What Lin Yi didn't expect was that before SoftBank's $5 billion was even in his hands, others were already eyeing it.
As the younger brother of Mobike, the two main operators, Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng, came together.
This is rare.
Since then Wanli Travel has given Mobike US$100 million, and later continued to increase its holdings, and holds a veto power, making it undoubtedly the most important shareholder of Mobike.
However, Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng may have been cautious about traveling thousands of miles, so they carefully kept their distance.
The obligations that should be performed are never ambiguous, and the etiquette that should be performed is absolutely thoughtful, but it is not close to intimacy.
Hu Weiwei also specifically explained: "Chairman Li did not come here in person because he was delayed by other matters. It is not a neglect."
Lin Yi knew what Li Bing was busy with. After announcing an eye-catching electric supercar at the end of last year and setting several track records as marketing, he would finally launch his first mass-produced car in the future.
This reminded Lin Yi that the car-building team he had high hopes for had not yet handed over its work.
But having said that, although Li Bing still holds the position of chairman of Mobike, his role has actually been diluted as the shareholding ratio of Wanli Travel has increased.
It's simply that Lin Yi has no idea about the chairman's position that won't last long, otherwise he should have been replaced long ago.
Back to business, after a few words of greeting, Lin started to ask about their purpose of coming, and the two people saw the opportunity and immediately started to complain.
"You don't know, the pressure on Mobike is very high now."
"Although we completed Series D and Series D financing in the first two months of the year and seemed to have the upper hand, Xiaohuangche raised US$450 million in one go in March, once again setting an industry record."
"In terms of business, both parties have been very tight on the quantity of products to be launched, but you know that the cost of a single Mobike was relatively high at the beginning. Later, it was reduced due to our efforts, but we do not have an advantage over this."
"Another one, I heard that Mobike is still preparing for D-round financing. This will further widen the gap in funding, so the situation of Mobike is not optimistic."
Of course Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng exaggerated, but the facts are basically the same.
Why is the little yellow car so rich?
Because after Dai Wei rejected Lin Yi, the sponsor father he found for himself was Goose Factory!
No one knows the banknote ability of Goose Factory better than Lin Yi, otherwise he would not have been suppressed by Cheng Wei, and Liu Qing's final comeback was inseparable from Xiao Ma's support.
So when the two people from Mobike heard that Wanli Travel had received US$5 billion, they immediately came to see them and complained. The purpose was obvious.
Lin Yixiao asked: "It's not as miserable as you said, right?"
"Not long ago, we announced our launch in Singapore with great fanfare. At that time, my investors were asking me why you were still holding back even though Mobike had already entered overseas markets."
Wang Xiaofeng has always been quick-tongued and seems to be very straightforward.
"To tell you the truth, Lin Yi, the so-called entry of shared bicycles into overseas markets is nothing more than a gimmick. Whether it can be profitable or not is not a question."
"On the one hand, the little yellow car was the first to announce its overseas strategy at the end of last year. Regardless of whether it made money or not, at least it attracted enough news coverage, so of course we have to not fall behind."
"On the other hand, a group of media have rated shared bicycles as one of the four new inventions, and have put us there. We can't justify it if we don't do something."
The so-called new four inventions refer to high-speed rail, payment codes, shared bicycles and online shopping. They were very popular concepts on the Internet that year.
But it only became popular for a year.
Wang Xiaofeng's words were a bit advantageous and good-natured. He didn't complain when he relied on this name to promote or show off, so he probably spent a lot of money on public relations.
Lin Yi was too lazy to talk to him about this and simply asked: "Let's be honest, how much do you want?"
Not to mention, it feels quite fresh to be someone else's financial sponsor.
The other two also came prepared. Hu Weiwei quickly took out a financing plan and handed it over, briefly explaining:
"Our initial plan is to target US$600-800 million for the next round of financing."
Oops.
Lin Yi didn't go through their plan carefully. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still a little shocked when he heard the amount.
Wanli Travel has raised US$5 billion, how far has it come? How far has Mobike come from, and it has to spend so much money?
That's not how money is made.
Hu Weiwei observed the words and expressions and found that Lin Yi seemed to have some opinions, so he added:
"Wanli Travel only needs to bear part of it and continue to lead the investment to show its confidence and support for Mobike. We can get the rest through other investors."
Lin Yi thought for a while and replied: "You can pay, but Wanli Travel has hardly interfered with your operations for such a long time."
"Now that you also admit that our support is vital to Mobike, I think we should also reach an agreement on business issues."
If you don’t make a request at this time, what are you waiting for?
Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng looked at each other, and what they worried about happened.
Because they have always felt that Wanli Travel is a giant in the travel field after all, and will definitely have ambitions to directly get involved in shared bicycles beyond investment, so they are on guard against it.
As the saying goes, people have to bow their heads under the eaves. I guess I can't escape this time.
Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng were also mentally prepared. They really began to report Mobike's operating conditions to Lin Yi and listened to his "instructions."
Of course Lin Yi didn't say it casually.
He got involved in the bike-sharing industry, knowing full well that he could not stop this noisy farce, so he could only do his little bit.
At this time, he emphasized to Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng: "I know that Mobike's funds are tight. We can raise funds and think of other ways, but the user's deposit cannot be touched."
This is not the first time Lin Yi has made this request. The financial director he sent to Mobike has always followed this impulse.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, Hu Weiwei and Wang Xiaofeng nodded in agreement at this moment.
Lin Yi originally only planned to talk about this one thing, but after carefully looking at Mobike's expenses, he found some other problems.
"The company's marketing expenses are very high. Although it is a normal phenomenon in the promotion stage, why do I think Hu Weiwei has spent so much on you alone?"
This question was a bit embarrassing to ask, as if he was accusing the other party of harming the public and enriching his own private life.
Wang Xiaofeng quickly helped to explain: "Well, Xiaohuangche recently hired a popular idol named Lu Han to be its spokesperson, and it has a good effect in attracting customers among female users."
"So we thought about following our example. Weiwei is the founder of the company and has a good image, so we thought it would be appropriate for her to do this."
"As a rare female entrepreneur, she has indeed received a lot of recognition and has played a certain role in the promotion of Mobike."
Lin Yi knew that they had some tacit understanding.
Hu Weiwei does not have the ability to manage a large company at all. After Wang Xiaofeng took office, it was equivalent to taking a back seat and might even add to the chaos.
But she is the founder of the company after all, so she can't be kicked away, so I thought of finding a job like this for her to shine in a vase.
Hu Weiwei was a journalist herself. Whether it was because of her personality that she liked to be in the public eye or because she felt that it would be personally beneficial to increase her reputation, she was also satisfied with this arrangement, so they hit it off.
Strictly speaking, it's a bit like using the company's money to package yourself.
Lin Yi ignored their mess and went straight to the core: "Xiaohuangche's invitation to Lu Han was effective, so I would like to ask if the endorsement by Hu Weiwei is effective?"
The other person was a little embarrassed, but Wang Xiaofeng replied: "It's okay."
He didn't feel confident enough to say this, so Lin Yi knocked on the table: