If the localization development of the sharing economy in China is divided into several stages, then this first stage may start with taxi-hailing software.
At that time, the taxi-hailing software was still based on Uber, which was very popular in overseas markets. It was not until it entered the domestic market that it changed its name to "Uber" in order to better implement its localization strategy.
When it first entered the domestic market, Uber almost continued its dominance in overseas markets and completed its occupation of the domestic market at an extremely fast speed.
In less than 2 years, its service scope has radiated to more than 60 cities across the country, and has covered more than 70 countries and more than 400 cities globally.
This amazing achievement is unparalleled in the world. Looking at the entire field of Internet taxi-hailing, it can be said that no one can do it.
But because of this, Uber is almost like other international Internet giants, only focusing on the implementation of globalization strategies, and does not care about the so-called gains and losses of one city and one pool.
Therefore, just like other international Internet giants' domestic scripts, such as Amazon, Yahoo and Alibaba, Google and Baidu...
After all, it is hard for a powerful dragon to defeat a local snake. In this three-thirds of an acre of land in China, it is the Chinese who understand the needs of the Chinese people better.
Although Uber was a latecomer, it could not escape the same mistakes. Although it spent a lot of effort on its localization strategy, it was ultimately defeated in the fierce battle with Didi Taxi.
Facts have proved that monks from outside may not be able to recite sutras easily.
In the end, the first stage of the development of the sharing economy in China came to an end with the victory of Didi Taxi and the merger of Uber's domestic businesses one by one. The market value increased to a height of US$35 billion in one fell swoop.
With the popularity of shared bicycles, the second stage of the sharing economy has begun...
It is not difficult to see from this that the localized development of the sharing economy may be viewed simply and crudely from the perspective of: imitation-innovation-transcendence.
In fact, not only the Internet industry, but also most industries that are in line with international standards seem to follow this stage, but some are still stuck in the first stage, and individual leaders can reach the second stage...
And those who are able to do better than others are undoubtedly rare.
If we talk about the staged development of the sharing economy, taxi-hailing software is in the first stage, then shared bicycles should be considered to have reached the threshold of the second stage.
This has also inspired some entrepreneurs who want to start a business in the direction of the sharing economy, and they have started various attempts in this direction.
Cai Guangyuan, who had previously worked for Uber, left Uber after Uber was defeated, but he always felt that the future of the sharing economy in China was more than that.
However, before Cai Guangyuan could settle down for a while, the sudden rise of shared bicycles in just one year gave him a deep understanding of what "speed of planting flowers" means!
Naturally, Cai Guangyuan is no stranger to this kind of speed. In his opinion, the real reason that led to the failure of Uber's localization was precisely because of its inability to adapt to this kind of speed.
You must know that in the six years since its establishment, Uber has only completed 1 billion orders based on the global market, and this achievement is already "second to none" in overseas markets.
But what about Didi Taxi?
In just one year, it exceeded Uber's six-year accumulation, and the total number of orders accumulated in 2015 was as high as 300 million.
Not only did it take less time, but the funds used were less than a quarter of the opponent's!
I don’t know whether it should be said that the predecessors planted trees for future generations to enjoy the shade, or that current events create heroes?
It is precisely this disproportionate development speed that has led Uber to abandon its ride-hailing business and continue to focus on developing its overseas markets in order not to be clamped down by Didi.
From the failure of Uber, Cai Guangyuan undoubtedly learned what it means to be truly "soldier and faster". If he cannot keep up with the development trend of the industry, even a giant like Uber in the overseas market will inevitably fail.
But seeing the sudden rise of shared bicycles, Cai Guangyuan, who was originally determined to continue to expand his territory in the sharing economy, only belatedly realized what he had missed.
Therefore, when the shared power bank industry had just begun to emerge, Cai Guangyuan no longer hesitated and immediately formed an entrepreneurial team.
Although he failed to catch up with the trend of shared bicycles, it is not that Cai Guangyuan did nothing during the period after he came out of Uber.
Being able to pull together an entrepreneurial team in a short period of time is undoubtedly the most powerful proof, and this team is not just a random group of soldiers and generals.
