My American magical life
Chapter 432 - 432 62 In Praise of the Great Hayek Just Kidding

432: Chapter 62: In Praise of the Great Hayek (Just Kidding) 432: Chapter 62: In Praise of the Great Hayek (Just Kidding) “Cheng Daqi, I still think you were too hasty.”

Zhao Hongjin’s words were actually quite reserved; not only did she think Cheng Daqi’s recruitment of Dong Zecheng was hasty, but she also thought the live-stream recruitment approach was hasty.

Even more hasty was that her follower count wasn’t high enough yet CEO Cheng had already marketed her as a super influencer managing four accounts.

Although the publicity was very good and the netizens were really buying it, Xiao Zhao believed that if she had been given enough time, the results could have been better.

Zhao Hongjin didn’t know that CEO Cheng was racing against time.

He was snatching every minute and every second.

“You’re being too general.

Give me specifics so I can reflect in a targeted manner.”

Passing Xiao Zhao a bottle of Coke, CEO Cheng teased with a smile.

“I don’t drink sugary stuff, thanks.

Dong Zecheng has experience leading teams and projects, but after all, he used to work in advertising, and he was the client.

We’re in content creation; his previous work was content acquisition, which might sound similar but is completely different.”

Xiao Zhao was spot on, but CEO Cheng had his own difficulties.

“I always like to emphasize to you and the other internet celebrities signed by our company not to get bogged down in the details while creating, not to make the mistake of perfectionism.

But as an observer, I’ve also fallen into the trap of perfectionism in searching for a CEO.

After looking around, I still hadn’t decided on anyone when it was almost time to return to the country.

My idea is to find someone to fill the role temporarily—Shanhaiguan isn’t that big yet, and Dong Zecheng will do for now.

Old Dong has rich work experience, he’s a seasoned professional and has worked in headhunting, which will also make it easier for him to change roles later.”

Dong Zecheng belonged to the standard economically viable talent type, which CEO Cheng really appreciated; as long as they were sufficient and obedient, Cheng Daqi didn’t expect him to recruit any geniuses.

As an entrepreneur, he took on most of the responsibility himself, rather than relying on others.

“It’s easy for you to say.

He’s a COO now; where could he transfer to in the future that would satisfy him?”

Xiao Zhao felt that CEO Cheng was being too idealistic.

“If he doesn’t want to transfer, just fire him.

Is there a problem?”

CEO Cheng gave Zhao Hongjin a little capitalist shock.

In the end, Zhao Hongjin still had a student mindset—not bold enough in her thinking to be truly productive.

Running a business is different from being a student; from the perspective of business operations, the process isn’t as important as the outcome-oriented approach.

Of course, it’s crucial in a company to know who should do what and how—this is the core of corporate management.

“Don’t you still want to take the company public?

I remember there’s a requirement for listed companies, something about the stability of the senior management, that there can’t be any changes within a few years.”

Poor peach-eyed girl, after being interrogated by CEO Cheng, tried to salvage some dignity.

“Bullshit rules.

Even if it is true, if not, we’ll just list in another market.

Investors in the A-share market are easier to attract, and investors in Hong Kong aren’t bad either.

If even Hong Kong won’t take us, there’s still our beloved America.”

“Didn’t you tell me that you wanted to make Shanhaiguan your greatest undertaking?

So why do you keep talking about harvesting investors, and even making it sound like guerrilla warfare?”

“It’s just a metaphor.

Don’t get so worked up; we go to the capital market to raise funds for the company’s growth.

It’s a bit easier in the A-shares since Shanhaiguan is a domestic enterprise.

I’ve been influenced by those bad guys who only go public to cash out and flee, ruining the market environment and warping everyone’s understanding of going public.”

What is Cheng Daqi?

Ask Zhao Hongjin this question, and she would have only one answer—dog.

Zhao Hongjin was somewhat inherently submissive; despite getting upset every time she talked with Cheng Daqi, she never tired of it.

“So what you’re saying is that Shanhaiguan will definitely go public, and you will become a billionaire?”

Xiao Zhao’s question hit Cheng Daqi; he was already a billionaire, of course, but that wasn’t what he was thinking about.

Shanhaiguan wasn’t yet as big as the gym chain he had founded in his previous life, but now Shanhaiguan was already considering going public, which reminded him of many things from his past startup experiences.

If things had gone a bit better back then, could he have made it through?

“Cheng Daqi?” Xiao Zhao thought her question might have been a bit presumptuous.

“I’m already a billionaire now.

Going public is for the company’s development,” CEO Cheng replied.

“But aren’t startup companies supposed to continue raising funds in the primary market, round after round, until they reach a certain bottleneck before considering going public?”

Xiao Zhao’s question was somewhat naive; she was envisioning an ideal scenario.

From the research perspective of academia, startup financing in the primary market is for the purpose of development.

Under this premise, after a certain number of rounds, the funds from primary market investors would no longer be sufficient to support the future growth of the startup.

At this point, the company should go to the capital market to publically raise funds for further development.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

But this logic is crap!

The underlying design of modern economics is riddled with too many questions that can’t be answered, like how the final borrower would repay the borrowed money, and so on.

There’re many loopholes that necessitate many patches, which means that the more rules there are, the more loopholes there will be—absurd but true.

Under the manipulation of Hayek’s great ‘invisible hand of the market,’ any company with potential (money) wouldn’t go public lightly.

Think of ByteDance, Twitter going private, Huawei, etc., just from recent years; the accumulation of other giants over hundreds of years is even more countless.

