What’s Wrong With Me Being a Rich Man? - Chapter 278
Chapter 278 Burn out
WeChat’s major updates have significantly boosted users’ single-day gains.
Throughout November, WeChat’s regular daily new growth was stable at around 240,000-270,000, while as of the first day of December, the total number of WeChat’s users was 17.75 million. If nothing unexpected happens, WeChat will have more than 20 million users in 2011.
By then, China’s third largest instant messaging software… or the third.
On December 5, WeChat Company held an internal seminar to analyze the latest competition situation.
Rarely, Liu Wanying of Kestrel Capital attended the meeting.
At the same time, former Vice President of Capital Liu Jiankai and former Director of Baidu Zhai Yifei also appeared in the conference room of WeChat company. They did not join the entry procedures here, but were taken by Yu Xing as consultants.
Liu Wanying took advantage of the meeting not beginning and asked Yu Xing, who was in the wild recently, recently: “Why did you even get two people back after going out? In addition, didn’t I ask you to help me dig up the kestrels?”
“One is a gift, which is considered a gift that competes with Penguin, and the other is recycling. If you don’t want to invest any more, you can’t force it.” Yu Xing explained the situation.
Liu Wanying glanced at the two consultants. The gift was quiet and I didn’t know what I was thinking about. The recycling was very familiar with the people in the WeChat company and was happily chatting.
The meeting officially began, and more detailed data about WeChat was presented, and even Liu Jiankai, who was originally happy, could not help but frown.
When I was in today’s capital, data from WeChat companies always paid more attention to the total number of users, but today we are analyzing user activity.
Liu Jiankai noticed that the data displayed by WeChat had a clear turning point. Near the beginning of last month, WeChat’s activity gradually declined from gradually approaching 40%, and it came out of two completely different curves, and the final landing point was below 30%.
As time enters this month, this curve has emerged from a new trend and has broken through 30% again. Yesterday’s latest data was 32.6%.
“These two obvious turning points, the first is that Penguin’s WeChat started to connect with QQ offline messages, and the second is that WeChat has updated ‘people nearby’, right?”
Although Liu Jiankai is not in WeChat, his mind is full of mobile instant messaging competition and has an instinctive understanding of the critical moments of this market.
Secretary Lin Lingling confirmed: “Yes, although Penguin is a party that is ridiculed in public opinion that is not its own system, judging from our actual data, its actions have relatively obvious effects.”
“There are relatively few references at present. According to our analysis of whatsApp, the overseas communication tool, 30% is already a very excellent dividing line, and the WeChat peak is infinitely close to 39.4% of 40%. This is the best among the excellent. Most of the proportion may be the sympathy of Penguin after a series of public opinion this year.”
Liu Jiankai understood this statement. WeChat has achieved excellence from scratch, and Penguin’s negative reputation gives WeChat an additional bonus.
He couldn’t help asking: “What is the active proportion of Penguin’s micro-chat? The subsequent decline was not sympathized with…”
Lin Lingling explained: “Just just as the traffic brought by public opinion is only temporary, this kind of support based on word of mouth is also declining. In other words, we still have sympathy and word of mouth in the current 32.6%, but its decay is inevitable.”
She added: “That’s how it is, it is also the result of the continuation of the prejudice public opinion.”
Yu Xing interrupted at this time and assigned a task temporarily: “Mr. Liu, please go back and ask Mr. Xu, what is the active proportion of the Penguin micro-chat? “
Liu Jiankai was a little embarrassed by this request, but he felt that he had missed the opportunity to refuse when he was hesitating.
Instead, he thought about how to contact Mr. Xu while listening to the internal analysis of the competitive situation on WeChat.
Judging from the changes in DAU data, a considerable number of users of WeChat and WeChat have overlapped, and whether it is voice functions, QQ offline messages, or nearby people, they have all had one after another.
Two software with similar functions and positioning are competing for the use time of this group of users.
This is not good news.
What’s even worse is that according to WeChat’s speculations about WeChat users, the green curve representing the total number of opponents and the red curve representing oneself quickly narrowed over more than a month.
Liu Jiankai was silently thinking about such a line of information. He wanted to ask a question but felt a vague feeling in his heart, so he didn’t ask it on the spot.
When the meeting ended, he couldn’t help but hold back Mr. Yu and asked, “Mr. Yu, there are voice versions updated in front of Android and Apple. Now people nearby have been updated. When will Saipan catch up?”
Yu Xing did not avoid his eyes, but 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 is that Saipan is working hard to develop.”
Yu Xing nodded slightly: “Yes, I’m still working hard now. The problem of Saipan is mainly its own problem. You can also see from the update of Penguin. If our technical strength is not strong enough, then the Penguin will definitely not have any restrictions in this regard, but they also did not update the voice function of the Saipan version, so don’t worry about it for the time being.”
Liu Jiankai breathed a sigh of relief and began to think about 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 data.” Yu Xing reminded again, “You can find an empty seat and sit wherever you want, and you can do it in the conference room.”
