King of Capital

At the dinner party in Wuzhen that night, the person who shouted "Defeat Mobike" on the other side of the river was found. It was Zhang Ying from Matrix China, an old acquaintance who had previously had an argument with Zhu Xiaohu in his circle of friends.

Yesterday, at ofo's strategic conference, a new round of financing of 7000 million US dollars was announced. When it was his turn to speak, he once again shouted "defeat Mobike" three times in a concise and powerful manner, which was quite reminiscent of the resolute heroic spirit of Zong Ze, a famous general who fought against the Jin Dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty, who shouted "cross the river" three times before his death.

Many media and industry insiders were immediately excited, with young entrepreneurs competing against each other, Tencent and Alibaba fighting for agents, and all kinds of analysis and rumors circulating.

Xie Jingxing sat in the shadow of the corner, quietly watching the performance on the stage.

"Mobike announced the completion of its financing a few days ago, and immediately a friend called me and asked: You were forced by ofo to raise funds at such a fast pace, and the equity structure is seriously diluted and dispersed, right?"

The studio was dimly lit. Hu Weiwei, wearing a white turtleneck sweater, focused on a ray of light and said, "Also, Xie Jingxing said before that you guys put the Tencent label on it as a tool to promote mobile payments. Is that true?"

"Some people even coined the term 'Xie Xuan Entrepreneur' for me, and felt that Mobike was controlled by capital."

She paused for a moment and shook her head in a distant manner: "Actually, that's not the case. Don't make up your mind casually, and don't think that I know him very well."

“Capital may like stories of super high returns, but the real bosses should guide everyone to do something great and important.”

The founder took a clear stand and openly criticized the investors, which immediately drew applause.

In recent years, the general public has become tired of the shadows of Internet giants and disorderly capital competition everywhere in their lives. It is hard for the audience to dislike an outstanding female entrepreneur who has ideals, is a little willful, and is straightforward and true.

"Mobike does not have the label of any giant company. It has always belonged to a startup team, working hard to realize the company's original dream." Hu Weiwei continued to emphasize the equal cooperation relationship with strategic investors such as Tencent.

The applause had not yet died down and was getting more enthusiastic. Xie Jingxing looked at the appreciative expressions of the audience around him and nodded involuntarily.

Apparently, after Hu Weiwei calmed down, she figured out the subtleties between her own luxurious investment portfolio.

Drawing a clear line will deepen the founder's public image. If there really comes a collapse, Wang Xiaofeng's situation will be more embarrassing than hers.

"You are in very good shape today. Did you see me clapping?"

The speech ended with applause, and Xie Jing Xing went to the dressing room backstage in a low-key manner.

“I am more engaged today.”

Hu Weiwei cooperated with the staff to take off the microphone and turned to look to the side: "Do you need to touch up your makeup?"

"The makeup looks very natural now. Change your clothes first and then see the result." The makeup artist gave advice.

"Forget it, just leave it alone without changing clothes."

Hu Weiwei looked in the mirror and said to herself, "The interview is in the next room. Shall we go there now?"

The makeup artist and the program director exchanged glances silently, watching the man and woman walk out of the dressing room one after another, and they both thought that this founder really has some personality.

Obviously they were going to be interviewed together for marketing promotion, Mr. Xie should at least be polite, but she was too lazy to pretend to cooperate and left the investor aside. It was really unfamiliar.

The Hongqiao Convention and Exhibition Center is large, and the venue rented for shooting promotional posters is right next to the studio, but the actual route is winding and not close.

Hu Weiwei walked silently in front alone. When she passed a deserted corner, she looked at the sign above her head to confirm the direction.

Xie Jingxing suddenly took two steps at a time and came closer to her, patting her shoulder, then stopped and tilted his head to signal.

Her face turned red instantly and she started to walk away, but her arm was grabbed and she was forced back to where she was. She was at a loss with her eyes wide open. She didn't have time to say no and could only purse her lips tightly.

…………

"Sorry for being late." Xie Jingxing pushed the door and walked into the filming location.

The magazine reporter asked in confusion, "Didn't Mr. Hu come with you?"

"I went to the bathroom on the way here."

