Chapter 181 Mobile Phone Manufacturers Alliance
"This round of valuation is 4.5 million, financing 20%, Taihe followed the investment with a 30% share, and introduced an external institution to lead the investment."

After lunch break, the restaurant became deserted again, and Xie Jingxing proposed a financing plan.

The brand valuation of 'Yinshanbudu' increased to about 30 times PE, and it raised 9000 million yuan in financing to expand its shares by 20%. Taihe followed up with an investment of 2700 million yuan and took away 6% of the shares, and found another investment institution to lead the investment of 6300 million yuan and obtained 14% of the shares.

According to this plan, the post-investment equity structure is as follows: Taihe Capital, the investor, holds a total of 16.8%, Juntai Direct Investment holds 7.2%, the lead investor in the B round holds 14%; Dr. Wang holds 13.5%, and Cui Aliu holds 50.5%, which includes an 8% option pool.

She cleared out the shares taken back by Peng Chuanming and the joint dilution option pool in Round A, so that this round of financing does not need to consider the issue of equity dilution.

Although Taihe’s follow-up investment ratio is not high, the 1500 million yuan investment in the A round has a book return rate of over 200%.

It's a win-win situation for everyone, except for the decision of which external investment institution to introduce to lead the investment, which still needs further consideration.

Cui Aliu asked tentatively: "Pus Capital or Today Capital?"

"My suggestion is to let Today Capital come in first, or let Tencent make a strategic investment." Xie Jingxing had already considered this.

The purpose of this round of financing for 'Yinshanbudu' is to build upstream industrial chain factories, packaging and processing raw materials such as fruits, tea, and fresh milk, and product packaging such as cups, straws, and packaging bags.

These two businesses may seem insignificant, but they actually account for as much as 18% of the revenue. Currently, all the profits are earned by the OEM factories. In the future, they must take back the businesses and operate them themselves to facilitate quality control and management of franchisees.

Secondly, after half a year of development, we signed more than a dozen long-term tea/fruit supply contracts, the number of 'Yinshan Tea Language' stores exceeded 100, and the average monthly sales of the three stores in Buduchuncheng, Dali and Modu exceeded one million.

Especially in the newly opened flagship store in Shanghai's Lujiazui, scalpers have already appeared, selling a queue number for 20 yuan.

Based on this, we expanded the downstream sales channels, launched the "Budu" online APP, opened online ordering for members and peripheral sales business; the "Yinshan Tea Language" self-operated APP will also be launched soon, and a separate e-commerce section for finished tea will be opened.

Upstream raw materials, midstream milk tea production, and downstream sales channels.

The business model framework of the entire Yinshanbudu brand has been established. What needs to be done next is to spend money to get the operating data running, raise the valuation, and raise a large amount of financing of several hundred million yuan to increase the overall scale.

"So I personally prefer Today Capital, which is good at capital operations!" Cui A Liu confirmed with a sigh of relief.

During the A round of financing, both Pu Si and Jinri took the initiative to contact her. She didn't want to let Prince Wang, who had conflicts with Xie Jingxing, get involved, and she didn't want him to play tricks, so she let Xiyou lead the B round.

Xie Jingxing knew this very well, and just shrugged: "You decide for yourself, and the subsequent equity separation structure will be put on the agenda."

"We will start the equity reform after completing the B round of financing." Cui Aliu nodded and thanked him.

"We are growing very fast, and our financing pace looks like that of an Internet company, which means we have capital support and have seized the opportunity compared to our competitors."

Xie Jingxing changed the subject and reminded: "But on the other hand, the market growth brought about by the entry of capital is very false. We must lay a good foundation and do a good job in brand value."

"I understand. The strategic focus of the next stage is on marketing. I fully support you." Cui Aliu restrained his expression and said seriously.

Currently, the leading peers in the market are profitable, their pace of expansion is steady, and they are not keen on introducing capital.

The barriers to entry in the milk tea industry are not high, and it is very rare for 'Yinshanbudu' to grasp the upstream supply side. Everyone is still thinking about ways to develop the brand.

In short, as the market size grows in the future, industry competition will eventually return to the most essential money-burning Seven Injury Fist gameplay.

If you compress profits to 20% and invest heavily in marketing and price wars, then I dare to compress profits to 10% until a Gu King emerges who dares and is able to lose money for three years and outlast all opponents.

"Yin Shan Bu Du" needs to plan ahead and use marketing to build up its brand in advance. It does not need to ask for a lot, just put two cups of the same style and price of milk tea from different brands in front of consumers.

If consumers choose "Hide in the Mountains and Don't Cross" without hesitation, it will be much easier for them to survive in the future.

At the turn of the millennium, Coca-Cola used this trick to educate countless domestic brands, which we need to learn from.

