Chapter 1414: Opportunities Are for Those Who Are Prepared

Zhao Fusheng always believed that running a business requires ambition, because another word for ambition is drive.

Liu Qiangdong was undoubtedly a man with great drive. Regardless of his personal character and private life, at least in terms of business management, Zhao Fusheng had to admit that Liu Qiangdong had his merits. At the very least, his business plan accurately predicted the future direction of e-commerce.

But unfortunately, his thinking was a bit too ahead of its time.

As everyone knows, among the VC backers of China's internet, the two most important forces were SoftBank led by Masayoshi Son and IDGVC managed by Xiong Xiaoge and Zhou Quan. However, at least before 1999, these two investment forces rarely co-invested in a project. On one hand, the investment projects of Chinese internet companies at that time were too small, and one force along with its allies could handle it alone. On the other hand, there was no relatively smooth communication mechanism established between the two forces.

Liu Qiangdong's Jingdong was founded in 1999. After that, Zhao Fusheng's Future Investment rose. In recent years, many people noticed that the projects invested in by Future Investment had extremely high returns.

Therefore, in this round of financing, Liu Qiangdong did not think about seeking other partners; his target was always Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was very pleased with this choice. After all, being valued by a big shot like Brother Dong, and not being a big-breasted girl, the sense of achievement was undoubtedly considerable.

"This plan, actually, you're taking too big a step." Looking at Liu Qiangdong's excited expression, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said, "You don't need to consider logistics right now. The company doesn't have the capability to handle logistics yet. It's better to focus on doing e-commerce well."

Pausing, Zhao Fusheng smiled, "Look at Alibaba; they're not considering logistics for now, but cooperating with logistics companies."

Praising Ma Xiaoyun in front of Liu Qiangdong would undoubtedly be headline news a decade later, but now, hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Liu Qiangdong frowned but did not immediately respond.

Clearly, he had taken Zhao Fusheng's words to heart and was pondering.

In business, one naturally needs a goal.

Given Jingdong's current scale and development, Alibaba was undoubtedly ahead of Jingdong. Zhao Fusheng even knew that even a decade later, the market values of Alibaba and Jingdong would be vastly different. This could be seen from the personal wealth of Ma Xiaoyun and Liu Qiangdong.

But that did not prevent Alibaba and Jingdong from becoming competitors.

What Zhao Fusheng was doing now was simple: he intended to make Liu Qiangdong regard Ma Xiaoyun as a competitor early on. After all, Brother Dong was a combative businessman. In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng vividly remembered that Jingdong had launched multiple price wars with Suning and Gome, carving out a place in the small home appliance market.

Although he felt sorry for Milk Tea, even Zhao Fusheng had to admit that Liu Qiangdong, despite being a man who liked big-breasted women, was truly admirable in terms of business acumen and skill.

That was probably the imperfection of human beings.

"Chairman Zhao, what do you mean?" After a long while, Liu Qiangdong looked up at Zhao Fusheng.

He was seeking Zhao Fusheng's opinion, as Zhao Fusheng was now far more successful than Liu Qiangdong. As a phoenix man from the countryside, Liu Qiangdong never hesitated to learn from others' strengths. In his view, learning from others and then surpassing them was what a genius should do.

"It's simple: don't consider logistics for now." Zhao Fusheng looked at Liu Qiangdong and spoke confidently, "I think Jingdong's current issue is to quickly seize market share. Once you have a dominant market share, then consider logistics."

As he spoke, Zhao Fusheng smiled, "In short, now is the time to burn money, to grab money, food, and territory. After you finish your land grab and take the lead in internet e-commerce, many things will naturally be up to you."

Liu Qiangdong tilted his head and thought for a long time, then finally nodded, agreeing with Zhao Fusheng.

He was a sensible man and knew that Zhao Fusheng's words were purely from an investor's perspective, thinking for Jingdong. Otherwise, why would he say all that for no reason?

As a successful entrepreneur, Liu Qiangdong believed he could tell whether others meant well or ill toward him.

