My American magical life
Chapter 429 - 429 60 The Sinful Fate of Cheng Daqi and Elder Jia

429: Chapter 60: The Sinful Fate of Cheng Daqi and Elder Jia 429: Chapter 60: The Sinful Fate of Cheng Daqi and Elder Jia “CEO Cheng, we’ve already discussed three candidates, but you’ve found none of them suitable.”

“How about we schedule a time to meet and talk?

We can further refine the requirements, which will help us do our job.”

Dong Zecheng, the head of the media division at a well-known headhunting firm, had been giving it his all to find someone on behalf of Cheng Daqi.

Shanhaiguan is the new star of the venture capital circle, with a visibly promising future.

As a headhunting company, they attach great importance to such potential clients.

However, Cheng Daqi’s standards were still too high.

Dong Zecheng wanted to meet with CEO Cheng to discuss and perhaps persuade him to relax the criteria somewhat.

“Come to Heron Island, as soon as possible, preferably tomorrow.”

Cheng Daqi hung up the phone and anxiously massaged his temples, a habit that psychologically helped relieve his stress.

The live recruitment at Shanhaiguan was very successful, but the right COO was still nowhere to be found.

Speaking of which, Cheng Daqi didn’t think his requirements were high, it’s just that Shanhaiguan’s business was too complex.

As an MCN agency, the COO of Shanhaiguan needed to have experience in the media industry, or at least in product management if not media.

The characteristics of the cultural and media industry required that this COO possess the ability to grasp popular trends.

Finally, since Shanhaiguan relies on an Internet short video platform, it would be ideal if the COO had experience in the Internet industry.

There are actually quite a few people with these three types of experiences, but most of them don’t need to switch jobs.

It’s 2018 now, and talent is really hard to find and very valuable.

If only it were a year and a half later…

Forget about an annual salary of a million, even five hundred thousand would have candidates bursting through the door.

——————

Dong Zecheng’s name was very distinctive, but he was the epitome of a standard urban white-collar professional from his demeanor alone, exuding a sense of career focus.

It’s just that compared with CEO Cheng, he still fell a little short, with most of the conversation dominated by CEO Cheng.

Just when Dong Zecheng thought the Shanhaiguan deal might fall through, Cheng Daqi shifted the conversation and made an unexpected move.

“Zecheng, are you interested in joining us at Shanhaiguan?”

Huh?

Me?

Dong Zecheng was momentarily stunned before he replied.

“CEO Cheng, I’m not really suitable, after all, my family isn’t on Heron Island.

Among those I recommended to you, there was a local talent from Heron Island, right?

She actually meets your requirements quite well.”

“Meiyou operates in a small field.

Those coming from there…

they’re still not quite right.

I think you’re pretty good, being the leader of the headhunter media division shows you have experience in this industry.”

Cheng Daqi had already lost hope of finding the right person in a short period of time, especially not wanting someone from Dongxin, so he chose to try to entice Dong Zecheng to join.

This guy was reliable and had industry experience.

Plus, he could later move to the HR department.

The key point was that his asking price wouldn’t be too high.

He was a classic, economically viable talent, someone they could start with.

“CEO Cheng, you shouldn’t bring up my experience, speaking of which, I used to work under Boss Jia.”

Dong Zecheng laughed bitterly, not knowing quite how to explain.

“Boss Jia?

Which Boss Jia?” Cheng Daqi had his suspicions.

“I used to be the advertising director at LeSports, CEO Cheng.

You know what happened after that; I returned to my hometown and joined a friend’s headhunting firm, taking charge of the media division.”

Dong Zecheng’s answer was quite interesting, implicitly hinting, but at the same time not rejecting, not making a stand, not taking responsibility—much like a seasoned player skilled in recruitment gamesmanship.

“LeEco is also considered a semi-Internet company, and I remember LeSports was doing well back then.

How is it now?”

Cheng Daqi wasn’t in a hurry and made some casual conversation.

“It seemed flourishing, but once money for broadcasting rights ran out, it immediately became a scalding hot pot.

Now LeSports is virtually finished, having laid off much more than ninety-nine percent of its staff.”

“What was Elder Jia thinking, getting into sports?”

“LeEco’s TV ecosystem had pretty much swept the market in 2015, and the viewing experience on large-screen TVs was revolutionary.

According to the data we got from consulting firms and LeEco’s senior management’s analysis of domestic TV users’ demands, given economic development and improved living standards, the domestic sports broadcasting market was expected to explode in growth.

There were two prevailing opinions in the industry, nowadays called fundamental logic.

Firstly, our country’s sports culture was still underdeveloped.

The government released a paper in 2014, which was effectively opening the door to increased investment in this area.

From industrial investment to government resource allocation, this field was seen as promising, and indeed, the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan also placed emphasis on this sector.

Secondly, our country has the largest number of TV users in the world; the market potential here was enormous.

In recent years, many companies entered the sports industry—Evergrande, Suning, Alibaba—those companies recognized the opportunity here too.

And LeEco’s…

ecosystem logic hadn’t been refuted at the time.”

Dong Zecheng reminded CEO Cheng that he could consider buying a sports team in the future; the promotional impact of sports events was significant—of course, he wasn’t talking about domestically.

In America, sports magnates could easily gain immense fame.

