You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 178 New Competition
"Woo~~"

Qin Shaoyan was walking on the Bund, listening to the whistle blowing on the Huangpu River, and looking at the skyscrapers not far away, his heart was filled with excitement.

"The headquarters of Dazhong.com is near here, right?"

Yuan Jimin, who was following him, was startled for a moment, then laughed, "Probably so."

"I'm so envious." Qin Shaoyan showed a meaningful smile.

Yuan Jimin immediately answered, "Welcome Mr. Qin to move the campus network here. We can provide many preferential policies. There are many office buildings here for Mr. Qin to choose from."

"Well, I'll think about it." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "I just paid the rent in Yanjing and I can't move yet."

"It doesn't matter. We welcome Mr. Qin to come over at any time." Yuan Jimin didn't take it seriously. "This is the financial center of Shanghai, which is very prosperous. Over there is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Mr. Qin, would you like to visit it?"

"No need, come back when you have free time." Qin Shaoyan waved his hand, "We still have to do business."

Then Qin Shaoyan turned his eyes back to the front, where several staff members wearing red vests from Jingdong Mall were busy.

Even though campus networks are booming now, market competition is full of uncertainties.

Packs of lucky bags filled with gifts were handed out, which made the college students who served as volunteers feel good.

Yang Botao frowned, but he quickly calmed down and looked at Xiong Xiaoge with a smile, "Mr. Xiong, as far as I know, the campus network has announced a valuation of 50 billion."

Although volunteers are not paid, the campus network generously provides subsidies.

Because there were so many foreigners arriving, Shanghai could not find many translators for a while, so a large number of students from colleges and universities who knew English solved the urgent need.

You have to pay more!

Pack after pack of clothes were carried down and quickly picked up by local administrative staff in Shanghai.

"Young, passionate, innocent, full of youthful flavor."

At this time, the situation faced by Dazhong.com was not good, and this was a good time for venture capital to take action.

These people became the first batch of registered users of Campus Network in Shanghai, and then quickly spread the reputation of Campus Network as a tinder.

In the conference room of Dazhong.com, Yang Botao greeted everyone with a stiff smile on his face.

Even if it cannot overtake Campus Network and become the number one in the market, it can still sell it at a good price if it can retain half of the market.

They were filled with T-shirts printed with campus network advertisements, specially provided to marathon volunteers.

Chen Guangxia, who became the new CTO, felt ashamed. He had been working overtime overnight and expanded the campus network server twice.

……

"What good students." Qin Shaoyan said with emotion, "These are the main force in publicity activities."

"40 billion." Yang Botao showed a confident smile, "After expansion some time ago, Dazhong.com has occupied the market south of the Yangtze River, and has also won the university market in Hubei and Qin provinces. Gansu Province will also soon will be occupied by us.”

With the help of media promotion by local administrative agencies, and various soft articles embedded in campus network advertisements, there are everywhere.

They can complete volunteer chores and serve as temporary translators, all at no cost.

Peng Xiaolin nodded, and Xiong Xiaoge suddenly said: "The valuation of 40 billion is a bit high."

These are his beloved users and brothers.

As the starting gun of the Shanghai Marathon was fired, the number of registered users of Campus Network exceeded that of Dazhong Network, officially exceeding 6 million registered users, becoming the number one in the field of acquaintance social networking.

In addition to a daily subsidy of 100 yuan, there are also lunches, drinks, snacks, JD.com shopping vouchers and small gifts as benefits, and T-shirts are also given to volunteers for free.

The more a company is in crisis, the more funds it needs, and it can transfer greater benefits, and at a very low price.

Venture capital is a business that involves risky investments. It requires not only investment vision, but also the confidence and determination to gamble.

Qin Shaoyan has no intention of asking college students to work for him as free labor. He doesn't have such a big face.

Because there were so many visitors, the campus network server crashed once.

Yuan Jimin also nodded in praise and said: "The main volunteers for this event are all college students. They provided a lot of help and solved the language communication barriers for athletes from various countries."

What if the campus network suddenly fails one day? This is something that cannot be predicted.

The volunteers for this marathon are basically college students, recruited by the Shanghai Municipal Administrative Department.

In fact, his feeling was not wrong. These venture capital investors were not here to provide him with help in times of need.

Venture capital pursues interests, especially risky, high-return interests.

