San Francisco, 9 March 1982. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The North American branch of Xinchuang Electronics was officially established. In fact, the company has been registered for a long time, but it has only now begun to officially operate.

On the day of the establishment of the North American branch, hundreds of media people came to hear the news.

After all, the popularity of new start-up electronics companies at this time has really risen to the level of world-class enterprises.

Although compared to companies like IBM, it is still far inferior. However, the revenue and profits of the new start-up electronics company have long been no less than those of the well-known Wang An Company and Apple Computer in the United States.

Of course, Wang An's company is currently going downhill, and the company's founder, Wang An, is getting older with age, and his body has problems, so he has made a mistake in judging the rapid development of the technology industry. In the 70s, before the popularization of microcomputers, Wang An's word processors almost dominated the office market in the United States.

Apple and other companies have launched microcomputers, in fact, it has been announced that Wang An's word processor is an outdated product, but due to the huge operating income and profits, Wang An still does not recognize the facts. So much so that in the early 80s, when Wang An Computer was at its most powerful, it did not do a good job in business transformation, and in the end, Wang An word processing machine and Wang An Computer gradually became the tears of the times.

Apple is similar to the IBM PC in 81, and since then, under the tide of PC compatible machines, microcomputers in the non-PC camp, including Apple, have been hit hard. It's just that the Apple man was able to survive until the 21st century, and once again under the leadership of the founder Jobs, the Jedi rebounded and created a new miracle.

For a long time, the business of new start-up electronics companies was not too affected by the PC camp. And Atari, a seemingly powerful opponent, may not be able to suppress the rise of new venture electronics at present.

At least, in the arcade and handheld segments, Atari has long lacked explosive products.

The new venture electronics is currently the absolute handheld overlord, as well as a well-known brand in the arcade industry.

The media present, of course, were dominated by the American media. Of course, there are also a lot of Hong Kong media.

This part of the Hong Kong media has chased all the way to the United States.

In this regard, Lin Qi couldn't help but look at the "Hong Kong reporter" with admiration, and he deserved to be a Hong Kong reporter who ran fast.

Although Hong Kong is not a big place, Hong Kong is quite international at this time, and it is possible to send reporters around the world to track hot news.

Of course, the ecology of the industry is related to the global media have the business and channels to exchange news and information with each other.

Hong Kong's media have suffered a little bit and made big news, not only for the sake of Hong Kong's little news readers and viewers, but also for some first-hand news materials, which can be sold to the world's media giants to make money.

In particular, the media giants of the United States are the biggest buyers of news. Much of the world's news is not sourced by the U.S. media outlets, but bought from local counterparts.

Many media around the world are looking forward to the media in the United States, because of the power of money. The media of all countries in the world have business cooperation with the American media, and they usually sell news to the United States, so that global public opinion often parrots what the United States says, and the global media begin to follow what the United States says.

In addition, the U.S. business community is the main publisher of media advertising around the world, which further consolidates the U.S. voice in the global media.

Can you do whatever you want with money?

That's right!

The military hegemony, political hegemony, scientific and technological hegemony of the United States, and the hegemony of media discourse all prove what it means to be rich and do whatever you want!

"Mr. Lam, I am a reporter from Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, and in recent years, you have frequently invested overseas, and from time to time you are not optimistic about Hong Kong's prospects?" asked a Hong Kong reporter.

"What do you mean in recent years? I only came to Hong Kong in 79 years, and it was only in 80 years that a new start-up electronics company officially launched its products, and its headquarters will be set up in Hong Kong so far and in the future, so why are you not optimistic about Hong Kong? As for investing in all parts of the world, this is something that must be done in transnational business. Our products are products for the world, unlike those real estate businessmen in Hong Kong who can only do business in Hong Kong. Lin Qi said, "I invested in Japan in 80~81, and now I invest in the United States. In the future, according to the pace of development, it is possible to establish branches in major markets around the world. However, the focus is still on the mainland and Hong Kong, and the total investment funds in the two places will reach more than 70% of China's total assets. As for Hong Kong and the mainland, from my point of view, they are very optimistic. In the future, the economy of the two places will continue to prosper and the politics will be very stable. Even if there are stumbles in the negotiation process between China and Britain, the final result will probably not change, Hong Kong's return to China in 97 is the expiration of the contract, and the landlord is unwilling to continue to rent to the tenant and get back what belongs to him. Of course, before and after the handover, the policy should remain largely unchanged, and one country, two systems is the easiest solution to reach at the moment. That is to say, Hong Kong's sovereignty will definitely return, and Britain will definitely withdraw, but after Hong Kong's return, it will maintain its autonomy. ”

