After the introductions concluded, Benny opened the basket and began handing out donuts.
The atmosphere imdiately relaxed.
A few minutes later, everyone had gathered around the eting 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 beca attentive.
Benny continued.
"Does anyone have any investnt suggestions?"
The employees exchanged glances, five million yuan wasn’t a small amount.
But it wasn’t particularly large either especially for an investnt company.
After a mont, Li Na spoke first.
"Boss, if we’re discussing annual operations, five million yuan would be sowhat restrictive."
Benny blinked.
"Annual?"
"Yes."
Li Na nodded.
"Once salaries, office expenses, research costs, travel expenses, and potential investnts are considered, the budget would beco rather tight."
Several others nodded in agreent.
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 soone’s hand.
"...Three months?"
"Yeah."
Benny nodded.
"Why?"
The room beca completely silent.
Five million yuan for three months.
That ant 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.
anwhile, Lucy sat there staring at Benny.
Her expression slowly beca 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 beca.
She silently lowered her head.
The world of rich people was truly incomprehensible.
anwhile, the employees had beco noticeably more enthusiastic.
Chen Wei spoke first.
"With that amount of capital, I would recomnd acquiring minority positions in promising small businesses."
Li Na imdiately added,
"We could focus on erging industries. Technology and internet services are growing rapidly."
Xu Ming nodded.
"I would prefer diversification. Several smaller investnts would reduce concentration risk."
Benny nodded inwardly.
Noted. So I’ll have to concentrate on one big investnt instead.
Another employee joined in.
"We could look into local manufacturing companies that need expansion capital."
Soone else suggested,
"Retail chains are also an option. Many regional brands are looking for investors."
The discussion quickly beca lively.
Ideas flew across the table as everyone seed eager to contribute.
Benny listened carefully and then beca 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 imdiately quieted.
Everyone looked toward him.
The boss was finally about to reveal his vision.
Benny smiled.
"What about livestreaming?"
The room beca 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 aningful 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 statent 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 rely 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 so reason, the boss looked increasingly pleased as the numbers increased.
That wasn’t normal.
At all.
anwhile, Benny tapped the table thoughtfully.
"What if we start smaller?"
The employees nodded.
That sounded sensible.
Benny continued.
"What if we recruit strears first?"
The room beca 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 investnt 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 managent 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 troubleso.
Then Chen Wei continued.
"If you’re interested in the livestreaming sector, we could invest in an existing company."
Another employee imdiately added,
"Or acquire equity in a smaller platform."
Li Na nodded.
"We could also fund promising content creators. Many strears 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 investnt can lose money."
Benny imdiately sat straighter, light returning into his eyes.
"But."
Xu Ming continued.
"With proper due diligence, diversification, and risk managent, the probability can be reduced considerably."
Benny slowly leaned back.
There was that cursed phrase again.
’Reduced considerably.’
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