Although Lin Yi predicted to him the end of this subsidy war, in fact the current daily subsidy expenditure is still growing, and has already crossed the eight-digit threshold.
Under this circumstance, the US$120 million that Wanli Travel received in its last round of financing does not seem so safe even if it and Xiong Factory each contribute half.
Not to mention Robin Li, Lin Yi also went to his other financial backer Liu Jianni to say hello.
Although Liu Jianni has never seen such a scene, she is at least very aware of the situation in front of her:
"No one wants to burn money, but if I have to, I can accept the reality. Giving up now will obviously mean wasting all the previous efforts."
“Everyone is stuck in a trap. Once we stop subsidizing and the other two companies continue to subsidize, the time it will take for Wanli Travel to lose users and exit the market can be counted in days.”
"The equity structure of Wanli Travel is also very simple. Apart from us, there is only Xiong Chang, so Lin Yi, you can rest assured."
Liu Jianni gave him reassurance: "As long as Xiong Factory continues to invest, I dare to follow."
With the current speed of burning money, it is impossible for new investors to come in, and Lin Yi has no time to go out and look for them.
But with these two guarantees, he can at least be sure that even if the situation does not develop as he expected, at least he will not face a crisis of food shortage soon.
Then a funny thing happened.
The day after Kuadu Taxi announced that it would increase the subsidy to 11 yuan, Wanli Travel announced that it would adjust the subsidy to a random amount between 12 and 20 yuan.
But they were not alone. Almost at the same time, they all took taxis and announced almost identical policies, which surprised outsiders.
This is of course, because Lin Yi is a copycat, and he copied the tactics of Goose Factory.
But others don’t know that. Even a large number of uninformed employees within the two companies have a question:
Was it agreed upon?
The one who was most shocked was Kuadu Taxi in Lin'an. Compared with this random response, they were more concerned about whether Wanli's use of taxis in Dudu was a coincidence or premeditated?
Lin Yi didn't know what the outside world was guessing about this, but he met an unexpected person because of this, and it was the other party who proposed.
The person who asked him out was Liu Chiping from Gouchang, but the person he met was not.
It is the legendary pony.
When he was young, Xiao Ma's appearance could be called handsome, but now he is a bit richer. Compared with Robin Li, he can only be said to be quite satisfactory.
Of course, comparing appearance with Majek would be a bit too bullying.
Xiao Ma's accent is very interesting, a typical southerner with a smooth and conceited tongue. However, his attitude is quite approachable and he doesn't put on any airs.
"Lin Yi, right? I asked Martin to make an appointment with you. He had other arrangements to go abroad, so he didn't come with us today."
Martin is Liu Chiping.
Brother Xiao Ma didn’t introduce himself. After all, if you don’t even know this person, there is no need to hang out in this industry.
The two got to know each other briefly, and then Brother Ma revealed his purpose:
"The red envelope amount of 12-20 yuan in Dudu Taxi is actually what I thought. According to Goose Factory's many years of game operation experience, adding a little uncertainty will actually increase user interest."
"But I found that Wanli Travel actually came up with the same method. It just so happened that I was in the capital today to talk about something, so I asked Martin to find you and see what you came up with."
Lin Yi knew that his cards were not strong enough for Brother Ma to make a special trip, so being able to meet him by the way was already very important.
"Martin mentioned you to me before, and he also said that he approached us when Wanli Travel was first launched, but because Goose Factory had already invested, they all took a taxi, so they missed this fate."
"I think it's not too late for us to get to know each other. You wouldn't mind chatting with me, right?"
Goose Factory is now the general backend of Dudu Taxi, and judging from the competitive relationship between Wanli Travel and Dudu Taxi, the two sides are obviously enemies rather than friends.
But Lin Yi would obviously be a bit pretentious if he regarded Xiao Ma as his opponent, and Robin Li would be just fine.
"Of course, I actually think it's a coincidence. I didn't expect that we would actually consider going together. In fact, this idea was also inspired by the red envelopes from the Goose Factory."
Of course Lin Yi would not say that he copied his ideas.
Although it sounds very coincidental, Xiao Ma also accepts it. After all, it is possible for a small probability event to occur, otherwise there is no other scientific explanation.
But he came today not only to verify this: "Lin Yi, I wonder what you think of the next development of this subsidy war?"
"I didn't come here today to meet Cheng Wei, and I didn't tell him about my meeting with you, so you can speak freely."
Lin Yi quickly calculated in his mind that Goose Factory definitely didn't suddenly change his mind and want to switch to Wanli Travel, and Xiao Ma Ge's personal appearance definitely didn't mean to talk to him about life and ideals. So what is his actual purpose?
Dissuade a fight.
After thinking about this, Lin Yi also told him the thoughts he had told Robin Li before:
"As the size of the entire taxi-hailing software gets closer and closer to the upper limit of the entire taxi industry, the significance of this taxi-hailing war will become less and less."
"We travel thousands of miles and take taxis in Dudu because we don't want to continue burning money endlessly. I also understand Goose Factory's position on this matter, but in the short term it may depend on the attitude of Kudu."
Lin Yi knew that his appearance had complicated the situation in the taxi-hailing market, because the interests of the three companies must be more difficult to balance than the two.
But at least now, with Brother Xiao in person, I can first coordinate the positions between Wanli Travel and Dudu Taxi.
In particular, it has just happened that two companies have chosen a random subsidy model of 12-20 yuan, which is a very suitable opportunity, because the outside world has already interpreted their reconciliation.
This is why Brother Ma appears here.
After understanding Lin Yi's attitude, he didn't say anything more. After all, his identity was not always a taxi CEO.
However, Xiao Ma brought up another topic: "Lin Yi, in fact, many of your views on the taxi industry are very similar to Will's. Have you ever considered joining forces?"
Lin Yi was not surprised that he had such a suggestion, and did not answer directly. Instead, he talked about the negotiation between the two before Wanli Travel was launched, and Cheng Wei found out about it through Wang Xing.
Although he didn't say it clearly, the implication was that he refused. Xiao Ma was not a person who forced others to make things difficult for him. Given his status, if he persisted, it would inevitably appear that he was "bullying the small" towards Lin Yi.
After talking about taking a taxi in Dudu, the conversation did not end immediately, and the remaining topics could be discussed more calmly.
Based on Lin Yi's description just now, Xiao Ma asked a question: "Are you familiar with Wang Xing? What do you think of the current group buying market?"