Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

There’s no guarantee that they would get sponsored partnerships. Even if they did, they would probably not earn much from it.

  Pei Qian could only comfort himself in this manner. Just as he was thinking hard about these things, he faintly heard greetings coming from outside his office.

  “Director Zhu is here!

  “Director Zhu, the short videos are becoming popular! Are you giving us a treat?

  “Director Zhu, when will you do a special segment featuring me?”

  Most people in the office were involved in the acting as well. Take Xiao Lu for example; he had many roles to play. For instance, in the first episode, he was the one who played the intern that created the game out of fifty thousand yuan.

  Although the remuneration they got from acting was not much, they were very passionate! It was not important that they earned money. In any case, no matter how much Director Zhu offered them, he could not offer them more than the salary Boss Pei was paying!

  What was most important to them was that their faces were featured.

  Who did not want to become famous? Thus, when they saw Zhu Xiaoce arrive, everybody became especially warm.

  They all wanted to become closer to Director Zhu, so that they would be given more roles in the later episodes. If possible, they even wanted their own special segments, such as A Day in the Life of Boss Pei’s Intern.

  Zhu Xiaoce held onto his DSLR as he made promises to various people in the office. “Don’t worry! You will have more roles to play later on! You will all get a series of short videos after this!”

  “However, you have to do your job well now. Otherwise, Boss Pei will not let me off.”

  Once he appeased the crowd, Zhu Xiaoce finally approached the door to Pei Qian’s office. Gently, he knocked.

  Chapter 95 - Boss Pei’s Suggestion: Rejecting Sponsored Partnerships!

  Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Pei Qian knew that they should start filming the next episode.

  Three episodes had been prepared before the New Year; they have all been released.

  If they wanted to release episode four within the next three days, they had to make good use of the next two days.

  However, for something like Boss Pei’s Daily Life, once the script was out; shooting, editing, dubbing, etc. could all be done within a few hours. It was very suitable for high-speed production!

  Hence, time was not an issue; they even had ample of it.

  Pei Qian also didn’t have a choice. Having signed a contract—since he couldn’t afford to pay the penalty, he had to obediently shoot as contracted.

  Since there was no way out, he’d rather look at this proactively so that it would be less painful for him.

  Soon, the fourth episode finished shooting successfully.

  Zhu Xiaoce held onto his DSLR and took a look as he raised his hand and formed an ‘okay’ sign.

  “Perfect! Boss Pei’s acting is very on-point; it’s great. Indeed, a game producer that didn’t want to be a movie king wouldn’t be a good boss! Right, Boss Pei, as for collaborating with the video industry, Brother Huang asked me to ask for your opinion…”

  Zhu Xiaoce took a look at the guest room nearby. Pei Qian immediately understood that Zhu Xiaoce wanted this conversation to be private. If it was anything else, Pei Qian would have most likely gestured and just asked Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo to make a decision.

  However, hearing that it was related to business collaboration, Pei Qian perked up. “Let’s go to the guest room.”

  Collaborating with the video industry… that meant sponsored partnerships.

  Pei Qian was very concerned with this!

  If Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce had not raised this up, Pei Qian would have been quite embarrassed to ask about this.

  After all, Pei Qian had given this one million yuan as capital and had said that he was not going to interfere in anything. Now that the episodes had been released and had gained in popularity—if he suddenly started to give directions and butt-in, that would not be appropriate.

  That would easily spoil relations.

  If morale was lost, it would be hard to lead the team anymore!

  Now, since Zhu Xiaoce had proactively raised this matter, Pei Qian had the bandwidth to maneuver.

  After entering the guest room, Pei Qian started to listen intently.

  Zhu Xiaoce grew slightly excited, “Boss Pei, we had actually received our first commercial two days ago! Ahem, that meant that we can start receiving sponsored partnerships!”

  “…”

  Damn, that was a little too fast!

  Pei Qian had thought that sponsored partnerships would only come after another two or three weeks—or even a month. However, after only a few days, a sponsored partnership offer had come already?!

  Pei Qian kept his expression calm, “En, what’s the offer?”

  Zhu Xiaoce said, “It’s an e-commerce clothing commercial. They want us to market their new t-shirt model.”

  “The deal is to arrange to appear with a supporting actor and say a line about this commercial while wearing their clothing. However, I feel that our viewers would understand this, and it wouldn’t be a big problem.”

  Pei Qian paused for a moment and then asked, “What’s the offer rate?”

  “Five thousand yuan! It’s actually not a lot; however, this is just the beginning, the first step,” Zhu Xiaoce said.

  What the f*ck!

  Just the first sponsored partnership, and they were offering five thousand?

  Pei Qian was stumped.

  So much?

  Although Pei Qian didn’t know for sure how UP Master’s sponsored partnerships were like, he still had a certain level of understanding. In the year 2010, the majority of people looked down on video creators; they even viewed video creators as a disgrace.

  Most popular UP Masters all had their own full-time, primary jobs.

