What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 104: All thanks to the bad boss

It was raining in Shanghai and then it turned cloudy.

The weather is just like Li Song's mood.

He finally calmed down, and although he was still gloomy, he had to face more realistic problems.

One is the changing direction of industry development, and the other is that the company's financing needs to be planned for the long term.

In addition to his own understanding, his wife bringing their two sons to Shanghai was also an important factor.

After all, the New Year is coming soon.

Li Song realized that his wife's move was intended to ease the family atmosphere, so he also accepted the opportunity.

The two met in Hong Kong and have been in a good relationship ever since. However, this time they were hit by an unexpected shock. There were problems in the industry as well as setbacks in financing. In addition, the instigator was so arrogant that he wanted to get money from Today Capital, which mixed up their work and life and made it a mess again.

While taking his two sons to visit zoos and museums in Shanghai, Li Song sorted out his thoughts and temporarily put Zhenai.com's financing efforts on hold.

In any case, the industry has changed, investors do need to observe further, and Zhenai.com must also provide new developments.

However, even though his emotions had calmed down, he was not going to give up his obstruction.

On the evening of January 1, Li Song took the opportunity to make a sincere apology while chatting with his wife about the children's education, saying that he should not have interfered with the normal operation of Today Capital.

Then he expressed his concerns in a practical way.

"I don't know."

“Why is Capital Today interested in a website like Bai Xiaosheng?”

“I don’t think it’s worth investing in.”

Hearing the conversation change, Xu Xin glanced at her husband. Not wanting to make the atmosphere tense again, she smiled and said, "Oh, you changed your strategy?"

Instead of using force, are you going to use culture?
Are you analyzing Bai Xiaosheng’s investment?

"I really don't understand." Li Song said seriously, "Bai Xiaosheng is a small website. It got some users by relying on two unexpected events. Can it encounter such good things in the future? According to the process, the investment intention should be terminated."

Xu Xin pondered over what method of communication to adopt.

Li Song looked at his wife and said, "Will it be difficult for you to kill him immediately if I have a conflict with him?"

Xu Xin didn't want to talk about this topic, so she said helplessly, "Don't worry about me. Just pretend you don't know about this company, okay?"

"Humans eat grains and cereals, so they have seven emotions and six desires. Hey, Xu Xin, do you know who is responsible for the problems my company is facing now?" Li Song tried not to express himself excitedly.

"If you ask me, this is a matter of time, and sooner rather than later." Xu Xin said objectively, "Even without Yu Xing, there are still Li Xing and Zhou Xing. This is a reminder for your company. Is there a problem with the industry? Is there a problem with the company? Is there a problem with the thinking? If you can figure these out, then I..."

Li Song's heart beat faster: "Then you will vote?"

Xu Xin just spoke too quickly and took it back in time: "...Then I wish you the best, and hope to see you ring the bell."

Li Song frowned and emphasized his attitude: "It can be Li Xing, it can be Zhou Xing, but it cannot be Yu Xing!"

Xu Xin spread his hands, having confirmed that the company's decision would not be affected by irrelevant factors.

"Okay, Mr. Xu." Li Song understood what she meant and changed his address. "As the chairman of Zhenai.com, I would also like to remind you that the company has confirmed the lawsuit against Bai Xiaosheng!"

This is no longer an irrelevant factor!
Xu Xin frowned: "What do you want to do?"

"The company needs to restore its reputation!" Li Song raised his voice and added, "I don't want you to pay that money wrongfully!"

He added: "I will also sue Yu Xing because the company data he sold to me was fake!"

Xu Xin stopped frowning and asked, "Is there any solid evidence?"

"Whether it's our company or his previous team, their business is not going well. We recovered the illegal gains of the two marketing managers who were originally in charge of the Beijing market of Guiai.com." Li Song said seriously, "Those two are college students. When threatened by the company, they said that the previous reimbursement issue in Beijing was approved by Yu Xing, which was higher than that in other cities."

"He knew, but he pretended not to know!"

"Moreover, it was after those two people were transferred out of the capital that the social market in the capital was developed successfully!"

"Yu Xing is falsifying the data and the value of the company!"

"We must hold him accountable for his legal responsibilities!"

Li Song warned: "Boss Xu, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Xu Xin asked patiently, "Do you have a contract for the reimbursement issue you mentioned?"

Li Song shook his head: "There is no contract. They confirmed it over the phone."

Xu Xin nodded and asked, "Okay, is there a recording of the call?"

Li Song shook his head again and protested, "Who would do this recording for no reason?"

"Then how do you prove that those two people were not trying to shirk responsibility? And why didn't the replacement of two mediocre people produce results?" Xu Xin said this, and then asked, "You said that Yu Xing's data was inflated. Is he innocent?"

