Hearing that the forum-based company doing electronic coupons could already sell for 30 million RMB, Wen Ying cooperated perfectly by exclaiming in surprise, “That valuable?”
The friend nodded vigorously. “That’s the valuation in the industry, though the founder of that company isn’t willing to sell for now.”
For a company built from scratch by one’s own hands, unwillingness to sell usually stemmed from only two reasons: attachment or the offer not being high enough.
The founder believed his company was worth more!
That was a full 30 million, after all.
If the founder held the majority shares, cashing out this time would send him straight to financial freedom.
Robbing a bank wasn’t this quick. Winning the lottery jackpot didn’t yield this much. Yet the internet could create such wealth myths.
Wen Ying pressed the advantage. “If such an opportunity landed on you, would you sell?”
Xie Qian placed his hand on the side of the wheelchair and lightly brushed Wen Ying’s sleeve.
How could she ask that?
It wasn’t as if 30 million was actually on the table!
Wen Ying caught his meaning and backtracked. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have asked that. It’s just that hearing a company can be sold for 30 million after two or three years of entrepreneurship got me too excited for a moment.”
Little liar.
Excited about selling a company for 30 million after two or three years?
Xie Qian knew Wen Ying’s current cash flow alone exceeded 30 million!
Yan Yuchuan’s friend chuckled. “I understand. Don’t think it’s just outsiders like you getting excited. When that news reached us, the whole team was energised. If someone is willing to pay 30 million for a company like that, it means our project has potential too. We’re on the right path.”
The ambition of Yan Yuchuan’s team went far beyond just electronic coupons.
Moreover… the friend glanced at Xie Qian and explained seriously, “Even if such an opportunity arose, whether to sell the company isn’t up to us alone. Mr Gong invested 10 million in us, after all.”
Yan Yuchuan, who was speaking with Gong Sheng at that moment, nodded in agreement with his friend’s words.
“Once sold, it’s gone. Some say the core of an internet company is technology, but I always feel it’s actually the entrepreneurial team. When it gets sold, it loses its soul. Some internet giants spend big money acquiring newly rising companies. It might genuinely be for expanding related business, or it might be to eliminate a competitor early.”
Yan Yuchuan’s words made Wen Ying look at him a couple more times.
This guy Yan Yuchuan certainly had the spirit of an entrepreneur.
Is entrepreneurship merely for cashing out?
With that mindset, a company couldn’t be built successfully.
Even if a founder wanted to cash out and exit, it would only happen after the company had grown to sufficient scale!
Yan Yuchuan couldn’t see that Xie Qian was the real investor, nor was he as outgoing and talkative as his friend, yet he possessed an indefinable leadership quality… Perhaps people like this were more likely to succeed in entrepreneurship?
Yan Yuchuan hosted Gong Sheng while the friend accompanied Wen Ying and Xie Qian.
The data Xie Qian had received earlier was explained in detail again by the friend.
The company burned money quickly, but its achievements were genuinely impressive. The user numbers exceeded even Wen Ying’s prior expectations.
University students were the target customers the company wanted to capture.
According to Yan Yuchuan, they had prioritised developing membership on campuses.
“We have a lot of members at Fudan University.”
That was true.
Wen Ying hadn’t heard about it earlier because she simply hadn’t paid attention. Only in the past couple of days had she specifically asked her three roommates and learned that all three had long since registered on the website “You You Tuan Gou”.
“You You Tuan Gou” was the site launched by Yan Yuchuan’s company.
“You You” meant prioritising the consumer.
“You You Tuan Gou” had penetrated Fudan earlier than Wen Ying had thought. Just a few days after the new term started, promotions had reached the freshman group. Including Sun Mingfei, all three roommates had been guided hand-by-hand by “You You Tuan Gou” ground promoters to complete registration.
Not only had her roommates become members, they used “You You Tuan Gou” quite frequently.
Students had limited living expenses. “You You Tuan Gou” offered group deals on food, movie tickets, and even book discounts!
Wen Ying reflected that she had missed “You You”’s promotion at Fudan probably because she had been focused on Zhang Liqun’s divorce case at the time.
From her roommates, Wen Ying confirmed that “You You” indeed had many users at Fudan. The data provided by Yan Yuchuan and the others was likely quite reliable.
It wasn’t that Wen Ying was suspicious of Yan Yuchuan and his team. After all, financial reports could be packaged. It was far too common for start-ups seeking investment to inflate their data!
The money Wen Ying had earned from the stock market had involved risk, after all!
And not just risk, but Manager Chen’s hard work too.
Wen Ying asked very detailed questions.
Yan Yuchuan’s friend had already guessed that the real investor was Xie Qian, assuming Xie Qian simply didn’t want Yan Yuchuan to suspect and was using Wen Ying’s mouth to ask.
The friend could never have imagined, even if he racked his brains, that Wen Ying was also a major investor with intent to fund!
After touring Yan Yuchuan’s company for an entire afternoon, Wen Ying’s mind was still running at high speed as they left.
She and Xie Qian had not only gained another understanding of the company’s situation but had also sat in on a company meeting and witnessed firsthand how the company selected products and recommended group deals to users.
Clothing, food, housing, and transport were needs everyone had. Filling one’s stomach was a basic need. Beyond dining, there were lifestyle and entertainment demands.
Could they win the future “Thousand Group War” relying solely on these?
Of course it wasn’t that simple!
