Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 540 Give it a try

The tripartite meeting with China Mobile and Huawei this morning, which concerned the future landscape of the 4G industry, has come to a temporary close after setting a grand strategic tone.

Because Chairman Xi Guohua of China Mobile needed to rush to the Guangdong branch for inspection and research, and Song Ci also had other arrangements in the afternoon, he politely declined Huawei's welcome reception.

In the afternoon, the sky over Shenzhen suddenly changed, and a torrential rain poured down, washing away the hustle and bustle and dust of this bustling city, and bringing a touch of coolness to the sweltering summer.

Inside the executive suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, however, lies a different, tranquil scene. Heavy glass windows block out the sounds of wind and rain from outside, while the room is filled with the delicate aroma of tea.

Song Ci sat leisurely in the main seat, using a purple clay teapot to pour tea for the guests who had come from afar.

He was hosting Chen Dejun, chairman of Shentong Express, his sister Chen Xiaoying, and Xi Chunyang, the head of Tiantian Express, who had rushed from Donghai.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Dejun explained his purpose for visiting.

After listening quietly, Song Ci nodded gently and pushed a perfectly brewed cup of bright orange Pu'er tea in front of Xi Chunyang, speaking in a calm tone:
"I understand what Mr. Chen means. Since it's a family matter, everything is negotiable."

His expression immediately turned serious, and he got to the heart of the matter, "Mr. Xi, before we discuss cooperation, I need to understand the current scale and industry position of Tiantian Express."

Xi Chunyang dared not delay and quickly replied, "Chairman Song, according to the latest industry data released by the Post Office, Tiantian Express currently ranks sixth in the country in terms of business volume."

Ahead of us in line are, in order: SF Express, EMS, YTO Express, STO Express, and Yunda Express.

"Oh?" Song Ci raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. "So, Tiantian's current scale is even stronger than Zhongtong's?"

A complex expression flashed across Xi Chunyang's face as he explained, "Chairman Song, to be honest, Tiantian Express didn't start late."

Three years ago, its network size and business volume were comparable to those of the "Three Tongs and One Da" (STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express). However, in recent years, its pace of capital operation and network expansion has slowed down.

After I took over last year, I learned from Shentong's successful "lightweight franchise system" model and worked hard to increase the number of business outlets, which helped to restore some of the company's vitality.

But most importantly, Tiantian didn't receive order support from Taobao's e-commerce platform, and its development momentum gradually fell behind. It's a classic case of "a slow start leads to a slow finish."

Song Ci nodded knowingly. In this era, e-commerce platforms are practically the lifeblood of the entire express delivery industry.

Without access to core orders from Taobao, Tiantian Express is like water without a source, forced to rely on scattered offline business to survive in the cracks between "STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express".

Or they are trying to compete for some business shipments that originally belonged to SF Express and do not have high time requirements, which is indeed a difficult situation.

He put down his teacup and said in a more serious tone, "Mr. Xi, there are some things I need to say upfront."

You need to be fully prepared that once Pinduoduo develops and becomes a direct competitor to Taobao, it will be a situation where "two tigers cannot share one mountain".

If Tiantian Express chooses to side with Tengda, it may face a complete blockade from the Alibaba group. At that point, it might not even be able to secure the meager remaining orders from Taobao.

Upon hearing this, Xi Chunyang subconsciously exchanged a glance with his brother-in-law Chen Dejun beside him, and both of them saw seriousness in each other's eyes.

They understood that this was not a threatening remark from Song Ci, but a well-intentioned and direct reminder from the richest man, urging him to prepare for the worst.

At the same time, this also gave him one last chance to choose: whether to take a huge risk and bet on Pinduoduo, or to retreat and try to survive under the Alibaba system.

Shentong Express, having already been caught in a predicament due to Tengda's early investment, has no other choice. But Tiantian Express still has room for choice at this moment.

Furthermore, if Shentong is purged by Alibaba for siding with Tengda in the future, Tiantian Express might be able to "abandon the darkness and embrace the light," be accepted by Cainiao Network, and become a replacement.

At this moment, Xi Chunyang went through a fierce internal struggle, and a look of hesitation flashed across his face.

