68: Chapter 68: Refusing Broadband Price Cuts, Burning Through Millions in Online Sales with Real Money

Ever since Shen Du loosened that restriction in his office and established the ironclad rule strictly forbidding the misappropriation of company resources...

...none of the core executives within Jiyuan Technology had been idle.

Under the premise of ensuring that the company's daily management was well-organized and its main business was advancing at high speed,

the three top internet talents—Technical Expert Su Hua, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, and General Manager Chen Shengqiang—personally entered the fray one after another.

Each of them began to develop their own "second industry chain," setting up their own live streaming studios.

This group of extremely clever people knew very well

that if they wanted a piece of the pie in this massive traffic pool, they had to differentiate themselves.

Thus, based on their own resources and advantages, the three of them precisely carved out completely different niche tracks.

General Manager Chen Shengqiang, who deeply understood human nature, went down the down-to-earth route of "social gossip and hot-topic discussions."

He specifically catered to the public's curiosity and love for drama.

Technical Expert Su Hua took an alternative path, choosing the "hardcore technology and cutting-edge science popularization" route,

attracting a large group of highly loyal geeks and digital enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, who was in charge of operations and marketing, actually had the greatest ambition at the beginning.

She had originally planned to charge straight into the red ocean of e-commerce live streaming and go head-to-head with Red Phoenix on the main track.

But after calming down and carefully weighing her options, Operations Manager Zhang Nan rationally abandoned that idea.

She knew very well that the competitive pressure on this path was simply too terrifying.

She didn't have anything close to Red Phoenix's massive "talent pool of thousands of prospective streamers" that had been cultivated in underground circles for years.

Going head-to-head would be like throwing an egg against a stone.

Therefore, Operations Manager Zhang Nan decisively chose to "avoid a direct clash and engage in mismatched competition."

She made full use of her top-tier professional capabilities and keen market sense

to beautifully package the streamers under her wing.

She brought the trendiest and most gorgeous elements of the city directly to the table, focusing on a high-end, exquisite "urban fashion style."

With this, within the Xinghuo Platform,

the "Four Great Camps," led by Red Phoenix and the three executives, which both checked and balanced each other while remaining complementary, was officially formed.

The powerful intervention of these four forces,

instead of making "Xinghuo" a chaotic mess in their struggle for traffic as outsiders had expected,

acted like four stabilizing pillars erected in the midst of a chaotic, nascent market.

Precisely because of these four "benchmark studios," which were controlled by top professional managers and had flawless execution,

the entire live streaming industry on the Xinghuo Platform emerged from its incubation phase at an unprecedented speed, both wildly and precisely.

For ordinary users and external guilds at the time who had plenty of enthusiasm but no idea where to start or how to stream,

the live streams of these four people were practically textbook-level "tutorials."

Want to join the game?

There was no need to look around for guidance; they only needed to take a look at the live streams of General Manager Chen Shengqiang, Technical Expert Su Hua, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, or Red Phoenix.

Then, they would likely instantly understand the underlying logic and future direction of this track.

This extremely high standard directly catalyzed a self-circulating micro-ecological system within the platform.

If you sold clothes, I would focus on jewelry that matches clothes;

if you sold jewelry, I would deeply cultivate the pearl niche;

if you sold pearls, I would explore high-end custom jewelry.

This style of mismatched competition instantly expanded the originally narrow buyer-seller relationship into an almost infinitely large consumer market.

Under this healthy ecosystem constructed by Shen Du, traffic was no longer a monopolized, stagnant pool, but an endlessly flowing, living spring.

As long as something in demand was put up,

the tens of millions of users who had already developed viewing habits and had their aesthetic tastes and discernment cultivated by the platform

would spontaneously search for what they needed across different live stream rooms.

They would watch, compare, and repeatedly select the products that suited them best.

In this process, not only did the platform's activity level not decrease due to commercialization,

but instead, because of this immersive, "window-shopping" experience, user stickiness reached a terrifying level.

At this moment, live streaming was no longer just about sending gifts and watching a show.

It had truly become a brand-new, tangible lifestyle.

In just half a month's time, as the calendar moved to mid-June,

under the lead of the Four Great Camps and the frantic competition of countless ordinary streamers,

the Xinghuo Platform ushered in a data explosion that could only be described as a "terrifying fission."

The number of registered streamers wanting to broadcast on Xinghuo sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain, directly breaking through the one million mark!

And the total number of registered users across the entire platform

skyrocketed to thirty million at a horrifying speed that defied traditional internet growth curves!

What made the industry's scalp tingle the most was

that during the daily evening peak hours, the platform's peak concurrent users actually broke through ten million!

Ten million concurrent users!

In this era where the mobile internet was just rising, this was an astronomical figure enough to drive any competitor to despair.

And what created this miracle

was not how brilliant Jiyuan Technology's marketing department was, but rather came from an almost crazy "spontaneous promotion by the whole populace."

Within this massive ecosystem of interests,

practitioners in the related industry chains and countless streamers harboring dreams of sudden wealth

were far more eager than Jiyuan Technology's official team to enlarge the Xinghuo traffic pool.

Because the larger the plate and the deeper the water, the more real gold and silver they could scoop up!

To attract more passerby fans,

these streamers transformed into tireless "armies of ants."

Across major forums, tiebas, and social groups,

and even in various offline physical channels, they racked their brains and frantically drove traffic to Xinghuo.

