November 8th, Tuesday.

Meng Chang arrived at the Dream Realization Investment’s office building and slightly adjusted his appearance.

The weather was a bit cold. Meng Chang wore a fitted casual suit with a plain-colored T-shirt underneath, jeans, and sneakers.

No dress shirt, no tie, and the most business-like item on him was just a watch, which wasn’t even an expensive mechanical one—simplicity taken to the extreme.

His hair was a carefully trimmed crew cut, and his two small mustaches were well-groomed, making him look neither excessively old nor frivolous.

Meng Chang was very satisfied with his current image.

All of this, of course, was meticulously prepared.

The mobile internet wave was rising rapidly, and the influence of internet thinking on entrepreneurs wasn’t just ideological but also extended to appearance.

Nowadays, true big shots with internet thinking no longer wear formal suits and ties; most wear plain T-shirts and jeans, with crew cuts or buzz cuts—whatever looks neat.

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

Of course, the so-called down-to-earth and unkempt look was just a carefully crafted illusion. In reality, the cost of this crew cut might be more expensive than a complete wash-cut-blow dry, plus perm and dye, and it requires more frequent maintenance than some fashion-conscious girls.

Generally speaking, in this standard outfit of buzz cut, T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, there shouldn’t be a mustache, as it might give investors an impression of being old-fashioned and conservative, not internet-savvy enough.

But Meng Chang had no choice; he looked relatively young and naturally appeared baby-faced. Without these two small mustaches, he would look like a college student or even a high school student, making it difficult for investors to trust him.

If Meng Chang could exchange these two mustaches for several deep wrinkles on his face, especially crow’s feet around the eyes and nasolabial folds around the mouth, then his image would be perfect, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

He could only carefully trim his mustache to compensate for his “not mature enough” appearance.

In short, appearance was a detail that affected others’ first impressions.

And first impressions often determine whether this con—no, fundraising, would be successful.

For today’s meeting, Meng Chang was full of confidence and anticipation.

He had long heard that Mr. Pei established Dream Realization Investment to help others fulfill their dreams.

And for Meng Chang, dreams were something he had in abundance.

He firmly believed that as long as he could have a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Pei, in just ten minutes, he could persuade Mr. Pei to invest in him!

Checking his watch and seeing it was about time, Meng Chang strode confidently towards Dream Realization Investment.

……

In the meeting room of Dream Realization Investment.

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

It had to be said that He Desheng’s first impression of Meng Chang was quite good.

He was somewhat handsome, dignified, dressed neatly, and looked energetic, like someone who could achieve something significant.

The two small mustaches looked a bit strange at first, but after seeing them for a while, one got used to them, and they even became a kind of personal trademark.

Moreover, in the past, many people came to raise funds—some brought resumes, some brought investment intention letters, and others brought product samples—but those who brought their own PowerPoint presentations were indeed rare.

Explaining with a PowerPoint was the most effective approach.

Furthermore, Meng Chang’s PowerPoint was made to the highest standard, neither flashy and frivolous nor stiff and old-fashioned. All elements, color blocks, layouts, charts, etc., were done just right—one more element would be cluttered, one less would be too simple.

He Desheng even thought that if Meng Chang specialized in making PowerPoints for internet companies, he could easily earn a monthly salary of tens of thousands.

Also, Meng Chang had excellent eloquence, with moderate speed and fluent words, and a perfect grasp of rhythm and content.

He Desheng felt that just watching Meng Chang talk so eloquently was very enjoyable.

The first half of this PowerPoint mainly introduced Meng Chang’s personal career experience.

Some say that investment is about investing in companies and concepts, but even more so in people.

Whether a company can succeed crucially depends on whether the company’s boss has the ability.

Meng Chang naturally understood this well, so the first half of the PowerPoint focused on self-introduction.

Meng Chang, 29 this year, went abroad for further studies after graduating from university, all at prestigious schools.

He had work experience in top-tier internet companies both domestically and internationally, and in departments related to marketing, such as user experience and marketing. Although it was difficult to say how much of the achievements were his, this resume was indeed impeccable.

Moreover, many people who had previously worked with him had already become executives in major internet companies. Although it seemed useless at first glance, it undoubtedly implied that he had potential networking resources to tap into.

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

Soon, he finished the first half of the PowerPoint.

Meng Chang looked at He Desheng across from him with a smile: “Mr. He, do you have any questions?”

