Reinventing the Millennium

Regarding Dangdang's B2C prospects, Fang Zhuo has made in-depth considerations.

At a time when Amazon, eBay and domestic companies are competing, it is precisely the best time to shape consumer habits at the lowest cost.

Amazon’s main focus is on North America, eBay’s ungrounded insistence on charging fees for online stores, Taobao’s strength is not strong enough, and the heavy investment that the B2C model lacks can be driven by itself.

Not to mention that those who seize the opportunity will definitely surpass Taobao, but they will definitely capture a considerable market share.

At this stage, looking at the country, Dangdang is the best chess piece to implement this strategy.

As for JD.com, it just launched its website this year, and most of its business is still in physical stores in Zhongguancun. It has neither resources, channels, nor a mature team. Even if it invests in front of it, it cannot digest it at all.

By the time JD.com can absorb the investment, this wave of market development phase for Chinese and foreign competition will have long been over.

As for Dangdang, which copied the Amazon model and successfully started its business as a book e-commerce company, its resources and team are at the forefront in China, and it has a good foundation for digesting investment and staking out land.

It cannot be said that Dangdang has never been successful. Its highest market value was once as high as 15 billion. Even if Fang Zhuo has some doubts about the two mom-and-pop shops, he believes that their cooperation will achieve a higher-dimensional win-win situation.

To put it more bluntly, based on Yike Investment’s original investment of US$11 million, the final profit may be around 2 billion, which is less than half of the current ice core production line.

If we continue to learn from Amazon's asset-heavy development model and truly make Dangdang the "Amazon of the East", Fang Zhuo's profits will be at least dozens of times greater.

This is what redefining the market can bring.

"We plan to launch cash on delivery and door-to-door delivery, initially in 20 domestic cities, with a target of 60 within the year, and strive to cover more than 100 domestic cities next year."

"Amazon's Joyo.com instead cut down on its own logistics and began to try to cooperate with express delivery companies."

In the conference room, Li Guoqing carefully described the changes during this period to investors.

The three companies here today, IDG and Yike Investment, are originally shareholders of Dangdang.com and have the right to understand the company's development.

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly and said: "Amazon's domestic team's execution is obviously not adequate. This is also a common problem of this type of company. Amazon and eBay will not trust local personnel, their responses will be rigid, and their judgments will be misplaced."

"We are also burning money. If Dangdang improves efficiency and makes timely adjustments based on market feedback, then our money burning will be advantageous."

Fang Zhuo glanced at the company management in the conference room, then at Li Guoqing and Yu Yu, and continued: "The most important thing Dangdang should do now is to actively expand its categories and scale. Of course, the main business of books is that you have come so far. The biggest factor is that the unit price and gross profit of books are not high enough, and consumers’ purchasing frequency is also low.”

"Once the categories and scale are expanded, Dangdang's future will suddenly become brighter."

"You must take advantage of the advantages of book e-commerce to transform, and you must be really determined to develop all categories."

Fang Zhuo's words were full of advice.

The transformation from vertical e-commerce to comprehensive e-commerce is an example of JD.com, and Amazon is also an example. Amazon began to expand categories four years after its launch. Among them, the determination of management is a very important factor.

Dare to spend money and not be afraid of spending money.

What Fang Zhuo means by sitting here now is that he can provide ample and stable sources of funds, which no domestic investment institution can provide.

In fact, B2C is a path that Amazon has completely taken. As long as Dangdang spends money to lay a good foundation and do a good job in localization, it has a great chance of winning.

"Mr. Fang, we all think now is a good opportunity." Li Guoqing nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "Dangdang.com is not afraid of competition, but it is afraid of the instability of the capital chain."

Fang Zhuo stretched out his hand and waved it left and right: "Since Mr. Xiong and Mr. Xu are here today, Mr. Li won't have to worry about this."

He smiled again at the management sitting here: "Don't worry about this, everyone. I am firmly on the side of Dangdang."

There was laughter in the conference room, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed.

The management of Dangdang.com are naturally convinced by what Mr. Fang, a representative figure in the Internet industry, says, and believe that the “full category” mentioned by Mr. Fang is very promising.

At this time, Yu Yu, who was sitting next to Li Guoqing, said in a low voice: "President Fang, President Xiong, and President Xu, everyone is optimistic about the future of Dangdang. Considering the intensified competition this time, I think the estimated value of around 400 million The value is appropriate.”

Xiong Xiaoge frowned, Xu Xin was slightly stunned, and Fang Zhuo was startled.

400000000? Obviously not the Chinese currency.

A $400 million valuation offer?

