While he was basking in the sun on the pier in the morning, Stallone suddenly called him, "Hey, Iron Fist King, is the Amazon company you invested in going public?"
"Rambo, have you seen the news?" Zhou Quan said.
"I just saw it in the Wall Street Journal. You said that when the company was financing, you wanted to introduce us to the game. I have been paying attention to its news." Stallone said.
"Sorry, Rambo, not only did the company not have financing, the founder Bezos also found an opportunity to acquire the shares of other small shareholders at a high price. He also planned to acquire my equity, but I didn't agree, and then he told me that the company News about preparations for listing." Zhou Quan explained.
"So, you are the only two shareholders left in that company now?"
Zhou Quan said: "Yes. Rambo, my investment in this company is actually an investment in Bezos. His style is very stable and completely opposite to the development style of current Internet companies. This makes me feel reassured."
Let me tell you about the company's situation. The company has been developing for two years. Last year, its operating income was only 16 million US dollars and its losses reached 5 million US dollars. However, this year's operations have increased several times compared with last year. This is very good. Phenomenon.
Most of the people who shop on Amazon now are young people, and the online shopping services provided by Amazon are very attractive to them.
The company's total operating income in January, February and March reached 46 million yuan. The three-month operating income was nearly three times that of last year. It is expected that this year's operating income will reach about 130 million yuan. The company's development has entered the fast lane.
Lambo, if you want to invest, you won’t have the opportunity before the listing, but after the listing, you can use a sum of money to do long-term business. This is my suggestion. "
"Okay, I'll think about it." Stallone said.
"Its launch date is May 15." Zhou Quan said.
"OK."
…
Because Zhou Quan mentioned Amazon to some friends last year, he received calls from some more people.
Roberts, Arnold, Tom Cruise, O'Neal, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Reggie Miller, etc., have called to inquire about relevant matters in the past two days.
"Dennis, do you still have cash on hand that you can use? You don't need it." On the evening of the 21st, he called Rodman.
"Iron Fist, are you in trouble? I guess your wife has taken control of your personal account, haha! Well, I still have more than two million, you can spend it." Rodman said with a smile.
Zhou Quan said: "No kidding, now there is an opportunity for long-term investment. The Amazon company I invested in is going to be listed. Do you want to buy some shares?
Let’s start with the long term, five years or even ten years. Unlike Microsoft, it is not currently profitable, but it is developing well. Once it starts to make profits in the future, its stock price will definitely rise sharply. But you can’t put it all in. You can take half of the cash out. "
"Just do it if you want. I'll take out one million. If I don't have any more, I still have to keep some money in my hand to pick up girls. If I don't pick up girls, I'm just wasting my life." Rodman laughed.
"OK, then I'll vote for you to save you from spending it all." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"Take it away, I'm just looking for some girls to spend it with," Rodman laughed.
"Dennis, I'm warning you, don't play around during this period." Zhou Quan said seriously.
"Don't worry, Iron Fist, I won't delay your three consecutive championships. Whatever you say will be whatever you say." Rodman also said seriously.
"OK."
In the evening, Zeng Li got off work. While the two were having dinner, they talked about the development issues of the two coffee companies.
Exquisite Company now has 17 directly-operated stores in the United States, and seven semi-operated stores co-operated with celebrities, for a total of 22 stores, all of which are currently profitable.
The company's total investment reached 27 million U.S. dollars, and its current total assets are close to 40 million U.S. dollars, with no debt.
Zhou Quan successively invested 15 million US dollars in it. The remaining funds included the celebrities' franchise fees and the company's profits. In total, he has made money.
Now some well-known venture capital companies have approached him, but they all rejected him. He still has enough cash in hand to support the company's expansion and development for the time being. The company is developing well and does not need venture capital.
Chain coffee shops are not money-burning Internet companies. With his influence as a spokesperson, the quality of coffee and services are also good. As long as the stores are opened, the business will not be too bad and there will be profits after opening.
The domestic company is called Jazz Coffee, and the managers they hired are quite capable. In the past few months, they have opened six stores in three major cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, all of which are directly operated.
Zhou Quan said: "Let's develop the Jazz side first. It's difficult to go public in China. Here in the United States..."
"Husband, you want to put exquisite coffee on the market?" Zeng Li said in surprise.
