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

Chapter 286 A Monthly Loss of 12 Billion? The Mad Battle! Didi's Thousand-Degree Era!
"Cheng Wei is a good-for-nothing! Didi Chuxing's market share has not only failed to grow but has actually declined, and while it has lost 200 million yuan, it hasn't generated any revenue at all!"

On the sixth floor of the Qiandu Building, Li Yanhong glanced at the business and financial weekly reports sent by Cheng Wei and immediately became furious.

In the past two weeks, Baidu's business development has been plagued by setbacks. Zhou Hongyi and 360 Search have disrupted the market, taking away nearly ten percent of the group's search business market share, causing Baidu's stock price to plummet.

The ride-hailing market is also not going well. Currently, Didi Chuxing's operating scope in the northern market is the same as that of Kuaidi Dache, except for Luzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou. However, in terms of daily orders, it is 150 million to 160 million fewer.

Li Yanhong regrets it!

He should have accepted the proposal from Legend Capital and Today Capital sooner to remove Cheng Wei from his position as CEO of Didi.

"Huagong Iron Army? He doesn't deserve the title!"

Li Yanhong angrily cursed.

Ali CEO Lu Zhaoxi, Lashou CEO Shan Jiawei, and Dianping COO Lü Guangyu are all from the Huagong Iron Army. Which of them is not more capable than Cheng Wei?

Thinking of this, Li Yanhong leaned back, took out his phone and dialed Xu Xin: "President Xu, I think Cheng Wei is no longer suitable to be the CEO of Didi Chuxing."

"Does Mr. Li have a suitable candidate in mind?" Xu Xin didn't delve into the matter; all the investors had seen Cheng Wei's performance.

Given her understanding of Li Yanhong, it's truly remarkable that she's managed to endure this long.

Today Capital holds a 12.2% stake, making it the third-largest shareholder of Didi Chuxing. However, Today Capital is simply an investment fund company, and in terms of talent reserves, it is naturally inferior to Baidu.

Xu Xin's implication was clear: Capital Today supports the change of leadership, but will not interfere in specific operational matters.

“Wang Jin and Xiang Hailong, one is in charge of technology and strategy, and the other is in charge of commercialization and traffic.”

Li Yanhong didn't mince words and laid out his entire plan.

Wang Jin excels in technology-driven businesses, having led the development of the Baidu mobile operating system. He can provide LBS and order scheduling algorithm support for Didi Chuxing, making him a suitable candidate for CTO.

Xiang Hailong is a long-time employee of Baidu, skilled in traffic monetization and business operations. He is calm and composed, making him suitable to be a CEO.

“Okay, I have no objection,” Xu Xin replied.

Although, to her knowledge, Legend Capital seemed to want to promote its own heiress to a higher position, she did not remind Robin Li of this.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yanhong called Zhu Nanli, the head of Legend Capital.

"Mr. Li, regarding the removal of Cheng Wei from his position as CEO, Legend Capital can vote in favor, but for the new CEO, I would like to recommend Ms. Liu Yiqing, Executive Director of Goldman Sachs Asia."

After hearing Li Yanhong's purpose, Zhu Nanli agreed without hesitation, but he took the opportunity to make a request.

Liu Yiqing?

The eldest daughter of the Liu family?

Li Yanhong looked troubled. Baidu holds a 36% stake in Didi Chuxing, making it the largest shareholder in name and in fact.

Legend Capital only holds 10% of the shares, but the other party is backed by the Liu family of Lenovo. If it is Liu Chengzhi's intention to nominate Liu Yiqing as the CEO of Didi Chuxing, then he will have to consider it carefully.

"Is this Mr. Liu's intention?" Li Yanhong asked tentatively.

Zhu Nanli frowned and immediately understood the subtext of Li Yanhong's words: if Liu Chengzhi gave the instruction, he might consider it or even make some concessions.

Otherwise, forget it!
"Does President Li also have candidates?" Zhu Nanli asked in return.

Li Yanhong sneered, "Isn't that obvious?"

The combined equity stakes of Legend Capital, SIG Asia, Hillhouse Capital, and Today Capital do not equal the shareholding ratio of Qiandu.com.

Why should Liu Yiqing be in charge?
The other party may be capable, but nothing beats the comfort and peace of mind that comes from using your own people.
"Yes," Li Yanhong replied succinctly.

From Zhu Nanli's tone, he already knew the answer. Since it wasn't Liu Chengzhi's idea, he didn't need to give him too much face.

After all, it's a business worth billions, so we can't be careless.

Zhu Nanli looked troubled and pondered for a while before replying, "President Li, Ms. Liu Yiqing has worked at Goldman Sachs for more than ten years and is absolutely capable of serving as CEO."

"I can reserve a CFO position for her." Li Yanhong didn't rule it out completely, giving her some face.

