Volume 4 Crazy Growth 2017 Chapter 830: The Heart of Playing Tactics Is Dirty
Compared with the arms race in the first half, the landmark event that kicked off the second half may have to start with Mobike's rise from behind.
Zhou Dongsheng originally took time out to come to Shanghai to attend the closing ceremony of "Dying to Survive", and after doing a wave of marketing operations on the Internet, he was planning to return home to Guangzhou.
After all, whether it is the supply chain issue or the snail noodle project that is being carried out in full swing, they are all concentrated in the two major regions of eastern Guangdong and western Guangdong.
For this reason, Zhou Dongsheng naturally stayed in Yangcheng to check on the progress of the project more conveniently. Although he was a hands-off boss, he could come and go freely, and the progress would not be delayed with him or without him...
However, Zhou Dongsheng wanted to join in the fun from time to time, and went to the front line to show his presence and his spirit of leading by example...
Well, of course, one of the main reasons may be that I returned to Guangzhou and experienced the joy of "new love comes after a long absence" and "rain after a long drought".
In the process of wealth accumulation for most wealthy people, debts often also increase synchronously. Zhou Dongsheng is no exception. As his assets continue to grow like a snowball, the amount of debt also increases exponentially.
It’s just that other people’s debts can be offset by paying real money, but all the debts Zhou Dongsheng owed were romantic debts, which may not be so easy to resolve.
It was not until this time that Zhou Dongsheng suddenly realized how profound Principal Wang's level of handling emotions was. Being able to do it so cleanly and neatly without any drag was undoubtedly a skill.
Perhaps, this is what is called "walking through a field of flowers without getting a single leaf on you"?
But for Zhou Dongsheng now, it is almost the same. If he can't pay back this romantic debt, then he can't pay it back. Being a love deadbeat is better than being a real deadbeat...
Ahem, back to the topic. Just when Zhou Dongsheng was about to go home, he received a call from Hu Weiwei, the now-triumphant founder of Mobike.
However, after just a few words, Zhou Dongsheng roughly understood the whole story.
Since the beginning of 2017, Mobike has completed nearly three rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of more than 300 million US dollars, including the introduction of local tycoon Temasek in order to enter the Singapore market , and the strategic cooperation reached with the famous Foxconn.
There is no doubt that such a large amount of funds provides all-round protection for the development of Mobike, which is enough to give Mobike the capital and confidence to catch up and surpass the ofo.
To this end, in order to achieve this small goal in one go, Mobike naturally needs more chips and confidence. The simplest and most brutal way is naturally to start another round of financing.
Even though the US$300 million in financing was received only recently, the competition in the shared bicycle industry has undoubtedly entered a white-hot stage!
Although everyone is scrambling to grab a piece of the market pie, in the final analysis, the market pie is only so big. If you want to eat more, others can only eat less.
For this reason, as competition becomes more intense, the costs and prices you need to pay will become higher and higher. As long as you don’t want to be eliminated, you must always ensure that you have sufficient ammunition in your hands!
Otherwise, on this entrepreneurial road where you either move forward or you fall behind, once you can no longer sustain yourself, you will fall out of the first echelon and lose the qualification to compete for the top spot in the industry.
Only by continuously competing for market share can we use it as a bargaining chip for financing. Only by completing round after round of financing can we avoid being exhausted by competitors in this arms race.
Although hundreds of shared bicycle companies have emerged in China, attempting to get a piece of the pie through differentiated competition, it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated when the industry enters a stage of fierce competition.
This is also a necessary process in the development of any industry. When the Matthew effect is formed, it is basically the time when an industry has come to its final conclusion.
If we look at it from a gaming perspective, isn't this actually a battle royale game like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds?
Every time the industry shrinks, there will always be players who will be eliminated. Only by constantly collecting supplies and accumulating enough capital can they survive round after round of brutal competition until the final round.
But compared to the game, reality is undoubtedly much more cruel. At least if you want to be Voldemort and sneak into the final circle, there is basically no way, and the only way is to keep fighting head-on.