Originally, Lin Qi didn't want to talk about politics more, but this kind of "clairvoyant EX" skill, seeing through the present and the past, feels too cool.

Anyway, no one will take it seriously, and even if someone takes it seriously, it will not have a big impact, and it will only be taken as a family's words.

The key thing is that time will prove him right, and after that, the prestige he brings can make his influence skyrocket.

"Mr. Lin, are you more optimistic about the CCP?"

"First of all, I am a capitalist, and the number of regular employees directly exploited is currently less than 2,000, and the number of employees indirectly exploited by affiliated enterprises may be 50,000, so I am not a believer in socialism. Lin Qi thought for a while and said, "In essence, I am a pragmatist, I don't believe in any rules and regulations, and I don't agree with the simple generalization of the world into a so-and-so country, a so-and-so society, each country and society is unique and cannot be replicated. Actually, I don't agree with any system, if it is implemented as it is textbook. In particular, the theories of economists are not true. There are too many assumptions and conjectures in economic theories, and the real world is not as simple as they think, and no economic theory can solve all the economic problems in reality. Even if he used mathematical tools and did a series of reasoning processes that seemed strictly forbidden, as long as one of the mitigations in it was wrong, then the whole thing was finely wrong. Personally, I believe more in common sense, and a lot of common sense is vaguely correct. In addition, I believe that the world will be better in the future, and there will be countless problems in the future, but the problems will be solved, and human society is developing in a spiral, so I am an optimist. ”

"Mr. Lin, did you set up a branch in the United States to dump cheap electronic toys produced in Asia to the United States?" asked an American reporter in a discriminatory tone.

"No!" Lin Qi glanced at him and said, "I'm here to seek a win-win cooperation, not only to sell products to American consumers, but also to invest in the United States, create American jobs, and promote American brands to overseas markets." For example, shortly after I came to the United States, I invested in a project called a pizzeria!"

The reporters present couldn't help but be stunned, they wanted to get big news that could attract attention, but they got the news that Lin Qi invested in a pizza shop in North America, which couldn't help but be surprised.

"Yes, I invested in a pizzeria because it was founded by Bushnell, the father of video games, although he was forced to stay in the game industry due to the unfair contract Atari signed with him. However, in our minds, he will always be the most respectable predecessor in the gaming industry. Lin Qi made a high-profile declaration, "Warner invested in Atari and drove out Bushnell, in my opinion, this is a stupid thing to buy and return the pearl." And Atari's current development is also an overdraft of the future. At the beginning, Atari's development was based on technology research and development, but now it has cut most of the R&D team and focused on marketing. In other words, short-sightedly abandon the future and only care about the present profits......"

Lin Qi gushed out the negative news of Atari Company.

The news media present was in an uproar!

Big news!

It's certainly not news if a startup electronics company invests in a pizzeria in North America, but what about Bushnell, the father of video games in pizzerias?

Moreover, Lin Qi highly praised Bushnell, but he devalued Atari and Warner for nothing, which is even more news.

"Mr. Lin, are you trying to use Mr. Bushnell's fame to recruit talents in the game industry?" a reporter felt that he had seen through Lin Qi's purpose.

"No! Just invest in a pizzeria. Lin Qi said, "We respect the spirit of the contract, and Mr. Bushnell is limited to the agreement signed with Atari, and it is definitely impossible to engage in the game business at present!"

"What if, he's secretly in the game business?" said one reporter.