But in the end, recalling Song Ci's legendary commercial achievements and the massive ecosystem support behind Pinduoduo from the Tengda Group, a surge of do-or-die courage welled up in my heart.

He gritted his teeth, his gaze hardening, his voice resolute and unwavering:
"Chairman Song, I've thought this through very carefully before coming here! I, Xi Chunyang, am willing to dedicate the future of Tiantian Express to you, Chairman Song, and Tengda, to strive for a bright future!"

Seeing the tragic expressions on Chen Dejun and Xi Chunyang's faces, reminiscent of the line "The wind is howling and the Yi River is cold," Song Ci couldn't help but chuckle.

He didn't care whether the two were genuinely optimistic about Pinduoduo's future or just putting on a show to demonstrate their determination to him.

He slowly raised a finger, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable and powerful confidence:

"One year!" He surveyed the three men, his gaze intense. "Just one year. After one year, you will witness the terrifying potential and growth rate of Pinduoduo!"

Then you'll understand what Jack Ma truly dreamed of but couldn't achieve: the nuclear fusion-level power of 'social + e-commerce'!

These words, brimming with powerful confidence, seemed to possess a magical power, instantly dispelling the last trace of gloom in Xi Chunyang's heart.

Yes, the man before us is the richest man who has never lost a battle! When has his judgment ever been wrong?

Thinking of this, Xi Chunyang felt as if he had swallowed an invaluable reassurance, and the tragic look on his face turned into anticipation and excitement.

“Chairman Song, now that we have made up our minds, there is some information we must share with you,” Chen Dejun said, taking over the conversation and reminding him solemnly.

"Cainiao Network aims to build a large-scale logistics platform and promote the digitalization of the entire express delivery industry by implementing technologies such as electronic waybills."

Alibaba has ambitious plans to leverage big data and algorithms to build an intelligent routing and order allocation system.

This will gradually replace traditional manual sorting, thereby maximizing logistics efficiency. We must also prepare countermeasures as early as possible and not fall behind.

“It’s alright!” Song Ci picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke calmly and confidently.

"Tengda has just as many resources as Alibaba, and even more!"

Data, algorithms, and traffic are Tenda Technology's core strengths! In the digital world, Tenda is the king of algorithms!

After a brief moment of contemplation, he quickly outlined the strategic framework in his mind and then clearly explained his plan to the three: "Since Alibaba's Cainiao follows the 'centralized control' route, we will do the opposite and only provide 'decentralized empowerment'!"
I plan to establish the 'TSL Alliance'.

Led by Tengda Technology, and with STO Express, SF Express, and Tiantian Express as core founding members, the alliance is completely open and welcomes all courier companies to join!

"SF Express?!" Chen Dejun, Chen Xiaoying, and Xi Chunyang asked in almost unison, their faces filled with astonishment and confusion.

Extremely puzzled, when did the richest man quietly connect with SF Express, which focuses on the high-end market?

Song Ci, oblivious to their questions, was completely absorbed in developing his blueprint and spoke eloquently:

"The alliance does not seek controlling stakes in its member courier companies, but will set uniform technical thresholds."

All participating courier companies must connect to the 'Tengda Logistics OS' system interface, which is uniformly developed by Tengda.

Looking at the three people who seemed to still be processing the word "SF Express," he went on to propose an even more disruptive concept:

"In addition to the logistics OS, which is the 'nervous system,' Tenda can also develop a 'cloud warehouse' data platform to serve as the 'intelligent brain' of the alliance."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dejun and Xi Chunyang, two leaders who had been working in the logistics industry for many years, felt that they couldn't keep up with Song Ci's thinking speed.

I couldn't help but admire him. He truly deserves to be called a top internet leader. His high-level strategic thinking and innovative business model capabilities have left traditional industries far behind.

Song Ci patiently explained: "This 'cloud warehouse' platform will fully integrate e-commerce platform order data, social platform regional consumption trend data, map software real-time traffic data, and the transportation capacity data of all members in the alliance."

Through big data predictive analysis, we can predict in advance which cities and regions a product is likely to be a bestseller.

Before major shopping festivals like "Double Eleven," we guide merchants to pre-allocate their goods to corresponding "pre-positioned warehouses," which are our "cloud warehouses"!