After several rounds of shrinking circles, Mobike and Ofo have undoubtedly entered the final circle ahead of schedule and have sufficient geographical advantages. Even their bunkers have been built to be impregnable.
The next thing to do is, of course, to use the stable cover to further expand one's own advantage, and to block the paths of other opponents by means such as "blocking the bridge". In this way, the opponent can be killed by the poison circle alone.
For this reason, Mobike has once again started a new round of financing without stopping, and this time the appetite is huge. In just three months, the appetite has doubled, and the valuation has naturally risen as well.
Now that we have reached the E round of financing, it is very likely that this will be the last round of financing. If we fail, we will die . If we cannot achieve the ultimate goal of listing, we will most likely face the end of being unable to continue.
Again, after all, institutions are not doing charity, and it is impossible for them to continuously provide blood transfusions to enterprises. Once there is not enough support from future expectations, institutions that are keen on spending money will no longer do so.
Such a large amount of financing naturally needs to be notified to all shareholders, and Hu Weiwei naturally has to convey the message to Zhou Dongsheng personally.
After all, Zhou Dongsheng deserves at least one-third of the credit for Mobike's current success, whether it is the financing that solved the urgent need, the spokesperson who provided timely assistance, or the support for traffic...
From Hu Weiwei's perspective, Zhou Dongsheng's contribution cannot be erased in any way. Everyone has a scale in their heart to distinguish between close and distant relatives.
In his mind, at least among the company's shareholders, Zhou Dongsheng has sufficient priority, so it is natural to fully consider Zhou Dongsheng's ideas.
Even when Zhou Dongsheng took the opportunity to cash out in the last round of financing, Hu Weiwei also gave priority to meeting Zhou Dongsheng's needs. After all, Dongsheng Group is now a large company, and the resources it needs will only be higher, not lower, than those of Mobike!
Therefore, when Hu Weiwei told Zhou Dongsheng about this matter first, to some extent, this could be regarded as a kind of "insider information", but before going public, the company had no obligation to open its doors to the market.
With the arrival of a new round of financing, Zhou Dongsheng is undoubtedly faced with a choice. Now he holds nearly 10% of the shares, which is his only remaining bargaining chip.
In this poker game belonging to Mobike, a new round of financing means the arrival of a new round of reshuffle, and Zhou Dongsheng, an old player, has only a few options in front of him.
Just like Texas Hold'em, you can call, raise, or sit back and wait, and finally fold, cash out and leave!
As for how to make a decision, it naturally tests the judgment ability of the player Zhou Dongsheng.
Zhou Dongsheng recalled carefully, and in his impression, the final outcome of Mobike was to be acquired, which ended in a perfect ending.
As for the details such as the valuation, Zhou Dongsheng naturally couldn't remember it clearly, but judging by this outcome as an anchor point, in this round of financing, Mobike's valuation has at least reached a sub-peak height.
Compared to after completing financing, after a period of development, the valuation will undoubtedly have room for further improvement, but by that time, there may not be a window period to cash out.
After all, chasing highs and selling lows is the norm in the market, but bottom fishing and top fishing are taboos in the market. Once future expectations are almost overdrawn, both the market and investors will tend to be rational, and most of them will choose to wait and see, and will no longer enter the market blindly.
It will undoubtedly be much more difficult to find the next buyer at a higher price. Compared with retail investors in the secondary market who are keen on buying at the bottom and selling at the top, many investors in the primary market are obviously more cautious.
Rather than touching the top, they would rather sell at a loss.
Therefore, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion that even if Mobike’s valuation can be further improved in the future, the price of cashing out will not necessarily be higher than it is now. Instead, it may be further depressed.
Therefore, choosing to cash out at this stage while there are still sufficient future expectations to support it may be the safest option.
After all, Mobike is not so bad. At worst, there is still an outcome of being acquired. Even if being price-cut is an inevitable result, at least there is an "honest person" willing to take over, which can allow many shareholders to get out of the predicament together.
But the shared bikes...if they run too slowly, they might get buried with the money. I queued up to get my deposit back in my last life, so do I have to join the debt collectors in this life?