This is a high price that goes beyond mutual communication and understanding.

Generally speaking, quoting a price that exceeds psychological expectations is an attitude.

Fang Zhuo glanced at Yu Yu, who had no intention of changing his words. He glanced at Li Guoqing again, and it was clear that he was a wife who followed her husband.

"Let's go out and have a small meeting." Fang Zhuo turned his head and said to the teams of IDG and Capital Today.

Soon, the investor's team all left, and Dangdang's management also got up and left with the acquiescence of Li Guoqing and Yu Yu.

Only five people are left in the conference room who can make critical decisions.

During the two minutes of clearing the venue, Fang Zhuo reflected on his impression flow, his investment enthusiasm, and his focus.

He almost sorted out the couple's thoughts when the conference room door was gently closed.

——Dangdang is an established player in the e-commerce market. It is not currently short of funds and can switch to aggressive money-burning strategies at any time.

——The money Dangdang received from Yike Investment was immediately used to stabilize its equity position.

——Dangdang is not in a hurry to raise funds, or in other words, they believe that in addition to the three institutions today, Dangdang can also raise money from other places with its own business. After all, there has been investment intention from Tiger Fund before.

——The couple is very confident and believes that Dangdang, which is under their control, can develop smoothly.

Fang Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the two speakers, and said: "Mr. Li, Mr. Yu, if I remember correctly, in this round of investment by Yike, Dangdang's valuation was US$61 million, and now it has directly doubled. Nearly 7 times, what is the support point?”

He couldn't help but laugh: "Just rely on my optimistic opinion of Dangdang?"

"Oh, Mr. Fang, you are right." Li Guoqing also said with a smile, "Mr. Fang, it's like this. This round of financing is actually in advance. If you don't consider burning money, it will have to be raised next year. At that time , Dangdang’s scale has grown rapidly again.”

"Moreover, Mr. Fang, Amazon's price for buying Dangdang this year is 150 million. We haven't sold it yet. The price in the last round of financing was also low."

"If you do all the math, US$400 million is not that high."

Li Guo Qingzhen gave the reason.

Fang Zhuo knew that Amazon and Dangdang had discussed the acquisition, but he did not know that the figure was US$150 million.

Or as I guessed, Dangdang is a company with a basically mature operating mechanism and a player that already has a foundation. Its two spokespersons were unwilling to sell it when Amazon acquired it at a high price. What was the plan?

They want Dangdang to become a giant, and they want to become a giant that the couple can control.

The latter is even more important than the former.

What’s strange is that many people in China hold the concept of “I’d rather be a chicken head than a cow queen”. This is true for Dangdang’s unwillingness to sell itself to Amazon, and the same is true for its current posture.

However, Fang Zhuo's standard for "giant" is different from theirs. Their giant is a small giant, and his own giant is a big giant. A small giant is no longer a giant when it meets a big giant.

Fang Zhuo felt dull for a moment. These two people prioritized their shares over their expansion judgment of the situation at hand.

Maybe Li Guoqing and Yu Yu thought they could expand in the future, or maybe they had other ideas.

Fang Zhuo glanced at Lao Xiong and laughed at himself, investing is still an investor, Li Guoqing is not the Eastern Bezos, and Dangdang is not the Eastern Amazon.

Xiong Xiaoge misunderstood and said: "Mr. Li, Mr. Yu, I can understand that business leaders try to pursue high valuations, but there must be a limit. The 61 million in the last round is less than In half a year, Dangdang’s market share has not increased significantly.”

"Is your offer too insincere?"

"To be honest, Mr. Fang took me and Mr. Xu with great enthusiasm. Your price is a bit boring."

Xu Xin also nodded. She had the same view. Isn't this driving people away?

Li Guoqing had a smile on his face and still insisted on what he said just now.

Fang Zhuo shook his head: "Mr. Li, Mr. Yu, there is no one else here, and I don't want to say anything high-sounding. I am optimistic about Dangdang, and I have no intention of intervening in the company's operations. I simply think that there is a good development opportunity in front of me."

He said seriously: "If you miss this opportunity, it won't happen again next time."

If you miss this opportunity, you will have to invest much more money to gain market share.

If you miss this opportunity, Dangdang will not be able to find an investor who firmly believes in B2C and can invest heavily.

Li Guoqing said nothing.

Yu Yu said softly: "Dangdang is not in a hurry. We think we should still ensure the quality to consumers."

Fang Zhuo said unceremoniously: "Are you ensuring the quality of consumers or ensuring your control of Dangdang? I am a straightforward person and don't like beating around the bush. I am sitting here and saying that I will not seek control of Dangdang." , don’t you still believe it?”