Furthermore, it can plan the most efficient transportation route across the entire network for each package, and even dynamically change the address of the package during transit based on the user's needs!

These words were like opening a door to a new world for the three of them.

They were all experts in the logistics industry, and after a little thought, they understood the strategic intent behind Song Ci's arrangement.

This is not just about "delivering quickly," but also about achieving the ideal state of "goods being on their way before they are needed" through the precise use of data!
Upgrading the entire logistics industry from passive response to proactive intelligent scheduling will greatly reduce the inventory and transportation costs of the whole society!
At the same time, I couldn't help but be secretly shocked: Has Tengda Technology's technical strength reached such an unbelievable level?

If this can be achieved, it will bring about a complete revolution in the entire logistics industry!

Chen Dejun was now completely convinced, and the last bit of resentment he had for Shentong being tied to the Tengda Group had vanished.

With a casual remark, the richest man not only defused the threat posed by Cainiao Network, but also outlined a logistics future vision that is far grander and more advanced than Alibaba's model.

That profound state of being able to "hold the trump card but not play it himself," controlling the whole situation as an enabler, truly made him understand what it means to be awe-inspiring.

Xi Chunyang quickly realized what was going on, and his mind suddenly became clear.

This series of moves by the richest man perfectly aligns with Tengda Technology's core strategy of "connecting everything," leveraging its strongest technological capabilities to deeply empower and upgrade the traditional logistics industry.
Instantly, the reception room was filled with the three people's various words of praise.

Song Ci smiled and waved her hand, suppressing the praise from the crowd: "Alright, let's get back to the main topic."

Xi Chunyang nodded, his attitude extremely sincere: "Chairman Song, in order to show Tiantian Express's determination to develop together with Tengda, I wonder if you would be willing to make a strategic investment in Tiantian Express?"
Tiantian's next stage of development, whether it's network expansion, vehicle replacement, or technological upgrades, requires substantial financial investment.

Song Ci understood the other party's meaning: they hoped to completely bind Tiantian Express to Tengda's chariot and form a more stable community of interests.

He is optimistic about the continued explosive growth of the e-commerce industry in the coming years, and believes that once Tiantian Express receives orders from Pinduoduo, it will inevitably rise rapidly to become another giant in the logistics field.

Investing at this time is not only of great strategic significance, but also offers extremely considerable commercial returns.

“Sure. What is the current valuation of Tiantian Express?” Song Ci asked directly.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xi Chunyang finally offered a price that was quite sincere, even somewhat low:

"Chairman Song, when I took over last year, the acquisition was valued at 580 million. After a year of integration and development, if you approve, let's calculate it at 600 million. What do you think?"

Song Ci nodded, having no objection to the price, and immediately approved: "Good. Tengda will conduct due diligence and financial auditing on Tiantian Express."

If there are no problems, how about we follow the example of Shentong Express and strategically acquire a 30% stake in Tiantian Express?

"Okay!" Xi Chunyang readily agreed, his two short words conveying a sense of relief and boundless anticipation for the future.

After finalizing the deal with Tiantian Express, Song Ci turned her gaze to Chen Dejun and said earnestly:
"Mr. Chen, the next few years will be a golden period for the development of the logistics industry, and opportunities will be fleeting. Shentong should take bigger and more decisive steps."

Strategic financing should be introduced boldly, and the construction of core hubs and terminal outlets nationwide must be accelerated to improve overall operational efficiency and service quality.

“I understand, Chairman Song,” Chen Dejun replied softly, deeply moved.

Looking back on Shentong's journey, its main development funds have almost all come from its own profit rolling.

The money earned is immediately reinvested in expanding production, such as opening new outlets and increasing transportation capacity, which is a typical "fighting to support fighting" model.

In addition, the unique franchise system transfers a large amount of localized network construction and operation costs to franchisees through brand authorization and management output.

Only then were they able to leverage huge amounts of social capital with limited funds to complete the initial nationwide network layout.

However, as Song Ci said, this approach has reached a bottleneck. In order not to be left behind in the next competition among giants, it is necessary to take advantage of the power of capital to carry out a complete upgrade and leap.

(End of this chapter)