The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

I'm going to Hong Kong to attend the EMBA International Executive Program.

Chen Pingsheng thought about it and agreed. Just like before, school would not start until August.

The group has many businesses now, and he often needs to go and learn.

That way, you won't always be worried about being left behind by the times.

After chatting with Tong Zhelan for more than an hour.

Go downstairs and drive your top-of-the-line Phantom back to headquarters in Shanghai.

Incidentally, he also summoned those two familiar golden dice along the way.

If a 700 million yuan fund can generate a six-fold return, that would be amazing.

The golden dice kept shaking, just like the bustling metropolis of Shanghai.

Lively and extravagant.

In the end, they didn't get a six-fold multiplier, but instead got a slightly smaller five-fold multiplier.

"Congratulations, host, you have received a five-fold random boost."

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed.

Alipay received 35 billion yuan, while the balance in the bank card was less than 37 billion yuan.

The troubles of the wealthy are something most people can't truly understand.

Like the warm sunshine in spring.

Sometimes he would suddenly have a thought: could he build a little sun in his own home?

Or you could simply move your house to outer space and live there for a few days.

One can only say that the sense of arrogance that comes with having money needs to be constantly guarded against.

Xin Teng's live stream became so popular, which was something he never expected.

What he didn't expect was that Tenghui Department Store, which he had painstakingly built up in the early stages, would become its strongest support.

In any case, now that we have money, we still need to complete the overall market layout of Tenghui Department Store first.

This traditional supermarket business, while not as lucrative as live streaming.

Its strength lies in its stability and long-term sustainability; let it continue to grow steadily.

After arriving at the group headquarters.

The four young receptionists downstairs greeted him in a clear, crisp voice, "Good afternoon, Chairman."

Chen Pingsheng asked them if they had eaten, and it turned out they had all eaten.

He then asked them if they were happy to go home for the Chinese New Year.
One of the girls, who was in her early twenties, told him that her parents were doing well and that they would arrange blind dates for her.

Chen Pingsheng thought it was a good thing; girls these days are getting married later and later, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

After he went upstairs, the girls continued to chatter and discuss.

It seems like talking to him even a few more times is something to be proud of.

This is indeed the case.

The gap between an ordinary employee and the chairman is still 100,000 employees.

Last year, he invested a total of 35 billion yuan to open eight Tenghui Department Stores in Shanghai. Now he plans to invest another 30 billion yuan to open eight more in Shenzhen.

Just like now, all the storefronts are owned by the company and belong to Tengchao Commercial Management.

Don't be fooled by his apparent wealth; Hong Kong's Old Li earns billions a year just from rent in one Oriental Plaza in Beijing.

The differences among the ultra-rich are beyond imagination.

If he wants to maintain a stable path, he must invest heavily in commercial real estate.

This also lays the foundation for Xin Teng's live streaming.

It's important to know that Guangdong is the strongest region in foreign trade. Tenghui Department Store opened there to further expand its product channels.

He summoned Shen Chengjun and instructed him to open eight more stores over there.

The funds amount to 3 billion.

In addition, after Tengsheng Fresh absorbed the 200 million yuan of funds from last year, it now has a total of 108 full-category fresh food stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

He is now investing another 500 million yuan, with the goal of opening about 200 more stores in Guangdong.

The group's strategy is quite clear: first, use large sums of money to occupy these top-tier cities.

Then use the money earned in these top-tier cities to replicate and open stores in the lower-tier cities.

It won't take five years.

Whether it's department stores or fresh produce, he has managed to develop to the point of being an industry leader.

We need another 3 billion yuan to open eight more Tenghui Department Stores in Guangzhou.

By then, there will be 32 companies in the four super first-tier cities.

Once that stage is reached, Teng Hui Department Store will no longer need his investment.

It can develop rapidly solely based on the profits it generates each year.

However, Teng Hui Department Store should also be going public. Judging from its financial reports, it is undoubtedly a high-quality company.

Let's wait until the setup in Shenzhen is complete first.

……

His wife, Song Yanxi, called to ask him why there was another 900 million yuan in his bank account for no apparent reason.

Chen Pingsheng said that was the money Xin Teng made from selling 30% of his shares in live streaming, and Song Yanxi remained silent for a long time.

She seemed to remember that Xin Teng Live had been established for no more than three months, right?

They made 900 million just by transferring shares? That's hard to understand.

However, she also felt that once she had accumulated enough capital, as long as she didn't mess around, making money wouldn't be too difficult.

But none of them are as fast as him.

There was already more than 1 billion yuan in the bank account managed by his wife. Tong Zhelan had previously given her 720 million yuan for 40% of the shares of Shanghai Shuiyunjian.

Now that another 900 million has suddenly appeared, his wife has no idea how to spend it.

Chen Pingsheng told her to transfer the money to him, and he would use it.

To be honest, once you have a certain amount of money, you become very particular about financial management and investment.

His major investment in Tenghui Department Store is actually a form of financial management.

