I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 234 Huang Zheng: That year I was thirty-two, standing like a lackey

Inside the private room of the West Lake Golden Sands Hall, the lights were bright, reflecting the different expressions on everyone's faces.

Ma Liyun and Liu Zhiping appeared nonchalant, while Zhou Shouzhi held a wine glass with a faint smile on his lips.

Zhu Xiaohu narrowed his cold, triangular eyes and remained silent.

The investment directors from Hony Capital and Huazhong University of Science and Technology Investment Management exchanged glances, then suppressed the turmoil in their hearts.

Finally, Zhai Jun, President of Macquarie Capital China, broke the silence: "Mr. Chen, based on Kuaidi Dache's current order volume and business scope, even considering market potential and growth expectations, the valuation is at most 3 million US dollars. I really don't understand how this 7 million US dollar offer was calculated?"

Chen Yansen looked up and said slowly, "Currently, Kuaidi Dache has no competitors and its subsidy pressure is relatively low. I only need 1 billion yuan to take over the core market in the eastern region. This process will not take more than half a year at the longest. At that time, the daily order data will exceed 10 million, and the valuation will not be less than 10 billion US dollars."

"Mr. Chen, you said it yourself, that's six months from now. Can you guarantee that no new competitors will emerge during that period?"

Zhai Jun shrugged and asked with a smile.

"For a ride-hailing app to solve issues such as hardware device compatibility, location accuracy, and communication stability, it requires at least three months of development time. By the time competitors launch, Kuaidi Dache will have already occupied the market with the highest business volume. What will the competitors have to compete with?"

Chen Yansen said dismissively.

In fact, Kuaidi Dache has another significant advantage over its competitors, which is the support of Gaode Maps.

It provides robust map data support, accurately displays the locations of passengers and drivers, and provides drivers with accurate navigation guidance, thereby improving order-taking efficiency and reducing passenger waiting time.

A ride-hailing app that lacks accurate location information, where drivers cannot find passengers and passengers cannot find drivers, will find it difficult to gain market acceptance.

Zhou Shouzhi, Liu Zhiping, and Ma Liyun were willing to offer a valuation of over 4 million US dollars precisely because they knew this.

"I'm sorry, but if Mr. Chen insists on raising the valuation of Kuaidi Dache to an unreasonable price of 7 million US dollars, then Macquarie Capital will have no choice but to withdraw."

Zhai Jun shrugged and shook his head in refusal.

"Mr. Zhai, let's have the opportunity to cooperate again."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and responded nonchalantly.

"Gentlemen, it's getting late, I'll be taking my leave now." Zhai Jun raised his wrist, pretended to glance at the time, and then casually got up to say goodbye.

After a moment's thought, the representative from Hony Capital greeted Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, Zhu Xiaohu, and others one by one, and then walked out with his assistant.

In an instant, both investment institutions withdrew.

"President Chen, Huake Investment's highest offer is 350 million US dollars. I wonder if I am qualified to sit at the negotiating table?" Yu Heng privately raised the pre-prepared offer by 100 million US dollars in one go.

Although Huake Investment's offer was the lowest compared to Tencent, Ali, and DST, Chen Yansen smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, you flatter me. Kuaidi Dache's Series A financing would not have been possible without Huake's support."

Unfortunately, in 2012, if Kuaidi Dache wanted to establish partnerships with more taxi companies, it first had to obtain authorization documents from the transportation association; otherwise, taxi companies would simply ignore Kuaidi Dache.

Cheng Weixing's network of contacts is limited to Hangzhou. Once Kuaidi Dache expands its business to other cities, it will have to deal with the local transportation associations.

Without authorization documents, subsequent promotion of the driver app will be extremely difficult.

If Huazhong University of Science and Technology's investment promotion arm were to be brought on board, the situation would be completely different!

As a long-established investment institution with the name "Hua," securing a deal with the transportation association was not a difficult task.

Yu Heng had this confidence, which is why he didn't leave rashly!

After a moment's thought, Zhu Xiaohu suddenly smiled faintly and said, "Golden Sands Ventures, 4 million US dollars."

Although Chen Yansen's asking price was outrageous and unreasonable, it is worth noting that he has never made a losing deal since he entered the industry.

Penguin Capital, ThinkTank, and DST Ventures—any financial institution that has invested in Chen Yansen has seen a return of no less than 1000%.

