King of Capital

Jinshajiang Fat Face Luo Bin is telling the truth. It would be better if ofo and Mobike offer free rides. The outcome of the two sides is hard to predict. Other copycat competitors will definitely die, eliminating any possibility of catching up.

It's just that the occasion is wrong. At this moment, in the "Internet + Travel" venue next door, Mobike CEO Wang Xiaofeng is waiting after Cheng Wei to take the stage to give a speech.

There is a fine line between encouraging technological innovation and restricting barbaric and disorderly development.

The host wanted to make big news and didn't want to embarrass the organizers of the conference. He suddenly braked to end the topic and returned to the macro-level discussion of the sharing economy.

"Both online ride-hailing and shared bikes are engaged in continuous high-cost market competition, and so far no one seems to have figured out a profit model."

After the episode, the symposium was uneventful. As it was coming to an end, the host asked a concluding question: "So Mr. Xie, I would like to ask you, in the current cold winter of the venture capital market, can the story of the sharing economy be told?"

"Winter is exactly when we need a fire to keep warm. The story of the sharing economy has just begun. Grapefruit Capital is willing and able to inject fuel into this process."

Two years ago, Xie Jingxing, like Luo Bin, talked with Cheng Wei and killed several competitors.

Now his mentality has gradually changed. He respects every penny burned by ofo and welcomes every latecomer such as Yongan and Hello who rushes into the market.

The shared bicycle market is growing rapidly because of these "firewood". All failures will be transformed into nutrients for the expansion of the overall market size. It will be more meaningful for success to be built on the basis of sufficiently strong competitors.

Ignite you and warm me, we achieve each other, and Mobike is also in it.

…………

The symposium ended, the sun set and the sky turned gray and dark. Hu Weiwei followed Xie Jingxing from a distance and left the venue.

The figure flashed into a street-side coffee shop, took out his cell phone while looking for a place to sit and looking around.

The phone rang in her pocket. She gathered her hair around her ears, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the cafe and knocked on the glass.

Hearing this, Xie Jingxing turned around and sighed silently, then raised his coffee and motioned for him to come in and sit down.

Hu Weiwei shook her head and raised her hand, first pointing at herself, then pointing at the artificial pool not far away, and then walked towards the rest bench beside the pool.

"Aren't you cold?" A few minutes later, Xie Jingxing appeared with two cups of coffee.

Hu Weiwei moved her body to the side of the bench to make room, took the hot coffee and held it in her palm to warm it.

The average morning and evening temperature in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in December was less than ten degrees. Taking this as the geographical dividing line, the user growth rate of Mobike's platform plummeted to only about 2% to the north, and the average daily number of orders was almost halved compared with spring and autumn.

The data in the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi is slightly better in the south, but it does not affect the biological instinct to reduce cycling in winter.

"Before coming here, I did an experiment and threw three bicycles into the Huangpu River. When they were fished out, the smart locks were intact and could be used as usual."

Hu Weiwei took a sip of coffee and said: "Last winter, we sent a questionnaire to users and the most common feedback we received was that the smart locks ran out of power due to cold weather and the tires were narrow and the ground was icy and frosty, which made it easy to slip. These problems have been reduced a lot this year."

"We have experience in wintering." She explained the problem carefully.

Xie Jingxing asked without comment: "What is the average daily usage frequency of each car now?"

"4.2 times. Our situation is better than ofo. There are people riding even on the coldest days. College students are about to have their holidays." Hu Weiwei responded positively.

Mobike has a high deposit and is expensive, and its deployment locations are mainly in business districts and office buildings. The summer and winter seasons are also affected by campus holidays, and the mainstream users are still white-collar workers.

Ofo also wrote in its user analysis report prepared by third-party research institutions and media that Mobike has more users in the age group of 25 to 30 years old, and they absolutely dominate the group under 25 years old.

I'm just about to shout that if you're young, come and ride me. If you don't ride me, it means you don't have a dream.

