Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

「Three days later.」

Liao Wei called Cao Dahua to urge him to ship the products faster, then immediately went to report to Chen Yansen.

”Boss, sales have exploded!” Liao Wei blurted out.

”Yes, I heard from Cao Dahua. 217 service stations sold 20,183 Orange Mobile Phones in three days. The express delivery side of things hasn’t really taken off, but the phone consignment service has become a huge hit.”

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and nodded in satisfaction.

His initial plan for the Cloud Speed Express Service Stations was for them to handle package pickups and drop-offs. He later added mobile phone consignment and app promotion mainly to address profitability issues.

’The boss already knows?’

Liao Wei froze for a moment, then cursed inwardly, ’Does Cao Dahua’s mouth have wings? He sure is fast.’

”Boss, I think the Cloud Speed Express Service Stations can take on some of the responsibilities of an Orange Technology exclusive store. This would save on store rental costs and also make unified management easier,” Liao Wei said with a serious expression.

”The repurchase frequency for mobile phones is very low. The core value of the Cloud Speed Express Service Stations is still in their package pickup and drop-off services,” Chen Yansen emphasized again.

”I understand, Boss.” Liao Wei knew the subtext in Chen Yansen’s words and quickly replied. He paused for a moment before adding, ”First, we increase the number of smartphones in the rural markets. Then we increase the number of Pinbei users. Only then will Cloud Speed have the business volume. Combining all three will create a virtuous cycle.”

”Those MBA classes weren’t a waste, I see. You’ve made great progress,” Chen Yansen said with a teasing smile.

Just as Liao Wei said, they first had to establish the hardware and system infrastructure in the non-urban markets before they could increase Cloud Speed Express’s package pickup volume.

The prices of the Orange D1 and Qingcheng D1S weren’t considered expensive in the town and village markets.

After all, some digital store owners dared to sell knockoff phones with flashy LED lights for 1,000 Hua Yuan. The 799 Hua Yuan Orange D1 was practically a steal by comparison.

”Thank you for the praise, Boss. Since the service station model has proven to be viable, I’d like to wait for the September business data. If there are no issues, we can push forward with the remaining 400-plus candidate towns in two batches,” Liao Wei continued.

”Alright. As for the specific details of the cooperation, I suggest you have another in-depth discussion with President Zhou and President Cao to ensure that the resources of both Cloud Speed and Orange Technology are fully utilized,” Chen Yansen instructed.

”Okay, Boss,” Liao Wei replied with a nod.

Afterward, Chen Yansen hung up and tossed his phone aside.

At that moment, his computer screen was on the Sohu Network homepage. The headline read: Qian Du Network Follows Up with 800 Million Hua Yuan Investment; DiDi Dache’s Post-Money Valuation Reaches 8 Billion Hua Yuan!

Unable to find any other investors, Li Yanhong had to bite the bullet and inject another 800 million Hua Yuan into DiDi Dache himself.

The subsidy war between Fast Taxi and DiDi Dache had been raging for five months. Initially, the two apps had little overlap in their operating areas, and their monthly losses were only around twenty to thirty million.

But as their business scopes expanded, the competition between Fast Taxi and DiDi in the North China and East China markets intensified. In a single month, expenses for user acquisition, hard advertising, existing customer subsidies, and driver subsidies would burn through three to four hundred million.

Therefore, Qian Du Network’s 800 million seemed like a lot, but it was really only enough to last for three months.

Fast Taxi, on the other hand, had leveraged its nearly 80% market share to secure 500 million US Dollars in funding ahead of its rival, and its coffers were still full.

DiDi Dache had just expanded beyond the North China Market, but Fast Taxi’s service area had already successfully covered most of the North China, East China, Central China, Northeast, and Southern China markets. The two companies’ city expansion speeds were not in the same league at all.

Xiang Hailong, who was currently in charge of the DiDi Dache project, was performing even worse in terms of operational strategy than the previous manager, Cheng Wei.

Chen Yansen glanced at the news but didn’t pay much mind to Qian Du’s investment in DiDi Dache.

He didn’t believe that someone with Li Yanhong’s personality would dare to keep fighting him. Once the losses reached Li Yanhong’s psychological limit, he would probably give up on his own.

In reality, Li Yanhong was also feeling conflicted. He wanted to continue expanding his operating scope but feared the ever-increasing subsidy costs. Yet, if he stagnated, there would be no way to increase DiDi Dache’s market share.

After finishing his report, Xiang Hailong secretly observed Li Yanhong’s expression, feeling uneasy and fearing that the big boss would take his anger out on him.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Yanhong picked up a document from the table and stared at it intently.

”North China Market: average daily ride orders, 763,000; active drivers, 66,000; order completion rate, 73%; average response time, 42 seconds.

East China Market: average daily ride orders, 287,000; active drivers, 38,000; order completion rate, 76%; average response time, 38 seconds...”

Clearly, DiDi Dache’s order completion rate was not high, which indicated a problem with the platform’s capacity-dispatching efficiency. The order assignment logic was chaotic, leading to drivers rejecting orders or taking detours to pick up passengers, which in turn affected the completion rate.

Thinking of this, Li Yanhong looked up and said, ”Put the expansion plan for the East China Market on hold for now. First, let’s solve DiDi Dache’s issues with capacity dispatching, the order cancellation penalty system for both drivers and passengers, location errors, and navigation glitches.”

This statement essentially revealed Li Yanhong’s true intentions: to pull back his lines and focus on properly managing the North China and East China markets first.

”Okay, I understand,” Xiang Hailong replied.

