pjbooks Chapter 258 The Start of E-commerce Strategy
Chapter 258 The Start of E-commerce Strategy
Chapter 258 The Start of E-commerce Strategy
London, England.
Colin Needham stared at the blinking cursor on the screen, cigarette butts piling up in a small mound in the coffee-stained ashtray.
The screen displays the user rating page for "The Full Monty," with a score of 7.5 standing out against the black background.
This is the 46287th entry in the IMDB database, a still-warm review added yesterday by an anonymous user from Liverpool.
"Did you stay up all night again?" Jane gently pushed open the door, her footsteps as light as a ghost in the London fog, as if afraid of disturbing the man at the table.
The hot milk she held rippled on the ceramic cup like gentle waves on the Thames, and the aroma of milk instantly dispelled most of the smoke in the study.
My gaze swept over the mountain of hard drives piled up in the corner of the desk. Those black guys, at this moment, looked like a group of loyal guards, protecting the most complete movie database on this planet.
From Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1912 to the wildly popular Titanic, every entry embodies Colin's hard work. If all these data were printed out, they would probably circle Tower Bridge more than three times.
Colin rubbed his sore eyes, his knuckles cracking as he clicked the mouse to save the day's update, as if putting a short pause on this long night.
The server indicator light in the corner was flashing regularly. It was bandwidth donated by the University of Wales-Cathedral. This seemingly insignificant bandwidth was carrying user traffic from 127 countries around the world, speeding along the highway of the Internet.
Jane placed the milk glass next to the keyboard, the bottom making a soft sound as it touched the table. Her fingertips brushed against the newly grown gray hairs at Colin's temples, the silver strands gleaming under the light. "Didn't you used to refuse investment to the death? Why are you suddenly agreeing to meet with the American team?"
Colin picked up the milk glass, the warm touch traveling from his fingertips to his heart, but it couldn't dispel the worry between his brows.
"That's because those people before were all thinking about turning the database into a paid subscription, trying to profit from IMDB, and using our hard work as a tool to make money." His voice was tinged with anger, and even his tone became sharp.
Colin's inbox was overflowing with investment offers, like a library filled with terms like monetization, user payment rates, and traffic conversion. It was giving him a headache, as if he were listening to an alien language.
He knew, of course, that if he nodded, he could instantly become a millionaire, but he remained unmoved.
Accepting such investment and switching to a paid model would be a betrayal of everyone who supports IMDB, and he doesn't want to become the bastard in the eyes of movie lovers who turned a free database into a paid trap.
If that were to happen, I reckon I'd get pelted with tomatoes and eggs every time I walked the streets of London.
IMDb's current scale is not solely due to Colin's efforts.
This is because of the hard work of more than 2000 volunteers who, like diligent little bees, bring about this result every day without any compensation.
If his decision causes all these people's efforts to go to waste, he will live with guilt for the rest of his life.
"And this time? Why did you agree again?" Jane pressed, her eyes full of curiosity, like a child waiting to hear a story.
Colin sighed, a hint of helplessness mixed with relief on his face. "Because IMDB is growing too fast, so fast that we can't keep up."
In its early days, IMDB was just a small project created by a group of movie fans out of sheer passion. It was a website developed in their spare time and funded entirely by donations from netizens.
In 1996, equipment costs suddenly skyrocketed, and donations alone were simply not enough. Colin had no choice but to register IMDB as a company, making all the volunteers who maintained the database shareholders. They managed to make a little money through Google, licenses, and partnerships, but life was still very difficult.
However, the rise of the Internet was too rapid. The number of visits to IMDB and the amount of data added to the database soared like a double-decker bus in London. The little money earned was not enough to give shareholders any pocket money. Many shareholders even had to subsidize the company out of their own pockets.
But nobody's money comes from thin air. Everyone has a family to support, and you can't expect your wife and kids to starve.
"Will those shareholders agree?" Jane asked, her voice tinged with worry.
She knew all too well that it wasn't that no large companies had tried to acquire IMDB before; there had been several acquisition offers, but they had all been firmly rejected by more than 80% of IMDB's shareholders.
In their eyes, IMDB is not a tool for making money, but a precious existence like a child. How could they just sell it to those companies that only care about money?
Colin put down his milk glass, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "Because the person who made this acquisition is named Ernst."
When he uttered the name, his tone was full of admiration and barely concealed excitement.
"If there is one person in the world who can satisfy all shareholders, guarantee that IMDB will continue to provide information for free, and provide us with sufficient financial support, then it must be Ernst."
Colin raised his voice a few decibels. "Just look at Google. They have the best search engine in the world, and they haven't even thought about making money by charging fees."
"He said he would keep IMDB on its current free model and help the website become more formalized, and I believe him."
Colin's gaze was as resolute as a guard on the Tower of London, making one almost believe that Ernst, whom he spoke of, truly possessed such magic.
Jane was taken aback; of course she had heard of Ernst.
That young American tycoon was a legend. At such a young age, he had created a dazzling array of internet projects and earned enough money to buy several Hyde Parks in London.
Even so, Jane couldn't help but wonder, "What's in it for him? Who in this world would do a losing business?"
Is he a philanthropist who came here specifically to give you money?
Colin opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.
He didn't actually know what Ernst was, but he just wanted to believe it.
In his mind, Ernst was born for the internet. Perhaps he had already seen the business opportunities that people like them couldn't see, just like Sherlock Holmes, who could always find clues that others overlooked.
What's the point? Wenger also wants to ask this question.
His brows were furrowed deeply as he looked at Ernst sitting opposite him, his voice filled with disbelief. "So you cashed out your shares in YueDong Games just to acquire IMDB?"
Ernst nodded, a relaxed smile on his face. "I guess so, but not entirely. The acquisition of IMDB, plus subsequent investments, won't even cost a hundred million dollars. The bulk of the funds will be used to acquire the New York Knicks and renovate the new arena."
Wenger grunted twice, feeling that he and Ernst were not on the same wavelength at all.
One hundred million dollars was considered a small amount by Ernst?
If those small and medium-sized business owners heard this, they would probably faint from anger on the spot.
He picked up the acquisition document on the table. Although he had read it at least ten times, he couldn't help but flip through it again.
The acquisition team that traveled to the UK was led by him, and the company used for the acquisition was a newly registered shell company, with core members all from his law firm.
The reason he kept reading the acquisition proposal was because the terms Ernst offered were so good that they seemed unreal to him.
Leaving aside the $4000 million acquisition fee, the data on this website is worth that price.
But Ernst also allowed all shareholders to retain one share, which was given to them free of charge.
Although each person only has ten shares, which have little actual value, the sentiment behind it is immense. It's as if Ernst is lowering his stance to tell the shareholders, "I respect your contributions."
Furthermore, Ernst promised that the information on IMDB would always be free for users, and that he would help build a new headquarters building for IMDB. He also promised that all shareholders who wanted to continue working at IMDB would be hired without exception.
In addition, after the acquisition, there will be an additional investment of no less than $4000 million to give the company a major overhaul of its hardware, so that IMDB will no longer have to worry about insufficient servers.
"What exactly are you after?" Wenger finally couldn't help but ask, his tone full of doubt.
Ernst felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at Wenger's worried expression. "Don't you know me? I don't do anything pointless."
He paused, his eyes becoming deep. "Because I'm preparing to enter the e-commerce field, and IMDB is an important step in my plan."
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