Liu Jiankai saw that Liu Wanying had already entered the President’s Office first, and knew that the two must have important matters to discuss about financing.
He wandered around for a while, but he made up his mind to go to the conference room and found the former boss number on his phone.
This is the first time I have been talking to Mr. Xu since I left Capital Today.
The phone number was quickly opened.
“Oh, can you still remember to call me?” Xu Xin’s voice sounded quite pleasant, and she joked, “Where has Mr. Liu made a fortune recently?”
Liu Jiankai said vaguely: “What kind of money can I make? Mr. Xu, you know mine. Alas, I’ve been following the competition between WeChat and WeChat recently, and I don’t know where they have reached.”
Xu Xin’s voice became a little more serious: “Well, it’s still like that. WeChat has new features. I don’t know when WeChat will follow up, but I will definitely follow. Penguin is still pushing it with all its strength. The industry believes that WeChat’s winning rate has been declining, and it’s almost like that.”
Liu Jiankai knew this and asked, “Wangchat always follows this way. What will its DAU look like? I see that many people around him use WeChat, but fewer chat with WeChat.”
“Well…” Xu Xin hesitated for a moment, “I don’t know the specific situation, but Liu Chiping called me recently. Penguin’s micro-chat has exceeded 13 million users, and the speed is even more amazing than expected. He can’t persuade Yu Xing. Now he obviously does not want to limit competition to the market, and even exerts a stronger influence on the capital level, like Qiming Venture Capital…”
Just as Liu Jiankai was concentrating, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and secretary Lin Lingling leaned in and shouted: “Mr. Liu, Mr. Yu asked you to wait for his office!”
Xu Xin: “…”
Liu Jiankai turned his head stiffly and looked at Lin Lingling.
Lin Lingling showed a innocent smile. Seeing that he was calling, she gave him an OK gesture and helped close the door.
Silence.
After a while, Xu Xin said coldly: “Have you gone to WeChat?”
Liu Jiankai felt a little embarrassed and coughed: “Mr. Yu insisted on letting me do it.”
“If he insists on you going, you will go?” Xu Xin asked, “If I don’t let you go, why do you insist on leaving?”
Liu Jiankai subconsciously said: “Mr. Xu, I just came here to take a walk. I am not joining the WeChat company. I am interested in blockchain.”
Xu Xin didn’t understand this direction and asked, “What is blockchain?”
Liu Jiankai learned from Mr. Yu’s tone and replied, “It’s probably the future.”
Xu Xin was really frightened for three seconds, but then she was furious: “What did you do when you asked about Penguin’s data just now? Did Yu Xing ask you to ask?” Liu Jiankai felt sweating on his back and said awkwardly: “Mr. Xu, don’t think too much, I just ask casually.”
“Just run to the WeChat company, wait casually to Yu Xing’s office, and help WeChat ask about the competitors’ news. Liu Jiankai, even if you go to WeChat, you will speak it openly. Why should you hide like the one named Yu!” Xu Xin said angrily.
Liu Jiankai breathed a sigh of relief, thought it made sense, and admitted openly: “I was temporarily helping with WeChat, but mainly to study the future of blockchain with Mr. Yu.”
Xu Xin was even more angry and ended the call directly: “Bastard!”
Liu Jiankai pinched his cell phone and felt 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 Mr. Yu’s communication with technical director Ge Zhijie, and saw the words on the whiteboard. After the two of them came to an end, they asked, “Mr. Yu, is WeChat going to answer Alibaba’s advertisements?”
Yu Xing nodded and confirmed: “Yes, although Alibaba refuses to invest in traffic for us, they don’t mind asking for our traffic. I asked the deputy director of operations of Taobao Mall to help me ask. Yesterday, I had basically connected, and they will invest for one quarter first.”
Liu Jiankai asked, “What is a quarter?”
“180+20, we will add Taobao Mall recommendations to the new features in the future.” Yu Xing threw a cigarette over and said, “The price is not bad.”
WeChat access to Alibaba advertising is mainly based on the CPM model, and because considering the user experience, each user has only 1-2 exposures per day, so the price is already very good.
Liu Jiankai smiled bitterly when he heard this, “It’s easy to burn money, but it’s really difficult to make money…”
2 million Chinese currency, equivalent to USD only about 300,000 US dollars, is a very different from the financing obtained by WeChat.
He raised his concern again: “WeChat needs to develop revenue. The problem is that Penguin’s WeChat will definitely not add advertisements at this stage. Is this user experience like this…”
Liu Jiankai felt that WeChat was a little anxious to develop revenue at this time. Although the capital has actually withdrawn today, Mr. Yu’s wave of going out to replace equity has wisely solved the problem.
The main contradiction in WeChat’s current competition is still the dispute with the number of users in WeChat.
“Many times, we must admit that there is a huge gap with Penguin.” Yu Xing sighed lightly, “Ali invests in flow, this is a strategic step, or a step to make the other party realize its strategic significance.”
