Chapter 144: Digging a pit to bury Qiandu Tengda

"Exaggeration? Not at all!"

Li Zehua smiled. If there were familiar people around him, they would definitely know that he was starting to dig a hole and bury someone again.

"Look, we signed a minimum guarantee and calculated the advertising fees based on the actual number of clicks. If the three major projects, especially the group purchase, become as successful as Taobao, wouldn't it cost tens of billions of advertising fees a year?"

"How dare you say that."

Fu Guobin, vice president of advertising at Baidu, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “If we can achieve the same level as Taobao, with an annual revenue of hundreds of billions, the advertising expenses will definitely be high.”

I thought, are you crazy?

Still dreaming of the size of Taotao, if it doesn't go bankrupt next year, it would be a blessing if it can afford the advertising fees.

I wonder if I've met a madman.

But then, Li Zehua's words put his mind at ease, "I appreciate your good words. I hope I can catch up with Taotao sooner. By the way, can you pay the minimum contract fee in one lump sum?"

"Mr. Li, are you serious?"

Fu Guobin couldn't help but take another look at him and thought to himself, I can't believe this guy has some real skills.

“This is not a small amount of money, there is only half a year left in this year!

If Mr. Li can pay in one lump sum, I will give him a discount!

25 per month. A few days have passed this month, so only 20 is counted. There are 5 in the remaining 125 months, totaling 145 million.

未来10-12年每年300个共900万，加在一起可是1045万，算个优惠给1020万就行。”

When doing business, cash is king. As the vice president in charge of advertising business, Fu Guobin does have some authority.

But he was very skeptical. Would the other party really do business? How could they just pay three and a half years of advertising fees upfront?

That’s not even counting the pay-per-click items!

They have come up with so much liquidated damages. Don’t let the other party breach the contract before Baidu does.

No matter how you look at it, he doesn't look like he can afford to pay hundreds of millions.

"That's really..."

That’s too bad, who asked you for a discount?

From the beginning to the end, Li Zehua never expected Qiandu to fulfill its contract!
Not to mention the express delivery business, Qiandu will definitely get involved in takeout and group buying. It is impossible to stop it. This is determined by the market.

Qiandu is the undisputed leader in the search industry. As a listed company, the scale of its main business continues to grow, but there is not much room for imagination.

When running a business, especially a listed company, we are not afraid of not making money today, nor are we afraid of huge losses. What we are afraid of is that the company's business has no growth expectations and no room for imagination.

The simplest example is Microsoft and Amazon. The former is the absolute overlord in the software industry and was almost split up due to suspected monopoly.

What about the latter?

Years of losses!
However, during the same period, Microsoft’s stock price did not even increase by half of Amazon’s. This is all because the former’s favorable news was realized, making it more suitable for value investment and growing slowly as the market size expanded.

As for the latter, it doesn’t matter how many negative news there are or how many billions of dollars it loses every year, as long as its market share continues to grow.

Investors get so excited at the thought of monopolizing the global online shopping market in the future that their scalps tingle. The more they lose, the more they invest, and they don’t consider the US dollar as money at all.

Temasek and Gaoling Investments also invested in Hummingbird based on the same investment logic.

What’s the big deal about losing some money?
One hundred million is nothing. As long as there is a chance, they will invest one billion or even ten billion without hesitation!
Any hesitation for even a second is a disrespect for the monopoly!
As long as we can gain market share and monopolize the basic needs of food, clothing, housing and transportation in this country with a population of 1.3 billion.

In the later stage, they can use their dominant market position to do whatever they want!

make money? !
You can earn money even if you break your legs and lie down, and you will never be able to spend it all in your next life!
"Thank you for Mr. Fu's care. After more than a month of contact, we finally have a result that both parties can accept."

I feel helpless. I wanted to take this opportunity to increase the cost of default.

But since they are well-intentioned, I would be afraid of arousing suspicion if I reject their kindness rashly.

Li Zehua muttered to himself, but remained calm on the surface, "Look, for today, I specially hired the most professional team of lawyers in Yanjing.

As for the details of the contract, let’s stick to what we agreed on before!”

"Of course, I have submitted the contract template that your company sent to me earlier to the company's legal department for review, and there is no problem in principle.