Li Song understood what he meant: "Why? As long as he has clean hands and feet, you can invest, right? Who was the one who accused Zhenai.com of problems before?"

Xu Xin sighed and did not give a direct answer: "If you want to sue, then sue, but I also need to remind you that NetEase is eyeing this market. If you end up getting burned, then just stay at home and take care of your children."

NetEase not only began to promote its NetEase Dating app, but more importantly, its own media power is very strong.

A website that exposed industry problems was sued. Can this be a weapon that can be used to expand the market?
It may not necessarily result in bloodshed, but NetEase certainly wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Li Song was startled and frowned without saying a word.

"We need to look at the performance of the core team when investing. Over the years, I feel that people are really different." Xu Xin said with some emotion, "Some people are stuck in their own little piece of land, while others can look at the entire industry."

"When I met Ding Lei and Liu Qiangdong, they were not famous figures, but their performances were surprising."

Li Song was silent for a while: "You mean, you have to vote for him?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I invested in him because he is worth investing in. Otherwise, it's because he is not worth investing in. It has nothing to do with what you and I said." Xu Xin smiled and said, "Mr. Li, don't say these things. Even if Ma Dian said so many things in the past few years, did it prevent me from investing in JD.com?"

Ma Dian is a leader in the e-commerce field. He has naturally talked about domestic companies and is not optimistic about the asset-heavy JD.com. However, given his status and achievements, his words are often regarded as the guiding principle by many people.

Li Song was also shocked by this heroic spirit for a moment and stared at his wife in a daze.

Xu Xin just smiled.

"Okay." Li Song exhaled and shook his head. "Sometimes, I do ignore your...decision and firmness because of our relationship. Sigh, this is Xu Xin of Today Capital."

He said somewhat frustratedly: "I will still sue Yu Xing."

Xu Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "All the words I just said were in vain?"

"Either we sue Bai Xiaosheng or we sue the company he sold to us." Li Song said unwillingly, "I will have someone carefully screen the previous data of Guiai.com. Is this reasonable?"

Xu Xin shrugged: "It's up to you."

Li Song looked at his wife and said helplessly, "You always say you are not sure whether to invest or not, but I feel that you are inclined to invest. You said before that my company is not profitable enough. Bai Xiaosheng has been around for such a short time. Do you think it is profitable enough?"

"What you mean is..." Xu Xin was silent for a moment, and then said tactfully, "Social networking is a very good concept, a concept that can be understood by both Chinese and foreigners. Workplace social networking is also a good story. I believe that Nasdaq in the United States can accept a special version of LinkedIn."

LinkedIn is a US workplace social networking platform that is said to be close to going public. Xu Xin sighed and thought it would be better to be more straightforward: "You are not making enough money, but you are not making our money profitable enough."

Li Song understood the meaning behind the words: "How funny! Zhenai.com must have been listed before Baixiaosheng!"

Xu Xin encouraged: "Yeah, I hope so too."

Li Song always felt that his wife was just being perfunctory towards him. He was a PhD in finance, had worked in and out of Bear Stearns, worked for Morgan Stanley, started two businesses, and had been in the business world for more than a decade. Yet, he was not as good as a fledgling medical student?
He stood up suddenly: "If I don't ring the bell first, I'll take his last name!"

Xu Xin felt that such angry words were unnecessary.

She hesitated for a while and said, "Please sit down. I may not vote for him."

Li Song shook his head: "I won't sit down anymore. I'm upset!"

Xu Xin watched her husband going downstairs and felt that she had done Bai Xiaosheng a favor.

Before he was elected as a shareholder, the lawsuit helped to eliminate one.

As for the possibility of litigation related to Guiai.com, perhaps there is still a need for another step.

……

At three o'clock in the afternoon on January 1, Yu Xing finished his work and walked to the conference room to call Liu Wanying who was already in Hong Kong.

"Xiaoying, Xiaoying, what's wrong?"

Liu Wanying responded calmly: "This week, or next week at the latest, the Hong Kong media will report it first."

Yu Xing stretched out his voice: "That means..."

"It means it's time to test the toxicity of the mountain." Liu Wanying replied, and then asked, "How is your financing going?"

"We will meet with Capital Today tomorrow to discuss specific issues such as the financing amount," Yu Xing thought. "I don't know how the process is going, but Capital Today is definitely interested. This is a good start."

Liu Wanying still finds it incredible and ridiculous that Bai Xiaosheng has joined Today Capital.

She sighed, "You can be considered as the touchstone of their relationship as husband and wife."