"Okay, please wait a moment. I'll call Mr. Hu again."

"I'll hit her."

Xie Jingxing was looking for a place to sit and just picked up his phone when Hu Weiwei appeared with a few cups of milk tea. She apologized and explained that she went to buy milk tea for everyone on the way.

The photographer could vaguely see the printing time on the takeaway receipt on the packaging bag from a distance, and raised his arm to look at his watch thoughtfully.

"Makeup, help Mr. Hu to tidy up his clothes."

He said something lightly and went to communicate with the lighting staff about his position. Passing by the prop box, he took off the receipt from the milk tea bag, tore it up and threw it into the trash can.

The makeup artist quickly smoothed out the wrinkles on Hu Weiwei's clothes, frowned slightly and suggested, "Boss Hu, let's touch up your makeup. It will be quick."

"can."

Hu Weiwei remained calm as she sat in front of the makeup mirror. The makeup artist carefully examined her makeup with the help of the light, and quietly tucked a strand of half-wet hair hanging by her ear behind her ear.

"Mr. Hu, don't be nervous. Give me a relaxed feeling."

"Just show your natural state when you are with Mr. Xie. The style of our posters is fashionable. Don't be too serious or professional."

"You think we don't exist, there are only you and Mr. Xie here..."

The photographer's words became more and more blunt, saying that he was already late and wasted time, so he gave him enough face and tried to speak sweetly to him, but he didn't understand what he was saying and why he was pretending to be so noble.

Hu Weiwei's face turned pale with embarrassment and she looked like she would faint in the next second. Xie Jingxing turned a deaf ear to her. It was so funny to see an idealistic founder who was so straightforward in confronting investors.

The promotional posters are divided into two groups, and one group is taken by the two of them to convey the brand's fashion concept.

The other group includes Cheng Wei and Liu Qing.

Tencent’s Martin Lau, Hillhouse Capital’s Zhang Lei, Sequoia Capital’s Neil Shen, New DAEI platform head Xu Nuo, and Foxconn’s Terry Gou.

Ofo's strategic launch conference officially announced that top star Lu Han will be its spokesperson and invited users to ride for free. Mobike, on the other hand, had nine business leaders from all walks of life inviting users to ride for a monthly pass for 1 yuan.

The promotional phrase on Cheng Wei’s solo poster is: Technology makes travel better.

Liu Qing is wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt, which looks pretty handsome after the full effect of photo-editing. The promotional phrase of her outfit is in line with her style: Be prepared to foresee the good at any time.

"Mr. Xie, what slogan do you recommend for Mobike?"

After more than two hours of hard work, the promotional posters were finally shot and the fashion magazine reporter began the interview session.

Xie Jingxing thought for a moment: "Born in 1991."

"Born in 1991?" The reporter didn't understand at first and asked to confirm again.

"When my generation was in middle school, bicycles were almost a necessity for commuting. Now, as the times are changing so fast, bicycles seem to no longer be a necessity."

Xie Jingxing and Hu Weiwei sat side by side in front of the camera and explained: "When Hu Weiwei founded Mobike, she believed that bicycles were a common memory of the post-80s and post-90s generations, a kind of social consensus."

“So ‘the solution for the last mile of travel’ was the product positioning we found later. Mobike started out as a carrier of memories and the future.”

He was full of energy and talked eloquently, while Hu Weiwei was distracted and kept her head down.

"Can it be understood that your initial investment in Mobike was not for profit?" the reporter expanded the topic.

Xie Jingxing immediately denied it: "Sentiment is not equivalent to losing money. I told Hu Weiwei: You are the ideal soul of Mobike. It will also work if Mobike is replaced by another name. She herself is a person who can make a career, and sentiment is an added value."

"Then Mr. Hu, what do you think of Mr. Xie?" the reporter started the conversation.

Hu Weiwei nonchalantly snapped her fingers and said in a light tone: "He is a very successful investor. Although we don't have much contact, every time I communicate with him, I gain a lot. I respect him very much."

The reporter couldn't help but swallow his breath and had to change the subject: "Mr. Xie, in fact, ofo founder Dai Wei was also born in 1991. Now many people outside say that your peers are running hard to catch up with you."

