Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

8:30 PM, MUSE Bar, Hang City.

Inside a lavishly decorated private room on the second floor, Chen Yansen sat in the center of the sofa, flanked by NetEase’s Ding Lei on his left and Zhou Shouzhi, President of DST China Region, on his right.

Cheng Weixing, Gao Weilin, Song Yuncheng, and the assistants of Ding Lei and Zhou Shouzhi were seated on either side.

”President Chen, I hear the subsidy war between DiDi and Fast Taxi is getting pretty intense. Is it true even Li Yanhong is getting desperate?”

Ding Lei swirled his glass, the ice cubes clinking softly against the sides. A teasing glint appeared in his eyes from behind his glasses, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile as he posed the question to Chen Yansen.

”Burning money is just the first step in fighting for market share. Building a solid foundation is what’s truly key,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile, gently setting his glass down on the coffee table.

He had studied DiDi Dache’s passenger and driver apps. They had too many fundamental flaws, making it extremely easy for gray studios to find and exploit system vulnerabilities.

Cheng Weixing had mentioned to him that every day, Fast Taxi detected a large number of accounts using GPS spoofing software, as well as multiple accounts being logged into from a single device—all kinds of tricks to fleece the system for subsidies.

Even though Fast Taxi’s risk control and anti-fraud mechanisms were quite strong, a portion of these ”wool-pullers” were relentless, leading to countless devices, accounts, and IPs being banned every day.

From this, it was clear that the amount of subsidy money being siphoned off from the loophole-ridden DiDi Dache every day was absolutely astronomical.

Only then did Cheng Weixing realize why Chen Yansen had been so demanding about risk control when Fast Taxi was first launched.

Before Fast Taxi’s installation package was even uploaded to the app store, their internal GPS spoofing software had already gone through more than a dozen versions, and they had developed seven or eight different programs to simulate trips in a test environment.

You could even say that the GPS spoofing software used by the gray studios wasn’t as stable, stealthy, or secure as the versions Fast Taxi had developed internally.

”DiDi Dache’s technology for intelligent dispatch, geolocation, and route planning is far inferior to Fast Taxi’s. That’s one of the reasons DST didn’t invest in Cheng Wei,”

Zhou Shouzhi added with a faint smile, helping Chen Yansen make his point.

”It’s a good thing President Chen hasn’t gotten into the gaming industry, or NetEase would be in trouble,” Ding Lei joked, raising his glass to toast with the other two.

”You never know,” Chen Yansen said, deliberately putting on a serious expression.

”Alright, whenever President Chen decides to make a game, DST will give its full support,” Zhou Shouzhi said in a serious tone.

Ding Lei’s expression froze for a moment. He shook his head with a helpless look, then picked up a bottle of red wine worth tens of thousands of yuan and refilled the glasses for Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi.

Of course, he didn’t take their banter seriously.

”Yaoyao Zhaoche went bankrupt, and so did Yidao Zhuanche,” Ding Lei said with a sigh, leaning back and narrowing his eyes wistfully.

Yaoyao Zhaoche?

Yidao Zhuanche?

Chen Yansen had no memory of them; Cheng Weixing had never mentioned these two companies in his work emails.

”Boss, those are two very small ride-hailing companies. Their daily orders were less than 1,000. As soon as we entered the Yanjing market, their business volume plummeted to nothing, so I didn’t pay them much attention,”

Cheng Weixing, who was sitting nearby, quickly explained.

”Oh,” Chen Yansen said with a nod, not giving it much thought.

Little did he know, while Yaoyao Zhaoche was negligible, Yidao Zhuanche would, at its peak three years later, reach a valuation of one billion US dollars.

But now, before it even had a chance to make a name for itself, it had been crushed by Fast Taxi and DiDi.

And the man responsible for it all, upon hearing the news, had merely responded with a casual ”Oh.”

Chen Yansen knew perfectly well that the subsidy war in the ride-hailing market was no different from the price war in the courier industry. Without money and resources, you were destined to be eliminated.

