Reborn: Billionaire in College

Chapter 394 The End of Gaode's Journey

In essence, neither Lou Jun nor Wang Guozhou is right or wrong. They just look at the issue from different perspectives. What's more, what both of them say makes sense.

One is optimistic about the company, the other is optimistic about the people.

Alibaba giants such as Jack Ma, Joseph Tsai, Zhang Yong and Lucy Peng looked at each other.

I soon knew who to choose.

It is true that Cheng Wei is capable, but with both the angel round and the A round having been taken away, Alibaba will not be able to get any share if it enters the market again.

Failure to obtain a share means that it will be difficult to seek controlling stake in the future.

In addition, Alibaba has always had a problem that it likes to wrestle with, which is whether it should invest in a team with Alibaba background?

Cai Chongxin quickly spoke: "From a business perspective, we should choose Kuaishou. On the one hand, Kuaishou is in Hangzhou, which makes it easier for us to grasp the latest developments and maintain closer contact. On the other hand, it has a greater advantage in terms of investment amount and valuation, which will facilitate our subsequent strategic implementation."

Peng Lei also said: "If express delivery can be fully integrated into Alipay and abandon WeChat Pay, we at Alipay can spare no effort to help promote it."

Unfortunately, when making this decision, the people at Alibaba did not know why Kuaidi would later hate them so much.

They would rather merge with Didi Chuxing than sell their soul to Alibaba.

…………

The situation became increasingly interesting over the next few months.

Chen Pingjiang felt like he was just watching a fire from the other side of the river.

The other giants waited and waited, but before Chen Pingjiang came to power, they could no longer hold back.

Rumor has it that Baidu has begun contacting Shanghai's taxi brand Bumblebee.

Pony Ma personally visited Cheng Wei three times, hoping that he would take Didi to Tencent. However, Cheng Wei and Wang Gang, who came from Alibaba, were reluctant to accept the money. People are affectionate, but capital is ruthless. Cheng Wei still remembered Alibaba's kindness, but Alibaba turned around and transferred the money to Didi's competitor Kuaidi. Didi needed money right now, so Cheng Wei took the $1500 million from Tencent and cut ties with Alibaba.

As for Xiao Ma Ge, this time he did not consult Chen Pingjiang about whether to do the taxi business.

Chen Pingjiang didn't have any objection. After all, Tencent was one of the Fortune 500 companies and not his younger brother. The group was independent in making decisions and did not necessarily have to rely on Renren's opinion.

Besides, AutoNavi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renren.com, so it is not so short of money that it has to seek financing from Tencent.

Under this situation, Cheng Congwu found Chen Pingjiang with the new version of the Gaode Map APP.

"Mr. Chen, you can't reject us this time. At your request, we have revised it five times. It could have been launched online two months ago..." Cheng Congwu complained.

For Internet companies, everyone starts with problems to grab market share and then slowly makes modifications while doing so.

Otherwise, the daylily will get cold.

But this time, Chen Pingjiang seems to be consciously suppressing Gaode's taxi business.

Chen Pingjiang smiled and said, "Lao Cheng, I know you are anxious, but don't be anxious yet."

Cheng Congwu: "But I'm really in a hurry. If I don't go online, it will be too late. Let's not talk about other places. Take the Beijing market where AutoNavi is located. Didi Taxi is developing very fast now. It has killed several competitors and is almost dominating Beijing."

Chen Pingjiang spread his hands and said, "You can see that what we do is completely different from them. We are a platform. Since ancient times, only by building a platform can we make money. We don't need to go to the trouble of recruiting drivers, nor do we bear the safety of our customers. So what does it have to do with us whether they run fast or slow?"

Miao Bingwei said with a smile: "Once this software is launched, those online ride-hailing companies that spent a lot of money to grab the market in the early stage will cry to death, while the small online ride-hailing companies will welcome it with open arms."

Yes, Gaode Taxi did not position itself as an online ride-hailing service provider from the beginning, but more precisely, as an online ride-hailing platform.

The purpose is to integrate all online ride-hailing vehicles and taxis within the platform, implement a unified standard dispatching mechanism, and give all online ride-hailing vehicles and taxis equal opportunities to acquire users and orders.

The dispatch mechanism is generally based on the principle of proximity. After a user calls a car on Amap, the order will naturally be assigned to the corresponding online car-hailing platform whose online car-hailing platform is closer to the user. However, the influence of the online car-hailing platform itself and the number of registered users will also affect the final ownership of the order. In other words, when calling a car, users can choose their favorite online car-hailing platform and model based on their own taxi budget.

Other taxi companies are responsible for transporting customers, and Gaode only needs to sit back and enjoy the benefits, earning a commission for each order.

Gaode has turned itself into a delivery platform similar to Renren Waimai, where every delivery rider is an online ride-hailing company.

