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

Chapter 281 5 Million US Dollars! Liu Zhiping: Even the people being taken advantage of don't mind, and you're acting all wronged?
In Hangzhou, on the shores of West Lake, lies the Jinsha Hall, with its lush front garden.

Chen Yansen strode inside, followed closely by Gao Weilin, Cheng Weixing, and Song Yuncheng, along with six experienced financial and legal personnel.

Regarding the valuation of Kuaidi Dache's Series B financing, although each institution has submitted a bid, a thorough and comprehensive negotiation process is still needed to coordinate the equity allocation and align the long-term interests of all parties.

As soon as Chen Yansen reached the entrance of the banquet hall, he saw Ma Liyun standing outside.

At the same time, Ma Liyun also saw him.

The two men looked tense, then exchanged a smile.

As he expected, Ma Liyun was a pure businessman. As long as there was still a conflict of interest between Senlian Capital and Ali, the other party would not break off relations with him.

Moreover, he only refused to join Cainiao Logistics, which is far from enough to make Ma Yun hold a grudge.

Take Ding Lei for example. The conflict between NetEase and Ali is much bigger, but when they bumped into each other at a bar last time, Ma Liyun still took the initiative to greet him.

Seven years later, Ali spent another 20 billion US dollars to acquire NetEase Koala.

This shows that Ma Liyun's principle of action is: not to talk about personal relationships, but only about interests.

"Congratulations, Mr. Chen, Pinduoduo has surpassed JD.com in daily active users and sales data." Ma Liyun hesitated for a moment, but still took a step forward and said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Ma. Compared to Taobao, Pinbei still has a lot of room for improvement," Chen Yansen replied with a faint smile.

Ma Liyun's words are tantamount to saying: I have noticed the threat that Pinbei poses to Taobao.

But Chen Yansen didn't care; in business, there's never a situation where you don't have competitors.

Every niche business sector is similar to the group-buying wars, with no fewer than tens of thousands of competitors, big and small. Only by defeating most of the competitors can one gain a foothold in the industry and thus have the right to share the fruits of victory.

Even companies like Ali first battled HC360 and eBay, and then JD.com, before becoming the dominant force in China's e-commerce industry.

However, even after excluding Pinduoduo, JD.com, Suning, Gome, Dangdang, and Yi Xun, there are still countless competing e-commerce websites in China, numbering in the thousands.

Every moment, they are competing with Ali for market share.

Can Ma Liyun fight against him?
"The strategy of burning money to expand market share is too costly. It's only been five months since our Series A funding round, and we've already almost exhausted the $9000 million. Mr. Chen, we need to speed up the expansion of Kuaidi Dache, otherwise it will be easy for our competitors to catch up."

Ma Liyun smiled, not taking Chen Yansen's words to heart, and instead chatted with him about the marketing strategy of Kuaidi Dache.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ma, I know what I'm doing," Chen Yansen replied.

The current daily promotion costs of over 1000 million yuan are indeed overwhelming for all investors.

The first time, Li Yanhong refused to negotiate; the second time, Chen Yansen refused to negotiate.

In fact, Ma Liyun had communicated with Zhu Xiaohu, Yu Heng and others in advance that they would only endure for another month at most. If Kuaidi and Didi could not reach a conclusion by then, they would end the subsidy war even if they had to force negotiations.

"Mr. Ma, Mr. Chen, why are you all standing at the door?"

At this moment, Zhou Shouzhi and a middle-aged man wearing a light gray twill suit walked over together.

"Who is this?" Chen Yansen turned around, looked the other person up and down, and asked Zhou Shouzhi.

"Mr. Chen, it's a pleasure to meet you! I am Cai Yongjin, General Manager of Goldman Sachs Asia. I had previously communicated with Mr. Gao Weilin of your company on the phone."

Cai Yongjin grasped Chen Yansen's right hand and introduced him with a smile.

"Mr. Cai, I've heard so much about you. Let's go inside and have a chat."

While speaking, Chen Yansen was also secretly observing the other party.

Cai Yongjin is in his early fifties, wears frameless glasses, and has sharp, piercing eyes. His ability to serve as the general manager of Goldman Sachs Asia for more than a decade as a Chinese person is evident.

"no problem."

Cai Yongjin nodded in agreement, and then exchanged a few brief pleasantries with Ma Liyun and Gao Weilin.

