Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 1421 Exchange of Interests (4k)

Wang Fengyi hadn't seen Mr. Fang for a while. Now that he had returned to Shanghai and had some free time, he naturally couldn't avoid a big meal and drink.

But he did not persuade Mr. Fang to drink, knowing that the other party would probably have something else to do in the afternoon. He drank while picking out some interesting things about recent investments, among which he inevitably mentioned his inspection of the shared bicycle project and the ofo yellow bike that has been launched on campus in Beijing.

"Mr. Fang, it's really your fault, YBAT. The money spent on mobile travel is too much!"

"This kind of money-burning is simply artificially cultivating the domestic market!"

"From last year to this year, especially this year, many institutions have been talking about this kind of artificial outlet. With certain demand and capital investment, it can become popular almost instantly!"

Wang Fengyi was very emotional.

The money-burning subsidies for mobile travel have really opened the eyes of colleagues in the industry. Two or three years ago, no one had ever heard of taking a taxi. In just such a short period of time, many people have become familiar with it, and the travel scenario has also changed.

This also inspired everyone to start looking for similar tracks.

Also, be careful, not everyone benefits from the money spent on mobile travel. In the end, only two giants, Alibaba and Yike, are left, while the rest of the camps are all eclipsed.

No matter how hot it is, no matter which side everyone stands on, the giants stand there, and the shadows will naturally follow.

Therefore, in the Internet sector, not only Wang Fengyi, but many people will give priority to YA's movements before investing, and then T. As for B, its influence has declined significantly this year.

"I looked at the project of Beijing University, and I also met the founder Dai Wei." Wang Fengyi's expression became a little subtle when he said this.

Fang Zhuo asked in a flattering tone, "How is it?"

"He started the bicycle project last year and had borrowed 300 million in just a few months. It seemed that he borrowed several million more before I came back this time." Wang Fengyi replied.

Fang Zhuo understood and nodded: "The family background is good."

Otherwise, you wouldn't have to borrow money so frequently when you just start out.

Wang Fengyi smiled and said, "I had a meal with him in Beijing and felt that he was a little overconfident. I don't know if he is right."

"As China's number one investor, you can't talk nonsense. Otherwise, if you spread the word, you might ruin the investment that others have worked so hard to find." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

"Who said it wasn't? We were just chatting privately. I saw that he was quite an elite, and I heard that Alibaba was a little interested, so I came back to visit him." Wang Fengyi expressed his feelings.

Fang Zhuo took a sip of tea and said, "Wait a minute, discuss it with Qi He and the others. I'm quite busy recently."

Wang Fengyi rolled his eyes, ate and drank for a while, and finally asked at the end of the lunch: "Boss Fang, is Yi Ke really going to do this?"

Fang Zhuo looked at Wang Fengyi again. There was no sign of drunkenness in his eyes. He smiled and asked, "What are you doing?"

"It's already July, and Yike hasn't finalized a new wafer manufacturer." Wang Fengyi originally thought that there would be a transition, and Yike might sign a cooperation agreement with manufacturers such as Taiji, Samsung, and Intel.

However, until now, there have been only rumors about Yi Keshi, but no confirmation.

Furthermore, Wang Fengyi discovered that Mr. Fang had actually remained silent to the outside world and had never accepted an interview. This made him wonder: although he was busy, he could still respond to the outside world. Was he really going to take action?
"They don't want to, Brother Wang, what do you think I should do?" Fang Zhuo spread his hands.

Wang Fengyi probably verified the answer, but he still felt shocked and worried. He pondered again and again, and drank another glass of wine. After thinking about it, he had a lot of things he wanted to say but couldn't say them.

Finally, Wang Fengyi drank a glass of wine and sighed: "Don't call me brother, you are my brother!"

Fang Zhuo laughed out loud.

However, this meal also gave him some new thoughts.

Even someone like Brother Wang is concerned about Yi Ke's situation and choices, and his irrational emotions will definitely be more serious than he imagined.

In the first week of July, with the return of Yike’s head, the company’s internal integration and system optimization accelerated further.

It is true that a crisis is imminent, but domestic competition requires more than just Yike’s strength, but more of a central role.

This week, Zhang Xiaolong of YiXin, Wang Yan of Sina, Lei Jun of MiTuan, Fan Minggang of Douyin, Ni Boren of Kesheng Mobile and others went to YiKe headquarters in Shanghai for meetings.