Li Guoqing still said nothing.

Yu Yu said softly: "Mr. Fang, if you say that, then we really don't want to be Sina. This is something we discussed in the last round."

At this moment, Xiong Xiaoge next to him almost couldn't help laughing.

He knew he shouldn't have such emotions in his heart, but when he saw the hidden tone of the woman opposite him, he suddenly felt like "Fang Zhuo, Fang Zhuo, you must have tasted the consequences now."

Dangdang can obtain the investment intention of Tiger Fund and be acquired by Amazon at a high price. It is naturally a good project target now.

When a project has widespread recognition, it has many channels for obtaining funding.

The richest man in the Mainland is rich, but everyone else spends their money in the same way.

Of course, Xiong Xiaoge knew that Mr. Fang's determination to invest money was unparalleled by others, but Li Guoqing and Yu Yu probably also had confidence, otherwise they would not have refused Amazon's acquisition.

The communication in the conference room broke down here.

In fact, when the hostess Yu Yu told the valuation figure, the exchange essentially ended - Fang Zhuo was willing to invest, but he was not willing to invest at a random price.

A sudden turn of events, but that's all.

Fang Zhuo now not only doubted the sincerity, but also began to doubt the extent of Li Guoqing's determination to "shift to all categories" that he had previously agreed to.

Does he really have this determination? Can you really spend a lot of money? Can we really stick to the construction of e-commerce infrastructure?

All of this has to be questioned, which makes it increasingly unnecessary to continue this meeting.

We may have lost trust in each other before, so there is nothing to force.

Fang Zhuo wasn't angry, he just felt a little regretful and funny.

Dangdang has a foundation and has money. This is an indispensable objective condition for coming here today.

This opportunity is presented to you, you are useless, who can do anything about it?

"Okay, I hope Dangdang's future development will go smoothly." Fang Zhuo stood up, unwilling to argue with Yu Yu, a woman, and just stated, "I also hope to see the day when Dangdang's market value surpasses Sina."

Following Fang Zhuo's movements, Xiong Xiaoge and Xu Xin also stood up.

Li Guoqing rubbed his hands, but he didn't expect to stop talking about it: "Mr. Fang, Mr. Fang, what I mean is, you think the price is high, you can wait for Dangdang to develop, and we will see how we invest in the next round."

Fang Zhuo smiled slightly, nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll come over when Dangdang develops to a suitable time. I actually like Mr. Yu's method, so as not to waste everyone's time."

Li Guoqing sneered.

Yu Yu said at this time: "Mr. Fang, didn't you invest in Dangdang earlier because you were optimistic about our development? Dangdang doesn't need to be so anxious and can move forward steadily."

Not enough words to speculate.

Fang Zhuo was too lazy to say anything else. They both understood the truth, but words were powerless. Only facts could prove the right or wrong of a point of view, but what was the point of proving it?

He nodded to Yu Yu, turned around and left the conference room.

Xiong Xiaoge and Xu Xin followed and left without saying a word.

Soon, the teams of IDG and Capital Today also kept up with the bosses.

A financing meeting of Dangdang.com ended hastily.

Li Guoqing quickly followed him downstairs. Watching Fang Zhuo and others get into the car and drive away, he suddenly felt a little shaken in his heart. It was not impossible to burn money to expand the scale...

But he changed his mind and firmed up his idea. Dangdang can continue to develop in his own hands and can continue to raise financing at the right time, but this must be due to Dangdang's own decision-making, rather than being forcefully pushed forward by others.

…

"Mr. Fang, how are you feeling now?"

Xiong Xiaoge was sitting in the car, thinking about Yu Yu's soft words, and couldn't help but joke.

"The one who started the figurines, the one who started the figurines." Fang Zhuo sighed, "Yu Yu actually used Sina to stab me. I'm so tired of my reputation."

Xiong Xiaoge laughed: "Whose fault is this? Is it because of the notoriety?"

"It's because we are not destined to each other." Fang Zhuo also smiled, "Li Guoqing is not a hero. He is entrusted to someone else, that's all."

"In the field of e-commerce, Taobao is actually very good and quite viable." Xiong Xiaoge said thoughtfully, "But they just took a large amount of money at the beginning of the year, and they are definitely not short of money now."

Fang Zhuo narrowed his eyes and said leisurely: "Forget it, let's talk about it later."

If I remember correctly, the medical department has three warehouses in Mayong, Jingcheng and Shencheng.

Forget it, it doesn’t matter if you don’t invest. If the investment fails this time, then I can only go back to my monopoly business.