"For this new product launch, you, Lao Cheng, will be the one to go on stage, and I will be your rear guard."

…………

Renren, AutoNavi, Orange Technology, and Renrengou jointly issued a statement on August 8, announcing that they will hold a summer strategy conference on August 1.

As the news came out, it caused a sensation.

The last time I saw Chen Pingjiang doing something as generous as this was back at Renren Entertainment Group.

"Strange, they didn't say what they were going to release. Is it so mysterious?"

"You just don't know it, but the taxi industry has already experienced an earthquake."

"Isn't the taxi business the hottest thing right now? The organizer of this press conference is still Amap. Isn't the intention obvious?"

"..."Everyone in the taxi-hailing industry is trembling in fear.

For a long time, Chen Pingjiang has been like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of every family.

Every day when they open their eyes, they check the news to see whether Chen Pingjiang has joined the game.

Now that the day has finally arrived, I’m not nervous or afraid anymore.

The worst has already happened.

Cheng Wei was holding a SF Express package he had just received, and Wang Gang was standing beside him.

Cheng Wei took a deep breath and opened the package, revealing a beautiful invitation letter from Amap.

"AutoNavi is extremely well-positioned to run its own taxi business. If this happens, we'll be in trouble." After reading the invitation letter, Cheng Wei handed it to Wang Gang.

Wang Gang shook his head: "I don't think it's that simple. If AutoNavi wanted to do it themselves, there would be no need to hold a strategic conference and invite us to attend."

"who are you?"

“I don’t know either, but I don’t think it’s that simple.”

Cheng Wei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I have always been most afraid of the entry of giants, and even more afraid of the giants personally leaving the market in this way. I didn't expect that this day would come."

"But it's not surprising. RBAT and the other three have all entered the market, so how could Renren not join in?"

Bumblebee is leaning towards Baidu, Alibaba has already invested in express delivery, and Cheng Wei's Didi has also worshipped Tencent as its boss.

"I remember Zhu Xiaohu asked me some time ago how I would respond if Chen Pingjiang himself came out. At that time, I vowed that if I couldn't beat him, I would just join. But only now do I know how difficult it is. We have worked hard to start our business and have a lot of potential, but when a giant suddenly entered the market, it was like the sky was falling."

Wang Gang consoled him, "Don't worry, let's see what happens in detail. Besides, even if Renren is defeated, we are still capable of fighting."

Cheng Wei nodded and said solemnly: "Of course, we have finally come this far. How can we give up so easily when the giants come on stage? How can I be convinced if I don't really fight a few moves and see the giants' methods?"

Wang Gang laughed and said, "I'll book the plane ticket. They've already sent me the invitation letter, so I have to go and give them face no matter what."

Although he could still laugh, Wang Gang didn't feel relaxed at all.

As an angel investor of Didi, he can't feel relaxed at this moment.

Just a press conference announcement, before the meeting even started, immediately turned the entire taxi industry upside down.

The A-round financing of several small regional ride-hailing companies had been finalized and they were just waiting for signatures, when suddenly this big news came out.

Now, the investment institutions were afraid to sign and they all refused, saying they would wait and see after the press conference.

Although it was not stated explicitly, the meaning was clear.

If Gaode gets involved in the online ride-hailing business, no one will be its match and it would be better for it to just forget about it and go to bed.

But everyone sensed a different meaning in the statement.

"The ghost is still here!" Old Ma sighed as he stood by the window in his office in Hangzhou, looking out at the scenery. "No matter what I do, I can't escape Chen Pingjiang."

Peng Lei smiled and consoled: "When we first invested in Kuaiche, weren't we prepared for this day? Besides, the Internet is so big, and there are so many businesses. In the end, it will be the game of the giants, and they can't help but enter the market."

Lao Ma shook his head and said, "I just think this guy is too difficult to deal with. I have never been worried about giants like Tencent, EBAY, and Yahoo, but I have no way to deal with Chen Pingjiang."

After hearing what Lao Ma said, Peng Lei had to admit that in the past year, the name Chen Pingjiang had been mentioned to her frequently.

The amount is heavier each time.

He is indeed a tough and powerful opponent.

But when it comes to the company's interests and tens of thousands of mouths to feed, no one can back down.

To retreat would mean failure and lost opportunity.

All of this will be reflected in the stock price, and no one can be immune to it.

RBAT!
The leading one has already started "RUN", and the three behind it are actually starting to have a hard time catching up.

Dongjiang River.

Chen Pingjiang received one call after another asking for information, even Ma Huateng called him.

What he said was nothing more than wanting to know how Chen Pingjiang planned to end up.

Some smaller ride-hailing companies saw the opportunity to curry favor with Chen Pingjiang, and sent people to pay homage to him, and even expressed their willingness to sell controlling stakes, but they were all rejected by Chen Pingjiang.

(End of this chapter)