Chapter 336 Good news

Chapter 336 Good news

Chapter 336 Good news (5k)

Alibaba’s WeChat made unexpected new moves at the beginning of the new year.

Once the unexpected criticism from the public had passed, everyone realized that it would be very interesting to see what Penguin’s WeChat chat would choose.

One day, two days, three days, there was no update on WeChat, which seemed to indicate that the competition between the two companies had undergone major changes on the first day of 2012.

Alibaba, which has always been following its competition, has taken the initiative to seek change, while Penguin, which is good at replicating actions, has calmly watched from the sidelines. A competitive watershed has vaguely emerged as to who will ultimately win the future of mobile communications.

No. Will it be a watershed?

The mood of watching the show faded, and rational analysis became the focus of discussion among different media and practitioners.

The competition between Alibaba and Penguin has been constantly analyzed since the former acquired WeChat. Among various analyses in 2011, information portal was not considered to be a particularly effective tactic. Penguin, which has an advantage in this regard, did not take the lead in opening up the content of its own portal website, which seems to agree with this view.

Similarly, Alibaba is far superior to Tencent in terms of e-commerce, but it has also been extremely restrained in not adding e-commerce elements to WeChat.

The reason for this is that the respective advantages of the two are generally not considered to be overwhelming, so the two sides have been in a state of stalemate.

So, Alibaba’s move this time…

Outsider Yu Xing received requests for media interviews for several consecutive days.

He did not formally accept an interview, but expressed his helplessness through WeChat: "They are competing with each other, why are you asking me? I am an entrepreneur who is criticized for being wishful thinking."

When Yu Xing talked about his goal of building cars before, the mainstream voices were mostly criticism and questioning.

Sina reporter Zou Wenbin had known Mr. Yu’s WeChat account for a long time and had interviewed him many times. Seeing Mr. Yu’s self-mockery, he only asked one key question: “Mr. Yu, the information content of WeChat is provided by your company with third-party support. When you sold WeChat, you gave them a strategic idea to follow up on micro-chat. Now WeChat is actively seeking change. How did you convince them?”

For the sake of reputation, Yu Xing had to correct: "It's following! Not trailing!!"

Then, he can easily give the answer: "Because the content provided by 'Latest Hot Topics' is good, they adopted it because they saw it was so good."

Zou Wenbin sent a laughing emoji: "Is it good enough to change Alibaba's strategy?"

Yu Xing could give an answer more easily, and confirmed: "Yes, 'Latest Hotspots' has signed a contract with Sina Weibo, and a lot of its content comes from Sina Weibo."

Zou Wenbin looked at the message, thought for a while, and then replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

There is no way he can say that his own products are bad. Besides, Sina Weibo is indeed one of the few companies that has defeated Penguin head-on in terms of products.

With Penguin's strategic priority completely shifting to mobile communications in 2011, Sina Weibo has established an undisputed leading position.

After Zou Wenbin finished communicating with Mr. Yu on WeChat, he thought for a long time before downloading a "latest hot spot". However, after a quick browse, he did not think it was anything special. It seemed that there was nothing new or different from the current information products on the market.

He discussed with his colleagues and finally came to the conclusion that there were two main reasons why "Latest Hotspots" could become a third-party support company for WeChat. One was that Alibaba lacked this link, and the other was Yu Xing's outstanding performance in past competitions.

In the end, both sides agreed to make such a change.

But, does this really work?

Zou Wenbin has reservations about this.

He observed and talked to some WeChat users. Some of them didn't care, some were curious, and some gave bad reviews. Overall, they were not that outstanding.

Zou Wenbin published his own report on Sina's website, objectively describing the performance of the competition between WeChat and Wechat in the first week of 2012, and came to the conclusion that "the latest hot spots are not new, and the response to WeChat is not hot."

This is already a relatively restrained voice in the media.

As of January 1, more voices are that WeChat's move is a bad one, and that although Yu Xing is the founder of WeChat, he should no longer interfere in the operation of WeChat, and should not change the direction of competition for the benefit of his new company.

That is...

If WeChat loses, Yu Xing will take the blame.

On Monday morning, January 1, Yu Xing went to Lingang. The focus of his work that day was the development of Carbon Silicon Data Company.

