Lin Yi made a special trip to the island country just to see this.
Masayoshi Son is a Japanese-Korean, and he once claimed that his ancestral home is Southern Fujian Province. The only thing that can be determined about his origin is that he is Asian. I wonder if his identity will be confused.
For contemporary young people, he may be the most famous island entrepreneur. After all, the god of business such as Konosuke Matsushita is too old a historical term.
The SoftBank Group founded by Masayoshi Son is famous for its investment business. One of the most classic examples in China is that it gave US$20 million to Factory A and received thousands of times in return.
SoftBank has a close relationship with Factory A and Majek himself, so Wanli Travel directly participated in the last round of financing. This time, Lin Yi met the richest man in the island country for the first time.
Son also attended university in the United States, so he is very fluent in English.
"Welcome Lin Yi. I've been looking forward to meeting you. It's great that you can come here this time. You look younger than I thought."
Lin Yi said very humbly: "I'm rude. I should have come to visit you when we were negotiating with Factory A. Mr. Majek has always praised you as the truly wise person he has ever met."
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"The reason why I put it off until now is not because I mean to be disrespectful. It's just that the competitive situation between Wanli Travel and Dudu Kuaidu, that is, the current Xindudu has been very anxious, so I can't get away from it."
The cultures of East Asia are relatively close. No matter which country Son is from, there will be no misunderstandings based on his experience in the world.
It is said that knowing the elegant meaning after hearing the sound of strings, he saw that Lin Yi took the initiative to mention Liu Qing's new capital so quickly, so he no longer wasted time on greetings.
"If that's the case, then you made a special trip to see me this time. You must have something to discuss?"
Lin Yizhen cheered up and said: "That's true. I'm here this time for the next round of financing that Wanli Travel has launched. I hope to get support from SoftBank Group and you personally."
Sun Zhengyi was not surprised, because although Lin Yi did not discuss it in detail before coming, he had already revealed it in advance.
“Wanli Travel’s last round of financing led by Factory A was completed at the beginning of this year, and only a few months have passed.”
"I have read your financial statements. The current capital reserves are relatively safe. Will starting financing at this time seem hasty?"
Naturally, Lin Yi would not mention the pressure on Liu Qing at this time. He answered in a decent manner:
"As you may know, after the last round of financing, our two main competitors were about to merge with Uber."
"So the industry structure we are facing has actually undergone important changes, and the intensity of competition between the two parties has increased since then."
"We believe that replenishing financial reserves under such circumstances is the key to Wanli Travel being able to remain competitive in the event of any changes."
Sun Zhengyi was noncommittal and asked: "You just mentioned Xindudu after the merger. I think you should know that this is also a company that we and Factory A have invested in."
"This company has just changed a manager. What do you think of Liu Qing and the new company after the merger?"
Lin Yi secretly became wary. He knew that SoftBank was already a shareholder of Kudos after the merger, but he didn't expect that Masayoshi Son would bring it up in person.
Did Liu Qing kick Cheng Wei away? Could it be that the person in front of him had a share in this?
"I actually don't have much contact with Ms. Liu Qing. She met us twice when she was still at Goldman Sachs to sell her industry merger plan."
"Judging from what she did after joining Dudu Taxi, she basically followed her original thinking, striving to achieve integration of the taxi industry, and then obtain excess profits through a monopoly position."
"But I think Ms. Liu Qing still has a biased understanding of the business of taxi-hailing software. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been such a big disturbance recently. You must have heard about this."
"In short, I am not deliberately belittling her because she is my competitor, but I sincerely believe that traveling thousands of miles has its own advantages, and we can handle it whether it is Beijing or Uber."
Sun Zhengyi smiled understandingly and explained: "Don't misunderstand me, and don't have any worries. I don't want to differentiate between you and Liu Qing."
"Actually, I don't think the current competition between you, Wanli Travel, and Liu Qing's Xindu is completely necessary."
"Just like the U.S. market is big enough to accommodate two ride-hailing companies, Uber and Lyft, if you are willing to give up the high subsidy costs, I think you can survive together."
"Of course, I'm not trying to make peace between you. The competitive environment you are in is something I can't feel, so I don't want to interfere with your management."
"The only thing I want to point out is that I am optimistic about you, and it does not prevent me from continuing to be optimistic about Liu Qing and her Xindudu."
Lin Yismacked what he meant and asked, "Has Liu Qing already contacted you?"
There was a trace of appreciation in Son Zhengyi's eyes: "Yes, and I have promised to participate in the next round of financing she is promoting."
This guy has a huge appetite.
Lin Yi finally confirmed that Sun Zhengyi meant that both sides should take it all. If that was the case, he had to ask one more question:
"Will you place more emphasis on us and Liu Qing?"
Son Zhengyi waved his hand boldly: "Not at all. You can rest assured that how much I give you and how much I give her are two completely independent decisions."
"I know you may have some doubts, and I don't mind opening the skylight to you and speaking frankly."
"Because I am very optimistic about the concept of online ride-hailing and shared travel. Not only us, but all the investors who have already placed bets have expressed with real money that this may be the biggest wave in the o2o field."
"What is before you may be the opportunity to become the next A Factory and Majek. SoftBank will naturally not sit idly by."
"In short, I don't care who wins or loses between you and Liu Qing. I just want to believe that the potential of this industry has not been fully explored and the growth space has not peaked."
"I not only want to invest in you, I also hope to invest in Uber and Lyft at the same time. This matter is already being communicated."
Masayoshi Son seems magnanimous, but in fact he still has reservations. He did not explain that SoftBank is able to attack in all directions because it is preparing a fund of unprecedented scale.
But Lin Yi happened to know.
He thought for a while, and it seemed that the SoftBank Vision Fund, with a total amount of an astonishing US$100 billion, was established in 2016. No wonder Son was so generous.
SoftBank was able to raise such a fund, of course because of the blood of an enemy, but it was also through investment miracles like Factory A that it gained fame and a strong sense of existence over the years.
Nowadays, the entire ict entrepreneurship circle is in a hot state, coupled with the unprecedented prosperity of the venture capital industry, countless unicorns emerge every year, and there is a fanatical atmosphere hanging over everyone.
Masayoshi Son probably wouldn't have imagined that when the industry goes down in a few years, this 100-billion-dollar fund will face huge losses.
But that has nothing to do with Lin Yi, and he has no obligation to remind Sun Zhengyi to pay attention to investment risks, not to mention that even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to dissuade him.
SoftBank's investment style has always been radical. It invested 20 million US dollars in Factory A that year, purely because Jack Ma felt that he could not spend the 40 million he offered, so he repeatedly declined and only took half.
He is the kind of super rich man who can give you 10 yuan if you want 1 yuan.
So Lin Yida looked like he was knocked unconscious by this huge sum of money, and said with tears of gratitude: "Thank you very much for your kindness!"