Financial freedom starts with smiling at life

"As long as the penalty hasn't been issued and JD.com's food delivery service hasn't been labeled as engaging in unfair competition, Mr. Liu, we shouldn't pay too much attention to the official stance."

The three companies currently wield too much social influence in the food delivery industry, involving a wide range of stakeholders and interests. If they are not properly guided, the consequences will certainly outweigh the benefits.

They are also measuring.

At this point, anyone who sets an example and establishes a good persona, thus conforming to the attitude of those above, is essentially surrendering.

If I were you, I would rather pay a hefty fine than stop at this point.

"Mr. Liu, if you encounter any financial difficulties, please feel free to ask. We can always lend you another 10 billion."

During his phone conversation with Liu Qiangdong, Jiang Beicheng clearly expressed his attitude towards the current food delivery market.

During this period, the State Administration for Market Regulation has held multiple talks with JD.com, Meituan, and Taobao.

However, the talks had little effect.

State media outlets have also joined in, exposing the inside story of subsidies in the food delivery war.

An attempt to use entertainment to guide orderly competition.

However, judging from public opinion, it doesn't seem to have achieved the desired effect.

The fierce competition among the three companies actually benefits delivery drivers and consumers.

Therefore, people on the internet are not very sensitive to the official attitude.

JD.com's aggressive entry into the food delivery market has ignited this fierce battle. If it were to back down now, it would be tantamount to slapping itself in the face.

Whether Liu Qiangdong is using this official crackdown to leave gracefully or is facing financial difficulties, Jiang Beicheng, as a board member of JD.com's food delivery platform, will not bow down to his rival at this time.

With a clear attitude, let's keep going.

If Liu Qiangdong doesn't want to continue, he can either spin off JD Waimai and operate it independently, or sell it as a package, with Jiangbei City taking over.

Just as he said at the dinner he hosted for JD.com delivery drivers in Chengdu last year, this battle can continue as long as he wants, and he will never be a coward and be the first to surrender, which would be letting down so many delivery brothers and consumers.

I don't want to lose face.

After receiving Jiangbei City's response, Liu Qiangdong decided to invest another 10 billion yuan.

When it comes to financing and disbursement, Mr. Jiang is never slow.

In reality, the so-called 10 billion yuan subsidy did not consume much of its own cash flow; most of the subsidies were taken from merchants.

Even a battle worth two or three billion can have the effect of a battle worth tens of billions.

However, when it comes to cash flow, there are indeed few companies in China that can compare with Jiangbei City.

"By the way, Mr. Jiang, Pony called me this morning and mentioned you. She also asked for your contact information."

Liu Qiangdong mentioned that Ma Huateng had asked him for Jiang Beicheng's contact information that morning.

Although JD.com has repurchased a large number of shares from Tencent, Tencent still retains a seat on JD.com's board of directors.

Attending JD.com's board meetings is also part of Ma Huateng's daily work.

Jiang Beicheng didn't expect Ma Huateng to ask for his contact information, but he could guess that it was Liu Zhiping, the second-in-command of Tencent, who had mentioned him to him.

Wu Wen, Liu Zhiping's girlfriend, had just returned from a business meeting in Shenzhen and mentioned Liu Zhiping's respect and gratitude towards him.

It's highly likely that Liu Zhiping was using this opportunity to send his greetings to Ma Huateng.

“Let’s arrange a private dinner to meet sometime,” Jiang Beicheng replied to Liu Qiangdong.

Liu Qiangdong said with a smile, "It's most appropriate for me to host this dinner."

This is true.

He and Ma Huateng are old friends and strategic partners. Although his relationship with Jiang Beicheng is not as long-standing, they are now allies on the same front, and he greatly admires Jiang Beicheng, this young entrepreneur.

He is the most suitable person to act as an intermediary to organize the meeting.

Jiang Beicheng: "Okay, it's arranged. Send me the time and place."

"See you then."

After finishing their business, Liu Qiangdong hung up the phone in Jiangbei City.

Jiang Beicheng glanced at the time and prepared to go to Lian Capital.

The founding team of DeepVision Technology signed a share transfer agreement with Lian Capital today, selling the Vortex large model developed by the team.

Faced with the brutal game of capital and market competition, these young people really had no other way to go.

Jiangbei City wanted voting rights and control of the company, so they invested over 2 billion yuan to bring in global AI geniuses. If they had gone through normal financing channels, they wouldn't have been able to raise so much money.