On the way back to school, Wen Ying revealed her cards to Xie Qian. “I think it’s worth investing. The key people in this team are all very flexible-minded. They have high education and technical skills, plenty of ideas, and know how to adapt to local conditions without completely copying the foreign model.”
Copying exactly wouldn’t be easy anyway.
Some said the originator of group buying was the foreign company Groupon.
Actually, no.
Groupon simply succeeded and entered the Chinese market first. The group buying sites that died before Groupon wouldn’t be remembered.
Even Groupon, regarded as the industry ancestor, wouldn’t launch until November next year.
The domestic “Meituan” would come even later.
Yan Yuchuan… Wen Ying hadn’t heard this name in her previous life.
The butterfly’s wings had altered many people’s lives.
Perhaps in her previous life, Yan Yuchuan hadn’t broken up with Xie Tang, or they had split at a different time? The same event at different points could lead a person to make entirely different choices.
In her previous life, Yan Yuchuan might have failed at entrepreneurship.
Or perhaps he never started one at all.
Who knew.
In any case, Wen Ying was quite tempted.
These days, every investment carried risk. The higher the return, the greater the risk. Wanting high returns with low risk—where was such a good deal?
Keep the money and wait to invest in “Meituan” once it was founded?
Not to mention whether she could successfully invest, if her involvement caused some mishap to “Meituan”—originally destined to list smoothly with a 400 billion HKD market cap—whom could Wen Ying reason with?
“Then let’s invest.”
Wen Ying made the decision, and Xie Qian was equally decisive.
Proven successful paths certainly carried less risk, but proven paths rarely offered the profits of being first to the feast.
Yan Yuchuan’s friend hadn’t lied. A mere 30 million—they wouldn’t bear to sell the company.
Just this time, Yan Yuchuan and his team wanted 30 million in investment!
Their plan was to firmly hold Shanghai as their base and then expand branches along cities in the Yangtze River basin.
This model sounded rather familiar to Wen Ying.
She had heard that during the Thousand Group War, while other group buying sites frantically spent money on ads to attract users, “Meituan” quietly built ground promotion teams.
Other sites burned huge sums on advertising, fighting until bodies littered the field. “Meituan” stealthily pushed towers, waiting for competitors to exhaust their funds.
Yan Yuchuan and his team had similar competitors, but their timing was good—they hadn’t encountered the Thousand Group War.
Influenced by next year’s global economic crisis, the group buying model would truly rise with the tide.
Neither Wen Ying nor Xie Qian had objections to the 30 million funding gap. What needed negotiation was how many shares 30 million could buy.
Yan Yuchuan’s side wanted to relinquish as few shares as possible. As the investing party, Wen Ying and Xie Qian needed sufficient shares for it to be worthwhile.
Of course, demanding too much wouldn’t work either.
Yan Yuchuan’s company desperately needed funds now, but “You You Tuan Gou” was already live with a considerable number of registered members, making it attractive to professional venture capital firms.
They hadn’t sought VC yet because professional VCs were greedier. Yan Yuchuan and his team still hoped to pull investment from Gong Sheng. Previous cooperation with Gong Sheng had been pleasant, the foundation solid, and they hoped to deepen it.
The final outcome would certainly meet expectations on both Yan Yuchuan’s side and Wen Ying and Xie Qian’s for the investment to land.
Wen Ying didn’t need to worry about negotiation details. Daydreaming of a beautiful future where risk and reward coexisted, she discussed dividing the spoils with Xie Qian. “Shall we each invest 15 million?”
Unexpectedly, Xie Qian shook his head. “I’ll invest 10 million. You invest 20 million.”
“Ah, I invest more than you?”
“Not much more. I already invested 10 million earlier. That was sooner, and they gave up more shares then. Overall, I’ll still hold more shares than you.”
“…True.”
Wen Ying murmured, “If Yan Yuchuan’s company succeeds, the returns might exceed our imaginations. We don’t necessarily need to follow in later rounds. As long as we hold the shares and don’t sell, there will come a time when we profit.”
Gong Sheng sat in the front passenger seat, continuing his role as invisible man.
Sigh. Being a mascot in the afternoon, invisible now—this must be the humble lot of a salaried worker.
Yan Yuchuan’s project truly had promise.
But Gong Sheng suspected Yan Yuchuan and his team could be bundled and sold by the two in the back… Ahem, he shouldn’t think nonsense about the boss and future lady boss. How could it be called bundling and selling? It was clearly supporting promising youth in pursuing their dreams!
When getting out of the car, Wen Ying remembered something else. “Do we need to let Sister Xie Tang know about our investment?”
Xie Qian shook his head. “This is purely business, not personal favour.”
Initially leaving the name card for Yan Yuchuan had involved some personal sentiment.
But Yan Yuchuan being Xie Tang’s ex-boyfriend wasn’t worth a 5 million investment.
Let alone now, when Wen Ying and Xie Qian were both preparing to invest—the previous 10 million plus this 30 million made a full 40 million!
Even if Yan Yuchuan were Xie Tang’s ex-husband, he wouldn’t be worth that much!
Wen Ying nodded in understanding. “I get it.”
A breakup was a breakup. Whether they reconciled in the future was between Xie Tang and Yan Yuchuan. Outsiders truly shouldn’t meddle.
If Yan Yuchuan had feelings, he would seek Xie Tang sooner or later. Wen Ying had no intention of playing matchmaker either.
