What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 166: Arrogant at First, Respectful Later, Arrogant Again

Yu Xing successfully invited the BOSS of Today Capital to meet him, and the meeting place was arranged at the hotel where Bi Sheng was going to stay, which was exactly halfway between the two hotels.

He was the first to arrive because riding an electric bike avoids traffic jams.

Bi Sheng was the second one to arrive, and he was already halfway from the airport when he called.

However, Yu Xing smiled as soon as he saw Bi Sheng, whom he hadn’t seen for half a month.

He looked haggard, his eyes were dull, his body was hunched, and even the vague indifference on his face was gone.

When Bi Sheng saw Yu Xing, he didn't smile, but just raised his hand with his brows still furrowed.

"Just wait here. President Xu should be here soon." Yu Xing gestured to Bi Sheng to wait for someone on the sofa in the hotel lobby.

Bi Sheng nodded silently, took off his backpack, and searched for materials with trembling hands.

Yu Xing couldn't stand it any longer, so he slapped him on the back from behind: "Hey! Come on! How come your back is hunched after going out?"

Bi Sheng subconsciously pulled in his stomach and straightened his chest, and handed the notebook he found to Yu Xing, and then denied it: "Is there? No? Maybe there is, probably because I am too tired these days, traveling by boat and car, going to two places on average a day, meeting a lot of people, and it is particularly hot in the south."

This time he went to the city where his competitors were located and visited many brands centered around it.

There was communication, but there were also rejections.

The halo of a former Baidu executive was not particularly effective in this process. Coupled with the fact that he could feel the pressure from Vipshop more intuitively, Bi Sheng felt very heavy in his heart.

Yu Xing did not read it immediately, but asked: "As a website owner, you are out for half a month, and your LeTao website can still operate. What's the point of you?"

Bi Sheng paused for a moment and replied, "LeTao.com is actually operating in Beijing in the same way as second- and third-tier brands, and it's working. This week, the number of orders per day is stable at 30-50, and the average order value is around 170."

Although he said he wanted to conduct research, his body was very honest. Ever since he met Liu Wanying of Hongxuan last time and heard the relevant analysis, LeTao.com has substantially transformed into a second- or third-tier brand.

This kind of decision is actually very easy to make. Firstly, it is difficult to negotiate with first-tier brands, and secondly, LeTao.com itself is not large in size, so any experimentation is acceptable.

The core direction of toys and shoes has changed drastically before, so how much more will it cost to make minor adjustments now?

Yu Xing was not too surprised by this. He nodded slightly and opened the document that Bi Sheng had handed over to him earlier. Then he saw the description of his field research.

He simply read two pages and couldn't help but say, "You really have no right to speak without investigation. Is what you wrote next to it your own idea?"

——The supply chain of clothing brands is very long, from fabric manufacturers to fabric wholesalers, and then to processing plants and brand owners. There is a lot of information asymmetry in these links, and the needs of end users are very scattered, which actually brings the most painful trouble to the participants in each link, "inventory backlog".

Bi Sheng stretched his head to take a look and nodded, "Yes, but this is just my summary of those manufacturers. It is a word they frequently mention. You see I put it in quotation marks. There are too many brands to choose from now, and e-commerce has greatly provided the right to choose. According to them, the changes in the past few years are huge."

Yu Xing didn't say anything. He read two more pages and asked, "Since they are so worried about this issue, you must have discussed cooperation during this trip, so it should have gone smoothly."

"One is that there is a Vipshop team in contact, and the other is that there are many problems in the actual cooperation." Bi Sheng explained seriously, "For example, I said that we, Letao.com, would help solve part of the inventory, and they asked me to buy it out directly, or pay 50% in advance. This condition is difficult to accept."

Yu Xing knew the problem after a simple thought: "LeTao.com has no reputation and no scale. They don't increase the prepayment ratio because they are afraid that you will run away after getting the goods. It's human nature. If you buy out the goods, they won't pay if the price is low. If the price is high, it's easy to turn their inventory into your inventory."

