Chapter 42: Leading the Way
It seems that there are many opportunities now, but in fact, the Internet industry in America is just developing. Yahoo is burning money, Netscape is also burning money, and Amazon, which just emerged last year, is losing money miserably and will continue to lose money for more than ten years.
Let alone them, even if we develop a search engine now, it will basically be a loss. There are only a few million Internet users in the entire America. How can we possibly support so many companies, and they have to burn money to compete with their peers for the market.
As for entering the electronics industry, Song Yang's wealth is not enough to spend on it, and he has to invest all of his just-earned assets into it.
Lying on the bed in the small apartment, Song Yang's mind was a little confused for a moment. Just when he was about to become drowsy and fall asleep, Song Yang suddenly woke up and a thought suddenly came to his mind.
Song Yang felt that he had fallen into a misunderstanding. Looking at America today with the eyes of future generations, there would definitely be deviations. What is the hottest and most scarce thing in the Internet industry now is not making more money or having more advanced technology, but Internet users. Whoever attracts the most Internet users will be the most popular one!
As long as there are many users and large user traffic, a company can be listed. The market now is completely different from that of more than ten years later.
After figuring this out, Song Yang suddenly felt that all his thoughts became clear in an instant.
Song Yang wants to turn Double Click Company into his own base. Once Double Click Company becomes stable, it will basically become a stable money printing machine. Martin Solo can rely on the WPP Group to make crazy acquisitions. It will be enough for Double Click Company to provide Song Yang with a stable cash flow.
Next, Song Yang has to choose an industry to take root in. Song Yang already has an idea, but in the process, Song Yang definitely needs to do some other actions to raise funds for the industry he is preparing to enter!
In any case, the news that DoubleClick received a $12 million investment, coupled with the photo, made DoubleClick the focus of news in Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Song Yang gained fame and began to make a name for himself in the American technology and financial industries.
What followed was that DoubleClick Company released a monthly revenue announcement while waiting and watching, mentioning that its monthly revenue exceeded US$1.68 million.
This is definitely a bit inflated. This revenue also includes some intended cooperation , that is, those that have only signed contracts but have not received money, but they are all included in the revenue.
In releasing this revenue, DoubleClick actually just wants to publicize it and tell the outside world that DoubleClick is "very" profitable and that digital advertising is very popular, so advertisers should get their money's worth.
But Song Yang did not expect that just a simple promotion would cause such a stir in the Internet industry.
After DoubleClick released the announcement, it was immediately widely spread by the Silicon Valley media, and rumors that "the Internet is about to become profitable" were heard everywhere.
Internet experts, Wall Street analysts and the like, based on the revenue given by DoubleClick, have calculated that by the end of this year or early next year, DoubleClick may become the first profitable company in the global Internet industry!
How can this not make the entire American Internet industry excited? The Internet has always been questioned because it does not make money, but now the first profitable Internet company is about to be established. How long is it for other companies to make money?
Almost as if influenced by this news, the share price of WPP in London rose again by 3%. Since investing in DoubleClick Company, WPP's share price has risen by more than 11% compared with before the investment. This increase is so great that all the shareholders of WPP Group are almost laughing in their dreams.
These more than 10 million US dollars directly increased WPP's market value by more than 1 billion US dollars. Compared with the investment money, it is simply a great deal. Those who had doubts about Martin before began to worship him , and they were just about to call him Sir Martin "yyds".
There are even directors of the WPP Group who privately regret that if they had bought all of the DoubleClick companies, the WPP Group's share price would have skyrocketed by now. The WPP Group was the first to taste the sweetness of the Internet.
Not only the WPP Group, but also Netscape, which is the current face of the American Internet and holds high the banner of digital advertising, is even crazier this time. Its valuation has soared again, exceeding 1.3 billion US dollars. That is, Netscape will be listed with a valuation of 1.3 billion US dollars, which is nearly one-third higher than the original valuation of 1 billion US dollars!
DoubleClick released a revenue report of less than two million US dollars, which directly caused a stir on the Internet. It would be absolutely nonsense to say that there was no one behind the scenes fanning the flames.
DoubleClick was just a trigger. Although Wall Street investment banks and Silicon Valley venture capital companies also increased DoubleClick's valuation, officially reaching 60 million US dollars, compared with Netscape, DoubleClick was once again used as a tool!
Compared to this news, the news that DoubleClick announced the establishment of a branch in New York did not attract much attention.
