Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 236 Mobike's relative high point has appeared; it's time to sell!
Inside the set of "The Song of Qin King Breaking the Enemy's Formation," a green screen scene.

Wearing armor, with a dark complexion and a tiger-like beard, Ding Haifeng, who plays Yuchi Gong, wields a 4-meter-long lance and rides forward on horseback. Then, using the momentum, he pierces through the lifelike mannequin wearing armor on the back of the horse in front of him with a single thrust of the lance.

The high-speed camera captured the dummy being pierced through, causing it to fly forward with its limbs extended and its body backward.

After filming this scene, Ding Haifeng's lance was replaced with a sandbag spearhead, and the dummy on horseback was replaced with a real person wearing armor and padding. Then they filmed the same scene again.

The early dialogue scenes and extensive location shooting for "The Song of Qin King Breaking the Battle Formation" have been completed. Now, the filming is focused on the detailed battle scenes on the battlefield.

With the help of a green screen, the actors filmed the horse battle scenes scene by scene, and then used special effects in post-production.

The studios at Oriental Movie Metropolis are large enough that even if dozens of horses were riding and charging around inside, the space could still accommodate them.

Chen Xiu stood behind the monitor, staring at the screen, and nodded with satisfaction.

At the current filming pace, "The Song of Qin King Breaking the Enemy's Formation" will be successfully completed in another week.

After estimating the wrap-up time, Chen Xiu thought to herself: It's finally almost over. Filming one drama has taken up all my time, and there's so much work piling up that I haven't had time to deal with...

"Dingle bell! Dingle bell!"

Hearing the sudden ringtone, Chen Xiu frowned and took her phone out of her pocket.

Looking at Hu Weiwei's image on the screen, Chen Xiu silently walked to the side and answered the phone.

"Hey, Mr. Hu, what's wrong?"

"Mr. Chen, Mobike will be conducting its Series D financing round at the end of this month. Will you have time to attend?"

"So fast? I remember we just finished our Series C funding round on September 30th last year?"

"We've burned through all our money. Now, besides Mobike and ofo, there are also Bluegogo, Whitegogo, Greengogo... The entire bike-sharing market is in a chaotic state. We can only accelerate our fundraising efforts and try to wear down our competitors."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiu pursed her lips noncommittally and didn't respond.

The essence of business warfare on the internet is burning money. Whoever can't burn money anymore first has to exit the market. So-called killing the opponent's money tree, sending negative reviews, and pulling the plug on the network are all just added value.

According to Hu Weiwei and Chen Xiu's own understanding, there are now no fewer than 10 types of shared bicycles on the market.

The unwinnable battle has begun; it's time to prepare to get off the train...

"Mr. Hu, what is the amount of this Series D financing? And how many shares were given up?"

"Forehead……"

Hu Weiwei hesitated for a moment, then thought that Chen Xiu, as an original investor and the second largest shareholder after himself, would not have any impact if this matter was announced earlier.

"This time I plan to raise $2 million, and I will still give up 10% of the shares."

"Then the company's valuation could reach 20 billion US dollars."

As Chen Xiu answered, she was mentally calculating the value of her shares.

When the last Series C funding round ended, his stake had increased from 16.2% in Series B to 14.58%, and after this Series D round, he will still have 13.1%, with a valuation of around $2.6 million.

"Yes! My plan is to negotiate for the highest possible amount of funding while keeping the share of the company unchanged. As long as we can outlast the other bike-sharing brands and monopolize the market, we can make back all the money we've burned so far."

On the other end of the phone, Hu Weiwei used an essential skill for entrepreneurs: making grand promises in reverse!
As the founder of Mobike, this is the only belief she can hold when discussing fundraising.

Regarding the competition in the shared bicycle market, she believes that this time, like the previous group-buying war, ride-hailing war, and the ongoing live-streaming war, there will only be one winner in the end.

Chen Xiu didn't comment on Hu Weiwei's determination; she was simply mentally assessing when to get off the bus.

Mobike was eventually acquired by Meituan for $37 billion, of which $10 billion was used to pay off Mobike's debts, leaving the company with a market value of only $27 billion.

Mobike will have at least two more rounds of financing in the future, with the amounts getting larger and larger. The largest round of financing was $6 million, and the valuation reached a peak of $30 billion.

After the largest round of financing, Chen Xiu's shareholding will definitely fall below 10%.

At that time, investors in the market were not so optimistic about Mobike, and many shareholders chose to invest through stock-to-debt conversion, which is why Mobike owed $10 billion.

In other words, the end of the Series D funding round marked Mobike's relative peak.

Getting off the train now allows you to capitalize on the generally positive outlook from investors and potentially secure a higher premium for your shares…

"Mr. Hu, I won't be participating in the Series D funding round. After this round of funding concludes, I may have to leave Mobike."

"Huh! Quit?!"

Hu Weiwei was so surprised that he let out a high-pitched shout over the phone, giving Chen Xiu a piercingly loud voice.

Why did it happen so suddenly?

"Tsk, it's not too sudden. It's just that my own Douyin company needs more funds for development, so... it's just a matter of choice."