Bi Sheng sighed: "You really get it right away. I always feel that it would be a waste if you didn't do e-commerce."

Yu Xing did not answer, but silently flipped through the pages, and finally saw the ability of the former Baidu executive. He classified similar problems he encountered every few pages, and there were handwritings in different colors, which were obviously his thoughts on the research situation.

Well organized and eloquent.

It feels like these things are more like what an actual entrepreneur would do.

"Where do you think your opportunities are?" Yu Xing put down the notebook and turned to ask.

"Logically speaking, since second- and third-tier brands can reach more customers, LeTao is right to follow this path," Bi Sheng said. "The problem is that Vipshop seems to have grasped this point, and it has already received $3000 million in financing. I always feel that it is difficult to pursue, but if I invest money in it, it seems that there is a chance."

Yu Xing asked again: "How much money do you have?"

Bi Sheng hesitated for two seconds and replied: "1000 million US dollars."

Yu Xing said "hmm".

Bi Sheng added: "The house is not included."

"Leave the house to your sister-in-law, and keep some of the money as well. No matter how you start a business, you have to give your family a stable environment." Yu Xing advised, "Family is the rear area. If the rear area is not peaceful, the morale of the troops on the front line will be easily disturbed."

Bi Sheng lowered his voice a little: "She supports me very much."

Yu Xing was speechless. No wonder…if they weren’t a family.

He thought for a moment and gave an example: "We support you because of the success you have achieved in Baidu. Look at the couple who founded Ganji.com and divorced, and the family struggle of Zhen Gongfu. Everyone supported you at the beginning. After all, we should try our best to create harmonious family relationships."

"That makes sense." Bi Sheng watched the real Gongfu's affairs and felt emotional. He said, "In this case, the funds I can use will be even less. Even if it is 8 million US dollars, it is still weak compared to Vipshop."

Yu Xing nodded and said, "So, today we are both asking for advice from President Xu and trying to get her investment. She understands e-commerce. Let's brainstorm and see if this path is feasible. If not, then don't bother with Letao.com. The wave of mobileization will create many opportunities. As the saying goes, a gentleman hides his talents and waits for the right time to act. Why rush to throw stones into the water?"

Bi Sheng pursed his lips, thinking that Yu Xing still did not think highly of his startup Letao.com, and that tonight he would probably join forces with Xu Xin to persuade him to give up.

But he himself was really confused.

"Boss Xu is here, say hello, be energetic." Yu Xing saw the boss of Capital Today in his sight, and he quickly reminded Bi Sheng, then stood up and greeted him quickly, "Hi, Boss Xu, good evening, I haven't seen you for a while, why are you so energetic today?"

Xu Xin smiled and said, "Dr. Yu summoned me. I was afraid that something might happen to the project I was working on. Shouldn't I come here quickly?"

"Oh, Mr. Xu, it's all over." Yu Xing said with a hypocritical smile, "I talked about this with Mr. Liu before, and I apologized to him. I hope he will convey it to you."

Xu Xin sneered: "Really? I didn't receive it."

Yu Xing's expression became more serious. "Maybe Mr. Liu felt that the message was not sincere enough and thought it would be better for me to apologize in person. Mr. Xu, I'm sorry. I'm young and immature. I still need more guidance from investors like Mr. Xu."

Bi Sheng next to him was shocked. Is this the sharp Yu Xing?
Damn, when there’s no one around later, should I kowtow to you?
Xu Xin was also surprised by Yu Xing's face-to-face apology.

Unlike Yu Xing, she didn't like to hit someone who smiled in front of her, and she felt that this guy was still a bastard at heart, so she had to take the opportunity to get to know Bi Sheng and said with a smile: "Boss Bi, you must have a very good relationship with Boss Yu, otherwise, how could he do this?"

"Mr. Xu, I've heard a lot about you." Bi Sheng shook hands and said with a smile, "Mr. Yu and I hit it off right away. His views on e-commerce have been very informative to me. I've always been grateful to him."