Although there have been partners in the past, this level and frequency still makes people vaguely feel that the situation is turbulent.

On the first day of the second week of July, Fang Zhuo made a rare appearance at Yigoo's high-level meeting and listened to the report from the management team headed by Su Wei, discussing the outstanding performance of competitors in the first half of the year and the pressure that it brought.

E-commerce and consumer electronics are the two fastest growing industries in China over the past decade.

Although Fang Zhuo hardly interferes with the operation of Yigoo, the management is well aware of who is the dominant force behind Yigoo, and the company's heavy asset operation is the result of the generous support of the big boss and his friends.

Although Yike is facing some problems nowadays, the adjustments and dynamics of some departments within Yiguo have made many senior executives aware of the new direction. It seems that the big boss wants to go to war with Alibaba in the C2C field.

Recently, most storage centers are planning to build some transit warehouses. What does this mean?
If Yigoo wants to intensify its competition with Alibaba, it must leverage its own advantages. Warehousing and logistics are one of Yigoo's major features. In the future, it will probably have to enhance the color of its C2C platform and provide B2C services.

“I rarely come here because everyone is doing so well.”

"Sitting in this position now, especially seeing the empty chair opposite, I still have a lot of emotions."

Fang Zhuo spoke first after listening to the management's performance report. The empty chair he was referring to was at the end of the conference table, which corresponded exactly to the head end. The arrangement of this chair was a learning from Amazon.

This empty chair represents the invisible customer. Whenever the company is hesitant about any decision, imagine that there is a customer sitting on the empty chair and think about his attitude towards the company's decision.

Simply put, it is customer-oriented.

The senior executives in Yigoo’s conference room were naturally aware of this matter.

"Since its inception, Yiguo has emphasized quality, user experience, and user interests. This is naturally excellent and is also a benchmark for domestic e-commerce." Fang Zhuo laughed, "But why can't we beat Alibaba?"

There was a bit of commotion in the conference room.

"This problem may be the problem of the entire industry in the past decade. It is not shameful if you can't beat it."

"However, I watched Alibaba's 6.18 last month and saw that its promotional conditions are getting more and more fancy every year. I also looked at Yigoo's plans for the second half of this year and they are also moving in this direction. I feel... emm..."

Fang Zhuo shrugged: "I just think that the consumer across the street might not be too happy."

He pointed to the empty chair across from him.

"Ali has been focusing on Tmall for the past two years, which has not only brought together domestic logistics but also invested in building warehouses, which has brought us increasing pressure."

"I've heard a lot of voices recently, saying that we need to upgrade the industry and follow in Alibaba's footsteps."

Fang Zhuo was hinting that this was a proposal from within Yigoo.

"But Mr. Su and I talked a lot. The chairs opposite represent customers, but there are too many types of customers. Some are sensitive to price, some are sensitive to quality, and some are sensitive to the experience of the entire shopping process."

"Yiguo has developed over the years, enriched its product categories, and improved its logistics and warehousing. We are getting bigger and bigger. What should we do next?"

Fang Zhuo raised this question.

He waited until he was sure that everyone was paying attention before giving his answer: "We should continue to grow bigger, not smaller. We should be wherever our customers are."

Fang Zhuo's speech ended.

As he spoke, a data survey from IDC was played in the conference room, covering multi-dimensional data such as domestic residents' income and e-commerce coverage.

Where are the majority of users?

How will Yigoo appear in front of them?

A simple answer brings up many questions.

Yiguo CEO Su Wei was the second speaker. Compared with the chairman's strategic direction, she talked more about Yiguo's future cooperation. The appearance of Douyin's name was not too surprising, but the name of Mi Tuan was also unexpected, as well as the cooperation with YiXin, which has always maintained restraint.

From social media to short videos to group buying, what role can Yiguo play in such a framework? This is a direction that must be explored in the future.

But this is undoubtedly the beginning of Yigoo's transformation.

The voices from the chairman and CEO destined Yiguo to correct its direction, which made the senior management who were following the established path a little confused. However, when they thought about cooperating with platforms such as Yixin, Mituan, and Douyin, the confusion was quickly replaced by excitement.

That would be a good start.

This meeting is over, a new one is scheduled, and there will be a high-level discussion with partners next week.

"Do you think Double Eleven is still too rushed?" Su Wei asked for feedback from other platforms in the evening.

