Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

He Desheng hesitated for a moment. "Boss Pei… what if we use the money earned from selling those profitable companies to invest in the companies in the queue and these companies lose money?"

Pei Qian said, "I'll pay for it."

He Desheng nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei."

He Desheng did not ask too much. Boss Pei had set this rule long ago. It might seem unreasonable, he still had to follow it firmly.

To Pei Qian, investing in this way could ensure that the funds in his hands were consumed quickly.

The downloadable content of these two games had been selling very well. Now that another unexpected sum of money had been transferred to his account, what better to do with them than to fill holes up?

However… which hole should he fill?

Pei Qian looked around. It seemed like these five companies with not much movement were the best choice. However, the problem was… they still had a lot of money in their accounts.

It was normal thinking about it. The reason why there was no movement was because they could not bear to use money for marketing. If they were willing to spend money, there would have been movement long ago.

For a company like that, Boss Pei would have to think twice about giving money.

What's the use of giving you if you were to spend money so slowly?

Thus, he had to choose from the companies that could spend money.

"Which of these companies spend the most money in the shortest period of time?" Pei Qian asked.

He Desheng answered immediately. "Of course, it's Meng Chang's Cold-Faced Lady."

Pei Qian continued asking, "How's the management going over there?"

He Desheng thought for a while and said, "I went to the capital once to take a look. I also went to the shop to eat their roasted cold noodles. How should I put it… The current situation in the shop is quite explosive."

"When I went there, there was a long queue outside the shop. It looked like business was doing well. Some online media seemed to have reported about it."

"However, some of these reports were done because he paid for them, the Cold-Faced Lady spent a huge portion of marketing expenses on this. I'm not sure how much of the information is hidden in this line."

"However… the food tastes alright. It's about the same as the average high-end noodle restaurant. The environment, quality, and ritual feel are better. Some of the signature dishes are being subsidized."

"What we can be sure of is that most of the people in the queue were real customers, but some of them could be fake."

Pei Qian: "There are subsidies for meals?"

He Desheng nodded. "That's right. For example, the Best Seller Roasted Cold Noodles were actually sold for a loss of one or two yuan. That's because the raw materials used were the most expensive in the supply chain. Coupled with manpower and transport costs, there's not much profit margin."

"Of course, whether the customers are able to taste the difference is another matter altogether…"

"According to Meng Chang, this is called 'from point to area'. It is to increase the quality-price ratio of some of the signature products by using the best raw materials and put money on it to lower the price. It would make customers feel that these signature products are absolutely worth the price. That way, they would be able to increase their visibility and increase their market share faster."

"These subsidies can be earned back by launching new dishes in the future."

"However, to generate profits in the short term is almost impossible."

"Therefore, all expenses added together would allow the Cold-Faced Lady to spend money very quickly. Of course, their popularity would also increase the fastest."

"Hmm…" Pei Qian fell into deep thought.

He had heard about this Cold-Faced Lady project many times. He had learned a lot about this project from hearing about it.

He had to admit that Meng Chang was an expert at spending money. Other companies were careful with their investments, spending two to three million yuan in half a year or a year. However, Meng Chang dared to spend all of it in a month.

To Pei Qian, this was a genius at spending money.

The reason why Pei Qian hesitated was mainly because he was hesitant about which company he should spend his money on.

He could not continue investing in companies that had made money. He had to sell them immediately. There was nothing much to say.

Companies that did not make money and did not make a splash looked very safe, but they were not necessarily safe in reality. This was because such companies were often meticulous in their calculations. They were silent because they had not started marketing. What if they were potential stocks and others continued to invest heavily?

What's more, these companies were spending too slowly. Pei Qian felt uneasy about investing in them.

On the other hand, companies like the Cold-Faced Lady might be loud but they spent money quickly.

There was a saying that went "secure the profits". To Pei Qian, it was transformed into "secure the losses". He would only feel at ease after these companies spent their money. Otherwise, he would feel like they were time bombs that would explode at any moment.

From the looks of it, choosing the Cold-Faced Lady was indeed a good choice.

If the popularity of the Cold-Faced Lady was forcibly created and could not generate profits in the end, the investment would be wasted.

He would sell the Cold-Faced Lady if it really started making profits.

Pei Qian pondered for a while and finally made up his mind. "Invest one or two million yuan in those companies that are not profitable and have yet to spend all their money. Don't invest too much."

"Invest six million yuan in the Cold-Faced Lady."

He Desheng did not ask much and nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei."

Pei Qian suddenly thought of something and said, "That's right, add a condition for the six million yuan investment in the Cold-Faced Lady. It has to be kept a secret so that Meng Chang cannot reveal that Tengda was the one who paid for it under any circumstances."

He Desheng was stunned but still nodded. "Alright."

He did not know how many rounds of consideration Boss Pei had during this period of time or how many layers of thoughts he had been thinking about. However, since Boss Pei had already decided to invest, he must have planned everything and had absolute confidence in winning.

Pei Qian flipped through the information in front of him symbolically again, thinking that this should be foolproof.

Continue to invest in the companies that did not earn money. Invest more in those with higher risk and less in those with lower risk. It was very reasonable.

