Reinventing the Millennium

Mi Tuan launched the banner of 300 cities.

This matter not only made Li Guoqing's Dangtuan Network take it extremely seriously, but also made Tuanbao Network, which is currently the number one in Kaicheng, extremely nervous.

Tuanbao.com was founded by Thousand Oaks Group.

Speaking of which, Thousand Oaks Group once had a superficial relationship with Yike. It once wanted to acquire Xiaonei.com from Wang Xing, but it was not as wealthy as Yike. Therefore, Xiaonei.com introduced Yike as an investor and upgraded it to a friend. The net finally passed into the hands of the penguin.

At that time, Qian Oaks thought that was the finale of the social war. Unexpectedly, Wang Xing, who had retreated sadly, and Yi Ke suddenly created a Weibo account and tricked Penguin.

Because of this, Chen Yizhou, the head of Thousand Oaks Group, had a special kind of respect and vigilance for Yike. When he seized the group buying trend and established Tuanbao.com and carried out the most radical playstyle in the country, there was always a layer of concern in his heart. Concern, will Yike end up personally? When will it end?

Whenever Chen Yizhou talks about Yike and Yike, a business force in the country, he can't help but admire how dynamic it is.

Especially Mr. Fang, the leader of the Yi Ke Department, he is so lively.

Now, with the news that part of Yike's team rushed to help Mi Tuan, and as Mi Tuan made a strategic change, Chen Yizhou was relieved, but inevitably became nervous again.

It seems that he has not faced Yike, but it seems that he is about to face Yike.

Tuanbao.com held a meeting to discuss how to deal with challenges and threats.

"Mituan.com is not popular. That Lei Jun used to write code. What market does he know?" Bao Jiehui, deputy general manager of Tuanbao.com, looks down on Mi Tuan and its leader, who were the first to do business in China. .

"The problem is this Yike." This is what Chen Yizhou is wary of.

Bao Jiehui said with a smile: "Yike ended the game but didn't end the game. I think this is good for us. Yike didn't end the game directly, so we don't have to face it directly. Yike sent people to Mi Tuan, so we can To benchmark it, there are too many group buying projects in China, and we still need financing and money. With financing, our next urban development will be smoother and we can snowball our advantages."

Tuanbao has opened in almost 100 cities, far surpassing the second-largest Dangtuan.com.

However, this also means that the operating costs of the website are rising sharply, not to mention that larger projects are now offering cashback to attract users.

Tuanbao needs financing to maintain its operations, and even more financing to support its next rapid development.

A project that can benchmark against Yike will certainly be more likely to gain support from investors.

When Chen Yizhou heard this judgment, he really felt that it made some sense.

Looking at today's group buying market, the four major domestic giants have more or less invested in it. If this continues, the entire track will become a battleground for giants to compete!

In turn, it can also be verified that everyone is indeed optimistic about this track.

"Mituan.com has launched the banner of 300 cities. How do you think we should set the next goal?" Chen Yizhou asked for opinions.

Some say 360, some say 320, some say 288, and the lowest is over 200.

Tuanbao.com has relied on radical strategies to reach this point, and now it must implement them to the end.

"How about we use the slogan 301 City? It will just beat Mi Tuan." Bao Jiehui mentioned a number.

Chen Yizhou feels that the problem is not big, and it is all false accusations anyway. The most important thing now is to achieve a high valuation based on the current size. He needs to personally run the next round of financing for Tuanbao.com.

However, just as the meeting was coming to an end, the number 301 was quickly overturned.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Bao, we can no longer call ourselves 301 cities. Li Guoqing's Dangtuan.com official website has updated its plan to expand its business to 301 cities across the country!" the vice president gave the latest news.

Coincidentally, Dangtuan.com has a 301 number.

"Then let's do 302, 303. Just watch it. I will leave for the United States tomorrow to discuss financing. The number is not important. The resources for our next development are the most important." Chen Yizhou said about his arrangement.

As for why not to raise funds domestically...

This matter is more subtle. The four giants are all gone. Even if Tuanbao.com is the largest city in the world, it may be difficult to get a good price. Instead of doing this, it is better to go directly to the birthplace of group buying O2O.

Anyway, the domestic domain name of Tuanbao.com is the same as that of Groupon, the originator of the United States. The other side must have a better understanding of Tuanbao.com’s advantages and prospects.

