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

第414章 24小时，新增340万！红包一天800万！一个月2.4亿？
On April 28th, Ofo's "ride and get a red envelope" promotion had been running for three days, with a maximum reward of 4999 yuan. Each shared bike carries a red envelope worth 3 to 5 yuan, far exceeding Ofo's 2 yuan.

The highest Didi Bike coupon is 888 yuan.

Faced with this situation, Wang Zihao also adjusted the upper limit of the cycling red envelope to 4999 yuan. Anyway, it's just a gimmick, and 99.99% of users will only get 2 yuan.

Free rides, plus a bonus?

The local residents of Yanjing have seen the world; they ride their bikes three times a day and can even earn enough for breakfast.

Elderly people who were originally not interested in smartphones have started clamoring to buy a Qingcheng D2 phone.

Suddenly, the streets and alleys were filled with people riding shared bicycles.

Didi has the largest number of bikes deployed, with 30 in Yanjing; Ofo has 20, while OFO has the fewest, with only 10.

Cheng Wei stared at the financial statements with a worried look on his face. In just three days, the revenue in the Yanjing area dropped from 800,000 to 70,000, a decrease of 90%.

The red envelope campaign still costs 300 million yuan per day, and at the current scale, it will result in a net loss of 9000 million yuan per month.

If the competition is expanded and a subsidy war is launched nationwide, Didi Bike will fall into a vicious cycle of burning money → seeking financing → bankruptcy.

"Is Chang Wei's brain filled with dog shit? Price wars are about hard power. OFO bikes will suffer the least. If Didi is in trouble, you won't have an easy time either."

Cheng Wei snorted coldly and couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.

After saying that, he called over Zhang Haibo from the technical department and whispered a few words to him.

"Mr. Cheng, isn't this inappropriate?" Zhang Haibo said timidly, frowning.

"What are you afraid of? You just accidentally discovered a few software bugs and accidentally shared them."

Cheng Wei said meaningfully.

Zhang Haibo pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly agreed.

An hour later, a kind-hearted person suddenly appeared on a domestic forum for exploiting loopholes and shared a "Tips and Tricks for Exploiting the Ofo Bike Red Envelope Vulnerability," which included the entire process of rooting the phone to enable virtual location and claiming the red envelope.

Even complete beginners can make a fortune by following the tutorial.

"Wow, this guy is awesome!"

"Who downloaded the attachment? Could it be a virus?"

"Don't download it! My computer crashed!"

"So, the person upstairs wants to eat alone, huh?"

"Holy crap! I just won a 73.8 yuan red envelope, I'm in for a treat!"

"Brothers, I need an emulator!"

"Does anyone have a kind soul who can recommend a cheap and reliable SMS verification website?"

The "wool-pullers" (those who exploit loopholes for profit) pounced on the opportunity like sharks smelling blood.

In fact, this software was not created by Zhang Haibo, but by someone from another forum. After seeing the vulnerability he posted, they combined it with virtual location software, cycling simulators, and other products to create a way to exploit loopholes.

It must be said that the internet in 2013 was indeed more sharing-oriented than it would be ten years later.

When Hui Ge and his group, who were far away in Annam, found out, they were so angry that they cursed loudly: "Damn it! This is stealing our business!"

“Brother Hui, I’ve researched it. This software requires manual operation, while our software is fully automatic and can operate seven or eight hundred accounts in batches. There’s definitely a market for it,” Ah Zhen said calmly after thinking for a moment.

"I know, I'm just annoyed." Hui said with a crooked mouth, then waved to Yaozi: "Price it at 20,000. Contact our old customers first and sell a few dozen sets to them."

“Okay, Brother Hui,” Yaozi nodded in response.

Before long, a software called Little Golden Bull gradually became popular in the gray market.

Although Hui Ge's pricing is high, the product functions are excellent. From receiving the code, logging in, receiving red envelopes to withdrawing cash, everything is fully automated. You can make 3000 yuan in just ten minutes.

The big players in the gray market use automatic cheats, while the lower-level "wool-gathering" (referring to exploiting loopholes) use manual cheats.

Following closely behind, college students with strong learning and practical skills also joined the ranks of those taking advantage of promotional offers.

Although manual labor is slow, earning two or three thousand a day is not a problem.

Receiving phone numbers, misusing information, and using virtual location and cycling simulation software are both illegal and irregular, but nobody cares.

Chang Wei was pleased to see the rapidly increasing number of new customer registrations and orders in the backend, but after glancing at the activity subsidies, he fell silent again.

The subsidy war is burning through way too much money!
But once the arrow is released, there's no turning back; he could only grit his teeth and keep going.

at the same time.

