Chapter 950

Cantalupo put down the newspaper he had just picked up, smiled and shook Hastings' hand, "Hello,"

From his eyes to his expression, he showed no sign of displeasure at all.

For an old man like him, it is impossible for ordinary people to see his true emotions from him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cantalupo," Hastings naturally wouldn't mention the fact that I've been waiting downstairs for the whole morning, "I'm sorry to bother you,"

Cantalupo had no intention of asking him to sit down, and Hastings sat down without the self-consciousness of asking his permission.

Such a high-end club receives regular customers. He knows that it is impossible for Cantalupo to show his demeanor in front of these old friends in his club. "I believe you have heard of Netflix and me. I take the liberty to disturb you today. I want to express an attitude to you and McDonald's, and Netflix is ​​also very interested in Redbox, and we are confident that we can do better than Coin Star, and we are the best partner of Redbox,"

He didn't talk nonsense, and he directly expressed his intention and attitude when he came up.

Do you want to say that the country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change? Although he came to ask for cooperation under such circumstances, Hastings's words were still confident to the point of arrogance.

Coinstar is the best partner of Redbox? That being said, Cantalupo and the board were unanimously optimistic about the coin star, which of course was a mistake.

"Thank you Hastings for your kindness," Cantalupo folded the newspaper carefully, "Yes, I know you and your Netflix company are very good, and thank you very much for your recognition of Redbox, just , I don’t think now is the time to talk about it,”

"I believe you have seen our announcement. At the same time, since yesterday, we and the Coin Star team have been discussing the specific terms of the agreement. This cooperation, which has been approved by the boards of directors of our two companies, is progressing smoothly, so , all I can say is sorry,"

"I saw the announcement, Mr. Cantalupo," Hastings clasped his hands on the dining table and sat upright, "but it was just a movement, and I also noticed that both of you said in the announcement , whether this cooperation can be successful, there is still a certain risk, Netflix, willing to be the reason, "

He really went all out.

Cantalupo's expression became serious, not because he became serious, but because he was a little impatient and displeased. He had several talks with Feng Yiping, the top executives of the two companies, and he himself became a director of the company. For a few days of work, if you pause, you will pause, and if you say you give up, you will give up?

"Why did we choose Netflix?"

"Because we at Netflix have the most experience in DVD rentals,"

"In the field of DVD rental, aren't Blockbuster and DVDPlay, TheNewRelease, and HollywoodVideo more experienced?"

The Blockbuster at this time is not the Blockbuster that survived later.

In 2001, the total amount of DVD rental business in the United States broke through 10 billion U.S. dollars, reaching 10.26 billion U.S. dollars, and traditional DVD rental companies accounted for most of the 10 billion U.S. dollars, more than 70%.

And Blockbuster, which has sufficient inventory and has thousands of chain stores all over the country, occupies most of this, with a total of 10.26 billion. The revenue of Blockbuster has reached a huge US$51. Just occupied half of the country.

Although Netflix is ​​growing rapidly, but compared with Blockbuster, the gap is not obvious, but quite ambiguous.

This point, Hastings can not deny, can not deny.

"It's just the last glory." Hastings shook his head disdainfully. "You and I both know that in this era of rapid Internet development, the traditional format of opening a store in a place like Blockbuster has been eliminated and eliminated. Spare it, it will be a matter of time, "

"We've always believed that the internet can't do everything for us, brick and mortar stores have existed for thousands of years and they will continue to exist for thousands of years,"

Cantalupo also doesn't like to hear what Hastings said. According to Hastings, McDonald's is also a traditional format, but for Cantalupo, their branches in various places, That's precisely where their strengths lie.

"By your standards, our Redbox is also a traditional format," Cantalupo continued.

Moreover, in essence, Cantalupo, who has been working in traditional fast food all his life, is also a traditional person. For all the things that some people preach, he will have to rely on the Internet in the future. He is not very cold.

The biggest advantage of McDonald's is offline.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything else. We all know that different industries have different standards. The restaurant industry is very different from the DVD rental industry. The physical store is still very important," Hastings also realized. What I said was wrong.

He had to explain again, "To be precise, Redbox should be a new format in the traditional format. This model has many original advantages,"

"Mr. Cantalupo, I want to state that I don't think all businesses that have little to do with the Internet are traditional businesses that will be eliminated,"

"I'm not talking about how advanced Netflix's model is. I just want to say that Netflix is ​​a company that is not afraid of pressure. Our company's development history has strongly proved this point,"

"We went from being on the verge of bankruptcy to becoming the fourth largest leasing company in the industry, which is enough to illustrate this point," he said.

"In competing with powerful competitors, we have accumulated a wealth of experience and established the most complete resource library. At the same time, we have also cultivated a large number of loyal users, and these are things that Coinstar cannot provide. of,"

"The combination of online and offline will result in one plus one greater than two. Therefore, I still ask you and McDonald's to seriously consider my proposal. Is it beneficial to cooperate with a company that has not been involved in this field before, or to cooperate with a company?" Is it more beneficial to cooperate with companies with rich experience?"

"The answer, I think, is obvious," Hastings explained with persuasion, and said a lot.

"Online DVD rental is not a new business form. As far as I know, Wal-Mart, which has recently caused headaches for your company, has also developed its online rental business very rapidly? And Blockbuster's online rental business is also in preparation. So the advantages you mentioned are not unique to you,"

"In addition, it is obvious that we will cooperate with Coin Star to quickly install tens of thousands of rental machines in supermarkets across the country, and each single machine will earn tens of thousands of dollars a year,"

No matter how well Hastings said, it was not as attractive as Feng Yiping's simple calculation for him.