"Then I'll have the planning department study it further?" Liu Qiangdong asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Don't worry, Jingdong is a company I have high hopes for. The future of e-commerce is bright, and I will continue to support you."

Having been reborn for over a decade, Zhao Fusheng was better than any boss at serving chicken soup and telling inspirational stories. Even future big shots like Liu Qiangdong had to bow to him.

So, after a few words, Liu Qiangdong left, full of joy and excitement.

At this moment, Liu Qiangdong was full of confidence, believing he could certainly achieve great things.

……

……

"Chairman, do you really think so highly of Jingdong?" After seeing Liu Qiangdong off, Wu Sijie was puzzled and asked Zhao Fusheng with some surprise.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly, looking at Jingdong's financial reports and other documents, and said to his assistant, "What, do you think Jingdong won't develop?"

Clearly, Wu Sijie had doubts.

Otherwise, given his personality, he wouldn't have brought up Jingdong on his own.

It was like how Fan Baobao rarely took the initiative to seek intimacy with her husband; most of the time, Zhao Fusheng was the one to initiate. She only took the initiative when she had made a mistake or wanted to comfort him.

People tend to be indifferent to matters that don't concern them.

Zhao Fusheng understood this well.

In fact, he understood it better than anyone.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Wu Sijie hesitated but still said softly, "I've looked at some internal company materials. From a development perspective, I think Alibaba has more investment value than Jingdong."

After all, as the chairman's assistant, Wu Sijie had some access to such information.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then laughed.

He hadn't expected Wu Sijie to have such keen insight, recognizing that Alibaba had more development potential than Jingdong. This required not only understanding the specific operations of both companies but also knowing their future development directions and strategies, and making a horizontal comparison to reach such a conclusion.

In other words, Wu Sijie had put in effort and thought.

"You're very good."

Looking at Wu Sijie, Zhao Fusheng said slowly.

After all, as a boss, a subordinate who is willing to consider the company's interests and work diligently is undoubtedly pleasing.

Either loyal or capable; as an employee of a company, you must have some shining point for the boss or supervisor to see. Otherwise, why would they pay you?

Many young people in later generations often talk about what they want, but they don't understand that in social life, especially in the workplace, you shouldn't first say what you want, but rather what you have and why you deserve it. Only then can communication continue.

Those who constantly act as if their talents are unrecognized and lament being born at the wrong time—ha, if you threw them into the business world, they'd lose even a hundred billion in a few days.

The term 'prodigal son' never refers only to children of the rich; among the poor, there are also those who ruthlessly drain their parents.

"It's all my duty." Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Wu Sijie quickly bowed.

He was a smart man. From his observation and understanding of his boss, the chairman he served seemed approachable and without airs, but in fact, he was extremely cautious. This could be seen from the fact that the leaders of several important subsidiaries of the Future Group had all been with him since the early days of entrepreneurship.

Zhao Fusheng was not someone who easily trusted others.

So what Wu Sijie had to do was to display his abilities as much as possible in front of Zhao Fusheng and express his loyalty. Only then could he truly approach the core leadership of the Future Group.

After all, Wu Sijie knew well that Zhao Fusheng treated those close to him, his own people, extremely well. Even someone like Dong Guoxiang, with his limited abilities, could head Future Technology and was about to become the head of the Supervision Department, second only to the chairman. How much more so for a trusted assistant like himself?

In short, Zhao Fusheng's trust was only given to those he was sure would not betray him.

Wu Sijie was striving to become such a person.

Zhao Fusheng was very satisfied with this attitude, as Wu Sijie was thinking for him and considering things from his perspective. Even if he was wrong, his intentions were good.

But no one knew better than Zhao Fusheng that Alibaba's future involved too many entanglements. Ma Xiaoyun was not an easy person to deal with. Although Jingdong's development was not as good as Alibaba's, its achievements were not low. Zhao Fusheng did not think giving up on Jingdong was a good choice.

Of course, he couldn't tell Wu Sijie all this. He just smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Your thoughts are good, but Jingdong is also a promising company. You can't deny that. Let's wait and see how far this company can develop."

With that, Zhao Fusheng stood up and walked out of his office.