My Age of Investment

The new model Model S is still holding the pipa half-hidden, and many viewers are still unsatisfied and itchy.

But Straubel had already announced the end of the conference, and they had no choice but to applaud the new CEO as he left.

Next, the audience began to leave in an orderly manner, and under the guidance of Tesla's on-site staff, they began to go to the Tesla store not far from the hotel to deliver new cars there.

Musk is also not afraid of death, so he went to visit with the big team.

The delivery ceremony was very grand, the store was decorated with lights and festoons, and brand-new sports cars were neatly placed at the door, which was very eye-catching.

Every time a customer is registered, there will be a slender blond beauty or muscular handsome guy handing over keys, a car purchase contract, and a bouquet of flowers to the male or female car owner, and then take a photo together.

Amid the applause and envious eyes of the surrounding crowd, the owner of the car walked away.

At this time, Musk noticed a freckled man beside him whispering to a muscular man.

The man with freckles had a tangled expression: "It's ten thousand dollars more expensive, do you want this car?"

The muscular man replied without hesitation: "Definitely! Who doesn't like such a cool car? Look, how envious are the big guys who are lucky enough to get the car?"

The freckled man frowned: "But after all, it's ten thousand dollars more expensive!"

The muscular man shook his head: "For the $10,000, Tesla issued an IOU, and the rich man Darren personally guaranteed it. You just saw the Model S, right? When the time comes, buy another Model S and put Just use up the voucher."

Freckled man: "Why do you buy so many cars?"

The muscular man: "I'm really tired of driving. You sell used cars. I see that people are starting to increase the price on the Internet to buy used Roadsters."

The man with freckles had a surprised expression: "Buy a second-hand car at a higher price?"

The muscular man nodded heavily: "That's right, the Roadster has been discontinued recently, and some people have placed orders too late, and they won't be able to get the car until next year. I can't wait."

The freckled man said: "My God, this is crazy."

...

"Hey guys, do any of you want to unsubscribe from the Roadster? Just forward the order to me and I'll pay you an extra $1,000."

Someone nearby heard the two whispering,

Smiling, he leaned in front of the two of them.

Of the 2,450 cars sold by Tesla, the latest order is scheduled for June next year.

Of the first 200 cars delivered, in addition to the 100 Founders Series, there will only be 100 regular versions.

But the number of customers who participated in the press conference and then came to the Tesla store was far more than two hundred, and there were four or five hundred people.

Most people are not the lucky ones who are the first to pick up the car, but just follow to see the existing car and relieve their greed.

Now that I heard that someone wanted to unsubscribe, I immediately realized that this was an opportunity and planned to come and try my luck.

The muscular man sneered: "It's only a thousand dollars, and there are people on the Internet who have raised the price by five thousand dollars."

Seeing that the routine was seen through, the person who wanted to catch the leak shrugged and left very tactfully.

Musk was stunned by this scene, and then he realized that this is hunger marketing! Really teachable!

The man with freckles, who was still struggling just now, was completely free of it now, and he and the muscular man went straight to the registration booth at the side.

Musk also noticed that there was a long queue of people who registered to pick up the car, while the desk responsible for unsubscribing was empty and unattended.

Adding 10,000 US dollars to pick up the car so desperately! It doesn't make sense!

Musk once again suffered a critical blow of 10,000 points in his heart, and felt that he still had a long way to learn.

After continuing to watch the grand occasion of picking up the car for a while, Musk turned and left.

He hadn't been bold enough to pick up the car himself, because he would have to show his Social Security number or driver's license, and he wouldn't dare to throw himself into the trap.

Today's invitation letter is actually from a friend of his who ordered a Tesla on his behalf.

He plans to call a friend to pick up the car tomorrow, and then drive it to Nikola to disassemble it for reverse engineering research.

No matter how vigilant you Tesla are, you still can't stop my pervasiveness.

Standing on the second floor, Xia Jingxing was very satisfied when he watched the registration and car pick-up in the hall on the first floor.

After so many twists and turns, the car was finally sold.

Immediately, he began to look at the layout of the store. He was just patronizing to check the delivery status, and he hadn't had time to take a good look at the newly renovated store.

This two-story store is located in the center of Silicon Valley. It covers an area of ​​about 10,000 square meters, and the rent is high.

However, as Tesla's first directly-operated store, it has a great symbolic meaning and plays the role of a facade.

Silicon Valley has gathered hundreds of thousands of high-tech practitioners, all of whom are high-income groups and love technology products. They are all potential customers of Tesla.

They put the first directly-operated store here to serve as a window display.

