"Have you decided on a company name yet?" Meng Qiuyan asked with great interest.
"Metaverse Intelligent Control."
Lu An spoke these four words.
Hearing this, Meng Qiuyan pondered, then murmured to herself, "This name seems to be related to virtual reality, or artificial intelligence, or perhaps robotic control equipment and other fields."
"You could say that." Lu An nodded and added, "In the initial phase of the company, I plan to start with the Bionic Prosthetic Limbs field, providing solutions for people with disabilities to earn the company's first pot of gold."
"After that, we'll gradually expand the business to human-shaped robots, including military-grade armed human-shaped robots, civilian-grade domestic service robots, and so on."
Lu An's plan was mainly due to the company's lack of funds in its initial stage, but he clearly hadn't considered technical issues.
Because technical problems were no problem at all for him; they weren't an issue in his previous life, let alone in this life where he had hundreds of years of future knowledge and memories.
After a while, Meng Qiuyan looked up at Lu An and asked, "How will we solve the startup capital problem for the company? We both graduated this year, haven't worked, and haven't saved any money."
Lu An asked, "How much disposable cash do we have on hand right now?"
Meng Qiuyan replied, "Less than twenty thousand yuan left."
Speaking of which, Meng Qiuyan had a Beijing household registration.
Her family background was much, much better than Lu An's; her family gave her thirty thousand yuan every month for living expenses.
In 2013, having thirty thousand yuan a month for daily living expenses showed that her family was by no means an ordinary one; just having a Beijing household registration already surpassed countless people.
In contrast, Lu An came from a very humble background; his parents had passed away long ago, and even his university tuition was pooled together by his fellow villagers.
He hadn't hidden his circumstances from his girlfriend, and Meng Qiuyan didn't care about his humble origins at all.
At this moment, while thinking and analyzing, Meng Qiuyan slowly said, "I see two ways to solve the startup capital problem."
She then turned to Lu An and said, "First, find venture capital firms in the capital market for funding support. If investors know you plan to start a business, I think many would be very willing to give you an angel round of funding. This is the fastest way to secure startup capital."
Meng Qiuyan's words were not an exaggeration.
If other young graduates wanted to start a business but lacked startup capital, it would be very difficult to convince investors, with a probability of over 90% of being rejected.
But if that person was Lu An, he could secure funding by "relying on his reputation."
Because Lu An was not an unknown figure during his time at university; he was an extremely rare cross-disciplinary genius. Several academician bigwigs regarded him as their star pupil, and he had already independently published more than a dozen top-tier papers while still enrolled.
Many major tech companies, as well as some venture capital firms, had been quietly following him for a long time.
Sure enough, as soon as he graduated, those well-known big companies eagerly offered him positions.
Lu An didn't even need to deliberately prepare anything; he just needed to let investors know that he wanted to start a company. For a funding scale within ten million, there would definitely be many investors who would agree to fund him without batting an eye.
He could genuinely secure funding easily by "relying on his reputation."
At this moment, Meng Qiuyan continued, "Second, if you don't want to find investment firms for startup funding, then we can work for a while to save some money. Once we've saved enough startup capital, we can then start the business together."
The two of them didn't have much money right now, but that was because they had just graduated and had no income.
However, whether it was Lu An or Meng Qiuyan, as long as they looked for a job, they wouldn't have trouble finding employment, and they would both have various high-paying positions and companies to choose from.
Especially Lu An, so many well-known big companies were scrambling to recruit him, with starting salaries of a million yuan annually, after tax.
Lu An said, "Working to save money first and then starting a business, that's too much of a waste of time."
Time, in Lu An's eyes now, was the most precious resource, especially since in this life he already knew that the montemoloss asteroid would collide with Earth in 2036. Time became even more precious in Lu An's eyes, and he absolutely couldn't waste too much valuable time on such minor issues.
Hearing him say this, Meng Qiuyan couldn't help but say, "So, we're choosing the first option then? Actually, I also lean more towards funding."
Pausing, Meng Qiuyan then asked, "Which venture capital firm do you plan to approach for funding?"
Lu An said in a deep voice, "Let's skip those venture capital firms. While it's true that if I approach them, they'll most likely give money readily, their money isn't free. They'll definitely have demands, and giving you money will come with requirements like KPIs or various other conditions. Capitalists aren't philanthropists."
"If he readily invests, and he makes some demands, you can't easily refuse, can you? So, let's not go to venture capitalists."
Hearing that he didn't want to seek venture capital funding, Meng Qiuyan asked in return, "Then what should we do? Given our current situation, I can't think of a third option."