"You're wrong!" Lin Qi said, "I invested in this pizzeria because I was purely optimistic about Mr. Bushnell's entrepreneurial ability, not because Mr. Bushnell quietly recruited people to develop games." In fact, the pizzeria is promising, and I think Chuck E. Cheese's will likely continue to grow in the future, bringing returns to investors...... Bushnell was a very creative entrepreneur, and he had a lot of ideas when it came to gaming. The video game industry is where it is today, and Bushnell's contribution must not be overlooked. He used his talent to run a pizzeria, although it was overkill, but he definitely created a completely different pizzeria!"

"Subvert! Yes! An entrepreneur like Bushnell is living to subvert the world! Even if he is forced to engage in the pizza chain business, I believe that his pizza shop is absolutely different!"

"Pizzeria and fast food, can you only eat and drink? Wrong! I invested in Bushnell as a pizzeria because it not only provides food and drink, but also entertainment. Eating and playing pizzerias, from a creative point of view, already belong to the new generation of dining model. ”

Next, Lin Qi just didn't talk about games, but about food and pizza. It seems that he has a strong interest in entering the fast food industry.

In fact, Lin Qi wants this effect, which makes the opponent scratch his head.

……

After the press conference, near California's Silicon Valley, media reporters began to inquire about the location of Chuck's cheese store.

Then, for several days in a row, Chuck Cheese's store was overcrowded, on the one hand, news reporters came to the store to collect materials.

In addition, after the media reports, the popularity of Chuck Cheese Store soared, from a restaurant brand with no fame at all, to a restaurant that was reported by many media throughout the United States and even around the world.

The gimmick of the restaurant founded by the father of video games alone has attracted people's curiosity and people have come to experience it inside.

Chuck E. Cheese's is the first venture capital project in North America, and of course, others are eyeing high-tech companies to invest, but Lin Qi spent $10 million to invest in a chain of restaurants, which inevitably seems a bit unprofessional.

But Lin Qi knows that the return on investing in this restaurant is not as good as that of the fast-growing tech giants in Silicon Valley. But a few decades later, it has grown into a restaurant chain valued at $1 billion, and its market value is not a bubble, but a high-quality company with a gross profit of more than 40%.

Among the many unlisted restaurant chains in the United States, Chuck E. Cheese's is probably the best value. Although, its valuation is only one-twentieth of that of Yum Restaurants, the parent company of KFC, and only one percent of McDonald's. However, the real gap is not that big. Because McDonald's and KFC are listed companies, and they are both white horse stocks that have been sought after by the market for a long time, and their valuations have always been high.

Chuck E. Cheese's, on the other hand, has little financing, mainly relying on organic growth to expand its stores. Compared with the old restaurant chains, the gap is only accumulated over time. In the later decades of its establishment, the accumulation of brands, channels and funds is of course inferior to others. But it also has to do with the lack of funding in Chuck E. Cheese's early days.

Lin Qi provided $10 million in funding, enough to accelerate the development of Chuck E. Cheese's by 10 years.

In addition, it was set as a children's restaurant in advance, and after the goal is clarified, the development will definitely be faster than in history. You know, how profitable Chuck Cheese's North American stores are, and the average annual return on capital of the store can reach about 40%~50%!

And its high profit margin is not because the restaurant is very expensive, but because its stores are constantly updating their entertainment facilities and playing while eating.

Consumers can watch sporting events, play video games, and drive around the store in a slow-moving electric toy car......

There is a fee for a considerable portion of the amusement facilities, but if you order food in-store, you can get in-game currency as a gift.

Of course, in essence, the wool comes from the sheep, and the free game currency given to consumers is also made from the profits of consumers' ordering and consumption.

What's more, after the chain store gradually develops in scale, it is not just a pizza shop. A comprehensive entertainment venue where you can not only order food, but also watch movies and games. You can even sell some merchandise.

This business model of killing multiple birds with one stone will also have a certain complementarity to the future business form of new startups......

Chuck Cheese, for example, is constantly introducing the latest arcade games and updating them faster than arcades. Now its procurement scale is negligible, but with the number of stores in the future reaching hundreds, the number of arcade machines that will be updated every year is definitely a large order that cannot be ignored.

This is the main reason why Lin Qi is willing to invest in Chuck Cheese.