Chapter 62 Business Idea
It was a warm Sunday afternoon, Alex was currently sitting in an expensive restaurant with his Mexican friend Samuel.
Samuel got himself a steak since the bill was on Alex and Alex got himself a cup of coffee as he had eaten food made by his two wives Melissa and Nix.
He didn't think he'd be bothered by the thought of having multiple wives, but he slightly was.
Harem, although seemed taboo, was really not.
It was a common occurrence throughout history and even till this day, there were certain cultures which didn't look at it with a taboo perspective.
Polygamy was a controversial topic and at the end of the day, even though it was frowned up, it all boiled down to personal preferences.
Did Alex's two wives hate sharing him with each other?
The answer was no.
Did Alex hate having multiple wives?
The answer was no.
If his wives didn't have a problem, why would he?
And also, his wives weren't ordinary mortals but Goddesses.
Alex wasn't the type of person to involve himself in drama or whine over small things.
He was the type to accept whatever was thrown at him, analyze, check if it's good for his welfare and the ones around him, keep it if it was, throw away if not.
Having a harem was something that wouldn't bother him, Alex felt.
Sure it would bring some drama and he would need to explain things to not just Nix's parents, but also his, in the end… if wives and family were happy, he was happy.
Alex was sure he could figure out some or the other way to skip the family drama over his multiple partners, but that would take some time and he had a few things to do on hand, such as meet Samuel and start a business.
"Sam, are you fully free now?" Alex asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
Samuel took a bite of his steak in a sophisticated manner and answered, "of course. That's why we're having this lunch, hahaha!"
Alex smiled. "Alright. I'll explain a few things roughly then."
Alex proposed a business idea he had in mind to Samuel.
The idea was related to the entertainment industry and the moment Alex said it, Samuel put down his knife and said hurriedly,
"Amigo, halt."
He looked at Alex seriously and said, "you're thinking about the entertainment industry? Do you know how saturated it has become? There's thousands of streaming platforms all around the world. Our startup, let alone flying, would be buried six feet under the ground."
Samuel then showed a disappointed look and eating a piece of steak, continued, "We'd have a much better chance at making bank by stealing my grandma's taco recipe and opening up a taco truck downtown."
Alex smiled and shook his head. This argument from Samuel was correct and the industry was indeed saturated.
However, Alex was aware of it and said, "buddy, let me finish explaining. You can then argue."
"Alright. My bad." Samuel was quick to take a step back and listen as he was aware that Alex was smarter than him and may have some better points to say.
"Right, so…"
What Alex and Samuel would do is that they'll make a platform which would unify streaming platforms from not just the US, but the entire world!
This idea was not new and there were many such sites that existed.
All those sites were currently illegal as the streaming platforms had not given permission for such access.
It was obvious why they wouldn't give permission.
The sales would decrease for each platform if they're put against each other and nobody would profit, making the situation worse.
What was happening right now was:
'If it's not broken, don't try to fix it.'
If people are paying for different streaming services, then what's the problem anyway?
It was due to this that the people were overpaying for entertainment and pirated sites were on the rise.
Nobody wanted to spend their hard-earned money on entertainment like this and people much rather preferred saving those cents and touring some place nice.
Not to mention, there was social media too which offered a ton of useless content and kept people busy.
"…so, our unified platform will contain thousands of streaming services from around the world and if any user wanted to watch any particular thing, they would get a list showing the same show available in ten different places from which they could choose. Now…"
"…among these ten different places, some would be free, some would be cheap, some expensive and so on…"
Samuel stared at Alex while chewing like a bored goat, completely unfazed by his idea as he felt this was too stupid.
What Alex was describing sounded like buying a subscription, but with extra steps.
Still, Samuel didn't interrupt him and let him continue, hoping something positive would come out.
Otherwise, he had his plan of opening a taco truck in Downtown ready. He knew a buddy who could sneak him a spot there.
"…so you might be wondering, this is basically asking people to pay for all the subscriptions and we aren't helping them at all, right?"
Samuel nodded. That's right. It was a really stupid thing.
Alex smiled. "That's the thing, my guy. That's the thing! See…"
Alex gulped down his coffee and taking out a notepad from his pocket, started writing a few things as he was really excited to tell Samuel about the main stuff now.
What Alex proposed was that he and Samuel would be running a genius algorithm on their platform.
This algorithm would constantly alter prices, lists, preferences, and shows in the thousands of platforms affiliated with them, giving the user the best deals they could ever imagine, while also efficiently using their money.
How it would be is:
Suppose a US user wanted to see a Japanese anime show called Defense of Dwarves.
They could legally watch it on Japanese platforms or some affiliated ones from the US or some other country.
This… was a problem.
Firstly, it wasn't sure if the Japanese platforms were again in the US, and secondly, even if they were, they would be Japanese and confusing, having no English subtitles on the episodes too.
The third problem, the affiliated streaming platforms could be expensive or the user would refuse to pay a sum even for a month to see just one show.
This same situation would repeat with affiliated platforms from other countries. In addition, affiliated platforms from other countries would have regional shows which an average US user would not prefer and could also get annoyed by it due to repeated recommendations.
Now…
All those above problems could be solved in a jiffy by Alex's unified platform.
Streaming platforms from around the world would be available, meaning this place would have EVERYTHING!
All shows, be it children's cartoons or adult tv shows, everything would be under one roof.
"…all these problems can be solved in a jiffy by our unified platform." Alex said with some enthusiasm while pointing at the potential problems written on the notepad.
"Streaming platforms from around the world would be available, meaning our platform would have EVERYTHING!"
"From children's cartoons to adult tv shows and whatnot. And the price to watch it? Just $19.99/month or a dollar a day!"
While listening to all of this, although Samuel commended Alex's enthusiasm, he wasn't amused.
Alex's plans had many problems, the most important one being, "Amigo, I get all the algorithms and everything stuff. But, what makes you think streaming platforms from around the world would want to be affiliated with us? Who do you think are we? Walt Disney or something?"
Samuel wasn't trying to be rude or put his friend down in this. He just wanted to ensure that before the two jumped into a boat thinking everything's gonna be sunshines and rainbows, a practical and realistic assessment had to be viewed by them.
As far as Samuel knew about his friend, he could be a genius surgeon, but in no way was he someone so famous that multi-million or billion dollar companies would want to sign a deal with him.
Samuel wasn't any better either and he knew he was far worse than Alex when it came to his own background. At least Alex was a doctor and could have a stable job for life, but him? It wasn't guaranteed at all.
Despite this, the harsh reality had to be seen and Samuel couldn't just let his dear friend jump without knowing the possible problems.
Alex smiled at Samuel's questions. He was happy that he was actively thinking and showing him the ground reality of things and not just letting himself ride on an imaginary high.
Alex laid back on his chair and said, "Sam, why do you—"
"Anything you'd like to order, sir? Or would you like the bill?" A waiter interrupted Alex and said.
"…"
Alex had a stupefied look on his face while Samuel was trying to control himself from laughing out loud, watching Alex get his cool moment be ruined like that.
Alex sat in an erect posture and clearing his throat, said, "the bill please."
"Sure, sir—"
"Hey, wait!"