Dai Wei, this guy, took advantage of his position as the president of the Peking University Student Union to lead the shared bike-sharing app to break out on campus. He knows exactly what students like to hear and has been using this trick for the past six months without stopping.

On the contrary, Hu Weiwei, who is a journalist by profession, is isolated from the world all day long. She lets the CEO give a speech on stage while she makes a report to investors and has to find a quiet environment.

However, entrepreneurs allow for shortcomings and often it is enough to leverage their personal strengths, and investors simply choose not to make changes.

Xie Jing Xing had no intention of commenting on her, so he asked, "How much money did you burn on subsidies last month?"

"The subsidy activities alone cost 2300 million yuan."

Hu Weiwei slowly explained the situation in detail: "The traffic entrance provided by New Danghe and Didi is very effective. Our total number of users in October was 10 million, which more than doubled in November. Now we have 432 million registered users."

"The user stickiness from the two entrances is very good. On the 3rd of this month, the daily active users exceeded one million."

A few simple sets of data outlined the current business situation, and Xie Jingxing couldn't help but tilt his head to look at her carefully.

Mobike entered Beijing and Tianjin in March, moved south to Guangzhou and Fuzhou, and north to Liaoning and Shenyang in June. By the end of September, it had covered Chengdu and other places in the southwest, with a total number of bicycles in service exceeding one million.

Putting aside the more than 20 billion yuan cost of each bike, as well as the city deployment and monthly operating costs, each bike is used an average of 4.2 times a day, which means that each of the one million daily active users rides four times a day.

Looking at the subsidy data, only 2300 million was burned, which proves that the user stickiness is really good. Now it is winter, and the northern market is basically in a scrapped state.

Xie Jingxing further confirmed: "Have you collected data on local life orders and white-collar commuting orders?"

"Commuting order data is of higher quality. For example, a white-collar worker has a stable demand for cycling to and from get off work in the morning and evening, so the subsidy method of recharging 100 yuan and giving 110 yuan is the first choice."

Hu Weiwei began to poke her fingers with a coffee cup in her hand: "Relatively speaking, the users brought by New DAE and Didi ride more frequently. For example, a user traveling from another province to Guangzhou can make ten orders in 2-3 hours on a single day."

"But after he went home, the user went into a gray dormant state, which lowered the ratio of registered users to daily active users. In October, our ratio was around 10."

In September, we proposed to support the dual-end traffic entrances of Didi and New DAE. In October, we launched strategic financing and New DAE invested in us. In November, the traffic entrance plan was implemented.

The monthly doubling of registered users is in perfect agreement with this process. The more than 20 million yuan in subsidies that Mobike has spent is entirely for the purpose of increasing the activity of platform users.

There is almost no cost to develop new users, and the natural growth is brought about by the huge traffic support from Didi and New Dangsong.

The two strategic investors themselves spent hundreds of millions of dollars every month, causing their respective worlds to collapse and the avenues to be wiped out...

Mobike seems to be shifting costs and relying on a big tree for shade, but the fact is - what capital gives you will be taken back double sooner or later.

Hu Weiwei recalled what Pony Ma had said to her at last year's Internet conference.

When he first heard it, he thought he had suddenly realized it, and he asked Xie Jingxing bluntly, from the very beginning, he gave her the idea of ​​shared bicycles and seed round investment just to use it as a tool to expand mobile payments.

The fate was determined from the day it was born. He never intended to do Mobike well!
At that time, Xie Jingxing stared at her eyes for a long time and said in surprise, I just realized that you have a teardrop mole.

"Call Wang Xiaofeng, and let's have dinner together tonight."

The lingering sound faded away, and the coffee in her hand was still slightly warm. Hu Weiwei came to her senses and looked at the young man's back, then cast her gaze towards the pool of freezing water in front of her.

The cold water surface reflected the dim reflection of the sky, and a figure sitting on a bench by the pool was vaguely visible, but there was no trace of the teardrop mole.