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Bi, let's go to the third floor to talk. I arrived a little early and rented a small meeting room." Yu Xing pointed in the direction. "Today I want to ask Mr. Xu about the development of vertical e-commerce. Let's not drink. I'll order a few glasses of juice and snacks to go up."

Xu Xin nodded and said, "I want coffee."

Bi Sheng also said: "I'll have coffee too."

Yu Xing told them the location of the conference room on the third floor, and went to the front desk to order coffee, juice, desserts and some small snacks.

Then, he waited until the coffee was ready, and personally carried two cups of coffee to the meeting room, where he saw Xu Xin already reading Bi Sheng's research materials. Yu Xing silently put the coffee cup away and sat next to Bi Sheng.

Bi Sheng returned a look of gratitude, thinking that Brother Yu had a clear distinction between love and hate. Even if Yu ignored his feelings and set up that price comparison website, he couldn't be blamed.

It's a public thing after all. For example, my good friend Lei Jun didn't vote for me this time.

After a while, the waiter brought in juice, desserts and snacks.

After a long while, Xu Xin finished reading the research from Bi Sheng and then slowly said, "I have watched your program. I don't really agree with Mr. Yu's idea that vertical e-commerce is a dead end."

She paused and continued, "Last week, I chatted with Liu Qiangdong of JD.com and we talked about vertical e-commerce. He agreed with this judgment. He thought that only two e-commerce models can survive in the future: one is platform-based, and the other is personalized and branded vertical websites. Standardized vertical websites will find it difficult to survive."

"Vertical e-commerce has a very narrow product range, which means providing products to a specific user group. Its advantages and disadvantages are very obvious."

"After talking with Liu Qiangdong, I really changed my mind."

Xu Xin picked up the coffee cup, took two sips of coffee, and fell into thought.

Yu Xing waited for a while, held up a small plate of snacks, and politely asked: "Mr. Xu, please tell me, you are the investor who knows the most about e-commerce in China. Whether vertical e-commerce has a future depends on whether you are willing to give advice."

Xu Xin didn't know why, but when he saw Yu Xing like this, he felt that he was being hypocritical, and said unhappily: "Are you asking me for advice? Or do you want me to invest money? There's no need to be so rude at first and so polite later, it's just making people laugh."

Bi Sheng defended his good brother, "Boss Xu, really, Yu Xing really thought so. Before I came to Shanghai, he suggested to me on the phone that I should come to you after researching. I was very surprised at the time and said that your relationship is very tense. His answer to me was that this did not conflict with his recommendation of you, and he thought you had the best ability."

Xu Xin glanced at Yu Xing.

Yu Xing smiled slightly: "Boss Xu criticized me for being arrogant at first but respectful later, but this cannot change my recognition of Boss Xu's ability."

"Hey!" Xu Xin sighed inexplicably, but continued the topic, "What do you think is the essence of e-commerce success?"

Yu Xing asked tentatively: "User?"

Bi Sheng replied: "Product."

"Yes and no. Of course, my idea may not be right. It's just my own experience and standard." Xu Xin said slowly, "When I choose e-commerce projects, I like to look at one performance, that is, the user's repeat purchase rate."

Yu Xing and Bi Sheng thought about this sentence together.

"Like catering projects, they need to pay attention to the table turnover rate," Xu Xin said. "I think this is the key to the success of e-commerce projects."

Yu Xing quickly connected Taobao, JD.com, Vancl, Vipshop and what Liu Qiangdong had just said, "So, Liu Qiangdong said that standardized vertical e-commerce is not good. Its products are too single and it is impossible to create a higher repeat purchase rate, which means that its cost of acquiring users is higher than that of its competitors."

"If it wants to improve this, it needs to expand its product categories, but that would mean direct competition with Taobao and JD.com and turn it into a comprehensive platform."

It was hard for Xu Xin not to praise Yu Xing's reaction: "As expected of the commercial sheepdog praised by Ma Dian, his sense of smell is so sharp!"

She continued, "Vertical vertical, segmented segmented, this results in single product, low user stickiness, people can't buy what they need all at once, so they have to go to other websites, which results in high operating costs. At the same time, marketing will become more difficult, which is what you said, the user acquisition cost is very high."

