King of Capital

Chapter 75 The best fundraising channels
The main campus of Zhejiang University, Zijingang, is located on Yuhangtang Road, not far from the West Lake State Guesthouse. The scenery on both sides of the road becomes more and more desolate, as if you are about to leave the city.

Xie Jingxing couldn't help but feel the urge to raise funds to buy land. Now, those shabby bungalows on the roadside can be turned into dog chains to firmly tie up countless "production consumables" in just a few years. Real estate is really profitable...

However, when he stepped into the gate of Zhejiang University, the impulse disappeared instantly, because the former vice president of this university, who was an internet celebrity, was very unfriendly to businessmen and capitalists who came to the school to give speeches. Even though Zhejiang University was about to become Alibaba's back garden for talent reserve, Mr. Ma did not get the opportunity to sneak into the school to give chicken soup to the students.

The school leader in charge of reception tactfully stated that during the lecture later, students might randomly raise some rather immature ideas and questions, so please be tolerant.

"How was the conversation with Deng Wei?"

Half an hour before the lecture started, Juntai and Zhejiang University leaders were chatting and laughing in the lounge, and Su He asked casually while sitting in the corner.

Xie Jing held the speech manuscript in his hand and pretended to avoid useless social interaction. He lowered his head and said softly, "She is too steady."

"Stable?" Su He was confused.

Xie Jingxing pondered and said, "A speculative businessman who can't even be considered an entrepreneur told the potential buyer that burning money is giving back to society and serving the people. What do you think she thinks?"

"She is confident and confident that we will take the initiative to make an offer for a merger and acquisition." Su He gave his opinion.

Xie Jingxing nodded and made a decision: "That's right, so next we will wait for her to take the initiative."

Both Didi and Kuaidi have a strong desire to acquire Bumblebee. If Deng Wei gets a quote from any of the former two, she can bargain with the other party for more money. This is an unspoken understanding among the three parties involved in the game.

Now he has chosen to break the tacit understanding and fulfill the agreement with Boss Cai not to participate in the merger and acquisition bidding.

Then the one who should be anxious is Deng Wei. She has to take the initiative to sell Bumblebee to Didi so that the price-gouging trick can continue.

"Is it possible that she will just give up the bidding game, merge with Kuaidi Dache, get the money and leave; or contact investors for financing and increase investment, and not sell at all for the time being until she finishes the current battle?" Su He put forward two different opinions in succession.

Xie Jingxing looked a little strange and was silent for a few seconds before saying, "As long as she makes a choice quickly, no matter which side she chooses, it means that Tencent and Didi's other investors' strategy of delaying the decisive battle has failed, which is in line with my idea of ​​a quick victory."

"Of course, if Deng Wei cannot make a choice quickly, she still hopes to drag Didi into the bidding."

He organized his words and continued, "Then the initiative is in Didi's hands. We can extend the M&A process as long as possible. We at Taihe have exceeded our expectations. Tencent and Didi's other investors should thank us."

"So no matter what Deng Wei chooses, from our Taihe's perspective we won't make any money at most, but we won't lose money either." Su He concluded.

Xie Jingxing remained noncommittal. The two sets of game chains currently entangled with each other were based on the game between the three online car-hailing platforms, and the game between Didi’s internal investors was an extension of it.

Tencent wants to delay, and so do several other investors. Cheng Wei's views are unclear, and he wants to fight quickly. Everyone just seeks common ground while reserving differences on strategic considerations. There is no such thing as making profits and losses on one's own.

If there really were third-party interests involved in Taihe's acquisition of Bumblebee, even if Xiao Ma was confused, Zhu Xiaohu would not have allowed him to easily lead the acquisition of Bumblebee.

In the final analysis, it is not only Taihe that wants to fight internally, but the external enemy Alibaba is the biggest warmonger.

Deng Wei was bluffing for a long time this morning, but what she said was the truth - the online car-hailing products under the O2O business model do not have so many tricks, and the word "burning money" can solve all conspiracies and intrigues.

If Mr. Ma is too stubborn to bother and start a money-burning war head-on, does Didi have any other choice?

This is also the reason why Pony Ma said vaguely that he would wait and see instead of resolutely not fighting a decisive battle. Once you enter the world of business, you have no choice, unless Tencent does not engage in mobile payments.

"In fact, if we can quickly acquire Bumblebee, it would also be a good solution." Su He thought for a while and said unwillingly.

Cheng Wei will certainly not refuse to quickly acquire Bumblebee. Tencent's investors want to delay time in more ways than just using the Bumblebee acquisition case.

As for other solutions, she hadn't thought of them yet. They could sit down and discuss it. After all, they couldn't just ignore the meat that was right in front of them...

The two were talking about time and before they knew it, the lecture was about to begin. People were rushing out of the lounge and heading for the auditorium. Xie Jingxing followed the end of the team and stretched his body. He said indifferently, "It's up to you. I won't show up later. You are fully responsible for this merger and acquisition project."

"...What do you think?" Su He frowned in confusion.

His current state is far from being as focused as during the WhatsApp acquisition. It makes people feel that he is very detached and he only does things superficially.

Tencent wanted to delay the process, but he said, "Okay, okay, I'll take a step back." Cheng Wei wanted Taihe to take over the Bumblebee acquisition, but he said, "Okay, okay, I'll do it..."

Xie Jing Xing pondered and explained, "I just came from the West Lake State Guesthouse and used Kuaidi to hail a taxi. Its subsidy has also increased by 30 yuan for both the passenger and the driver, fulfilling the agreement that Boss Cai and I made on the phone last night. This proves that Alibaba also wants to deal with the Hornet before the decisive battle, or they are also stalling for time."

