What was the real starting point for Netflix's rise? Some believe it was the company's founding, others its move into online sales, and yet others its abandonment of discs for streaming.
However, what truly propelled Netflix to greatness was undoubtedly House of Cards.
This name, well-known even in China, completely propelled Netflix to its rise, making its reputation resound worldwide. Following this, Netflix's global expansion proceeded exceptionally smoothly, with many unconditionally embracing Netflix simply upon seeing the "House of Cards" production company title.
In the year House of Cards premiered, Netflix added a hundred million users globally, fifty million of whom were paying subscribers, illustrating the terrifying influence of the show.
Although Netflix has not since produced works on the same level as House of Cards, it has released numerous acclaimed high-quality TV dramas, films, and other works, enabling Netflix to develop sustained self-generating capabilities.
Today, Netflix's market presence is thoroughly established. It can invest over 5 billion US dollars annually in the production of various video content, ensuring that Netflix's produced films and TV shows consistently remain at the forefront of online visual content.
And behind all this, the increasingly powerful and invaluable film and television production recommendation algorithm deserves immense credit. This algorithm can always recommend the production elements best suited to the current market.
Of course, some people dismiss this "big data" as nonsense. Many domestic video websites also have their own recommendation algorithms, but the end result of these algorithms is always hiring traffic stars and shooting incredibly bad Xianxia and ancient idol dramas – that's the supposed contribution of these domestic recommendation algorithms.
In reality, these recommendation algorithms shouldn't entirely shoulder the blame, as there are simply no true film and television recommendation algorithms in China; what exists is just a mass stampede.
A genuine recommendation algorithm involves universally collecting various user reviews, credible professional data, actors' reputations, acting evaluations, work ratings, and so on, ultimately arriving at a highly complex and trustworthy outcome.
However, China's Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent, first of all, their recommendation algorithms are manufactured very poorly. They simply collect data on works and stars from places like Weibo and Douban and then derive a formula that states traffic stars can make a fortune.
This lacks broader samples and, more importantly, the ability to exclude false data.
Netflix's data is generally derived from the reviews of its paying users, making the possibility of falsification very small, as paying bots would have to spend hundreds of dollars annually to maintain an account.
In contrast, China is the opposite: Weibo fans can be a hundred million, but retweets are less than 998.
And it is precisely the fans of these traffic stars who are most fond of manipulating data, treating data generation on platforms like Weibo as their daily work, with the sole purpose of making their idols' data look good, thereby securing more film and television resources for these idols.
As you can see, these fans have achieved results. Thus, the so-called S-tier masterpieces from China's Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent often fail one after another. The only way for China to produce hit works is still through traditional TV drama producers who emerged from television stations. They don't look at big data; they only look at the quality of the work.
Well, I've digressed too much. The reason I've said all this is to inform you that Hastings is determined to get his hands on Netflix's big data algorithm and is fully aware of its value.
As long as he has this algorithm, the new company founded by Hastings can immediately produce numerous hit works. He will not give up on this algorithm.
However, Boss Huang clearly values this algorithm as well, so he completely disagrees with Hastings' request. Hastings spoke for a long time without avail and then reluctantly said, "Let's not discuss the algorithm for now. How do you plan to handle my remaining 40% of the company's shares?"
"40 million US dollars. I will buy back all these remaining shares!" Huang He said very decisively.
"Nonsense!" Hastings laughed in extreme anger. "Netflix's valuation is at least 5 billion US dollars now. You want to buy 40% of the shares for 40 million? You're dreaming!"
"I won't cheat you. If you give me 2 billion US dollars to buy back my shares, I will leave the company immediately and will not pester you further!"
"What kind of joke are you telling with just your bare words? Who told you Netflix is worth 5 billion US dollars? No one acknowledges this valuation!" Huang He said calmly.
"This valuation was assessed by Fortune magazine. It's an authoritative valuation!" Hastings retorted.
"Ridiculous. A financial media outlet? That magazine and its ilk are worth less than 1 billion US dollars combined, and it actually dares to demand such a price!"
"Furthermore, Netflix did not turn a profit last year. If I hadn't invested another 50 million US dollars, Netflix's accounts would have been empty!"
