Chapter 167: 5 Million Isn

"Dong Ge, do you think Chen Yansen will be interested in our business plan?"

Inside the meeting room, Pei Yi glanced at Kang Guodong and asked softly.

Both were graduate students in computer science at Lucheng University of Technology.

They accidentally noticed that, due to the large area and high student population of Feicui Lake University Town, many people had developed a habit of ordering takeout.

But everyone placed orders mainly through business cards and phone calls, which was especially inconvenient.

Kang Guodong wanted to use his professional knowledge to integrate information about nearby restaurants, bubble tea shops, and bakeries online, creating a food guide website similar to "hao123."

But Pei Yi, their dormmate from Shanghai, said Shanghai already had products like Dazhong Dianping; instead, they should build an order system, hire some part-time students, and deliver meals to campus, profiting directly from the delivery fee difference.

The two hit it off immediately—and Kuai Pao was born!

But Pei Yi didn't know that when he proposed this idea, a graduate student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University had already thought of something similar two years earlier.

Back then, Eleme was still small, with no venture capital attention and no media coverage, so neither of them had heard of it.

At the beginning of the year, Eleme secured a $1 million angel investment from Jinsha Venture Capital and made the news; only then did Kang Guodong and Pei Yi realize that what they thought was a novel business model had already been implemented for two or three years.

But by then, Kuai Pao had already gained some recognition in the university town, with over 2, 00 registered users, daily orders fluctuating between 600 and 1, 00, and more than thirty part-time college students.

Through delivery fee differences and service charges, after deducting server and part-time staff expenses, they earned over 2, 00 yuan per day, making their college lives quite comfortable.

Previously, the two hadn't planned to scale Kuai Pao, but after learning about Eleme's development, they immediately wanted to expand and enter the white-collar market.

After all, office workers ordered takeout at least three to five times more frequently than college students.

But purchasing equipment, upgrading servers, and hiring delivery staff all required substantial funding.

Their hundreds of thousands were barely enough for advertising—could they really hire dozens more students to hand out flyers on the streets of Lucheng?

That efficiency was too low.

"It should work—I've studied Eleme. Their order volume is only slightly higher than ours. Jinsha Venture Capital gave them $1 million; isn't asking $500, 00 from Senlian Capital reasonable?"

Kang Guodong spoke with full confidence.

But Kang Guodong overlooked one thing: Eleme hadn't secured any venture funding in a year and was also facing a cash shortage.

"Knock knock knock—!"

A knock came at the door.

"Mr. Kang, Mr. Pei, our boss has arrived." Gao Weilin opened the door and smiled to remind them.

"Ah, okay!" Kang Guodong and Pei Yi jumped up; their previously calm moods instantly turned tense.

They followed Gao Weilin out and peered curiously outside.

An Aston Martin Rapide slowly drove in through the park's main gate.

Pei Yi stared with envy—he recognized the model, worth over 4 million yuan, a car he'd long desired but could never afford.

He'd need to sell off his family's two houses just to barely afford it.

But if he did, his father might disown him.

Chen Yansen stepped out of the car and saw Gao Weilin at the entrance with two unfamiliar youths.

"Boss, these two are the founders of Kuai Pao—Kang Guodong and Pei Yi." Gao Weilin introduced them.

"Mr. Chen! I'm Kang Guodong."

"Hello, Mr. Chen, I'm Pei Yi." Both hurried to greet him.

"Come inside. Did you bring the business plan?"

Chen Yansen noticed their youthfulness, their faces still tense and uneasy.

"Mr. Chen, we brought it." Kang Guodong answered quickly, reaching to hand over the plan—then realized he'd left it in the meeting room.

"Go inside," Chen Yansen said calmly.

Pei Yi secretly studied Chen Yansen—he was five or six years older, yet their achievements were worlds apart.

Among Huian University students, Chen Yansen's name was unquestionably among the most famous.

He founded FoxTao at 18, sold it to A-li at 19, and made over 10 billion yuan in a year—a true business genius and billionaire.