Liu Jiankai didn’t understand the second half of the sentence.
He talked about the latest news: “Mr. Yu, Mr. Xu is not sure about the activity of micro-chat, but the number of micro-chat users has exceeded 13 million.”
Although there have been some speculations, the number has been truly confirmed and it is still a conspicuous thing in my heart.
Yu Xing and Liu Wanying looked at each other.
Liu Jiankai added speculation: “Mr. Yu, Liu Chiping contacted Mr. Xu, and it is not ruled out that he has contacted Qiming Venture Capital and IDG.”
“I must have contacted you.” Liu Wanying smiled, “He called me all.”
Liu Jiankai asked, “What did he say?”
“It’s nothing more than Penguin’s investment and the progress of WeChat chat. He is actually not afraid of information leakage, it’s just creating pressure.” Liu Wanying said calmly, “Penguin doesn’t want to see WeChat continue to obtain funds. They want to end the battle as soon as possible. I won’t let them get what they want.”
Penguin has frequent actions in all aspects. In addition to market competition and capital threats, WeChat company was poached more than a dozen people last month.
Although another round of options issued by WeChat is about to be placed, those who leave are more willing to get actual salaries and bonuses, and put them in the pocket.
With the following of its updates in function and catching up with the total number of users, the pressure of China’s No. 1 Internet company has been fully demonstrated.
Liu Jiankai didn’t know how Kestrel got the trust of overseas funds, but he was relieved to see this statement. This is indeed good news.
However, just as late as the evening, another bad news came over.
Yu Xing went out to fill the gap in today’s capital with equity exchange traffic. Now that he has to finish the work, he has to carry out financing work with IDG and Qiming Venture Capital, after all, it involves more companies.
However, IDG is OK, Qiming Venture Capital is very hesitant.
Hu Xubo could not confirm his trip by phone for two consecutive calls.
Finally, Yu Xing simply asked his attitude directly: “Mr. Hu, if Qiming Venture Capital is unwilling to continue to support you, you can say it directly, just like Mr. Xu, if she doesn’t invest, then I can also access other funds to avoid work problems. No matter what, you should still consider its value before you sell the equity of WeChat company.”
Hu Xubo finally made his position when he heard this: “Mr. Yu, today’s capital withdraws from this round of investment, which makes me worry a lot. WeChat’s competitive environment is becoming worse. 360. Thunder and other companies are just defeated by Penguin. This kind of wave can only be… surviving.”
“OK, I understand what you mean.” Yu Xing thought for two seconds and accepted calmly, “Mr. Hu, I understand your concerns, but since we have a good exchange from Bai Xiaosheng to WeChat company, I need to talk to you about something. Please do not sell the equity in your hands to Penguin. I will do my best to realize its value and even increase its value.”
Hu Xubo laughed: “Mr. Yu, it’s not me that you are talking nonsense. How should I believe what you said about the realization and appreciation of value? Isn’t you doing WeChat now with all your efforts? If things really don’t work, alas, just like Zhang Chaoyang from Sohu said, if it really doesn’t work, let’s actually… understand each other.”
He did not make a promise.
Yu Xing was not angry, but just ended the call with a frown.
After smoking two cigarettes, he called Liu Wanying, who had already returned, to inform the latest news.
“It’s so hard. It’s really hard for you to face the giant’s WeChat. Should I understand Mr. Hu? He didn’t immediately vote on the day when Liu Chiping came to persuade him to surrender. This is already awesome.” Liu Wanying felt it was difficult while watching.
She felt that WeChat’s grasp of public opinion, the creation of topics, the use of funds, the adaptation of versions, and the response to capital withdrawals were quite perfect. Although Yu Xing built this project to create negative news from the beginning, his own investment was 200%.
If you make the daily increase curve of Yu Xing’s smoking, you will surely be able to see this clearly.
The only problem that exists is the opponent’s choice.
Yu Xing had no choice but to understand each other. If he insisted on selling, he would definitely lose money, but there was nothing he could do.”
Liu Wanying said, “Mr. Yu, let’s leave the time to the mountains, you’re almost burned out.”
Yu Xing sighed inexplicably, it was almost burned out. Without the support of the mountain, Qiming Venture Capital’s another withdrawal would likely have caused WeChat’s round of financing to fail.
The next day, Liu Jiankai arrived according to the working hours of the WeChat company.
He walked around and noticed that Zhai Yifei, a former Baidu executive who attended the meeting like him yesterday, was quietly flipping through the documents.
Liu Jiankai came over and asked, “Mr. Zhai, are you interested in blockchain too?”
Zhai Yifei glanced at Liu Jiankai: “I am a penguin.”
Liu Jiankai: “?”
Zhai Yifei: “?”
As the two looked at each other, a small commotion spread from the sixth floor, and the peak that had not been seen for a long time appeared again.
(This chapter ends)