Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 90 You in Heat and Me Heartless

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

He Shan glanced down at Xu Liang.

Xu Liang closed the folder.

"Mr. Ren," his tone was completely different from five minutes ago, "would it be convenient for you to wait a moment? I need to ask my superiors."

"certainly."

Xu Liang got up and left the meeting room, while He Shan stayed behind to keep him company. The two sat facing each other, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

He Shan was previously the deputy editor-in-chief of Tencent.com. Like Ren Pingsheng, he came from a content creation background, so there was no sense of distance between them.

The two talked more and more deeply, from the conversion chain of game integration to the user mindset cultivation cycle, and from the future of traditional media to the impact of new channels like Weibo on content distribution.

He Shan was particularly interested in Ren Pingsheng's views on Weibo.

Half an hour later, the door was pushed open.

Xu Liang returned, followed by someone.

Around forty years old, wears glasses, and walks with a brisk pace.

Peng Zhijian.

General Manager of M&A Department at Penguin Capital, the key figure in Penguin's investment strategy.

In his previous life, he spearheaded Tencent's investments in JD.com, Dianping, and Didi, and was one of the key figures driving Tencent's shift from a closed to an open platform.

Ren Pingsheng stood up.

"Mr. Ren, hello," Peng Zhijian extended his hand and shook it firmly. "Xu Liang just reported to me that your business model is very interesting."

Without much formality, he sat down and opened the notebook that Xu Liang had handed him.

He read very quickly; the speed at which he turned the pages indicated that he had already listened to the verbal report and was now simply verifying the details.

"A few questions," Peng Zhijian looked up. "First, how do we solve the production capacity bottleneck? With six people and four games a year, it's not enough to serve Tencent's game portfolio."

"Once the funding is secured, we will immediately expand the team to fifteen to twenty people, and we expect production capacity to at least triple."

Second, is it exclusive or non-exclusive?

"Not exclusive, but Penguin has the right of first refusal to cooperate under the same conditions."

Peng Zhijian nodded.

Exclusivity means locking in one company to provide content services, preventing the content from growing and its influence from expanding, ultimately starving Tencent and wasting its investment.

This young man understands things clearly.

"Third, what about the domain name?"

"The injected biographies are treated as company assets and are exclusively and permanently licensed to Tencent for use, but may not be used for purposes unrelated to Weibo's business. Specific terms will be separately agreed upon in the investment agreement."

Peng Zhijian drew a horizontal line on the paper and looked up at him.

"What about the valuation?"

"Based on existing IP assets and proven business models, and using this year's expected net profit of 2000 million as a benchmark, we take a conservative industry valuation of 10 times."

Ren Pingsheng didn't beat around the bush: "I plan to sell 15% of my shares at a pre-investment valuation of 200 million yuan to conduct a joint financing round with Tencent and Baidu iQiyi."

Peng Zhijian paused for a moment, then wrote, "Joint financing? iQiyi is involved too?"

"Yes, Gong Yu has expressed his intention to invest, but the specific terms have not yet been finalized."

Peng Zhijian leaned back in his chair and tapped the table twice with his fingers.

A pre-investment valuation of 200 million is fair for a high-growth content company that has proven its profitability, and a PE ratio of 10 is reasonable.

I originally planned to exert some pressure at the negotiating table as usual, but now that Baidu is on my side, I have no room for maneuver.

On the other hand, the entry of Baidu means that Shengping's content can leverage the traffic pools of both Tencent and Baidu, making it even more valuable for game customer acquisition.

Peng Zhijian glanced at Xu Liang, who nodded slightly.

"Okay," Peng Zhijian closed his notebook. "We approve of the joint financing. I will report your proposal to Pony. If there are no major disagreements, the three parties should start negotiating the investment ratio and equity structure as soon as possible."

He stood up and extended his hand.

"Looking forward to cooperation."

Ren Pingsheng grasped his hand. "Looking forward to cooperating."

Xu Liang escorted him downstairs.

In the elevator, he couldn't help but glance at Ren Pingsheng a couple more times.

"Mr. Ren, if I may ask, how old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

Xu Liang smiled but didn't say anything more, though his heart was far from calm.

A young man who makes online videos walked into the Tencent building and secured a multi-million dollar investment offer in less than three hours.

