Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

In the July of the Third Summer, Hang City was humid and stifling after the rain, and the vegetation grew lush and green.

A clear voice drifted from a music store on the street: ’♫ I walked out of springtime, but in autumn you said goodbye. I promised I wouldn’t mourn you, but how could my heart be fine... ♫’

After the first season of *Hua Country’s Voice* premiered on Blueberry Channel, it exploded in popularity, becoming the most profitable and sensational variety show of 2012.

Cover songs like ”Crazy for Love,” ”High Song,” and ”You Got Me Drunk” blew up, and shops on every street corner played the show’s playlist on a continuous loop.

Chen Yansen lowered the car window, and a gust of fresh air carrying the scent of damp earth rushed in. The tires made a soft patter on the wet ground.

”Boss, the meeting is set for nine a.m. tomorrow at Jinsha Hall by West Lake,” Gao Weilin, sitting in the front seat, reminded him softly.

”Xiaoli, don’t go back to the hotel yet. Head to the Fast Taxi headquarters.”

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, giving the driver his instructions.

Xiaoli turned the car around at the intersection and drove toward 102 Xueyuan Road, West Lake District.

Fast Taxi’s current daily order volume was 1.6 million, giving it a market share of nearly 80%. Its growth potential was considerable. Aside from Penguin, Ah Li, DST, Huake, and Jinsha Venture Capital, Huaxin Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Apple’s investment division were also planning to get a piece of the action.

However, Chen Yansen rejected Apple, giving the entry tickets to Huaxin Fund and Goldman Sachs instead.

Of these two investment firms, the former could reduce Fast Taxi’s policy risks, while the latter could prepare them for future overseas market expansion.

Twenty minutes later, a motorcade of three luxury cars stopped in front of the Fast Taxi headquarters.

Cheng Weixing stood in a neat row with a group of senior executives, all dressed in sharp suits. The moment Chen Yansen stepped out of the car, Cheng Weixing hurried over to greet him.

”Boss, it must have been a long trip.” With an attentive smile, Cheng Weixing raised a hand over Chen Yansen’s head as he greeted him.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and patted Cheng Weixing’s shoulder. ”The new headquarters is a big improvement. How many employees do you have here?”

”Around 400 people here, mainly in development, operations, finance, and legal. We have another 800-plus people spread across Jinling, Luzhou, Yanjing, Tang City, and other locations, focusing on marketing, driver management, and regional operations,” Cheng Weixing replied immediately.

”DiDi just completed a 600 million yuan D-round financing. This subsidy war will have to go on for another two months. Are you aware of Pei Yi’s ’Thousand Talents, Hundred Cities’ plan?” Chen Yansen asked casually.

The group chatted as they walked toward the first-floor lobby.

”Thousand Talents, Hundred Cities?” Cheng Weixing was slightly taken aback. After all, Kuai Pao and Fast Taxi were independent subsidiaries, and that guy Pei Yi kept things under tight wraps, so he was truly in the dark.

”It’s a plan to uniformly train 1,000 to 2,000 new people in teams combining marketing, business, and operations, then deploy them to 100 cities to accelerate expansion,” Chen Yansen explained slowly.

’In his view, Cheng Weixing’s operational skills were fine, but he was a bit too conservative when it came to the pace of expansion.’

’Every time they added a new service area, it was at most two or three cities. At this rate, it would take Fast Taxi at least four to five years to achieve full coverage of the North China, East China, Central China, and Southern China Region.’

”Boss, isn’t that a bit too aggressive?” Cheng Weixing furrowed his brow, worried that moving too fast would lead to all sorts of unexpected management loopholes, which in turn would have a huge negative impact on the project.

”Fast Taxi only had a head start of a little over two months on DiDi. The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it is for us. With Junlian Capital’s involvement, it means Lenovo Group has also entered the game. How much longer can you maintain your advantage?” Chen Yansen retorted.

Junlian Capital was the predecessor to Lenovo Group’s strategic investment department. They led DiDi Dache’s D-round financing, which showed that the Liu Family also had its eyes on the big cake of the ride-hailing market.

Fast Taxi currently held the advantage in funding, technology, and market share, but with major capital entering the field, DiDi Dache would quickly close the gap.

’A slow and steady pace of expansion might seem stable, but it’s no different from slow poison.’

’Before Cheng Wei can react, I should copy Kuai Pao’s ’Thousand Talents, Hundred Cities Plan’ for Fast Taxi and focus on boosting the daily order volume for now.’

’In the future, even if there’s a merger and restructuring, the one with the largest market share will be the one calling the shots.’

”Boss, I understand.” The smile vanished from Cheng Weixing’s face. A moment ago, he had been feeling smug about capturing 80% of the market share, but now his hands and feet felt ice-cold, his heart sinking as if plunged into an ice cellar.

’He knew it. He had grown complacent!’

’In terms of ample funding, DiDi Dache was no slouch either. Their valuation was admittedly lower than Fast Taxi’s, but Cheng Wei understood the importance of ceding equity. Despite losing his controlling stake, he maintained the posture of someone ready to fight to the bitter end.’

’Was Cheng Wei stupid?’

’Not at all!’

’In the A-round financing, Today Capital acquired 20% of DiDi Dache’s equity for just 2 million. Back then, Cheng Wei’s own stake was only worth a little over 7 million. By the D-round, the valuation had soared to 4 billion. Although his shareholding had shrunk from 72% to 34.3%, it was now worth 1.37 billion—an increase of nearly 200-fold.’

’Meanwhile, the ”smart guys” in the eyes of ordinary people, like the founder of Yaoyao Zhaoche, were too obsessed with their equity. He successively rejected investments from Penguin and Huaxin and ended up being crushed by DiDi and Fast Taxi before he could even reach his goal of 1,000 daily orders.’

’Only by learning to cede control and leverage the strength of others was there any chance of success.’

Seeing that Cheng Weixing understood, Chen Yansen said no more.

The group took the elevator to the 16th floor. Fast Taxi’s offices occupied the 16th, 17th, and 18th floors, with over a hundred people on each level.

Since it was the weekend, there weren’t many employees around.