"I was just reading the email you sent me before. It was the information you compiled about Today's Capital and Xu Xin." Yu Xing said.

Liu Wanying waited for two seconds: "Then what?"

Yu Xing smiled and said, "It looks good."

He just saw Tudou.com, which was invested by Today Capital. The name reminded him of a famous event.

When Tudou was at the height of its popularity, it planned to go public in the United States, but was forced to postpone its plan due to a property lawsuit between its founder and his ex-wife. Only the next month, Youku beat it to the market, making the latter the number one video website.

Later, Tudou had to merge with Youku and then disappeared in the tide of the times.

This kind of gossip, this kind of topic...

tsk...

I just don’t know if it would have dampened Capital Today’s investment in Tudou if Bai Xiaosheng had been the first to expose the matter.

Yu Xing thought of more things at once. Who were the famous founders in China whose marriages caused problems for their companies? Dangdang? Ganji? Zhen Gongfu?

But Tudou.com seems to be most famous because of this incident. Some investors jokingly said that they would add a "Tudou clause" to the investment agreement, requiring that the founders of the invested company must obtain the consent of the board of directors, especially the preferred shareholders, before getting married or divorced.

"Hello? Hello? Wake up!" Liu Wanying was a little used to Yu Xing's absent-mindedness on the phone. She waited for a while and when there was no response, she called out.

"Xiaoying, your idea of ​​a touchstone is very good." Yu Xing came back to his senses, "Bai Xiaosheng strives to serve as a touchstone for more people's feelings."

Liu Wanying said seriously: "Sooner or later, someone will hit you from behind with a bag over your head."

"We're not that hated, we're just a news platform." Yu Xing said with a smile, "Yeah, how do you think we should make demands to Capital Today tomorrow? I'm a little hesitant about the shares sold in the Series A financing."

Liu Wanying did not give any specific suggestions, but only reminded: "Boss Yu, Bai Xiaosheng is not a place where you can sit back and relax. Your current website mechanism is very clear. If others think this is feasible, they can copy it. Therefore, you need to use money to race against time to gain an advantage."

"Anyway, the company has A/B shares. As long as your control is stable, as long as the funds can come in, more or less shares are actually secondary."

"The website is developing fast, all thanks to the funding."

"This is how financing works. Equity must be sold. We cannot lose the big picture for the sake of small gains. We must not give up opportunities for development."

She roughly understands the pain of giving away equity, and many entrepreneurial teams have this problem.

"Well, you are worthy of being our company's consultant." Yu Xing did not argue, but still reminded that the website cannot be carefree.

The two chatted about short selling again before hanging up the phone.

Yu Xing put his mobile phone on the table and thought about Hong Kong's actions. According to Liu Wanying's design, funds would buy put options on Nasdaq, and Hong Kong media would release the news first to attract roaming funds, and then the move would be launched in the United States.

Ideally, this is the case, but it depends on the effectiveness at the execution level.

If this short sale goes well...

Yu Xing suddenly thought of his former bosses, and a deep thought came to his mind: it’s time for me to make some money back.

Knock, knock, knock. There was a knock on the office door.

The second-in-command, Lu Haiying, walked in with the contact information with the investment institution in his hand.

She contacted as many well-known venture capitalists as possible, but... most of them were on vacation, and the rest had no interest.

"The holiday is so early?" Yu Xing was surprised.

"I don't know whether it was a polite refusal, but that's how they replied." Lu Haiying was quite helpless.

Yu Xing said "hmm" and fell into thought. After a moment, he said, "Don't worry, let's talk about it after meeting Xu Xin tomorrow. Well, I know a very famous investor, Shen Nanpeng from Sequoia."

Lv Haiying nodded and reminded, "He used to work for Ctrip...so, I didn't try to contact him."

Coincidentally, he is not only the co-founder of Ctrip, but also has connections with Focus Media.

If something happens in Hong Kong, Shen Nanpeng will return to work even if he is on vacation.

"Well, don't be afraid. We have even contacted Xu Xin, so why should we be afraid of Shen Nanpeng who is from Xiecheng?" Yu Xing said seriously, "Liu Wanying just taught me something, and I think it makes sense."

Lu Haiying listened attentively.

Yu Xing sighed: "The website has grown so fast, all thanks to the bad boss."

Lu Haiying felt that his senior brother was being slandered, but he was not sure whether he was doing something behind his back, so he could only remain silent.

Yu Xing explained: "This is a general term. It refers to the core leadership of the company, and they must be able to take responsibility despite the wind and rain."

Lu Haiying understood that she had indeed been slandered.

Bai Xiaosheng is not a bad person. He is just a carrier of industry news, that's all.

(End of this chapter)