They are all a group of like-minded people he has gathered during this period, and all of these people are from major domestic Internet companies and can be regarded as industry elites.
Being able to pull together such a team is undoubtedly a reflection of Cai Guangyuan's personal ability.
After learning from the experience of Uber's failure, and watching the sudden rise of shared bicycles, Cai Guangyuan knew that it was not too late. If he wanted to get a share of the sharing economy, he had to do it quickly!
On the second day after forming the team, Cai Guangyuan called together his partners and technical staff, finalized the entrepreneurial direction of shared power banks, and established a company and product name.
"Monster Charge" came into being.
In front of this group of technical backbones from major Internet companies, the mediocre technical difficulties of shared power banks naturally cannot be a problem for them.
Not only did it solve the technical pain points in a short period of time, but it even created technical features that support multi-device fast charging by drawing inferences from one example and other cases, and used it as a selling point to solve the pain points of single-device charging on the market.
From then on, it can be said that everything is ready, all that is left is the east wind.
The initial investment has already invested all the limited funds of the entrepreneurial team. If you want to spread the product in the market of Magic City, you will undoubtedly need a lot of funds.
If a product only stays in the paper stage and has not been tempered in the melting pot of the market, it is definitely not a mature product.
Seeing that the people under his command were not vague at all, and had solved all the problems of products and business models one by one, there was undoubtedly only one problem left in front of Cai Guangyuan, the leader.
That's money!
Everything remains the same, and funding issues are always the essential issue that restricts the development of most companies. Every start-up company has dreamed of going to the end of the world with a sword, but in the end they all succumbed to the hardships of life.
As the saying goes, those who are near the water come first, so in order to prevent his dream from dying prematurely, Cai Guangyuan set his sights on the investment institutions in this three-acre area of the Magic City and visited them one by one.
It's just that investment institutions have long been accustomed to people with dreams like this. How can one day not receive 180 of them?
Although the shared power bank industry has begun to take off, not all investment institutions have expectations for the future prospects of this industry.
Since the "Bet of the Century" between Zhou Dongsheng and Principal Wang spread, there have been many supporters of whether shared power bank is a "fake demand or a real demand", regardless of whether it is the former or the latter.
After all, this is a two-choice multiple-choice question. No matter which one you choose, the chances of success or failure are 50-50. Therefore, the opinions in the market are generally divided into two factions, with clear distinctions.
Among them, investment institutions that believe that shared power banks have great potential have already begun to act secretly, and those that are still standing still now clearly have no intention of doing so.
As luck would have it, the institution that shut Cai Guangyuan out was undoubtedly the latter.
Facts have proved that no matter how popular the sharing economy is, not all institutions will choose to plunge into this field to get a piece of the pie.
For this reason, Cai Guangyuan is not discouraged. This is just the normal behavior of entrepreneurs. If this one doesn't work, then he will go to the next one.
And when he saw the name of the next organization he visited, his heart couldn't help but move slightly.
Dongsheng Group!
The reason why he put it later was because Cai Guangyuan subconsciously felt that since Dongsheng Investment had acquired Jiedian, he was obviously determined to build a shared power bank brand himself.
Under such circumstances, the possibility of fostering another competitor is almost slim.
However, Dongsheng Investment's two successful investments in the field of shared bicycles made Cai Guangyuan feel that there was a glimmer of possibility.
If there is no response from other investment institutions, then why not be rejected again?
just in case……
Thinking of this, Cai Guangyuan regained his strength, cleaned up his mood and came to Dongsheng Group.
Arriving at the front desk, Cai Guangyuan greeted the front desk with a smile, "Hello, I am Cai Guangyuan. I have already made an appointment. I don't know..."
Before Cai Guangyuan finished speaking, the girl at the front desk showed a surprised expression, "You are Mr. Cai! Welcome to Dongsheng Investment. Mr. Zhang has specially told him that if you come, please inform him and he will receive you personally.
…”
"I will take you to the VIP reception room to wait for a moment!"
Cai Guangyuan couldn't help but feel a little flattered. He had met with disappointment from other investment institutions. Unexpectedly, Dongsheng Group, which had no expectations, gave him warm courtesy...