Hearing this, Lu An glanced at his girlfriend and said, "Did you forget I have an amazing buddy, Qin Yiyun? That guy turns out to be a super rich second-generation heir, and he's already gone back to inherit billions in family assets."
Qin Yiyun's father was the CEO of a listed company called Wuxiang Huitong, but six months ago, his father unfortunately passed away in a car accident.
As an only son, Qin Yiyun naturally took over his father's business, rushing back to inherit the family fortune right after graduation.
Lu An then smiled and said, "With such an amazing brother worth over a hundred million, there's no reason to seek venture capital. We'll just have Yunzi be the angel investor for Metaverse Intelligent Control. He won't put any KPI pressure on us, and most importantly, both he and I value loyalty over profit."
Lu An and Qin Yiyun's friendship had been tested over hundreds of years in their previous life, and he had no distrust of Qin Yiyun whatsoever.
Qin Yiyun had always been Lu An's exceptionally good friend in private and a staunch ally in business. No matter the situation, Qin Yiyun would always stand by Lu An without hesitation and without questioning right or wrong, only considering his stance, which was to unconditionally stand on the same front as Lu An.
Clearly, in terms of career arrangements, Lu An still planned to form a staunch business alliance with his good brother, just like in his previous life.
In their previous lives, their companies had cross-shareholdings, with Metaverse Intelligent Control holding 20% of Wuxiang Huitong's shares, and Wuxiang Huitong holding 15% of Metaverse Intelligent Control's shares. They were each other's second-largest shareholders, maintaining high consistency and advancing together in business, and both companies grew into one of the top two super-giants globally.
At this moment, Lu An immediately picked up his phone, dialed Qin Yiyun's number, and then put the phone on speaker, waiting.
After a while, the call connected, and Qin Yiyun's voice came through.
"What's up? Make it quick, I'm busy managing my many concubines," Qin Yiyun said from the other end of the phone, sitting in the chairman's office, leaning back in his executive chair with his legs propped on the desk.
Lu An chuckled, "Brother plans to start a business; you're the angel investor."
Qin Yiyun's voice came through, "How much do you need? I'll have my personal secretary wire it to you right away."
Lu An thought for a moment and said, "Five million, I guess."
Qin Yiyun said without hesitation, "No problem, but I don't have that much money under my personal name. My dad set up a broken trust fund before he died, designating his descendants, which is me, as beneficiaries, but it only gives out one million in cash each month."
With his memories from his previous life, Lu An knew about Qin Yiyun's father setting up that offshore trust fund.
This was a final safeguard for his son, just in case Qin Yiyun wasn't capable enough and ran the company into the ground or even bankruptcy, he would still have a stable one million per month for living expenses.
Qin Yiyun once again propped his legs on the desk, leaned back in his executive chair, and continued leisurely, "However, I am now the person in charge of Wuxiang Huitong, the chairman of a listed company. Although I can't personally misappropriate company funds, providing you with an angel round of funding under the guise of company investment, not to mention five million, even fifty million is no problem."
Hearing this, Lu An immediately said, "Can a living person really be stifled by urine? You're already a chairman of a listed company. If you want to do something, just account it as company operating expenses for business needs, and it's done, plus you save a lot on taxes."
Qin Yiyun immediately retorted, "Do you think I don't know these maneuvers? This chairman position isn't easy either, because there are always scoundrels trying to harm me. Several company veterans, who co-founded the company with my dad, have a lot of opinions, dissatisfaction, and resentment about me taking over."
"Hehe~, to put it plainly, these old farts just saw that my dad died and want to kick me out of the company, so I can't give them any leverage."
Lu An listened to his complaints, and with his memories from his previous life, he knew about his good brother's struggles with several company veterans after inheriting his father's business.
However, he didn't comment on the matter, as his current situation didn't allow him to help his brother.
Finally, Lu An said, "Then let's do five million for 15% equity."
Qin Yiyun said calmly, "Whatever, it's just a formality anyway. Hey, if you go bankrupt, come and join me, okay? I'll take you in. I'll be the chairman, you be the CEO. We brothers will grow strong and create new glories."
Lu An smiled and cursed, "Get lost, you bastard! My company isn't even registered yet, and you're cursing me to go bankrupt."
Just then, he heard another voice on the phone, and then Qin Yiyun said, "Talk later, I'm going to the board meeting to fight with those old farts. Text me your account number, I'll have my subordinate transfer the money to you first, and the paperwork and contracts can be processed later."
... (Please collect, recommend~~)