Chapter 160: The farce of choosing between two options

As we all know, Alibaba has forty thieves!

Relying on his outstanding personal talents and extraordinary eloquence, Mr. Ma was able to attract so many talented people and make them follow him wholeheartedly in the extremely difficult environment at the beginning of his business!

The start-up capital was contributed by everyone!
There are no orders and no income, and no money to pay salaries, so everyone pools their money to pay themselves.

Until today, we have supported each other and created a great story in the history of Chinese business!

It was said that an emergency board consultation was held, but in fact, according to public information at the time, there were only four seats on the Ali board of directors, two for Ali, one for Softbank, and one for Yahoo.

Did you notice why there are four and not five or three?
That’s because in all of Ali’s previous financings, most of its shares were in the hands of a few investment institutions.

For example, SoftBank holds a little over 29%, and Yahoo holds 40%.

Fortunately, Mr. Ma is very capable and he was able to convince the venture capital institutions with his outstanding abilities and force them to agree to unequal voting rights for equal shares.

The partnership system will be implemented soon.

This allows the entrepreneurial management team to control the company's daily operations with a small amount of shares.

The same is true for the board seats. Originally, Yahoo had two seats, but it transferred some of the voting rights to the management team, so the Ali team now has two seats.

But with four, things become interesting, because half of the four is in Ahri's hands, and when it comes to differences of interest, it always has half.

All you need to do is win over any one of them, or get their tacit approval, and you can take risks and accomplish something without anyone noticing...

Since today's meeting was called at short notice and Liao Fan had not yet returned from Shanghai, the first half of the meeting was basically spent dealing with the group's internal affairs.

For example, merging two scientific research units to form a new scientific research institute, etc.

After daily affairs were handled, irrelevant personnel left and only a few core figures remained.

And Wu Yibin, President of Temasek China, who was in the reception room waiting for the meeting results.

Old Wu sighed, very sad!
He was doing well in the Huaxia region, but he just went to the Maldives for a trip and wondered how he would come back from vacation.

It feels like the whole world has become strange.

Temasek made such a huge investment in Shanghai, but it didn’t go through him, so I just had to endure it.

Who asked him to take annual leave?

But the next day after I came back, when I excitedly rushed to Qiantang with gifts to give to some old friends, things changed drastically again.

Don’t worry about the people you know under Ali. If an executive you don’t know sees him, at most they will just say hello coldly.

More than that, completely ignored!
"In the end what happened?"

Before Wu Yibin could react, he received an urgent call from Lijiaopo headquarters, asking him to receive the email immediately.

When he took the notebook from his assistant, opened it, and saw the specific contents for the first time.

He cried out in surprise.

"This is impossible!"

He didn't even have time to take a second look before quickly taking out his cell phone and calling headquarters back.

"I personally cannot accept such a one-sided, hasty and undiscussed result..."

All he was left with were a few cold words, "After reading all the contents of the email, if you still have resistance!

Then please abide by your professional ethics and put a perfect end to your last day of work at Temasek..."

"what?"

Wu Yibin was going crazy. He didn't even know how to end the call. He just sat in the reception room blankly...

At that time, the Ali board meeting was being held.

The person who spoke was not an executive of the Ali Group, but Zhou Shaoning, chairman of the EMI Group.

“…Everyone, the situation is very clear!

Hummingbird formed an alliance of interests through stock swaps with Yuantong and Yunda, and the two parties have carried out extensive cooperation in Shanghai, Yanjing, and eastern Guangdong.

The former, relying on their huge advantage in numbers, has already...

The above data are all provided through public channels and by the original franchisees of the express delivery companies that joined EMI, and are true and valid! "

As soon as Zhou Shaoning finished speaking, Lin Shaofeng, Secretary General of the Ali Board of Directors and President of the Payment System, took over.

"We also need to add JD.com and Huitong. Although the latter does not hold a stake, the business in the above-mentioned regions basically belongs to the Fengniao platform.

According to the information revealed, Fengniao's boss Li Zehua reached a strategic cooperation with JD.com's Liu Qiangdong in Yanjing a few days ago.

Another non-board member, Taotao.com President and Taotao Mall General Manager Zhang Yuan sneered, "You are so smart, you don't know whether you live or die!

The foundation of Hummingbird is the express delivery company, and the lifeblood of the express delivery company is in the hands of Taotao. We contribute more than 70% of the online shopping express parcels in the country.

