Chapter 156: Zhang Xuhao: Blew It, Lost 100 Million in Funding (Seeking Monthly

Chen Yansen returned to Building 8 and took the elevator to the fifth-floor office.

On the desk sat the administrative lunch order: five dishes and one soup, with four sets of bowls and chopsticks, plus several drinks delivered by the cafeteria.

"Old Gao, get Ye Qiuping over, and bring Wang Xueting from HR too."

Chen Yansen sat down, didn't pick up his chopsticks yet, and called Gao Weilin and others to join him for the meal.

Eating was secondary; he mainly wanted to discuss Orange Tech's expansion and the recruitment progress at Pinbei Tech.

Soon after, Gao Weilin, Ye Qiuping, and Wang Xueting arrived together.

"Boss!" the three greeted at the door.

"Come in, let's eat while we talk."

Chen Yansen rolled up his sleeves and gestured for them to sit.

"Thank you, Boss," Gao Weilin replied, sitting down first.

Ye Qiuping and Wang Xueting exchanged glances, then sat beside Old Gao.

Wang Xueting graduated from Tongji University's Human Resources Management program and previously worked for years at a Shanghai telecom company, recruited by Chen Yansen with a monthly salary of over 40, 00 yuan.

Zhang Cong and Zhou Ze, two giants in industrial design, were hired by her.

"How's Pinbei's recruitment going? First, help me build the HR framework—focus on developers and business development staff for now."

Chen Yansen picked up his chopsticks, took a shrimp into his mouth, and turned to Wang Xueting.

"We have two suitable HR manager candidates: Xiong Li from JD and Zhang Junjie from Suning—both have rich e-commerce experience, and Xiong Li also has business operations background."

Wang Xueting answered immediately.

"Ye Zong, do you know these people?" Chen Yansen turned to Ye Qiuping.

"She's the recruitment head for JD's small appliances—very capable, understands both HR and business," Ye Qiuping thought briefly, then gave a positive assessment.

"Schedule interviews quickly; if they're suitable, hire both."

Chen Yansen nodded and made the decision on the spot.

"Understood, Boss," Wang Xueting replied.

"Orange Tech and Pinbei Tech's recruitment is slower than I expected. Draft an internal referral bonus system—bonus amounts equal to headhunter costs—and hand it to me before quitting time."

Chen Yansen paused, then added.

Take Orange Tech, for example—most employees came from OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei, and ZTE.

Encouraging internal referrals would greatly speed up hiring.

After all, they know Orange Tech's benefits and work environment, making their outreach to former colleagues far more persuasive.

"Got it, Boss," Wang Xueting replied instantly. The HR department, including her, had only six people, and interview slots were fully booked every day.

Yet Orange Tech's total staff still numbered only around 200.

It wasn't because the pay or benefits were poor—it was because Orange Tech was growing too fast; their hiring couldn't keep up with demand.

"Old Gao, did you transfer the equipment payment for the Orange phone factory?"

Chen Yansen set down his chopsticks and asked Gao Weilin.

"Thirty-four production lines total—the equipment funds were wired directly to the supplier's corporate account, totaling 1. 7 billion."

Gao Weilin had traveled with Chen Yansen several times and knew his habits—he answered casually, eating as he spoke.

This was why most phone manufacturers chose contract factories: before any phones were made, equipment alone cost over a billion.

But for Chen Yansen, this money was well spent.

Once operational, the factory could house over 5, 00 employees, generating 4, 00 strands of human Dao fire per month for him.

Monthly production capacity could rise from 500, 00 to 3 million units!

The netizens on Weibo who mocked him as a clown would finally quiet down for a while.

From August to early October, the factory shipped about one million phones, but pre-orders totaled 3. million—70% of orders still unfulfilled.

Despite Chen Yansen's popularity, impatient users flooded his comment section demanding delivery, and many cursed him.

"How's the branding team? What's the online sentiment and user feedback?" Chen Yansen turned to Ye Qiuping, silently marveling at her composure.

Even after being thoroughly investigated, she still calmly stayed at Orange Tech, sitting across from him eating lunch as if nothing happened.

Wang Xueting looked tense and uneasy; she, however, relaxed as if at home.

"Aside from insufficient production capacity and poor signal due to the aluminum alloy back cover, user feedback shows Orange Phone's positive review rate far exceeds Xiaomi's; the data team's sales model predicts that if production is resolved, monthly sales could triple."

Ye Qiuping looked up slowly as Chen Yansen called her name.

"Wait another month—until Shencheng finishes hiring and equipment calibration."

Chen Yansen spoke calmly.

The aluminum alloy back cover did hurt signal reception, but it improved structural strength and heat dissipation.

Compared to Xiaomi phones, Orange Phone's fluidity and user experience were clearly a step higher.

As a result, after Xiaomi's pre-orders surpassed 700, 00, online criticism exploded—many joked it was hot enough to fry eggs.

Without Orange Phone, users might have tolerated Xiaomi's overheating and lag for its extreme value.

But with more choices, who would settle?

After lunch, Gao Weilin, Ye Qiuping, and Wang Xueting left the office.

Chen Yansen put his feet on the desk and pulled out his phone to check the news.

Ali increased the annual technical service fee and breach deposit for Taobao merchants, angering small and medium sellers.

These merchants flocked to big sellers' stores to place orders, cancel them, and bomb them with negative reviews to vent their frustration.

In plain terms, Ma Liyun thought the sheep were fat enough for slaughter.

But the small sellers didn't see it that way—last year, Ali quietly adjusted search algorithms to funnel traffic toward big brands, slashing their income and building up long-held resentment.

