I Spoke Too Loudly Just Now

"Boss Han, about what happened last time... I handled it a little too hastily."

"Mr. Liang, go ahead," Han Luyi replied.

"Regarding our cooperation, I discussed it with my superiors again after I went back." Liang Yu's voice was dry. "We can lift the exclusivity clause. We're willing to negotiate a new version."

"You're welcome, Mr. Liang. Let's arrange a place to meet," Han Luyi said.

"No, no. Just give me an address, Boss Han. I'll come over now."

After hanging up, Han Luyi sent him the address. Liang Yu replied quickly. Han Luyi looked up. "He'll be here in an hour."

Su Niannian cleared her throat, raised her phone and pretended to hold it to her ear. Lowering her voice, she said, "Boss Han, I'm sorry, I spoke too loudly just now... Hahaha!" Before she could finish, she burst out laughing, and her phone nearly fell onto the table.

Han Luyi laughed too. "Don't be so cocky later, or the negotiations might really fall apart."

Su Niannian rolled her eyes at him. "I know."

Lu Mingzhou silently got up and erased the writing on the whiteboard.

Liang Yu arrived five minutes early.

There were three knocks on the door, and Su Niannian got up to answer it.

Liang Yu stood in the doorway in a navy short-sleeved shirt, carrying a black briefcase. A large patch across his chest was soaked with sweat, and he was breathing slightly heavily.

"Sorry, Mr. Liang. We're still in the early stages, so conditions are a bit rough," Han Luyi said.

Liang Yu smiled. "It's fine. Good training."

"You've met President Su. Let me introduce you—this is our company's CFO, Frank." Han Luyi pointed at Lu Mingzhou, and the two shook hands.

Liang Yu took the water Su Niannian handed him. His gaze swept across the room and paused at the whiteboard, where he spotted traces that had not been fully erased.

He set down the water, sat at the dining table, and opened his briefcase.

"Boss Han, I brought a new proposal. Take a look first."

Liang Yu felt Han Luyi's eyes seem to light up. Han Luyi had already taken the proposal and lowered his head to read it.

After quickly finishing it, Han Luyi looked up. "Mr. Liang, this is very sincere. I only have a few small requests." As he spoke, Han Luyi picked up a pen and made a few notes on the proposal.

Liang Yu took it back and read it.

The non-exclusive cooperation agreement, the monthly guaranteed minimum of 150,000, and the 88/12 revenue split had all remained unchanged.

Promotion package: homepage banner rotation changed from three days to ten days; developer email pushes changed from quarterly to monthly; jointly hosted technical salons changed from once a year to once a quarter.

The sweat Liang Yu had just stopped suddenly broke out again. The room held only the hum of the old air conditioner.

After a long while, Liang Yu spoke. "I'll take this back and put it through the process. I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Pleasure doing business," Han Luyi said.

Liang Yu stood and put the documents into his briefcase.

Han Luyi walked him downstairs. When they reached the entrance to the apartment building, Liang Yu paused.

"About that call last time, it really was an error in judgment on my part."

"I understand why Mr. Liang made that decision from his position." Han Luyi extended his hand. "There's plenty of time ahead."

Liang Yu shook his hand, then turned and left.

Before Liang Yu arrived, the three from Source Code had already discussed it. Azure Peak's enterprise user base was too small. Since they were signing a deal, they had to use Azure Peak's strengths to break into the individual developer market. With this result, their strategic goal had been achieved.

Han Luyi went back upstairs to 502, where Lu Mingzhou had already rewritten the numbers on the whiteboard.

Celestial Pivot: 200,000 guaranteed minimum / 85%

Kunlun: 150,000 guaranteed minimum / 92%

Azure Peak: 150,000 guaranteed minimum / 88% + promotion

Direct subscriptions: 100,000

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Total monthly revenue: 600,000

Su Niannian held up her phone and took a picture of the whiteboard.

"Don't post it on your Moments," Han Luyi said.

"I'm sending it to Lawyer Gu." Su Niannian rolled her eyes at him again. "All three contracts need reviewing."

Lu Mingzhou cleared his throat, and both of them looked at him.

He drew a line beneath the 500,000 and turned around.

"Once all three cloud platforms are launched, based on the current scale of paying users and growth trends, before the revenue share exceeds the guaranteed minimum, monthly revenue will increase by 500,000. Most of our customers will migrate to the cloud platforms, while the remaining paying customers through direct sales channels will bring in around 100,000 a month. But the growth afterward will be the main event. Let's observe the trend, and I'll produce a report next month."

Lu Mingzhou drew a simple formula on the right side of the whiteboard.

"When valuing a SaaS company, VCs generally look at the ARR multiple. ARR, Annual Recurring Revenue, is annual recurring revenue. You can simply multiply monthly revenue by twelve."

He wrote: 600,000 × 12 = 7,200,000

"Conservatively speaking, if monthly revenue is 600,000, the ARR is seven million. This sector is hot right now, so a five-to-eight-times multiple isn't excessive."

7,000,000 × 5–8 = 35,000,000–56,000,000

"In other words, Source Code Technology is currently worth thirty to fifty million."

Su Niannian stared at the numbers on the whiteboard.

"Three months ago, our registered capital was one million." Lu Mingzhou tapped the whiteboard. "This is called a growth premium. But valuation is just valuation. To turn it into real money, we need VCs to see that the growth curve can continue. Of course, this is only one valuation model, and it doesn't take our accelerated growth into account. I'll prepare a complete valuation report later."

"There's one more thing we need to bring up." Lu Mingzhou put the whiteboard marker back.

Han Luyi looked at him.

"We need to hire people."

"I wanted to say that too." Su Niannian picked up the conversation. "Connecting with all three cloud platforms requires manpower. Between product and operations, I'm almost at my limit by myself. We need to hire a few developers too. We can't keep relying on you, the CEO, can we?"

"At minimum, two or three developers, one finance cashier, and one operations person." Lu Mingzhou counted on his fingers. "Including the three of us, that makes six or seven people."

He looked around the living room. "We'll also need to rent an office. Your place can't hold us anymore."

Han Luyi got up and walked to the window. Someone on the balcony of the building across from them was bringing in their bedding, while the plane trees downstairs rustled in the wind.

He rested his hand on the window frame, his fingertips brushing over the thin layer of dust on the sill.

"Let's find a coworking space in the outer suburbs," he said. "It's cheap, and there are enough workstations."

"What about recruitment?" Lu Mingzhou asked.

"You interview the cashier," Han Luyi said. "Nian Nian and I will handle the other positions. We'll write the JD—job descriptions—later."

Lu Mingzhou glanced at his watch and picked up his bag.

"It's six. I have to go."

"Mingzhou—" Su Niannian looked up. "Can't you work overtime just once?"

"No." Lu Mingzhou opened the door without looking back. "My wife is waiting for me to go home and cook."

The door closed, leaving only the two of them in 502 again.

Han Luyi looked at Su Niannian. "How about you head home early too? Otherwise I'll look like some heartless capitalist."

Su Niannian made a face at him. "I'm a partner too! What, you can't bear to treat me to takeout?"

Han Luyi stood up. "No takeout today. Let's eat at a restaurant."

"Really? What are we having?"

"Pickled cabbage fish?"

"Then I want it insanely spicy!"