The vast majority of listed companies don’t have such a broad prospect of development; the ceiling of their industry is right there.

When productivity is locked, any attempts at model innovation and diversified development will regress to the mean on a larger data scale—there are always exceptions, but generally speaking, no one is special.

So, why do many listed companies have decent stock prices?

Why do the issuing prices of many listed companies rise steeply after going public?

It’s still that logic: the essence of business is a scam, value exchange can never be absolutely fair, so there will always be one side that profits and another side that loses.

The existence of relative value is a beautiful lie to persuade the losing side, let me give you a very typical example—essential needs.

Before realizing their essential needs, most people can live and even live well, which shows that their essential needs aren’t that pressing.

“Brother, I understand your explanation; give me some time to think about it.”

Zhao Hongjin, having been bombarded with a torrent of CEO Cheng’s rhetoric, finally admitted defeat and raised the white flag of surrender.

The peachy-eyed girl is a top student; CEO Cheng could only take advantage of her lack of experience.

Otherwise, his nonsense logic would be seen through by Zhao in an instant.

CEO Cheng missed a fatal point, or rather, a problem in his argument.

He went on such a roundabout that Zhao completely forgot he also needed to take money from the market…

Cheng Daqi’s ability to dodge in all kinds of ways was maxed out in various senses.

However, CEO Cheng wasn’t taking money from the market just to scam and run but to rise quickly within a sufficiently short period.

It may sound preposterous that Shanhaiguan is already planning for an IPO design, but as the saying goes: “forewarned is forearmed.”

Many shell companies went public and took a lot of money; CEO Cheng genuinely wanted to do business, and the company wasn’t that big.

Shell company mergers or special purpose acquisition (SPAC) buyouts are both legitimate and useful ways to go public; they may not be mainstream, but they’re still by the book.

As long as the prospects of Shanhaiguan aren’t problematic, going public is not an illusory dream like a bubble.

“Chan, I can’t believe I’ve been in Hua Country for a whole two weeks.”

The peachy-eyed girl quieted down, and the blonde jumped out.

Right, the three of them were already on a plane to America.

“I also can’t believe we’ve dragged this on for so long; there’s a mountain of work back at mas.”

CEO Cheng had settled matters that could be decided over the phone, but even so, there were many things that required his personal presence for approval.

“Chan, I have a startup idea.

Do you have time to listen?

I think you are a very professional entrepreneur.

Maybe you can give me some advice.”

Lisa was sincerely being modest; she herself was a successful small-time entrepreneur.

“Wait, is your idea related to Hua Country?”

CEO Cheng didn’t expect the blonde to have such considerations.

“Of course, the scenery in Hua Country is too beautiful.

I can establish an international travel agency.

I’ll find some people interested in Hua Country in America and bring them here to tour.”

The blonde was enthusiastic, but Zhao Hongjin poured cold water on her.

As the friend of the blonde, she couldn’t stand to see her friend step into such a big pit.

“Lisa, this kind of international travel agency has existed since the 1980s.

Both Hua Country and America have them, and they have been developing for 40 years…”

Miss Zhao’s mouth seemed a bit too chatty.

CEO Cheng wanted to interject but then opted to stay silent.

Zhao, go on.

Even high understanding requires enough experience with pitfalls to better internalize one’s substance.

“No!

No!

Zhao, my idea is not quite the same as what you mentioned.

I hope to acquire customers through the method of short video dissemination.”

Of course, Lisa wasn’t a fool who came up with a dumb idea on a whim; she was a friend of Temir’s—how could she be a simple girl?

“No matter how the method of acquiring customers changes, the market structure won’t change.

Other giants in this field, who hold more resources than you, have advantages you lack.

Because of these advantages, even if they start later than you, as long as they keep pace with your progress, they can move faster than you.”

See, that’s professional talk; Zhao Hongjin is no fool.

“Zhao, although you have made four short video accounts, you don’t know enough about short videos.

If I want to explain my idea clearly, I’d have to start from the very beginning of advertising.

But I think that’s too much trouble, so I’ll simplify it.

The content of short videos presented to users based on interest preference algorithms has extremely distinctive profiling features; short video ads distributed and recommended after algorithmic categorization will have higher precision and effectiveness in targeting than any traditional advertising.

Smart advertising recommendation is something internet giants have always been doing, but they are not smart enough.

I think there’s potential for even smarter strategies in the future.

Whether it’s Shanhaiguan or mas, we have a large number of signed internet celebrities.

Among them are those who do travel or outdoor content; these influencers are perfect for advertising travel agencies.”

It’s indeed a sophisticated argument but not excessively so.

CEO Cheng found it interesting, while Zhao Hongjin felt it was a repetition of old ideas, lacking originality.

“Advertising has become more precise, and then?

Anyone can buy ads on short video apps, and it all comes back to the game between cost and return.

As long as there is profit, the only one making money is the platform.”

“You’re wrong, Zhao; you think too highly of other companies and too lowly of Lisa.

She’s a strong woman.”

CEO Cheng delivered a sharp critique, ending the conversation.

“If you want to do this company, you’ll need a company website.

I suggest you spend 3000 to hire two college students from Hua Country to do it for you.

Think about it.”

Cheng Daqi was speaking normally to Lisa, but Zhao always felt like CEO Cheng was indirectly scolding her.

Looking down on college students, eh?

If you were to hire me, I’d have to charge you…

charge you…

Oh no, my level seems to only merit a monthly income of 3000.

Zhao smirked at her own self-deprecation.