Chapter 278 Burnt Out

Chapter 278 Burnt Out

Chapter 278 Burnt Out

WeChat’s major update significantly boosted the daily increase in users.

Throughout November, WeChat's regular daily additions remained stable at around 24 to 27. As of the first day of December, the total number of WeChat users was 12 million. If nothing unexpected happens, WeChat will have more than 1775 million users by the time 2011 comes around.

By then, the third largest instant messaging software in China will be... still third.

On December 12, WeChat held an internal seminar to analyze the latest competitive situation.

What was rare was that Liu Wanying of Red Falcon Capital attended the meeting.

At the same time, Liu Jiankai, former vice president of Today Capital, and Zhai Yifei, former director of Baidu, also appeared in the conference room of WeChat Company. They did not go through the entry procedures here, but were brought in by Yu Xing as consultants.

Before the meeting started, Liu Wanying asked Yu Xing, who had been out recently, in confusion: "How come you went out and brought back two people? Besides, didn't I ask you to help me recruit Liu Jiankai to Red Falcon?"

"One is a gift, which is considered as a gift to compete with Penguin, and the other is recycling. If the person being recycled doesn't want to invest again, we can't force him to do so." Yu Xing explained the situation.

Liu Wanying glanced at the two consultants. The one who gave gifts was very quiet and no one knew what he was thinking about. The one who received gifts was very familiar with the people in WeChat company and was happily chatting with them.

The meeting officially began, and more detailed data about WeChat was presented. Even Liu Jiankai, who was originally cheerful, couldn't help but frown.

When I was at Capital Today, the data from WeChat always focused more on the total number of users, but today we are analyzing user activity.

Liu Jiankai noticed that the data shown by WeChat showed a clear turning point. Around the beginning of last month, the activity level of WeChat gradually declined from a ratio approaching 40%, and formed two curves with completely different trends, and finally landed below 30%.

As we entered this month, the curve showed a new trend and broke through 30% again. The latest data yesterday was 32.6%.

"There are two obvious turning points. The first is that Penguin's micro-chat started to connect with QQ offline messages, and the second is that WeChat updated 'People Nearby', right?"

Although Liu Jiankai is not in WeChat company, his mind is full of mobile instant messaging competition and he has an instinctive understanding of the key moments in this market.

Secretary Lin Lingling confirmed: "Yes, although Penguin is always ridiculed in public opinion outside its own system, from our actual data, its actions have a relatively obvious effect."

"There are relatively few references at present. According to our analysis of the overseas communication tool WhatsApp, 30% is already an excellent dividing line. WeChat's peak is 40%, which is infinitely close to 39.4%. This is the best of the best. This majority proportion may be the sympathy score of Penguin after a series of public opinions this year."

Liu Jiankai understood this statement. WeChat has achieved excellence from scratch, and the negative reputation of Penguin has given WeChat an extra bonus.

He couldn't help but ask: "What is the active percentage of Penguin WeChat? The subsequent decline is not sustained..."

Lin Lingling explained: "Just like the traffic brought by public opinion is only temporary, this kind of support based on word of mouth is also declining. In other words, our current 32.6% still includes sympathy points and word of mouth points, but its decline is inevitable."

She added: "That's it. This is the result of the continuation of the public opinion of the predictive trial."

Yu Xing interrupted at this time and temporarily assigned a task: "Mr. Liu, please ask Mr. Xu later what the active percentage DAU of WeChat chat on Penguin is?"

Liu Jiankai felt a little embarrassed about this request, but he also felt that it was his first time attending a meeting, and while he was hesitating, he had missed the opportunity to decline.

Instead, he considered how to contact Mr. Xu while listening to WeChat’s internal analysis of the competitive situation.

Judging from the changes in DAU data, there is already a considerable overlap in users between WeChat and Wechat. Whether it is the voice function, QQ offline messages or nearby people, they all have brought about successive influences.

Two softwares with similar functions and positioning are competing for the usage time of these users.

This is not good news.

What’s even worse is that according to WeChat’s estimation of micro-chat users, the green curve representing the total number of the opponent’s users and the red curve representing its own users have rapidly narrowed the gap in more than a month.

Liu Jiankai silently thought about the first-hand information. He wanted to ask a question, but he had a vague feeling in his heart so he didn't ask it on the spot.

When the meeting was over, he couldn't help but pull Mr. Yu aside and asked, "Mr. Yu, Android and Apple have already updated the voice version, and now they have updated Nearby People. When will Symbian catch up?"

Yu Xing didn't avoid the look, he just smiled: "Why do you think of asking this? What kind of answer do you want to hear?"

Liu Jiankai paused and said cautiously, "I remember the answer I heard a month ago was that Saipan was working hard to develop it."

Yu Xing nodded slightly: "Yes, we are still working hard. The problem with Symbian is mainly its own problem. You can also see it from the update of Penguin. If our technical strength is not strong enough, then Penguin will definitely not have this limitation. But they also haven't updated the voice function of the Symbian version, so don't worry about it for the time being."