…………

As the night lights come on, the whole Wuzhen displays the ever-bright scene of a prosperous capital city thousands of years ago, with its ancient charm and magnificent beauty.

High-speed rail, e-commerce, mobile payment, and shared bicycles, the so-called new four great inventions, although not enough to attract all nations to come, have also brought about vigorous vitality and attracted countless people from all over the world.

During the conference, tens of thousands of people may have flocked to the town. Chen Xi booked a restaurant half a month in advance to organize a big party tomorrow night. Xie Jingxing couldn't find a place for the impromptu party, so he had to ask the hotel room service to order a table of dishes to be delivered to the room. He ran to the street to buy a few boxes of Ziyan Baiwei Chicken stewed vegetables to go with the wine.

"Put less chili oil in the Fuqi Feipian, and a little more. That's all!"

He stood at the door of a street shop and gave instructions. The clerk seemed to have some hearing problems, or he was like the enhanced version of Hu Weiwei 2.0 and was extremely slow in reaction. He didn't stop adding chili oil until he shouted three times.

Add two spoonfuls of sugar and more peanuts and coriander before weighing it to make it heavier.

"Give me an order of braised beef in soy sauce. For the vegetarian set, add more yuba and less sugar." Xie Jingxing stared closely at the mixing table in the store.

The clerk explained cheerfully: "The sugar is added to enhance the flavor. If you trust me, you will be right. I will treat you to a meal and let's take a photo together."

"You can take photos, but you can't print them out as posters for promotion. Okay, okay, these candies will do." Xie Jingxing said repeatedly.

The clerk quickly operated the scale: "The total is 272.5, I'll give you 272, WeChat or Alipay is acceptable."

"..."

Xie Jingxing blinked and took out his phone to pay: "Want to take a photo?"

"That's a good deal. I'll give you half a chicken as well!" The clerk nodded vigorously and rounded off the bill.

"Daddy Ma!"

As he was talking, someone suddenly shouted nearby. Xie Jingxing looked in the direction he was heading, and saw Teacher Ma, surrounded by his entourage, walking towards him.

The onlookers applauded and greeted the crowd, and the popularity was very high, especially a few young people who looked like college students who jokingly asked Jack Ma to help them pay off their Huabei loans.

"Mr. Ma, welcome to taste our restaurant's Fuqi Feipian. It has beef offal and pork head meat, both of which are very delicious. Please try it."

The clerk, who was about to come out for a group photo, put on his mask again with swift movements and picked out a small stack of Fuqi Feipian.

Teacher Ma thanked him politely and took the small plate: "This is really delicious, Xiao Xie, try it."

"I know it tastes good, so I bought it." Xie Jingxing picked up the two large bags in his hand.

Teacher Ma couldn't help laughing: "Where are you going? Let's eat together. By the way, let me introduce you, this is Dai Wei, the founder of ofo."

"No, Hu Weiwei is waiting for me at the hotel."

Xie Jingxing warned the square-faced young man with black-framed glasses standing next to him, "Don't mess around with Teacher Ma. Teacher Ma has a very good alcohol tolerance and doesn't mind eating any alcohol, so be careful."

"It's okay. I'm mentally prepared to get drunk." Dai Wei smiled and acted calmly.

Xie Jing Xing was satisfied: "I'll leave first, we'll get together next time if we have the chance."

"You are such a piece of shit, get out of here now."

Teacher Ma watched him leave with laughter and scolding, and gradually restrained his expression. He wrapped his bloated down jacket tightly and led the many accompanying personnel to continue forward.

In the field of mobile payment, starting from e-commerce to group buying, followed by online car-hailing and food delivery, there have been more than ten wars of varying sizes, and it is difficult to say who is right and who is wrong. But everyone knows that it is this battlefield that will determine the rise and fall of Internet giants in the next twenty years.

In 1999, when Alibaba was first founded, no bank was willing to do business with Alibaba’s small vendors!