Alas, what the young lady wants is the CEO position!
Seeing that communication was impossible, Zhu Nanli exchanged a few pleasantries and then hurriedly hung up the phone.

Li Yanhong didn't take it seriously. Cheng Wei and Wang Gang's combined shareholding was only 38.08%, while the combined shareholding of Baidu and Today Capital was 48.2%, which was enough to convene a shareholders' meeting to kick Cheng Wei out.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, he then contacted Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital and Wang Qiong of Overseas Asia.

Zhang Lei agreed readily, but Wang Qiong's stance was ambiguous; she neither opposed nor supported it.

Li Yanhong didn't take it to heart, and with Hillhouse Capital's involvement, the shareholding ratio has exceeded 50%.

Therefore, votes cast in overseas Asia are no longer important.

The following morning, Li Yanhong, Li Guangping, vice president of Capital Today, and Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital went to Didi Chuxing's headquarters.

Although Zhu Nanli of Legend Capital and Wang Qiong of Overseas Asia did not attend, they sent representatives.

Early in the morning, Cheng Wei sat in his office in a daze. Ever since he received the message last night, he had been in a state of uncertainty.

I'm still too inexperienced compared to these bigwigs in the financial world!
Twelve hours ago, he didn't even know what an AB shareholding structure, a concerted action agreement, or a voting rights delegation agreement were.

I understand now, but it's too late.

"Mr. Cheng, how about we create another ride-hailing platform and start from scratch?"

Zhang Bo, CTO of Didi Chuxing, looked at Cheng Wei's tired appearance and said indignantly.

"There's no chance anymore. The venture capital firms in China that are willing to invest in the ride-hailing sector are either with Kuaidi Dache or Didi Dache. This project is too expensive, and not many investors dare to put their money in."

Cheng Wei smiled bitterly and shook his head.

From May to August, Didi Chuxing burned through 430 million yuan, losing more than 100 million yuan a month. The entry threshold for this industry is too high.

Zhang Bo paused for a moment, then sighed and stared blankly out the window. Several cicadas landed on the loquat tree downstairs, chirping mournfully and sadly.

Cheng Wei stood up, pushed open the door and walked out, leaning against the glass door wall, staring blankly at the office area in front of him.

It's impossible not to feel bad when you have to hand over the company you worked so hard to build over the past six months.

At this moment, Li Yanhong led his men in and bumped into Cheng Wei. The two exchanged a glance.

From Li Yanhong's perspective, his actions were understandable. Baidu invested over 200 million yuan in Didi Chuxing, and Cheng Wei's abilities were insufficient, so of course he had to step down.

But in Cheng Wei's eyes, Didi Chuxing is his project, and Li Yanhong and others are just investors. Yet they want to kick the founder out. This is too unfair.

However, such people are common in the investment world. Cheng Wei is not the first entrepreneur to be kicked out by capital, nor will he be the last.

"President Li!" Cheng Wei's smile was forced.

"I'm doing this for the stable operation and long-term development of the project. I hope you can understand," Li Yanhong said casually. I understand you!
Cheng Wei snorted coldly, unable to hold back his inner curses.

But he knew that Li Yanhong and the others were determined to replace him, and no matter how hard he tried, the outcome would not change.

"Mr. Li, this is Zhang Bo, CTO of Didi Chuxing. He has solid technical skills and is familiar with LBS and search algorithms..."

Cheng Wei tried his best to maintain his last shred of dignity, and pointed to Zhang Bo, saying that he wanted to keep Zhang Bo's job.

“I know, Zhang Bo used to be a search engineer at Baidu. It seems that President Cheng trusts you a lot.”

Li Yanhong smiled and looked at Zhang Bo as he spoke.

Although Zhang Bo is a former employee of Baidu and can be considered a "traitor" to Baidu in some ways, the fact that he was able to gain Cheng Wei's approval after leaving Baidu is a testament to Baidu's talent development system.

Zhang Bo chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"I have another candidate for CTO of Didi Chuxing. If you don't mind, you can stay as the technical director, with the same salary."

Li Yanhong patted Zhang Bo on the shoulder and asked for his opinion with a smile.

In any case, Zhang Bo is practically one of our own, so there's no need to replace everyone.

Zhang Bo opened his mouth, about to speak, but was interrupted by Li Yanhong.

He knew in his heart that with Cheng Wei still standing aside, Zhang Bo's reply was most likely insincere.

"President Li, please come in!" Cheng Wei took a deep breath, forced a smile, and led Li Yanhong, Li Guangping, Zhang Lei, and others into the office.

The two sides then communicated very 'pleasantly'.

Cheng Wei has resigned as CEO of Didi Chuxing and will serve as a strategic development advisor for the company.

Li Yanhong originally wanted to take the opportunity to acquire the shares held by Cheng Wei, but Cheng Wei was not stupid either. In less than four months after Didi Chuxing was launched, its valuation rose from 1000 million to 40 billion.

