Zhang Xuhao is 28 years old. He received his undergraduate degree from Tongji University and his master's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Three generations of his family have been in business. During the Republic of China, the "Button King" in Shanghai was his grandfather, the "Bearing King" was his uncle, and his father was also a businessman.
In 2008, he and several classmates started to make extra money by compiling a list of restaurants around the school. Students would call to order food, and they would pick up the food and earn a lot of hard money.
Later, the scale expanded, and Ele.me was officially founded in 2009.
It started as a website and monopolized Shanghai's university market. In 2011, it received its first financing and began to expand to Hangzhou and Beijing, still focusing on the university market.
Because ordering takeout is a necessity for college students.
There are many small food delivery websites in Beijing, but they have all been defeated by Ele.me. The company is running well and the business is going well. It is a time of high spirits.
Zhang Xuhao would never have thought that he was just a pioneer for the king.
"Mr. Zhang, the guests are here!"
"knew!"
This morning, a guy who claimed to be a representative of Yuetuan.com visited the headquarters of Ele.me and praised him with a smile: "Mr. Zhang is young and promising. It is better to meet him if he is famous!"
"Where is it? We are just getting started."
"Hey, the Internet trend has not stopped, and there is still a large blue ocean. The Internet is different from traditional industries. Young talents are the standard. At your age, I was still doing grassroots work."
After a few words of greeting, the visitor got straight to the point and said: "Yuetuan.com is very optimistic about the potential of Ele.me. Catering is the largest group buying business and the best incubator for takeaways. You and I are a perfect match. I believe we can occupy the market soon."
.”
“Do you want to invest or acquire?”
"Acquisition!"
"I'm sorry to say this, but we have no intention of selling it."
Zhang Xuhao is not making a fuss, but he really doesn’t want to. Why should I sell my company to you when it is prospering? Besides, Ele.me has already received Series B financing, and there are other shareholders.
The other party originally had the attitude of giving it a try and didn't insist on it. After chatting for a while, he left.
Zhang Xuhao didn’t pay much attention, but a few days later, Meituan came again and proposed to acquire the company, but was also rejected.
Zhang Xuhao was a little angry now. What's going on, you treat me like a party favor? You guys haven't decided the winner of the group purchase yet, so you don't take the takeaway seriously.
If you have financing, so do I. If you have capital backers, I will also look for them!
Just do it!
…………
Being rejected by Ele.me, Lei Jun was mentally prepared. Since acquisition was not an option, he would do it himself.
By mid to late June.
In 99, Yuetuan and Gaode jointly held a press conference. Yao Yuan, Lei Jun, and Cheng Congwu were present in person and announced at the meeting:
"99 Group has a strategic investment of US$400 million in Yuetuan.com, accounting for 20% of the shares!"
"99 Group invested US$290 million in AutoNavi, accounting for 30% of the shares, becoming the largest shareholder. AutoNavi Map will be connected to Yuetuan.com to provide users with information positioning services for restaurants, merchants, hotels, etc.!"
Buzz!
There was a commotion in the media outside the venue. This special girl is a big event!
When it came to the question and answer session, they raised their hands like flagpoles and asked: "Why did 99 choose to focus on the group buying market at this time?"
"The word "heavy position" is used well. Generally, if there is a "heavy position", it probably means that you are very optimistic about this stock."
Yao Yuan laughed and said: "The group buying war has been going on for 3 or 4 years. From hundreds of groups to thousands of groups to three, it has fully demonstrated its value and boundaries. Generally speaking, I think the value of group buying is greater than the boundaries.
So I invested.”
"Then why choose Yuetuan?"
"Of course it's because of my personal relationship with Mr. Lei!"
"But I heard that you two had some trouble in the e-commerce market?"
"That was all ten years ago."
Lei Jun also said with a smile: "Shopping malls are different from each other. I have always had a good private relationship with Mr. Yao. This cooperation is also the result of many communications. But it is indeed our first time to work together, and I am looking forward to what will happen."
Effect."
"Then what plans does Yuetuan.com have next?"
"Sorry for the inconvenience of making it public at the moment!"
“Will 99 acquire Yuetuan?”
"This should not happen. Lei is always an extremely outstanding entrepreneur. I maintain the greatest respect and trust in him."
The topic focused on Yao Yuan and Lei Jun, while Cheng Congwu was ignored and only said a few words.
But he is very tolerant. Gaode has already sold himself out anyway and has a clear direction. Just keep going and he will definitely have his own place in the future.
The impact of the press conference spread quickly, shaking the group buying and the investors behind it.
No matter what the business is in the future, as soon as a big factory comes in, everyone will rush to tell each other that "Alibaba is over" and "Tencent is over". There is a mentality of having fun, but also a helplessness of being accustomed to being cut off.
This is the power of big manufacturers, and even ordinary netizens know the consequences.
At this stage, 99 already has such influence.
…………
Shen Nanpeng has been very busy recently.
Meituan’s 2 rounds of financing and Dianping’s 5 rounds of financing, Sequoia participated in both.
The three companies maintained a balance, and the sudden end of 99 was bound to disrupt the situation. Shen Nanpeng met with Wang Xing first and reassured him, saying that since you have investment from Alibaba, Alibaba will definitely not sit idly by.
I followed him to Shanghai and met Zhang Tao from Dianping.
Zhang Tao didn't have a big factory behind him, so he was worried. Shen Nanpeng comforted him again, saying that I would find a backer for you.
If we put it 10 years ago, everyone would have nothing, and they would rely on money to compete for the market. But it is different now. Now you may not be able to win even if you have money, you must have an ecosystem.
In a sense, ecology ≈ traffic.
This process is to convert traffic into users.
All tracks play like this. This is the foundation of the monopoly of big manufacturers and the reason why small companies need backers.
As for investors like Shen Nanpeng, their role has changed, becoming more like a middleman, mediator, or helping to make suggestions.
Shenzhen, Tencent headquarters.
Xiao Ma met Shen Nanpeng in his office, and they had a very good relationship. Shen Nanpeng would not ignore Xiao Ma because of Yao Yuan, and Xiao Ma would not ignore him either.
“Dianping started as a food community and has very high user stickiness, otherwise it would not have become a force in the group buying market in such a short period of time.
Meituan has Alibaba, and Yao Yuan joins forces with Lei Jun. If you still want to do group buying, this is your only option."
"well……"
Xiao Ma sighed quietly, rather melancholy: "Tencent is engaged in e-commerce, why can't it always succeed?"
"Maybe the genes don't match. Alibaba has not done well in social networking. Yao Yuan seems to have a two-pronged approach, but Liu Qiangdong is responsible for e-commerce, and he is responsible for social networking."
Shen Nanpeng smiled.
Tencent has launched QQ Group for group buying, and also cooperated with Gaopeng to create a local Gaopeng website, which was a hit.
As we all know, the Internet has two major obsessions: Alibaba’s obsession with social networking, and Tencent’s obsession with e-commerce. It’s amazing to say...
"Okay, we originally wanted to vote for Dianping."
Brother Ma nodded in agreement and said with a smile: "I need to trouble you to coordinate."
"Easy to say, I should do it."
…
At this point, 99, Alibaba, and Tencent are all on the table!
Three landlords fight.
99 has just announced the news and has the strongest momentum. Everyone is waiting for their next move.