JD.com? It’s only 3%. ”

There is no need to explain the conflict between JD.com and Taotao Mall. This alone is enough for Ali to take action to control the hummingbird.

Otherwise, if we allow it to continue to develop, wouldn’t that be providing support to our competitors?

The two directors of SoftBank and Yahoo have not commented yet, as they have not yet fully understood what has happened.

Hummingbird platform?

I've heard of it, that's all.

Zhou Shaoning sighed, "I have long advised Mr. Ma not to leave it alone. In just a few days, this guy has already won over Temasek, Gaoling and other venture capital investors.

Especially since Gaoling is an investor in Tengda, in my opinion, they should use thunderous means to force the express delivery companies to choose between the two and kill Hummingbird in advance. "

As early as the battle of Fenglin Road, he had chatted with Mr. Ma. At that time, he wanted to expand EMI's market share on Taotao and take on more express parcels.

I took the opportunity to come up with a solution.

However, Mr. Ma has a more profound view of the problem and sees the development of Hummingbird, which can also provide great help to Taotao.

But what Mr. Ma didn't expect was that the other party came so quickly and used such radical means!
Now he is undecided.

It's not the hummingbirds that bother, but Temasek's choice.

This is a strong investment group with extensive connections in Southeast Asia, China, Europe and the United States.

Why should we support a startup like Hummingbird?
Is there a deeper reason behind this?

All this must wait for Liao Fan to come back and consult in person, and then wait for the forces behind Ali to find out the inside story of Temasek's stance and formulate a response plan.

Just as I was thinking about something, the assistant came in, picked up the phone that was on the line, and whispered, "Chairman, this is Yuantong Express's CEO Yu Weilong calling."

“It’s coming so fast!”

Teacher Ma did not refuse, took the phone and said with a smile, "Old Yu, um, go ahead."

Yu Weilong was also anxious. Yuantong was in trouble. Just after enjoying a month's joy of skyrocketing performance by investing in Hummingbird, it now had to face a life-and-death decision between choosing between Taotao and Hummingbird.

This made him keep trying to explain on the phone.

However, Mr. Ma is a master of Tai Chi. No matter how you attack, he just says lightly, "Nothing."

"how could be."

"There is no end to business. Taotao and its friendly merchants have always lived in harmony and made progress together."

"Yes, this will not affect the cooperation between Yuantong and Taotao."

After a verbal exchange, as soon as he hung up the phone, he asked Zhang Yuan, "Is there no movement from Yunda yet?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head, "Yunda said they couldn't contact Mr. Nie."

Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe this excuse.

Mr. Ma seemed to be thinking about something. "No matter what, we should follow the original plan and send letters to all express delivery companies, inviting them to come to Qiantang and participate in the Taobao Double Eleven Preparatory Conference.

In addition, I also participated in the preparatory meeting of Cainiao Network. ”

Cai Zhongxin, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up immediately, "We can set the date on July 12. I asked someone to calculate and it's a good day!"

Zhang Yuan smiled knowingly, "It is indeed a good day."

Teacher Ma could not deny it and nodded, "Public relations are very important. You should arrange to contact the news media for the front-page headlines now."

It was as if he was arranging daily tasks, easily and freely.

July 12th is indeed a good day...

The Double Eleven low-price promotion was already planned by Taotao.

It was not just Li Zehua who saw the business opportunities created by overcapacity after the economic crisis.

Taotao also saw it and started planning the event earlier than him.

It’s just a pity that the two sides’ playing styles are completely different.

Taotao is a mature enterprise, and its cooperation with merchants and manufacturers is a long-term one. Manufacturers are interested in clearing out unsalable inventory, but are obviously not interested in lowering the fixed channel sales price. Brands are not fools. Whether it is Taotao.com or Taotao Mall, they are getting bigger and bigger. It depends on whether they are aiming to monopolize e-commerce.

Brands are unwilling to use this channel to sell products at low prices.

It is just like the luxury goods manufacturers of later generations who would rather destroy unsaleable products on a large scale than sell them at a discount.

The reason is simple. The most important factor in maintaining brand positioning is price stability. Products that are often discounted by 50% or even at a low price are usually street goods.

How much does a product cost?

If the products are unsaleable, then they are unsaleable. They are not doing business for just one day. They are not selling at a large price today just because the market is bad.

If the market picks up tomorrow and we want to raise prices again, will you ask consumers if they agree?

Of course, this business theory will soon be broken by Samsung, the superpower next door in the universe. It is common for the stock to be sold at 5,000 when it is launched and then plummet by 2,000 to 3,000 in two months.

