In a private club in Beijing, Shen Beipeng was the host and invited Zhang Yida and Sun Yutong to come here for discussions.
Zhang Yida shook hands with Sun Yutong and said with a smile: "Mr. Sun, I have admired your name for a long time, and today I finally have the chance to meet you."
Sun Yutong was in his forties, with a shaved head and glasses. He looked like a university professor. He smiled and said:
"Hello, Mr. Zhang. I have been a close friend of you, China's Zuckerberg, for a long time!"
Although Zhang Yida is young, his achievements are not small. Sun Yutong is also quite curious about him, so Shen Beipeng agreed to meet him without hesitation.
Multiple friends, multiple paths!
Since being dismissed as Taobao's president in 2008, Sun Yutong has started businesses and made investments, but none of them made a big splash.
After a few years, people have become a little depressed.
After everyone sat down, Shen Beipeng was the first to speak: "Yida, don't you want to ask the e-commerce master for advice? Now that I've invited him, you can ask a few more questions."
Then Shen Beipeng smiled at Sun Yutong again and said, "Yida founded an e-commerce company and doesn't have much experience in this field, so I want to learn from you."
"Haha, don't take it seriously. My experiences are all outdated.
From my perspective on Yida’s entrepreneurial experience, I have a good understanding of users’ psychology and good operational management skills.
Today, let’s all communicate together! There’s no such thing as a senior or a senior, just chatting among friends.”
Sun Yutong said modestly.
"Mr. Sun, you are so self-effacing. Taobao defeated the strong and defeated eBay. You deserve most of the credit!"
Zhang Yida is very aware of Sun Yutong's abilities. In the field of domestic e-commerce, this person is really a Beidou-level figure.
With financial resources, technology, talent and resources all lagging behind eBay, Sun Yutong actually led Taobao to complete a counterattack, which can be said to be a surprise to many people in the industry.
But just when he was at the top of his game, he resigned from Ahri inexplicably.
Some people say that Jack Ma was afraid that his achievements would shock his master, so he drank a glass of wine to release his military power.
Some people also say that he and his wife Pang Lei are both arhats and hold high positions. In modern company management, this kind of executive husband-and-wife team obviously has a negative impact on the development of the company.
There are different opinions, and only the parties involved know the true situation.
"The victory over eBay was just a fluke. They wanted to charge a fee, but we chose to make it free.
Looking back now, Internet practitioners should all understand the logic of the free model.
It is a business model that uses free services to quickly capture market share in the early stage, and later uses value-added services or provides high-end services for better charging to achieve profitability.
But at that time, many people still had limited thinking.”
Sun Yutong said calmly, "I don't have any deep nostalgia or memories about the highlight moments of my life in the past. I have already let go of them, and everything is indifferent."
Zhang Yida listened to him quietly, and it could be seen from his words that the former Taobao president looked at the past very lightly, as if he was describing something that had nothing to do with him.
"Mr. Sun, do you think there are still opportunities to enter the e-commerce industry now?"
Zhang Yida took a sip of tea and dropped such a topic.
"There is a chance, but to completely defeat Ahri, we have to wait for the next technological innovation."
Sun Yutong said this without thinking.
"Well, what does Mr. Sun think of the Internet dividend?"
Zhang Yida asked again.
Sun Yutong had basically guessed Zhang Yida's intention at this time, and thought to himself, it's interesting, does he want to invite himself, Ahri's abandoned son, to come out and play against his old club?
"Look at the popularity of mobile phones! When the sales of mobile phone manufacturers encounter bottlenecks, when will the dividends of the Internet industry reach their peak."
Although it has been six or seven years since Sun Yutong left Ahri, he still keeps an eye on the Internet industry.
“The Internet dividend has reached its peak in first- and second-tier cities, but not yet in third- and fourth-tier cities and vast rural towns.
Mr. Sun, what do you think of our Pinduoduo developing in this direction?"
Zhang Yida looked at Sun Yutong with a smile on his face and finally got to the point.
Sun Yutong didn't speak and began to think about Zhang Yida's words. Zhang Yida didn't ask further questions and just sat quietly waiting for his answer.
“The third level of e-commerce, let alone surpassing Ali, is absolutely no problem on par with Goudong.
Our country's urbanization rate is only 50%. If Pinduoduo can seize this opportunity, it will definitely skyrocket."
Sun Yutong considered several questions raised by Zhang Yida, connected them, and guessed Pinduoduo's entrepreneurial direction.
At a time when traffic dividends are about to peak, enter third- and fourth-tier cities to sink channels and serve the other half of the population that ordinary Internet companies ignore.
Thinking of this, Sun Yutong's eyes lit up. This entrepreneurial idea was definitely correct.
The market has this demand, but it is still a blank market. It is just right for Pinduoduo to enter at this time.
"I would like to invite Mr. Sun to serve as the president of Pinduoduo Company. Let's join hands and create a miracle together.
Mr. Sun, what do you think?"
