Chapter 1957 Report (Part 2)

Money can never be fully earned.

Zhao Fusheng had long been instilling this principle into those around him, especially Dong Chenxi.

There was no helping it—she was the one in charge of Future Investment.

If he didn't make Dong Chenxi understand this, Zhao Fusheng worried that one day she might lose her mind and become a black bear in the investment circle.

There's a saying in the Northeast: a black bear picks corn—picks one, throws one away.

In investment, this is the biggest taboo.

Seeing potential in every project and wanting to try them all, only to end up spending a fortune with no returns.

In investment, it's not that you can't cast a wide net. SoftBank rose because they spent hundreds of millions of dollars in two years, investing in hundreds of companies large and small.

But don't forget one prerequisite.

The companies SoftBank invested in were all internet-related.

In other words, under the circumstances at the time, Masayoshi Son was bullish on the development of the internet, which is why he played the role of a generous benefactor in Silicon Valley.

He was betting that eventually one or even several internet companies in Silicon Valley would rise.

And then he hit the jackpot with Yahoo.

Thus came the SoftBank empire.

Now, what Zhao Fusheng wanted to tell Dong Chenxi was exactly this principle.

No matter what, you must first have an investment direction, then consider the projects, and stick with it.

“There's another thing: Tencent's stock is still rising. Should we sell some and buy back when it drops?” Dong Chenxi remembered something and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: “What, you're interested in Tencent's stock too?”

You see, originally Dong Chenxi had no particular thoughts about Tencent's stock; she just thought it had potential but never considered holding it long-term.

Now, she was even thinking of going long.

That's how a boss should be.

As a boss, no matter what information you receive, you should not voice your opinion immediately. Wait until your subordinates have finished speaking before you open your mouth.

The reason for this is, first, that speaking first might give subordinates a preconceived impression, influencing their judgment and disrupting their thinking. Some might even change their views to flatter the boss, abandoning their own opinions to echo the leader.

Second, if there's something you don't understand or can't figure out, letting subordinates speak first can give you insights from their words.

At the very least, after hearing them, subordinates will think the leader is brilliant—everything they thought of, the leader already knew.

In reality, the leader might not understand at all; they just synthesized everyone's opinions.

This tactic is common in officialdom.

It's also frequently seen in corporate management.

Although Zhao Fusheng rarely did this, he occasionally used such methods.

After all, he wasn't a god; there were always things he didn't know or understand.

“It's not that I'm interested.”

Dong Chenxi shook her head: “I just think we can appropriately lower our cost basis.”

“No need.”

Zhao Fusheng laughed: “If possible, we should increase our stake in Tencent, just like with Alibaba, and try to secure it.”

“Okay.”

Though a bit puzzled, Dong Chenxi nodded. In fact, apart from foreign investments, she now saw Tencent and Alibaba as the two pillars of Future Investment's domestic portfolio.

Even though she wasn't a professional financier, after years in investment, Dong Chenxi had long mastered this.

…

…

After Dong Chenxi left, Zhao Fusheng had someone call Dong Guoxiang in.

Dong Guoxiang didn't have much to report—just an update on the progress of the internet company, mainly the gaming business.

“Promotion is going smoothly,” Dong Guoxiang said. “To be honest, if we had user resources, we could completely bypass Tencent.”

In his eyes, his own games were undoubtedly the best.

“Don't be too greedy.”

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: “Tencent's biggest advantage is its users. In internet business, whether games or anything else, people are the foundation.”

Dong Guoxiang nodded, deeply agreeing with Zhao Fusheng's judgment.

He wasn't stupid. From the very beginning of the virtual community, the two had worked together. He knew that when people talked about internet insight, they always mentioned Ma Huateng or Chen Tianqiao, but the one with real ideas was Zhao Fusheng sitting before him.

It's just that this guy was too low-key, so low-key that he was often overlooked.

“Don't focus too much on the games themselves.”

Zhao Fusheng said seriously: “We'll handle game maintenance; let Tencent Technology do the promotion. What you need to do is make those game users accustomed to using YY Voice, understand?”

“Voice?”

Dong Guoxiang was startled, about to ask Zhao Fusheng, but suddenly understood his intention.

This was, in effect, a way to poach users.

“Got it?”

Seeing Dong Guoxiang's reaction, Zhao Fusheng knew he understood.

Dong Guoxiang nodded: “I understand.”

“Good.”

Zhao Fusheng smiled: “Future Technology will be the company's main profit growth point from now on. You need to be clear about that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dong Guoxiang nodded.

After a few more words, Dong Guoxiang left, and Zhao Fusheng then listened to Zhang Qian's report.

He didn't have much to say, instead asking about Zhao Fusheng's situation and telling him that the oversight department was fine and there was no need to worry, then he got up and left.

Zhao Fusheng didn't even ask about the security company; its business hadn't expanded anyway.

Finally, after everyone had reported, only Zheng Yao remained.

“You've worked hard.”

Looking at Zheng Yao sitting across from him, Zhao Fusheng smiled.

“Hard work is nothing.”

Zheng Yao shook her head with a wry smile: “It's just that you, sir, next time could you please not suddenly disappear like that? You have no idea how much effort it took to suppress those people's questions. I was almost mistaken for trying to usurp your position.”

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily and waved his hand: “This time was an accident. It won't happen again.”

After all, the chairman had suddenly gone silent; naturally, people throughout the company would ask questions. If Zheng Yao hadn't had such high prestige in the company, she would have lost control long ago.

It was only because Zheng Yao had started the business with Zhao Fusheng and their relationship had evolved from teacher-student to boss-subordinate that she managed. If it had been a professional manager, they would have been besieged by department heads.

After all, Zhao Fusheng had been out of touch for nearly half a month.

“The matters from the advertising company are all in the documents. Read them yourself.” Zheng Yao handed Zhao Fusheng a file and said seriously: “I've already handled what needed handling. The rest are about future development.”

“Okay.”

Zhao Fusheng nodded. He trusted Zheng Yao's work.

Although Zheng Yao wasn't a top-tier professional manager, her most reassuring quality was her steadiness; she almost never made mistakes.

For a company, during the startup phase, the leader indeed needs to be aggressive. But once the company reaches a certain level, if the leader is too激进, it's not a good thing.

“By the way, have you considered cultivating some people?”

Zheng Yao looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked.

“Why?”

Zhao Fusheng frowned, puzzled.

“I think the company currently has too few management talents,” Zheng Yao said seriously to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was silent.

Though reluctant to admit it, he had to say that Zheng Yao's words made a lot of sense.

A modern enterprise, to develop, must reserve a large number of talents. And clearly, Future Group lacked such a reserve.

This problem was actually quite serious.

“You take charge of it.”

After a long while, Zhao Fusheng looked up at Zheng Yao: “We have to think about the future.”

This was a problem he had always overlooked, or rather, hadn't paid attention to. In Zhao Fusheng's view, if they needed people, they could just recruit.

But now it seemed that this idea of his was far too naive.