King of Capital

Chapter 453: Oversubscription Doubled

Success is the recognition of established facts, not the expectation of praise for the future.

So Xie Jingxing spent the whole night verifying it, and it was not until the next morning when he walked into the Grapefruit Capital office and opened the most conspicuous folder on the desk that he was sure of his success again.

According to a rough summary of the data, RMB 24 billion was raised in 70 hours. At the same time yesterday, the company's best estimate was 7 days.

It is unknown how the outside market will predict the situation, but many small and medium-sized peer institutions have tacitly moved their fundraising plans for this year to mid-second quarter in an attempt to avoid the inevitable capital siphoning effect caused by grapefruit.

That is May.

"Should our colleagues celebrate for Xiyou?" Xie Jingxing grabbed his hair.

Chen Xi smiled and said pleasantly, "That should be the case. I heard that Source Code Fund has announced that it will establish a RMB seed fund with a scale of no less than 5 million."

"Cao Yi is not bad. Ask Shen Xin if he can invest a little." Xie Jingxing's expression was calm and dazed.

Source Code is a rising star in the past two years that has seized the tail end of the mobile Internet dividend. Its founder Cao Yi is known as the Sequoia disciple most like Shen Nanpeng. When he first set up his own business, he brought in Zhang Yiming and Wang Xing as LPs and started with a US dollar fund.

It has potential and is worth supporting—Chen Xi made a brief note in his notebook.

While Xiyou's fundraising of 10 billion yuan last year was attributed to a special window period, this record-breaking event was a result of the market exploding, allowing LPs to see that the venture capital market is so hot and worth investing in, and allowing peers to see that there is so much money to be raised in the market.

Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly popular to call Grapefruit's independent headquarters office building "No. 99". The concept that there is only Grapefruit and the other 99% in the venture capital industry is reflected in every move.

"Mr. Yan sent back a message saying that there are inquiries in the market to resell our subscribed shares."

Chen Xi was very measured in his response. He first announced the good news and then expressed his worries. Scalpers were everywhere, treating the beneficial rights of subscription shares as derivative assets. This kind of thing...

Xie Jing Xing was indifferent, his eyes still wandering: "Investigate, don't worry about the outside for now, the company's internal and third-party sales teams are not allowed to participate."

"Okay, I'll reply to Mr. Yan right away."

Chen Xi did not ask what would happen if they found out that someone was involved internally. The boss was very restrained nowadays and most of the time he only talked about the results. The consequences conveyed from this office would naturally be escalated.

She waited patiently for a moment without any additional instructions, then asked, "Then I'll go now?"

"Oh, go ahead. Change your flight ticket and go to London in advance, and inform Tang Man to adjust the time limit for the first level appropriately."

Xie Jing Xing tried his best to think about the empty brain and pursed his dry lips: "By the way, make me a pot of hot lemon water with some honey."

Chen Xi simply stepped back. He stared at the table quietly, wondering what work he had to do today.

I called China Construction Bank and Yuexiu Bank to thank them respectively, reviewed the resumes sent by the headhunters, and made an appointment for an interview with the candidate for the position of general manager of the Group Strategic Research Institute tomorrow.

I drank too much last night and was severely overdrawn from the inside out. I drank honey water and was busy until noon and finally recovered some energy.

"what are you doing?"

Xie Jingxing went to the toilet, and when he returned to the office, he took the time to swipe the screen of his mobile phone to select lunch takeaway. He pushed the door open and looked up to see Hu Weiwei squatting by the window with her back to him.

"On the way here, I saw a flower shop selling baby's breath and bought a bunch of it."

She turned back and slowly explained, "Assistant Chen said to put it here with the money tree."

"It will be dried up in two days, let's put it on the table." Xie Jingxing said as he ordered takeout and a main course.

Hu Weiwei was dressed in a long coat and long pants. The suit jacket and white and gray wide-leg casual pants wrapped her whole body tightly. She wore a pair of flat canvas shoes, which was very consistent with the temperament of a literary young woman.

It was a pity that Xie Jingxing had thrown his business trip suitcase into the trash can last night for no reason. This morning, he asked the hotel room steward to help him buy a new set of clothes, but the texture was not bright and natural enough.

He was very serious and personable at this moment, and went straight to the point: "Have you thought it through?"

"I want it now."

Hu Weiwei rolled up the sleeves of her suit jacket, and the wide cuffs swayed gently, making her wrists look particularly slender, as if they were so weak that they could hardly hold heavy objects, but the words she spoke were firm.

Xie Jingxing took a quick look, took a few magnetic nails from the whiteboard, stepped back a few steps, and threw one into the air.

With a click, the red magnetic pin stuck back to the whiteboard and fell away from its original position.

"Li Bin, whose shares have been diluted in multiple rounds, would prefer Mobike to stop burning money or simply sell it to get an exit and cash out, and withdraw to focus on developing NIO."

Xie Jing Xing shook his palm and threw out two green and blue magnetic nails in succession: "Didi and New Danghe, now Mobike is qualified to emphasize equal cooperation."

"It's only a matter of time before Mobike's daily orders exceed 1000 million," Hu Weiwei added.