Chen Yansen posted a Douyin promotional message on his Weibo and Toutiao accounts, along with the caption: "Play a little game, and the first 1000 followers of mine will each receive a red envelope of 888 yuan."

"Douyin? Short video?"

"There's a super popular short video app called Mimo in North America. I never expected that Mr. Chen would also become a software localization master."

"Red envelopes are the most important thing! Let's go!"

While netizens in the comment section were busy leaving messages to "grab the first comment" and "grab the second comment," before their brains could even process what was happening, smart people had already opened the app store and immediately downloaded Douyin.

Register, log in, search for the name 'Chen Yansen', and follow him immediately.

In less than ten minutes, Chen Yansen's Douyin followers exceeded 17, adding nearly 20 new users to the platform.

Liang Bo placed video ads on Tencent and Youku, and graphic ads on NetEase, Sina, and Sohu. With exposure on Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and Xiaohongshu, he easily attracted more than 100 million new customers.

Having strong capabilities and a powerful background gives them a significant advantage when promoting new products. For example, Ma Wenteng used QQ to drive traffic to Tencent Weibo, attracting 400 million users in just one year.

But whether a product is good or not, users will tell by how they retain users.

Traffic and exposure are basic conditions for success, but not necessary conditions.

Many companies have no shortage of money or traffic, but if their products and services are terrible, they still can't be salvaged.

Upon learning of Douyin's launch, Ma Wenteng exclaimed in surprise, "So fast?"

"Douyin's product functions and recommendation engine technology are quite similar to Mimo's. Apart from changes in the interface style, there are no other differences. The development workload is less, so the speed is naturally much faster," Liu Zhiping said slowly.

"It's a pity. I wanted to launch Weishi before Chen Yansen, but I underestimated the speed of technological development today."

Ma Wenteng sighed.

“Pony, there’s really no need to rush. The network conditions are what they are. Don’t be fooled by the rapid growth of Douyin users; most of them are just people joining in for the fun. I’m afraid only Senlian Star Card users or a small number of users will become Douyin’s retained users.”

Liu Zhiping adjusted his glasses and said with a smile.

“I understand, but we’ve ultimately lost the advantage of going first.” Ma Wenteng’s eyes were lowered, showing slight dissatisfaction.

"..." Liu Zhiping thought to himself: You're too greedy!

"By the way, what stage is the research and development of Laiwang at?" Ma Wenteng asked again.

Alibaba's strength should not be underestimated, and he is also worried that Laiwang will impact WeChat.

"We're only halfway through the project, and it'll probably be online in the second half of the year," Liu Zhiping replied immediately.

Spreading rumors and infiltrating competitors' companies is a basic practice among internet giants, especially since the person in charge of the Laiwang project was a former senior executive at Tencent.

After the other party went to Ali, in order to ensure execution and increase their influence, they poached several more people from Tencent.

Liu Zhiping then took the opportunity to place someone in his place to keep abreast of the latest developments.

"An e-commerce platform trying to make social media? Who gave them the courage?" Ma Wenteng said dismissively. But in his words, he ignored the embarrassing situation of Tencent desperately trying to squeeze into the e-commerce arena.

"You can't make a good product just by having money and traffic."

Liu Zhiping echoed this sentiment.

……

……

"With ample funding and user traffic, how can you not create a phenomenal app?" Chen Yansen asked noncommittally.

"The core of software is functionality and user experience," Han Sheng said seriously.

He holds a bachelor's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a master's degree from Fudan University. After graduation, he worked for ten years at a tech company in Silicon Valley.

Mimo's explosive popularity in North America made him smell a business opportunity, and he planned to return to China to become a "copycat master", taking Ma Wenteng, Li Yanhong and Ma Liyun as role models, and copying to create a unicorn company.

But after conducting some market research, he was stunned.

Tencent is developing a short video app, while another internet giant, Douyin (TikTok's Chinese version) backed by Senlian Capital, has entered the pre-launch phase.

A small cheat sheet encountered two large cheat sheets!

What's the point of him playing anymore?!

So I gritted my teeth and came to the virtual city for an interview. If I can't beat them, I'll just join them.

After all, when he was in Silicon Valley, he had heard people say that a giant had emerged in China that not only developed its own mobile operating system, but also launched a brand-new instruction set technology, which was highly favored by companies such as Huawei, Apple and ZTE.

This company is generous and offers high salaries.

After hearing this, Chen Yansen smiled slightly.

He was no stranger to Han Sheng, who was standing in front of him.

This person will later become the founder of Weying Technology, whose main business focuses on mobile editing software.

The products are good, but the company has been unable to go public for a long time due to its single business model and profit channels.

The two had met briefly at an entrepreneurs' exchange meeting in East China.

