After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 53 ofo shared bicycle
"Hello, Mr. Liang, my name is Lu Liang, from Tianxing Investment..."

Lu Liang came to the exhibition management office, introduced himself, and asked whether the entrepreneurial team of Ofo would participate in the exhibition.

“Little yellow car?”

Liang Juntao followed his gaze and suddenly realized: "Mr. Lu, that is the ofo bike-sharing startup team from Peking University. They are also participating in our school's startup exhibition, but the exhibition is scheduled for tomorrow."

The Shanghai University of Finance and Economics' entrepreneurship exhibition was originally planned to last for one day, but this year there were many teams that signed up, so it was changed to two days, divided into two batches.

Liang Juntao asked again: "Mr. Lu, are you interested in this project? We can introduce you to someone."

The founder of ofo has a very impressive family background. His superior called him yesterday and asked him to pay more attention and help introduce him to some investors.

Unexpectedly, before he even started making introductions, someone already took the initiative to ask, saying that if he could facilitate an investment, he would be earning a favor for free.

Liang Juntao had never heard of Tianxing Investment, but the invitation letters were divided into different levels, and the invitation letter from Phnom Penh was the highest level.

I think the strength should be quite good.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Meng."

"Mr. Lu, please wait a moment. This is their business plan. Please take a look at it first. I will help you contact Dai Wei."

Lu Liang was invited to the lounge, and a part-time female student asked softly, "Sir, what kind of tea would you like to drink?"

"Ice water, please."

Lu Liang was flipping through the business plan, distracted.

Ofo's entrepreneurial philosophy is to solve people's last-mile travel problems through the sharing economy + smart hardware.

It was established in December last year with a registered capital of 12 million yuan, and has a total of 100 shared bicycles in the four campuses of Peking University and Tsinghua University.

In order to participate in this college student entrepreneurship exhibition, 300 shared bicycles were put into use in Shanghai University of Finance and Economics starting last week.

The profit method is to charge by the hour, 0.5 yuan per hour, and less than an hour will be calculated as a full hour. The maximum charge per day does not exceed 1 yuan.

It currently has more than 8000 paying users, with an average daily usage of around 500. The company is valued at 10 million and is willing to provide % of its shares for angel round financing.

Lu Liang walked to the window, opened it for ventilation, lit a cigarette, puffed out smoke, and looked thoughtful.

Ofo’s entrepreneurial concept is good and should have great prospects, but the biggest challenge it faces is that it cannot get beyond the campus.

In the past six months, a total of 1800 shared bicycles have been put into use, with a loss rate of only 1.7%.

The main reason is that it operates on campus, at one of the top universities in China, Peking University or Tsinghua University.

The teachers and students are of high quality, or they come from famous schools, which forces them to improve their quality.

If the devices are released outside of school, we would be very lucky if the loss rate can be kept below 20%.

The cost of producing a shared bike is 330 yuan. Increasing the number or producing and using the bikes for self-use can reduce costs.

However, the damage and loss rates cannot be too high, otherwise it will go bankrupt sooner or later due to insufficient income.

Lu Liang searched for relevant information on the Internet.

He didn't put away his phone until there was a knock on the door.

"Mr. Dai, this is Mr. Lu from Tianxing Investment..."

Liang Juntao came in with a smile on his face, bringing in several young people in their twenties. They were all co-founders of ofo, and were also students and classmates of Peking University.

Lu Liang smiled and shook hands with everyone.

Finally, let’s focus on Dai Wei, who is the originator of the idea and also the largest shareholder, personally holding 70% of the shares.

Lu Liang said, "Mr. Dai, I just read your proposal and I'm very interested in this project. Can you tell me about it?"

Dai Wei is just a young man in his twenties. He was immediately very excited and talked about ofo's advantages and future market prospects.

Lu Liang smiled and was very polite. He did not interrupt his story, nodding from time to time and thinking from time to time.

Until Dai Wei finished his explanation.

Lu Liang gradually stopped smiling and said, "Student Dai, I have a question. Can you please help me answer it?"

"Mr. Lu, please go ahead." Dai Wei was smiling, with the joy of being recognized on his face.

Lu Liang asked: "If ofo is deployed outside of schools, how can the loss rate be reduced?"