He then entered the mobile phone industry; after the Orange Phone launched, it sold nearly 7 million units online in under four months, becoming the most popular smartphone of 2011.

DST Capital invested $1. 5 billion in Orange Tech, valuing it at $9 billion.

Pei Yi felt Chen Yansen's business record was legendary—even more impressive than Lei Jun's.

After all, at Chen Yansen's age, Lei Jun was still stuck in his dorm coding.

The four entered the meeting room. Chen Yansen sat first; Gao Weilin took a seat to his right.

Kang Guodong and Pei Yi pulled out chairs and sat across from Chen Yansen.

"Mr. Chen, here is our business plan. Please review it." Kang Guodong carefully handed over the documents.

Chen Yansen acknowledged with a nod, took the file, and flipped through it casually—one page per second—finishing in under a minute.

Kang Guodong and Pei Yi exchanged glances, thinking Chen Yansen was dismissive; their hearts sank.

Chen Yansen was simply maintaining his daily reading habit, even deliberately slowing down.

He glanced at Gao Weilin, thinking: "No wonder Lao Gao brought them from Lucheng—this business plan is well-structured. Kuai Pao is small, but its business model is already solid."

"How much money do you want?"

This was Chen Yansen's first question—and a test for them.

Kang Guodong had planned to ask for $500, 00, but seeing Pei Yi frantically signaling, he changed his answer: "Mr. Chen, I'd like to exchange 10% of Kuai Pao's equity for $800, 00."

Pei Yi watched Chen Yansen, saw his faint smile, the slight upward curve of his lips—could this mean agreement?

"That's over 5 million yuan. Do you think Kuai Pao is worth 50 million? Eleme in Shanghai was valued at only 30 million six months ago, and their business volume is more than three times yours."

Chen Yansen didn't answer directly—he turned the question back.

To him, $500, 00 wasn't even enough to buy a car; this was another test for Kang Guodong and Pei Yi.

When meeting investors, don't be timid—ask boldly. If your reasoning is sound, there's always room to negotiate.

If you won't even ask for money, why should anyone believe you can build this business?

"Mr. Chen, I believe Kuai Pao is worth 50 million. Eleme has higher volume, but it only started earlier—it doesn't mean it can go far. Kuai Pao's biggest advantage is our self-developed intelligent order allocation system, which optimizes matches based on restaurant-to-customer distance, order urgency, and other data."

Pei Yi picked up the thread, speaking with full confidence.

"Gao Zong, have admin bring a laptop."

Chen Yansen acted decisively, instructing Gao Weilin.

"Alright, wait a moment." Gao Weilin stood and left, returning with a laptop.

"Mr. Chen, this is Kuai Pao's order matching backend—it matches merchant orders with delivery personnel's service areas to improve efficiency."

Pei Yi operated the demo while explaining.

Chen Yansen smiled. This feature was too simple—in essence, it just divided Lucheng University Town into grid squares and assigned orders within each square to fixed delivery staff.

What a joke to call this an intelligent order allocation system!

It was barely better than Eleme's dispatch system—and of limited value!

Chen Yansen looked at Pei Yi, slightly disappointed, silently shaking his head: This kid really knows how to blow smoke.

"Mr. Chen, once funding arrives, we can use GPS data from delivery personnel to match orders in real time, and integrate Baidu and Gaode map data to plan optimal routes."

Seeing Chen Yansen's skepticism, Pei Yi hurried to explain.

He did have optimization plans—he just lacked funding and manpower for R&D.

"With this 5 million, how will you spend it?" Chen Yansen nodded slightly and asked further.

"First, hire people—mainly operations, tech, and delivery staff, preferably ex-employees from group-buying sites. Budget: 1 million."

Pei Yi blurted out, then paused: "Then use 1. million for website and mobile app development—build a solid foundation."

"1. million for expanding merchant partnerships and subsidizing new customers, 500, 00 for purchasing delivery vehicles and insulated boxes, and the remaining 500, 00 as contingency funds."