As they walked and chatted, they stepped into a luxurious and exquisite banquet hall.

Yu Heng of Huake Capital and Zhu Xiaohu of Jinsha Venture Capital couldn't sit still when they saw Cai Yongjin, and they immediately got up to greet him.

"President Cai, what brings you here?" Zhu Xiaohu asked with a humble smile.

After all, Cai Yongjin is his senior in the investment banking field. Before he even went to university, Cai Yongjin had already joined Morgan Stanley as a senior investment manager in the project finance department.

"Naturally, I'm here to participate in Kuaidi Dache's Series B financing. Your achievements over the past two years have been remarkable, and you've made great progress."

Cai Yongjin praised.

Normally, the investment projects he personally handles are mostly collaborations in the oil, electricity, and automotive sectors. Although Goldman Sachs has some involvement with internet companies like Kuaidi Dache, the relevant personnel are merely investment managers.

Looking at Cai Yongjin, Yu Heng's perception of Kuaidi Dache's value and potential rose to a new level.

The group took their seats, and Chen Yansen looked around and noticed that the penguin representative had not yet arrived.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Liu Zhiping, Lin Chenfeng, and the others strode in from outside the door.

"Sorry for the delay, I was a few minutes late on the way," Liu Zhiping greeted everyone.

"Now that everyone is here, Mr. Chen, why don't you share your thoughts? I'm sure you've already seen the offers from all the investment institutions."

Cai Yongjin leaned back and asked directly.

"Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Sands Ventures offered the lowest prices. My bottom line is $32 billion. If it's lower than that, I can only say sorry."

Chen Yansen raised his eyelids slightly, met everyone's gaze, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

The implication is that either Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Sands Ventures will withdraw, or the price will be increased to $32 billion.

Although Yu Heng's first bid was only a little over 30 billion, it doesn't mean that his authority was limited to 30 billion. He could certainly make decisions within the fluctuation range of less than 2 million.

Zhou Shouzhi and Cai Yongjin exchanged a glance and immediately understood that their offer was probably the highest.

Judging from Chen Yansen's attitude, the other party clearly did not want to give up Huake and Jinsha Venture Capital. Even after knowing the offers from Goldman Sachs and DST, they were still willing to accept a minimum valuation of 32 billion US dollars.

This is a smart young man with a broad perspective!
Cai Yongjin silently commented.

The essence of financing is exchanging equity for funds and resources. Many founders easily fall into the mindset of "choosing whoever has the highest valuation." However, they often overlook whether the equity structure supports sustainable development and whether venture capital firms can bring intangible resources for business growth.

Chen Yansen handled both aspects with great skill.

During its Series A funding round, Senlian Capital brought in five investors with dispersed shareholdings. Apart from Tencent and Ali holding slightly higher stakes, DST, Huake, and Jinsha Venture Capital each held between 2% and 3% of the shares.

Chen Yansen has no need to worry about the loss of control due to excessive dilution of equity.

Upon hearing Yu Heng's reply, Zhu Xiaohu felt all eyes on him. After a moment's thought, he finally nodded.

Gao Weilin had informed him beforehand that this round of financing would employ a tiered or phased financing strategy to resolve the issue of inconsistent pricing.

For Huake and Sands Ventures, a valuation of $32 billion is the limit.

As for the difference, Yu Heng and Zhu Xiaohu will also have to make up for it with additional resources, otherwise Chen Yansen will still kick them out.

"Given the different quotes from various parties, Kuaidi Dache's Series B financing will adopt a tiered financing approach. The difference between the highest and lowest valuations can be covered by various payment methods, including industry resources, management support, talent networks, and capital ecosystems."

Chen Yansen said slowly.

This plan is unfair to DST and Goldman Sachs, but since they are foreign companies, they cannot offer any policy benefits to Kuaidi Dache.

For example, Huake Capital offered the lowest price during the Series A funding round, but it was able to easily obtain authorization documents from transportation associations in North China, East China, and South China, enabling Kuaidi Dache to conduct top-down promotion within the taxi industry.

On the driver's side, the reason why Kuaidi Dache was able to suppress Didi Dache is definitely inseparable from the assistance of Huake Capital.

The same applies to penguins and Ali; if you can't offer a price, you have to offer resources.

“I have no objection,” Zhou Shouzhi was the first to express his opinion.