  Pei Qian still remembered he had once seen a Hawk Ao’s video in 2019 recalling when he had first started out doing sponsored partnerships. In 2011, he only had a hundred thousand viewers for his short videos. However, his journey doing sponsored partnerships started after he clinched the ‘League of Legends’s partnership.

  How much did Hawk Ao get for sponsored partnerships back then?

  A thousand yuan.

  Yes, for such a highly-rated game, for such a huge company; it was only one thousand!

  Although Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s average episode viewership was around five hundred thousand, it had after all only gained popularity a few days ago! Who could be sure whether this series’ creator would not run dry and would come to an end?

  Hence, to say that this five thousand yuan was considered a reasonable price; it was more than a liberal use of the word.

  Of course, this was considering an ordinary UP Master’s sponsored partnerships. If intellectual property, exclusivity, and other factors were considered; it would be a completely different matter.

  Pei Qian sighed for a moment. “My recommendation is… to reject the offer.”

  Zhu Xiaoce was rather surprised.

  The money was Boss Pei’s.

  Shouldn’t Boss Pei be even more eager and hopeful than anyone else to get back his capital and earn profits?

  “I don’t really understand; please elaborate, Boss Pei.” Zhu Xiaoce said very humbly. After all, no matter how outstanding he was, he was still but a year four student. He still had to listen to Boss Pei and his recommendation.

  Pei Qian considered for a moment and said, “To start a business, the most important thing is to set one’s sights far!

  “Indeed, five thousand for a sponsored partnership seems rather lucrative. As long as we market it a little in the next episode, we would get five thousand; where else could we get such a good deal in the world?

  “However, you have to consider that to embed this t-shirt into the video, we either have to do it forcefully or adjust the script. Would it still have the original intended impact?


  “This would be sullying our reputation.”

  Pei Qian’s expression looked a little pained as if he could foresee such a thing happening.

  “Next time, what if the sponsored partnership was about a cosmetic product, a body wash, or a shampoo? If the production revolved around sponsored partnerships, how could we show your best work?

  “A huge intellectual property project like yours… if it failed because of five thousand yuan, wouldn’t the losses outweigh the gains?”

  Zhu Xiaoce was shaken. Indeed, once Boss Pei spoke, his perspective shifted! Zhu Xiaoce had been fixated on the five thousand. However, Boss Pei had focused on this series’ intellectual property value!

  This… could this be the difference between a boss and a student with no real-life experience?

  Pei Qian paused as he continued speaking earnestly, “I don’t want you or Huang Sibo to be pressured! It’s only a million yuan; so what if it’s all lost? That’s a small problem!

  “To achieve great things, quality should be before quantity. We either go big or lose everything and gain a reputation. We shouldn’t end up not making money and having our reputation suffer as well. That would be really stupid, understand?”

  Zhu Xiaoce nodded furiously. “Alright, Boss Pei, I understand!”

  Pei Qian calmly sipped his tea as he continued, “How about this? If you guys are willing to listen, we can set a standard or benchmark for sponsored partnerships for this series. To embed a commercial directly? That’s too forced; we shouldn’t do that. If we are going to take on any, we want some custom-made and classy ones!

  “One sponsored partnership, a hundred thousand yuan! However, we shouldn’t set too exorbitant a price. If for other videos, creators are forcibly embedding these commercials, you guys can do custom-made, classy ones.

  “For each short video, from start to end—while maintaining quality and quantity; it will all unfold around the sponsored partnership.

  “This way, we can guarantee our viewers watching experience while we can guarantee the effect of the commercial. We can also ensure the reputation of the videos. This is a triple-win scenario.”

  Zhu Xiaoce looked a little troubled. “However, Boss Pei, isn’t this requirement a little high? It’s already not easy that people are looking for us to do sponsored partnerships; if we have to complete our video while retaining quality and quantity and still revolve around the sponsored item, this…”

  Pei Qian shook his head slightly as he sipped his tea. He looked at Zhu Xiaoce with his eyes full of confidence, “I believe in your talents; you have to trust in yourself.”

  Zhu Xiaoce’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t say anything.

  Boss Pei’s expression had said everything!

  “Alright, Boss Pei; I understand!” Zhu Xiaoce nodded vigorously.

  Chapter 96 - All My Employees are Hidden Treasures

  Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  After sending Zhu Xiaoce on his way, Pei Qian felt a little more at ease.

  Fortunately, everyone respected Boss Pei!

  Short videos actually were still not that lucrative this year; viewing websites have not started to give rewards and bonuses according to viewership.

  In order to profit from such videos, there were a few general ways.

  One was to collaborate with advertisement companies, embedding or force-selling products within the videos. This was a more traditional method that was very common for beauty products and games. Previously, Qiao Liang—who had gained popularity from The Lonely Desert Road—had primarily done so through such sponsored partnerships.

  Another way was to set up an official website or do a sideline to sell whatever one could. The possibilities for this were limitless. One could possibly rake in profits or could lose everything and go bankrupt. Professional gamers that retired from sponsored partnerships often went down this route.