"They need to conduct internal testing before opening live streaming and set rules. Then they can open sales, which also requires internal testing. It would be great if they can get a logo in time for Double Eleven." Fang Zhuo replied, "If the entire framework is not built, Douyin will probably have to fight to the death to make suggestions."

Su Wei thought about it and agreed. This was a step taken by Douyin, and there were still followers behind it.

"Give me an idea. We have to control the proportion in the early stage. Let's all try it out." As Fang Zhuo was speaking, he saw a call from Qiu Ciyu on his mobile phone.

Su Wei poured him a cup of tea before leaving the office.

The call Fang Zhuo received was good news.

"Mr. Fang, Linde has discussed a condition with me that is definitely beyond your imagination." Qiu Ciyun was quite excited when he came up, and the German Linde he mentioned was an electronic gas manufacturer that was originally not very optimistic.

"Mr. Qiu, please speak quickly." Fang Zhuo rarely heard Mr. Qiu speak in this tone recently.

"The Linde Group is in preliminary negotiations with Praxair of the United States on cooperation." Qiu Ciyun reported the latest news.

Linde and Praxair are two of the world's four largest gas manufacturers, and the four of them account for 70% of the global market.

When Fang Zhuo heard this and heard about the cooperation between the two companies, he was a little confused for a moment. What does this have to do with Bingxin?
Qiu Ciyun continued, "Linde hopes to get a guarantee that you will not obstruct Linde's acquisition of Praxair!"

Fang Zhuo: “…”

He understood it instantly and connected the dots...

It’s an acquisition, not cooperation!

The world's two largest industrial gas giants are about to merge!

The new company will undoubtedly become the world's number one!

The reason for informing Mr. Qiu is that such a merger will inevitably involve monopoly supervision, and the business scale of both companies in China needs to be approved before a successful acquisition can be made.

Otherwise, Qualcomm's acquisition of Broadcom is a lesson for us.

But what does "I hope you won't obstruct Linde's acquisition of Praxair" mean?
Did I have any hostility towards Linde in the past? Did I compete with it? Why could I stop it?

Fang Zhuo couldn't help but laugh: "You son of a bitch, who do you think I am!"

Two things that are totally unrelated!

Do you really think the official seal is placed in Yike 23’s office?

"Yes, Mr. Fang, I was shocked when I heard that they actually wanted this kind of promise." Qiu Ciyun also laughed, "So, do you agree?"

Fang Zhuo didn't know whether he had scolded Mr. Qiu just now.

He said helplessly: "What does this have to do with me? However, acquisitions and mergers must be in accordance with the law and regulations, and monopoly cannot be established. Otherwise, although it has nothing to do with Bingxin, it will definitely not be approved. You still have to talk about something related to Bingxin, such as the joint venture factory in Luzhou."

"Mr. Fang, could you please explain yourself more clearly? I'm old, my ears can't hear well, and my brain reacts slowly." Qiu Ciyu said seriously.

Fang Zhuo simply replied: "I am willing to agree."

Then he added: "I am willing to help Linde Group mediate. After all, Linde is our supplier and has always had mutually beneficial cooperation with us."

Mutual benefit, help mediation.

"Okay, I'll talk to Linde first. You'll need to take care of domestic policies. This is a rare opportunity." Qiu Ciyu said excitedly.

I thought Air Liquide would be a more interesting target, but I didn't expect Linde to have such an acquisition demand, and they obviously considered the risks fully.

Linde and Praxair are both companies with market capitalizations of tens of billions of dollars, and the acquisition of both will inevitably take a long time, but the former is working hard to clear obstacles from all sides.

Ice cores are not an obstacle.

But Mr. Fang is a very powerful bomb.

There has never been a moment when Qiu Ciyun was so grateful for Mr. Fang's reputation as he is now.

Qualcomm and ICP are engaged in a patent war. Qualcomm's acquisition of Broadcom was rejected, but Qualcomm's acquisition of Avago was usurped. The Qualcomm case has become a case in the United States Supreme Court Case Manual...

All of these things make some operations undoubtedly impressive.

Qiu Ciyun had to praise the professionalism of Linde Group again. They were keenly aware of the risks, made professional judgments, and correctly weighed Mr. Fang...

Only by working together in this way can everyone truly consider the other party and make the best exchange of interests.

(End of this chapter)