The main reason why he emphasized on keeping the six million yuan a secret was because he was worried that situation with 'Top Student, Come Quick' would happen again. If investors heard that Dream Realization Ventures had invested six million yuan into the Cold-Faced Lady wouldn't they invest in the company and increase the company's valuation?

What if it really became popular?

Spending six million yuan on the Cold-Faced Lady when he only invested one or two million yuan in other companies would definitely arouse suspicion and lead to uncontrollable consequences.

That was why Pei Qian had specifically requested for Meng Chang to keep this investment a secret.

Of course, Pei Qian did not expect this information to be completely covered up and be airtight. He only hoped that it could be hidden for as long as possible and minimize the impact.

In any case, based on Meng Chang's spending speed, he would definitely be able to spend all his money before the news spread. That would do.

…

After Boss Pei left, He Desheng began to call the founders of several companies.

"Hello? Boss Zheng, it's like this. Tengda is preparing to transfer all of your company's shares. The other shareholders have the right to buy first. You can discuss and see if you want to introduce third-party capital…"

Boss Zheng's company was one of the two companies that had made profits.

On the other end of the line, Boss Zheng was stunned when he heard that He Desheng wanted to transfer their shares.

According to the law, the company's shareholders could not withdraw their funds at will. That would constitute a capital evasion and they had to transfer shares through normal channels.

However, the problem was… why was Tengda selling their shares?

Boss Zheng felt very confused. That's not right. Didn't our company just earn money? Didn't we just see the light at the end of the tunnel? Yet, Tengda lost its cool and decided to sell all their shares?

Boss Pei should not be so short-sighted.

What's more, this could not be considered short-sighted but stupid. Normal people would not do something so stupid.

Was Boss Pei stupid? Of course not!

That was why Boss Zheng was so confused.

After a moment of silence, President Zheng said, "Boss He, to be honest, if the other shareholders and I could buy back all of Tengda's shares we would wake up laughing even in my dreams."

"However, I don't want to do that because I won't forget my roots."

"Tengda lent us a helping hand and provided us with life-saving funds when our company was experiencing the most difficult time. Now that the company's financial situation has improved and we can see the light of day, we can also make profits. We can all develop very well no matter whether we are to seek other funding or to slowly develop by ourselves."

"Then, Boss He, why do you want to transfer shares now? Even if you transfer shares now, you won't be able to earn much money, right? You have to trust us. If you continue to hold shares, you will definitely be able to earn more…"

He Desheng smiled. "Boss Zheng, it's not that I don't trust you, that's definitely not the case here. However, this is Boss Pei's rule. We will transfer our shares and withdraw from a company that earns money. As for why, I don't know. You don't have to ask. I'm just an executor of his will."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

After a long time, Boss Zheng sighed. "I see. I understand."

"Boss Pei is giving us timely help! He lent us a helping hand when we were at our most difficult time, and then retired after we had overcome our difficulties. His magnanimity is admirable!"

"Whether Boss Pei's goal is to build good karma or simply to help others, we will remember this kindness!"

"Don't worry, Tengda will be our eternal friend from now on. We will definitely find a way to repay this favor!"

Anyone who could be the boss of a company was not stupid. After some consideration, they figured out the reason.

It was reasonable to say that investing in a start-up company was the most risky investment because most companies would close down and go bankrupt. Only a small number of companies would make it to the end.

As for those investors who were passionate about investing in start-up companies, they hoped that one of the ten companies would be able to expand and make up for the losses of the other nine companies.

Once a company with good prospects appeared, they would definitely try their best to keep their shares and find the most suitable opportunity to sell them at a high price to maximize their profits.

The situation with Boss Zheng's company had just improved, it did not look like it was at the highest point.

Now that Tengda had decided to transfer shares back, it was no different from doing charity!

Helping others in times of difficulty, turning around to leave after seeing the light of dawn, how noble was that spirit!

Of course, Dream Realization Ventures had also profited from this investment. It was just that they had not earned that much. However, to Boss Zheng, this was a form of sacrifice, a form of contribution!

He Desheng was also embarrassed by the praise. He quickly explained, "Actually, you don't have to take it to heart. This is Boss Pei's rule. It's the same for other companies…"

Boss Zheng said, "That's exactly why it's so touching! Boss Pei helped us not out of personal relationships but out of righteousness and faith."

"Boss He, you don't have to say anything. We will remember this kindness. If you have anything you want to work with us in the future, feel free to ask!"

After calling two profitable companies, the two bosses were equally grateful.

He Desheng called the companies which had spent quite a bit of money but with still no sign of profitability.

"Hello? Boss Liu, how are you? It's like this. Dream Realization Ventures is planning to give you another million yuan, I'm calling to let you know in advance."

Boss Liu, who was on the other end of the line, was stunned as well. He was in disbelief. "Huh? Invest another million yuan?"

He Desheng nodded. "Yes, is there a problem?"

Boss Liu quickly said, "No problem, of course there's no problem! I'm just a little surprised. Our current business situation is not very good. We're far from making profits. We spent money but did not see any results. I was just thinking hard on how to go about telling you this…"

"I didn't expect you to trust us so much! Thank you, thank you so much!"