What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 132 voted
Liu Jiankai only learned about the changes in Bai Xiaosheng's plan on the morning of the 18th.

Then, it was hard for him not to complain: "Kathy, you should just take charge of this project yourself. He will come to you directly anyway. I am just a handyman."

Xu Xin just smiled: "Go directly to the boss, it's more efficient. What do you think of the valuation that Yu Xing wants?"

"Judging from the current user base, it is definitely high." Liu Jiankai has been working on this project with Bai Xiaosheng since the beginning of the year and is very familiar with its data. After learning the latest figures yesterday, he thought about it for a long time.

He sat opposite his boss, took a pen and calculated the situation of Bai Xiaosheng, and then said: "I don't know how much of Yu Xing's 26 is inflated, but Bai Xiaosheng's daily active users have always been very high. Even if it does have 26 real users by the end of this month, it still needs to meet the target of 24 in the next three months."

"Last month, the number of daily users of Bai Xiaosheng was about 1400. In the first half of March, the Tang Jun incident caused a violent increase, and now there is also the purple clay pot incident. The number of daily users is about 2000, an increase of 42% from February."

"User growth in the next three months needs to be maintained at around 2700 per day, 35% higher than in March."

"The user self-growth mentioned by Yu Xing does exist, but that will have to wait until the overall scale is further expanded or even further expanded. At this stage, it still mainly relies on offline advertising promotion."

"So, if you calculate it this way..."

Liu Jiankai combined the latest data to make some inferences and expressed his thoughts: "It is difficult to achieve this mid-year goal. It takes time for Fenzhong to penetrate offline, and the growth rate of this line will also tend to be flat. Bai Xiaosheng must tighten its development to have hope, or it may have another stimulating traffic like Tang Jun."

"Well, it's not impossible, but it requires conditions. Bai Xiaosheng wants to reach the figure of 50, and the money he has now is not enough."

"But they want to use the future target of 50 users to get money now, and then talk about the next 300 million users. This is not balanced."

He handed the data to his boss.

Xu Xin took it but only glanced at it before putting it down. He thought for a moment and said, "But I think Yu Xing is still very confident."

Liu Jiankai laughed and said, “If the founder has no confidence or does not show confidence, how can he get money?”

Xu Xin shook her head slightly: "He doesn't seem to be blindly confident. Since its establishment, the Bai Xiaosheng website has developed very rapidly and its strategy is also very reasonable. His confidence is based on these. Your data calculation includes a certain growth rate, but..."

She thought for a while before continuing, "However, it should be said that Yu Xing believes that the website mechanism he has established will still produce incidents similar to Tang Jun's, which is what you call stimulating traffic."

Xu Xin picked up a pen and listed all the major and minor events since Bai Xiaosheng went online, including college students, Internet love and marriage, Ctrip, Tang Jun, purple clay pots... exactly one event per month on average.

She pushed the notebook to the vice president and asked, "Do you think this is inevitable or accidental?"

Liu Jiankai remained silent. Unknown external events were uncontrollable, but this kind of situation that happened once a month was obviously not accidental.

After a moment, he could only answer: "Necessity is contained in contingency, and necessity is hidden behind contingency."

"Although this is a variable, we should also increase its weight." Xu Xin pondered, "Yu Xing is very smart. After what happened yesterday, he did not get carried away. Instead, he tried to push the website to avoid risks."

Liu Jiankai laughed and said: "No matter how you try to circumvent it, if you put such a mechanism here, it means you have to step on other companies to get to the top, but it is indeed safer to focus on the Internet industry."

Xu Xin nodded slightly, picked up the pen and made a big "√" on the notebook, and said expectantly: "I really want to know who will be the next one."

No matter who is next, Bai Xiaosheng will continue to develop.

……

The story of Mei Di purple clay pot does not end here.

Things have been done, the uncle has come to the house, and the media have reported it, so naturally we have to continue.

In addition, Yu Xing and several others also thought about this situation seriously.

As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. After the initial fear passed, everyone generally felt that weakness was behind this accident.

If they are really that strong, why not just let the locals come and suppress us? Why do they have to go around in circles looking for people from small places?
If Midea really wanted to solve the problem in this way, it might not have done so. The matter itself was a household appliance manufacturing company under its subsidiary, and the people who visited this time might have involved suppliers further upstream.

If you think about it this way, there is nothing to be afraid of as a returned overseas PhD.

However, Yu Xing does not need to take advantage of the situation, he just needs to let people describe the matter objectively. Perhaps operations of this nature have always existed, but there is still a simple sense of right and wrong on the Internet today.

Many users of Bai Xiaosheng come here for fun, so they naturally find the events described by the website's employees interesting. However, in addition to them, the website also has reporters from NetEase, Sohu, Penguin and other websites.

NetEase learned about the Bai Xiaosheng website relatively early. Reporters from portals like Penguin started paying attention to Bai Xiaosheng almost entirely because of the recent incident of the Working Emperor. But sooner or later, they all realized the seriousness behind the absurdity and were considering how to report on this incident.