This made Cai Guangyuan sigh with emotion. Just for this attitude, he deserves his success. It can be said that the truth is reflected in the subtleties.
After all, even a little guy like me can get such treatment...
"Okay, sorry to trouble you." Cai Guangyuan smiled and nodded, and then followed the girl at the front desk to the VIP reception room to wait.
However, what Cai Guangyuan didn't know was that Zhou Dongsheng had already learned about this matter from Zhang Xiaoguang as early as when he made an appointment to visit.
When he heard the words "Monster Charging", Zhou Dongsheng immediately thought of this company that had taken up the first banner of shared power banks.
Sure enough, it was the shadow of a famous tree. Zhou Dongsheng did not expect that such an unexpected surprise would come to his door.
If Cai Guangyuan hadn't taken the initiative to come to his door, Zhou Dongsheng might not have thought of this industry's first stock for a while.
Now that I thought about it, I naturally wouldn't let the meat of my mouth slip away, so I solemnly ordered Zhang Xiaoguang to receive it seriously and find a way to get the angel round investment from this company.
In this regard, the reason given by Zhou Dongsheng is also very simple and plain, "If you are optimistic about an industry, it is definitely not safe to invest in just one company. After all, good things come in pairs. No matter what, you have to have more than two companies to share the risk..."
"Moreover, this Cai Guangyuan used to work for Uber and has a certain understanding of the sharing economy. Now he has chosen power banks instead of shared bicycles to start a business. He may have his own opinions..."
"Lao Zhang, go meet him and get angel round investment if you can. It's not much money anyway, and we can afford to lose money now."
To this day, even if what Zhou Dongsheng said makes no sense and has no logic at all, it will not affect the execution of the people below at all.
Especially his last speech, he almost had the words "rich and willful" printed on his face.
Therefore, Cai Guangyuan did not wait long, and Zhang Xiaoguang had already arrived at the VIP reception room covered with travel.
"I have admired Mr. Cai for a long time." Zhang Xiaoguang said politely.
"No, it's Mr. Zhang who I have admired for a long time, especially the famous name of Dongsheng Investment. Now everyone in the industry knows it..."
Cai Guangyuan stood up quickly, and after exchanging business blows, they sat across from each other. After a few polite words, Zhang Xiaoguang changed the topic and went straight to the topic.
"Mr. Cai should know that we, Dongsheng Investment, have always been very optimistic about the future development of the sharing economy. We have not only invested in shared bicycles, but also acquired Jiedian not long ago, and are preparing to enter the shared power bank industry..."
"Under such circumstances, how could Mr. Cai think of approaching us for financing?"
Zhang Xiaoguang asked such a question as soon as he came up, which really made Cai Guangyuan a little overwhelmed. After thinking about it for a while, Cai Guangyuan gave his own answer.
"It is precisely because your company is optimistic about the sharing economy that I came to you. When your company had not yet become famous, you chose to invest in two companies in the field of shared bicycles..."
"Now that your company has become famous, it has acquired a shared power bank company unprecedentedly. It is not difficult to see your determination from this. Therefore, I have reason to believe that your company's optimism will not stop here..."
"Of course, it doesn't matter even if I guess wrong, it's just another rejection. This is normal for entrepreneurs."
Cai Guangyuan was neither humble nor arrogant.
"It's a good idea. I wonder how much financing Mr. Cai hopes to get? We at Dongsheng Investment are still very happy to support entrepreneurs like Mr. Cai, especially our Chairman Jay..."
"This meeting with Mr. Cai was actually arranged by Director Chou. He personally admires Mr. Cai very much and asked me to ask Mr. Cai a question."
"That's why Mr. Cai didn't choose to start a business by sharing bicycles, but shared power banks?" Zhang Xiaoguang asked with a smile.
Cai Guangyuan was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that a little guy like himself could actually attract the attention of such a big shot, but regarding this issue...
Cai Guangyuan touched his nose and smiled, "I don't know whether to tell a lie or the truth..."
"The lie is that I am waiting for a better opportunity, but the truth is that the development speed of shared bicycles is too fast. I just waited and watched and missed the best opportunity to enter the market..."
"In other words, even eating shit can't keep up with the heat!"