Chapter 484
Aubree decided to put Alvin’s drama aside for the moment, as the party was starting.
Aubree had been pulling back her funds lately, focusing on cutting-edge industries like chips, AI, and semiconductors. But that didn’t mean she was looking down on other sectors. Even the smallest opportunities would add up to a fortune. If a project looked promising, she’d still consider investing.
She stood out among all the CEOs and execs; almost everyone knew her, and plenty of people came looking for her investment. If Aubree spotted a promising project, she was always up for a chat.
This time, the Angel Investors' Summit even set up a pitch session: any young entrepreneur looking for funding could sign up and take the stage to pitch in the order they registered.
Just then, Aubree spotted Carmen walking up to the stage with her business plan in hand, her chin slightly raised and looking totally self-assured. But deep down, Carmen couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. No matter what angle she tried, her BeeShare project was destined to clash with the bike-sharing companies for market share. There was no way those guys would just sit back and let her take over their turf.
After some early wins, she doubled down and expanded fast. But she never expected the bike-sharing companies to kick off a price war by waiving deposits entirely. As long as the customers' credit was good, they could ride with zero deposit.
The growth of her e-scooter users started to stall, and cash flow dried up. To make things worse, the first batch of e-scooter batteries started wearing out and needed replacing, which would be another big expense. If she wanted to turn things around, she’d have to copy the bike-sharing companies and waive deposits too. But that would just mean burning cash in a bottomless pit. She had to land investment fast, with enough money to outlast the bike-sharing companies until they finally gave up.
Aubree quietly watched Carmen up on stage, then took a careful look around. She spotted quite a few familiar faces. Carmen wasn’t the only one from the Wilson family. Bryan was there too. The Lawson family had people attending as well. Elizabeth Lawson was there, along with Oliver Lawson, whom Aubree encountered before.
She’d had her team keep a close watch on BeeShare lately and collected a bunch of data. Aside from the initial novelty—where Carmen got a taste of success—everything else went just like she’d guessed. Trouble kept piling up. Carmen was at her wits’ end.
But this time, she’d gotten smarter and brought the problems to the rest of the Wilson family to tackle together. All in all, things were still under control.
Carmen pulled out the data she’d prepared ahead of time and started pitching the bright future of e-scooter sharing. She said confidently, “Our project follows in the footsteps of bike-sharing. With the groundwork already laid, it’s easy to see the kind of returns we could get. Plus, right now, e-scooters are clearly what people actually want…”
She spoke with flair, and everyone in the room gave her their full attention. From Aubree’s perspective, she could already tell that quite a few folks were seriously considering investing. The project did look promising. With Wilson Group backing it, even if people weren’t in it for the money, investing for the sake of Wilson Group was basically a sure bet.
When Carmen finished her pitch, the applause was thunderous. Plenty of people started showing interest on the spot.
“Since Ms. Wilson is from the Wilson family, I’m curious what Ms. Miller, who is also a member of the Wilson family, thinks about this project. After all, you’re recognized as the leading young entrepreneur these days,” someone joked, bringing Aubree into the spotlight.
Aubree didn’t mind being dragged into the drama with Carmen. In fact, she’d been looking for a chance to make things awkward for her. “If Mr. Hart hadn’t brought up the Wilson family, I think I’d have liked your comment a lot more,” Aubree replied with a smirk.
The onlookers whispered among themselves, realizing that the rumors about Aubree and the Wilson family being at each other’s throats were definitely true.
Simon Hart quickly corrected himself. “That was my mistake. But it seems Ms. Miller has something to say about this project.”
Aubree nodded. “I do have a few thoughts.”