Even if you don’t buy a car, when technology practitioners pass by, it’s good to come in to have a look at the car or take a test drive, and pass on Tesla’s relevant information to the people around you.

Straubel ran upstairs out of breath, came to Xia Jingxing, and said with a joyful expression: "Daren, today's concentrated delivery is not over yet, but we have made a rough count, and all 100 Founders Series can be delivered normally. , none unsubscribed.

For the other 100 regular versions, 3 people offered to unsubscribe, but someone immediately increased the price and took the order transferred by the three of them.

The person who raised the price did not unsubscribe from the order he was queuing up, which means that all orders are not missing. "

Xia Jingxing was a little surprised, "One person increased the price and took the order for 3 units?"

Straubel nodded heavily, "Yes, it's $5,000 a set, and the price increase alone adds up to $15,000."

Xia Jingxing knew about the online hype about Tesla's second-hand cars. Since the launch last year, some people have been inflating the price of the Founder's Series, and later spread to the regular version.

But those hypes were all before the price increase was announced today.

It was announced today that the price will increase by 10,000 US dollars. Is there anyone else who accepts second-hand cars or second-hand orders at high prices?

Xia Jingxing expressed his doubts.

Straubel smiled, "Many car owners who ordered the Roadster are not short of money, and a price increase of $10,000 is not a big deal, not to mention that we have made so many promises and shown enough sincerity.

However, there were still three people who could not accept it and chose to unsubscribe.

But there are also other powerful high-rollers who bought it. Not only did they not refund their orders, they even bought three more cars at a high price.

Relatively speaking, Roadster customers are not so price sensitive. "

Xia Jingxing nodded lightly, "Then the impact of this wave of price increases should be under control, and it didn't cause too much impact."

"This should be."

Straubel echoed, then asked with a smile, "So do we cancel the sale?"

Xia Jingxing fell silent. Tesla canceled the reservation after discovering that there was a problem with the cost some time ago.

Now the manufacturing cost of a car is as high as 120,000 US dollars. If other costs, such as labor costs, are included, the price must be set at least 150,000 US dollars to make a profit.

Moreover, Tesla's main job now is to develop the Model S, while ensuring the normal delivery of the remaining orders of more than 2,000 units.

If you continue to accept orders for the Roadster, it will inevitably increase the workload, and you need to continue to expand the team, further raising costs.

The most important thing is that the launch of a Roadster with a price of up to 150,000 US dollars will definitely cause chaos in the market. Not many people are willing to be taken advantage of, and the hype in the second-hand market will disappear.

At the previous press conference, they also announced the Model S and said they would lower the price, which would reduce some people's desire to buy the Roadster.

After much deliberation, Xia Jingxing realized that if he continued to raise the price to sell the Roadster, the disadvantages would outweigh the advantages.

At the end of the day, the Roadster was the first production car in name only, partly experimental, flawed and not perfect.

The real first best-selling mass-produced car has to count on the Model S.

"Don't let go, officially announce the news to the outside world, and stop selling the Roadster." Xia Jingxing shook his head and said resolutely.

The smile on Straubel's face stopped abruptly, "Are you really going to stop selling? If you control the cost, set the price at $130,000, and sell another four or five thousand units, you shouldn't lose money."

Xia Jingxing shook his head, "There has already been a mistake in the pricing strategy, we can't raise the price anymore, the overdraft is the brand reputation.

Rare things are more expensive, let the profits go to consumers! Isn't the used car market very prosperous now? Let's help add another fire. "

Straubel immediately understood that the boss wanted to hype up and give everyone a brand impression that what you buy is what you earn.

Tesla can't get direct benefits from it right now, but in the future, the benefits may be reflected in the sales of Model S.

"I understand. I'll go find a few internet celebrities in the car circle and ask them to evaluate it professionally. The normal price of a Roadster with a cost of 120,000 US dollars should be around 150,000 US dollars. The price of a quasi-new car or second-hand order is 130,000 US dollars, 140,000 US dollars. Is ten thousand dollars not too much?"

Xia Jingxing waved his hands, "Don't go too far, just let it ferment naturally."

Straubel smiled, and already had a rough plan in mind.

"Oh, by the way, Darren, the car sales model of our directly-operated stores may cause resistance from the Automobile Dealers Association, and we must be psychologically prepared accordingly."

Straubel sighed, "In some states in the United States, the "Franchisee Dealer Law" has been written into the special regulations of the state government, which requires that automakers cannot sell cars by themselves, but must sell through authorized franchised dealers.