Zhu Xiaohu disagreed with the $7 million valuation, but he chose to believe in Chen Yansen.

Investing is about investing in people. At that moment, he didn't even think about the data and made the decision directly.

Besides, none of Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, and Zhou Shouzhi are idiots. If others can sit still without moving, why should he be in such a hurry?
"We'll discuss the specific financing details tomorrow," Chen Yansen said, picking up his glass again after receiving a satisfactory reply.

“After we finish this drink, let’s move on to the next round. When we get to Hangzhou, I’ll take care of everything,” Ma Liyun announced with great enthusiasm.

Liu Zhiping and Zhou Shouzhi nodded slightly, offering no objection.

Chen Yansen did not refuse and drank the wine in one gulp. Afterwards, he boarded the Ghost with Gao Weilin and Cheng Weixing and instructed Xiao Li to follow Ma Liyun's Maybach.

The rest of the entourage returned to the hotel by car to prepare for the negotiations the following day.

Half an hour later, a line of seven luxury cars pulled up in front of the bar.

Upon seeing this, a well-dressed marketing staff member immediately rushed over, greeting him warmly, "Mr. Ma, I've reserved the largest private room for you on the second floor. Is that the usual arrangement?"

Clearly, Ma Liyun is a regular at this bar.

Chen Yansen was slightly surprised. He did not expect that Ma Liyun, who was in his forties, was not only energetic and had an excellent alcohol tolerance, but also frequently came to bars for entertainment.

This style of behavior is extremely inconsistent with his age.

Ma Liyun, Yu Heng, Liu Zhiping, and Zhu Xiaohu walked ahead, passing through the brightly lit dance floor and booth area, and took the elevator to the second floor.

Chen Yansen patted Zhou Shouzhi on the shoulder, indicating that they should talk privately.

Cheng Weixing was left in the private room to continue drinking with Ma Liyun and the others.

In the dimly lit corridor, Chen Yansen flung open the window, letting the cold wind rush in, and the surrounding air instantly became much fresher.

"Mr. Chen, thank you!" Zhou Shouzhi said abruptly.

Orange Mobile shipped 400 million units in February. Based on the current development trend, as long as the new products in the second half of the year do not have any problems, Orange Technology will jump into the first tier of smartphone manufacturers and compete with Apple, Sunstar, and Huawei.

This successful investment has further solidified his position in DST Capital and even in the international investment field.

Two years ago, he was ridiculed for relying on his wife's family's influence to get into DST, but now those doubts have been completely overshadowed by his outstanding investment performance. "Why thank me? You're just smart enough!"

Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"What does Mr. Chen want to talk to me about?" Zhou Shouzhi took a deep breath and asked seriously.

"Have you ever thought about changing industries?" Chen Yansen asked tentatively.

"Is Orange Technology going to go all out, or is it a new project?" Zhou Shouzhi asked bluntly.

Chatting with smart people is comfortable, efficient, and avoids beating around the bush.

Chen Yansen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He didn't directly answer Zhou Shouzhi's question, but instead asked in return, "Which project do you want to go for?"

"Is Mr. Chen so confident that I would agree?" Zhou Shouzhi asked with a slight smile.

"Working in investment banking for a long time can make you overly cautious and suspicious, too focused on short-term gains, and prone to developing fixed mindsets. Do you think the success of Orange Technology and Pinbei's business model can be fully understood just by looking at the financial data?"

Chen Yansen asked in a calm tone.

“President Chen, I will consider this carefully. Please give me some time.” Zhou Shouzhi frowned slightly; he understood what Chen Yansen meant.

Simply put, his investment decisions rely almost entirely on financial data and his observations and judgments of entrepreneurs, but he has no understanding of how the projects are operated.

The industry's current valuation of Orange Technology has exceeded 200 billion US dollars. If one can join in and successfully list the company, the returns will be substantial.

Zhou Shouzhi knew that if he stayed at DST, his basic salary plus bonuses would only amount to 200 million US dollars a year, and the rest would depend on investment returns. However, this way of making money was too slow.

Just then, a middle-aged man wearing glasses was about to enter the private room when he caught a glimpse of Chen Yansen standing by the window.

He grinned and waved, saying, "Mr. Chen, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Hangzhou?"

