November 8th, Tuesday.

Meng Chang arrived at the office building of Dream Chasing Capital and tidied his appearance slightly.

The weather was a bit chilly. Meng Chang wore a well-fitting casual suit over a plain t-shirt, paired with jeans and sneakers.

No shirt, no tie. The most business-like item he wore was a watch, and it wasn’t even an expensive mechanical one, simple to the extreme.

His hair was a carefully trimmed buzz cut, and his mustache was neatly groomed, making him look neither too old nor too frivolous.

Meng Chang was very satisfied with his current image.

Of course, all of this had been carefully prepared.

The wave of mobile internet was rising rapidly, and the influence of internet thinking on entrepreneurs wasn't just in their ideas but also in their appearance.

The real big shots with internet thinking weren’t wearing suits and ties anymore. They were all about plain t-shirts and jeans, with buzz cuts or crew cuts, keeping it as neat as possible.

In the eyes of investors, you were an unkempt, seasoned industry insider with rich internet experience, while to users and onlookers, you were a down-to-earth CEO.

Of course, the so-called down-to-earth and unkempt was just a carefully constructed facade. In reality, the price of that buzz cut might be higher than a full hair salon package, and it might be styled more frequently than some girls who loved to doll up.

Generally speaking, the standard outfit of a crew cut, t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers shouldn't include a mustache, as it might give investors an impression of being old-fashioned and conservative, lacking in internet thinking.

But Meng Chang couldn't help it. He looked young naturally, almost like a college or even high school student if he didn't have that mustache, making it difficult for investors to trust him.

If Meng Chang could replace that mustache with some deep wrinkles, especially crow's feet around his eyes and nasolabial folds, his image would be perfect. Unfortunately, he couldn't change that.

He could only carefully trim his mustache to compensate for his "not mature enough" shortcoming in appearance.

In short, appearance was a detail that influenced the first impression.

And the first impression often determined whether this coaxing, oh no, fundraising would succeed.

Meng Chang was full of confidence and anticipation for today's meeting.

He had long heard that CEO Pei founded Dream Chasing Capital to help others fulfill their dreams.

And for Meng Chang, dreams were definitely in surplus.

He firmly believed that as long as he could have a face-to-face meeting with CEO Pei, just ten minutes would be enough to persuade him to invest!

He glanced at his watch. It was almost time. Meng Chang strode towards Dream Chasing Capital.

…

Inside the conference room of Dream Chasing Capital.

He Desheng sat on the sofa, sipping tea while watching Meng Chang explain his PPT.

He Desheng had to admit that his first impression of Meng Chang was quite good.

He was handsome, presentable, and dressed neatly, looking energetic, like someone who could achieve something.

The mustache seemed a little strange at first, but he got used to it after seeing it a few times, and it even became a kind of personal signature.

Moreover, in the past, many people who came to seek investment brought resumes, letters of intent, or product samples, but very few brought their own PPT.

Explaining with a PPT was definitely the most effective way.

Moreover, Meng Chang's PPT was absolutely top-notch, neither flashy and frivolous nor old-fashioned and conservative. The various elements, color blocks, layouts, charts, etc., were all done just right. Any more would be cluttered, any less would be simple.

He Desheng even thought that Meng Chang could easily earn tens of thousands of yuan a month just by specializing in PPT design for some internet companies.

Moreover, Meng Chang had excellent eloquence, moderate speech speed, and fluent language. His grasp of rhythm and content was perfect.

He Desheng felt comfortable just watching Meng Chang speak eloquently.

The first half of the PPT was mainly Meng Chang introducing his personal work experience.

Some people said that investing was investing in companies and concepts, but more importantly, it was investing in people.

Whether a company could succeed depended on whether the company's boss had the ability.

Meng Chang naturally knew this, so the first half of the PPT focused on self-introduction.

Meng Chang, 29 years old this year, went abroad to study after graduating from university, attending prestigious schools.

He had experience working in first-tier internet giants both at home and abroad, and in marketing-related departments such as the User Experience Department and the Marketing Department. Although it was difficult to say how much of the achievements were his, this resume was indeed impeccable.

Moreover, many of the people he had worked with before had become senior executives in internet giants. Although it seemed useless at first glance, it undoubtedly hinted that he had deep-seated network resources that could be tapped.

In short, this section mainly emphasized, "I am a capable and reliable person."

Soon, the first half of the PPT was finished.

Meng Chang looked at He Desheng opposite him with a smile: "CEO He, do you have any questions?"