It was as if he was a sheep being targeted by a pack of hungry wolves that would pounce on him at any moment and tear him to pieces and devour him.

Different from the way Qin Shaoyan looked at investors, Yang Botao felt a chill in his heart when he looked at these people from venture capital companies.

At this moment, there were not only the founders and executives of Dazhong.com, but also various venture capital investors sitting in the conference room.

"Although our public network does not have as many users as the campus network, its strength is not bad. The valuation of 40 billion is a very reasonable price."

In addition to early investments from American Venture Capital, Legend Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and IDG, there are also representatives from SoftBank, Dashen Ventures, China Sequoia, and Baring Investment.

Coupled with the advertisements on NetEase and Sohu portals and the vigorous promotion of Tencent, the data of the campus network soared like a rocket.

Especially since Dazhong.com still has five million registered users, it’s not certain who will win.

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said, "Campus.com has its own online store with a unique business model. What does Dazhong.com have?"

Peng Xiaolin, the representative of Lenovo Investment, was the first to speak, "Mr. Yang, Dazhong.com has raised 40% of its shares, so what is your valuation?"

Yang Botao frowned, "We have reached a strategic cooperation with Taotao.com and will soon introduce online stores. We have everything on the campus network."

Xiong Xiaoge continued: "Campus Network has verified its online e-commerce model, and the results are very good. Moreover, Jingdong Mall specializes in consumer electronics, and its user base is also suitable for Campus Network."

"Jingdong Mall has its own logistics distribution system and after-sales maintenance system, and its shopping experience and business reputation are excellent. These are the advantages of the campus network."

"Mr. Yang, what are the outstanding features of Dazhong.com in e-commerce? Can Taotao.com provide services like Jingdong Mall?"

Yang Botao was a little unhappy, but he still held back his anger and said in a relaxed tone: "Mr. Xiong, the shopping experience and services you mentioned are just minutiae."

“In a rapidly expanding and fiercely competitive environment, those are all burdensome, and users still pursue high quality and low price.”

"What's more, Dazhong.com's primary goal now is to expand the market and grab more registered users."

"It's not too late to verify the business model when users grow up," Yang Botao said with a smile, "In the early days of portals such as Sina, Sohu, and NetEase, expansion was the main focus."

"Building a business model now will make users feel that our website is greedy and only cares about money, which will damage the reputation of the website."

"In the early stages of website development, our focus is on expansion. Developing a business model now is tantamount to fishing in a swamp." "Business models can be found slowly. If the website's reputation is bad, it will affect users' opinions."

Xiong Xiaoge said unceremoniously: "What you said makes sense. You can slowly find a business model, but the premise is that you know it well."

"Do you have any other plans besides e-commerce?"

"No, right?" Xiong Xiaoge sneered, "The e-commerce is still on the campus network. Do you know what else the campus network has besides e-commerce?"

"Do you know that Campus Network is developing a post station for college students? Do you know that Campus Network is developing an one-stop business model of offline payment, catering, hotels, and travel tickets through Campus Network Station?"

"Excuse me, how did Dazhong.com respond? Has it figured out any new business model?"

Yang Botao's face turned red and he quickly said: "We can do this too, there's nothing strange about it."

Xiong Xiaoge smiled, "After all, it's just copying."

"Mr. Xiong!" Yang Botao said angrily, "That's how the Internet industry is. It's not about creativity or who can run it better."

“I’ve never heard of a website that has grown bigger and stronger just by relying on creativity.”

Xiong Xiaoge nodded, "Mr. Yang said it well. Now that we are facing the promotion of the campus network, what is Mr. Yang's response plan?"

Yang Botao couldn't help but said: "I know that Mr. Xiong is a shareholder of the campus network. I heard that Mr. Xiong has a very good relationship with Qin Shaoyan. He often visits the campus network and is more concerned about it than his own company."

"When will Dazhong.com get this kind of treatment?"

"Mr. Xiong, don't forget, you are also a shareholder of Dazhong.com?!" Yang Botao said loudly, "When can Mr. Xiong make some suggestions for Dazhong.com? You can't favor one thing over another, right?!"

Xiong Xiaoge glanced at Yang Botao and sneered, "Whenever Mr. Yang can hold a big event, I will come to Dazhong.com every day."

