Chapter 33: 33: Benny and livestreaming.
After the introductions concluded, Benny opened the basket and began handing out donuts.
The atmosphere immediately relaxed.
A few minutes later, everyone had gathered around the meeting area.
Benny sat at the head of the table and looked around.
This was his team, his very professional-looking team.
"So."
He clapped his hands together.
"I currently have five million yuan available for company spending."
The room instantly became attentive.
Benny continued.
"Does anyone have any investment suggestions?"
The employees exchanged glances, five million yuan wasn’t a small amount.
But it wasn’t particularly large either especially for an investment company.
After a moment, Li Na spoke first.
"Boss, if we’re discussing annual operations, five million yuan would be somewhat restrictive."
Benny blinked.
"Annual?"
"Yes."
Li Na nodded.
"Once salaries, office expenses, research costs, travel expenses, and potential investments are considered, the budget would become rather tight."
Several others nodded in agreement.
Then Benny casually replied,
"Oh. It’s not for the year."
Everyone looked at him.
"It’s for the next three months."
A donut slipped from someone’s hand.
"...Three months?"
"Yeah."
Benny nodded.
"Why?"
The room became completely silent.
Five million yuan for three months.
That meant the company expected to deploy capital at a pace of over one and a half million yuan per month.
For a newly established firm, that was an entirely different scale.
Meanwhile, Lucy sat there staring at Benny.
Her expression slowly became blank.
Five million yuan? For three months?
Then what exactly was last month’s hundred-thousand-yuan loan?
Her eye twitched.
Was that a test? Was the entire thing a test?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it became.
She silently lowered her head.
The world of rich people was truly incomprehensible.
Meanwhile, the employees had become noticeably more enthusiastic.
Chen Wei spoke first.
"With that amount of capital, I would recommend acquiring minority positions in promising small businesses."
Li Na immediately added,
"We could focus on emerging industries. Technology and internet services are growing rapidly."
Xu Ming nodded.
"I would prefer diversification. Several smaller investments would reduce concentration risk."
Benny nodded inwardly.
Noted. So I’ll have to concentrate on one big investment instead.
Another employee joined in.
"We could look into local manufacturing companies that need expansion capital."
Someone else suggested,
"Retail chains are also an option. Many regional brands are looking for investors."
The discussion quickly became lively.
Ideas flew across the table as everyone seemed eager to contribute.
Benny listened carefully and then became increasingly confused.
Most of the suggestions sounded expensive, which was good.
But they also sounded suspiciously capable of making money, which was bad.
After waiting for a pause, Benny finally raised his hand.
"I have an idea."
The room immediately quieted.
Everyone looked toward him.
The boss was finally about to reveal his vision.
Benny smiled.
"What about livestreaming?"
The room became silent.
Several employees exchanged glances.
Livestreaming?
That wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
But it certainly wasn’t what they had expected.
Lucy was the first to react.
"No."
Benny blinked.
"...No?"
Lucy nodded.
"Livestreaming platforms require significant costs."
Lucy continued anyway.
"A failed platform could burn through millions before producing meaningful revenue."
Benny leaned back in his chair and with a confident smile on his face he began
"That’s exactly why I want to make it a success."
The room fell as several employees exchanged glances.
The statement sounded inspiring, ambitious, even.
Only Lucy felt a growing sense of dread.
Xu Ming was the first to speak.
"Boss, the issue isn’t whether it can succeed."
He chose his words carefully.
"The issue is capital."
Benny looked at him.
Xu Ming continued,
"Five million yuan isn’t a small amount, but for a livestreaming platform, it’s unlikely to be enough."
Several employees nodded.
Benny nodded seriously.
"How much?"
Chen Wei leaned forward.
"If the goal is merely entering the industry, five million yuan could be enough."
Then he continued.
"But if the goal is becoming a major player, we’d be discussing tens of millions."
Another employee shook his head.
"Tens of millions would only get us started. If we’re serious about competing nationally, we’d eventually need hundreds of millions."
Benny nearly smiled.
Now they were speaking his language.
Across the table, Lucy felt her eyelid twitch.
For some reason, the boss looked increasingly pleased as the numbers increased.
That wasn’t normal.
At all.
Meanwhile, Benny tapped the table thoughtfully.
"What if we start smaller?"
The employees nodded.
That sounded sensible.
Benny continued.
"What if we recruit streamers first?"
The room became quiet.
Several employees exchanged glances.
After a few seconds, Chen Wei cautiously spoke.
"Boss... recruit them for what exactly?"
Benny blinked.
"For livestreaming."
"...Yes."
Chen Wei nodded.
"But we’re an investment firm."
Xu Ming added in.
"Operating a livestreaming company and investing in one are different things."
"Oh."
Benny thought about it.
Then asked, "What’s the difference?"
Li Na answered,"If we operate the business ourselves, we’re responsible for management and everything."
Chen Wei picked up where she left off.
"But if we invest in a company, we provide capital and receive equity. We benefit if the company grows. We don’t need to run the day-to-day business ourselves."
Benny nodded slowly.
That actually sounded much less troublesome.
Then Chen Wei continued.
"If you’re interested in the livestreaming sector, we could invest in an existing company."
Another employee immediately added,
"Or acquire equity in a smaller platform."
Li Na nodded.
"We could also fund promising content creators. Many streamers are looking for capital."
Xu Ming adjusted his glasses.
"Compared to starting from scratch, the risks would be significantly lower."
Benny flinched lightly when he heard significantly lower.
Then he raised his hand.
"Question. Can we lose all our money doing that?"
Xu Ming frowned.
"All of it?"
"Yes, hypothetically."
Xu Ming chose his words carefully.
"Any investment can lose money."
Benny immediately sat straighter, light returning into his eyes.
"But."
Xu Ming continued.
"With proper due diligence, diversification, and risk management, the probability can be reduced considerably."
Benny slowly leaned back.
There was that cursed phrase again.
’Reduced considerably.’