Although he was smiling, he was still a little nervous.

He was really afraid that He Desheng would ask about some details in his resume, such as how he entered prestigious schools, how he studied abroad, how he entered these internet giants, and why he left.

If these questions were asked in detail, there might be some embarrassing scenes.

He Desheng took a sip of tea: "No, continue."

Meng Chang couldn't help but smile slightly.

Sure enough, he wouldn't ask further.

This was the best-case scenario that Meng Chang had predicted.

Meng Chang wasn't sure whether He Desheng really didn't see the water in his academic qualifications and work experience, or whether he was pretending not to see it.

Meng Chang felt that it was mostly the former.

But this was good news because it showed that CEO He, like many other investors, only cared about the truth and the results, and didn't care about the specific process.

Even if there was a little bit of opportunism in it, the investors wouldn't mind, because it proved that Meng Chang was quick-witted and good at finding solutions.

He Desheng did have some questions about Meng Chang's resume but didn't dig into it.

But the reason wasn't what Meng Chang thought.

In fact, He Desheng didn't just not care about how Meng Chang obtained this resume, he didn't even care about the resume itself.

Because He Desheng had seen CEO Pei's investment之道 (dao; way/path), CEO Pei dared to invest in even "great inventors" like Zhang Wang and succeeded, which made He Desheng realize that CEO Pei didn't care about such superficial things as academic qualifications.

Since CEO Pei didn't care, he certainly didn't need to care either.

He Desheng's current task was not to help CEO Pei invest, but to help CEO Pei review.

As long as it complied with the rules, he would never ask another question.

But Meng Chang thought he had already conquered He Desheng and was still complacent.

Next came the second half of the PPT, which was the project that Meng Chang was going to do for this startup.

Meng Chang felt that as long as he could make CEO He satisfied with this section, then CEO He would definitely report it to CEO Pei, and he would talk to CEO Pei again, and maybe he could get an investment of tens of millions on the spot!

Then he would find other investors to follow up, and wouldn't it be easy to break the company's market value to over 100 million?

Meng Chang continued.

"CEO He, the name of my startup project is—Leng Mian Gu Niang (Cold Noodles Girl)!"

The Logo of the "Leng Mian Gu Niang" brand appeared on the PPT, in the form of a square seal. Although it was in traditional Chinese characters, it wasn't in small seal script or regular script, but a more beautiful cursive script, with beautiful patterns as embellishments.

Just like Meng Chang himself, it was neither too flashy nor too old-fashioned, giving people a good first impression.

Meng Chang continued: "To put it simply, Leng Mian Gu Niang is dedicated to creating an internet-based roasted cold noodles brand!"

"How did this concept come about? It actually stems from my thinking about internet business models over the years."

"An important component of internet thinking is cross-border thinking. When two seemingly unrelated things are linked together, they will spark unprecedented business opportunities, and most people lack this ability."

"I used to work in the Marketing Department, and my boss at the time, the president of the Marketing Department, was a great master who emphasized 'cross-border thinking'. He was originally a well-known host, and later served as the president of a creative brand and the president of the Marketing Department, and he achieved brilliant results in both."

"Therefore, in the internet age, entrepreneurs must also be discoverers of new business models and multi-faceted talents who dare to cross borders!"

"My experience in the Marketing Department has allowed me to see many 'cross-border success' cases, especially the internet + catering model, which is definitely a very hot trend right now!"

"Why combine the internet with roasted cold noodles? Next, is my specific analysis of the current market environment and prospects."

"First of all, the current domestic catering market is facing severe tests. Except for a few high-end restaurants that are doing well, the vast majority are in dire straits; instead, mass catering is gradually coming to the fore and becoming the mainstream. Fast food and snack brands are ushering in an unprecedented period of opportunity."

"We all know that it is difficult for high-end restaurants to become catering giants."

"Because high-end catering has too strict requirements for chefs, ingredients, and details in all aspects, it is impossible to produce in batches on a large scale, and its high price naturally discourages most cash-strapped consumers."

"Tengda Group, which owns the two brands Wuming Restaurant and Lazy Cat Takeaway, should know this better than I do."

"Therefore, consumers are more inclined to those 'small but beautiful' catering brands, for which they are willing to bear a certain premium."

"For catering companies, the way to pursue more profits is to open branches, and the prerequisite for opening branches is to have a recipe that can be mass-produced."

"This is the current state of the domestic catering market."