Even if he doesn't accept it, Chen Yansen will adopt a phased financing approach in order to diversify the shareholding ratio of investors: first accept the funds for the valuation consensus portion, and then start the next phase of financing after the previous companies are finalized.

This is equivalent to breaking down the Series B funding round into many smaller transactions.

There is no essential difference, which is why Chen Yansen spoke frankly about it.

“No problem, but the valuation of the additional resources needs to be approved by everyone,” Cai Yongjin said in a deep voice, adjusting his glasses.

Whether it's tiered financing or phased financing, it's very common in the investment industry. As long as all parties involved can accept it, there's no major problem.

Seeing that the two investment institutions with the highest bids had agreed, Chen Yansen felt relieved and instructed Gao Weilin and Cheng Weixing to communicate with each investment institution separately.

The accompanying financial analyst from Senlian Capital distributed data on Kuaidi Dache's revenue structure, costs, and profits to the financial personnel of each investment firm for review purposes.

Once the general direction was determined, the subsequent negotiations went much more smoothly.

Ma Liyun invited Cai Yongjin, Chen Yansen, and others to have tea at the octagonal pavilion downstairs, leaving the contract details to be handled by his subordinates.

As soon as they stepped out of the banquet hall, Liu Zhiping approached and asked, "When will Pinbei's Series B financing begin?"

"Mr. Liu, as you know, Pinbei is not short of money," Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

He knew in his heart that Ma Wenteng was probably anxious.

The traffic entry agreement between Pinduoduo and Tencent was initially signed for only one year. With the contract about to expire, Ma Wenteng wanted to continue using traffic resources to exchange for a deeper partnership with Chen Yansen.

"What about the primary traffic entry points of WeChat and QQ?" Liu Zhiping pressed, not believing that Chen Yansen wouldn't be tempted.

"I feel a little embarrassed to keep using Tencent's free data," Chen Yansen said, but there was no trace of embarrassment on his face.

Liu Zhiping sneered. He didn't believe Chen Yansen's nonsense at all. The person being taken advantage of didn't mind, so why were you acting like you were "wronged"?
Then he asked, "All Tencent can offer is funding and traffic. What else do you want?"

“Let’s integrate Orange Pay into WeChat’s ecosystem.” Chen Yansen stopped and replied with a smile.

OrangePay?

Liu Zhiping chuckled and shook his head, saying, "Pony will never agree to that unless you sell Orange Pay to WeChat, or let Tencent invest in Orange Pay and take control."

“Then let’s change it. Add Kuaidi Dache and Kuaipao to the primary traffic entry point,” Chen Yansen said calmly.

"..." Liu Zhiping pointed at Chen Yansen and couldn't help but chuckle. It turned out that the other party was playing the "broken window game" with him, advancing as if retreating. So he scolded him in annoyance, "You're greedy!"

“Tencent is also a shareholder of Kuaidi Dache and Kuaipao,” Chen Yansen said.

"He's just one of them, not even a major shareholder. If you're willing to give Tencent more equity, Pony can explain things to the board of directors."

After finishing his tirade, Liu Zhiping began to seriously consider the issue.

"How much is too much?" Chen Yansen asked.

"That depends on your sincerity," Liu Zhiping replied.

The two walked behind, and within a few minutes, they reached a preliminary agreement.

Chen Yansen certainly wouldn't stop Tencent from investing more money.

Whether it's the food delivery or ride-hailing sector, the initial costs of cultivating the market and developing users can reach billions or even tens of billions of yuan. The more suckers there are, the better.

Over the next two days, Chen Yansen either visited NetEase or went to Ali's headquarters.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the last day of July that all the investment institutions and Senlian Capital finalized all the contract details.

The formal signing and payment processes will take another half month to a month, and each company's process is different, sometimes faster and sometimes slower.

However, Chen Yansen was not in a hurry. In any case, there was still nearly 2000 million US dollars in the company's public account, which was enough to last until the next payment was received.

at the same time.

Li Yanhong of Yanjing had already received the news, and upon learning that Kuaidi Dache's Series B funding amounted to more than 5 million US dollars, he immediately frowned.

Based on the current subsidy war trend, the monthly cost is 3 million yuan, and Kuaidi Dache can survive for another year.

Where's Didi?
Is Legend Capital willing to continue investing and providing financial support?

That evening, when Cheng Wei learned of the result, his heart skipped a beat, and the pressure on him increased dramatically.

(End of this chapter)