Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

On February 18th, Kuai Pao launched its limited-time flash sales and free order promotions.

At the same time.

Kou Zhen led the ground promotion team to expand their business scope into Hongkou District. While Eleme charged merchants a 10% commission, Kuai Pao only required 8%.

In addition, the Kuai Pao Riders wore clean uniforms, delivered on time, and spoke with both enthusiasm and politeness. The merchants who had originally partnered with Eleme switched over to Kuai Pao Delivery almost without hesitation.

The merchant resources Eleme had painstakingly cultivated over three years were easily snatched up by Kou Zhen.

Sometimes, the pioneer of a business model isn’t the one who makes it to the end.

The plan might have been sound, but there were flaws in its execution.

At this point, Zhang Xuhao was getting desperate. Kuai Pao was closing in on their Yangpu Headquarters, and Eleme’s market share was continuously dropping.

He hurriedly pulled his senior management into the tech department. Working through the night, they developed a ”spend and save” feature for stores. For merchants with varying sales volumes, the Eleme platform would offer a 50% subsidy: ”Spend 20, get 10 off; spend 30, get 15 off; spend 50, get 25 off.”

Merchants didn’t have to pay a single penny of this cost, which instantly won back a wave of users.

But soon, due to poor risk control, some Eleme merchants began registering user accounts in bulk, exploiting loopholes in the merchant delivery system to fraudulently inflate their order numbers.

By the time Zhang Xuhao discovered it, some merchants had gone from 300 orders a month to 5,000, pocketing a hundred thousand in marketing funds in one fell swoop.

It made his head spin!

After frantically chugging some coffee, he immediately strengthened their risk control measures and launched a campaign to ban the accounts of merchants and users suspected of exploiting the platform’s subsidies.

Inevitably, some innocent users were caught in the crossfire!

These people never got their food, and on top of that, their accounts were banned. You can imagine how furious they were.

With nowhere to vent in real life, they gathered on Weibo and relentlessly flamed Eleme’s official account.

And so, Eleme’s subsidy promotion, which had launched at 8 a.m., was trending by 8 p.m. for all the wrong reasons as netizens furiously criticized it.

”If you can’t afford to run a promotion, then don’t! I didn’t get a single bite of food, and now my account is gone!”

”Eleme? More like ’I’m full... of rage!’”

”Ordered delivery at noon, waited until two. My lunch never showed up, but the account ban notification did!”

”Suggestion: Change your name to ’Starved to Death Yet?’ First time using this app and I get banned. I’m literally starving to death!”

The comment section was filled with nothing but vitriol.

From morning till night, eight or nine out of every ten calls received by the Hu City Market Supervision Association were complaints about Eleme.

Zhang Xuhao was in a panic now. He knew that with Eleme’s current technical capabilities, it would be extremely difficult to handle the order-padding issue.

So he hastily took the subsidy promotion offline and then proactively contacted Ah Li to ask for technical support.

When Ji Gang heard this news, his brow furrowed. ’Zhang Xuhao’s management style is too chaotic,’ he thought. ’It looks like the group’s 50 million investment is about to go down the drain.’

After some thought, he reported the matter to Cai Xin, the general manager of the strategic investment department.

After listening to Ji Gang’s description, Cai Xin was also displeased with Zhang Xuhao. It hadn’t even been a month, and Eleme was already on the verge of losing the Hu City market.

He took the file Ji Gang had prepared and knocked on the door of Ma Liyun’s office.

”Come in!”

Ma Liyun had been in an excellent mood lately.

First, he had already reached an agreement with Temasek, Digital Sky Technology, and Silver Lake Capital. They would inject 700 million US Dollars of investment capital into Ah Li through a share purchase. Combined with Ah Li’s own cash reserves, he would have at least 3 billion US Dollars at his disposal.

Second, Huaguo Investment intended to inject 2 billion US Dollars into Ali Baba as a strategic investment.

Following that, private equity firms like Huaxin Capital and the Development Bank would purchase a full 2 billion US Dollars’ worth of Ah Li’s common stock.

In total, Ma Liyun would raise 7 billion US Dollars. This sum was more than enough for him to complete Ah Li’s share buyback plan, clearing the final obstacle for their public listing.

Cai Xin entered and walked over to Ma Liyun’s desk. ”Kuai Pao’s rise in Hu City has been rapid,” he said. ”Zhang Xuhao is barely holding on. He’s requested a second round of financing and is asking for technical support from Ah Li in areas like algorithms, data, and security.”

”If I recall correctly, Kuai Pao’s CEO is also a graduate student, and they’ve been in the Hu City market for less than a month, right?”

Ma Liyun didn’t answer directly, instead raising a question of his own.

”Mr. Ma, you’re not mistaken,” Cai Xin said tactfully. ”I think that as the project leader, Zhang Xuhao may not be capable of shouldering his responsibilities.”

In reality, he spent most of his time working in Hong Kong Island. This trip to Hang City was solely to push forward Ah Li’s share buyback plan.

Although he didn’t know much about Eleme, the information Ji Gang had gathered made it clear that Zhang Xuhao lacked the qualities and capabilities of a competent CEO.

”I met this Zhang Xuhao at Jiaoda and heard him present Eleme’s business model. At the time, I thought he was a young man with a lot of good ideas,” Ma Liyun said, shaking his head with a slight purse of his lips. ”It seems my judgment was off.”

Ma Liyun was frank about his own poor decision; his words were an undeniable admission of his mistake.

”So, should I reject him?” Cai Xin asked tentatively.

”The model is good, but the person executing it is the problem,” Ma Liyun said after a moment’s thought. ”Have Ji Gang talk to him. If he’s willing to sell the project to Ah Li, we can discuss a partnership. Otherwise, don’t bother.”