"Which one of you is in charge? I can give you 30 million, but I want 80% equity."

Chen Yansen asked with a smile.

To him, 5 million and 30 million made no real difference.

But investing 30 million sent a clear signal to the market: he believed in the takeout sector.

Chen Yansen wanted to use his influence to push the takeout industry one step further into the tide of the times.

When Gao Weilin introduced them, Kang Guodong was mentioned first, Pei Yi second—Chen Yansen knew Kang Guodong was the majority shareholder.

But whenever faced with difficult questions, it was always Pei Yi who responded.

Clearly, these two tech-savvy founders—one excelled at R&D, the other at marketing.

Kang Guodong and Pei Yi stared at each other—Chen Yansen's response stunned them.

First, the investment jumped from 5 million to 30 million; second, he demanded 80% equity—far beyond their limits.

With only 20% left, weren't they just employees?

"Mr. Chen, we can give up at most 20% equity," Pei Yi finally said after a long silence.

"Then there's nothing more to discuss," Chen Yansen smiled, standing to leave.

At Kuai Pao's current scale, a few million yuan could achieve the same result—just with a few extra months spent on hiring and R&D.

Seeing Chen Yansen's firm stance, Pei Yi panicked. Everything had been going well—why did it suddenly collapse? He couldn't accept it.

"Mr. Chen, can we have one day to consider? We'll give you our answer tomorrow," Kang Guodong, who had stayed silent until now, stood up quickly.

"Of course. Gao Zong, please treat Mr. Kang and Mr. Pei well."

Chen Yansen smiled and left the meeting room, heading toward the elevator.

Gao Weilin took Kang Guodong and Pei Yi on a tour of Orange Tech.

At noon, he took them to eat at the restaurant by Xuyuan's east gate, then returned to the tech park.

Kang Guodong and Pei Yi went back to their hotel, frowning deeply, unsure what to do.

The financing matter has made progress, but Chen Yansen wants too much equity.

If they accept investment from Senlian Capital, they will lose control of the company.

"Old Pei, what do you think?" Kang Guodong asked Pei Yi, sitting on the sofa.

"Brother Gang, you're the major shareholder—I only want thirty percent. This decision is yours."

After a moment's thought, Pei Yi said.

"Actually, I was ready to agree, but I held off a day because I thought Chen Yansen wanted too much equity."

Kang Guodong explained slowly.

"No way! Brother Gang, don't you want to be the boss yourself?" Pei Yi stared, somewhat resigned.

"Right now we're doing okay—we make hundreds of thousands a year. Split the profits, and in two more years we can buy a house in Lucheng. But you yourself said that if we start expanding, without money or people, we'll probably go under. If that's the case, why not find a strong backer?"

Kang Guodong spoke his mind.

"Alright, then tomorrow morning we'll go see Brother Gao." Pei Yi, seeing his resolve, stopped persuading him.

In his view, only by following Chen Yansen could KuaiPao grow rapidly.

If KuaiPao, under his hands, became a billion-dollar enterprise like FoxTao, wouldn't he and Kang Guodong both become billionaires?

The next day, the two found Gao Weilin and signed the equity transfer agreement without hesitation.

Gao Weilin was delighted—it was his second investment since taking charge of Senlian Capital.

"Next week, I'll send two finance staff to KuaiPao. You need to secure your office space and set up the company structure quickly."

Gao Weilin, uneasy, specifically warned them.

In short, KuaiPao was still a makeshift operation.

Since they took Senlian Capital's money, they had to accelerate expansion and formalize the company, especially its finance department.

Kang Guodong and Pei Yi nodded, understanding, and finally boarded their return trip satisfied.

Two days later, Senlian Capital publicly revealed it had invested 30 million in a takeout project named "KuaiPao," though the exact equity stake remained undisclosed.

Everyone in the industry knew Chen Yansen owned a venture capital firm; aside from acquiring Yunsu Express, this was his first investment in a new platform, instantly drawing attention from the venture capital sector!

(End of Chapter)