Xie Jing Xing was speechless, and after thinking seriously for a few seconds, he replied: "That's how they evaluated Zhang Xuhao last year." "..."

The reporters fell silent. It was hard to imagine that such perverted remarks could appear in an interview. Dai Wei must be enjoying endless blessings.

Hu Weiwei inexplicably felt that if he treated everyone equally, being so shameless and domineering would not be unacceptable.

The atmosphere became weird after this question. The reporter became a little restrained unconsciously during the conversation. He did not delve into the issue in depth and quickly finished the interview.

…………

After finishing the errand and removing makeup, it was almost the evening rush hour. Xie Jingxing wanted to go home for dinner, and Hu Weiwei was crossing the city to Pudong Airport to fly to Manchester, which was not on her way.

"Let the driver take you." They walked into the elevator side by side and he just pressed the button for the underground parking lot floor.

Hu Weiwei stood close to the elevator wall: "There's a traffic jam. I'll take Line 2."

"You didn't bring any luggage?" Xie Jingxing did not comment.

Hu Weiwei leaned forward and pressed the elevator button: "My assistant took it to the airport first."

"Be careful on the road and go back early."

The elevator door opened, and Xie Jingxing remembered something and added, "There is a modern painting of a young girl's portrait in the Manchester Art Gallery. If you have time, can you help me check it out to see if it's still there?"

"What?" Hu Weiwei stopped and turned back to ask.

"I remember that the painting was in the second exhibition hall on the left on the second floor of the art gallery."

Xie Jing Xing smiled, and as the elevator door closed automatically, he waved goodbye.

Ignoring Zhang Ying's outrageous remarks, the overall effect of ofo's strategic conference yesterday was particularly good, with three promotional videos covering all usage scenarios of shared bicycles.

In the future, we will maximize the use of the low cost advantage of 300 yuan per bicycle, strengthen ground promotion and improve the efficiency of bicycle deployment, cover hospitals, shopping malls and other public places with dense traffic that Mobike has not covered, so as to achieve victory by quantity.

But this is not absolute. There is an upper limit to the number of bicycles a city can put into operation.

Mobike is able to match ofo's coverage rate with fewer vehicles by leveraging its high-end smart lock technology, which reduces operating and maintenance costs and provides a high bicycle turnover rate.

The main problem now is that the manufacturing cost of bicycles remains high. Even if the price of the next generation of bicycles is reduced to 1300 yuan each, one million bicycles will cost 13 billion yuan, and the US$2.2 million in financing will be wasted.

Hu Weiwei was in a hurry to go to Manchester in order to seize the title of the first shared bicycle company to go overseas, and to use the capital aggregation effect brought by the first market share to feed back and smooth the pace of subsequent financing.

Raise more money to expand production of bicycles, and basically equalize the coverage/turnover ratio with ofo's brainless and cheap one.

This is the main area where the two companies spend money, followed by subways, elevators, and online and offline advertising and marketing on the Internet.

As for Mobike's 1 yuan monthly pass and ofo's free rides for users, they look lively but they are actually really a loss.

But from the user's perspective, if you pedal hard and make sparks fly, and if you pedal eight times a day and get calluses on your hips, you can save a few dollars.

Subsidies do not have a decisive influence on consumer decisions like Didi and Uber. When ordinary users need to ride a bike, they will ride whatever bike is available around them without obvious preference.

So the two companies have formally engaged in an all-out battle, but the real hand-to-hand combat will have to wait until the end of this month when the temperature gradually rises and the OEM factories increase their production capacity to put massive numbers of bicycles on the streets.

When news breaks out like the one between New Dangei and Meituan, where front-line business employees fight bloody fights on the streets, the time will be right.

And you have to fight for a while first.

Xie Jingxing has objective expectations for each node in his mind, including whether the painting in the Manchester Art Gallery is still there, and plans for more distant nodes.

…………

In the capital city, during the cold winter months, the streets are deserted at night.

The girl held her boyfriend's arm with one hand and a shopping bag with the other, stretched out her legs and swung them to "wave". In the early years, fashionable men and women in Sanlitun and Wangfujing would hail taxis in this way.