Despite his smile, he was a bit nervous.

He was really afraid that He Desheng would ask about some details in his resume, such as how he got into prestigious schools, how he went abroad to study, how he entered these major internet companies, and why he left.

If these questions were asked in detail, there might be some rather awkward situations.

He Desheng took a sip of tea: “No, please continue.”

Meng Chang couldn’t help but smile slightly.

As expected, no follow-up questions.

This was the best scenario Meng Chang had previously estimated.

Meng Chang wasn’t sure whether He Desheng really didn’t see through the inflated parts of his education and work experience, or if he was just pretending not to see.

Meng Chang thought it was most likely the former.

But this was actually good news, because it meant that Mr. He, like many other investors, only cared about truth and results, not the specific process.

Even if there were some opportunistic factors involved, investors wouldn’t mind, because it would instead prove that Meng Chang was mentally agile and good at finding solutions.

He Desheng did have some doubts about Meng Chang’s resume, but didn’t dig deeper.

But the reason wasn’t what Meng Chang thought.

He Desheng wasn’t just unconcerned about how Meng Chang obtained this resume, he didn’t even care about the resume itself.

Because He Desheng had seen Mr. Pei’s investment philosophy. Mr. Pei was even willing to invest in a “great inventor” like Zhang Wang, and successfully so, which made He Desheng realize that Mr. Pei didn’t care about superficial things like educational background at all.

Since Mr. Pei didn’t care, he certainly didn’t need to care either.

He Desheng’s current task wasn’t to help Mr. Pei invest, but to help Mr. Pei review.

As long as it was compliant, that was fine. He absolutely wouldn’t ask an extra question.

But Meng Chang thought he had already won over He Desheng and was still quite pleased with himself.

Next, they entered the second half of the PowerPoint, which was the project Meng Chang wanted to pursue in his startup.

Meng Chang felt that if this part could be explained to Mr. He’s satisfaction, then Mr. He would report to Mr. Pei, and when he explained it to Mr. Pei himself, he might even get a multi-million investment on the spot!

By then, going to other investors for follow-up investments, wouldn’t it be easy for the company’s value to break a hundred million?

Meng Chang continued with his presentation.

“Mr. He, the name of my startup project is—Cold Noodle Girl!”

The logo of the brand “Cold Noodle Girl” appeared on the PowerPoint. It was square like a seal, with traditional Chinese characters, but not in small seal script or regular script. Instead, it was in a beautiful calligraphic style, with pretty patterns as decorations.

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

Meng Chang continued: “To summarize, Cold Noodle Girl is dedicated to creating an internet-based grilled cold noodle brand!”

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

“An important component of internet thinking is cross-border thinking. Connecting two seemingly unrelated things can spark unprecedented business opportunities, and this ability is lacking in most people.”

“I once worked in the marketing department, and my direct superior at that time, the president of the marketing department, was an expert who emphasized ‘cross-border thinking.’ He was originally a well-known host, and later became the president of creative branding and marketing, achieving brilliant results in both positions.”

“So, in the internet age, entrepreneurs must also be discoverers of new business models and multifaceted people who dare to cross borders!”

“My experience in the marketing department allowed me to see many cases of ‘cross-border success,’ especially the internet + dining model, which is absolutely a very hot trend right now!”

“Why combine the internet with grilled cold noodles? Next, I’ll present my specific analysis of the current market environment and prospects.”

“First, the current domestic catering market is facing severe challenges. High-end dining is struggling for the most part, except for a few thriving establishments, while mass catering is gradually coming to the forefront and becoming mainstream. Fast food and snack brands are embracing an unprecedented period of opportunity.”

“We all know that it’s difficult to create a catering giant with high-end dining.”

“Because high-end dining has excessively strict requirements for chefs, ingredients, and various details, making it impossible to achieve mass production at scale, and its high prices naturally deter most consumers with limited budgets.”

“On this point, Tenda Group, which owns the Nameless Restaurant and Slackin’ Takeout brands, should understand better than I do.”

“Therefore, consumers tend to prefer those ‘small but beautiful’ dining brands, and they are willing to bear a certain premium for them.”

“And for catering businesses, the way to pursue more profits is to open branch stores, and the prerequisite for opening branches is having recipes that can be mass-produced.”

“This is the current state of the domestic catering industry.”