Zhang Yida knows very well that all the marketing plans of Pinduoduo in his previous life were directed by Sun Yutong behind the scenes, and Pinduoduo's glory cannot be separated from this person's contribution.
For such talents, Zhang Yida is very eager to join his team.
"I have a few questions, please answer them first, Mr. Zhang. After answering, we will talk about joining Pinduoduo.
Mr. Zhang, is that okay?"
It is a lie that Sun Yutong is not interested in Zhang Yida's invitation.
After leaving Taobao, I haven't done anything famous in these years.
How glorious it was before, how miserable it is now. He also wants to do something great, not just for money, but also to prove to the public:
Without the Taobao platform, I, Sun Yutong, can still achieve success with my ability!
Moreover, Zhang Yida founded an e-commerce company. If he can create some threats to Ali, he may even take away part of the other party's market share.
He wanted to see Jack Ma's reaction when the time came.
Zhang Yida's invitation was indeed a good opportunity, but before that, he felt it was necessary to chat a few more words.
It's not his style to act rashly.
Zhang Yida had tested him so much, and now it was his turn to consider the other party.
"Okay! Just ask. It's a pleasure to communicate with Mr. Sun."
This sentence is not flattering. Zhang Yida really saw Sun Yutong's vision and industry insight from the conversation.
"Okay. Since we want to do e-commerce, let's talk about some commonplace issues.
First, where does the traffic come from?”
Sun Yutong asked.
“Pinduoduo is positioned as a social e-commerce company, based on social platforms, using marketing and fission models to acquire traffic and grow users.
We have hired a game team to come over and will embed a lot of gameplay into Pinduoduo to increase the fun and spreadability."
Zhang Yida knew that Sun Yutong was not an ordinary person. To impress such people to join, he had to come up with something useful.
"Okay, I probably understand what Mr. Zhang means, it's a good idea.
But based on a social platform, how to maintain business stability? After all, the platform belongs to others, and a blocking order can make all your efforts go to zero."
Sun Yutong thought deeply and asked about more in-depth topics.
Shen Beipeng said little at the side, but he kept paying attention to the conversation between the two.
He now understands Zhang Yida somewhat. Even Sun Yutong is very optimistic about this project. Blackshirt Capital must invest in this project.
“The Internet is now divided into two camps, and Pinduoduo and Penguin are natural allies.
I plan to follow the cooperation model of Goudong and Penguin."
Zhang Yida's answer was reasonable and well-founded, and Sun Yutong nodded in agreement.
"Another problem is the product. Since Pinduoduo focuses on the sinking market, it must take the route of high quality and low price.
Building a supply chain system is a big question. How does Mr. Zhang plan to do this?"
Sun Yutong looked at Zhang Yida intently. He very much hoped that Zhang Yida could come up with an answer that satisfied him.
"We have replaced this internal supply chain system called Pin Factory. We have already dispatched businessmen to the southern market.
We have one requirement for our cooperative companies: reduce single products and focus on hot-selling items.
Eliminating unnecessary intermediate links, users place orders together, and after receiving the order, the manufacturer manufactures it and sends it directly to the consumer.
By relying on sales to drive down costs, while manufacturers make money, consumers also get benefits.”
Zhang Yida's words made Sun Yutong frown and said: "That requires very high sales volume! Otherwise, we cannot support this system."
"Yes! That's why we have to engage in a group-joining model! The more people join together, the higher the sales volume, and the corresponding lower manufacturing costs for the company, which reflects into the cheaper sales price.
Group building is the first step, and only when there are enough people, can we take the next step."
Zhang Yida talked about the core gameplay of Pinduoduo, which can be said to be the soul of Pinduoduo. Other marketing methods are all side effects.
"Yeah, I understand. This is also the charm of social e-commerce! Relying on fission and viral spread to quickly complete orders, small profits but quick turnover.
If the communication capability is insufficient, the system will be rootless."
Sun Yutong nodded. Many of Pinduoduo's operational ideas have been perfected. The only thing missing is the actual implementation.
"Mr. Sun, how are you? Are you interested in joining Pinduoduo?"
Zhang Yida finished answering several questions from Sun Yutong and invited him again.
"Okay, this is a genius idea, and I'm very happy to join. I can't wait to see the day when Pinduoduo soars into the sky."
After Sun Yutong pondered for a moment, he readily agreed to Zhang Yida's invitation.
"It may not be convenient for me to stand in front of the stage, so I might as well join as an angel investor!"
Sun Yutong suddenly said.
Zhang Yida guessed that it was related to his wife Pang Lei, and he didn't force anyone to do anything. He nodded and said:
"Angel investors can also do it! Of course, Mr. Sun will also need more advice later."
"That's right. Angel investors are also shareholders and part of the company!"
Sun Yutong smiled, feeling as if he had found the same drive and sense of mission he had on Taobao.
He felt that whether he could shine again in the second half of his life depended on Pinduoduo.
"Hey, angel investment, we at Blackshirt Capital can also participate in one!"
After Shen Beipeng saw that the two had reached an agreement, he couldn't help but interject.