He listened to the latest developments in the software matrix and was fairly satisfied with the overall traffic growth.

After the conference was over, Yu Xing held a small meeting with Zhong Zhiling, Zhai Yifei and Ge Zhijie.

He started the topic by referring to the recent public opinion trend: "Before I sold WeChat, I had to take the blame for the development of WeChat. Now that I have sold WeChat, I am still being blamed. This is really unreasonable."

Zhong Zhiling laughed and said, "It was you, Brother Xing, who didn't push Bai Xiaosheng's post down."

The reason why the view that Yu Xing interfered with the operation of WeChat became so popular was because an Alibaba employee broke the news on Bai Xiaosheng about Ma Dian sending Yu Xing out, and then a colleague came forward to prove it, which finally confirmed the matter.

Yu Xing could of course make such voices disappear, but in the end he still habitually respected the operation of Bai Xiaosheng's forum.

Zhong Zhiling talked about public opinion for a while, and mentioned a communication that just happened, wanting to know his brother's true intention: "Brother Xing, Alibaba wants to discuss financing with us, and they hope to hold some equity in Carbon Silicon Data Company."

Yu Xing was surprised and asked, "When did it happen?"

Zhong Zhiling replied: "They called me just before nine o'clock this morning."

There is no charge for WeChat’s cooperation with the latest hot spots because the penguin meat has already been paid in advance.

As for this financing and equity...

Yu Xing thought for a moment and laughed, "Is Mr. Ma really waiting for me to sell the company to him?"

He looked at the expressions of the three people in front of him and explained, "I met Mr. Ma before and told him that we should sell the company to them and then use the money to continue to invest in the tram project."

The expressions of Zhong Zhiling, Zhai Yifei, and Ge Zhijie all changed at the same time. Was this true or false?

Ge Zhijie said with resentment: "Boss Yu, you've already sold me out once, are you going to sell me out again?"

Yu Xing laughed loudly and waved his hands, saying, "No, I don't have such plans. We can't compete with Penguin with WeChat, and we don't have much money. Times are different now. This... well, it's different."

He almost mentioned the funds hovering overseas, but he still gave a reason: "Carbon Silicon Data Company is not like trams. As long as we can increase the volume this year, I will raise my arm and investors will be willing to pay."

The latest hotspot had good development in the last period of 2011. Firstly, the user scale exceeded 200 million. Secondly, it signed a content cooperation agreement with Sina Weibo. Thirdly, it had in-depth discussions on cooperation with competing products on the market.

The contract with Sina Weibo can provide good content. They do not regard the latest hot topics as a threat but only as a publicity channel, because the content quoted in the latest hot topics will be marked as coming from Sina Weibo.

The three senior executives of Carbon Silicon Data Company believed in their boss's confidence. Even Mr. Yu was able to get money for building cars, so it made no sense that he couldn't get money for the mobile Internet project.

"So what kind of strategy should we adopt for our contact with Alibaba this time..." Zhong Zhiling hesitated.

"WeChat still has a lot of traffic, and it will make more moves later. If they want equity, then give it to them, but not too much. Just offer a high price and then negotiate." Yu Xing quickly came up with an idea, "We have enough funds at this stage, but we will treat it as early financing. Don't be afraid that they won't pay. We have to offer a giant price for a giant."

Zhong Zhiling nodded slightly and understood what his senior brother meant.

Now is the honeymoon period of cooperation between the two sides, so we have to keep them hanging first.

A small amount of equity will not affect control. If Alibaba raises funds at a premium, it may still suffer losses in the end.

From this point of view, my brother’s desire to create a super app is very real.

Zhong Zhiling was thinking about communicating with Alibaba's senior executive Ji Gang, and he proposed his price that afternoon - US$6600 million for 10% of the shares.

Ji Gang didn't react at all.

However, just five minutes later, Alibaba's CFO Joseph Tsai called Yu Xing and angrily asked, "Mr. Yu, what's going on? Your Silicon Carbon Data company is now worth $6.6 million? How dare you say that?"

As soon as Yu Xing heard this, he knew what was going on, and couldn't help but laugh at his junior brother's big mouth.