Firstly, hypermarkets themselves can make money, and secondly, their commercial real estate can effectively and sustainably resist some unpredictable risks in the market.

There's a saying that Hong Kong's richest man, Li, particularly agrees with: if you want to successfully operate multiple industries, you must have a few core industries that can generate profits even if the sky falls.

Whether it's Alibaba or Tencent, the reason they can wield such influence on the internet is...

The main reason is their core business: social networking and e-commerce.

It's already an unsurpassable presence in the industry; you can't find a rival in this field even with a telescope.

Chen Pingsheng himself hoped to combine Tencent Entertainment, department stores, Shuiyunjian, and fresh produce.

To build the group's core industries into an indestructible force.

Only when these core businesses are stable can he have a continuous stream of funds to support his brands.

The transfer between Song Yanxi and him was very quick, and neither of them used private accounts.

Instead, it went through Teng Hui Capital's corporate account.

Firstly, it avoids the 20% personal income tax.

Secondly, it allows them to evade the joint liability of the enterprise.

They never write their own names in the legal representative section of the company.

After receiving the 900 million yuan, he couldn't find a suitable investment channel for a while.

Whether it's Deer Antler Coffee or Teng Hui Department Store, he has already given away at least several billion yuan in the past six months.

It will take some time to digest these funds.

Chen Pingsheng, who hadn't yet figured out how to spend his money, received a call from Jiang Jia of Guazi Used Cars.

To be honest, this was the first major project he actually invested in under the name of Teng Hui Capital.

He did all the other projects himself.

There are no Guazi Used Cars.

To date, he has only invested 200 million.

They only took 50% of the shares.

For an internet project, 200 million is definitely not enough to burn through.

When the agreed time arrived, Jiang Jia called him.

Previously, I would report the real-time progress of Guazi Used Cars to him via email.

Internet projects, in essence, are about solving user pain points.

Take Didi Chuxing as an example; it solves the problems of waiting for a ride and the difficulty of hailing a taxi.

In essence, Taobao is about making product information more transparent.

Many people blame Taobao, saying that it caused physical stores to lose business.

Chen Pingsheng knew that before Taobao appeared, any clothing store that cost 15 yuan to produce would sell it for at least 100 yuan.

The same applies to Guazi Used Cars.

The core pain points for users are still price and lack of transparency in consumption.

To put it simply, the prices of used cars fluctuate too much.

You need to be very knowledgeable about cars to avoid being scammed.

At his suggestion, Guazi Used Cars adopted the slogan of a direct sales website without middlemen.

In the past six months, Guazi Used Cars, which has secured 200 million yuan in funding, has developed rapidly.

At least in the Beijing area, he has a very good reputation.

To expand to major cities again, it will need at least a billion dollars more.

Jiang Jia's proposed financing plan this time is to go through a Series C round, with a valuation of 3 billion yuan, diluting 40% of the shares, and obtaining 12 billion yuan in development funds.

It's actually quite normal for a company to jump to a valuation of 3 billion in one step.

These kinds of projects only develop quickly if you have money; no matter how smart you are, it's useless without it. If he doesn't invest further after diluting his shares by 40%, his original 50% stake will drop to 30%.

Even if it eventually goes public, he feels it's not very meaningful.

If you're going to gamble, gamble big.

Investing is inherently a high-stakes gamble; winning is naturally a cause for celebration.

Losing is just a matter of learning from the experience and starting over.

No one can guarantee a project's success before it is finally launched on the market.

Chen Pingsheng himself was no exception.

If he were to co-invest in this 12 billion yuan financing, it would mean he would have to contribute 600 million yuan.

A year ago, he would have definitely thought about it for a long time.

They might not even invest in the company, which would reduce risk by diluting their shares, but would also lower their final returns.

Chen Pingsheng leaned back against the simple white sofa and said:
"Of the 12 billion yuan in financing, I will personally invest 600 million yuan. As for the remaining half, I will find someone to help you complete it. After receiving this money, I have only one requirement: burn money quickly, develop rapidly, and all core operations must revolve around direct sales without middlemen."

Brands focus on positioning, and internet projects emphasize solving user pain points. Undoubtedly, the pain point for users in the used car market is the lack of price transparency.

The middleman makes a profit from the price difference.

Customers are very afraid of buying overpriced, low-quality products.

After all, every car is expensive.

As the brand's largest investor, Chen Pingsheng naturally has to shoulder some responsibilities.

What he can offer is money, as well as celebrity resources and online traffic.

It would be a lie to say that Jiang Jia is unhappy; she had previously struggled to secure funding.

Now that Hu Lin, my brother-in-law, has joined us, the problem can be solved easily.

Chen Pingsheng still went to Tong Zhelan; it was only 600 million.

She just needs to find one or two more investors and it will be done.

The used car business definitely has great potential.

The key is who can emerge victorious in the end.

In internet projects, there is no such thing as second place.

The winner takes all.

I didn't see Didi Chuxing and Kuaidi Dache, which had the backing of Tencent and Alibaba in their early days, in the ride-hailing field.