Our direct sales model is considered to be a broken rule. It is digging the roots of car dealers and cannot enter some states. "

Xia Jingxing raised his eyebrows, "Do you think we should find a large dealer for cooperation?"

Straubel shook his head lightly, "That's not true. After opening the first directly-operated store, we have no way out. Those guys won't let us go easily."

Xia Jingxing didn't speak, and thought carefully in his heart.

In fact, what Tesla wants to challenge is not only fuel vehicles, but also the traditional dealer model. It is normal to encounter some resistance and even counterattack.

Cutting off people's money is tantamount to killing their parents.

Tesla and its dealer Liang Zijie have grown up. In the future, all car companies will follow suit, and car dealers can directly withdraw from the stage of history.

"The reason why I choose to open a direct-sale store is to better face customers, provide a unified standard of service and price system, and optimize the user system.

Second, there is no middleman to make the difference, the owner spends less, and Tesla sells more.

Third, car dealers have sold fuel vehicles for so long, and they have a closer relationship of interests.

Let me give you an example: most of the profits of car dealerships come from after-sales service, and electric vehicles require much less service than gasoline vehicles.

The electric box requires no oil changes, spark plugs or fuel filters, no adjustments, no smog checks and more.

With less money, do you think car dealers will try their best to help us sell Tesla?

Another point is that it is much more difficult to sell a new company's new technology car when people are used to gasoline cars.

Then, inevitably, dealers turn to gas cars that are easier to sell.

Finding a dealer to cooperate is equivalent to slowly wiping your own neck with a knife. "

Straubel thinks the boss's analysis is very reasonable, but the direct sales model will face many objective problems.

He said: "Except for the resistance of some states and dealers, Tesla's choice of the direct sales model is equivalent to a heavy asset operation.

In addition to facing huge capital requirements, there are also multiple issues such as operational complexity and cost efficiency.

For example, the store under our feet will temporarily fall into the predicament of having no cars to sell after selling out the batch of Roadsters.

Even after the launch of the Model S in the future, in order to obtain good sales, it is necessary to establish a network of sales stores.

Even without considering the problem of inaccessibility in some states, those stores that have been opened, the problem of managing the huge offline team, and the problem of sales balance and cost all need to be solved one by one. "

Xia Jingxing felt that Straubel had a good eye, and based on a few clues, he could see so many problems.

But Tesla's development path is like this, and it is destined to not be smooth sailing. If you want to be a disruptor, you must have the awareness to face and bear heavy pressure.

Xia Jingxing said lightly: "I don't deny the existence of the problems you mentioned, but if Tesla wants to survive and live better and better, it can only solve the problems one by one. Some things cannot be avoided .”

Straubel's face was heavy, and it was precisely because he knew the difficulty of this road that he felt a heavy burden.

He can almost predict the difficult situation in the future, with losses quarter after quarter, year after year, and profits are nowhere in sight.

As CEO, he needs to bear enormous pressure in his daily work.

Xia Jingxing glanced at the silent Straubel, vaguely guessing the latter's worry. This guy is pretty smart, and he can almost see through Tesla's hard life in the next few years or even ten years.

To describe it in one sentence, this is a road of glory paved with thorns, and courage, determination, and wisdom are indispensable if you want to break through.

Even if you break through in the end, you will be scarred.

Thinking of this, Xia Jingxing admired Musk a little, this guy is really an unbeatable Xiaoqiang.

Strictly speaking, although SpaceX has high technical content and has failed and exploded many times, it has not caused Musk to be too miserable. After the first successful launch, NASA orders have been received one after another. get better.

Only Tesla, which pushed Musk to the brink of bankruptcy several times, struggled for more than ten years before gradually living a better life.

In contrast, "The Worst Man in China in 2019" only suffered once.

"Don't have too much pressure and psychological burden."

Xia Jingxing knew that Straubel did not have too much business experience, and his ability to withstand pressure might be weaker, so he cheered him up and said, "Don't worry, with my backing you, Tesla won't collapse. Even if I put all of my Facebook shares, but also to send Tesla to the top step by step, until it sits on the throne of global car companies."

Hearing this sentence, Straubel's face immediately "turned positive". He knew that Xia Jingxing's Facebook shares were worth tens of billions of dollars.

With the patron's father here, Tesla can just go on a rampage. Even if his head is full of blood, the patron's father can transfuse the blood when he turns back.

Throughout Tesla’s five rounds of financing, Xia Jingxing and Vision Capital did not miss any of them, which is enough to show the big boss’s preference for Tesla.