However, the penalty fee may need to be discussed further.”

Fu Guobin looked at the three or four lawyers behind him, rubbing their hands ready to fight, and thought that this guy was more professional than himself.

There is no problem with advertising cooperation, and there is no problem with fees.

The only thing that makes him feel troubled is the twenty times penalty!
"Well, please wait a moment and I'll go ask for instructions."

Li Zehua urged, "Then do it as soon as possible."

Fu Guobin found an excuse to come out and went straight to his immediate boss' office without any hesitation.

"Mr. Chen, the dog owner I mentioned to you before is here!

This is the content of the contract he drafted, which is slightly different from the contract template we usually use. The most important thing is that he insisted on increasing the punitive liquidated damages. "

The latter read the contract and thought for a while, "A contract of more than 10 million, if the traffic is large in the later stage, it may reach tens of millions in three and a half years!

This twenty times penalty is nearly 1 billion yuan, right? It feels a little wrong!"

"Who said it wasn't? I tried to persuade him, but he insisted. I'm a little unsure. Is there some trap here?"

Fu Guobin was also afraid of taking responsibility, so he simply pushed the conflict up the ladder.

The president was also puzzled. He didn't understand the takeout group buying industry, but he knew a little about express delivery and logistics, so he immediately picked up the phone and called a familiar company.

"... Hmm, so that's how it is. Does that mean this Hummingbird Express is quite powerful?"

The president took the phone and made a few calls to figure things out. "Thank you. I'll treat you to dinner later."

After hanging up the phone, he held his chin and asked, "How do you usually collect business information?
I remember that when you first evaluated each other, it was just a small company and you didn’t take it seriously at the regular briefing.

Now I asked someone in the industry, this company has some background, it specializes in express delivery collection business, but what are takeaway and group buying? "

Fu Guobin smiled bitterly, "It sounds like a group purchasing business. According to the information provided by the customer, I clicked on it and saw that it was an empty website. I couldn't tell what it was at all.

The take-out service is quite reliable, the website is well built and presentable, and it has business in Shanghai, Yanjing, East Guangdong and other places.

I also tried to order food, and the website indicated that the Yanjing business was officially launched on July 7, so there is no way to assess the specific business scale for the time being. "

Never underestimate the information collection capabilities of large companies. Ever since Li Zehua sent someone to contact Qiandu, the latter began investigating.

But never deify big companies!

Because at that time, there were only a few hundred people in total, and the business was limited to the university town area in Shanghai, so what could be found out?
At most you will know that there is such a company, what business it does, and then refer to the market size of competing companies in the same period.

After checking, oh, it's okay.

During the same period, the largest food delivery company, Lihua, had business in all major and medium-sized cities across the country, but its annual turnover was just so-so, and it had no future anyway.

Group buy?

Not to mention!

There is still nearly half a year before the first group buying website in domestic history emerges!
At this time, although Gaopeng.com, the originator of group buying in the United States, has developed rapidly, its business model has not yet been fully understood by its peers in the market.

Even the American capital circle is watching, not to mention the mainland across the ocean, and what forward-looking business judgments can be made.

The president didn't care, "Never mind, as long as the contract is real and the money is in place.

As for the penalty for breach of contract, let the company's legal department take a look. As I remember, the statutory penalty for breach of contract is only 130% of the actual loss.

The punitive liquidated damages are based on the actual agreement between the two parties, but 20 times is a bit high!
Hey~ Why do both parties check the actual revenue of traffic promotion every month? Does the client think that the advertising fee was underpaid?"

“Who knows, some people just make money too easily and think starting a business is just playing house.

This is a good thing for us. We check it once a month and charge extra according to actual income.

Assuming that his sales this month are only 10 million, and without traffic investment, the natural growth is 450%. After adding traffic promotion, it becomes million. Isn't this an increase of million?
According to the contract, it is also 1% of the advertising fee. "After Fu Guobin explained, he carefully asked, "Do you want to sign it?"

"Sign it. How can you refuse the money that's delivered to your door? Let the legal department come over to talk and try to get it done today!"

A certain resentful president just waved his hand and didn't take it seriously at all. They are a listed company and they have to deliver performance to investors.

This contract directly locks in the next three years, with a guaranteed minimum income of more than 10 million, and the chance of earning tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.