There is only one way: sign a performance-based agreement with investors in exchange for large-scale financing to attract more outstanding talents, and then purchase a large number of high-performance chips to train large models, thereby breaking through the current technical bottlenecks faced by Vortex.

However, if a team that is making a bet on this scale loses, the debt they bear as first-time entrepreneurs will be terrifying.

He'll probably never be able to turn his life around.

After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to sell it and then transfer to a technical position at the company.

Jiangbei City gave them some dignity, allowing them to retain a certain amount of their original shares and enjoy dividends.

You can also cash out when the market is good.

It feels like they're bullying startup teams, as if they're crushing the dreams of young people, but that's just how the capital market is.

Every year, countless young people enter the venture capital circle, but how many can break through the encirclement?
They all started their businesses passively according to the rules of the capital market.

In comparison, President Jiang's blatant and bloody methods are far more benevolent than those of other capitalists.

However, Jiang Beicheng would not allow these young entrepreneurs to thank him.

That would be a bit like trying to build a virtuous image.

The stakes are right, and the transaction is on equal footing.

On his way to Lian Capital, Jiang Beicheng received a call from Ma Huateng.

"President Jiang, Martin has conveyed your kind invitation to me. Thank you for your concern, President Jiang."

After I'm done with this busy period, I'll make time to visit you in Jiangnan City for tea.

Jiang Beicheng smiled and said, "Before Chairman Ma made this call, I had just mentioned to Liu Qiangdong about inviting you to dinner."

We get together privately.

Mr. Liu said he'll arrange it; we just need to wait for his message.

Ma Huateng smiled and said, "That works too. I heard Martin talk about the magazine that President Jiang invested in. It's a very high-quality investment project."

If we can integrate into Tencent's Digital Media and Entertainment ecosystem and complement each other, it will be an exciting outcome for both of us.

I deeply admire President Jiang's remarkable achievement of bringing Eastern fashion elements to the world stage.

The current market value of "Shangcheng" is only 2 billion yuan, and Tencent, as a strategic investor, led the Series B financing, which was only tens of millions of yuan.

As the chairman of Tencent's board of directors, Ma Huateng couldn't say he paid little attention to such trivial matters; in fact, he paid absolutely no attention.

Let alone Liu Zhiping, the second-in-command, even the vice president of Tencent's Digital Media and Entertainment Group can make the decision.

He brought up the matter with Jiang Beicheng, and Jiang Beicheng could sense that Ma Huateng was giving him face and trying to find a common topic to improve their relationship.

Jiang Beicheng was very straightforward: "Mr. Ma, in this year's strategic deployment of Yizhi Culture Media, I clearly pointed out that we should further explore cooperation with Tencent Entertainment, deeply integrate into Tencent's entertainment ecosystem, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results."

"Shangcheng" can be considered a pioneer.

Whether it's Tencent Entertainment or Alibaba Entertainment, these major companies have built entertainment industry ecosystems with extremely strong influence and earning power.

Jiang Beicheng's foray into the entertainment industry is just a hobby; he won't force himself to build an entertainment ecosystem or compete head-on with major companies. Cooperating and making money from cigarettes and alcohol is the easiest way for him to succeed.

Although Yizhi Culture Media is now very prestigious in the domestic entertainment industry, in terms of profits, it really comes down to the cigarette and alcohol revenue of Jiangbei City.

Even if it manages to go public through an IPO and achieve a market value of tens or hundreds of billions, it won't be enough to sustain Jiang Beicheng's ambitious technological ambitions for long.

He really doesn't care about those few stinking bucks in the entertainment industry.

In comparison, the feeling of being looked up to by the domestic entertainment industry, and the sense of honor of taking domestic fashion, film, and other arts to the world... are what have a little appeal.

Ma Huateng joked, "Thanks to President Jiang for his timely help, you are now the undisputed emperor of the entertainment industry."

Jiang Beicheng humbly replied, "Mr. Ma, this is at most icing on the cake. Yizhi Media cannot compare with Tencent's digital entertainment ecosystem at the moment."

However, the title of "Emperor of the Chinese Entertainment Industry" seems to be universally acknowledged.

"Hahaha, Mr. Jiang, you're too modest. How could you possibly fail at something you set your mind to? Please guide me in the future," Ma Huateng said politely. (End of Chapter)