Xie Jingxing remained noncommittal. The number of Internet platforms with daily transaction volumes in the tens of millions in China can be counted on one hand, and the same is true if expanded to the global level.

The dividends of mobile Internet have been exhausted. The most intuitive feedback is that the price of traffic is getting more and more expensive. Taobao and other e-commerce companies have to compete internally to retain customers with cost-effectiveness, and Tencent and other game manufacturers compete for players with publicity and promotion funds.

The same is true for Mobike, but its product is a shared bicycle, with an average operating cost of about ten yuan per unit.

In other words, the cost of the tens of millions of traffic pools it has accumulated is shockingly cheap compared to other Internet fields.

The status has reversed, with Mobike becoming the huge and cheap traffic entrance for Didi and New Dangshen. The latter two are increasingly trying to intervene in the management and operation of the former, control the discourse and reap more benefits.

“But this is a sign of coveting and respect for Mobike.”

Xie Jingxing threw out the white magnetic nails to represent Wang Xiaofeng, who was in charge, and shrugged and said bluntly: "It's not for you. You don't have the bargaining power."

"In short, the situation is like me throwing a magnetic nail through the air. The landing points of all parties are uncertain for the time being, and I cannot help you regain actual control of the company." He concluded frankly.

Hu Weiwei looked at the four magnetic pins on the whiteboard and asked, "When can we do that?"

"Let's completely show down our cards and turn against each other. Wang Xiaofeng is out, and you will return as the king." Xie Jingxing teased lightly.

Li Bin recently complained to his friends privately that Mobike is a bottomless pit of money and should not engage in price wars. Didi and Meituan have tried again and again, trying to send senior executives to Mobike under the pretext of support.

Xie Jingxing's judgment was all correct, and he unexpectedly parted ways with Didi, which turned out to be a good thing and there was no need to avoid it.

By the time ofo's yellow bikes could no longer hold on and the market's high-growth boundaries had reached their limit, all parties agreed that they could no longer fight.

Either New Danghee acquires Mobike in full at the equity level, or Hu Weiwei takes power again at the management control level to maintain the brand's independent development while integrating it into the Xie investment platform ecosystem.

Li Bin should take his Wang Xiaofeng with him and get out. Didi should not even think about getting involved in the matter. They should just focus on financial investment and shareholding.

Hu Weiwei was silent for a long time, then slowly asked, "How long will it take?"

"If we continue to fight at the current intensity, it will take three to six months at most."

“I want to keep the brand independent.”

"No problem! Mobike is the embodiment of your ideals. I supported you in the beginning, and I will continue to support you now and in the future."

The man in front of her, who had held everything in his hands, expressed his attitude with a gentle smile. When they looked into each other's eyes, Hu Weiwei fixed her eyes, shook her head and smiled faintly in return.

The statement about the location of the magnetic nails was perfunctory. He believed that Wang Xiaofeng could better manage the rapid growth of Mobike. It was not that he could not immediately show his hand and help her regain the actual control, but that he was unwilling to do so. In fact, when Hu Weiwei received the two options of acquisition and independent development last night, she thought about selling the company to New Danghang and leaving the stage with the tide.

But as an asset-intensive operation, Mobike has burned too much money. After paying off its various debts, how much money can it take away when it exits?

Xie Jingxing didn't make any promises to her.

On the other hand, can we really gain actual control by not selling and maintaining independent development?

Wang Xing just announced two months ago that he would start his eleventh business. It is said that Xiyou was willing to lead the angel round before a business plan was even prepared...

Hu Weiwei stretched out her left hand and gently stroked the reddish finger marks on her right wrist that she had left last night. Art does not mean childishness, nor does it mean intellectual disability. It was just a decent deal with room for maneuver under the guise of a compliance test.

While we were talking, the takeaway arrived. The glass shrimps wrapped in starch sauce were crystal clear, the poached chicken was refreshing and clean, and the crucian carp porridge was steaming with a fresh and fragrant smell. Except for a dish of fish maw, vermicelli, cabbage and boiled lobster with a hint of seasoning and sauce, the whole table of dishes was extremely light without any oil.

"Are you on a diet?" Hu Weiwei couldn't help but frown.

Xie Jingxing picked up the bowl of porridge with a bitter face: "I have no appetite after drinking too much wine."

"..."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Hu Weiwei was speechless. She chewed the food slowly and ate it. Her appetite was much better than usual.

She glanced at Xie Jingxing secretly and wanted to stop eating with him. She ate most of the fish maw, cabbage and boiled lobster without realizing it. Suddenly, she felt full in her stomach and came to her senses with a red face.

"The people have already been contacted, so just follow the procedures and talk."

Seeing that she was full, Xie Jingxing put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to his desk to find a folder: "From now on, you should focus on the overseas market, learn more and leave the company to Wang Xiaofeng without worry."

"As for Li Bin, you...make your own judgment."

The $2 million in financing at the end of the year was burned up in a blink of an eye as the new manufacturing factory's assembly line went into production in the spring with a surge in bicycles. The market also simultaneously entered a bloody battle, with Mobike and ofo both launching the perverted practice of waiving deposits.

