done, which was really torturous.

Fortunately.

After the investment director contacted the staff at McKinsey and learned that it was indeed Su Yehao's arrangement, and that he had specifically requested a valuation, everyone's faces began to glow with enthusiastic smiles. They were so relieved.

What were they waiting for?

First, they actively analyzed the cosmetics market.

The tasks that needed to be assigned were actively taken on by everyone, and they spoke enthusiastically, even discussing trying to make contact and forming a team to investigate SK-II's headquarters.

Even though it was just a skincare company, at this point, how could they be picky?

It was already great to have something to do.

The people who could enter the company all had some skills. In addition to the entry requirements of a master's degree from a prestigious university and three years of work experience, some had also been managers in other companies. They had a wealth of skills but nowhere to use them, and they couldn't even find a reason to give out bonuses...

When Su Yehao arrived at the company with Nong Qingying.

Vice President Lin Youfeng appeared at the first opportunity and said with a smile, "Boss Su, Ms. Nong, I received the SK-II materials and have already held a meeting with them and studied them carefully."

"It was just sent, right? You've already studied it?"

Su Yehao asked in surprise.

Lin Youfeng smiled wryly in his heart, thinking that the young boss was really rich and generous, and probably didn't know anything about the situation at KOKO Ventures.

He really wanted to complain that he had finally found something to relieve his boredom.

But such words were too offensive, and it was easy to get fired for loafing around, so he said with a smile, "I just happened to have some free time, so we discussed it during the morning meeting. The situation of that Japanese company is not bad. Last year, its performance increased by 11%, and the year before that, it increased by 16%. The market is concentrated in Japan, so there is room for development."

"Well, I heard that their skincare products are good. Qingying chose the project, so talk to her about the specifics. First, give me the information you bought."

Su Yehao nodded to the other employees as a greeting.

He unexpectedly found that everyone was working hard when he made a surprise visit to KOKO Ventures today, which made him feel very satisfied.

It was just a coincidence.

If he had come half an hour earlier, these employees would have been drinking coffee or gossiping, and some would have been using newspapers and magazines to kill time.

The current focus of development was on wealth management and entrepreneurship, and there was indeed not enough investment in venture capital, mainly because it was difficult to find startups that satisfied Su Yehao.

Su Yehao came to the office and began to read the SK-II investigation report.

There were a lot of overviews, business philosophies, technical advantages, etc., which were not important at all. He skimmed through them and finally found that the valuation model, based on financial data, concluded that the total value of SK-II was only about $43 million.

He smiled after reading it and said to Nong Qingying, "It's cheaper than I thought. You're spending more than $2 million just to get the distribution rights, which is obviously not worth it."

Nong Qingying hadn't seen the back yet. She frowned as she browsed through it and said speechlessly:

"Good heavens, the distribution fee they want from me is almost equal to its net profit last year. Fortunately, I discussed it with you first. I almost got scammed."

"Overall, the brand influence is not big enough, but the products have advantages. It's worth investing in it to try it out. I didn't spend my own money to buy the building, and I can still get a loan from Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank. If it only costs more than $40 million to acquire it, there's no pressure on me. Do you want to be a boss?"

Su Yehao not only knew the SK-II brand, but also bought it for his girlfriend. He vaguely remembered spending more than 1,000 yuan, and the sales were particularly high.

He himself was not interested, but it was very suitable as a business for Nong Qingying to practice with...