"Why not?" Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"But it took Starbucks 21 years to go public. Can we do it?" Zeng Li asked doubtfully.
Zhou Quan said: "The situation is different. The former boss of Starbucks had average abilities. Schultz changed the business model only after the acquisition in 1987, and began to expand after it went public in 1992. To be precise, after Schultz took over, he used It went on the market within five years.
The exquisite development model is different from Starbucks. It is impossible to open stores everywhere like Starbucks. I plan to invest another 30 million US dollars. After having 80 to 100 directly operated stores, I will prepare to go public and then expand to the United States and the world. It is only right to use other people's money to develop. "
"At the current development speed, if we have funding, we will be able to open 100 directly-operated stores next year." Zeng Li said excitedly.
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "Chels' ability is pretty good, and his annual salary of 300,000 yuan is worth it. Tell him my plan and ask him to make a plan."
"Yeah." Zeng Li nodded.
Philo Chelsea is a senior vice president hired by Zhou Quan from Starbucks. He is now the general manager of Jingjing Company. He is responsible for the company's operations. Zeng Li, the chairman, is not responsible for the company's operations.
"What about the knights in the country?" Zeng Li asked again.
Zhou Quan said: "Jazz and Starbucks have the same development model. The decoration level of the stores is far inferior to the exquisite and high-end ones. There is very little money to open a store in China. We need to speed up the expansion speed and open the store as soon as possible within two to three years." Roll out in first- and second-tier cities.”
Zeng Li said: "Zhang Biao said that this year's goal is 20 stores. Now we have six stores and there are 14 more. Do you think it is less?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Now, opening a direct-operated store in the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, from decoration fees to equipment, publicity, raw materials, labor and other costs, the level of 50,000 is already very good. A hundred stores only cost several hundred Ten thousand yuan.
You talk to him about opening at least 50 stores this year. After accumulating some experience, he will open at least 200 stores in major provincial cities next year. Let him make a plan first.
Starbucks is expanding very fast now. With such a large domestic market, I think they will have to overcome it sooner or later, so we have to seize the time now.
You forgot, Chelsea mentioned last time that Starbucks already has the idea of developing in China, but it has not yet been carried out, but it is already preparing to conduct market research.
We have natural advantages in the country and are not short of development funds. The domestic development in the past two years has been good. The middle class in large and medium-sized cities has begun to increase. I think the development prospects of Jazz are good.
Also, we don’t need to make money in the first three years. Of course, operating costs must be controlled and we should try not to lose money. "
…
On the morning of the 22nd, Zhou Quan invited a group of teammates to play golf for two hours to relax, and then resumed training in the afternoon.
At noon on the 23rd, the Clippers arrived in Seattle.
Clippers owner Sterling is very stingy, even more stingy than Mosaic owner Alexander. He owns the big market of Los Angeles but doesn't want to invest. The entire team doesn't even have an All-Star.
For a team with a winning rate of less than 50%, the SuperSonics played poorly. In the first game, with half the main force and half the substitutes, they easily defeated the opponent.
Zhou Quan only played 30 minutes before leaving the game. His opponent was too weak and his offensive desire was not strong. He scored 21 points, 15 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, and did not play a minute in the final quarter.
There were no upsets in the other three groups of games, and the higher-ranked teams all won.
The G1 battle continued on the 25th, and there was no upset.
On the 26th, the SuperSonics defeated the Clippers for the second time and won two consecutive games at home.
On the 27th, the team arrived in Los Angeles.
On the evening of the 28th, the Clippers played at home, Southern California Memorial Arena.
"King of Iron Fist! King of Iron Fist..."
When Zhou Quan appeared on the stage, he received very loud cheers.
"Even if it is the home court of the Lakers, Zhou Quan can get very warm cheers. The Clippers were picked up by Los Angeles, not his biological son. Zhou Quan can definitely regard this as his home court, haha!" Zhang Lili said with a happy smile. .
"It's really the home court. I'm afraid all the fans here are Zhou Quan's fans." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.
At this time, the home team came out, and the cheers suddenly dropped, which made the Clippers players very depressed.
But even more depressed than them was Clippers owner Sterling, who complained at this time: "Schett, is this our home court or their home court?"