"Sorry, but if there's nothing else, I'm going to eat," Cantalupo said.

Hastings cannot give this guarantee. In fact, for him, if he can cooperate with Redbox, it will be Netflix who will benefit.

Since it is leasing, it involves "one borrowing and one repayment." In the borrowing process, Blockbuster and Netflix currently have their own advantages, but in the repayment process, Redbox's model is the best among all leasing companies. The most convenient, quickest, and cheapest, which is why the more Hastings thought about it, the more he felt that he could not make Coin Star as he wished.

"Mr. Cantalupo, among other conditions, we can give McDonald's Redbox a higher valuation for the existing business, and we can accept a lower stake in the new company,"

His own advantages, unattractive to McDonald's, Hastings turned to talk about money.

Cantalupo smiled. "We have been established for so many years at McDonald's, so we are more patient than other companies. At the same time, we also value long-term interests,"

"McDonald's has another advantage that other companies can't match. Do you know what it is? We generate huge cash flow every day, so a few million more or less is not too big for us. significance,"

Of course, Cantalupo also welcomes if the valuation of the leased aircraft they are currently operating and this model can be tens of millions or more.

Although it is still impossible to cooperate with Netflix, you can use this as a condition to get more benefits from Coin Star.

However, can Netflix pay a premium of tens of millions of dollars on the basis of Coinstar's valuation? impossible.

Netflix is ​​a company founded by Hastings, but it is not his company alone. He also has a board of directors on his head and is responsible to investors large and small in the market. Unlike Coinstar, which has just completed the overall acquisition Feng Yiping, on the board of directors, can also make a decision with one word.

"You know, Mr. Cantalupo, we can also send a cooperation proposal to the McDonald's board of directors," Hastings said, finally resorting to the last resort.

"Hehe, this is your right, we welcome it too,"

Cantalupo understood what he meant. Didn't the implication mean that, as the president of McDonald's, he rejected a higher offer from a potential third party, thus questioning his professional ethics?

But this move has no deterrent effect on him, because this time, Redbox is not for sale, but for cooperation with other companies, even though Netflix mentioned in the document sent to McDonald's board of directors that it rejected Hastings' offer, It can't have much influence on him.

If it's a one-off deal, the pursuit must be the highest quotation, but since it is a cooperation, the pursuit is naturally long-term income, not the highest quotation, which means the most advantage.

"By the way, after reaching a cooperation with Coin Star this time, Netflix is ​​welcome to cooperate with the new Redbox. It is a very thoughtful team. I believe they can also provide some help to Netflix,"

Cantalupo's words, more or less, are a bit of a retaliation for Hastings' series of rude actions and questions about his professionalism.

He didn't know that his words just hit what Hastings was most worried about.

After hearing this, Hastings immediately became furious. When your cooperation is completed, even if I don't go to them, I'm afraid they will recruit me, okay?

…………

Hastings, who had reached an impasse with Cantalupo, flew back to Silicon Valley in great frustration. Whether he should send a cooperation application to McDonald's is not a matter of consideration now, but he must do so. Neither is bad.

However, as a listed company, he is on the board of directors and does not occupy the majority. Therefore, before causing interference to Coin Star, he himself faced a lot of interference.

He did two jobs at the same time. While trying to convince the board of directors, he called the CEOs of several top companies in the industry, including Blockbuster, which he regarded as a thorn in his side, in an unprecedented and sincere manner.

Talking to Cantalupo to that point, he understands that this time, at most, he can only cause some interference to this cooperation, but if Blockbuster and the others can also participate, it may really disrupt Huang this cooperation.

From his point of view, whether it is Blockbuster or the other companies that have reached cooperation with McDonald's, it will bring less pressure on him than Coinstar's wish to achieve.

The results were mixed.

Under his persuasion, Netflix's board of directors, also holding the mentality of at least adding to the trouble, agreed to Hastings' proposal. On September 10, they officially announced this decision to the public and sent someone to formally A relevant proposal was made to McDonald's.

However, Hastings placed high hopes on several other peers, and his proposal was unanimously cold.

After Netflix’s announcement was made, Hastings took the initiative to call his old friend Blockbuster again. The person who called was still Antioko who refused to buy him at the beginning, “Antioko, what do you think? Are you interested in acting with us?"

What he said was not appropriate.

It is as ridiculous as a small e-commerce company in China said to Taobao, "Come on, act with us".

At this time, Blockbuster, as the leader in the industry, is in full swing, how could it be possible to act in unison with the little brother Netflix? Netflix is ​​about the same as it has been doing.

"Hastings, oh, you are talking about that matter, let's be honest, I have not passed the board of directors for your suggestion. For a company like ours, it is unnecessary to develop a business like Redbox? "

"Are you really giving us advice, or are you trying to cause us trouble?"

"We have always welcomed everyone to compete head-on with us. Don't show other methods and cleverness in front of us. I can tell them that such a plan will not succeed,"

There hung up the phone, and Hastings dropped it.

It's so unnecessary, what can I say to these stubborn guys? It's better to expect McDonald's to change its mind than to expect them to recognize the threat!

…………

Naturally, McDonald's will not change its mind. Soon, on September 12, Netflix received a reply letter from the McDonald's board of directors, "After careful (only one day, no matter how you look at it) research by our board of directors, the directors unanimously agreed , Cooperating with Coinstar is more beneficial to the development of our Redbox.”

"Thank you very much for your company's proposal, and look forward to having other cooperation opportunities in the future,"

Ironically, the one who signed under it is none other than Cantalupo, the chairman of McDonald's.

ps: A group has been established, 454, 231, 228, everyone is welcome to come and give more valuable opinions. I look forward to having the opportunity to communicate with you!