"Sun Zhengyi is an upstart in the investment world, and Gu Kun is an aristocrat in the investment world."
This is the deep impression left by Ma Feng and Cai Chongxin after they talked about investment with Gu Kun and tried to persuade Gu Kun to invest more vision and funds in the Internet industry but failed.
Gu Kun not only avoided entering the market at the height of the bubble, but also left a reputation for being far-sighted. I think when the bubble bursts in the future, the urban legend about his vision will also spread throughout China with the rise and testimony of Ma Feng.
Throw a circle.
However, Gu Kun actually doesn’t know much. He is essentially a layman in the field of investment. He only knows a little bit, but he always puts it out in a subtle way. If he talks too much, he will betray others.
Fully squeeze out the remaining value.
After the negotiation, Gu Kun inevitably set up a banquet to entertain the other party. Ma Feng toasted generously and thanked Gu Kun from the bottom of his heart for his advice:
"Listen to your words and you will succeed in ten years of success. Based on today's harvest, I should give you a toast. I will do it, you can do whatever you want."
Gu Kun didn't take it seriously: "It's easy to talk about. Since I invested in you, there will be many opportunities for all-round cooperation in the future. If you really start doing domestic e-commerce in the future, there will be places where I can use you in other businesses - for example,
If I were to hold a controlling stake in a top European luxury brand, would you not be allowed to sell fake goods on Ali Baba’s future e-commerce platform?
Don't rush to explain. I know you are just a platform and not self-operated, but you also have the obligation to supervise. If others sell fakes, you have to take responsibility and beat me to death. In addition, if I handle anything in the future,
Those orchids, Malaysian specialties, and high-end hobbies must also be hunted down by me every time they are fake, and killed with heavy hands.
Even if they are not fakes, but they are just sold privately beyond my agency authorization, you will still be punished to death. I want to ensure that the high-end goods you can buy in Lanzhou must be the most distinguished customers who come to Lanzhou in person.
, or at least send subordinates to Lanfang to buy it. It is not allowed to be sold online!
Of course, for those brands that I have no shares or controlling interests, and even compete with me, if you have a third party selling them in the future, you can just turn a blind eye and get away with it, just don’t openly shout about it. It won’t be out of ten
In this year, I want all luxury brands around the world to be cautious: any brand that does not allow me to take a stake in someone is protected by law in China, but in fact its fakes will be easier to buy online.
, his brand will become more derogatory and despicable!"
Ma Feng and Cai Chongxin felt their teeth aching when they heard this, and secretly took a breath of cold air.
Does co-author Ali Baba still have this intention? How vicious!
However, Ma Feng had to bite the bullet and explain: "You are too praiseworthy. We don't have the ability. We are only a supplier platform that provides cooperation channels between enterprises and is not oriented to consumers. However, if it is an enterprise
If we find that there are fake orders in high-level cooperation, we will still try our best to block them and deduct their integrity deposits, but we really can't promise more."
At the end of 1998, Ma Feng could not have imagined that the transaction costs of the Internet would be so low that every household would be able to afford it, and even 2C businesses would be able to afford it. Nor would he have imagined that he would open Taobao in the future.
Gu Kun smiled and said: "Ability is not important, I just said casually, as long as you have this heart."
Naturally, Ma Feng could only apologize and smile: "Of course it is obligatory. However, if you still regard me as a friend, I still want to give you some advice: Even if you think the Internet industry is now a bubble, do you have to do it?
It’s worth thinking twice about getting involved in luxury goods.
You also said that you should not invest in those businesses that are worth losing. Luxury goods have enough status and class, but you are not making Chinese private brands, and you know that Chinese private brands cannot be built. Then you just buy French and Italian brands.
If you buy shares and share the shares, wouldn’t it just mean helping foreigners make money from Chinese people?
It used to cost foreign currency to go to Lanzhou, which was spent on patriotic Chinese people, and now the local currency of Lanzhou has been changed to RMB, which is understandable. With this situation now, I am afraid that if there is another xenophobic national sentiment in the future, your
Business will be affected."
Cai Chongxin, who was on the side, became a little pale after hearing these words. He didn't understand the relationship between Gu Kun and Ma Feng, and he was afraid that Ma Feng's straight words would irritate Gu Kun, so he quickly secretly pulled Ma Feng's cock under the table.
sleeve.
However, to Cai Chongxin's expectation, Gu Kun was not angry at all.
"You can say that you have different opinions, but I don't agree with what you said, 'Investing in foreign luxury brands is to help foreigners make Chinese money.' On the contrary, I think what I do is still a patriotic act to help the Chinese world earn foreign exchange."
"Allowing the Chinese to use their foreign exchange reserves to buy luxury goods is also a way to earn foreign exchange?" Ma Feng felt that it was ridiculous and his own IQ was insulted.
Gu Kun was so thick-skinned that he didn't have any trouble: "Of course, because I didn't create this demand. The logic of tourism and luxury goods business is exactly the same, that is, there is a sense of class difference, scarcity, and superiority that no one has and I have.
.No matter how wealthy a country is collectively, this demand exists.
Therefore, Chinese people want to buy luxury goods, especially with our current level of cultural pride and self-esteem. With or without me, we will spend about this much money on foreign luxury goods.
With me, I can at least make screening and guidance, and invest some money in cooperation with brands that are relatively more pro-China and friendly to China. Part of the money earned can be returned to the pockets of our Chinese nation, and Lan Fang can also make some money from it.
The price difference - it’s both public and private, isn’t it wonderful?”
Earning foreign exchange is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.
What Huawei makes is money from increasing revenue, while Gu Kun makes money from cutting costs.