In his view, Eleme’s scale was simply too small, with daily orders not even reaching 100,000. It was better to just buy the company than to waste money and effort supporting Zhang Xuhao.

If Zhang Xuhao didn’t agree, they would just let Eleme fend for itself. Once Ah Li completed its share buyback and IPO, they would have free hands to either support a new platform or build one themselves.

Cai Xin nodded, quickly putting the matter of Eleme out of his mind and moving on to discuss the details of the stock issuance with Ma Liyun.

As for whether Eleme lived or died, no one really cared.

When Zhang Xuhao received Ji Gang’s reply, he froze on the spot before slumping back into his chair.

In a daze, he recalled his conversation six months ago with Gao Weilin, the Chief Financial Officer of Senlian Capital.

’If I had accepted Senlian Capital’s investment, the situation between Eleme and Kuai Pao would probably be reversed right now. The one getting beaten back at every turn would be Pei Yi!’

Zhang Xuhao’s mind raced with wild thoughts.

He was filled with regret!

Ah Li was only willing to offer 80 million to acquire the entire founder team’s equity.

For a moment, Zhang Xuhao was caught in a dilemma. Eleme was the company he had built from the ground up. Selling it just like that was easier said than done!

More importantly, the price Ah Li was offering was too low!

He thought for a long time but couldn’t make up his mind. Finally, he called in Wang Yuan, Kang Jia, and Deng Ye to discuss it together.

”I think if we can just get through this rough patch, Eleme can still win! There’s nothing wrong with our business model. The reason we’re being constrained at every turn is that we haven’t managed our priorities correctly. I propose we strengthen the construction of our delivery team, invest more capital, and improve our delivery times first.”

Wang Yuan lit a cigarette, his voice firm and resolute.

While Zhang Xuhao was losing his nerve, he took the initiative to speak up, suggesting they fight on against Kuai Pao.

Just because Ah Li had given up on them didn’t mean Eleme had lost.

”Merchant resources, rider resources, and user resources—if we hold on tight to these three, we won’t lose!” Kang Jia said, standing up and clenching his fist.

He had endured the phase of building something from nothing. How could they think of selling the company just because Eleme had lost a bit of market share?

”We still have 30 million in the bank,” Deng Ye added lightly.

Zhang Xuhao took a deep breath and finally calmed down. He looked at the three partners who had been with him since the beginning and felt his resolve return.

But what they hadn’t expected was that after absorbing a large number of former employees from ”Three Passes and One Reach,” Kuai Pao quickly expanded its rider team to 2,000 people.

And on the day after their free-order promotion ended, they made a new promise to users in Hu City and Luzhou: if a delivery was more than 20 minutes late, the order would be unconditionally free.

The platform would bear the full cost.

This move caught Eleme completely off guard!

Zhang Xuhao had wanted to play it safe and steady, but the plan he had just formulated was quickly shattered by Pei Yi’s tactics.

”Doing food delivery well is actually very simple: be cheap and be fast!”

Pei Yi declared this, standing in the Yiyuan conference room on Longcao Road, addressing the department heads, ground promotion managers, and rider station chiefs.

Chen Yansen had been the one to tell him this, and now he was sharing it with Kuai Pao’s core team in Hu City.

Being cheap held a fatal attraction for both merchants and users.

Fast delivery led to customer satisfaction, which in turn led to repeat purchases and retention!

...

...

「Elsewhere.」

Liang Bo got off at Xucheng High-speed Railway Station and hailed a cab to Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park.

No matter how slow he might be, he understood now.

There was no Hong Kong Island Technology Company!

The person who really wanted to poach him was Chen Yansen!

A week ago, he had received a call from a ”Hong Kong Island Technology Company” inviting him to work on Hong Kong Island. The offer was a starting monthly salary of 60,000, a guaranteed 20-month salary per year, and stock option bonuses.

What was his income at Byte?

Aside from his 20,000 monthly salary, the rest—bonuses, overtime pay, and equity—were all empty promises.

Zhang Yiming had already failed at four startups!

Liang Bo didn’t think he would succeed this time either!

After careful consideration, Liang Bo accepted their request and took the offer.

But after he submitted his resignation to Zhang Yiming, the Hong Kong Island technology company changed the work location to Xucheng.

The moment Liang Bo saw the specific address, he understood everything.

The taxi drove on, flanked by endless fields of green rapeseed seedlings.

’It’s hard to imagine how Chen Yansen managed to build up Pinbei and Orange Technology in an environment like this.’

Liang Bo asked himself. Even if he had the same resources as Chen Yansen, he doubted he could have accomplished it.

They had met briefly in Yanjing, and his impression of Chen Yansen had been excellent: he didn’t put on airs like a boss, he understood technology, and he was generous.

Now, there was no turning back for him. He had to see this path through to the end.

Besides, being noticed by Chen Yansen wasn’t a bad thing.

”We’re here. That’s Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park up ahead. Eighty yuan in total,” the driver said, pointing to a row of buildings in front of them.

’How much?’

’Eighty?’

’It’s only fifteen kilometers from the high-speed rail station!’

Liang Bo’s expression darkened. ”Sir, this distance would only be 40 yuan in Yanjing. Are you sure you want to charge me 80?”

”Oh, oh, my bad, I misread it. 40 it is, then.” Although the driver said this, his face showed not a hint of embarrassment.

Liang Bo suppressed the urge to curse, threw down forty yuan, and dragged his suitcase toward the Science and Technology Park.

Just then, Chen Yansen had finished reading Pei Yi’s work report. He walked to the window and saw Liang Bo, head down, walking in his direction.

He took out his phone and called the front desk, telling them to bring Liang Bo up to his office.