If you sell it now out of spite, you'd be a complete fool.

On August 15, the management team of Qiandu officially took over the operation of Didi Chuxing.

Founder Cheng Wei has stepped down to a secondary role, and former CTO Zhang Bo has been demoted to technical director, continuing to serve Li Yanhong.

As Cheng Wei left Digital Valley, Zhang Bo's words still echoed in his mind: "President Cheng, I'll stand with you through thick and thin!"

When interests are at stake, what's the point of talking about personal relationships?

In an instant, Cheng Wei's thinking on business operations matured considerably, but the price was the loss of control over Didi Chuxing.

At 2 p.m. that day, the details of Kuaidi Dache's Series B financing quietly made it to the top of the trending search list.

The search terms "Kuaidi Dache $35 billion", "Series B funding of $5 million", and "Recharge $399 and get $520 free" were ranked side by side in the sixth, seventeenth, and thirty-sixth positions.

“充399送520”是快的打车在8月15日零点推出的营销活动，用户支付399元，可以获得520元的打车金，并附赠5张12元无门槛的优惠券。

The more you top up, the more you get; there's no limit to the number of times you can participate, and refunds are available at any time.

The top ten rechargers in each time period will receive a free 64GB Orange C2 smartphone.

The number of users participating exceeded 10 as soon as the event went live.

Recharge 399 yuan, and actually receive 580 yuan, a discount of about 6.88%, which is equivalent to saving 181 yuan.

Although Kuaidi Dache offers discounts for new customers and subsidies for existing customers, these discounts are simply a drop in the bucket for users with frequent travel needs.

Within 24 hours of its launch, the event attracted a total of 46.1 users who participated in the recharge activity, generating 4.4 million yuan in revenue in a single day, with an average of 2.6 participations per person.

Cheng Weixing's move can, on the one hand, increase user stickiness and encourage long-term consumption.

Secondly, it can quickly recover funds, alleviate cash flow pressure, and reduce reliance on venture capital funding.

Thirdly, it reduces customer acquisition costs by offering ride credits to friends and family, thereby enhancing the social sharing effect.

As expected, on the second day, Didi Chuxing saw a sharp 30% drop in orders from regular customers in Yanjing, Tangcheng, Tianjin, Anci, and Changshan, as these users had recharged their accounts on Kuaidi Dache.

Although user loyalty is extremely low, running recharge promotions is indeed a good way to deeply engage users.

Why do supermarkets, barbershops, KTVs, and restaurants like to offer prepaid cards?

There's no other reason, it's just damn good and the effects are outstanding!

Wang Jin and Xiang Hailong, who had just taken over Didi Chuxing's business, subconsciously chose to follow the operational strategy of Kuaidi Dache.

However, Li Yanhong believes that this behavior is too passive. Didi Chuxing should take action instead of being led by the nose by Kuaidi Dache.

So on August 16, Didi Chuxing changed its response, first releasing the Baidu Maps Travel Edition, which combined ride-hailing and map navigation.

Subsequently, the subsidy strategy was adjusted, and the new customer promotion was canceled. New and old customers are treated equally, with two opportunities to get a 10 yuan discount every day.

Most passengers' normal commuting needs are only two to three times a day.

As soon as Didi Chuxing launched its promotion, the number of participants in Kuaidi Dache's recharge promotion immediately plummeted.

"Idiot!" Cheng Weixing cursed, but he could only adjust his tactics.

Instead of canceling the new customer promotion, he sent users two 10-yuan red envelopes every day. After taking a ride on a Didi Chuxing taxi and completing the order, the money would be deposited into their Orange Pay balance.

Just consider it a way to inflate revenue figures!
For a time, the competition between Kuaidi and Didi Chuxing entered a fierce stage, with more than 4000 million yuan being burned every day.

That's 12 billion a month!
While bracing for subsidies, Li Yanhong actively sought financing opportunities.

Netizens in Beijing, Hebei, and Tianjin are posting screenshots of their free ride-hailing orders on Weibo, BBS forums, and WeChat Moments every day, drawing envy from netizens in southern regions.

Online, people are speculating about how long the subsidy war between Kuaidi and Didi can last.

at the same time.

The direct search war between 360 and Baidu is escalating, with 360 recklessly scraping data from Baidu and blocking all of Baidu's products.

Baidu added 360 Search products to its 'antivirus software list', so users cannot be redirected normally when searching for '360 Search official website' using Baidu.

It's a lose-lose situation.

As for user experience?

What it is?
360 and Baidu are completely treating their users like dirt, making everyone miserable.

Lingxi Search, which watched the entire competition, saw its market share steadily increase.

On August 17th at 9:8 AM, the Beijing Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued a warning to 360 and Baidu, and summoned Zhou Hongyi and Li Yanhong for a meeting.

(End of this chapter)