Just as being an official is to serve the people, being a cleaner is also to serve the people. There is no high or low in earning foreign exchange, but the division of labor is different.
When a person needs to buy luxury goods, he is destined not to buy domestic products.
If you buy domestic products, they are no longer called luxury goods, they can only be called trendy brands.
Ma Feng and Cai Chongxin both fell silent, feeling that the Louis XIII in the cup was a little bitter.
There seems to be no solution, Gu Kun always tells the truth.
Ma Feng scratched his hair, which was not a cat, and seemed to have scratched out a few hairs, making them even sparser. Then he reluctantly found a counterexample: "But when French people buy luxury goods, they buy French products! I
I feel that your major premise just now is not valid."
Gu Kun regained his composure sincerely and thought about Ma Feng's point of view carefully and without prejudice.
"Well...this sentence is not bad. The French are indeed a special case. Okay, I take back my point. It is a bit too absolute. However, the cultural pride of the French and Italians is not something other nationalities can achieve.
Comparable.
Italians have always believed that they are the source of Western civilization, from ancient Rome to the Renaissance. France is the pride of Western culture in modern times and the originator of enlightenment. These are all special cases. We Chinese have been poor and weak for so many years.
, cultural pride cannot be regained within two generations. Within two generations
Later...even if these French and Italian luxury brands I invested in have gone bankrupt, or at least no longer make money, I will accept it and sell out the shares in advance. However, at least within thirty or forty years, this situation will be
It cannot be reversed, and my generation still has a historical mission to complete."
Gu Kun suddenly felt a sense of historical heroism like Franco.
In the eyes of the world, Franco is just the dictator of Spain, but how many people know what he said when he was teaching the young Crown Prince Juan Carlos?
"Your Highness, you don't need to understand those dirty tricks. By the time you ascend the throne, they will no longer be useful. This is the historical mission of my generation.
I have to resort to poison. That’s because the people must play the game on the premise that the winning party will not kill the losing party in one term. But it is a pity that as of our generation of Spaniards,
Without such a foundation, we do not have a tradition of repeating the game, but only a tradition of pursuing and eradicating the enemy."
Gu Kun also has a historical mission for his generation. The Great Contemporaneity, when the Chinese people are full of true cultural pride, is not what he should care about. By then, he may have already achieved success and retired.
However, Gu Kun did not have time to indulge in obscenity for too long, because Ma Feng's retort interrupted his thoughts:
"I don't agree with your statement! The French and Italians have a strong sense of cultural pride, but we Chinese are not bad either. Who wouldn't be proud of five thousand years of history? Even if the Italians date back to ancient Rome, they only have two thousand
For many years, we are not as good as the West in terms of technology, military, and economy, I admit it. If we are to say that we are not as good as the West in terms of cultural pride, I don’t think so.”
Gu Kun chuckled: "I'm just going to ask you the simplest question, do you think Chinese food is delicious?"
Ma Feng: "Chinese food is of course delicious. If we talk about other things, when it comes to food culture, even the West will be beaten by us."
Gu Kun: "Look, you are excited, and this is your flaw. The true highest level of cultural pride will not be excited. It's like a Taiwanese mocking you, saying that mainlanders can't even eat instant noodles, tea and eggs
Well, you will definitely retort angrily, right?
But in 20 years, when people of your son's generation grow up, they will not be angry at all when they hear similar remarks. They will only treat it as a joke. At most, they will laugh it off with a "Haha, shark arm".
Neither of them bothered to answer.
The gap between our level of cultural pride and the French is about this much. Because Chinese food is indeed delicious, but the international community does not recognize it and does not think you are high-end, so you will easily become angry, compete with others, and be eager to prove yourself.
.This is the same as an uneducated business executive who gets angry when someone asks about his academic qualifications.
When the French face the same question as you, when other countries in the world question French food, they don't bother to answer or prove it. They just say "hehe". Only those who are eager to prove will be eager to go.
Buying foreign luxury goods is also a kind of proof.
I have dealt with Western media a lot. I’m afraid you don’t know. Nowadays, many Western media offer tastings of Chinese food in foreign environments in exchange for ratings and click-through rates. So much so that the black people on the streets of California have misunderstood.
The first time I saw someone setting up a booth to take pictures of oriental food for free, I walked up to it to solicit business: If you give me 100 US dollars, I can drink the entire bottle of Zhenjiang mature vinegar or Pi County Douban hot sauce. Is this still promoting Chinese food? In fact, it is just watching
What a monkey show."
Gu Kun has seen too many examples of this kind in later generations. Whether it is Tim Cook or Musk who sells battery cars, when their products encounter public relations crises in China, the consultants of their character design teams will teach them to "go
Eating a set of pancakes and fruit/stewed/fried liver in public will show his cultural affinity towards China, and then those Chinese with low self-esteem will recognize your brand."
There are also many shameless overseas Chinese self-media accounts on YouTube, all of which are in this business. On the surface, they say they promote Chinese food culture, but in fact, what they do is spend money and at least give away gifts, so that people can eat for free to lure white people and black people to appear on camera.
He said it was delicious, and then earned traffic. In the end, this kind of behavior made foreigners despise Chinese food even more: Haha, he is the spicy chicken who paid me to say it is delicious!
Chinese food is indeed delicious, but it has become a reason for foreigners to "win the favor and business of the Chinese by saying that Chinese food is delicious." This can only be said to be a cultural tragedy.
Why rush for foreigners to recognize it?
Desirelessness is the greatest self-esteem.
Chinese food is just the easiest example to see, and there are many more such gaps in cultural pride.
Gu Kun asked himself, in this day and age, no Chinese sees this more thoroughly than he does, which is destined to make him the most suitable middleman for this kind of pretentious business.