「At the same time.」

Sitting in the Hang City headquarters, Cheng Weixing was also looking over Fast Taxi’s business data from Q1 to Q3.

”East China Region: average daily orders, 1,703,000; active drivers, 127,000; order completion rate, 86.3%; average response time, 37 seconds.

North China Region: average daily orders, 1,425,000; active drivers, 102,000; order completion rate, 84.7%; average response time, 39 seconds.

Central China Region: average daily orders, 1,127,000; active drivers, 81,000; order completion rate, 89.2%; average response time, 41 seconds.

Northeast Region...”

Among them, the East China, North China, and Central China regions had been in operation the longest and had the highest order volumes and user penetration rates. The Northeast and Southern China regions had only launched a week ago, with a combined total of just over 600,000 orders.

However, limited by the number of smartphone users in 2012, even if they captured the entire national ride-hailing market, the limit for average daily orders was only between 8 and 10 million.

The ceiling was within arm’s reach!

About ten minutes later, Cheng Weixing let go of his mouse, stood up, and stretched. He then looked at the head of the Market Department and asked, ”By the way, what has that guy Cheng Wei been up to since Li Yanhong kicked him out of DiDi?”

Compared to Cheng Wei, Xiang Hailong put much less pressure on him.

Although Cheng Wei’s grasp of technology was terrible, he was a veteran of the Huagong Iron Army, and his foundation in marketing and promotion was extremely solid.

In his view, if the big boss hadn’t helped him secure data resources from Gaode Map, provided the smart order dispatch system, and given him a traffic portal from Penguin, the outcome of the battle between Fast Taxi and DiDi would still be uncertain.

”I heard from an investment banker friend in Yanjing that Cheng Wei has started something new called DiDi Bike. He’s deployed 300 bicycles at three subway stations: Wangfujing, Xizhimen, and Chaoyang Gate.”

Chen Hao, the head of Fast Taxi’s Market Department, replied with a smile.

’Bicycles?’

Cheng Weixing was taken aback. Cheng Wei’s new project seemed a bit surreal.

But on second thought, in a megacity like Yanjing, rent near subway stations was high. Many recent college graduates worked in the CBD during the day and slept in urban villages at night.

Bike-sharing could indeed seamlessly connect the short-distance travel needs between bus stops and subway stations.

A company’s value ultimately depends on how many people you serve and how much value you create for them.

Clearly, Cheng Wei’s DiDi Bike effectively solved the last-mile problem at the end of the public transportation line.

”Has he secured funding?” Cheng Weixing asked.

”I heard Li Fukei from Innovation Workshop invested 50 million in him,” Chen Hao said with a shrug, a speechless look on his face.

”This project... there’s a good chance it could actually take off!” Cheng Weixing said with a confident tone.

「Meanwhile.」

Cheng Wei was leading DiDi Bike’s management team, riding shared bikes on the streets of Yanjing to test the product’s user experience firsthand.

The first-generation DiDi Bikes were painted a bright orange-red, making them extremely conspicuous in the parking spots near subway stations. The two words ”DiDi Bike” were printed on the frame, and the bike’s number was on a sticker at the handlebar joint and on the mechanical lock at the rear.

Users could open the app, enter the number, and receive the password for the mechanical lock.

Cheng Wei had initially wanted to use smart locks that could be unlocked via text message, but that involved issues of cost and the smart lock’s power supply. After weighing the pros and cons, he opted for the more economical mechanical locks.

When a user finished their ride and slid the latch to lock the bike, the mechanical lock’s combination would be scrambled again.

The problem was, each bike’s preset password was fixed.

In other words, as long as a user memorized a particular bike’s password, they could ride it for free forever.

But Cheng Wei couldn’t worry about all that. You learn from your mistakes. His priority was to launch the product and seize the market first.

The early losses would naturally be covered by the VC firms that would invest later.

What he needed to do now was hype up the concept and inflate the valuation.

”President Cheng, Fujida’s supply quality is very stable. The riding experience on this bike is just as good as a bicycle that costs four or five hundred,” a manager from the product department said with a smile.

The manufacturing cost of one DiDi Bike, not including the mechanical lock, was 190 Hua Yuan per unit from the supplier. But since DiDi Bike’s order volume was large, their payment term with Fujida was a 15% down payment, with the rest settled in batches.

”You can’t see any problems with a new bike. Let’s run a trial operation for a while to check its durability and corrosion resistance. Also, we need to assemble a maintenance team,” Cheng Wei said to his assistant beside him as he rode.

The assistant quickly took notes.

But when they turned into a hutong alley, the smiles on their faces vanished.

An old man in his sixties was holding a pair of hydraulic cutters, sizing up a DiDi Bike’s mechanical lock, seemingly looking for the best point of leverage.

The DiDi Bike staff were instantly enraged and swarmed him.

...

...

”DiDi Bike?”

When Chen Yansen learned about Cheng Wei’s new startup, his brow furrowed slightly. In his eyes, a bike-sharing project in 2012 had no potential to speak of.

Just like the food delivery and ride-hailing sectors, it required massive resources and capital investment to cultivate user habits.

He had little interest in the project, but if he could make a quick profit from it, Chen Yansen wouldn’t mind.

Li Fukei had invested 50 million, pushing DiDi Bike’s valuation to 500 million. Investing at this point was not a good deal.

Chen Yansen thought for a moment, then called Gao Weilin over and briefly explained DiDi Bike’s business model.

”In the future, if you see any similar products, secure the angel investment first,” Chen Yansen instructed Gao Weilin.

Ofo, Yong’an Travel, and Mobike hadn’t launched yet. Senlian Capital still had plenty of opportunities to get a piece of the action.