  Of course, other methods were available as well. However, they were vague and unsubstantial, and ordinary video creators would not consider these ways.

  Just like how online writers hoped that lesser people would read pirated versions and their subscription rates would be higher. However, as for selling distribution rights for millions or tens of millions…

  That was a pipe dream; people could dream all they wanted.

  Furthermore, Pei Qian had managed to hold Zhu Xiaoce off at last, making the latter give up on low-value sponsored partnerships for now. This way, ninety-nine percent of Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s income would be stopped!

  After all, to find a UP Master willing to fork out a hundred thousand for a classy and custom-made video; how rich would the owner have to be to agree to this? Wouldn’t it be better if they directly engaged the video site and buy advertising space?

  Thinking about this, Pei Qian was quite assured.

  …

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Enter.”

  Lu Mingliang pushed the door and entered.

  “What’s up?” Pei Qian asked.

  Game Designer’s design manuscript had been completed before the New Year. Pei Qian had also given his assent, and there probably wasn’t much that needed to be changed.

  As for artistic resources and the actual production process, Pei Qian couldn’t care less. After all, he was the boss. To personally micro-manage would mean he didn’t know how to prioritize and spend his time.

  Now, Boss Pei’s Daily Life was the project he needed to keep a close eye on; he had to guard it with his life!

  “Boss Pei, it’s regarding dubbing. For dubbing of the voice-overs, I have already found a few more well-known people in the country for that; we have recorded a few segments already as a trial. Do you want to listen and choose one? I can’t decide,” Lu Mingliang said.

  Dubbing?

  En, it seemed as if he should at least pay a little attention to dubbing.

  Game Designer’s entire gameplay (factoring every choice and every decision) was around eight hours long; voice-overs basically were embedded from start to beginning. If all the wordings were added together, it was probably forty to fifty thousand words.

  As for dubbing, the market rate for it was very cheap.

  For a ballpark figure like fifty thousand words, the cheapest would be two to three thousand yuan while it would at most only cost up to ten thousand.

  In comparison to Game Designer’s total cost, that was peanuts.

  Pei Qian naturally wasn’t concerned about money.

  He was concerned—would the voice-overs be able to force players to give up on the game?

  Of course, if they randomly took someone off the streets who was tone-deaf and spoke indistinctly to do the dubbing, the desired effect could be achieved. However, this evidently was a violation.

  Pei Qian could only choose someone who wasn’t so outstanding among the pool of passable candidates. Even if he wanted to find someone ordinary, he had to find someone that could speak clearly and smoothly; he couldn’t find someone with an obvious problem that the system could seize on.

  Lu Mingliang had already contacted quite a few people for dubbing on the resource website; he had also recorded some samples that contained lines in the game for Pei Qian to have a listen.

  Pei Qian opened them one by one.

  The first was from a proud young lady.

  Without hesitation, Pei Qian clicked next. He definitely couldn’t pass this one! Could one imagine how excited those stay-at-home gamers could be if they heard this voice!

  The second was a soft and dainty female voice. The voice was rather subservient and made people feel numb and chill. Definitely not this either! However, this would be good for ASMR1.

  The third was that of an ordinary male’s voice.

  The fourth was a hoarse and rather high-pitched male’s voice. This voice was rather nasal and thin; it even had a tinge of huskiness to it.

  Pei Qian hesitated between the third and fourth options.

  The third w
as rather perfunctory; it wouldn’t be very outstanding. However, his sarcasm was not good; it was more like a news anchor’s tone. He might not be able to compel players to stop playing.

  I’ll go with the fourth one!

  This voice wasn’t that pleasing to the ears; some people might feel uncomfortable and a little difficult to listen to. It sounded like the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard. It would definitely be able to aid in players quitting the game!

  Furthermore, for some reason, the more Pei Qian listened, the more he wanted to beat that person up.

  The players would definitely feel the same!

  Since the number-one priority of this game was to scold players—the more annoying this voice was, the better!

  Pei Qian thumped the table and said, “Let’s go with this one; his voice is sufficiently unique.”

  Lu Mingliang took a look at the audio clip that Boss Pei had chosen as his face grew pained.

  Pei Qian was confused.

  “Is there a problem? This person is quoting a high rate? Or is he very occupied now? Offer more money!” Pei Qian believed that most problems in the world that could be settled with money were not problems!

  Especially for dubbing, these people did hard work; and their pay wasn’t actually considered high. To give a few thousand more, so what?

  “It’s not that, Boss Pei. This was the dubbing sample that we had given them. We were hoping to give them a rough idea of what tone they should carry for this project. This was something I had recorded myself…

  “I had placed all the files I received together in the same folder as the one I had. I had forgotten to differentiate them…” Lu Mingliang said as he scratched his head.

  Pei Qian was bewildered.

  Come to think of it, the last dubbing clip indeed had some interference in the background. Although the background was rather quiet, interference in the background was clear; and it was evident the equipment used for this recording was not that good.