The former, while shouting the slogan "no deposit required or pay deposit and ride for free", signed a special fund management account for user deposits with China Merchants Bank.

Not willing to be outdone, Dai Wei actually set up a special asset management account for user deposits with China Construction Bank to earn interest. He even had the nerve to claim that our user deposits are as high as US$5 million and the company's cash flow is extremely abundant.

Mobike gritted its teeth and made a special effort to launch a gift transfer system, so that users can give their unused coupons to friends, which are valid for a long time!
While the soldiers of both sides were fighting desperately on the front line, Didi and Li Bin in the rear camp noticed something was wrong. They did not want to continue leading the investment and spend money, nor did they want the Grapefruit Group to lead a new round of financing and increase its shareholding.

Therefore, Xie Jingxing made connections and invited Temasek to lead the new round of financing, with Hillhouse as the main follow-up investor.

“It won’t take long. If ofo can’t find a strong investor, they will be more likely to explode internally than Mobike. Meituan and Didi went through the same thing. Under high-intensity pressure, it is difficult for investors and the founding team to maintain mutual trust.”

Xie Jingxing explained the new round of financing plan in detail, and finally couldn't help but say something complicated.

"Li Bin, let him be. The combined shares of the two of us are enough for actual control."

Hu Weiwei looked at the financing plan and wrote special notes on each item, clenched her palms, wiped her hands, and threw the crumpled tissue into the trash can.

Xie Jingxing was terrible, but he took the initiative to provoke him, and although he didn't want to admit it, he enjoyed it.

In this round of capital operation, he is the most gentle and rotten person who eats raw human flesh.

Hu Weiwei looked at the whiteboard again and finally asked, "What about Tencent?"

Didi is a competitor, and Li Bin remains neutral and makes money in his own way. Wang Xiaofeng gradually turns away from him and fights for control of the company, leaving only this major early investor who cannot be ignored and whose attitude is unclear.

"Tencent's strategic goals have been achieved, and the follow-up will fall into the category of financial investment."

Xie Jingxing stood up and removed the colorful magnetic pins on the whiteboard, leaving only a black one, and looked at it carefully and seriously.

The battle of mobile payments started with great fanfare and ended quietly. Perhaps I should take some time during this business trip to the United States to understand the current situation of WhatsApp and calculate how much Pony Ma has won and how much he has lost.

Xie Jingxing's thoughts were scattered and far away. Hu Weiwei packed up the takeaway lunch box, picked up the kettle and went outside the office to make a pot of lemon honey water, then watered the money tree. She was busy going in and out for a long time, looked around to check that nothing was missing, and then said goodbye and left quietly.

…………

"The Strategic Research Institute is the laser guidance of the group. Whether it is artillery coverage or precision missiles, you will control the bombing point after joining."

"Thank you very much for your recognition. I will try to make a decision as soon as possible."

"Okay, that's it for today. The group will seriously evaluate your ideas again. We will keep in touch."

Xie Jingxing’s advantage lies in his youth. The day after Hu Weiwei left with a full stomach and a sense of loss, he recovered and interviewed the candidate for general manager of the Strategic Research Institute.

The overall communication was harmonious and the interview ended with a polite farewell to the other party.

"Mr. Xie, please stay. You're welcome."

Only fifty years old, with a slightly bald head and a short and stocky build, this engineering tycoon, who is at the peak of his career, speaks and behaves in a neat and dignified manner, and is full of confidence that comes from his own abilities.

Xie Jingxing insisted, "I have to thank my friend from Heidrick & Struggles in person for introducing you to Xiyou."

"In this case, I should be more grateful to my friends at Heidrick & Struggles," Chen Zhengguang returned the favor.

The two walked out of the office side by side. The busy employees in the open work area heard their laughter and stopped their work one after another to look over.

Tang Man leaned out of the door of the conference room, raised her arms and clapped her hands. Yan Wenchuang stood beside her with only his head exposed, and nodded slightly with a smile on his face.

Applause broke out sporadically. Zou Jingyi stood there in confusion, holding a bright bouquet of flowers, blinking her bright eyes.

After receiving a signal from He Chuan, Zhang Youzhou picked up the ribbon hand cannon he had prepared in the morning and quickly ran to the center of the work area.

"Oh!"

Pieces of colorful ribbons exploded and fluttered, surrounding the LEDs hanging from the ceiling - 18000000000.

The screen displayed a long string of numbers jumping slowly.

"Is there an event today?" Chen Zhengguang was confused.

Xie Jingxing smiled and said, "The first stage of fundraising."

"It's really worth celebrating. Xiyou has only started fundraising for three or four days. The efficiency is really high."

Chen Zhengguang half-truthfully boasted, and after counting the numbers on the screen, he felt something was wrong: "Is this the amount of funds raised?"

"Subscription amount."

"...Mr. Xie, how much money did you raise?"

"90 billion. Hey, Dr. Chen, be careful, the floor tiles are a bit slippery." Xie Jingxing quickly supported the engineering guy who was mixing garlic at his feet.

(End of this chapter)