Yu Xing was contacted by a NetEase reporter the next day, testing the waters for an interview.

He was not surprised by this kind of contact. For example, Kong Huilin in his own company was a young reporter who had just entered the industry and acted somewhat immature and naive, while the person opposite her was an old reporter who had been in the industry for a long time... He was not beaten to death, so the report could actually be big or small.

"Neither Bai Xiaosheng nor I personally want to intensify the conflict, but to point out the problems we see or our users see. This is one of the reasons."

"Second, we firmly believe at all times that what is fake is fake."

"Third, we have contacted the CCTV 315 program team, but due to time constraints, they transferred us to the "Weekly Quality Report" program team, who also expressed interest."

"Finally, our website will not charge any PR fees."

Yu Xing fully expressed his personal position and the website's position.

Of course, the interest from the "Weekly Quality Report" column team attracted the attention of NetEase reporters.

"Mr. Yu, have you verified the authenticity of the Meidi purple clay pot?" the reporter asked an essential question.

"It is not difficult to verify the quality of a purple clay pot. Yesterday, someone from the 'hometown of purple clay' came to verify this. There is no doubt about this. At the same time, many products on the market that promote natural purple clay are probably problematic," Yu Xing said bluntly. "China also lacks clearer standards in this regard."

There are iron-headed kids who are stirring up trouble, there are interests in official media columns, there are serious people who are suspected of visiting from other places, there are truths that are very easy to verify, there are problems that exist universally in the industry, and there are also calls for domestic standards...

NetEase's decision to conduct comprehensive coverage was not difficult.

After all, what clearly emerged was just an electrical appliance company.

Yu Xing made an additional request: "Can the report also include our previous setbacks? Just mention that our chairman had just recovered from his broken arm after the Chinese New Year, and then encountered a shock, but he still remained optimistic about the future and was willing to stick to the original intention of founding the website."

What is a steel chairman?
This is called the Steel Chairman!

The small request from the person concerned was met.

NetEase reviewed the incident and also raised a question that Bai Xiaosheng had previously refrained from asking – since it is not real purple clay, then are these colored and dyed eating utensils safe?
Because of similar problems that have occurred in recent years, this question can easily attract the attention of more mainstream groups.

Based on his common sense and knowledge, Yu Xing believes that the chemical stability of crystals after high-temperature firing is better, but this is only his own understanding, and NetEase’s information source is not just Bai Xiaosheng.

In the report of NetEase, in addition to the fake purple clay manufacturing process exposed by Bai Xiaosheng, two more commonly used methods in the industry were added. One is to use additives to color ordinary stone powder, and the other is to use purple clay secondary ore to color.

As for Yu Xing himself, he didn't know whether the two methods reported by NetEase were harmful.

NetEase's report was more incisive and contagious, and soon attracted reprints from its peers, gaining far greater public opinion momentum than Bai Xiaosheng.

Bai Xiaosheng’s exposure on March 3 did not receive an official response from Mei Di. Apart from the suspected offline means, Mei Di remained silent and had no normal contact with Bai Xiaosheng.

However, when NetEase reported the incident on March 3 and a wave of public opinion was aroused on March 18, Midea could no longer sit still.

On the one hand, it announced that its purple clay pots are non-toxic and harmless. On the other hand, it gave a return promise, saying that they can be returned as long as the invoice is held.

However, the promise of return at this time is tantamount to a tacit consent.

The products sent by NetEase for inspection have not yet received the official inspection conclusion, and a lawyer has already come forward, saying that simply returning the products is not enough, and that a refund of one and compensation of three must be made. At the same time, a consumer contacted the reporter, saying that he took the invoice to return the products but was asked to pay a depreciation fee!

What is even more infuriating is that the promises made by big companies have been discounted.

From the media to lawyers to consumers, the situation is becoming increasingly confusing.

What’s even more confusing is that… a senior executive of Midea was interviewed by the media and expressed aggrievedly that Jiuyang had also done it!
As a well-known domestic brand, Jiuyang also sells purple clay pots in the same way!
Jiuyang: ???
It responded quickly, denying the accusation and claiming that what it sells is purple clay pot.

However, Midea executives refuted the allegation, saying the two companies had the same supplier.

The purple clay pots of two well-known brands have been questioned. When the reporter raised this question to the regulatory authorities, he got an answer: there is no national standard for purple clay pots now, and no one can tell exactly how much purple clay content a rice cooker must have to be made into to be called a purple clay pot.

In other words, there are no national standards for the purple clay product series in China, not even relevant industry standards.

Such a series of reports will obviously continue, but Bai Xiaosheng, as the source who initially pointed out the problem, has received feedback from users, stating that the Foshan Quality Supervision Bureau attaches great importance to the counterfeiting of purple clay pots, and has reminded its subordinate units to pay close attention to citizen complaints and to carry out random inspections of similar "purple clay pot" products throughout the city.