"Boss, we can't complain. It is estimated that most of the people who come are fans of the King of Iron Fist." General Manager Elgin Baylor said.
"You said I still want to thank him?" Sterling turned his head angrily and asked.
Elgin Baylor shrugged and said: "That's okay, he made our tickets sell well, and you can make a lot more money."
"Damn, it's good to make money, but I won't thank him. I hate Chinese people." Sterling cursed depressedly.
Baylor stopped talking, knowing his boss was a damn racist.
In this game, in order to give back to his fans, Zhou Quan scored 51 points in 34 minutes with a shooting percentage of 70%. He also sent out 10 assists and 5 steals. He led by 19 points in the first quarter and only used Defeat the Clippers in halftime.
In the three-game series, he averaged 29 minutes per game, 32.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 4.7 steals, 1.3 blocks, 1.7 turnovers and 2.3 fouls. The average field goal percentage per game was as high as 62.5%. The Clippers' outside line was blown to pieces.
"Congratulations to the SuperSonics for sweeping the Clippers in the first round. Congratulations to Zhou Quan for getting his fourth 50+ game in the playoffs, including the finals." After the game, Zhang Lili said happily.
"Congratulations to Zhou Quan." Xu Jicheng smiled.
On the same night, Mosaic also swept the Timberwolves, and the Knicks in the East also swept the Hornets.
The next day, April 29, the Bulls swept the Bullets.
Jordan averaged 37.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.3 blocks, 2.3 turnovers and 3.3 fouls per game. His shooting percentage was as high as 57.1%, and he made 0.3 of 2.7 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 12.5%.
There were four sweeps among the eight groups in the first round, but there were no sweeps in the other four groups, and each continued their first-round series.
On May 1, the Jazz and Trail Blazers tied at 2-2.
On May 2, the Lakers eliminated the Suns 3-1 and became the third team in the Western Conference to advance to the second round.
On the 3rd, the Jazz defeated the Trail Blazers in the tiebreaker and finally advanced to the second round.
In this way, the second round matchups in the Western Conference are, the SuperSonics play against the Jazz, and the Mosaics play against the Lakers. The former team has the home court advantage, a best-of-seven system, and a 22111 home and away market.
After the Western Conference has finished the first round, the second round will start on the 5th. The SuperSonics and Jazz will be on the 5th, and the Mosaics and the Lakers will be on the 6th.
However, the first round of the Eastern Conference is not over yet. The Hawks and Pistons are tied at 2-2, and the same is true for the Heat and Pistons. Both sets of games will be played on the night of the 4th.
The SuperSonics returned to Seattle on the 29th and entered a rest period. They got several days of rest through the sweep, which is very beneficial to the following series.
At two o'clock in the afternoon on the 4th, the Jazz arrived at the Oaks Hotel in Seattle.
At the request of the media, the Jazz held a press conference in the hotel.
"Postman, this year's showdown with the Sonics is ahead of schedule. The Sonics' injury problem has been resolved and the Glider is back. So how confident are you that you can overcome the Sonics in this series?" a reporter from the Los Angeles Times asked.
The postman was in a bad mood for exactly what the reporter said. The Sonics' injuries were all over. How could the Jazz play like this?
"We will try our best and we will never give up," he said.
"Do you think the Iron Fist King is Stockton's nemesis?" the reporter asked again.
"NO."
The postman shook his head without hesitation.
"If traded, would you rather go to the east or stay in the west?" the reporter asked again.
The postman hesitated for a moment. He wanted to go east. Iron Fist was only 25 years old. Who knew how long his peak period would be, but it was longer than him anyway. Why stay in the west?
This hesitation made the reporters below excited, because the hesitation meant that the postman was really considering this issue.
As for how the postman responded, it no longer mattered.
After the press conference, news that Postman was considering a deal quickly spread. Although Postman denied the possibility of a deal at the press conference, the media ignored his words.
On the night of the 5th, the SuperSonics defeated the Jazz and won the second round of G1.
On the same night, the Eastern Conference Hawks defeated the Pistons and the Heat defeated the Magic and advanced to the second round.
The second-round games in the Eastern Conference are the Bulls versus the Hawks and the Heat versus the Knicks, on the 7th and 8th respectively.
(End of chapter)
