Chapter 42: How the Wealthy Start Businesses

Wang Can had an idea, but he didn't mention it to Shao Wenrun. He was already busy enough with his chicken cutlet shop and live-streaming business; he had no energy left to spare for another venture.

The two soon arrived at the Youth League Committee office. Pushing open the door, they found about a dozen staff members working away. This was common at a comprehensive university like Shenhai University, where the Youth League Committee managed numerous departments, including the Student Union, the Student Association Federation, the Student League Committee, and the Media Center, resulting in a heavy workload.

Shao Wenrun greeted his colleagues familiarly before leading Wang Can straight to a private office. After a light knock, a voice from inside called out, "Come in."

"Old Shao, you’ve come at just the right time." The middle-aged man behind the desk gestured with a smile. "The tea is already brewed. Sit down and have some before it gets cold."

Shao Wenrun laughed heartily. "I will, but first, let me introduce someone to you." He stepped aside to reveal Wang Can. "This is the student I mentioned on the phone. He has some great ideas about entrepreneurship and came here today specifically to seek your advice."

Wang Can stepped forward at the opportune moment. "Hello, Secretary Zhang. I'm Wang Can from the second class of Economics and Management." His gaze swept over the nameplate on the desk—"Deputy Secretary of the Youth League Committee, Zhang Jiujiang"—and he tactfully omitted the "Deputy" part. Shao Wenrun had already briefed him beforehand: the university had three specialized deputy secretaries, and Zhang Jiujiang was primarily responsible for entrepreneurship and student associations.

"Not bad, a fine young man. Sit down." Zhang Jiujiang looked him up and down and nodded.

Once seated, Shao Wenrun began to sip his tea quietly, leaving the stage entirely to Wang Can. An introduction was just an introduction; how the conversation went depended on the young man's own abilities.

Wang Can did not act timid. He got straight to the point: "Secretary Zhang, it’s like this. My father gave me some startup capital, hoping I would gain some experience while at university. I’ve heard that Shenhai University participates in the University Student Entrepreneurship Competition every year. I’m not looking to make money; I just want to see if I can win some glory for the school."

Zhang Jiujiang sipped his tea slowly. "The school does indeed attach great importance to the entrepreneurship competition, and the support is quite significant. Many students apply every year, but the number of spots is limited." He set down his teacup. "Even with Old Shao's recommendation, I need to understand your business plan and project direction first. However..." He paused, then continued, "I'm afraid it's too late for this year. Regional selections start in mid-to-late October, and the national finals are in November."

For such national competitions, entries were usually in the fields of internet, technology, or medicine, and they mostly required a year or so of preparation. A freshman wouldn't stand a chance. To be honest, Zhang Jiujiang wasn't particularly impressed by "second-generation rich" kids. Shenhai University was well-funded, and most students who started businesses on campus were from wealthy families; he had seen too many of them. Although Shao Wenrun had mentioned that Wang Can had a private secretary, seeing Wang Can’s modest attire today—and the absence of Xia Kewei—Zhang Jiujiang didn't take it too seriously. Hiring a secretary for a few thousand yuan was easy enough.

"Mr. Zhang, actually, the framework for my project is already built. I just need to recruit a few helpers at school to get it running," Wang Can said calmly.

"Oh? What kind of project?" Zhang Jiujiang became interested.

"Live streaming."

"Did you buy a ready-made framework?"

Wang Can nodded candidly. There was nothing to hide; if the framework didn't meet the competition requirements, he simply wouldn't participate. This path was merely an added bonus.

Zhang Jiujiang was noncommittal. Many wealthy students had done this before. The entrepreneurship competition didn't have many rigid constraints; even students who had graduated within five years could enter. As for the Business Group, the final evaluation depended on the competition sponsors' assessment of the project's commercial value.

"However, as far as I know, live streaming has very high requirements for servers, and the school cannot provide support in that regard," Zhang Jiujiang reminded him.

"I will handle that aspect myself. I just need the school to approve an office and help me recruit a few low-co..." Wang Can coughed. "...capable university students."

