The success of ICQ has made instant messaging software an indispensable part of the Internet industry. Although the entire industry has not yet found a good profit model, it does not prevent capital from being interested in this matter.

In the past three years, many instant messaging software such as QQ, CICQ, PICQ, 0ICQ, Internet Wizard have been born in China.

Among them, QQ is the leader in its excellent product experience and outstanding technical strength, and the number of registered users in China has exceeded 1 million.

Among the other companies, PonyMa's OICQ is the best development, relying on the luck of constantly getting ICQ and QQ, 0ICQ

The first one came, surpassing CICQ, PICQ and other seniors, and the registered users have reached 650,000.

The remaining company users are mostly between 100,000 and 300,000.

What restricts QQ's development at present is not the pressure from competitors, but the number of Chinese Internet users, which is similar to Netflix's development in the United States.

Just two days ago, Tao Xiwen went to the studio and just turned on the computer and logged into QQ, and saw a familiar and unfamiliar name leaving him a message - Pony.

I said that I am familiar with it because when I was operating Huiduo.com, Tao Xiwen and PonyMa had a lot of communication.

The reason why they say they are unfamiliar is that the two have never met in reality or even used the phone.

Tao Xiwen's view of PonyMa was very complicated. When the two were netizens, he felt that this child's technical strength and product thinking were very good, and he was a man of great ability.

But after PonyMa's pixel-level copy of QQ product ideas, Tao Xiwen completely lost favor to this kid.

How he isn't a thing!

Tao Xiwen has PonyMa's friend when he first went online for testing. Since the oICQ was launched, the two of them have had a tacit understanding and never contacted each other again.

PonyMa suddenly left a message to Tao Xiwen, leaving only a phone number, saying that he wanted to contact Tao Xiwen by phone. Although he couldn't figure out the other party's thoughts, he still called Pony based on the principle of being kind to others.

"PonyMa wants to sell you oICQ?" Lin Chaoyang's face was full of surprise.

Tao Xiwen nodded, "My expression was the same as you, and I was full of surprise. 0ICQ has a good development momentum. He suddenly wanted to sell it to me. My first reaction was whether this kid was going to put a trap on me."

Speaking of this, Tao Xiwen paused for a moment, and then said, "He knew that he would definitely not be able to win the trust of me easily when he did this suddenly. He probably wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible, and he did not cover up and told me all the difficulties facing 0ICQ now."

In the past six months, 0ICQ has been making a fortune by relying on ICQ and QQ's wool, but all of this just looks beautiful.

The lawyer's letter from AOL woke up PonyMa and several partners' dreams. When he received the lawyer's letter, PonyMa was so scared that he held a meeting overnight to discuss countermeasures.

In the eyes of them, American Online is a behemoth.

The current 0ICQ is not the Nanshan Pizza Hut in later generations. Not to mention that they have no money to file this lawsuit now.

Even if they went to fight, it would be a big disaster for a few people.

At this moment, it was raining all night, and their Tencent company only had 10,000 yuan in cash left.

In the absence of open source, they have two options: one is to increase capital and reduce salary, and the other is to sell Tencent.

The salary cut is nothing more than gritting your teeth and living a life, but the capital increase undoubtedly cost the lives of several partners.

This is not about taking out a few thousand yuan, but about hundreds of thousands. The most important thing is to take out these hundreds of thousands, but you can't see the time to recover your money.

So after thinking about it, selling the company might be a more enjoyable way.

After making a decision, PonyMa immediately began to look for people who were willing to pay. He first found the landlord of the office rented by Tencent, Shenzhen Sage Group.

But when Jin Haitao, the then deputy general manager of Seg Electronics, heard Ma Huateng's offer of 3 million yuan, he immediately shook his head. How could they dare to spend 3 million yuan of real money to invest in a software and company that could not even see the profit model clearly?

Besides, how much money did PonyMa’s company invest in, it sold them to Seg six times in less than a year. Isn’t this using Seg as a sucker?

Ma Huateng looked for Jin Haitao several times, but he refused mercilessly.

Later, PonyMa found 21CN, China North Paging Group, a subsidiary of Guangdong Telecom, but these people were either frightened by PonyMa's offer or were unable to see Tencent's future profit, with a maximum of 600,000 yuan.

This result made PonyMa very unwilling, not only because the money was just a few of their investors who made their capital back, but also because of the "work hard work" that has been despised by others for more than half a year.

In the process of finding a buyer for Tencent, the company's last bit of cash was finally exhausted, and several founders have begun to study how to borrow from relatives, friends and banks.

At this moment, PonyMa made a decision and contacted Tao Xiwen.

Without any last resort, PonyMa never wants to sell her efforts to her competitors, but now Tencent has reached a time of last resort.

Listening to Tao Xiwen finishing the conversation about contacting PonyMa, Lin Chaoyang asked, "What do you think now?"

"We are a little confused. We are the bosses in this field in China, so there is no need to pay attention to Pony and others. As long as we develop ourselves well, we can even drag them to death.