At the same time, some shopping malls have begun to remove purple clay pot products from companies such as Mei Di and Jiu Yang, but it is not clear at the moment who requested this.

From March 3th to 15th, Bai Xiaosheng did not participate too much in this wave of public opinion about purple clay pots. He just handled related content in normal operations. However, the effect of user growth was quite good.

The influence of the Working Emperor is gradually fading, and the purple clay pot has rushed in to resist the user growth curve.

On the evening of the 24th, Yu Xing was sitting in his office, preparing for the financing meeting the day after tomorrow while listening to his cousin Chu Zhiguang's ideas.

"Brother, I think I should go directly to the supplier of the spareribs, just like NetEase did, and send the spareribs for inspection directly. Wouldn't it be very obvious then?" Chu Zhiguang received his first official task since taking office.

"Don't call me brother in the company." Yu Xing made a slight correction, "Call me President Yu."

"Okay, brother... uh, Mr. Yu." Chu Zhiguang said, "I don't think this is a difficult thing. Hey, it's strange, why do so many companies have problems?"

Yu Xing smiled but said nothing, not wanting to talk about this issue.

Chu Zhiguang continued, “I don’t know what’s going on. The company is about to run out of nutrients, and the person next to him stabbed me with a knife. He would rather bleed himself than let us live. This is how I feel now!”

Yu Xing laughed and shook his head: "Don't be so sentimental, don't think about those things, just do the work well. This small investigation team still needs to do more things, and the company has a lot of things that need to be verified."

Chu Zhiguang's spirits perked up, and he felt that people were stabbing him with knives from all directions.

But then he said hesitantly, "Boss Yu, can I do it well?"

"I think you can." Yu Xing said seriously, "It's hard to make a perfect fraud. On the contrary, judging from the company's recent situation, it's full of loopholes, not to mention perfect. Xiaoguang, you should work hard. Go on a business trip to Guangxi for the next order. Do more this year and I'll be able to buy a car by the end of the year."

Chu Zhiguang nodded. He said before that he wanted to be a driver. How could he be a driver without a car? He bought a car for himself!
Yu Xing chatted with his cousin for a few more words. He also did not think that the supply of spare ribs was difficult to check. The main thing this time was not to repeat the offline intimidation, and what was relatively important was to reach a cooperation with the investors.

Obviously, they all have good resources other than funds.

……

March 3, Friday, at nine o'clock in the morning, I was in the familiar Capital Today office again.

Unlike before, the top management of Bai Xiaosheng came here with more confidence this time.

In five months, the company that received angel and A rounds of funding already has 27.6 users, which has made some waves in the industry and attracted the interest of many institutions. This sense of accomplishment makes people full of confidence in the future.

However, as Xu Xin said before, IDG and Qiming, who had formally contacted the company, both gave the same conclusion - the valuation was a bit high.

Using 20% ​​of the shares to raise $1000 million gives a valuation of $5000 million.

Normally, entrepreneurial projects entering the B round should have some data verification, but although the Bai Xiaosheng mechanism is well polished, its revenue has not expanded at all.

"Boss Yu, Bai Xiaosheng is like a half-finished product now." The person who came over from IDG this time was Zhang Suyang, one of the seven elders. He casually pulled over the whiteboard, put an X behind the valuation number, and said, "Besides, it wasn't too long since your last round, so the valuation of that round doesn't have much reference value."

Zhang Suyang casually drew another half circle, pointed to the missing half and said, "Or, let's do a Pre-B, with a lower valuation and less money, to verify the company's business model first, and not rush to expand the scale quickly."

He glanced at Xu Xin and Qiming's Hu Xubo, and seeing that they didn't say anything, he raised another small objection: "Also, Hongshun, which invested in your Series A round, wants to withdraw from this round and get a return. It's a bit early."

Yu Xing looked at the whiteboard next to Zhang Suyang, on which he had written several opinions and drawn several Xs.

He turned his eyes away, pondering what attitude to use to express his thoughts.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the conference room, and then the assistant leaned over to announce, "Boss Xiong is here."

Xu Xin and Hu Xubo were both stunned. They didn't expect that IDG's boss Xiong Xiaoge would come.

Zhang Suyang was also puzzled. Mr. Xiong had no intention of asking about this matter, so why did he change the itinerary?

Ten seconds later, a middle-aged man wearing glasses strode into the conference room, nodded to everyone who greeted him, and saw Zhang Suyang's familiar handwriting on the whiteboard.

Zhang Suyang smiled and said, "We have some slight disagreements with President Yu."

Yu Xing took a breath and was about to start introducing Bai Xiaosheng's situation and prospects when he saw Xiong Xiaoge waving his hand. His heart sank slightly.

However, Xiong Xiaoge uttered two words: "Vote."

He had just hired a very good employee on Bai Xiaosheng. Seeing the surprise on the face of the young entrepreneur opposite him, he smiled at him in a friendly manner.

Waving your hand doesn't mean rejection, but it means you don't need to say more, brother.

(End of this chapter)