However, they cannot resist the fact that they have mastered the core technology and are not afraid that consumers will not buy their products. In addition, all friendly competitors have to purchase products from Samsung to a certain extent, so they dare not launch a large-scale public opinion war.

This is why the strange existence of Three Stars came into being.

To get back to the point, Double Eleven is just an alternative group buying attempt, and Cainiao Network is the highlight.

Teacher Ma would like to see which express delivery company dares to continue to stand with Hummingbird!
The number of express parcels is the core competitiveness. If you have to choose one of the two, how dare express delivery companies disobey?!

Hummingbirds, nothing to worry about!
July 12, tit for tat!
Hummingbird held an investment signing ceremony and Cainiao held a preparatory meeting. They competed on the same stage, but do we still have to wait and see the result?
In addition, once it appears on the front page of the news, the other party will see clearly what absolute strength and the demeanor of a giant are!

However, the focus right now is to figure out the situation in Temasek and why it is like this?

Teacher Ma can’t understand!

Liao Fan couldn't understand why this happened.

After a long journey, he finally returned to the company at 2:30 in the afternoon and was immediately summoned by the board of directors...

At the same time, in the Magic City.

Zhang Lei, Xu Xin and a group of venture capital executives who hurried over from Yanjing finally arrived at a hotel conference room in the Jinmao Tower in Lujiazui, the Magic City.

Here, Qingyun Group, Temasek Group, Magic Investment Group, Yuantong, Yunda Group, Pudong Development Bank, Bank of China, Zhongxin, CICC, and heads of relevant departments who heard the news gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

As a result, executives of JD.com, Yadi Ningtao and Huitong Company could only wait on the sidelines.

As the local representative, Zhang Baige first conveyed the instructions of the relevant departments and firmly expressed the support of Shanghai for Qingyun Group!
And in the presence of everyone, a letter of intent for an investment of US$2+3 million was signed.

This can be regarded as a reassurance to all parties concerned.

Immediately afterwards, the relevant departments sent some special signals to Yuantong and Yunda: this is Modu, not Qiantang!
Zhong Tong, the person in charge of Shentong, who was still on his way, also received hints from relevant departments.

Normal market business activities must not be interfered with by a company with a dominant market position.

If it is found that there is any behavior of forcing people to choose between two options outside of normal competition, the relevant units will never sit idly by!
Except for not mentioning anyone directly, I have said everything that needs to be said.

This was not surprising, especially when Xu Xin came in, shook hands with someone, and introduced them to Li Zehua, "This is Miss Rong from CICC and Mr. Chen from Zhongxin. They are both my good friends."

Mr. Chen was young, wearing a pair of glasses and looking very polite. He reached out his hand to shake his hand and said with a smile, "The Magic City is really too big. I missed a young talent like Mr. Li."

"I dare not. Compared to Mr. Chen, who is young and promising, I am just living a simple life, relying on your kindness."

Li Zehua spoke politely, but there was not a trace of flattery in him.

Those who have the ability to establish a school of thought must work hard to cultivate their inner strength, lay a solid foundation, and not be swayed by external factors.

His future was bright and there was no need to cause trouble for himself.

Xu Xin seemed to see the alienation in his bones and whispered, "We are all family. You know what I mean. We should all make money together."

He also hinted, "Younger brother Chen Qinqi will go to America for further studies in a while."

Li Zehua then became more enthusiastic and chatted with him for a while. When he learned that he was about to join Goldman Sachs in the United States and study at Harvard, he immediately congratulated him.

Chen Qinqi didn't care. "There's nothing special about going abroad. The domestic economy is developing rapidly. I'm going there to study for a few years and learn advanced experience. I'll come back in the future..."

In fact, I have to thank Mr. Li for helping us get rich together. Maybe our expenses in America in the next few years will all depend on this investment."

Li Zehua responded with a smile, "It all depends on everyone's support. Let's get rich together!"

Then he changed the subject and said enviously, "Harvard is the world's top university. I don't know if I have the opportunity to study there since I haven't even entered university.

Mr. Chen is truly an outstanding person. He never forgets to work and study while studying. I have also heard of Goldman Sachs for a long time.

It just so happened that Sister Xin knew that I had a business under my name. If it developed well, I would definitely need Mr. Chen’s help in introductions in the next two years.

In addition, I happened to have some overseas business that required dealing with Goldman Sachs, and I was worried about not having any acquaintances there. Mr. Chen was really a timely help for me.”