This unilateral price hike enraged them completely; over a hundred merchants even protested outside Ali's headquarters.

"Let them riot—the messier the market, the better!"

Chen Yansen muttered to himself.

Who was Ma Liyun?

Even if he temporarily compromised, he'd eventually crush them.

Like Zhang Yong, he believed that as e-commerce and the economy grew, user demand and average order value would steadily rise.

Thus, he abandoned the six-trillion-yuan lower-tier market.

But three years later, Pinduoduo emerged out of nowhere, upending the e-commerce landscape and forcing Ali to launch Taotao and Taogongchang, while JD was tricked into launching Jingxi and Jingxi Special Sales.

Too late—the tide had turned. Pinduoduo's "Refund Only" feature gripped users tightly, surging forward to become one of the top three e-commerce platforms.

Chen Yansen's Pinbei borrowed Pinduoduo's business model, aiming to take over the small and medium sellers abandoned by Ali and JD.

Take the phone industry: a 1, 99-yuan phone is just mid-range for many, yet many still can't afford it.

Functional phones and knockoff phones priced at 299, 499, or 699 yuan never lacked users.

Existence is justification!

A six-trillion-yuan lower-tier market naturally birthed an e-commerce crocodile—perfectly normal.

Chen Yansen merely needed to ride the tide.

He scrolled to the second headline: news of Apple CEO Jobs' death—Apple was entering the Cook era.

Other news focused on fierce competition among group-buying sites: Lashou, WoWoTuan, Nuomi, Dazhong Dianping, and Meituan were locked in battle—poaching staff, offering massive subsidies, all fighting for market share.

To Chen Yansen's surprise, this timeline's Lashou and Nuomi were unusually strong, excelling in online marketing—even Meituan's prized ground teams couldn't outmatch them.

At this rate, the "Thousand Group-Buying War" would take a long time to resolve.

Chen Yansen frowned—after selling Fox Taobao, his influence in the group-buying industry had dropped to zero.

He didn't care who won the group-buying battle.

After all, from 2011 to 2013, whether in group-buying or food delivery, it was all money-losing ventures.

Even after Ele. e secured a 1-million-yuan funding round at the start of the year, it stirred no ripple in the industry.

Venture capitalists seemed to have forgotten the food delivery sector—no investment, no follow-up funding at all.

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen called Old Gao and told him to try contacting Zhang Xuhao.

On one hand, he wanted to invest early—when Ali or Meituan eventually acquired Ele. e, he'd make a fortune; on the other, he wanted to participate in Ele. e's daily operations.

To prepare for the next step.

Gao Weilin immediately agreed.

After joining Senlian Capital, he thought his job would be buying and investing—but instead, he became CFO at Orange Tech, occasionally helping the Boss pay off car and house installments.

He didn't look like an investment firm head—he was Chen Yansen's butler.

Finally, he could use his expertise—but after learning about Ele. e, he was stunned.

Who came up with this ridiculous business model?

There was zero chance of profit!

The platform alienated both buyers and sellers.

Sellers raised online prices to cover packaging, delivery, and platform commissions; buyers refused to pay more, feeling the platform passed costs onto them.

In its two-and-a-half years, Ele. e had received only one funding round, with daily orders around 3, 00—after deducting management and tech costs, it was perpetually losing money.

Gao Weilin wanted to advise Chen Yansen, but finally sighed and chose to trust his Boss's vision.

In business, ten of him weren't a match for the Boss—just do his job well; overstepping might just anger the Boss.

Two days later, Zhang Xuhao received Gao Weilin's call.

"I'll give you 100 million. Senlian wants 30% equity," Gao Weilin said.

"USD?" Zhang Xuhao asked tentatively.

"Hua Yuan," Gao Weilin sneered, thinking the guy was overthinking it—just hungry? Even at this scale, a $200 million valuation was already too much.

Zhang Xuhao fell silent; for some time now, he'd been pondering whether to rename the product.

Ele. e?

He was genuinely hungry now!

Over the past two years, apart from the $1 million in funding from Jinsha Venture Capital, he hadn't received a single cent from any other venture capital firm.

He wanted to expand the market, but he had no money!

This damn name was like a curse!

He wanted the $100 million, but he couldn't bear to give up 30% equity.

After thinking it over, Zhang Xuhao said he'd consider it, hung up the call, and immediately looked into Senlian Capital's background—only to discover its backer was Chen Yansen.

Zhang Xuhao immediately devised a plan: he took Senlian Capital's offer and approached Jinsha Jiang Venture Capital, Sequoia, and Hillhouse Capital separately, using it to inflate his valuation.

This puzzled Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital—he had previously studied Ele. e's business model and frankly, hadn't been impressed.

In his view, Chen Yansen's business acumen wasn't poor; logically, he shouldn't have been interested in Ele. e at all.

So Zhang Lei called Chen Yansen.

Only then did Chen Yansen learn of Zhang Xuhao's trick—he laughed and denied it: "I'd invest in group buying before I'd invest in food delivery."

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Yansen internally sneered: Zhang Xuhao looked honest, but he was actually so cunning. He understood Zhang Xuhao's tactics, but being manipulated still annoyed him.

He instantly abandoned the idea of investing in Ele. e.

Indeed, anyone who left their name during the internet's golden decade was no ordinary player.

Although Chen Yansen himself was amoral, he preferred to work with partners who upheld ethics—someone like Zhang Xuhao, with too many schemes, was better left to Meituan.

Not long after, Zhang Xuhao realized he'd messed up—he'd offended Senlian Capital and missed a funding opportunity.

(End of Chapter)