Liu Jiankai breathed a sigh of relief and began to calculate in his mind the inventory of Symbian models, the inventory and growth of smartphones, and the importance of these factors to WeChat and Penguin.

"Don't forget to ask Mr. Xu for the data." Yu Xing reminded him again, "Find an empty seat and sit wherever you want, even in the conference room."

Liu Jiankai saw that Liu Wanying in front of him had already entered the president's office, and knew that the two must have important matters to discuss regarding financing.

He wandered around for a while, but finally made up his mind to go to the meeting room and find the number of his former boss in his mobile phone.

This is the first time I have spoken to Mr. Xu since leaving Capital Today.

The call was connected quickly.

"Oh, you still remembered to call me?" Xu Xin's voice sounded quite cheerful, and she jokingly asked, "Where has Mr. Liu made his fortune recently?"

Liu Jiankai said vaguely: "How can I make a fortune, Mr. Xu, you know me, hey, I'm just paying attention to the competition between WeChat and Weichat recently, I don't know how far they have progressed."

Xu Xin's voice became more serious. "Well, it's just like that. WeChat has added new features. I don't know when Weichat will follow up, but it will definitely follow. Penguin is still pushing it with all its strength. The industry believes that WeChat's winning rate has been declining. That's about it."

Liu Jiankai knew this and asked, "If Weichat continues to follow this pattern, what will its DAU be like? I see that many people around me use WeChat, but relatively few use Weichat."

"Well..." Xu Xin hesitated for a moment, "I don't know the details, but Liu Chih-ping called me recently and told me that Penguin's WeChat has exceeded 1300 million users, a speed that is even more amazing than expected. He couldn't persuade Yu Xing, and now he obviously doesn't want to limit the competition to the market, and he wants to exert a stronger influence even on the financial level, like Qiming Venture Partners..."

Just as Liu Jiankai was concentrating, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and his secretary Lin Lingling poked her head in and shouted, "Boss Liu, Boss Yu asked you to wait in his office!"

Xu Xin: “…”

Liu Jiankai turned his head stiffly and looked at Lin Lingling.

Lin Lingling smiled innocently, and seeing that he was on the phone, she gave him an OK gesture and helped close the door.

silence.

After a while, Xu Xin asked coldly: "Did you go to WeChat?"

Liu Jiankai felt a little embarrassed and coughed: "Mr. Yu insisted that I come."

"He insisted that you go, so you went?" Xu Xin questioned, "I didn't let you go, so why did you insist on going?"

Liu Jiankai subconsciously said: "Mr. Xu, I just came here to take a look. I am not joining WeChat. I am interested in blockchain."

Xu Xin didn't understand this direction and asked, "What is blockchain?"

Liu Jiankai imitated Mr. Yu's tone and answered, "Probably in the future."

Xu Xin was really frightened for three seconds, but then he got angry: "Why did you ask about Penguin's data just now? Did Yu Xing ask you to ask?" Liu Jiankai felt sweat on his back and said awkwardly: "Mr. Xu, don't think too much, I was just asking casually."

"You just went to WeChat, waited in Yu Xing's office, and asked WeChat about its competitors. Liu Jiankai, even if you went to WeChat, you should say it openly. Why do you have to hide it like the Yu guy?" Xu Xin said angrily.

Liu Jiankai exhaled, thinking that it made sense, and admitted openly: "I am temporarily helping out at WeChat, but I am mainly researching the future of blockchain with Mr. Yu."

Xu Xin became even angrier and ended the call directly: "You son of a bitch!"

Liu Jiankai held the phone in his hand, feeling inexplicably ashamed.

He silently put away his phone, adjusted his mood slightly, and walked into the president's office of WeChat Company.

Liu Jiankai listened to the conversation between CEO Yu and Technical Director Ge Zhijie, saw the words on the whiteboard, and waited until the two of them finished talking before asking, "CEO Yu, is WeChat going to take over Alibaba's advertising?"

Yu Xing nodded and confirmed, "Yes, although Alibaba refused to invest in our traffic, they don't mind taking our traffic. I asked the deputy director of operations of Taobao Mall to ask for help, and they basically reached an agreement yesterday. They will invest for one quarter first."

Liu Jiankai asked: "How much is a quarter?"

"180+20. We will add Taobao Mall recommendations to the new features later." Yu Xing threw a cigarette over and said, "The price is not bad."

WeChat’s integration with Alibaba Advertising is mainly based on the CPM model, and because of the user experience, each user is only exposed 1-2 times a day, so this price is already very good.

Liu Jiankai smiled bitterly and said, "It's easy to burn money, but it's really hard to make money..."

200 million Chinese Yuan is equivalent to only about 30 U.S. dollars, which is a far cry from the financing obtained by WeChat.

He also expressed his concerns: "WeChat needs to expand its revenue, but the problem is that WeChat's micro-chat will definitely not have advertisements at this stage. Will such a user experience be..."

Liu Jiankai felt that it was a bit hasty for WeChat to expand its revenue at this time. Although Today Capital had actually withdrawn, Mr. Yu's move to go out and exchange equity solved the problem very cleverly.