This kind of wild promotional effect, which penetrated deep into every individual with a vested interest, was far more direct and fierce than the official team spending a fortune on prime-time ads on CCTV.

Throughout the first half of June,

Jiyuan Technology's official spending on advertising and marketing did not even exceed twenty million yuan.

Yet, the immense energy spontaneously driven by streamers across the network

was far more effective than the official team directly throwing hundreds of millions into traditional promotion!

With a move that deflected a thousand pounds with four ounces of force, Shen Du easily leveraged the traffic of the internet era to its absolute limit.

Shanghai, Jiyuan Technology headquarters.

Shen Du had just walked into his spacious president's office, and before his seat on the leather chair could even get warm, there was an urgent knock on the office door.

General Manager Chen Shengqiang walked in with brisk steps, tightly clutching an urgently compiled semi-monthly financial report in his hand,

his face a mix of excitement and an unmistakable trace of heartache over the expenses.

"Boss!"

General Manager Chen Shengqiang placed the financial report steadily on Shen Du's desk, his voice trembling slightly with excitement:

"The data for this half-month is absolutely insane!

The peak concurrent users have surged by a full double compared to the beginning of the month!

Just by reaping the ecological dividends and taking commissions from related industries, our revenue has already yielded a net profit of over 150 million yuan!"

150 million yuan in net profit in half a month!

This speed of raking in money, even in the internet circle always known for creating wealth myths, was a shocking miracle.

But before Shen Du could open the report, the excitement on General Manager Chen Shengqiang's face quickly faded, replaced by the meticulous calculation of a top professional manager.

He pointed to a massive expenditure on the report and shook his head with a bitter smile:

"However, Boss, behind these skyrocketing profits, our infrastructure costs are almost getting out of hand.

Look at this expense... Originally, over sixty percent of this hard cash had to be forced into traffic channels and server bandwidth expansion!"

This was a happy 'bandwidth headache.'

In this era where mobile networks were still undergoing difficult upgrades,

having tens of millions of users simultaneously watching high-definition live video streams

was simply a gold-devouring bottomless pit for server computing power and basic bandwidth throughput!

"Although we have this massive expense up front, it still doesn't stop our overall profitability.

But such a high percentage of direct bloodletting is really too damaging to our cash flow."

General Manager Chen Shengqiang furrowed his brows, leaned forward slightly, and tentatively offered his suggestion:

"Boss, look... we hold such a massive user base now, and the bandwidth data consumed daily is absolutely astronomical.

We definitely qualify as one of the top super VIPs for domestic network service providers.

Why don't we step forward in the name of Jiyuan Technology and try to sit down with those network equipment and bandwidth suppliers?

And negotiate the rates firmly?

Even if we can only knock down three to five percentage points, the savings would still be tens of millions, or even over a hundred million in net profit!"

"No need!"

Shen Du did not hesitate at all, decisively waving his hand and directly cutting off General Manager Chen Shengqiang's proposal to bargain.

Looking at General Manager Chen Shengqiang's slightly puzzled expression, Shen Du stood up.

He walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and gazed deeply at Shanghai's bustling skyline.

His tone carried a grand vision that far surpassed the era:

"Shengqiang, you only see the costs we are paying, but you don't see the wave of the entire era.

Right now is the starting phase of large-scale domestic network infrastructure development, which is also the most money-burning stage.

Those suppliers charge high rates because they are also risking everything to spend money on laying base stations and fiber optic cables.

We can just consider this money as our contribution to the nation's network infrastructure."

Shen Du turned around and hit the nail on the head regarding the future trend:

"Once 4G networks are fully popularized in the future, hardware costs will naturally plummet off a cliff, and they will lower bandwidth rates sooner or later.

Squabbling with them now is not only going against the trend, but it will also distract us from our core business."

"Take a long-term view."

Shen Du walked to the desk, supported himself with both hands on the tabletop, and stared at General Manager Chen Shengqiang with eyes like torches. "Our only purpose right now is 'market share' and 'ecosystem cultivation'!

Don't feel bad about the money poured into the channels. I'm giving you a strict order.

By the end of this year at the very least,

at all costs, force Xinghuo's user market share up to thirty percent of the national market!"

For Shen Du, the underlying logic behind this expansion regardless of cost was actually simple to the extreme.

That was to complete the system's ultimate main quest as quickly as possible: [Famous in Shanghai]!

As for making money?

That was simply something that would happen sooner or later as a matter of course.

In this era where traffic was king, not only did he hold Xinghuo, the top traffic platform that was about to dominate the mobile end,

but he also secretly controlled Meituan, this bottomless, super cash cow.

Once these two giants fully developed and formed a terrifying ecosystem that fed back into each other,

he could monetize as much money as he wanted in the future.

The current step back and spending spree were only so he could directly swallow the entire chessboard in the future!

Hearing Shen Du's magnificent strategic deployment, General Manager Chen Shengqiang's heart suddenly shuddered.

He finally understood his boss's terrifying vision that looked down upon the entire internet battlefield.

Compared to this grand plan to conquer the world,

his previous thoughts of wanting to squeeze the suppliers' bandwidth rates indeed seemed far too petty.

"I understand, Boss!"

General Manager Chen Shengqiang's expression turned solemn, and he nodded heavily, a fanatical fighting spirit reigniting in his eyes:

"Not fussing over the current infrastructure losses and fully maintaining the prosperity of the platform's ecosystem,

while advancing our national market share at the fastest speed—this will be our primary strategic mission going forward!"