“Mr. Laine, 8861 caters to SMEs. When it comes to Sena or Terizone, their users are ordinary netizens. They are simply not the same target audience,” Wayne spoke.
Jasper chuckled and targeted Wayne’s straw man without hesitation.
“If your members know of 8861 and have gone online to use your website for business, Mr. Wayne, then who’s to say that these enterprise owners or senior executives are not also Terizone’s email subscribers, KK users, or Sena’s gamers?”
Wayne’s expression turned stern and he gestured as he spoke, “8861 is advantageous because it is irreplaceable.
“That is merely the result of being early movers in a market in which you are still gathering users. In reality, these so-called advantages are merely a facade.”
Jasper leaned back against his chair and looked at Wayne. “I heard that you’re a fan of fairytales, and that you like referring to each other as sirs and knights within the company.”
“Therefore, I’m sure that you’re no stranger to the battles between knights and dragons. It’s only a battle of skills when its a fight between people of similar strengths. Am I wrong?”
“Mr. Laine,” Jose cut Wayne off and spoke, looking at Jasper seriously. “You also said that there’s problem with 8861. Could I ask what this might be, other than the fact that it’s easily replaceable?”
“Its business model,” Jasper replied straightforwardly.
“Enterprise to enterprise, or the b2b model in e-commerce terms. This model isn’t horrible, but there’s an innate problem with it. This model makes your website a platform instead of a channel, in which there’s no clear boundaries for the suppliers and their customers.
“Say, for example, that my enterprise is focused on selling lathes, and I paid your company’s membership fee so that I can partner with a machining company. Two years later, that company and I will already have experience partnering together, yes? So pray tell, why I would want to continue paying for my membership?
“At the moment, your only source of income comes for membership fees. But after paying you once, your members will be able to find their own groups of suppliers or customers. Your members won’t need your website anymore once they’ve used it to source their own channels.”
Wayne smiled wryly.
He did not expect a script that took him only 15 minutes to persuade Myles crumble completely in front of Jasper.
Wayne thought about how he had dragged Jose to wait with him at the entrance for five to six hours just for this opportunity. They had waited for Jasper until the early morning only to come out empty-handed. Because of this, Wayne suddenly felt the urge to leave.
“I take it that you’re not willing to invest then, Mr. Laine?” Wayne asked in disappointment.
“I’m willing.”
Jasper caught them off guard and reignited Wayne and Jose’s embers of hope.
Jasper smiled at how his words controlled the duo’s emotions. “Instead of investing in 8861, I’d like to invest in Abbylon Inc.”
Jose frowned at Jasper’s request.
While Wayne stared intently at Jasper, as if he wanted to pierce through the latter and stare straight into his soul.
“I don’t understand, Mr. Laine. 8861 website is the only business Abbylon Inc. has right now,” Jose spoke curiously.
“Change your business model. Make it B2C instead of B2B so it’s direct-to-consumers. This will significantly change the way people carry out lifestyle shopping in this country, and even the entire world.” Jasper stood up and spoke excitedly.
Wayne looked at Jasper as if the latter was a ghost.