But now, not only is Old Sun too lazy to park, he also has to complain: "Idiot."

He honked the horn deliberately to attract the young couple's attention to his empty car, then stepped on the accelerator and drove past the snow that had splashed and turned into mud, leaving the girl breathing in the exhaust fumes and cursing him as a psychopath.

Which savage who ran out of the mountains without any internet access doesn’t even use online ride-hailing services in this day and age? He deserves to be freezing cold!

"Lao Sun, Lao Sun, how many orders have you completed today?" the team member shouted on the intercom.

Old Sun pointed at a red square and lowered the car window a crack: "More than twenty orders."

"Why did you run so little today?"

"It's Laba Festival now, my wife insisted on preparing several dishes and we didn't leave until after lunch."

"Damn, it's different having a wife, life is so comfortable."

The guy smacked his lips enviously and said lazily, "I was thinking about finishing this job and then going out for a drink to celebrate the festival. I specially ordered a silver carp from Chenjiajiang Fish Restaurant this morning."

"What else is there to say? I'll just run over there now." Old Sun's eyes were shining and he looked very cool.

"Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to complete your mission when you get home?"

"We men pay 20,000 yuan a month to our family, and my wife has to wash my feet for me. This is family status!"

Old Sun boasted that he never forgot to insult others: "Do you think everyone is like you who can't leave when seeing a woman? Every time you go to Chen's River Fish Restaurant to eat, as long as the boss's wife or daughter-in-law settles the bill, you will rush to get a discount on the bill."

"You said this is meaningless. You have to pay money back home. Chuanzi has a lot of money but has no place to spend it. He just made 7000 yuan today and it's pouring out of his wallet. What's wrong with giving him a little tip?" Someone on the intercom channel interrupted and squeezed him with a smile.

Old Sun grasped the key point: "What earns 7000?"

"Uber weekly bonus 7000."

The tone on the intercom sounded matter-of-fact. Old Sun grimaced as his fingers were burned by the cigarette butt: "How much?!"

"If you complete 80 orders in a week, you will be rewarded with 7000 cash by express delivery. It seems that I got it after completing 80 orders last week. I called the customer service and they said it was a reissue. This subsidy activity was officially launched after midnight." Chuanzi explained in detail.

Old Sun was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. It was unfair. Either you don't hold the event or unify the time. How can you still make a fuss about reissues?

"I say, have you all been cheated by Didi and didn't earn the 7000 yuan? Let me tell you something even more ridiculous. Didi played tricks on us and secretly modified the passenger-side system without telling us."

The fourth team member joined the intercom channel: "The passenger called for an express taxi. Didi marked our taxi with a 'dispatch fee', which is more expensive than private cars."

"Moreover, the express train orders assigned to us deliberately show a long distance on the map, so that we would think it is too far and would actively refuse the order!" He cursed loudly.

"Fuck, isn't this just killing the donkey after it has done its work? When Didi had no drivers, Cheng Wei's grandson waited in front of the company for three days, begging us to give him money to pay for our phone bills so that he could register for Didi and take orders. We understand that they want to support private cars now, but don't play tricks on us!"

"That's right. In the past few years, Didi has been fighting with Yidao, Kuaidi, and Uber. Every time, our taxi drivers contributed manpower and effort to support them. Without us, Cheng Wei and Liu Qing would have to stand on the streets handing out flyers!"

"Gather at Chenjiajiang Fish Restaurant. If you don't want to send it, let Didi do it. Whoever wants to do it can do it. Let's all drive Uber tomorrow."

"Driving Uber is cheaper than Didi. If this news is true, we must park our car in front of their company tomorrow and demand an explanation!"

Old Sun held the intercom and spitted: "I ran about 300 orders this week with a turnover of more than 20,000. If they dare to secretly change the order-taking system, they dare to cheat everyone's money. I won't let it go unless they double the compensation!"

The words awakened the dreamer. The intercom suddenly fell silent, and then a chaotic response broke out.

"Yes, compensation. They must pay double the compensation!"

"I won't be driving tomorrow, let's go block their company!"

"I went to a printing shop to print banners. Unscrupulous companies are exploiting low-level drivers. We are wronged!" (End of this chapter)