Chen Qinqi knew the elegant meaning of the string and his smile became even brighter.

As he was speaking, Zhang Lei had finished explaining things to his men.

He came over and said, "How are you going to solve this big problem?"

Before Li Zehua could speak, Yu Weilong and Nie Tengyun came up together, and Yu Weilong was more anxious.

"Ali just sent out an invitation letter, inviting our leading express delivery company to go to Qiantang to attend the Cainiao Network Preparatory Conference on July 12."

Yuantong cannot lose Taotao’s support!

This is the bottom line.

But it is not easy to get away from the hummingbird easily, looking at this scene!

Yu Weilong has very complicated emotions towards Li Zehua. The battle on Fenglin Road seems to have happened just yesterday!

The little brother who once needed his rescue has now transformed into someone he needs to look up to.

Just now, he even brought Temasek, Magic Investment and other venture capital companies to discuss investing with him.

However, the pressure of choosing between the two was so great that he did not dare to give in easily, nor did he dare to refuse clearly.

It’s so difficult. It would have been better if I hadn’t accepted the Hummingbird stock swap agreement in the first place.

It's also Ali's fault. Why react so strongly when there's nothing to do? Big companies are so anxious to do things.

According to their original estimates, Ali would need at least several months to evaluate the market.

The estimate was correct, but Li Zehua was born a genius and could make a fuss wherever he went. With $1.5 million invested, it would be strange if Ali didn't follow up quickly.

What can Li Zehua do?
Present the facts and reason, "Mr. Yu, what do you think SF Express will choose?"

Nie Tengyun interrupted and said directly, "Why is SF Express so anxious? They have the confidence to reject all unreasonable requests."

He patted Yu Weilong on the shoulder again and said, "It won't be so fast if Taotao wants to be recruited."

Pointing at the people present, he said, "If we want to operate directly, it is impossible to rely on Tao Tao. It has its own son, EMI, and it will never allow us to become its direct descendant.

Of course, if you want to sell the company, just ignore what I said.”

Yu Weilong was very conflicted, and Li Zehua took the opportunity to say, "The example of Yanjing Yuantong is there, Mr. Yu, don't make the mistake!"

He has also thought it through. Now he has sufficient funds on the books and strong support from venture capital.

The worst that could happen is a fall-out. If any courier company dares to defect, he will immediately rush in to seize the operation distribution center and ruin their direct operation plan.

Then they turned around and sold goods to Lala, brought JD.com on board, and formed a community of interests.

Just wait for the group buying to go online, and then start all over again from scratch!
At worst, the group purchase plan can be scrapped and started over again, and once the overcapacity is resolved, the expansion plan in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier rural areas can be immediately promoted.

JD.com targets the high-end market, Pinxixi targets the low-end market, and they are fighting to the bitter end with Ali!

By doing so, at most Pinxixi's ultimate strategy will be exposed in advance, and Huolala will face countless competitors in the future, with a bleak future.

But it’s better than having the main business of food delivery and express delivery cut in half!

Zhang Lei wanted to speak up again and again, but he never had the chance. This made him very depressed. Why make such a big deal so complicated?
He just made a phone call to Pengcheng, and Tengda entered the market in minutes. Wouldn't it be easier to let the two giants fight each other?

Nie Tengyun didn't understand this, he just stared into Li Zehua's eyes and said, "You have a good reputation, let's find a chance to talk in detail.

The major premise remains unchanged, the voting rights belong to me, I will not interfere with the actual operation of Yunda, and different voting rights for the same shares are allowed. "

Li Zehua nodded, "Welcome to Yunda to join us. I promise that Yunda will always be yours!"

Just as he was trying to win over Yuan Tong while the situation was favorable, he suddenly saw Lin Wenhui making an OK gesture to him, and then he saw him pointing at the phone.

He immediately took it out and read the content of the text message. He was overjoyed. "Don't worry about it, the two of you. Hummingbird will definitely win this time. I can't say more about the details. We will know the result on the 12th!"

"What's the connection? What did you do to win?"

Yu Weilong was confused and thought, is he crazy?

　To avoid receiving lawyer's letters or alluding to real-life book closures, any names/dialogues that appear in this chapter take place in a parallel world. The specific sources are not explained, so please do not take it personally.

　　ps: My three favorite entrepreneurial idols in the past and now are Mr. Ma, Brother Dong, and the King of Meituan/King of SF Express.

　　For the sober Chaoyang masses in the world, we feel more understanding.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)