"Princess Pei said that it's very popular for female stars in the entertainment industry to walk the runway at the airport recently. I think this is quite good. I'll give them a business gift of Budu milk tea when they leave the airport. It would be best if they can drink a sip."

Xie Jingxing was thinking about the next stage of marketing plan: "Internet celebrities KOL can also be used. A text or video about Bu Du Milk Tea costs 200 yuan."

“…Is it so cheap?” Cui A Liu was surprised.

Xie Jingxing raised his eyebrows: "As far as I know, now a Weibo account with 20 followers only costs a few thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan."

Zhao Mengche, a friend I met on Juntai’s variety show, has successfully realized her dream of becoming a travel blogger. Some time ago, several of them had a drink online.

Her skin looked a lot darker and her eyes were bright and lively. She shared her travel experience in the southern hemisphere and complained about how unprofitable it was to be a self-media person. After doing nothing for a few years, she found someone to marry.

Xie Jingxing suggested that before she got married, she could try to use her dowry to start a business and buy a batch of KOL accounts to create a self-media matrix.

Zhao Mengche, under the influence of alcohol, called him privately on video and talked about the details of the self-media industry for a long time.

"Keep working hard. I'll be in touch with you on the details of the B round of financing. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

After roughly determining the marketing direction, Xie Jingxing politely said goodbye: "We will strive to increase the valuation tenfold in the next round of financing."

Doubling the return on investment in half a year is just the beginning. If nothing unexpected happens under ideal circumstances, Taihe’s return on investment in the next round of financing will take off.

Cui A Liu couldn't help but smile. When she sponsored Yunnan University to engage in cultural and creative marketing, Xie Jingxing worked with her on it personally. Now he is just in charge of the general direction in name only.

It will probably be difficult to have a real opportunity to work together in the future. Looking back, Sun Tao, who was in a position to manipulate Juntai Direct Investment, had to bring in Taihe before he was willing to accept the investment.

It's really funny, it's just like this.

Cui A Liu watched the tall figure disappear from his sight, let out a weak breath, then cheered himself up and left briskly.

Maybe the meaning of some people's existence is not to walk side by side with you, and you are lucky enough to be able to follow his back.

…………

Yu Garden has winding corridors and exquisite lake views.

The pavilion was leaking air from all sides, blowing away the steam from the warm tea. The gentle middle-aged man couldn't help but adjust the legs of his glasses: "It's cold and gloomy in the Magic City."

"I've been busy lately and really don't have time to go to the capital." Xie Jingxing explained apologetically.

The waiter, who had a distinctive appearance and was wearing a plain short-sleeved jacket, quietly took his coat, brought two electric heaters to the side of the chair, and brought a tray.

There were hot towels, a simple copper hand warmer, and a square gold-embroidered shawl. Zhang Yiming squinted at his showy landlord look and thought it would be more comfortable to turn on the air conditioner indoors. He said politely, "Many of my friends went to the meeting in Beijing. Fortunately, you found an excuse for me to go out on a business trip."

"Why, have you chosen an investor?" Xie Jingxing asked leisurely, putting the heater in his arms.

Zhang Yiming said vaguely: "Almost. Just choose from the ones we mentioned and don't contact new ones."

Xie Jingxing threw a look at him, and the waiter left the pavilion and opened a screen to block the entrance.

"Sequoia Capital will lead the investment, and Sina Capital and Shunwei Capital will follow. Both of them can provide traffic entry resources."

Zhang Yiming said slowly: "The valuation we negotiated with them for this round is $6 million, and the share increase of 20% will raise 1.2 million yuan."

"Taihe still hopes to follow the investment." Xie Jingxing simply stated his attitude.

In ByteDance's last round of financing, he actively raised the valuation and entered the market, and 1200 million US dollars gave ByteDance a huge boost. This is how Toutiao has been able to firmly occupy the number one position in the mobile news distribution market.

Up to now, the change in the software pre-installation method has confused Sohu News, and Sina News is gradually falling behind. Tencent has forcibly shifted its focus to the mobile terminal by relying on its advantages in software distribution channels.

360 has reacted quickly and is currently developing an "intelligent recommendation algorithm", but it is certain that ByteDance has carved out a niche in a market surrounded by several giants.

This round of valuation has increased sixfold compared to the previous round. If the company can obtain large amounts of financing and completely defeat several competitors, then this company will be successful.

Therefore, Sequoia is happy to spend a lot of money to catch the last train. Sina's own news business fell behind, so it turned to bet separately and use Sina's huge number of users as chips.

It seems that Zhang Yiming has reasons for accepting investment from any party, and he also has reasons for not wanting Taihe to follow suit. Holding too many shares would destroy the financing structure.

But from Xie Jingxing's perspective, it is incomprehensible. He helped him at the most critical moment, so what's wrong with getting a bigger share when he makes money?
The two sides have been entangled for nearly half a month. This time, Zhang Yiming took the initiative to come to Shanghai to meet for this matter.

