Shahai Entertainment has really grown big with low-cost horror films, which can also be said to be the type of relativity entertainment, and the success of "Human Skin Inn" has given Relativity Entertainment an additional hot-selling horror film series.

Compared to commercial productions that are far from the best on the small screen, horror films have always been a hot spot in the rental market.

This type of film has extremely low requirements for playback hardware.

Nowadays, DVD has become the mainstream of the offline market, although because of the number of video recorders, many people still do not give up the habit of watching video tapes, but the total rental income of video tapes in the North American market is not even one-third of DVD.

Compared to DVD players, the price of VCRs is a bit scary.

As early as 2002, the average price of video recorders in North America dropped to less than $200.

Video recorders imported from the other side of the Pacific Ocean are more competitive, which directly brings about the widespread popularity of DVD players in North America.

These also provide strong support for Netflix's online rental business.

Since 2005, Netflix's business has grown amazingly, and several Internet star businesses have attracted a large number of new users.

One thing that cannot be overlooked is that with the passage of time, computers and the Internet have become highly ubiquitous in North America, and even the smartphone market has been expanding.

Especially in terms of internet speeds, which have been significantly faster in North America since the second half of 2004.

Although it is not many ranks behind the infrastructure maniac on the other side of the Pacific, the bright future of the Internet has stimulated telecommunications companies to actively invest.

While further improving the wired network, many communication providers have their eyes on the mobile terminal.

There are already millions of smartphone users across the United States.

The industry is also promising.

It was once said that this was one of the best times of the internet, with too many giant Internet companies growing after the Nasdaq crash in 2000.

The industry disaster brought about by the stock market seems to have promoted the major reshuffle of the industry, allowing many companies to remove the inferior and keep the good, and later a number of superstar companies appeared.

Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

Stimulated by the continuous optimization of the overall environment, the smooth listing of overseas businesses, and the stimulation of Netflix's streaming media business and Netflix sharing and other businesses that meet the needs of social development, especially Netflix's streaming media business, a considerable number of ordinary users have turned into monthly Netflix users.

In the first quarter of 2005, Netflix exploded, achieving operating revenues of $787.99 million.

With Netflix's first-quarter earnings report in April, more people are starting to pay attention to the Internet company.

After Netflix signed contracts with a number of large mobile phone manufacturers, it negotiated a new cooperation partner, Netflix officially signed an agreement with BlackBerry in mid-April, and the related APP will also become the pre-installed software of BlackBerry mobile phones.

In addition, Netflix's performance in DVD sales is also extremely impressive.

After the success of "Prison Break" and "Survival in the Wild", in order to meet the needs of users who lack sufficient Internet on-demand hardware, Netflix launched the rental and sales business of two series on the rental and sales platform.

Thanks to the explosive word-of-mouth and the speed of the Internet, the DVD sales of these two series were staggering, with more than $30 million in North America alone.

DVDs are now the most important revenue for film and television, and the DVD profits of a considerable number of movies have exceeded the box office.

Many people even joke that the theatrical screening of a movie is just a super advertisement for DVD.

While Hollywood and related companies in the surrounding areas are still immersed in the huge returns brought by the DVD business, Netflix has actively expanded into new businesses under Ronan's strong promotion and prepared for the decline of DVD in advance.

Since 2005, with the popularization of home broadband and the significant increase in network speeds, Netflix has actively begun to transform into streaming media.

Netflix is gradually providing users with the service of watching movies online, and fully supports multiple devices such as computers and mobile phones.

Rich content and good user experience have made Netflix's streaming media business develop rapidly.

The IPO plan has also entered its final stage, and Netflix has reached an agreement on the key IPO fee issues with Goldman Sachs, a company that specializes in operating the IPO, with its fast-growing business and growing influence.

Last year's Google IPO also provided a reference for the IPO fee that Netflix had to pay.

Today, Netflix is also one of Silicon Valley's most attractive Internet star companies.

Due to the high enough estimates, like Google before it, Netflix has been haggling with Goldman Sachs over rates, and the final rate agreed is basically the same as when Google went public.

This time, the IPO rate is 2.8 percent, rather than the more conventional rate of 4 percent for IPO deals that raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

Most IPOs, and almost all of those that raise between $50 million and $200 million, pay underwriters as a percentage of their IPO proceeds.

This is also inseparable from Goldman Sachs' extreme optimism about the amount of funds raised.

Because Netflix is about to go public in dozens of days, Ronan also took time to meet with interested investors one after another, accompanied by a professional team from Goldman Sachs, together with Mark Randolph and others.