In contrast, domestic teams, under the revolution of circle dancers, couldn’t even display sponsor names.

“Later on, we figured out that the domestic market was very complicated.

Even if Boss Jia hadn’t run into trouble, LeSports’s way of burning money on broadcasting rights wasn’t sustainable.”

“It’s just a matter of which landmine goes off first.”

Seeing Cheng Daqi lost in thought, Dong Zecheng added.

Old Dong was very frank, which was actually a sign of his unease.

Shanhaiguan is a very promising startup; to work in management there, the prospects for growth are very likely better than being in headhunting, but his past career experience is indeed quite unorthodox.

Especially since CEO Cheng and Elder Jia are friends, something the whole country knows about.

Dong Zecheng was now torn between wanting to accept CEO Cheng’s invitation and worrying it might still be a trap.

The situation was somewhat bizarre.

“Elder Jia’s idea of an ecosystem is sound, and so is the idea of electric vehicles; both are very good concepts.

It’s just that he expanded too broadly; fortune didn’t favor him, and then there’s…

never mind, no need to talk about him.

If you come on board, you’ll get a 30% pay rise, and the options pool will be set up during the second round of funding.

Are you interested in taking up the challenge, Old Dong?”

CEO Cheng’s sincerity was substantial, but Dong Zecheng was no Xiao Cao who knew nothing; he also had his concerns.

“CEO Cheng, there are not many large MCN organizations at home and abroad, zoomin, broadband, etc., haven’t found a good profit model.

What are Shanhaiguan’s business expectations for the future?

Do you have any thoughts?”

Cheng Daqi knew that Dong Zecheng was intrigued.

“The two you mentioned are different from what Shanhaiguan does; one is focused on YouTube and the other on a contracted photography model.

In China, Shanhaiguan is the first large-scale MCN in the short video field, and its future development will closely follow the growth of short videos.

As for how far Shanhaiguan can go, that depends on whether you have confidence in the short video industry.

I am full of confidence.

Compared to traditional TV shows and text-based media, short videos have a higher density of information, a stronger emotional impact, and a greater influence on the user’s psyche.

Plus, due to the survival-of-the-fittest algorithm inherent in short videos, their iterative speed is destined to be very fast.

Shanhaiguan has seized the initiative in this field, and its potential for future development is immense.”

Actually, there are a lot of organizations in China that do short video MCNs, but Shanhaiguan is indeed the most famous, and what Cheng Daqi said was not wrong.

“CEO Cheng, there’s another problem.

Broadly speaking or in the traditional sense, MCNs act more as a broker platform connecting content creators to advertisers.

Domestically, there are also companies like Shanhaiguan, but the top influencers lack replicability.

There’s a term called the attention economy; some people say that the influencer model is the attention economy, with Shanhaiguan’s model being a variant of it.

But due to the lack of replicability among top influencers, we can’t stably produce one hit influencer after another.

Do you have any groundbreaking strategies?”

Cheng Daqi nodded in appreciation; Dong Zecheng had given the matter deep thought, and CEO Cheng had put in a lot of effort to find a COO for Shanhaiguan.

Today’s sudden invitation had come without prior notice, but Dong Zecheng’s response exhibited his high professional quality.

“The uniqueness of the cultural media industry and of the short video industry does exist, including the issues you mentioned, and even I find them difficult to resolve.

But one logic I believe is consistent: first movers in every sector often more easily seize the advantages and market share.

The market share of the short video industry will continue for a long time, and Shanhaiguan can fully exploit this period of retained market share to seize more advantages and lead positions.

In the future, when we enter an era of diminishing returns, having gained this advantage early will allow us to maintain a long-term lead.

Even if one day Shanhaiguan is eliminated by the market, this is normal.

There have been so many companies in the world, and only a handful have survived for hundreds of years.”

Cheng Daqi was actually being modest; with the advantage of his rebirth information, he brought more than just the chance to capture market share to Shanhaiguan!

Xiao Yang had already signed on, and various promising tracks had been laid out.

The rural short video department had been established, the automotive short video matrix had set sail, and the structure for a new company focusing on fringe celebrities was already in place.

Having just raised 15 million, Shanhaiguan was set to sprint ahead for some time.

The next step was to build a national network of local influencers, to spread branches across the country and firmly grasp local traffic.

At the same time, once Shanhaiguan had accumulated enough traffic, it could establish its own brand.

With both traffic and brand—wouldn’t that be a money-printing machine in the era of short videos?

“CEO Cheng, I might need a few more days to wrap up work on the other side.”

Dong Zecheng had made his decision.

“You can move your family to Lu Island; the company will arrange accommodation for you.

Dongxin can help you sort out the schooling for your child, and you can pick from the best primary and secondary schools on Lu Island.”

“Thank you, CEO Cheng, thank you so much!”

Dong Zecheng felt that CEO Cheng’s final offer of picking any school was the biggest gain from his job switch.

“Wrap up the handover work as soon as possible.

If there are any reliable people, you can bring them over too; Shanhaiguan is seriously short on staff.”

CEO Cheng was also very pleased; Dong Zecheng was a versatile talent who had weathered great storms at LeEco.

In terms of salary level, Old Dong still carried the flavor of being an economically practical talent.

Given his capability, there was no question he could serve as an interim COO for a while.