"Wait for the next round of financing soon?" Su He slowed down his pace thoughtfully.

Xie Jingxing nodded slightly: "Yes, I think the time to complete the next round of financing is the time node for the decisive battle. Everything before that is irrelevant to the overall situation." It was like Xiao Ma and Teacher Ma agreed to fight on the top of the Forbidden City when the moon was full. The two of them stood firmly on the gate tower waiting for the full moon, and countless spectators watched from below. The two Ma felt that it was a bit awkward to stand there stupidly, so they sent their younger brothers to perform monkey shows to warm up the scene.

Xie Jingxing thought that even if he was not qualified to stand on the city gate tower for the time being, he couldn't let him roll up his sleeves and act like a monkey, making it seem like everyone had little brothers...

"Are you really investing in Didi just to compete with Alibaba?" Su He asked helplessly as he became a monkey trickster without realizing it.

Xie Jingxing smiled and answered the question in a playful manner: "Taihe is a family office, and Xiyou is an asset management company."

The butterfly effect caused by the WhatsApp acquisition caused the battle for "mobile payment" to surface six months earlier. After this business competition that burned billions of funds is over, Grapefruit Capital, which performed on the same stage with Alibaba and Tencent, will become famous in one battle.

Fame is the best channel for fundraising, and it just so happens that Yunshan Agriculture and Animal Husbandry will need huge amounts of funds to engage in logistics warehousing and fresh food retail.

So what Xie Jingxing said to Deng Wei, "I want to see how high Mr. Ma stands," is complete nonsense. In fact, he wants to see Alibaba and Tencent fight as soon as possible. The larger the scale of burning money and the higher the intensity, the more Grapefruit Capital will win.

"No wonder you want to give this project to Tang Man."

Su He couldn't help but sigh when she figured out the real purpose. It seemed like she was starting from scratch, but in fact it was all premeditated. It seemed that she was short-sighted again.

Xie Jingxing made no comment on this, and quietly quickened his pace to catch up with the leaders in front of him. As soon as they entered the packed auditorium, the students spontaneously applauded to welcome them.

Then, according to the procedure, they went on stage to introduce the entire "WhatsApp M&A team" and said some polite words. Xie Jingxing and Su He gave speeches respectively, and the host took control of the situation and played a few small games in between.

After more than an hour of chaos, it was finally time for the question-and-answer session that the students loved.

"Hello, Mr. Xie. Are you the founder of Didi Chuxing?" A junior boy from the School of Marxism-Leninism and Marxism-Leninism was the first to grab the microphone and ask a question.

No matter how Xie Jingxing looked at him, he felt that this guy was the "immature problem" that the reception leader of Zhejiang University had just mentioned. He calmed down and answered slowly: "I hold shares in Didi Chuxing."

"Okay, then can we regard your behavior of driving a Rolls-Royce for Didi yesterday as a deliberate hype?"

The boy looked righteous and resolute, and the auditorium was suddenly filled with whispers and buzzing.

Xie Jingxing was speechless for a moment, then he shrugged and said as a matter of course: "As a venture capitalist who has just entered the industry, being able to effectively help start-up companies is a manifestation of my value."

"Teacher, please wait a moment. I have one last question."

The boy pretended to be smart and spoke loudly into the microphone. The teacher who was standing aside and trying to take back the microphone looked embarrassed and forced a smile, signaling the student to ask whatever he wanted.

He looked at the stage with satisfaction and continued to ask: "Mr. Xie, as a second-generation super rich person in the public's perception, why did you invest in a company like Didi Chuxing to engage in a price war and compete with the people for profits? Is what you did a malicious competition?"

Everyone on and off the stage changed their expressions when they heard this. When did the country have relevant laws on commercial monopoly and malicious competition? Who is this problem directed at?

Xie Jingxing was a little embarrassed and thought about the answer: "I just met with Ms. Deng from Bumblebee Taxi before I came here this morning. We discussed this issue. Her point of view is that all price wars in the O2O industry are essentially giving benefits to customers."

"Didi is working towards this goal, trying to find an effective business model that benefits the people rather than competing with them. In this process, there may be unsatisfactory contradictions. As an investor in Didi Chuxing, I very much welcome supervision from all sectors of society..."

He talked a lot of meaningless nonsense, secretly thinking that he would not be able to attend the next few university lectures. It turned out that there is no such thing as taking advantage without taking responsibility. He just took advantage of fame yesterday, and today it backfired on him.

Perhaps the students from the Marxism-Leninism major were so aggressive that they scared everyone. The students became more restrained in their questions, which were all directed at the WhatsApp acquisition case itself.

However, there are many aspects of this M&A case that can be done but not discussed, so Su He and other members of the M&A team had to talk about the methodology and try to make everyone happy.

When the lecture was about to end and there was the last chance to ask questions, the microphone was humbly passed to a fat boy. He stood up amid the jeers of many classmates around him and said something in a very low voice.

Several people on the stage didn't hear clearly what he said, so the host asked him to repeat it louder.

"Mr. Xie, are you really in love with Concubine Pei? Concubine Pei is my goddess!" The little fat man rallied himself and let out a shocking roar.

Xie Jingxing was almost frightened to his knees, frowned slightly and protected Su He beside him. It was a bit awkward to fight with students because of a romantic scandal in such an occasion.

"I didn't, those on the Internet are all rumors." He explained seriously in a gentle and friendly manner.

"It's not an internet rumor, it's what President Su said!"

Xie Jingxing looked at Su He, and Su He looked at him as well. They both stared at each other in confusion.

(End of this chapter)