The more Chen Yizhou has been working on Tuanbao.com in the past few months, the more he feels that the concept of O2O has huge potential. If a platform can be built to connect users and merchants, there is even hope of creating another giant in the future.

The next day, Tuanbao.com was still discussing what numbers should be used as company goals. Chen Yizhou had already flown to New York with his team to meet with two well-known venture capital investors.

Among them, a venture capital company called GGV is the focus of this trip. It has experience in investing in domestic companies and is believed to be more likely to gain recognition.

On March 29, Chen Yizhou’s team met with people from GGV.

After Chen Yizhou briefly introduced the company, he talked about the concept of O2O with great confidence.

The project document in the other party's hand contains detailed company information. What is more needed now is for GGV to understand its understanding of O2O and its ability to leverage the offline market.

However, as Chen Yizhou continued to talk, the expressions of the GGV team gradually became weird.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen, that's all right." GGV Vice President Dani couldn't help but interrupt after listening for a while, "I can see your confidence in this so-called O2O, and I also have confidence in the word you coined. Very...respectful, but we can wait until you continue to verify the so-called O2O concept with actual work before we talk about investment."

Chen Yizhou was stunned after being interrupted like this: "Danny, why is it so-called O2O? Our Tuanbao.com can be said to be the Chinese version of Groupon. Isn't it worth investing in?"

He was mentally prepared for not being able to get investment, but he never expected that it would happen so soon and for such a reason.

"We believe that a good company worthy of investment should be more real, rather than boasting about a new concept that has not been verified at all." Danni said in a cold tone, "To be honest, in I had never even heard of O2O before today.”

Chen Yizhou was even more stunned.

Never heard of O2O? What about Groupon?

Hey, how did I put O2O so deeply in my mind?

Chen Yizhou recalled urgently. Seeing that Danni and others regarded him as a clown showing off his concepts, he suddenly grasped the source when the others stood up one after another.

"Wait a minute, Danni, maybe you haven't heard of O2O, but have you heard of Yike Company and President Fang Zhuo? They came up with this word!" Chen Yizhou retrieved the origin of the word in a flash.

I don’t know if Fang Zhuo came up with it, but it did come from Yike at the earliest.

The people from the GGV team stopped leaving. Danni looked at each other and her colleagues, her face softened, and asked: "Did Mr. Fang from Yike bring it up? O2O, what did you mean by this just now?"

"It's Online To Offline, it's Mr. Fang. He is very optimistic about the prospects of this model and has already made related investments in China." Chen Yizhou showed a gentle smile, "In fact, we are the same project that Mr. Fang invested in." Competition, but we have taken a leading position.”

He sensed something, and no longer benchmarked Yike, but talked about Yike's investment in companies of this nature.

Danni pondered: "It turned out to be Mr. Fang who suggested it. No wonder he is so...conceptual. Is he okay in China?"

Chen Yizhou complained in his heart, Ma De, Fang Zhuo, who are you? New York is so big, can you hit a VC you know by throwing a rock?

He looked at the GGV team sitting down again and smiled: "Mr. Fang is very good. He is driving his company to launch an attack on the field of instant messaging. Perhaps this is the most critical move since the establishment of Yike."

Another GGV member, Iman, laughed and said: "No, no, no, Yike used the stock market to solve Nokia's patent problem. This is the most critical thing it has ever done."

Dani objected: "I think the moment Mars is released is the key step for Yike."

Chen Yizhou just watched the two foreigners arguing about Yi Ke with a smile.

Fortunately, this controversy has been briefly put to rest.

"Since it was Mr. Fang who named it this way, it must make sense." Dani nodded and approved the concept of O2O, and continued, "Then let's talk about the similarities and differences between you and Groupon. As far as I know, Groupon will have Eastern Plan, how are you going to resist Groupon’s attack?”

Chen Yizhou had already discovered the communication code and said in a deep voice: "Groupon is indeed very strong and developing rapidly, but just like the development of eBay, Google, and Amazon in China, there is a big problem here. Mr. Fang has pointed out many times In this regard, the localization of international companies is an extremely difficult matter to solve.”

"I think it's too late for Groupon to enter China now, let alone in the future?"

"Whether it's Yike, Penguin or Alibaba, they all have their own plans to get involved in group buying. Will Groupon develop stronger than them?"

Chen Yizhou regained his confidence in talking freely.

Danny and others discussed in a low voice.

Ian suddenly asked: "What about Baidu? You didn't seem to mention Baidu just now? It is also a famous company in China."