I didn't care about anything else and agreed immediately.

Because in his opinion, Qiandu would never breach the contract. Isn't it just some search and navigation resources?

It doesn't matter who you give it to. Internet traffic, an intangible asset, is worthless if there is no demand, and it is a waste if it is not used.

It’s great that we are now creating such great value and generating revenue for the company.

Little did they know they were falling into a trap!
An enormous pit specially prepared for Qiandu Tengda.

How long has it been since Li Zehua last proposed group buying advertising cooperation?

It’s been more than a month. Is this the efficiency of the entire company?
It would have gone bankrupt long ago!
He had been planning for this early on. Not only did he have the law firm design a special cooperation agreement to plug all possible loopholes, he also set the maximum compensation amount within the legal provisions.

Unfortunately, it is too low, and it is very difficult to determine the actual loss.

Fortunately, the law firm team is professional enough. They are very particular about words. Later, they thought that it was just actual income, so they just stipulated it in the contract and checked it once a month.

Baidu certainly has no objection. Originally they only charged for clicks, which is the most common practice in the industry.

In simple terms, every time a consumer uses Qiandu's products, whether they search directly or navigate to a customer's website, they are charged once per click.

Charge by keywords!

As for whether this consumer places subsequent orders as a result of this, Qiandu is not responsible and has no way to require customers to provide corresponding performance reports.

But who is Li Zehua? This contract was made to deal with Qiandu and Tengda.

It was very thoughtful, and they even required an additional contract for actual monthly earnings!
For example, assuming that in July 09, Qiandu attracted 7 million visitors to Chichume Fengniao, and calculated at cent per visit, the additional advertising fee would be million.

Calculated based on actual revenue, these 10 million visitors generated sales of 100 million. According to the contract, both parties agreed to add another 1 million in advertising fees.

This is of great benefit to Qiandu, and it is a way to earn extra money without doing anything!

What about hummingbirds?
It is equivalent to spending money to buy insurance, because Li Zehua is certain that Baidu and Tenda will launch their own food delivery and group buying projects.

By then, there is no need to think about it. It would be strange if their own traffic does not divert traffic to their own products. All means of commercial competition can be used.

There are blocking, interruption of traffic, malicious redirection to third-party websites, searching for Pinxixi will lead to Qiandu group buying, etc. It is hard to guard against.

Li Zehua was very cunning. He directly blocked all possibilities in the contract and tried to make any details that might cause disputes perfect.

Just like that, a contract of hundreds of pages was placed on the desk of Qiandu’s legal department.

A group of legal workers were scratching their heads anxiously around the contract. "Fuck, is the person who drafted this contract sick? He must be suffering from paranoia!"

But unable to resist the strong request from customers, I had no choice but to start reviewing them one by one.

The same scene also happened in Pengcheng, but this time the victim was Tengda.

Li Zehua specifically chose this time period. It would not work if it was earlier because he did not have that much spare funds.

It won’t be too late either. We have agreed with the venture capital that a signing ceremony will be held in the near future, and all major media outlets across the country will be invited to attend.

Once the investment amount is revealed, Hummingbird will surely amaze the Internet circle!
If you do this kind of thing again at that time, it will definitely be reviewed under a magnifying glass!
A unicorn company that can raise more than $100 million and has a valuation of more than $1 billion can't be aimless, right?
Then it will definitely come out: There must be special reasons for a company of this size to do this. Before we figure it out, we would rather wait and see.

They can wait, but Pinxixi’s group buying business can’t wait!
Li Zehua has been planning for so long that he had already arranged the publicity in July and August, negotiated with customer resources, and was ready to go online in September when the school starts.

While waiting, good news came. Qin Lang called from Pengcheng.
"Mr. Li, Tengda has agreed to cooperate in principle. I have sent the cooperation agreement back to the headquarters. I am just waiting for you to sign and agree to pay the first deposit."

"Okay, hard work."

Li Zehua was very happy. "I will give the financial department authorization right away. Please sign the formal contract as soon as possible!"

Two contracts in hand, it’s secured!
I also called the head of the legal team sent to Pengcheng to inquire about some key information and confirmed that all the plans had not been changed in principle, so I felt relieved.