Chen Yansen looked at the person who had come in, and it was none other than Ding Lei, the big boss of NetEase.

The two only had initial exchanges and cooperation under Zhang Chaoyang's matchmaking, and they were not very familiar with each other.

After all, among the data sources of Toutiao, only NetEase has collected copyright usage fees.

Therefore, he didn't take Ding Lei's words to heart at all; he thought that if someone was just being polite, he shouldn't take it seriously.

Otherwise, you'll be the one who ends up in an awkward situation.

"I'm here on a business trip to Hangzhou. I just arrived this afternoon," Chen Yansen replied ambiguously.

"Come on! Let me introduce you to some new friends." Ding Lei was unusually enthusiastic, partly out of respect for Zhang Chaoyang, and partly to help his friend make connections.

"Mr. Ding, this is Mr. Zhou Shouzhi, President of DST Venture Capital's China Region," Chen Yansen introduced solemnly.

"Investing in two major platforms, Ali and JD.com, in one go, that's quite bold, Mr. Zhou, how about we have a drink?"

After hearing this, Ding Lei grasped Zhou Shouzhi's right hand and made a suggestion with a smile.

Chen Yansen watched Ding Lei's actions, and after a moment's thought, he vaguely understood the other party's intention, so he readily agreed.

He wants to see who is the person Ding Lei can be so proud of.
Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi followed behind Ding Lei and then discovered that the other party's private room was right next to Ma Liyun's.

Ding Lei pushed open the door, revealing the scene inside: three middle-aged men holding wine glasses, drinking and chatting.

Chen Yansen glanced at the group and recognized almost none of them, except for one man wearing black-rimmed glasses who seemed familiar to him.

"Mr. Chen, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Duan Yongping, the founder of BBK Electronics. This is Sun Tongyu from Bocas Education. This is Huang Zheng from Leqi Business, which mainly deals in e-commerce operation services."

Ding Lei quickly took the initiative to introduce himself.

"Mr. Duan, this is Chen Yansen from Senlian Capital, and this is Zhou Shouzhi, President of DST China Region."

Immediately afterwards, Ding Lei stood in front of Duan Yongping and specially introduced Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi to him.

"Mr. Chen, you are even younger than I imagined." Duan Yongping slowly stood up, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, his eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence and sigh.

Being young is fucking great!

"Mr. Duan, it's a pleasure to meet you." Chen Yansen immediately recognized Huang Zheng after learning Duan Yongping's identity.

The founder of Pinduoduo in his previous life!
Unfortunately, Huang Zheng was still busy with e-commerce outsourcing at that time and had not yet come up with the idea of ​​creating his own platform.

When he entered the room, he saw Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi chatting in the corridor. He wanted to go up and make connections, but he was afraid that it would be too presumptuous and backfire.

He changed his mind and went back to the private room to find Ding Lei, asking him to introduce him to someone.

The relationship between an agency and an e-commerce platform is like that between a real estate agent and a real estate developer. Whether Huang Zheng's business can succeed and whether the brands he represents can obtain resources on the platform all depend on Chen Yansen's approval.

After sitting down, Chen Yansen had a drink with Duan Yongping and the others. He understood Huang Zheng's ulterior motives and, out of respect for Ding Lei, gave him a personal business card.

Huang Zheng thanked him repeatedly and carefully accepted the gift with both hands.

This is just like the excitement of a Taobao merchant who bumped into Ma Liyun at a restaurant, even though he is Duan Yongping's student and has no shortage of funds on his entrepreneurial journey.

However, he still coveted the traffic resources of e-commerce platforms.

Thirty-two-year-old Huang Zheng looked at Chen Yansen with eyes full of admiration and envy.

In terms of education, he holds a bachelor's degree from a top-tier university and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Madison; in terms of starting point, he worked as a project manager at Google for three years; in terms of connections, he secured investment from Duan Yongping on the first day of his startup and became an agent for BBK and OPPO.

After five years of entrepreneurship, his net worth has not yet exceeded 100 million!

To put it bluntly, if Duan Yongping hadn't been there to accompany him, he wouldn't have even been able to see Ding Lei at this party.

Therefore, Huang Zheng both admired and envied Chen Yansen, who had earned billions of yuan by the age of twenty and was very successful in the mobile phone and e-commerce fields.

(End of this chapter)