"Well, Baidu has moved a little bit, and its interest doesn't seem to be that big." Chen Yizhou didn't think about this problem carefully. After a few seconds, he said intuitively, "Its advertising revenue is very profitable and has been growing."

Dani nodded, and first made a change in the arrangement: "Today is relatively late. We can talk about your Tuanbao.com's competition in China on the 3rd."

Chen Yizhou said with some embarrassment: "I have made an appointment with Japan's SoftBank on the 3rd. They have always been very interested in the Chinese market."

Danni thought for a while and changed her answer: "Then tomorrow, when facing an emerging market, we should all be more cautious, but we should not lose opportunities because of caution."

Chen Yizhou nodded slightly and agreed with this person.

Although... that wasn't the attitude just now.

Because of the concept endorsement from a well-known figure, the meeting with GGV went much smoother.

After the exchange ended, Chen Yizhou and others immediately checked the relevant information in the United States, and sure enough they did not see any news about "O2O" in the mainstream media.

"Co-authoring this is a model description made up by Mr. Fang himself?" Chen Yizhou felt dumbfounded and almost got killed for preaching such a concept...

"Chief Fang edited it, but Mr. Fang was able to help Yuan. Mr. Fang is really famous here in the United States..." Tuanbao.com COO Ding Tengfang sighed.

"In the United States, especially in New York, Mr. Fang killed seven hedge funds in and out of the Nasdaq. I heard that he queued up to go to the rooftop. It was impossible not to become famous." Chen Yizhou found today's experience quite bizarre. All he could say was, "Indeed, Mr. Fang is really useful. Back when we were in Japan, when we were talking about financing with SoftBank, we had to mention Mr. Fang."

Tuanbao executives nodded one after another, Mr. Fang is really easy to do.

Soon, this communication experience was verified again with another venture capital.

American venture capital seems to have a natural look down on Chinese companies, but after having cognitive media, they can quickly accept the narrative of this model, which makes Chen Yizhou not know what to say.

Anyway, as long as it works.

After meeting with two American venture capital firms, and on the way back to China, I went to Tokyo to meet with SoftBank. Tuanbao.com had initially completed its financing intentions, which satisfied Chen Yizhou and others.

Just when the head of Tuanbao.com was about to take a flight back to China from Tokyo, he suddenly received a call from deputy general manager Bao Jiehui.

Alibaba intends to invest in Tuanbao.com!

Also, Wei Zhe, the president of Alibaba, hopes to meet and discuss investment matters. Not only is it about money, but he is also willing to send a marketing team to help Tuanbao.com in urban construction and management.

Is Alibaba going to imitate Yike’s investment in Mi Tuan?

Even the marketing team needs to be sent out?

It's called a helping hand, but it's actually annexation, right?

After a brief discussion, Chen Yizhou informed Bao Jiehui on the phone: "Tell Wei Zhe that our Tuanbao.com has no interest in Alibaba's investment. Tuanbao is already the number one in this market, and we have the confidence and strength to consolidate this position. "

"However, I hear what Alibaba means. They are very interested in the group buying market, which involves the competition for the underlying electronic payment market. If we don't accept its investment, Alibaba may have to do it on its own." Bao Jiehui said cautiously .

Taobao already has Juhuasuan, a group-buying service, but it is different from the mainstream group-buying approach. It is an online group-buying service.

"Come on, I think Alibaba will have to do it on his own sooner or later. Our Tuanbao.com will eventually have to go through the impact of giants to achieve final success." Chen Yizhou said deeply, "Let Alibaba and Yike do it together."

Tuanbao.com’s market position and smooth financing gave him the confidence to face the giants head-on.

Giants are just larger companies.

Chen Yizhou embarked on a flight back to China, and Tuanbao.com also officially rejected the investment intention from Alibaba.

After Dang Tuan.com launched the banner of 301 City, Tuanbao.com also launched the slogan of 302 City.

This made Fang Zhuo, who got the news later, a little funny.

300, 301, 302, is everyone’s competition so orderly?

Is this because Yike and Mi Tuan want to set off smoke bombs, or is everyone setting off smoke bombs?

Fang Zhuo believes that the trends in the group buying market are worth observing.

However, news from Alibaba soon caught his attention. Alibaba, which had been repeatedly rejected for investment, seemed to want to end its O2O business himself.

This also means that Ali's Chinese-supplied iron army will come in handy.