But then he realized he had to play the role of the good cop and the bad cop. After a few seconds of hesitation, he replied, "Mr. Cai, I just learned today that Alibaba is interested in participating in the financing. The $6.6 million is also for the sake of good luck as the Chinese New Year is approaching. Well, I talked to them about the potential of this project and I think it is as valuable as WeChat. They must have misunderstood my meaning."

"Mr. Cai, I think we can eventually make this project worth $6.6 million, or even more."

Cai Chongxin softened his tone: "Mr. Yu, we have a basis for cooperation, but we have to talk based on the current situation. There is no rush." ​​"Yes, there is no rush. Let's talk slowly." Yu Xing smiled and said, "However, Carbon Silicon Data has just completed its first round of financing. We got $1500 million from Zhejiang Industrial Investment, and the valuation is $1.25 million."

"Since we have just raised funds and Zhejiang Industrial Investment has reached a consensus with you, we will calculate according to this valuation," said Cai Chongxin straightforwardly.

Yu Xing rejected the idea immediately: "The problem is that we are not in a hurry to conduct a second round of financing. After the funds from Zhejiang Industrial Investment are spent and we raise funds again, our valuation will definitely increase. If Alibaba comes in now, it must also take this into consideration."

Cai Chongxin's tone became a little cold: "Then wait a little longer. We hope that the latest hot spots can always produce excellent content."

Yu Xing smiled and said, "No problem, we can talk about it after the New Year."

After the communication, both sides expressed that they were not in a hurry.

Yu Xing called Zhong Zhiling over and scolded him with a smile: "Zhiling, you really dare to shout, do you really think that the other person is a sucker?"

"Anyway, Brother Xing, you have room to maneuver." Zhong Zhiling did have some considerations. "We are not short of money at the moment. We can absorb the traffic from WeChat to expand our scale. It will be easier to discuss valuation in the future. Even if we go through the normal financing process, we will not lose money in the end."

Yu Xing did not comment, and after a moment he said, "Let's keep in touch before the New Year. It will be easier to talk after two months of traveling after the New Year."

Both of them agreed that they did not think Alibaba would continue to try to advance financing before the end of the year.

However, unexpectedly, Ji Gang, who was directly in charge of the matter, brought people from Lin'an to Lingang the next day and had a face-to-face discussion on the reasonable valuation range of Carbon Silicon Data Company. He believed that even considering the premium of subsequent financing, the valuation should not exceed US$1.8 million.

According to this valuation, assuming that 10% of the shares are sold, Alibaba can get at least US$1800 million.

Ji Gang is a senior investment practitioner. He first worked as an auditor at KPMG and later worked in investment at Shencheng Lianchuang for eight years. Soon after joining Alibaba in 08, he led a $7500 million acquisition of HiChina.

His vision and experience are both impeccable, and his valuation of Silicon Carbon Company is also good.

However, Zhong Zhiling disagrees with this valuation.

"Reason, Mr. Zhong, since we are cooperating and want to continue in-depth cooperation, there must be a legitimate reason. You can't just randomly name a price and we have to negotiate according to your wishes." Ji Gang emphasized seriously.

"Mr. Ji, are you confident about the development of WeChat in 2012?" Zhong Zhiling asked another question.

Ji Gang replied: "Of course."

"Yes, I have too. I think WeChat will grow rapidly this year, so the latest hot spots based on a part of WeChat's traffic will also grow rapidly." Zhong Zhiling used the other party's things as an excuse and emphasized, "You should not only invest in the 'latest hot spots', but also our traffic sources include a series of apps such as 'Ad Buster', which will also have extremely high growth rates this year, and these should be included in the calculation."

Ji Gang said with a smile: "This has already been taken into account. Let me put it this way, if it weren't for the traffic cooperation with WeChat, I wouldn't be here today."

Zhong Zhiling was firm: "Yes, Mr. Ji, this is what I wanted to say. If it weren't for the cooperation with WeChat, I wouldn't want to talk about financing at all."

Ji Gang couldn't continue the conversation and made a request: "Where is Mr. Yu? I want to see Mr. Yu."

Mr. Yu is not in Lingang today, he is at Shuohe International.

Ji Gang could only take his men to Shuohe International again.

Yu Xing received Ji Gang and his team warmly, but he seemed embarrassed when faced with the valuation line he proposed.

"Boss Ji, to be honest, I am not involved in the operation of Carbon Silicon Data. I am just the chairman of the board. Zhong Zhiling is the president and Zhai Yifei is the CTO. My main focus is on the tram."