"For such a piece of junk, you dare to ask me for 2 billion US dollars!" Huang He cursed.
"Then 1.5 billion US dollars. No less!" Hastings knew he was asking for the moon and immediately reduced the price by 500 million US dollars. Then, the two engaged in a verbal sparring match. After Hastings lowered the price to 1 billion US dollars, he refused to budge any further.
Hastings actually knew very well that 1 billion US dollars was still too high, but Netflix was very important for Jiangnan Group's development strategy. Acquiring complete control of Netflix for 1 billion US dollars was not unaffordable for Jiangnan Group, as Huang He was wealthy. Therefore, Hastings adamantly held to this price, and both sides reached a stalemate.
Finally, Hastings stood up and said coldly, "Mr. Huang He, I am telling you very clearly now: unless you give me a reasonable price, I will never leave Netflix."
"I am not like Randolph, that idiot, who surrendered his power with just a few words. I will always occupy this position, always control the entire company until the day it collapses!"
"And you can only watch me sit here, even if I arbitrarily control the company and make all sorts of foolish decisions. You will be powerless to stop me, and you will watch Netflix transform from an enterprise valued at 5 billion US dollars into worthless rubble!"
"Netflix was created by me, and only I can destroy it. Don't force me to this point!" After Hastings finished speaking, he left angrily, leaving Huang He alone sitting in his chair, his facial muscles twitching slightly, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Boss, this is the first person you've met who you have no way to deal with! This guy is much more difficult to handle than old Brother Ma and little Brother Ma before, isn't he!" Hu Jing, standing beside him, said cheerfully upon seeing her boss's predicament.
After all, scenes of Huang He being stumped are rare, especially Huang He being stumped in business, which is even rarer.
"He is indeed a bit tricky!" Huang He nodded. "But this guy is actually very foolish. He's not on the same level as little Brother Ma and old Brother Ma at all; he's not that formidable an opponent. In fact, he's even more shameless than the other two."
"Still, ultimately, you still have no way to deal with him!" Hu Jing stuck out her tongue and said.
"There are definitely ways, I just haven't thought of them yet!" Boss Huang mumbled. Hu Jing continued to mock him. Huang He, with a look of anger, said, "If I come up with a solution, how about you go on a date with your next blind date regardless of any conditions they set!"
Well, Hu Jing had already been on more than 12 blind dates by this time, and none had been successful. Watching Hu Jing's blind date summaries and videos had become one of Boss Huang's life pleasures.
Huang He thought that a rational woman like Hu Jing would not agree to such terms, but unexpectedly, Hu Jing's eyes darted around, and a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Okay, it's settled!"
"There's something wrong with this woman!" Huang He felt something was amiss, but he didn't intend to back down. Instead, he began to seriously recall all the events that had just happened and think of a way to break the deadlock. Truth be told, this Hastings had indeed brought him quite a bit of trouble.
"By the way, I remember that guy said something just now. Do you remember what he said?" Huang He suddenly recalled a common scene from movies and TV shows and asked Hu Jing with a smile.
"He said Netflix was created by him, and only he could destroy it!" Hu Jing repeated meticulously.
"Not that sentence, the one before it!" Huang He waved his hand. Hu Jing rolled her eyes and then said, "He said, you have no way to deal with him, and you will watch Netflix transform from an enterprise valued at 5 billion US dollars into trash!"
"No, the sentence before that!" Huang He continued.
To be honest, if Huang He weren't her boss, Hu Jing would have kicked him directly. But now, she could only patiently say, "He said I am not like Randolph, that idiot, who surrendered his power with just a few words. I will always occupy this position, always control the entire company until the day it collapses!"
"Bingo, I've thought of a way. Sun Nan was right!" Boss Huang's face lit up with a smile, which made Hu Jing even more bewildered.
"Boss, what does this have to do with Sun Nan?"
"It does. Doesn't Sun Nan have a lyric that says, 'Some careless words resolve my doubts'!" Boss Huang sang out the lyric completely!
"Hastings' problem, in fact, Hastings himself has given me the solution. Since he wants to stay until the company collapses, then let the company collapse!" Huang He narrowed his eyes. At this moment, Hastings, sitting in his car, smugly preparing to go out and have fun, suddenly shivered all over. He had a very bad premonition.