I called the Magic City headquarters and said, "Lily, put down all your work now, go to the first floor of the safe in my office, and get an authorization document wrapped in brown paper.

Yes, the password is xxxx. After you get it, go to the finance department, Ms. Wu Wenhui. I will fax all the partner information to you. After you receive it, please confirm it with me. "

He also called Gu Shijie, who was in charge of the overall situation at home, and said, "Old Gu, everything is going according to plan and it's going smoothly. Now you can bring the official seals of Chizime Catering, Fengniao Express, and Pinxixi E-commerce.

My other authorization signature is with Zhang Tao. You can ask him to go to the Finance Department together and make sure to pay the 30% advance payment today."

When it comes to spending millions of dollars, it is impossible for Li Zehua not to be cautious. It is okay when he is in the company, but if he is not in the company, he needs to have triple insurance to prevent uncontrollable risks.

After Gu Shijie agreed, he continued, "Focus Media will come to the company tomorrow to discuss elevator and display screen advertising. You should go according to the original plan and make good use of the time."

Gu Shijie nodded, "Okay! Boss, when will you come back from Yanjing?

The leaders in Rongcheng and Jinling have been waiting for you to come back and make the final decision."

"Take care of them first. I'll finish signing today and go to JD.com tomorrow. Ask the administration department to book me a flight for tomorrow night."

Li Zehua thought for a moment and said, "Oh, by the way, can you help me contact the district? After all, it's such a big investment, so it's only right that I can do you a favor."

Gu Shijie agreed to everything and confirmed some details with him before finding Zhang Tao, who is now the security assistant in the chairman's office.

They went into the Finance Department together. Wu Wenhui and the third-party financial auditor carefully checked all the procedures, and then confirmed the details with Qin Lang who was far away in Pengcheng.

Only then was the advance payment of more than 200 million yuan paid to Tengda. At this point, the first step of preventive competition measures was successfully completed.

Qiandu didn't make Li Zehua wait too long, and it was finally done before getting off work, because the two parties had communicated on the contract details many times.

The contract template provided this time only has an additional punitive liquidated damages. After confirmation, it will be reported to the group's executive president through the Qiandu Advertising Business Department.

The amount was reduced from twenty times to ten times and the couple signed and agreed immediately.

Li Zehua no longer worried about the number, fearing that it would arouse suspicion. As long as it was there, it would be fine. Anyway, there would be years of lawsuits and complaints afterwards.

"Wish us happy cooperation!"

Fu Guobin smiled happily, and he was even happier after confirming that the finance department had received more than 300 million yuan in public-to-public transfers.

“We also check the actual income once a month, so it’s a guaranteed profit!
In case your business cannot continue, the company will not care and will continue to recommend navigation and diversion to you. We will follow the contract and charge you based on the average traffic of the previous three months. You will not be compensated!
But what does it have to do with me? I made a lot of money this time."

He was secretly happy in his heart, but he didn't know that Li Zehua was even happier, "Laugh, it will only take a few months at most. When Qiandu realizes what's going on, I'll strangle you to death."

The most crucial part of this contract is that it protects the legitimate rights and interests of Qingyun Asset Management Group in legal form.

If Qiandu turns against him and wants to cancel the cooperation, or plots something insidious, Li Zehua can just take the contract and sue him in Shanghai.

It claims that Qiandu should compensate for its losses and force the latter to continue to provide high-quality services.

Anyway, the fight will come sooner or later, so preventive measures are essential!
But he did not forget to flatter her, "It's a pleasure to work with you, let's make money together! We will need to deal with your company in the future, as the saying goes, there is no friendship without fighting."

"Right, right, that's very well said. No friendship without fighting. Haha!"

Fu Guobin, who was kept in the dark, asked someone to arrange a reception banquet, but Li Zehua politely declined.

"Sorry, a friend in Yanjing has been urging me to come, and I have plans for tonight.

Next time, I will definitely have a good drink with Mr. Fu next time."

"That's such a pity."

Fu Guobin's face was filled with regret. "Mr. Li, please tell me next time you come to Yanjing."

"sure."

Li Zehua thought to himself that next time you come, if you don't stab me with a knife, you will be doing me justice.

　The second update will be a little late, I’m still typing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)