Jenny Liu did not report to the company until April.
Lin Yi welcomed her grandly, and Li Moyan and Wang Kai had naturally received the news a long time ago. Since Liu Jianni was the investor representative in the previous round, most of the management team were familiar to her.
In addition, in order to show his importance, Lin Yi also sent an internal letter to all employees through the office system:
"Dear colleagues:
I am honored to inform you that Wanli Travel has just invited a heavyweight talent to take up an important position in the company.
Ms. Liu Jiani started her career at the internationally renowned MBB consulting company, and later worked in the venture capital industry for many years. She is an outstanding investor with outstanding achievements.
Jenny and I have known each other for a long time, and we have always cooperated closely, and she has given me great help on the road to starting a business. In addition to her outstanding work ability, I deeply feel her sincerity and reliability, and our relationship is both a teacher and a friend.
Jenny's joining this time is a huge affirmation for Wanli Travel, and this all depends on your past dedication and efforts.
I have always believed that if Wanli Travel wants to become a world-class enterprise and a company with a long history, it must continue to attract world-class talents, and Jane is exactly the kind of talent we are looking for.
Leveraging her many years of experience and connections in the financial industry, Jane will serve as CFO of Wanli Travel and continue to implement the mission of smart travel with us..."
Liu Jianni didn't feel embarrassed because Lin Yi praised her so much in the letter, but she knew very well that people must ask for something if they are polite, and it was time for her to repay this trust.
She simply skipped the boring politeness and got into work mode in a second. The first question was the most important one: "When will the subsidy be completely cancelled?"
Now that he is one of his own, Lin Yi has no reservations: "The current intensity is very small compared to the peak period. According to the timetable we agreed with Dudu and Kuaidu, it will be completely canceled in mid-May, and the three companies will do it at the same time.
"
Liu Jianni asked again: "How long can the company's cash reserves last?"
These data are all things that he must keep in mind. Lin Yi replied: "Without the need to pay additional subsidies, it will only be used for the company's daily operating expenses, and it can still last until August."
Although Wanli Travel came out on top in this round of subsidy wars, it also spent the largest amount on subsidies.
Because he was relatively cautious and restrained in financing during the war, if the funds for his long-distance trip could not be called critical, at least he was in a distressed situation.
"Too little!"
Liu Jianni immediately pointed out, "Even if it is a start-up company, if it only has three or four months of money on its account, it is almost equal to the possibility of bankruptcy at any time."
"And this is under the premise that everything is normal. The market situation is changing rapidly. If there is any trouble, we don't even have an emergency account."
She was not referring to the resumption of the subsidy war between Dudu and Kuadu, which would inevitably involve the action of Goose Factory and Factory A. Correspondingly, the Bear Factory behind Wanli would not stand idly by.
“Wanli Travel’s last round of financing was completed in November last year, and it was almost half a year until May.”
"Although the interval is not long, our performance in the past six months is obvious to all. The order scale has increased dozens of times, and we have won the first place in market share. I think we have the next step.
The conditions for this round of financing.”
Lin Yi reminded: "This is the first round of financing after the subsidy war. Do we have or can we establish the industry advantages for Dudu and Kuaidu in one fell swoop? This is the reason why I invited you as an expert.
.”
Liu Jianni nodded to express her understanding, and then continued to explain her plan.
"There are two situations. If the capital market recognizes our performance some time ago and can obtain a sufficiently satisfactory valuation, then of course we can directly proceed with Series B financing."
"If the money-burning war some time ago has made investors wary, then considering the company's short-term capital security, we can first raise a limited-scale A2 round as a transition."
"Because you and Mo Yan invested US$10 million, directly skipping the first two rounds of investment of ordinary startups, the amount of Series A financing of Wanli Travel is equivalent to the amount of Series C of the other two companies, and it can be said to be very powerful in terms of control.
Stable."
Round B refers to the second round of financing, and round A2 refers to the supplement to the first round of financing. This is just a conventional term, and there is no strict distinction.
If there is any difference, it mainly lies in whether there has been a significant improvement in valuation compared to the previous round.
Judging from the current situation of Wanli Travel, the B round of financing is not the 100 million US dollars last time. If it is the A2 round, the amount may not be much different or even less.
Lin Yi knew that the financing process in the taxi-hailing industry would be very special, and he didn't care at all about the rounds that conventional startups went through.
"What's your suggestion?"
"Of course I hope to be directly involved in Series B, and I want to get there before Dudu and Kuadu."
Liu Jianni had another purpose that she didn't say out loud. She knew that this was the first assignment Lin Yi gave her, to test whether she was worthy of the 5% management equity.
"But I can't make a judgment in vain now. Financing is a systematic work. I need to configure a team and make some preparations."
"After the subsidy war is over, I think Wanli Travel needs a large-scale promotion. Our current market position and leading advantages should be made known to more people."
"Another thing worth noting is that the industry structure has actually changed after this war. If we at Wanli Travel don't take the initiative to speak out, it will be equivalent to actively handing over the power of interpretation to Dudu and Kuaidu. This is absolutely unacceptable.
Allowed to happen.”
"It's not that I can't trust the character of those two companies, but there are always scammers in the shopping mall. According to what Lin Yi introduced to me before, I think it's not too much to be cautious."
"At the same time, this is also a sales pitch. Investors are actually very sensitive to public opinion. Leaving an impression in their minds will be very helpful for our subsequent work."
"Of course you make the decision on other business matters. I will only provide opinions. I hope that while preparing for this round of public opinion, we can come up with more stories worth telling for investors."
"After that, I will start asking for prices in the market, that is, releasing news about Wanli Travel's next round of financing to collect feedback from investors."
Lin Yi had no objection to this and accepted the order: "You can raise the team yourself, whether you find it through your contacts or recruit in the market."
"In terms of costs, I know that finance companies are relatively expensive, so I won't give you special instructions. Now that you are also one of the owners of the company, I believe you know it yourself."
"As for PR, you already have connections. The senior sister has been in charge of the company before. I think I can report to you directly like the IR department."
IR is investor relations.
Liu Jianni said: "I will cooperate with Mo Yan. I happen to have a good idea, but I need to discuss it with her before I can implement it."
"But before that, I also thought of another thing. During the last round of financing, Wanli Travel signed a performance bet with Xiong Factory."
"It's almost time now. We should make an understanding so that we can prepare for the next round of financing easily."