It's worth noting that Tencent's largest investment last year was only $800 million in Riot Games.

This matter would keep the investment and M&A department busy for a week.

Stepping out of the Tencent Building, the March sunshine in Shenzhen was already quite warm.

A taxi stopped in front of him, and Ren Pingsheng opened the door and got in.

"Driver, to the airport."

He leaned back in the back seat and closed his eyes to rest, but his mind was still racing.

The path ahead is clear.

The first step is to complete the asset confirmation of the three domain names as soon as possible, changing personal ownership to company assets, which is a prerequisite for financing.

The second step is to wait for "Old Boys" to be released, use data to solidify the valuation, and then finalize the investment agreement with Tencent and iQiyi.

Once the funding is secured, we'll expand the team, sign artists, and start the next project.

At the same time, we will further deepen our ticketing cooperation with Gewara. With the Lunar New Year film season over and Avatar soon to be taken off the screens, there will be a window of opportunity for theaters to close. We can take advantage of this time to advance the cooperation and ensure that the process runs smoothly.

When the summer and National Day holidays arrive, Gewara will be able to continue to expand its reach.

But these are all just the obvious moves; Ren Pingsheng has an even bigger hand hidden in his heart.

In the second half of this year, the 3Q War will corner Ma Huateng.

After that war, a man named Cheng Wu will join Tencent and propose a pan-entertainment strategy.

From that moment on, all content industries—film, animation, literature, music—will be considered by Penguin as part of its ecosystem.

By then, LifeView will no longer be a content company that helps games acquire customers.

It will become the earliest entrant, the most knowledgeable about users, and the most data-driven content brand in Tencent's pan-entertainment landscape.

As a shareholder and founder, Ren Pingsheng's influence within the Tencent ecosystem will increase as this strategy progresses.

That's why he didn't wait until the 3Q War was over before going to find Tencent.

If you wait until everyone understands before sitting down at the table, there won't be a place for you.

My phone vibrated; it was a message from Bai Ke.

"Brother Pingsheng, the promotional video for 'Old Boys' has been shared over five million times today. Youku called to ask about it, but I turned them down as you said."

Ren Pingsheng replied with an "okay," then asked, "What's the situation on Souhu's side?"

Bai Ke replied immediately: "Yes, the trailer for 'Puberty' was on the homepage of Sohu Video today."

Ren Pingsheng opened the screenshot sent by Bai Ke.

The trailer poster for "Puberty" took up a full third of the homepage of Sohu Video.

In the picture, a girl with her school uniform open and biting her lip is seen, her cleavage faintly visible.

Title: Adolescence—How Do You, in Your Heat, and Me, in Our Heartlessness, Face This Promiscuous World?

Launch date: March 15.

Ren Pingsheng stared at the date, then looked at Souhu's clumsy imitation of his promotional copy, and a smile crept onto his lips.

Alex has learned to be smart and knows how to leverage existing resources.

The overwhelming wave of nostalgia hype these past few days has essentially given him a free market education.

If you release a film that's marketed as a youth film at this time, regardless of the content, the box office numbers will be good just because of the emotional momentum it generates.

But he only learned the basics.

He thought that the nostalgia that Ren Pingsheng had stirred up could be intercepted by any youth-themed content.

But he didn't know that there are barriers between different emotions.

Nostalgia is a key that can open more than one door. If you use the same key to open a door filled with softcore pornography, the audience will only feel cheated.

Ren Pingsheng picked up his phone and sent a message to Bai Ke.

"Ignore them and proceed according to the original plan."

After sending it, he thought for a moment and added another message.

"Release the trailer for 'Old Boys' on Weibo on the 14th."

It was released one day earlier than "Puberty".

It's not about grabbing traffic, but about letting everyone see the trailer for "Old Boys" before watching "Adolescence".

In this way, when they click on "Puberty" with high expectations and find that it's full of thighs and softcore pornography, the sense of disappointment will be maximized.

This sense of disappointment will turn into double the anticipation when they click on "Old Boys" two days later.

Alex, you think you're riding my coattails?

Little did I know, you were the one who brought me good fortune.

My phone vibrated again.

Wang Li.

"Director Ren, I've made up my mind. Can we meet again tomorrow?"