Ji Gang insisted: "Mr. Yu, then you should also have a basic attitude, right? To what extent does WeChat cooperate with the latest hot spots?"

He put forward the cooperation in importing WeChat traffic.

Yu Xing was not angry and asked, "Boss Ji, I don't interfere with Carbon Silicon Data's work. I have to respect their ideas, just like you. You don't like Boss Ma interfering with your work, right?"

Ji Gang shook his head and said, "This is not a question of interference. If Mr. Ma points out the problems in my work, I will accept them calmly."

When Yu Xing heard what this person said, he simply took out his cell phone and called Ma Dian directly.

Ji Gang didn't expect Mr. Yu to do this. When he was about to say something, he saw that the call was connected.

"Mr. Ma, how is the situation with WeChat?" Yu Xing asked about the key actions before the New Year.

Ma Dian said happily: "It's going well. We can start this weekend."

The 22nd of this month is New Year’s Eve, and time is running out.

"That's good. I'm looking forward to it. Um, Mr. Ji Gang is here with me. He has some opinions on the cooperation between WeChat and the latest hot spots. Mr. Ma, I think at least the cooperation between the two parties in the near future is not tied to investment and financing." Yu Xing smiled, "What do you think?"

Ma Dian was silent for two seconds and said, "Give him the phone."

Yu Xing handed the phone to Ji Gang.

Ji Gang received a call from the headmaster.

After a while, he returned the phone reluctantly, not understanding why WeChat was so determined to cooperate with the latest hot spots.

Yu Xing exchanged a few more pleasantries with Ma Dian. After hanging up the phone, he saw Ji Gang's expression and said with a smile, "Boss Ji, look, I really intervened, and you're not happy about it, but you still force me to intervene in my team."

Ji Gang said with an unhappy look on his face: "I'm not unhappy."

"That's good." Yu Xing nodded. "How about this, we'll talk about it again next Monday. Maybe we'll have a different opinion by then."

Seeing that things had come to this point, Ji Gang was helpless.

He was confused about the time point of "next Monday", but the time was not far away, so he naturally had the patience to wait for a week.

Ali's attack was imminent.

Even though Yu Xing has already sold WeChat, he is still a little nervous about this action. It is not because he is afraid of problems, but because he is worried about the outcome of WeChat.

On Friday night, Yu Xing suddenly received a call from Xu Xin, informing him of good news.

"Mr. Yu, the boss of the Ministry of Science and Technology will come to Lingang to take a look at your project before the New Year. You should make preparations." There was irrepressible excitement in Xu Xin's voice.

Yu Xing was surprised by the news: "Ah? What's the nature of it? I didn't receive any notification."

"It's unofficial, I just came to visit." Xu Xin said with a smile, "Wan Bu is from Shanghai, this trip is really for the occasion."

Yu Xing sipped the news and asked, "What should I prepare?"

He knew that Musk had visited Wan Bu in Beijing last time he came here, and that this leader had early plans and a lot of work for new energy vehicles.

Xu Xin hesitated for a moment, thinking about Mr. Yu's work in the past period of time, and said carefully: "Tell me about the situation of the industrial chain? Talk about your inspection and work process? Well, I think your slogan of honest car manufacturing is very good."

Yu Xing said: "That's not a slogan, it's what we need to do."

Xu Xin said happily: "Yes, yes, that's what I meant."

Yu Xing: “…”

He ended the call and felt that this was very good news indeed.

However, Yu Xing had been thinking about how to prepare from that evening to the next day, and finally he felt that there seemed to be nothing that needed to be prepared. He could just answer whatever was asked, as it was all in his mind anyway. Carbon Silicon Group was doing practical things, and he believed that this could be seen.

Even if it is not seen, the work of Carbon Silicon Group still needs to proceed normally and there will be no changes.

On the morning of January 1, Saturday, following the New Year’s Day software version update two weeks ago, Alibaba’s WeChat updated its functions again.

This time, it came up with a Spring Festival blessing-gathering activity based on Chinese tradition.

In just two minutes, the phones of Penguin's general office members rang continuously and WeChat notifications came one after another.

Ali gathers blessings, penguins shake.

(End of this chapter)