"Do you understand the costs of a streaming media server?" Zhang Jiujiang frowned. "To my knowledge, live streaming requires specialized streaming media servers, and they are quite expensive." He had been managing entrepreneurship affairs at Shenhai University for many years, so he understood various industries. Unlike ordinary websites or games, live streaming required high smoothness, leading to high server demands. In earlier years, companies had to purchase their own servers, configure various services, and rent server rooms. These costs alone were enough to deter many.

However, various cloud service providers now existed. Although most were still in the testing phase, they solved many problems for internet companies. A complete service suite could be deployed in minutes, including databases, servers, storage, and firewalls, all of which could be elastically scaled as needed. But the price remained high. Once the user base grew, this wasn't something you could play with for just a few hundred thousand.

"I've done my homework," Wang Can said, recalling the data Xia Kewei had compiled. "There are two billing methods for streaming media cloud servers: by traffic, which is about 387 yuan per hour for 1,000 concurrent users; or by peak, which is about 1,260 yuan per day for 1,000 users." Traffic-based billing was suitable for scenarios with fluctuating audience numbers, such as event streaming or short-term peaks, while peak-based billing was better for large, sustained high-traffic demands, like 24-hour streaming.

"Live streaming is not a new field. If you want to win an award in the Business Group, you need at least 50,000 users to qualify for the national finals, along with a clear profit plan." Zhang Jiujiang picked up his teacup and pondered for a moment. "If you have 50,000 users and calculate by peak, your monthly bandwidth cost will be nearly 2 million yuan. Internet projects are all about burning money in the early stages..." He looked at Wang Can. "Is that money your father gave you enough?"

Even if there were discounts for higher user counts, once other costs like promotion were added, it would be about the same. And that didn't even include the cost of hiring streamers.

Shao Wenrun, who was drinking tea, nearly choked. He hadn't expected live streaming to be this expensive. Two million a month? Who could afford that? Financing? Putting aside whether he had the connections to find investors, the entrepreneurship competition required that the startup be less than three years old and have received no funding beyond the angel round. Entering this competition was essentially burning money and playing with fire. Did this young man really have the strength for this? Shao Wenrun couldn't help but feel skeptical, glancing at Wang Can.

However, he saw Wang Can reveal a calm smile and drop a bombshell with a light tone.

"Secretary Zhang, I think 50 million should be enough to burn for a year, don't you?"

"50 million?!" Zhang Jiujiang and Shao Wenrun widened their eyes in unison, nearly dropping their teacups.

50 million? Half a hundred million? For many, that was their father's entire net worth. And to you, this is just "practice money"? Just how rich is your father?

Wang Can sipped his tea with composure, deciding to give these two teachers a little shock, so he added: "Of course, if it takes 100 million a year, that wouldn't be unacceptable either." Although he couldn't touch all 500 million yet, based on the current situation of Hao Dada Chicken Cutlets, he would definitely be profitable long before the first 3 million was burned.

*Clatter.*

The teacups in the hands of Zhang Jiujiang and Shao Wenrun finally slipped.

"Are you... serious?"

"Why would I joke with you?" Wang Can chuckled. He unlocked his phone and turned the screen toward them. The screen clearly displayed the industrial and commercial registration information for Canxing Venture Capital: 50 million yuan in paid-in capital, with Wang Can as the legal representative.

Status was something to be utilized; be low-key when necessary and high-key when the time was right—that was the only way to maximize benefits. If you made friends like Zhou Yang, you'd likely just end up with a group of sycophants. But when dealing with quasi-official departments like the Youth League Committee, showing your strength was the only way to secure the best policy support. As Chen Xiaobei had said, you must adopt different personas when facing different people.

After a brief silence, Zhang Jiujiang suddenly slammed his hand on the desk, his voice trembling with excitement: "Good! You go ahead and do this project! The Youth League Committee will cooperate with you fully!"

The entrepreneurship of the wealthy was just that simple, unpretentious, and boring.