Thinking of this, Zhou Dongsheng could not help but have an idea. The world is vast in an instant. As long as he can make a profit and leave the market in time, what's wrong with a little loss? If he doesn't give others a little sweetness, how can others be willing to take over?
As for how to give this "sweetness"... Zhou Dongsheng suddenly thought of a very dirty idea in his mind. When this idea came up, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but sigh.
"Sure enough, those who play tactics are all dirty!"
Then he chuckled, a plan came to his mind and he was ready to put it into action. He felt an urgent urge to realize it.
…
The next day, the conference room at Mobike Technology's headquarters in Shanghai was packed with all shareholder representatives. This was also a meeting held by Mobike Technology for the next round of financing.
Zhou Dongsheng was bored, so he attended the meeting in person and brought Zhang Xiaoguang along as a guest. During the meeting, Zhou Dongsheng also saw many familiar faces, such as Li Chaohui, the representative of Tengda Investment.
This old acquaintance had dealt with Zhou Dongsheng countless times. Not only did they have common interests in several projects, he also wanted to get a piece of the Dongsheng Group pie, but he just hadn't found the right opportunity to take a bite.
Now, he has to watch Zhou Dongsheng soar to the sky and miss out on such a potential stock. This feeling is even more painful than losing hundreds of billions.
Ahem, I guess Mr. Li probably has similar feelings when looking at Tengda (funny).
"How come Mr. Jay has time to come and attend the meeting in person? With your presence, this meeting will be honored..." Li Zhaohui joked in a good-natured manner.
Zhou Dongsheng sat there calmly. Hearing this, he was moved and casually threw out a bait. "Since the establishment of the group, my assets have been a bit stretched. Recently, the funding gap is a bit large. I am planning to sell some of my assets. Is Mr. Li interested?"
After Zhou Dongsheng said this, he did not intend to lower his voice, which immediately attracted the attention . It can be said that the speaker had intention, and the listeners were even more attentive.
"Oh? If Jay Chou needed money for development, he should have said so earlier. Why would he need to sell off his assets? I think as long as Jay Chou is willing to ask, many organizations are willing to support the development of Dongsheng Group, including our Tengda."
Li Chaohui was slightly shocked when he heard this, and said with great righteousness.
"That's great, but I can still handle it for now. If there's any need, I'll definitely talk to Mr. Li first. After all, it's better to keep things within the family." Zhou Dongsheng laughed and passed it over.
However, the intention of cashing out revealed earlier has undoubtedly attracted the attention of a number of interested people present, and as shareholders of Mobike, they are undoubtedly potential next buyers and the group with the strongest willingness to take over.
After all, shared bikes are now in full swing, and many people are optimistic about their future, but the chips are very limited, and there is no chance to increase the bet. Unexpectedly, someone is willing to make a move...
Moreover, Zhou Dongsheng's motivation to take a profit and leave the market is not inconsistent, especially compared to the 2 million US dollars base bet when he first came to the table, Zhou Dongsheng's current chips have more than increased by hundreds of times.
It is reasonable to choose to take profits and leave. After all, the ultimate goal of investment is naturally to make profits.
This "unintentional remark" did not affect the convening of the meeting as usual. Hu Weiwei, who was sitting in the main seat, looked normal and did not seem to think there was anything wrong.
“…Based on our forecast of the future market and the needs of the next stage of development, we hope to seek $600 million in financing at a valuation of $2.5 billion, and we will also pay a corresponding amount of equity…”
Hu Weiwei put forward her conditions succinctly, while the shareholders below the stage were calm and composed. Business, after all, is nothing more than asking for a high price and paying back a low price.
This principle applies from the trivial matters of merchants to business dealings between countries. It is nothing more than that the prices are different because the bargaining chips are different.
Zhou Dongsheng was not in a hurry. If the valuation was based on this, wouldn't it be easy to cash out 250 million US dollars with the 10% stake in his hands? Plus the previous gains.
This short-term investment, which lasted for nearly a year and a half, has apparently generated a return of nearly 200 times for itself, not to mention the potential gains that have not been taken into account.
Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but sigh, selling pigs in the wind is really making money!
