Chapter 23 — My Nameless Occupation

In the past, I single-handedly managed all eight departments at Hang Vien. Now, seven people are huddled together to build one single product. Wouldn't you say this allocation of resources is significantly more sensible?

I looked at her, my daughter.

Are you implying that I was foolish back then?

Not at all. I am simply saying that, finally, you have returned to being a rational person.

This girl. Her tongue is even sharper than mine.

By the time Jian Chu Technology had been established for six months, our client base had surpassed the one-hundred mark. Monthly revenue exceeded eight hundred thousand. Shen Yi began reaching out to investors for our Series A funding. The first venture capital firm to knock on our door was Thanh Nguyen Investment. Their managing director, a woman in her forties named Trinh, was rumored to have successfully steered three companies to their initial public offerings. Director Trinh spent an entire morning at Jian Chu observing our operations. She bypassed the presentations and the spreadsheets, choosing instead to examine our product management system and our customer feedback directly. Once she finished, she asked me, Director To, what is your client retention rate?

Ninety-two percent.

And what is the industry average?

Roughly sixty to seventy percent.

Why is your performance so much higher?

Because I do not sell mere features; I sell solutions. When a new client starts using our platform, my team spends three days auditing their workflow, adjusting our templates to align perfectly with their internal processes. It is essentially embedding professional consultancy directly into the software.

Does that not require an immense amount of labor?

In the early stages, yes. But once the adjustments are settled, the client’s loyalty is ironclad. Their business processes have become inextricably rooted in our tools.

She studied me for a long, silent moment.

Director To, how old are you this year?

Forty-three.

To be the CEO of a tech startup at your age—that is truly a rarity.

I do not come from a technical background. I come from administrative work.

She paused, seemingly taken aback.

Administration?

I worked as an administrative specialist at my previous company for twelve years. After I was laid off, I decided to strike out on my own.

Director Trinh set her pen down.

Director To, do you know why I came here today?

I do not.

Ha Duy introduced us at a dinner party. He had been drinking quite a bit and remarked, The most solid project I have ever invested in was started by an administrative clerk who was fired from her old firm. Yet, the product she creates now is a hundred times better than the three-million-yuan system her old company wasted their money on.

He was drunk; he was just spouting nonsense.

She continued, He also said this: If you want to invest in her, you had better hurry. Because in six months, you will not have enough capital to get through the door.

I remained silent. Director Trinh stood up.

Series A, twenty million yuan at an eighty-million-yuan valuation. This is my sincere offer.

Twenty million. My total earnings from twelve years at Hang Vien combined did not even reach half that figure.

Director Trinh, I will need to review the terms.

Of course. Have your legal counsel coordinate with mine. However, I have one condition.

What is it?

I will personally loan you one million as venture capital, with no equity stake. The condition is that once every quarter, you and I will have dinner to discuss corporate governance.

Why?

She picked up her bag and walked toward the door.

Because I have met countless people who can endure at a company for twelve years, pushing the work of eight departments to the breaking point without a single complaint. But those who actually stand up and walk away from that chair? I can count them on one hand.

I want to see exactly how far you go from here.

As soon as she left, Shen Yi rushed in from the next room.