"Well, Darren, I have the confidence to complete this arduous task. No matter how difficult the road ahead is, we just need to open a road when encountering mountains and build bridges when encountering water."

Straubel is also constantly encouraging himself in his heart. This is a challenging task and a test arranged by God. If he can pass this test successfully, he will be enough to become a world-renowned entrepreneur.

Xia Jingxing patted Straubel's shoulder, and said in a tone full of emotion, "I'll give you an old Chinese saying: The road is long and hard, but the road is long."

Straubel chewed on this sentence repeatedly, and when he looked up again, Xia Jingxing had already walked away.

…………

…………

Tesla Park.

In the open space in front of the building, more than two hundred employees stood loosely.

Xia Jingxing didn't ask the employees to line up neatly, because white people are used to being loose and don't like collectivism, so he didn't bother to take care of these minor problems.

Under the gaze of more than two hundred pairs of eyes, Xia Jingxing stood on the chair next to him and said loudly: "Today is the day for the official delivery of the Roadster. I promised before that the first car will be delivered to the customer, and the second car will be rewarded to the best performer." Exceptional staff.

Now is the time to deliver on that promise!

Joseph, don't dawdle, hurry to the front to pick up the car. "

The employees all applauded and watched a freckled boy in his twenties walk from behind the crowd to Xia Jingxing's side.

Being watched by so many people, Joseph was a little shy and blushed.

Tesla's employees are relatively young, because a rule was set a few years ago that ordinary engineers basically only recruit graduates, which is convenient and cheap to train.

Joseph is regarded as the best among ordinary engineers, and everyone is convinced that he was selected as an outstanding employee.

In fact, Straubel is the one who contributed the most, but he has already served as CEO, so there is no need to compete with employees for these worthless benefits.

Moreover, Xia Jingxing came here today to buy people's hearts and boost morale. Naturally, ordinary engineers have the best effect of winning awards.

Xia Jingxing didn't hesitate, he lifted the cover of the car on the side, and a brand new black Roadster revealed the true face of Lushan.

Seeing the cool appearance, many male employees present were almost drooling, this is a weapon for flirting with girls.

Although they deal with this car every day, they really can't afford it.

Regardless of the annual salary of each of them is at least 70,000 to 80,000 U.S. dollars, but the consumption level in Silicon Valley is not low, and they really can’t save much money all year round. Maybe they can’t afford a Roadster sports car after saving for a few years.

Under the envious eyes of his colleagues, Joseph took the key Xia Jingxing handed him, and the latter smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Work hard, next year's reward is a suite in Silicon Valley."

This sentence is not only for Joseph, but also for other employees.

Xia Jingxing stood on the chair again and said loudly: "This year's Excellent Employee Award is a Roadster car, and next year's reward will be even richer, a set of housing worth a million dollars located in the heart of Silicon Valley."

Although Americans do not have as deep a love for houses as Chinese do, but when they heard the million dollars, the staff present couldn't help but become short of breath. This is a huge prize!

Many people suddenly felt that they were not far behind Joseph, and if they worked harder next year, they might be the winners.

Employees one by one began to fall into longings for a better future, commonly known as hallucinations.

Xia Jingxing knew that the departure of the two founders had caused the staff's hearts to fluctuate, but these things were nothing in front of the money ability.

"This year, the company sold a total of 2,450 Roadster vehicles, including 100 Founders Series, generating nearly $300 million in sales.

Therefore, the company decided that starting from January next year, that is, starting from tomorrow, the salary of all employees will be increased by 10%. "

When the employees heard the good news, they were all overjoyed. They slapped their hands quickly, and they refused to stop when their palms turned red.

Straubel also applauded in the crowd, releasing good news about the company and raising salaries for all employees. I believe this wave should stabilize the morale of the army.

"Everyone, keep working hard, strive to create better results, and continue to raise wages next year! Tesla, go all out!" After shouting the slogan, Xia Jingxing jumped off his chair.

The employees were still pumping their fists on the spot, shouting the slogan "Go All Out" in their mouths, and their expressions became more and more excited.

Straubel walked towards Xia Jing, accompanied by a bearded white man in his thirties.

"Daren, do I have a share in the salary increase?"

Xia Jingxing looked at the bearded man who was talking with a smile, and said, "You fix the interior for me, and your salary will be doubled."

"Sounds good." The bearded man shrugged with a smile.

After making a few jokes, he held Xia Jingxing's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Come on, Dai Lun, I'll take you to see a treasure."

"It came out so quickly?" Xia Jingxing was a little surprised.

The bearded man nodded proudly.