Both companies had large capital backing, and the end result was that they jointly burned through tens of billions to seize the market.

It was during that period that driving for Didi or Kuaidi was the only way to make real money.

The platform provides drivers with very high subsidies.

After realizing that neither of them could defeat the other, the two companies quickly merged.

Then the valuation suddenly exceeded 400 billion.

Guazi Used Cars is in the same boat now. With 12 billion yuan in funding, it has jumped to become the top seed in this field.

If they can't get it, they're destined to be squeezed out by other internet apps that sell used cars.

Tong Zhelan still came over; a flagship project she had previously spearheaded was about to fail.

Although project failures are common among investors, this project received the most investment among bike-sharing companies.

It also has the backing of major capital firms such as Alibaba, Didi, and Matrix Partners China.

At the same time, being favored by so many big investors, it's hard to say he'll become the next big player.

At the very least, they should eventually be able to merge!
The essence of bike sharing is to solve the last-mile transportation problem for customers.

The investment cost for each bicycle is not high, and at the same time, they hold a large amount of customer deposits.

Because of this alone, more than twenty shared bicycle brands have emerged in the market every year.

In the past two years, under Tong Zhelan's leadership, Ofo has become the first to venture into this field.

They have secured at least five rounds of financing totaling approximately US$13 billion over the past two years.

Tong Zhelan also hopes that this brand can replicate Didi's path: rapid financing, expansion, and acquisition of competitors.

Ultimately, this will achieve the goal of monopolizing the listing process.

The only bike that can compete with Ofo is Mobike.

The two sides have very similar development approaches, both relying on rapid cash burn to acquire market users.

In this crucial battle, one person became the biggest turning point.

He is Masayoshi Son, a world-renowned investor.

That's the investor who initially acquired a major stake in Alibaba for $20 million.

When he considered investing $18 billion in Ofo, he needed it to meet two prerequisites.

In addition, they sent a team to investigate the company's finances.

As it turns out, this is where Ofo failed.

Before its core business was successful, it engaged in too many unrelated businesses.

It's like launching a satellite or buying a Tesla for every senior executive in a company.

There was also a series of other miscellaneous investments.

Ofo was willing to do anything to get the $18 billion from Masayoshi Son.

Ultimately, they misappropriated all of the customers' deposits.

A total of four billion yuan in customer deposits was completely misappropriated.

The founder thought that if he fulfilled the two requirements put forward by SoftBank, he could successfully obtain the $18 billion.

As it turned out, he was terribly wrong.

It can only be said that Ofo's messy financial management caused it to miss this last great opportunity.

SoftBank can take $18 billion, but it needs to merge the two largest bike-sharing brands in the market.

To achieve a monopoly position in the industry.

Thus, the company successfully went public.

The founder of Ofo, in which Tong Zhelan invested, single-handedly prevented the merger.

Perhaps this is the spiritedness of youth.

The end result was that Ofo was abandoned by major investors.

Didi, which invested the most in it, turned around and started Qingju Bike.

Ahri then helped Haro up.

As the saying goes, big capital rarely bets on one person.

The project that Tong Zhelan invested in is also the internet project that has burned through the most money in the past two years.

But now they have suffered their worst defeat.

The more glorious they were back then, the more pathetic they are now.

Forget about going public; without the support of big capital, they can't even afford to eat.

A startup project once owned by a prodigy.

Now it's a complete mess.

Chen Pingsheng has always kept his distance from shared bicycles.

Such expensive projects still attract so many giant corporations to participate.

His meager resources were simply insufficient to support the brand he had chosen and fight to the very end.

Since that's the case, it's better to give up sooner rather than later.

Or perhaps you shouldn't even touch the edges.

Tong Zhelan invested a whopping 700 to 800 million yuan in this project and also participated in several rounds of investment.

Ultimately, the company was defeated due to the founder's impulsive actions.

Once the merger is complete, all the big money will be concentrated in this last one.

It's a sure thing that she'll cash out.

Now, there's no one willing to sell at a low price.

Chen Pingsheng didn't even glance at it, focusing instead on working on small projects that he could handle.

Second-hand cars can't compare to shared bicycles.

You can tell by looking at the speed and amount of its financing.

The difference is not just a little bit.

The two tracks are on completely different dimensions.

Tong Zhelan should be able to raise the 600 million yuan for this brand in no time.

We'll just find two more companies to share the burden.

However, she still made one request: the founder's veto power must be removed.

She was ultimately killed by the veto power of the founder of Ofo (the bike-sharing company).

It's even less likely that we'll make the same mistake again.

This is actually fine, since Chen Pingsheng invested money and wouldn't give bad advice.

The projects that have been invested in total only amount to 800 million, which is not enough for him to personally take charge of them.

It's not necessary either.

They've been doing this one thing from the very beginning, so no matter what, they're no worse than him.

Bike sharing, a wildly popular emerging internet project in the past two years, seems to be nearing its end.

Without a doubt, Tong Zhelan was defeated at the final hurdle.

All previous investments have been declared a complete loss.

(End of this chapter)