Lin Yi didn't expect his small move to have any big effect. This kind of thing cannot be used as a winner in a matter of life and death for two companies.
Under his contact, the three major players in the industry, Wanli Travel, TukTuk Taxi and KuaDuTuk Taxi, jointly formed a temporary GR coordination team and began to fight for the private car business.
Considering the industry status of these three companies and the BAT represented by each of them, this weight can be said to be quite significant.
However, Lin Yi did not wait for a response on this matter for the time being. Liu Jianni had mentioned that what she was waiting for happened first.
In early June, the American taxi-hailing software Uber announced that it had completed Series D financing, with an amount of US$1.2 billion, and a post-investment valuation of US$17 billion.
Both amounts make sense.
The former represented the world's largest venture capital financing in the technology industry in 2014, and was called "epoch-making" by some in the industry.
As we all know, start-ups that have been established for less than 10 years and have a valuation of more than US$1 billion can be called unicorns. A valuation of US$17 billion represents the birth of one of the few super unicorns in the world.
The venture capital industry is highly internationalized, which is why we always see that the financing of domestic technology companies is basically priced in US dollars.
It is said that Uber did not want to raise so much money at the beginning, but investors were so "indulgent" that they repeatedly added more shares. The valuation of US$17 billion also represents their optimism about it.
This news was a mixed blessing for Lin Yi.
The worry is that Uber quietly launched in Shanghai in July last year and made an official announcement in February this year. It is expected to increase investment in the domestic market after this round of financing.
The good news is that with Uber as a ready-made example, Wanli Chuxing’s next round of financing is already in sight.
The news was told to him by Liu Jianni, and Lin Yi immediately asked: "Are you ready?"
Jenny Liu answered without hesitation: "Everything is ready. In fact, when the news about Uber came out, I had already talked with many friends, and now it can be officially launched."
Lin Yi asked: "How long do you think it will take to complete?"
Liu Jianni said: "Within two months."
This time is very important. According to their expected financing amount for this round, it will not be too hasty. At the same time, the current financial situation of Wanli Travel is taken into consideration, so that it will not affect safety.
Lin Yi asked again: "How do I need to cooperate?"
"some."
Liu Jianni began to assign tasks to him, "As the founder, CEO and largest shareholder of the company, it is natural that you cannot miss important roadshows. Even at other times, you must always be prepared for those who may call you.
.”
"Also, because the amount of financing in this round is relatively large, we are not expected to be able to meet the demand in the domestic financial market, so we will definitely need to go to the United States for a trip. If you want to make any preparations, please make arrangements in advance."
"For investors in Europe and other markets around the world, we can arrange phone and video roadshows if necessary. But generally speaking, it doesn't have to be that troublesome because we are not an IPO and the venture capital there is not that active."
Many domestic venture capital companies are actually just branches of multinational companies. Large investments need to be made at the headquarters, so Liu Jianni said to go directly to the United States.
As for whether he was really prepared, Lin Yi didn't even get a passport.
He thought of another thing: "By the way, do I need to improve my English level?"
"What level are you at?"
"Well... I scored over 130 points in the college entrance examination."
This is the most specific description that Lin Yi can give, because he gave up studying completely after entering college, and has not even passed CET-4 or CET-6.
However, his test results in his previous life were not very good. He took the CET-6 test once and did not want to improve his score again, so he said goodbye to this subject completely.
Liu Jianni understood Lin Yi's situation immediately, and she said simply:
"Since you have this question, at least you are not very confident in your listening and speaking skills, this is not a big problem. I will work with you throughout the process and can translate for you when the time comes."
Business negotiations are completely different from daily communication. You must not just make do with gestures. Misunderstanding a word may cause great risks, so she chose the safest approach.
Lin Yi doesn't necessarily want to be strong. His concern is: "If the founder's English level is average, will it leave a bad impression on the other party?"
"Don't worry about that."
Jenny Liu put it succinctly, "English is just a tool. Although Americans like to look at people with their nostrils, investors are very pragmatic and will never affect their decision-making for this reason. They will only see whether you can make money for them."
"
"But when it comes to your personal image, I think it's worth planning carefully."
"Actually, I wanted to say this when I took you to look for investment at Yiyi Takeout.com, but the relationship between us is not too close, so I didn't say it in detail."
"As someone who has been in contact with you for a long time, I can clearly feel that you are very mature in making decisions, but people who meet you for the first time may not have this understanding."
"Especially if you are very young, this is a very important pre-information. If you cannot overcome this first impression, others may not listen to you too carefully."
"Speaking of which, Asians often look younger than Americans. Would you mind hiring a stylist to make you look more mature?"
Lin Yi's mental age is certainly not 20, but there is nothing he can do about the skin he is wearing now.
What Liu Jiani said was quite straightforward, but Lin Yi didn't expect that talking about financing would lead to him finding a stylist for himself.
This...can probably be considered professional?
Liu Jianni made a summary for herself: "Lin Yi, sometimes entrepreneurs also need a personality, just like celebrities."
These words reminded Lin Yi of classmate Gu Caiwei, who was very popular in the first half of the year, and wondered if he should ask her for advice.
"No problem, you make the arrangements."
Lin Yi accepted this opinion kindly. He still trusted Liu Jianni's vision and accumulation over the years, otherwise he would not have invited her over.
In any case, as long as he can get financing, let alone pretending to be mature, even if he is asked to perform a backflip, it is not impossible.
Lin Yiyi left all the financing matters to Liu Jianni, and she quickly came up with a detailed process plan, road show itinerary, list of proposed investors, and a lot of detailed information, which was very efficient.
But Lin Yi didn't expect that before they set out for the United States, the person they had been talking about would commit suicide in front of them, just like a huge black ship suddenly crashing into the remote pier of Wanli Travel.
Because Jenny Liu told him: "Kalanick from Uber said he wants to see you."