This was true even though Fast Taxi and DiDi hadn’t specifically targeted Yaoyao Zhaoche and Yidao Zhuanche.

”The initial investment costs for the ride-hailing track are too high. Plus, Fast Taxi and DiDi have raised the barrier to entry, so there won’t be many new competitors in the market. I estimate that in two or three years, this industry will quickly enter the final rounds—from three to two, and then from two to one.”

Zhou Shouzhi said, stating his opinion after taking a sip of wine.

”I hope Fast Taxi will be that ’one’,” Chen Yansen said with a hearty laugh.

The domestic business environment was just too competitive. Although ride-hailing wasn’t exactly a fast way to make money, after 2015, competing apps like Cao Cao, T3, and Shenzhou still appeared.

Chen Yansen never intended to swallow the entire market share. Fast Taxi just needed to become number one in the industry.

”I have faith in President Chen’s strategic abilities,” Ding Lei said with a firm nod. He continued, ”I have to toast you for this one. If it weren’t for your support, President Chen, the NetEase Ruiying G1 would never have had the chance to sell 280,000 units in pre-orders in its first week.”

”The production line in Luzhou has been adjusted. Just give it two more weeks, President Ding, and the sales link on the NetEase Mall will be switched to in-stock sales,” Chen Yansen replied, raising his glass.

Holding his glass, Zhou Shouzhi unconsciously rubbed the stem and fell into deep thought.

He couldn’t quite figure out what Chen Yansen was thinking!

Anyone else would most likely not have licensed their self-developed mobile operating system to a third-party phone manufacturer.

Although it would generate a handsome sum in patent royalties, it also invisibly increased the competitive pressure on the Orange Mobile Phone.

’The gains don’t outweigh the losses,’ he thought.

But Chen Yansen was clearly no fool. There had to be a deeper strategic reason for this move.

The three of them drank and chatted idly until after ten o’clock at night.

Chen Yansen raised his wrist to check the time. Ding Lei immediately took the hint and brought the gathering to a close.

”President Zhou, shall we talk?” Chen Yansen asked Zhou Shouzhi, extending the invitation as soon as they walked out of the bar.

”Of course,” Zhou Shouzhi agreed readily with a smile. He knew what Chen Yansen wanted to talk about.

The two of them got into a Rolls-Royce Gusteau, while the driver, Gao Weilin, Cheng Weixing, and the others waited outside the car doors.

”As of July, Orange Mobile Phone’s total shipments for the year reached 26 million units, only 1.4 million less than Mountain Star. Revenue is close to 40 billion, but Orange Technology still has zero users in the European and American markets. I need a pioneer who is familiar with overseas expansion.”

After speaking, Chen Yansen stared intently at Zhou Shouzhi.

With smart people, some things don’t need to be spelled out.

”Thank you for your high regard, President Chen. I’d like to know, why did you license Aurora OS to 360 and NetEase? As far as I know, Orange Technology doesn’t need that little bit of licensing revenue.”

Zhou Shouzhi dodged the unspoken offer, changing the subject with his curious question.

”I position Orange Technology as an R&D lab, not a smartphone assembly brand. Deep customization based on the Android system is not the ultimate goal.

Aurora OS, our camera algorithms, battery management system, and Moss Intelligent Voice interaction engine are the beginning for Orange Technology, not the end.”

Chen Yansen said in a low voice.

Zhou Shouzhi frowned, mulling over the meaning behind Chen Yansen’s words. A flash of insight struck him, and he suddenly understood: ’He’s planning to charge up the industry chain, from downstream to upstream, to become the one who sets the rules.’

The sheer scale of his ambition was far beyond what he had imagined.

’Give up my position and resources at DST to join Orange Technology?’

For a moment, Zhou Shouzhi was overcome with indecision.

”Timing is everything in an investment. A step too early or a step too late, and you’re not one of us. I’m not a very patient man. Sometimes, once an opportunity is missed, you’re no longer qualified to join the game.”

Chen Yansen shrugged his shoulders and said slowly.

The implication was clear: this was his final invitation for Zhou Shouzhi to join. If he refused, Chen Yansen would find someone else.