Most of the media reporting on the story were skeptical, believing that DoubleClick was moving too fast and was a bit too eager for quick success. There were also comments that Song Yang, whose net worth had skyrocketed, had become arrogant and could not distinguish reality.
However, DoubleClick did not stay at the center of public opinion in America’s technology industry for long. Two pieces of news suddenly shocked the entire America and attracted the attention of countless people. This attracted much more people than the reports about DoubleClick.
Wang Laboratories , which had been silent for a long time and was previously rumored to acquire DoubleClick but was eventually snatched away by WPP Group, suddenly announced shocking news that it would acquire the computer software business of Italian PC brand Olivetti for a whopping US$390 million.
Oliver is the pioneer of the PC industry and once competed with Wang Laboratories, IBM and others. Wang Laboratories suddenly attacked its old rival and acquired Oliver's computer software business. In one fell swoop, Wang Laboratories almost gained half of the European computer software industry!
This acquisition was undoubtedly a profitable one, although it was intercepted by Martin, but Joetus's ability was not exaggerated, and he made shocking news right away.
Wang Laboratories was almost staging a comeback drama. The impact on the outside world can be imagined. Most people thought that Wang Laboratories had gone bankrupt, but who knew that it had actually stood up again.
If nothing unexpected happens, this year's best professional manager in America will basically belong to Joe Tucci. The only one who can compete with him is probably Lou Gerstner, who saved IBM.
However, before the American technology industry could digest this news, another piece of news came out that detonated the Internet around the world: Softbank invested 100 million US dollars in Yahoo and officially became a major shareholder of Yahoo!
With this news, WPP Group’s double venture capital record of tens of millions of US dollars was instantly broken, and the highest venture capital record was directly raised to a new level!
Yahoo, which was still just a small workshop, did not make any money at all. If it were not for DoubleClick providing it with digital advertising, Yahoo would not make a penny now. However, such a Yahoo actually received an investment of up to 100 million US dollars from Softbank.
People in the entire American Internet industry feel a little crazy. They don’t know whether they are crazy or the world is crazy.
Netscape's valuation skyrocketed, and its browser occupied more than 90% of the browser market. Americans relied on it to access the Internet, so everyone accepted it.
DoubleClick, this crappy company, relied on digital advertising to fool people, and everyone tolerated it. It seemed that it could really make money, so everyone accepted the valuation of 60 million.
But Yahoo is a shabby workshop with no technology. Its search technology is not as good as that of its competitors, such as Infoseek and Lycos. However, such a small workshop received an investment of 100 million US dollars. Softbank used this 100 million US dollars to exchange for 33% of Yahoo’s shares, and Yahoo’s valuation exceeded 300 million US dollars!
Softbank's investment in Yahoo was much more sensational than Wang An's acquisition of Apple's computer business, and it almost completely ignited the flame of the Internet.
However, while people were envious of Yahoo, there were constant voices mocking SoftBank and Yahoo. Both Silicon Valley venture capitalists and Wall Street investment banks thought that SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son was crazy.
Investing in Yahoo, this crappy workshop, even a million dollars carries risk, so what kind of business is this if you invest 100 million dollars? The two founders of Yahoo have both achieved financial freedom directly!
After a roar, a fiery red sports car braked and stopped in front of the Harbor Building where Double Click Company was located.
"This is a real sports car!"
After the car stopped, Gallo, who was sitting in the driver's seat of the Ferrari F50, still held the steering wheel tightly and spoke to Song Yang, as if he had not driven enough.
Song Yang just bought this F50 from a Ferrari . Song Yang doesn't have any requirements for the type of car he wants, but after all, it needs to look presentable.
This Ferrari F50 is the flagship sports car released by Ferrari to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the factory. According to the sales lady at the car dealership, if you sit in the driving seat of the F50 and step on the accelerator, the 520-horsepower V12 engine is enough to make the cars behind you forget the background and sigh. Of course, if you drive this car, you will not be rejected if you invite ladies to get in the car...
This Ferrari F50 cost Song Yang 400,000 US dollars. That was 400,000 US dollars in 1995. If it were in China, it would be enough to buy several courtyard houses.
"Song..."
After Song Yang got out of the car, he saw Gallo's expectant look and naturally knew what he was going to do. Most likely he was going to drive to Haley's place to show off.
"Let's go back to Greg together today!" Song Yang waved his hand and instructed Gallo.