Xu Xin said this with a smile: "So, I am not optimistic about Vancl either."

Bi Sheng suddenly realized: "So that's how it is..."

He immediately thought of his own company and his previous communication with Yu Xing: "We are vertical in model, not product, and our direction is tenable!"

Xu Xin nodded: "Yes, the special sale model is what Liu Qiangdong calls a 'personalized and branded vertical website'. This is a small consensus among founders, investors, bystanders and practitioners of comprehensive e-commerce."

Liu, Xu, Yu and Bi, four identities, a confluence of views from four perspectives of thinking and practice.

Bi Sheng became excited: "Mr. Xu, I have been looking for the right direction for LeTao.com. The special sale model has the potential to shine. We really need investment now because the window for competition with Vipshop is likely to be the remaining six months of this year."

Yu Xing was startled and secretly sighed that Bi Sheng was too impatient.

Xu Xin shook his head: "Consensus is consensus. If I want to invest, why don't I invest in Vipshop? LeTao's past performance was not good. Just like your own research, a stronger and bigger project that can better reflect consensus is ahead of you. Why should I invest in you?"

Bi Sheng pursed his lips.

Xu Xin added: "The special sale model is not without problems that need to be solved. As you have researched yourself, your stable supply of goods is a problem. You yourself said that it is difficult for brand owners to reach cooperation. Why should I invest in you?"

After asking two whys in a row, Bi Sheng's heart sank.

Yu Xing watched the situation and felt that this was not going to work.

He slammed his phone on the table and said in a gruff voice, "Why is this, why is that, is this a big deal?"

Bi Sheng uttered an "uh" sound, his heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at his good brother. Why did the sharp feeling suddenly come back?
Yu Xing spoke his mind and criticized decisively: "Boss Xu, you guys at Today Capital should not lend a hand when you shouldn't, and not lend a hand when you should!"

Xu Xin glared at Yu Xing and sneered, "Yu! Can't hold it back anymore? Is your fox tail exposed? Ma Dian is right, you are a dog!"

"What the hell are you asking? Why did you invest? Of course, it's because investing in Letao.com can bring greater returns! Vipshop has already been taken over!" Yu Xing didn't care about the personal attack and stood up directly. "Also, is the supply of goods a big problem?"

"The model of Letao.com is designed to help brands solve inventory backlogs. All that is needed now is to make some innovative adjustments!"

Yu Xing grabbed the teacup, took two sips, quickly organized his words in his mind, and finally drank it all.

Then, he glanced at Bi Sheng and said, "The materials were rushed. Bi Sheng was discussing with me before you came. Xu Xin, let me tell you, LeTao.com is an effective supplement for the supply chain that is difficult to respond in time."

"Lost goods and out-of-season products are destined to be a stable source of goods in the market."

"LeTao.com uses a limited-time and limited-quantity model to handle these sources of goods, and it will not affect the offline price system."

"Most importantly, LeTao.com can offer an unprecedented payment period, while other companies offer a minimum of three months!"

"LeTao.com can last for a month!"

“No, 15 days!”

Yu Xing looked at Bi Sheng and made a small decision for the CEO of Letao.com.

Bi Sheng was stunned.

Xu Xin frowned and thought.

Yu Xing sat down again and said, "Xu Xin, Xu Xin, what LeTao.com needs now is a sum of money, a sum of money to quickly seize the signing and binding of second- and third-tier brands. If you miss this opportunity, you will never get it again. If you don't want to take risks, why do you call it 'Today's Capital'? Change it to Yesterday's Capital."

Xu Xin had a blank expression on his face, but his temples were throbbing slightly: "A dog will always eat shit."

Yu Xing took a glass of fresh juice and looked at Bi Sheng: "Xu Xin is just Xu Xin after all, let's go find IDG."

Xu Xin clenched his fists, being arrogant at first, then respectful, and then arrogant again. The commercial shepherd turned into a dog!
(End of this chapter)