Yang Botao said angrily: "It's nothing special to hold a marathon on the campus network. It's just to ride on the popularity of the Olympics."

"The Olympics only last a month or two, and after that they are of no use."

"In the final analysis, the competition between the public network and the campus network depends on their respective strengths!"

"We, Dazhong.com, are temporarily avoiding the spotlight during this period. When the heat passes, the campus network is still no match for us!"

Peng Xiaolin looked interested, "Mr. Yang is so confident, does he have any plans?"

"This is why I called everyone here." Yang Botao showed a confident expression, "We, Dazhong.com, have launched Series B financing to raise more funds to launch a new offensive in the second half of the year and completely defeat the campus network."

"We will convert the new promotion plan from the student group to the university itself, using the influence of the university to achieve our promotion."

"Next, we will work closely with universities to launch a series of activities, such as scholarship donations, linking student unions, and incentive programs for outstanding counselors."

"In addition to these, our Dazhong.com will launch a nationwide event, University Popularity Star."

"Of course, all of this requires significant funding."

Yang Botao looked serious and turned his attention to the venture capital investors present.

……

In just two months, the Global International Marathon has created a wave of enthusiasm.

With the double support of official propaganda and soft-text advertisements, Facebook has dominated the coverage of mainstream media in Europe and the United States.

Relying on this wave of publicity offensive, it successfully gained popularity in Europe.

A large number of users outside the United States have begun to register, with Canada and the United Kingdom seeing the largest growth. They are also English-speaking countries and there is no communication barrier.

Subsequently, France, Germany and Northern Europe...

New users from various countries continue to join, and Facebook's data is growing rapidly.

Soon, Facebook began preparations to establish a European branch, specifically responsible for Facebook's business in Europe.

The European branch is headquartered in London, and headhunting companies have begun to look for candidates for the president of Facebook Europe.

Facebook has officially entered the international Internet market and continues to expand in Europe, a region lacking Internet companies and products, even faster than its expansion in the United States.

Facebook, which has no rivals in Europe, is increasingly attracting attention, while its competitors are still struggling in the United States.

More and more investors are finding Facebook, waving large amounts of money to buy a ticket to get on the bus.

Facebook's valuation is also expanding rapidly, even to the point of changing every month.

Last night, G Fat and George, one of the shareholders of Facebook, have been harassed frequently recently. People keep holding checks and trying to take away their Facebook shares at high prices.

Fortunately, neither of them was short of money and were not interested in the temptation of money.

They also see the achievements of Facebook in their eyes, and they are very happy that the original investment of one million US dollars can get such a big return.

G Fat and George still want to keep their shares to see how far Facebook can grow.

Small shareholders did not sell their shares, and TNB, as the major shareholder, could not contact the boss.

Sequoia, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft are also feeling the pressure, and they can't wait to start the next round of financing.

The market now has different opinions on Facebook's valuation, ranging from 40 billion to 100 billion, and some institutions have even called out a valuation of 150 billion.

Faced with the hot pursuit of the investment market, Facebook had no response and expressed silence on the valuation provided by the evaluation agency.

However, Sequoia came forward to refute it, believing that the valuation of 150 billion was ridiculous.

Goldman Sachs has also issued its own assessment report to the outside world, and is very optimistic about Facebook's development prospects. However, Facebook still has many difficulties at this stage.

Whether it is language problems, cultural issues encountered when expanding into foreign markets, or analysis of the prospects of Facebook's business model, negative comments were expressed.

To sum up, a valuation of 150 billion is simply impossible. A reasonable valuation is 40 billion to 60 billion.

These Facebook investors were very anxious and regretted not forcing Qin Shaoyan to sign a financing agreement in advance.

The valuation of US$50 billion now seems to be a quite appropriate price. Otherwise, if it continues, the valuation will increase to at least 70 to 80 billion.

But this is impossible. Sequoia, Goldman Sachs, and Microsoft will not allow this to happen, at least until they complete Series B financing and then increase it to 150 billion.

Before the A round of financing, Qin Shaoyan owned 60% of Facebook's shares. After the financing, he still owned 48% of the shares. In addition, Zhang Pingyi's 3% was in the employee option pool, which clearly exceeded 51%.

This piece of fat is coveted by many people. If they want to get on board and dilute their equity, their first priority is to get it from Qin Shaoyan.

……

(End of this chapter)