”President Chen, I understand. Please give me two days. I’ll give you a reply as soon as possible,” Zhou Shouzhi answered solemnly.

A mobile phone company with annual revenues approaching one hundred billion was, compared to DST, by no means a small stage for him to perform on.

What’s more, Chen Yansen’s astonishing business talent had completely won him over.

Even Zuckerberg, who had just taken Facebook public and was worth over 20 billion US dollars, seemed to fall short when compared to Chen Yansen in his eyes.

”Alright. It’s getting late, and we have business to discuss tomorrow,” Chen Yansen said with a wave of his hand, seeing that Zhou Shouzhi had made his stance clear.

Zhou Shouzhi nodded slightly and got out of the car with a complicated expression.

”Take care, President Zhou!” Gao Weilin, Cheng Weixing, and the others said their goodbyes.

”President Gao, President Cheng, see you tomorrow,” Zhou Shouzhi said with a smile, then got into his own car and told the driver to head to the hotel.

Southeast of MUSE Bar, Ma Liyun, Zhu Xiaohu, Yu Heng, and others were sitting in MAX Bar, privately discussing matters concerning Fast Taxi’s Series B financing.

「Elsewhere.」

Hundreds of kilometers away in Yanjing, at the Renren Headquarters in the Golden Chang’an Mansion, No. 82, Middle Fourth Ring Road.

Chen Yizhou stared at the financial report sent by Shen Boyang, his thick eyebrows instantly twisting into a knot. As an old classmate of Lei Yijun’s, he was an ”old sea turtle” who had returned to China before the new millennium.

Compared to business prospects, he was more focused on immediate profits.

Nuomi Network had lost 6.7 million US dollars in Q2, accounting for 15.7% of the group’s revenue. Clearly, the group buy business wasn’t bringing in any substantial profits for him.

In the social products sector, the rise of Weibo and WeChat had slowed Renren Network’s growth. With only 160 million cumulative registered users and 45 million monthly active users, it could only be considered a niche social media app, and its user base was constantly shrinking.

Meanwhile, ’Renren Check-in’ and ’Renren Fly-Chat’, which he had developed to capture the mobile portal, had failed to ride the wave of the wireless internet boom as he had hoped.

Chen Yizhou was beginning to feel that there was no future—or money—in social products.

It would be difficult to raise Renren Network’s stock price on advertising revenue alone.

Renren Games, on the other hand, gave him immense confidence.

In 2011, Renren Games’ revenue was 42.3 million. This year, in just Q1 and Q2, it had already generated 44 million US dollars in revenue, accounting for 60% of the group’s income.

No wonder Ma Wenteng and Ding Lei were willing to get chewed out by the public every day to keep making games.

The things were just too damn profitable!

Chen Yizhou looked at Nuomi Network’s financial report, then at Renren Games’ report, and instantly made a decision: he had to sell this money pit, fast. It was losing 20 to 30 million US dollars a year, with no profitability in sight.

Now that even Kuai Pao had entered the group buy industry, Nuomi Network couldn’t even compete with Meituan, Lashou, or Dianping, let alone the rapidly expanding Kuai Pao.

The others had Senlian Capital backing them; they could burn cash for a whole year. What did Renren Network have to compete with?

At this thought, Chen Yizhou made up his mind to quickly optimize the group’s negative assets and pivot completely to the mobile gaming industry.

The next morning, he started asking around in his circle to see who might be interested in a group buy business.

And Chen Yansen was his first target.

「At the same time.」

While Chen Yansen was in a car on his way to the Jinsha Hall by West Lake after breakfast, he suddenly received a call from Lei Yijun.

”President Chen, Chen Yizhou from Renren Network is interested in selling Nuomi Network. He asked me for your contact information,” Lei Yijun explained simply.

”Go ahead and give him my number,” Chen Yansen agreed without hesitation.

Whether it was Nuomi Network or Lashou Network, as long as the price was right, he didn’t mind buying.

For Kuai Pao to quickly establish a foothold in the group buy market, acquiring a product with a mature model was undoubtedly the best choice.