“Although your current loss rate is only 1.7%, this is mainly due to the fact that it is only deployed in the Tsinghua and Peking University campuses.”

"The quality of teachers and students on campus is high and they are unlikely to commit corruption, but this is not necessarily the case outside of the school. You should be aware of this."

"Understood." Dai Wei's smile gradually froze. He replied: "We have seriously considered this and plan to reduce the risk by collecting a deposit."

Dai Wei couldn't help but look at Liang Juntao. Didn't they agree on it? The investor seemed easy to talk to, so why did he suddenly change his mind?

Liang Juntao looked at his nose with his eyes, and his heart with his nose, and remained silent.

After all, he has seen many difficult investors, and he always has to satisfy them before they are willing to invest.

Of course, it could also be an obedience test. Lu Liang wanted to know Dai Wei’s tolerance level so that it would be easier to deal with him in the future.

But none of this has anything to do with Liang Juntao. His mission has been completed and all he has to do now is remain silent.

Lu Liang nodded slightly and asked again: "How much deposit do you plan to collect?"

"99 yuan." Dai Wei replied.

“It’s less than one-third of the cost of the entire vehicle.”

Lu Liang said indifferently, and then asked: "Why would anyone trust you and be willing to pay a 99 yuan deposit?"

Dai Wei thought about it for a long time and said: "We plan to expand the market first, then promote the brand and gain the trust of customers."

Lu Liang suddenly laughed: "With a valuation of 10 million and a financing of %, how big of a market can you expand with yuan of funding?"

The cost of manufacturing a shared bike is 330 yuan. Even without operating costs, 50 yuan can only be used to purchase 1515 shared bikes.

Even if a university deploys 300 vehicles, it can only deploy them to five more schools, and then it will face the dilemma of insufficient funds.

Dai Wei and the others looked at each other and saw the bitterness in each other's eyes.

They had thought about this issue before, but they didn't dare to delve into it.

A shared bike costs 330 yuan, and it costs 0.5 yuan per hour. I don’t know when I can make a profit.

Lu Liang's lips curled up slightly, and seeing that the time was right, he said approvingly: "There is actually nothing wrong with your thinking."

He paused, then added: “But the execution was not clear enough, and there was a problem with the positioning of the project from the beginning.”

"Mr. Lu, I'd like to hear the details." Dai Wei was not happy, but wanted to hear what Lu Liang had to say.

"The earliest shared bicycles can be traced back to 1965 in Amsterdam, where the authorities led a free bicycle system..."

Lu Liang just did his homework. The concept of shared bicycles has existed for a long time, and it should be considered the fourth generation now.

In his opinion, the shared bicycle project is more like a financial product than an Internet+ product.

Because the initial investment is very large, if we only rely on a few investors, we can't fill this hole at all.

But if we treat it as a financial derivative, there is a lot of room for maneuver.

The characteristic of financial products is that they can be leveraged. How high the leverage ratio is depends on how big the pie can be drawn.

"In the future, when the number of daily usage in the country exceeds 100 million, the net income for that day will be 50 million."

"And if you are the only one in the market, the current price can be raised to 1 yuan or 2 yuan."

"One hundred million people means one hundred million or two hundred million yuan."

Lu Liang is very good at making promises, and Dai Wei and others were so fascinated by what they heard, as if the number of visitors exceeding 100 million in a single day was just around the corner.

Some people are still looking forward to a better life in the future.

The next moment, Lu Liang personally burst the pie.

He said coldly: "But your project has a very fatal flaw."

"Mr. Lu, please go ahead." Dai Wei looked solemn, having long since put away his contempt.

"Without core technology, it is extremely easy to be copied."

Lu Liang spoke each word with great emphasis, and every word was so precise that it almost hit Dai Wei's lungs. How could he not know this?

Because in the middle of last month, his friend in Hangzhou told him that small red bikes called Mobike had appeared at Hangzhou University.

The development route is exactly the same as theirs, and it has been targeted at university towns and is no longer limited to the campus.

The emergence of homogeneous competing products in the market makes them feel very urgent. This market has always been a winner-takes-all market.

That is why they are willing to take out 10% for financing when the valuation is low, just to occupy the market as soon as possible.

　Thanks to the book friend...4001 for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)