Chen Xiu rubbed his ears, finding a respectable excuse for his departure: TikTok has already gone global and is currently in talks to acquire its overseas competitor, Musical.ly.

This situation has already been discussed in the news, so it's not exactly a secret.

Upon hearing this reason, Hu Weiwei was indeed more accepting of it. After all, Mobike was ultimately just a value investment by Chen Xiu, while Douyin was the company he founded himself. The relative importance of each was obvious.

"Could you postpone your withdrawal until after the Series D funding round?"

"Of course! This is good for both of us. Giving you advance notice is also to prevent you from overthinking it."

Chen Xiu couldn't tell anyone about leaving Mobike, except for Hu Weiwei, whom she could freely tell. Explaining it in advance was already a great act of kindness.

Hu Weiwei would never disclose such matters, which are closely related to his own interests, and he would even try to help Chen Xiu sell his shares at a higher price, thereby raising Mobike's overall valuation.

"Mr. Chen, have you found a suitable investor to take over? Wang Sicong has been contacting me a lot since last month; he seems interested in continuing to invest..."

"I know it well."

Chen Xiu said calmly, "I've already withdrawn, so it would be too much of a rip-off to sell my shares to Wang Sicong."

It's better to sell the shares to the right people. Meituan's valuation hasn't reached its pre-IPO peak yet. Jumping from Mobike's peak to Meituan's peak, they can still make a profit.

When Hu Weiwei heard that he was unwilling to talk about this topic, he had no choice but to reluctantly change the subject.

When the call ended, Chen Xiu held his phone, pondering how to contact Wang Xin, when a name popped into his mind: Shen Nanpeng!
The other party's Sequoia Capital participated in Meituan's Series A and Series C funding rounds, so they must know Wang Xin.

Last year, when Mobike was raising its Series C funding, Chen Xiu met Shen Nanpeng once, chatted for a bit, and learned that he was interested in investing in Douyin. They also exchanged contact information.

After finding Shen Nanpeng's number on her phone, Chen Xiu thought about what to say before dialing.

After the phone rang twice, a hearty voice reached Chen Xiu's ears.

"Mr. Chen, you have such keen insight and discerning eye! I was looking for an opportunity to contact you, but I didn't expect you to call me first."

"...Mr. Shen, what makes you say I have keen insight and a discerning eye?"

"Haha! You were quicker than me, an investor, to secure Pinduoduo's Series B funding last year!"

Upon hearing the other person mention Pinduoduo, Chen Xiu frowned, as if she had thought of something.

"Mr. Shen, are you interested in participating in Pinduoduo's Series C funding round?"

"That's right! Although Alibaba and JD.com are currently the two dominant players in e-commerce, there is still a lot of surplus market share in lower-tier cities... Oh! Why am I telling you this? You participated in Pinduoduo's Series B funding round, so you must know about these things."

"I've learned a little bit about it."

"Haha! Mr. Chen, who is it that you contacted this time?"

While pondering Pinduoduo's Series C funding, Chen Xiu was already reciting the words she had just prepared to Shen Nanpeng.

"Mr. Shen, I'd like to ask, are you acquainted with Mr. Wang from Meituan?"

"Wang Xin? I've talked to him a few times. He's a very insightful young man. He founded Meituan a little earlier than you founded Didi, but its development has been a bit slower. Is there something you need from him?"

The same year Didi acquired Kuaidi, Meituan also acquired Dazhong, the only remaining competitor in the group-buying war.

Meituan's current market value is just over 200 billion US dollars, which is indeed somewhat less than Didi, which acquired Uber in China.

"I'd like to discuss some collaboration matters. Could you please introduce me, Mr. Shen?"

“That’s easy! You’re all in the internet industry, but you’re in different fields, so there’s no rivalry or grudges between you. Just meet up for a meal and have a chat, and you’ll naturally get to know each other.”

Shen Nanpeng paused for a moment, as if considering the time issue.

"When are you free? I can talk to Wang Xin for you, or I can talk to him now and give you his WeChat ID. You two can decide when to make an appointment."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Shen."

Chen Xiu's voice was filled with joy as she specifically emphasized that she would treat Shen Nanpeng to a meal next time to thank him in person.

The intersection of different networks creates new networks.

However, such resource exchange is obviously not free, nor can it be offset by a meal.

"Mr. Chen, when will the Series B financing for Douyin, which you mentioned last time, start?"

Shen Nanpeng said with great interest, and judging from his voice, he valued Douyin's Series B financing as much as Pinduoduo's Series C financing.

Chen Xiu thought for a moment and said, "The specific time still needs to be discussed in a meeting. President Shen, we will have opportunities to cooperate."

"That's good, Mr. Chen. I'll treat you to dinner when you're done with your work!"

"It's easy to talk about."

Chen Xiu smiled and dealt with Shen Nanpeng, but after hanging up the phone, she was still thinking about how to participate in Pinduoduo's Series C financing.

During last year's Series B funding round, he managed to secure a share of the funding through Sun Tongyu's introduction.

If Pinduoduo only has funding this time, but no corresponding resources are provided, it's likely it won't get a slice of the Series C funding pie.

(End of this chapter)