The main contradiction in WeChat's current competition is the battle with Weichat over the number of users.

"Many times, we have to admit that there is a huge gap between us and Penguin." Yu Xing sighed, "Ali's investment is a strategically significant step, or in other words, a step that makes the other party realize the strategic significance."

Liu Jiankai didn't quite understand the second half of the sentence.

He talked about the latest news: "Mr. Yu, Mr. Xu are not sure about the activity of WeChat Chat, but the number of WeChat Chat users has exceeded 1300 million."

Although there have been some speculations, the confirmation of this number still makes people feel heartbroken.

Yu Xing and Liu Wanying looked at each other.

Liu Jiankai added his guess: "Mr. Yu, Liu Chih-ping contacted Mr. Xu, and it is not ruled out that he contacted Qiming Venture Partners and IDG."

"Of course he did." Liu Wanying smiled, "He even called me."

Liu Jiankai asked: "What did he say?"

"It's nothing more than Penguin's investment and the progress of WeChat. He is not afraid of information leakage, he just wants to create pressure." Liu Wanying said calmly, "Penguin does not want to see WeChat continue to receive funds. They want to end the battle as soon as possible. I will not let them do so."

Penguin has been making frequent moves in all aspects. In addition to market competition and financial threats, more than a dozen people were poached from WeChat last month.

Although WeChat is about to issue another round of options, those who are leaving would rather take the actual salary and bonus and put the money in their pockets.

Coupled with the follow-up of its functional updates and the catch-up of total user numbers, the pressure on China's number one Internet company has become fully apparent.

Liu Jiankai didn't know how Hongshun gained the trust of overseas funds, but he felt relieved to see such a statement. This was indeed good news.

However, just by the evening, another piece of bad news came out.

Yu Xing went out to use equity to exchange for traffic to fill the gap in Today Capital. Now that he has come back to finish his work, he will start financing work with IDG and Qiming Venture Partners. After all, more companies are involved.

However, IDG is okay, but Qiming Venture Partners’ attitude is very hesitant.

Hu Xubo was unable to confirm his itinerary after two consecutive phone calls.

Finally, Yu Xing simply asked about his attitude: "Mr. Hu, if Qiming Venture Partners is unwilling to continue to support, you can just say so, just like Mr. Xu, if she doesn't invest, then I can also contact other funds to avoid problems with my work. In any case, before you sell your shares in WeChat, you should still consider its value."

After hearing this, Hu Xubo finally made his position clear: "Mr. Yu, Today Capital has withdrawn this round of investment, which makes me very worried. The competitive environment of WeChat is getting worse. 360, Xunlei and other companies are just defeated by Penguin. If they continue to do this, they can only... survive."

"OK, I understand what you mean." Yu Xing thought for two seconds and accepted it calmly, "Mr. Hu, I understand your concerns, but since we are cooperating, we have had good exchanges from Bai Xiaosheng to WeChat Company. Now I need to talk to you about one thing. Please don't sell your shares to Penguin. I will do my best to realize its value and even increase its value."

Hu Xubo laughed. "Mr. Yu, I'm not saying that you're just talking nonsense. How can I believe what you say about value realization and appreciation? Aren't you putting all your efforts into WeChat now? If things really don't work out, well, just like Zhang Chaoyang of Sohu said, if it really doesn't work out, let's... understand each other."

He made no promises.

Yu Xing was not angry, he just ended the call with a frown.

After finishing two cigarettes, he called Liu Wanying who had already returned to inform her of the latest news.

"It's difficult. It's really difficult for WeChat to compete with the giant. Should I understand Mr. Hu? He didn't surrender immediately on the day Liu Chih-ping came to persuade him to surrender. This is already considered courageous." Liu Wanying felt the difficulty while watching.

She felt that WeChat's grasp of public opinion, creation of topics, use of funds, version adaptation and response to the withdrawal of investors were all quite perfect. Although Yu Xing created this project to create negative impact from the beginning, his own investment was 200%.

If we make a curve of Yu Xing's daily smoking increase, I'm sure this will be obvious.

The only problem is the choice of opponent.

Yu Xing was helpless: "Let's understand each other. If he insists on selling, he will definitely lose money, but there is nothing we can do."

Liu Wanying said: "Mr. Yu, you should give your time to Guo Shanfeng. You are almost exhausted."

Yu Xing felt inexplicably emotional, as he was really about to burn out. If it weren't for Guoshanfeng's support, another exit from Qiming Venture Partners would have made this round of WeChat's financing very likely to fail.

The next day, Liu Jiankai arrived at WeChat company according to working hours.

He strolled around and noticed that Zhai Yifei, a former Baidu executive who had attended the meeting like him yesterday, was quietly reading documents.

Liu Jiankai came over and asked, "Mr. Zhai, are you also interested in blockchain?"

Zhai Yifei glanced at Liu Jiankai and said, "I work for Penguin."

Liu Jiankai: “?”

Zhai Yifei: “?”

As the two looked at each other, a small commotion spread from the sixth floor downwards, and Guo Shanfeng, who had not been seen for a long time, reappeared.

(End of this chapter)