So he had the good fortune to create Alipay and embark on the journey of pioneering mobile payments. Banks cancelled transfer fees, and people paid electricity and water bills online, and he won great success along the way.

The e-commerce market has thus become unified, and people warmly welcome it wherever it goes, enjoying the best of both worlds.

So he didn't understand why, in the blink of an eye, the company's internal executives were talking about the limited opportunities in the window period, as if the mobile payment field was doomed to be bleak for Alibaba.

Shared bicycles have become Alibaba’s last line of defense for offline mobile payments!
For the past twenty years, people have been saying that Jack Ma is a liar, that he is a spokesperson for fake goods and that he is a financial manipulator.

But no one has ever thought that if I had two hectares of fertile land in Luoyang, how could I wear the seals of the six kingdoms?
"No matter how you look at it, the princes of the Qin Dynasty were divided and Xiang Yu was defeated in a desperate battle, just like Mobike and ofo today. The advantage is mine!"

It was a dark night, and Teacher Ma exhaled white mist, resolute and self-confident.

Ma Huateng is unable to subvert the physical retail industry, and Xie Jingxing cannot make business better in the world. Only he can bring changes to society and make life more comfortable for all living beings!
Dai Wei looked at Mr. Ma's profile, his ears filled with the shouts of tourists on both sides of the street, and around him were the Alibaba executives who followed Mr. Ma closely and silently.

I was a little dazed for a moment, and suddenly felt that maybe choosing to bind with Alibaba was not as bad as I had imagined.

…………

"No wonder he suddenly went insane. His popularity has reached its peak. If you don't move forward, you will fall behind."

On his way back to the hotel, Xie Jingxing pondered and concluded that it seemed that being scolded by the public from time to time was a good thing. After all, who could resist being put on a pile of firewood and fried in an iron pan?

Teacher Ma, in the words of drug addicts, we have "gone astray."

He had seen a lot of this when he was studying abroad. He was unable to listen to the outside world and was immersed in his own spiritual world. He would cry at around two in the morning and complain about how hard it was for his parents to save money to send him to school.

I missed them, so I had to go back to get them a basin of hot water to wash their feet, and then I drove on the road.

Filial piety is beyond words and homesickness is understandable, but driving a second-hand Cayenne across the Pacific...

"Objective facts do not allow it."

Xie Jingxing returned to the hotel room, and Liu Qing, Hu Weiwei and Mobike CEO Wang Xiaofeng were all there.

He briefly mentioned how he met Teacher Ma and discovered that he was very popular, and then he started talking about his studying abroad without any context. The three listeners looked at each other in confusion.

"Male or female?"

"Ok?"

"Is your classmate a boy or a girl?"

Liu Qing opened a bottle of ice beer with a click, and his focus was different from that of ordinary people: "It was quite strange to listen to a woman crying about family emotions at 2 o'clock in the morning."

"It would be weird if it was a boy, right?" Wang Xiaofeng was led astray.

Xie Jingxing shrugged and explained, "What would you do if you were faced with a drug-addicted person of the opposite sex at two o'clock in the morning?"

"Either get away from her as soon as possible, or~, anyway, listening to her crying is probably not an option."

Liu Qing thoughtfully added his explanation, Xie Jingxing raised his eyebrows, and the two of them raised their glasses and toasted in tacit understanding.

Hu Weiwei curled up her legs and sat on the carpet in front of the coffee table, wondering, "Can opposite sexes be friends?"

"There are more boys than girls in New York, and the competition pressure on women is particularly high. Each one is smarter, prettier and more hardworking than the other. Among the ten men around me, five are dating two or three girls at the same time, and there are three rainbow genders who call each other sisters."

Liu Qing pointed at Xie Jingxing with his chin: "A rare species like him would only be annoyed by having too many female friends. How could he give his patience to a drug addict?"

Hu Weiwei remained silent while Wang Xiaofeng drank heavily. (End of this chapter)