As a result, they just met and the conversation ended in a stalemate. Xie Jingxing was silent for a moment and then started the conversation again: "Shunwei Capital is Lei Jun?"

"Yes, Xiaomi accounts for a large proportion of our pre-installed software distribution." Zhang Yiming explained in a soft voice.

Xie Jingxing refused to give him face: "It's far-fetched. Which mobile phone manufacturer doesn't want to make money? You might as well say that Lei Jun has a favor for you. He has a lot of business resources."

"Mr. Xie, I will remember your favor!" Zhang Yiming smiled bitterly.

Xie Jingxing's expression eased a little: "Really can't you give me some share?"

"Let's put it this way. This round of financing will supplement the option pool without diluting Taihe's shares. Taihe will make more investments in the next round of financing. Toutiao is not our ceiling, and there are still many businesses to be done in the future."

Zhang Yiming comforted him, "And Xiaomi is really important. I heard that mobile phone manufacturers are preparing a software distribution alliance and want to integrate the Android ecosystem."

"Make the rules of the game?"

Xie Jingxing frowned slightly. He didn't remember what kind of alliance the domestic mobile phone manufacturers had formed this year, but these rotten fish and shrimps had indeed formed several alliances of different forms.

There were even national ministries that took the lead in organizing it, which started out with great fanfare but ended up being a complete failure.

Anyway, it is expected that in the next fifteen years, these guys will not be able to make the rules of the game and eat at the table as referees.

Huawei has taken control of WeChat, and the result is that Huawei has developed its own instant messaging software, and fans shouted that WeChat has been uninstalled...

Zhang Yiming didn't need to worry about the mobile phone manufacturers' alliance strangling the mobile software distribution channels, but Xie Jingxing didn't really want to quarrel with this old guy, so he gave him a chance to back down.

He asked thoughtfully, "Did you see the video on the Internet a few days ago?"

"Huang Zhang? Do you mean that his public return to Meizu has something to do with this mobile phone manufacturer alliance?" Zhang Yiming guessed.

"It's probably okay."

Xie Jing Xing gloated: "Meizu's performance is not good, and he wants to return to power. That night, the core executive team knocked on his door with financial statements to force him to abdicate. If he doesn't get options or a pay raise, he can only take over a broken Meizu when he returns."

“He publicly returned in an attempt to attract investors.”

Zhang Yiming suddenly realized what was going on and felt quite disdainful. Being forced out by the core executive team in this way showed how weak his management capabilities were.

Xie Jingxing said with interest: "Actually, I'd like to invest in a mobile phone brand."

"The competition among mobile phone manufacturers is too fierce. It would be very beneficial for an Internet company to have a stable control over mobile device terminals," said Zhang Yiming, envious.

360, Baidu and Tencent are all promoting their mobile phone strategic layout. This is not only related to software distribution, but most importantly the combination of mobile phone systems and cloud services.

Xie Jingxing was of course aware of the fierce competition among mobile phone manufacturers. Before meeting Zhang Yiming today, he considered whether it was necessary to contact Meizu, but after much deliberation he could not make up his mind.

At this moment, I can vaguely make a decision. Regardless of success or failure, it will not hurt to meet with Huang Zhang first. If it doesn't work, I will wait for Xiaomi's next round of financing and then think of a solution.

He suppressed his thoughts and turned to another matter: "What do you think about the concept of video products?"

"I think we can give it a try. We can first build a PUGC-type comprehensive video platform based on the headline news portal," Zhang Yiming said, following up on the idea.

Xie Jing Xing sat up straight and concluded: "Differentiated competition, but I still think that PGC-type long videos can be fought for. If it doesn't work, you can set up a separate subsidiary. If you need money, I will invest in you."

"Let's try it first."

Zhang Yiming felt a headache. He wasn't a prostitute, and it was really unbearable for him to be given money all the time.

Xie Jingxing was disappointed. He had gone to Beijing a few days ago to finish the Pony Galloping project and formulate a strategy for the theater distribution channel. At the same time, he contacted Zhang Yiming to discuss the online distribution channels for film and television variety shows.

Internet video platforms can be roughly divided into three types based on concepts. UGC is user-generated content, such as Kuaishou and Douyin.

PGC is a professional content producer. Tencent Video and K12 adult education platform, as well as TV dramas or online courses created by professional companies are included in this category.

There is also PUGC, which combines the two concepts, supporting the dual production of user and professional content.

ByteDance is currently unable to outspend Tencent in terms of spending money on a pure PGC platform, and the time is not yet right for it to become a pure UGC platform. At least Zhang Yiming does not want to become a short video platform like Kuaishou that targets the lower-tier markets.

He hopes to wait until 4G network becomes more popular before investing in the short video industry, and he personally is more optimistic about the idea of ​​'minute-level' video products.

(End of this chapter)