You don’t necessarily need to go all the way to the United States to meet with people at Uber. Out of his great emphasis on the mainland market, Kalanick spent almost half of his time working here in 2015.
Because four of the five cities with the highest order volume for Uber in the world appear here.
Although he has raised two separate funds after the split, he has not appointed a president in this area. The highest-level management is Liu Zhen, the so-called strategic person in charge, so many things must be done personally.
"Peng!"
Cheng Wei entered the office and slammed the door angrily. It seemed that he had just experienced some unpleasantness and almost hit Liu Qing who was following him.
He hurriedly took a sip of water to moisten his throat, then turned around and continued to talk:
"I knew that bastard Kalanick didn't have any sincerity at all. He didn't look like he was here to negotiate. It looked like he was giving me an ultimatum!"
This was not a public place, there were only two people in the office, Cheng Wei and Liu Qing, so he had no scruple in yelling.
Cheng Wei scolded him for a while before he felt relieved. It was Kalanick who had a talent for being annoying that could not be ignored.
His arrogant attitude was no different from the first time they met, making Cheng Wei feel that he was humiliating himself by rushing to meet him today.
Who gave him the confidence?
After Cheng Wei vented his emotions, he realized that Liu Qing had not said a word.
The female CEO of hers has always been very well-educated. She has never lost control of her emotions whether publicly or privately. She can even face a serious disease like breast cancer without changing her expression. Cheng Wei really admires this.
Cheng Wei reviewed himself and felt that he still needed to learn from her in terms of calmness.
"Jean, what do you think? I didn't even see you talking like that during the negotiations today."
Generally speaking, when communicating with foreign companies or foreigners, Liu Qing is the main contact, because she has worked at Goldman Sachs for many years and her English is basically her native language, and she has experience and connections outside.
Of course, Liu Qing's silence doesn't mean that Cheng Wei and Kalanick can't communicate. Since Du Kuaidu has a big family and business now, he even brought more than one translator.
Liu Qing replied: "Since it is a direct conversation between you and Kalanick, I think it will be more convenient for you two to fully communicate and exchange opinions if I don't interrupt."
This reason makes sense. Liu Qing is a very conscientious person, and he is very careful not to steal the limelight from Cheng Wei, the leader, when they appear together.
But what she said next was a little surprising.
"I think Kalanick showed some sincerity, at least he made concessions on the use of Uber's brand."
"Is that what he calls a concession?"
At this time, Cheng Wei had not noticed the strangeness of his partner, and still expressed indignantly:
"Since we are about to merge with Uber, there is no doubt that we will continue to use our brand. Do we still need his confirmation?"
"Kalanick is still so arrogant and arrogant. Everything he gave me seemed like charity."
"But now it's me who wants to annex him, not him who wants to annex me!"
Cheng Wei couldn't help but get angrier and angrier, but this time he soon discovered that not only did his partner not agree, but he seemed to have different opinions.
"Will, since it is a negotiation between us and Uber, of course it is impossible to decide everything according to our wishes. I think we need to be realistic."
Cheng Wei originally wanted to say "He needs to be more realistic", but now when he looked at the female CEO, the weirdness in his heart became more and more obvious.
"You mean, is Uber's plan acceptable?"
"I didn't say that."
Liu Qing didn't seem to notice the doubt in his tone, "I mean, if a negotiation is to be reached, both sides will inevitably have to make concessions. You should still remember that we talked with Kuadu in Pengcheng.
Three weeks, right?"
"I would like to hear your overall views on this matter, or under what circumstances can you accept a merger with Uber?"
Cheng Wei had completely calmed down. Of course he remembered the difficult negotiation with Kuadu, but he also remembered that Liu Qing's behavior was not like this.
"I respect Uber's global market position very much. To be honest, cooperation with Lyft, Grab Taxi and Uber is a very marginal interest for Dudu. I can completely accept giving them up in order to facilitate the merger with Uber."
"But the premise is that Uber must respect our market position in mainland China just as I respect it, and complete the merger with us based on the gap between the two parties."
"Except for the rights he can retain, except how much shares and voting rights he should get, there is no room for him to dictate other things. Otherwise, what is the significance of this merger for us?"
Cheng Wei laid out his plan in one breath. Apart from not having any thoughts about internationalization, he basically spoke from the bottom of his heart.
However, internationalization is an elusive vision for today's capital. Instead of clinging to this, it is better to solve the current situation first.
"This condition is impossible for Uber, at least not yet."
"The reason why they put forward harsh conditions is not because Kalanick can't lose face, but because the board of directors cannot accept the outcome of Uber's defeat in China."
"Then keep fighting!"
Cheng Wei was not afraid to speak firmly, "Uber has 2 billion US dollars in hand, let's see who can survive this money-burning war to the end!"
After he said these subconscious words, he finally realized something was wrong. It wasn't that there was anything unexpected about what he just said.
But why did it come out of Liu Qing's mouth?
Cheng Wei suddenly remembered that the outrageous conditions proposed by Uber this time were originally conveyed to him by Liu Qing, which led to this meeting.
He looked at his partner in surprise and finally asked in confusion:
"Jean, you just asked me what I thought. Now I want to ask you what you said when you contacted Uber before?"
The suspicion in these words was already obvious, and Liu Qing's attitude was as calm as ever.
"I found my sister Liu Zhen. Under her recommendation, I had direct communication with Kalanick more than once. I also communicated with their shareholders, so I have a good understanding of Uber's situation."
"I can tell you the truth. I have talked to Kalanick about everything you met to discuss today. Otherwise, I would not have conveyed those words or arranged this meeting."
"Will, although you have repeatedly emphasized that Uber is at a disadvantage now, no one knows this better than us, and I will never deny it."
"But this is a dilemma and no one wins."
"In my opinion, we have reached the point where we have to cut the knot quickly and resolve this melee. After all, we all know that Uber is not the only option for us."
"Kalanick could have gone to that guy named Lin Yi to discuss the same plan. Given his situation, he might not refuse such an offer."
"In that case, we would be passive. After all, we relied on the merger of Dudu and Kuadu to get ahead of him."
"Will, it is inevitable to pay a price for this purpose. Didn't we also make a lot of compromises and concessions when facing Lu Chuanwei and Chen Weixing?"
Cheng Wei knew very well that what seemed to be a compromise with Kuadu was actually with Factory A, and Factory A has now become the backend of Wanli Travel.
If today we are talking to Lin Yi about the merger, then Cheng Wei is completely mentally prepared to make some concessions.
But with Uber, this is not necessary.
As for what difficulties Uber and Kalanick have, why should I understand their difficulties?
Cheng Wei didn't say these words out loud because he shouldn't need to be reminded of these things, and Liu Qing knew it very well.
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"Compromise also depends on how you compromise and why you compromise. Let me tell you clearly that in my opinion these are unacceptable."
"Will, Uber has made their concessions, we should also be more sincere, right?"
"Ha! As long as Americans make coy and hypocritical gestures and give up something that doesn't belong to them in the first place, is that considered a release of goodwill?"
Cheng Wei finally discovered the most ridiculous part of this conversation.