But on the other hand, Pony's and their software has indeed put some pressure on us in the past six months. It may be a good thing to spend some money to buy them.

But he offered 3 million yuan, which was really not a small amount—”

Lin Chaoyang joked: "Hasn't your stocks been lifted? Why, do you really want to ask me for financing again?"

Tao Xiwen showed shame, "I mainly hesitated whether to acquire Tencent, whether it is worth it."

Faced with his inner troubles, Lin Chaoyang did not feel any embarrassment at all, and said relaxedly: "Then do you think about it differently?"

"A different way?"

"How many competitors do QQ have in the country now?"

Tao Xiwen hesitated for a moment, "Tencent is one, and the others are barely two."

"That's three companies. Now you have to spend 9 million to win all these competitors. In the future, the domestic instant messaging field will be your monopoly. Will you do it?"

Tao Xiwen is a smart person, and he immediately understood the key to this matter.

Spending money to buy rival companies is not only to enhance their own strength, but also to weaken competitors.

This layer of window paper was pierced, and Tao Xiwen's thoughts were immediately understood, as if he had figured out a lot of things at once.

His eyes were bright and he smiled lightly, "I knew it was right to look for you. I understood it as soon as you said this. This money must be spent. If there is a rival company of this size in the future, I will collect one."

"Okay, since I figured it out, I'll have nothing to do."

Lin Chaoyang was talking and got up and was about to leave the study, but was stopped by Tao Xiwen.

"What does it mean?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Tao Xiwen laughed apologetically, "You sit first, you sit first."

After Lin Chaoyang sat down again, he said, "I took 2 million yuan from you last time, and it has been half the cost. I will not be able to acquire Pony's company!"

Lin Chaoyang looked at him with a funny look, "I have to pay for it if I have a joint effort?"

"You misunderstood. Now that my stocks are all lifted, how can you pay by yourself?

Mainly, I think, you are our early investors, how can you dilute the shares if you dilute them? Besides, you are not short of money."

Lin Chaoyang felt that after opening a company for two years, this eldest nephew is indeed different now. This kid's mouth was not so colorful before.

"Tell me, how much does it cost?"

Tao Xiwen stretched out a finger.

The last round of financing was 2 million yuan, and the acquisition of Tencent costs 3 million yuan, but what he wants is naturally not 100,000, 1 million yuan.

"10 million? Do you really dare to think that the valuation has increased so much in just half a year?"

Tao Xiwen is young after all, and she has not yet mastered her face. She said guiltily: "I ask for a price all over the world, and I will pay back the money after I put it in the ground. Besides, I will pay half of the 20% stake this time, 10 million shares. What do you think?"

It took only half a year for QQ's valuation to expand from 6.7 million to 50 million yuan. Because of Lin Chaoyang's support, there was some suspicion of cheating.

But this is also the best instant messaging software in China. Sina Sohu raises millions of dollars in every financing.

In comparison, this valuation of QQ is nothing.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything, Tao Xiwen explained: "In addition to acquiring Pony's company, I also plan to expand the markets in Xiangjiang, Wandao and Southeast Asia."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chaoyang showed a surprised look.

But after thinking about it, I understand that after QQ acquired 0ICQ, it has occupied most of the domestic instant messaging field. As long as it does not commit suicide, its future development will definitely be firmly in the top spot in this field.

Now, the growth rate of domestic Internet users is not fast enough, which in turn restricts the development of QQ.

In this case, it is also a good choice to explore overseas markets.

Tao Xiwen targeted Hong Kong and Taiwan, so the Southeast Asian market would be even more wise. Hong Kong and Taiwan have the same language and ethnicity, and there are also a large number of Chinese in Southeast Asia.

Moreover, these places are all emerging markets, unlike those developed countries in Europe and the United States, which have been occupied by ICQ, so it is much easier to cultivate them.

"After you say that, 10 million seems to be a little less."

Tao Xiwen smiled even more when she heard this, and said with a stick as she beat the snake and said:

"Yes, yes, it costs a lot to explore overseas markets. Actually, I just said that 10 million was just considered in the market of Xiangjiang and Wandao. If you want to open up the Southeast Asian market, it would not be possible without tens of millions."

"Don't think about good things. You want money before you do your job? Let's talk about it when you're really bouncing outside."

Tao Xiwen's expression was a bit regrettable, but it was already very good to get 10 million yuan in financing.

"I have a small request!" he said.

"What request?"

"Can you invest in this financing in Company X?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at Tao Xiwen unexpectedly. He was not surprised that Tao Xiwen knew that x investment belonged to him.

Although he didn't talk about his investments with his family, he didn't deliberately hide them. Tao Xiwen knew that this was not uncommon. What surprised him was why Tao Xiwen had to change his name.

But when he thought about it, he immediately understood that many of the projects he invested in in the past two years are popular companies in Silicon Valley, which are in the limelight and are very famous in the Internet industry.

Nowadays, it is famous in the United States, which represents global popularity.
To be continued...