Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

As soon as the signing ceremony ended, Liu Chiping, Xu Xin, and others left one after another.

Shen Mo pulled Lin Qingyan aside. "Our Lingyun Technology is preparing to establish its own legal department. What are your thoughts?"

Lin Qingyan pursed her lips. "Does Brother Shen want to end his cooperation with Zehou?"

Shen Mo smiled and said, "No, quite the opposite. I think our revolutionary friendship can be further elevated."

Lin Qingyan pressed further, "How do you achieve sublimation?"

"You handled the cases of YiTao GO and TianTian Farm very well."

Shen Mo said, "So I'm considering formally hiring you as the Director of Legal Affairs at Lingyun Technology. What do you think?"

"Me? The General Counsel?"

Lin Qingyan was greatly surprised and opened her mouth wide.

"Is there a problem?"

"Brother Shen... Mr. Shen, you should know that I haven't been in this industry for very long..."

"Time and experience are not issues; most startups' legal departments grow alongside the company."

Shen Mo raised his hand.

Lin Qingyan asked, "What requests do you have for the Ministry of Justice?"

"In the short term, we need to be able to handle high-frequency tasks such as daily contracts, labor employment, and accounts receivable, and gradually bring back the outsourced business."

Shen Mo stated directly: "In the long term, we need to build a talent and institutional system covering contracts, compliance, litigation, and especially intellectual property rights. After all, Lingyun Technology cannot be limited to the domestic market; many of our businesses will involve overseas operations in the future..."

Lin Qingyan listened to the grand blueprint being outlined, her emotions running high and her heart surging.

Shen Mo asked, "So, do you dare to take on this general counsel position?"

"You've put it this way, it would be incredibly ungrateful of me to refuse!"

Lin Qingyan said excitedly, "Thank you for your guidance, President Shen!"

The reason I, a law master's graduate from Aurora University, chose to return to Hangzhou to become a lawyer is simply because my first degree and family background are not good enough!

Now, an opportunity that could change your destiny is before you; you must seize it no matter what!

…………

As Shen Mo, Zhong Xue, and their entourage left the hotel, they were blocked by the media at the entrance.

"Mr. Shen, we are reporters from the Economic Daily."

The female reporter held up her badge hanging around her neck, introduced herself, and said, "Could I have a few minutes of your time so we can ask you a few questions?"

Shen Mo's eyes darted around. Although there are platforms like Fanfou that are similar to Twitter these days, in terms of public opinion influence, they are far inferior to Weibo and Douyin.

To increase their own and YiTaoGO's brand awareness, they still need to rely on media such as newspapers and television.

"Go ahead and ask."

"That's right. The fact that YiTaoGO has completed its angel and Series A funding rounds is enough to prove the success of the e-commerce shopping guide model."

The female reporter asked, "Many e-commerce platforms are now imitating YiTaoGO, such as Vipshop, which has borrowed YiTaoGO's brand flash sales model. What are your thoughts on these competitors?"

"This is a good thing!"

"The market for shopping guide e-commerce is huge, and with more and more competitors joining, we can grow the market faster and better."

"Of course, the sales associate industry may seem to have a low barrier to entry, but in reality, it has a very high barrier to entry, and not just anyone can do it well."

Shen Mo's tone carried a hint of disdain.

There are over 3 million internet users in China, and that number will continue to grow.

Although YiTaoGO has accumulated more than 2000 million registered users, there are still many people who have doubts about the group buying, rebate and special sale models. If there are more competing products and more people are involved in the shopping guide, the market value of the entire shopping guide will also increase.

When YiTaoGO raises new funding, its valuation also increases significantly.

The news quickly spread within the industry, and major news portals reported it as fast as they could.

"With Sequoia Capital leading the investment, and Tencent and Today Capital participating, how big is the potential of e-commerce shopping guides?"

"A startup less than six months old, with all core members being college students—a junior-year business genius building a near-technological entrepreneurship company?"

"A Leading E-commerce Platform: With Followers Flocking In, How Does YiTaoGO Build its Competitive Advantage?"

"..."

A stack of newspapers featuring news about YiTao GO's financing was placed in front of Jack Ma.

"Tencent has invested again."

Jack Ma tapped the table expressionlessly.

"EasyGO is getting too close to Tencent."

Cai Chongxin said warily, "It is said that the social e-commerce on QQ Space was Shen Mo's idea."

"This YiTaoGO is going too far! They've probably forgotten which restaurant they even ate at!"

Jack Ma snorted coldly, "Without Ali the Fox, could YiTao GO have maintained such a high valuation?"

"Jack, I'm worried that if things continue like this, sooner or later Tencent will acquire EtaoGO."

Cai Chongxin added, "We absolutely cannot let Tencent gain access to such a powerful external traffic source."

Jack Ma nodded. "I'd rather destroy YiTaoGO than let Ma Huateng succeed."

Cai Chongxin suggested, "We didn't connect with Shen Mo for this Series A funding round. Next time, perhaps...?"

Jack Ma said meaningfully, "Don't we have our own 'YiTao GO'?"

"You mean YiTao?"

Cai Chongxin raised an eyebrow. Last year, Taobao completely blocked Baidu search under the pretext of "eliminating fraudulent activities by unscrupulous merchants".

Ali and Baidu had a very unpleasant falling out, and with the strong rise of YiTao GO, this internal shopping guide project of YiTao.com came into being.

It is equipped with both Sogou and Microsoft Bing search engines, and the search results are not limited to Taobao, but also include content from the entire Internet.

Users can search for products across the entire internet simply by entering keywords, and clicking on a product will take them directly to the independent shopping websites of partner merchants.

In the future, you might even be able to log in directly using your Taobao ID or Zhifubao ID and complete transactions using Zhifubao.

"Yes! Wu Yongming made a solemn pledge to me."

Jack Ma said, "I believe that within a year, I can lead YiTao to surpass YiTaoGO and become the number one shopping guide platform in the country."

Cai Chongxin raised an eyebrow: "Wu Yongming is so confident?"

"Why wouldn't I be confident? I'm prepared to invest 10 billion over three years!"

Jack Ma handed over a document with a smile, "Old Cai, take a look."

Cai Chongxin took a closer look and saw that it was YiTao.com's business plan.

It can be said that it completely borrowed the model and gameplay of YiTaoGO, including free shipping channels, group buying channels, super flash sales, brand groups, etc.

Moreover, the student surpasses the teacher; the price comparison on YiTaoGO can basically only be obtained through web crawling technology.

Taobao, being in a favorable position, can get its partner merchants within the Ali ecosystem to "voluntarily" provide product data.

"What YiTao GO has, YiTao also has; what YiTao GO doesn't have, YiTao also has!"

Jack Ma clapped his hands, "In the entire internet world, this is the only one!"

Cai Chongxin remarked, "You're going to make YiTao the most crucial 'traffic tap' for Ali."

"Yitao aims to provide consumers with a full-process shopping service, from product search and price comparison to online payment, becoming a one-stop shopping search and guide engine, and ideally, another Taobao-level traffic portal."

Jack Ma has high hopes for Etao.

After all, with Alibaba's data, funding, and account system backing it up, YiTao is essentially a "national team" level shopping guide platform entering the market.

Even if we lead for half a year, we can catch up with, or even surpass, Shen Mo's ragtag team sooner or later, once we get in touch with Tencent!

Regardless, the battle funds are 10 billion to 1.6 million, so the advantage is on my side!