At that time, Chen Yansen was already the chairman of Feiyu Technology, whose net worth was over 2 billion yuan, while Han Sheng was still busy promoting the listing of Weiying Technology.

He understands technology, products, and operations, but he's not good at the intricacies of capital operations.

Similar to Liang Bo's skills, Douyin's content creation and optimization also rely heavily on the widespread use of simple editing tools.

Therefore, after seeing Han Sheng's resume, Chen Yansen decided to meet him in person.

"You want to go to Douyin's R&D department? But there aren't any suitable positions in the R&D department right now," Chen Yansen said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Han Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he wondered to himself: Could the interview be going to fail?
"Mr. Han mainly works on video editing software development in Silicon Valley?" Chen Yansen asked slowly, noticing the uncertain expression on the other man's face.

"Yes, Mr. Chen," Han Sheng replied quickly.

"PR and VideoStudio are aimed at the PC market. If Douyin wants to encourage users to create more high-quality content, it needs a simplified mobile editing software," Chen Yansen said calmly.

"Mr. Chen, do you mean you want me to be in charge of this product?" Han Sheng asked tentatively, the surprise coming somewhat unexpectedly.

"Are you confident?" Chen Yansen asked in return.

"Mr. Chen, I'm fine with it. To be honest, my first entrepreneurial goal after returning to China was short videos, and my second was mobile editing software," Han Sheng said truthfully.

“I will have Mr. Liang set up a separate project team for you, and you will first serve as the project director. If the product can reach a certain market scale, the project team can also be changed into a business unit.”

Chen Yansen casually made grand promises, which excited Han Sheng greatly.

"Boss, if you give me a chance, I will definitely not let you down." Han Sheng immediately stood up and patted his chest to express his determination.

They changed their tune pretty quickly!

Chen Yansen waved his hand, gesturing for the other person to sit down and talk.

Han Sheng didn't hesitate. He grabbed the rope and started climbing. He had indeed thought that if he couldn't get into Senlian Capital, he would become a video editing software service provider and start from his old profession.

At this moment, he felt very fortunate that he had visited the virtual city before starting his business.

Otherwise, once the product is launched, it will run into the behemoth that is Senlian Capital.

Therefore, he had a plan in mind beforehand, and when discussing editing, transitions, audio processing, and adding effects, he spoke eloquently and knowledgeably.

"Prepare the detailed plan and send it to Liang Bo, then copy it to me. The product should be available in both Chinese and English versions, and the basic functions should ideally be built into Mimo and Douyin."

Chen Yansen gave the instructions.

"Boss, Mimo is a product of Senlian Capital?" Han Sheng's mouth gaped open, and he stood there dumbfounded.

"Didn't Liang Bo tell you?"

"Boss, this is my second time here for an interview," Han Sheng said with a dry laugh.

The implication is that I haven't started working yet.

No, to be precise, he hasn't even received an offer yet.

"Get your onboarding done as soon as possible, since you're currently unemployed anyway," Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"Okay, boss," Han Sheng grinned.

Although the opportunity to start a business has been missed, joining Senlian Capital and having the opportunity to independently manage projects makes the trip worthwhile.

the other side.

With the help of virtual location and simulation software, the "wool army" is constantly unlocking, riding, ending the service, and receiving red envelopes. Each account earns four to five yuan in ten minutes, and if you're lucky, you can even win a large red envelope worth tens of yuan.

Even at three or four in the morning, Ofo bikes are still generating a steady stream of orders.

The spending on the red envelope campaign jumped from 300 million yuan per day to over 800 million yuan in just one day, nearly tripling in a single day.

The next morning, Chang Wei turned on his computer and checked the business data.

More than 800 million?

He frowned, took out his phone and called the director of the data department: "We have only deployed 20 shared bikes in the Yanjing area. Based on the consumption frequency of three to four times per bike per day, the marketing expenses should be less than 400 million yuan."

"Mr. Chang, before the red envelope campaign was launched, the daily usage frequency of bikes was indeed three to four times. However, the amount of our red envelopes was relatively large, which greatly increased users' willingness to spend."

After a moment's thought, the data director, based on his experience, gave a response.

I must say, there's some truth to what he said.

As for data such as the time and percentage of orders generated, they are difficult to detect without special attention.

Although Chang Wei felt the cost was too high, he disregarded it when he thought about market share.
The higher the market share, the higher the valuation.

He knew in his heart that every penny he spent had value, and the investment institutions would bail him out.

Little did they know that of those 800 million, more than 600 million were taken by shady operations and "wool party" groups.

At the same time, Douyin's cumulative registrations reached 340 million within 24 hours of its launch, but only 57 users stayed for more than 30 minutes, accounting for less than 20%.

To put it bluntly, data costs remain the biggest obstacle to the development of short videos.

(End of this chapter)