It is not only to let them know more about Netflix's business and future, but also to increase the confidence of investors.

In fact, since the beginning of this year, Goldman Sachs has started a long-term "IPO roadshow" promotion plan.

When a company goes public, in order to stimulate demand, the company's top management and the underwriters hired to get the company listed usually spend a very long time, from city to city, pitching investments to institutional investors and answering questions.

If you want people to invest, you need to let people see the prospect of making a profit from the investment.

Last year, during Google's IPO roadshow, management refused to answer many questions from investors, resulting in many traditional investment institutions that are not very familiar with the Internet and are reluctant to expect Google's future profitability in a good direction.

Although Google quickly slapped its strength in the face, it is also recognized that Google's IPO did not meet expectations.

Ronan also increased his understanding of this aspect due to the imminent listing of Netflix, and also focused on Google's IPO last year.

Google's IPO did not meet expectations, which is related to the poor promotion of the roadshow, and it is also inseparable from the underwriters.

Compared with traditional IPOs, Google uses the auction model, which makes traditional underwriters feel a huge threat, and it was once rumored that Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, as underwriters, wanted to secretly sabotage the auction.

According to Ronan's understanding, the lead underwriters do not want Google's auction model to succeed, but they certainly do not want to fail for the sake of revenue.

In the end, Google's IPO fell short of expectations, raising only $1.9 billion.

Similarly, Google's IPO offering only accounted for 8 percent of the company's shares.

Compared with Google when it went public last year, Netflix's performance and scale are not bad.

Google is the leader of the Internet search business, and Netflix is also a well-deserved hegemon in their respective industries in terms of DVD rental and sales, social sharing and streaming services.

On the other hand, Google's performance after going public will also have a positive impact on Netflix, after all, last year, including Ronan, people who invested in Google made huge profits.

At a recent communication meeting, Goldman Sachs conservatively estimated Netflix's total market capitalization after listing at $35 billion.

The pre-IPO share price of any company is not set in stone and is influenced by many factors.

Because the underwriters, the company's own business and investors are changing, the listing price may change at any time.

"Mr. Anderson, are you ready?"

In the reception room of the Relativity Building, Lloyd Blankfein, chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs Group, said to Ronan with a smile: "In a few dozen days, you will be the youngest billionaire in the United States." ”

Ronan's mentality was quite stable, and he deliberately spread his hands and said: "If Netflix's stock can't be sold, it will be embarrassing." ”

Lloyd Blank Fein laughed: "I can guarantee that Netflix's stock will be snapped up by a buyer at that time." ”

Ronan added: "It's the last period of preparation, and I hope there won't be any accidents." ”

"No, it won't. Lloyd Blankfein put away his smile and said very seriously: "Goldman Sachs also does not allow accidents. ”

He asked Ronan instead, "What about your plan, how are you preparing?"

Ronan nodded slightly: "It's all ready, once Netflix is listed, it will be launched immediately." ”

Boosting Netflix's stock price and increasing Netflix's market capitalization will not only boost investor confidence, but also prepare for the continued expansion of Relativity Entertainment.

Lloyd Blankfein further asked, "Is the streaming business ready for heart works?"

Ronan said directly: "In terms of content production for Relativity Entertainment, you can rest assured. ”

Lloyd Blankfein thought of the relevant materials he had read, and since the beginning of the new millennium, in terms of commercial film and television production, Relativity Entertainment has been the most trusted content production provider in Hollywood and the world.

Previous Netflix streaming versions of Prison Break and Survival in the Red have also proved that Relativity Entertainment, as a traditional producer, produces content that is equally applicable to the Internet.

Moreover, in terms of Internet promotion, the tricks of relativity entertainment cannot be described simply by being excellent.

In Lloyd Blankfein's eyes, Relativity Entertainment is a traditional film and television company with deep Internet genes, and Ronan Anderson is also one of the few investors and decision-makers in Hollywood and even the United States who has a long-term vision for the development of the Internet industry.

Netflix's final pre-IPO push has arrived, and Robert Iger and Mark Randolph have joined the talks.

Ronan has been extremely busy during this time, and as Netflix's real boss and future development decision-maker, he cannot be absent from many important promotion occasions.

So much so that instead of Tom Cruise looking for him, Ronan forgot another important thing.

"You are clearly not up to the mark as the owner of a football club. Tom Cruise said directly to Ronan: "The team doesn't feel your attention. ”

He reminded Ronan: "The football leagues in Europe have come to an end. ”