Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 554: Associations and Opportunities

It's really great not having to deal with blogs, Weibo, and WeChat!

If this were posted on various social media platforms more than ten years from now, it would have already been torn to shreds. Even the portals would probably use this hot topic to argue.

But the three major portals are having a hard time right now. In order to cut costs, they are even planning to abandon news, so where is the manpower, material resources and financial resources to pay attention to these things?

So now, according to Hong Haoran, there have only been a few abusive posts about Feng Yiping on some forums. Needless to say, they must have been influenced by the article in the evening paper yesterday.

Those new writers and their fans are a bunch of kids in junior high or high school, fearless of heaven and earth, and it's only natural for them to say a few words.

Like Feng Yiping, the person involved didn't say anything. However, a TV station in Shanghai is already planning to get these two post-80s together for an interview. Feng Yiping doesn't feel the need for one for the time being, and if something similar happens again, he'll just give an interview. He really doesn't have time for anything else.

The point is that he is not an entertainment star, and there is no need to find ways to increase his exposure.

Moreover, according to his estimate, although both belong to the post-80s generation, that person is two years younger than him, and is still very individualistic. He became famous overnight, and will, more or less, have some opinions about him, and might even get angry on the spot.

Therefore, even if he participates, it is better to wait and talk when the other person is calm.

Most importantly, because the influence of that interview programme is slowly declining, if you do it again now, it will stir things up again, and that would be asking for trouble.

He has a lot on his plate right now.

After the Chinese version of Blue Ocean Strategy was released, invitations from all over came flying in like snowflakes. Some companies and associations in the capital even made a special trip to Youjia to deliver the invitations at the science and technology park.

Fortunately, the companies and associations that invited him all adhered to business etiquette and did not show up directly at the school to block the door.

Looking through the glass door at a few office workers sorting through the invitations in the meeting room, Jin Ling laughed and said, 'I never thought that after eating the egg, I would also have to look at the people and organisations that produced the hen!

'Don't underestimate these associations, it's important to get along with them. Even in the US, this should be the same! I've already said that I won't respond to any company invitations, and I'll start by screening the associations with the word "zhong" in their names.'

Television advertising is aimed at the general public, but these professional associations are highly targeted. For a start-up like this, a foreign company, the benefits of joining an association like this are naturally significant.

In addition to industry trends and hotspots, and the cooperation opportunities that are sure to come, there are also many other benefits.

To put it in a larger context, in 1996, when the first domestic, privately-owned national commercial bank, the Minsheng Bank, was established, none of the major shareholders did not hold positions in associations like the Federation of Industry and Commerce.

They were not rich, for example, New Hope Group, which invested 50 million at the time, had to raise the money with great difficulty. However, other companies with money had no way to invest.

It was mainly because they had joined these associations and had a certain social influence.

To put it in a smaller way, there are still many benefits.

For example, if you take Cui Yunling to the Zhongguancun Entrepreneurs Association a few times and introduce him to everyone, he will probably calm down for a while.

It's simple. Everyone in the circle knows that he is from Jiasheng Automotive Network, so he can't keep going around trying to convince people. If he does, he'll be cutting himself off from the circle, and betraying someone like that, at any time, is something that won't be forgiven, let alone welcomed.

However, after sorting through the dozens of selected agreements, Feng Yiping had a difficult time deciding which one to choose, apart from the Zhongguancun Entrepreneur Association, which was a must.

After much deliberation, he finally picked up the invitation from the China Association of Private Science and Technology Industry.

The name of this association may not sound very distinctive, but it is actually one of the earliest business associations established in China. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and Technology and is a home for private technology enterprises and entrepreneurs.

'Why did you choose this one?' Jin Ling asked. "Because there are many leaders in it?'

'Come on," Feng Yiping said, pointing to a photo in a frame on the desk. 'Are those leaders as big as this leader?'

In that frame was a photo of him and the dean.

'There must be a reason for that. The Zhongguancun Entrepreneurs Association is understandable, but why this one?'

'Come closer,' Feng Yiping said mysteriously.

'Speak properly,' Jin Ling glared at him.

'Do you know which is the highest-level super-rich club in the country?'

'No,' Jin Ling said incredulously, 'is there such a club now?'

'Of course,' he said, blessed with a good memory, and he just so happened to know.

'It's the "Taishan Club", and it's right under the China People's Association. However, it's a more exclusive circle. The last time I saw President Liu, I made a special trip to ask for advice,' Feng Yiping's words were again flawless.

After his explanation, Jin Ling understood that circles are very important, both domestically and abroad.

'Do you get paid to give speeches?'

'You're kidding me, right? No, but the effect is priceless, it boosts your reputation,'

as I said before, in China, if you want a big opportunity, or if you want to invest in or merge with a promising company, you're a young guy in your twenties with no reputation, no one will pay any attention to you

The Zhongguancun Entrepreneurs Association is very lively today, with many big names. There's nothing I can do. In this winter of the Internet, everyone is short of everything else, and it seems that there is suddenly a lot of spare time.

Two of the CEOs of the three major portals are here, seated in the front row. Feng Yiping's book is not bad, and it has given them a lot of inspiration. Nowadays, they are bored even when they are idle, so they won't lose anything by listening.

However, as Feng Yiping slowly and thoroughly explained the current situation and future of the Internet industry, they put away the careless expressions on their faces. The number of people in the audience who kept answering their phones, no matter whether they were speaking loudly or quietly, decreased. There was no other reason for this, except that Feng Yiping's words were not all pearls, but they were all reasonable.

There was no way around it. For the March issue of Frontier magazine, Feng Yiping had gathered a lot of information on the Internet industry, and he clearly knew the direction of future development. How could such a speech not be well-received?

The focus of Feng Yiping's speech at the China People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries was different. Feng Yiping focused on the core of the Blue Ocean Strategy: value innovation.

Although most of the people present were already familiar with and accepted this idea, he combined it with some of the ideas in his later article, 'Huawei's Winter,' which will not be published until next year. He analyzed possible crises and our biggest advantage in the face of international competition—low labor costs—to emphasize the importance of value innovation.

At the beginning of the year, Lin Hui met Feng Yiping and said that she felt uneasy because she earned tens of thousands of yuan a month.

Many of the members of the China Association for Non-Government Organizations present, and people who shared Lin Hui's thoughts, had made their companies big and earned a lot of money without really understanding how it happened.

However, the more money they made, the more they became worried about losing it. They always felt that they had made a lot of money without realising it, and that they might not be able to make any money for no reason the next day.

Before today and tomorrow seemed to be separated by a veil, shrouded in a fog, and unclear. But Feng Yiping's emphasis on this point showed them the way. As long as they persisted in value innovation, they could not guarantee how good the company would become, but they knew how bad it could get – to be precise, they knew it would not get that bad.

After the roughly one-hour lecture, the participants spontaneously stood up and applauded. This young man really had it together. He was right, and he was polite too. He stood the whole time, never sat down, which made a good impression on the audience, who were generally older than Feng Yiping.

Among these people who were generally older than himself, Feng Yiping behaved very modestly, and when exchanging business cards, he always used both hands – even though there were many people there whose companies or personal assets were larger than his.

This is what is expected in such situations. Naturally, his actions had a good effect, and his speech was later requested by many association members who were not present.

And, not long after the end, an opportunity came knocking. He received a call from a boss from Yangcheng who was present that day. After learning about Jiasheng's industrial layout, the other party wanted to discuss the possibility of cooperating with Yijia Express Hotel on several hotels under his name.