Chapter 247: Free Navigation Map Era! Who the Hell Is This, Down

Beijing, Digital Valley, DiDi Taxi Studio.

Cheng Wei picked up a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Li Guangping across from him, a look of embarrassment on his face.

The environment here was utterly rudimentary; if not for the novelty of the ride-hailing model and the explosive popularity of KuaiDi Taxi drawing investment bank attention, Cheng Wei knew full well that today's capital's vice president would never deign to visit his workshop-style startup base.

"Boss Cheng, your conditions are tough indeed," Li Guangping took the mineral water, his gaze sweeping over the cramped, suffocating space, and chuckled teasingly.

Previously, Today Capital had missed the chance to invest in KuaiDi Taxi, whose valuation now exceeded 600 million U. S. dollars.

Boss Xu Xin believed that rather than investing in KuaiDi Taxi, already scaled up, it was better to focus on DiDi Taxi.

Today Capital's profit potential would be far greater.

Cheng Wei gave an awkward smile; though Li Guangping's words stung, he dared not refute them.

This was the first—and only—venture capital firm to proactively seek investment in DiDi Taxi since the project's inception.

When you have no money, your voice carries no weight.

With the account balance nearly depleted, if he couldn't secure investment soon, he'd have to humbly announce his startup's failure and return to working for others.

"Boss Li, here is DiDi Taxi's business plan. Please review it."

Cheng Wei pushed a thick stack of documents onto Li Guangping's desk.

Li Guangping smiled faintly, opened the business plan, and began reading it as if no one else were present.

In Cheng Wei's vision, there were 1.3 million taxis nationwide, generating daily revenues of 300 million, totaling over 100 billion annually; even if DiDi Taxi took only a 10% commission, its annual revenue would reach 10 billion.

At that point, DiDi Taxi's valuation would surpass 100 billion!

"When will DiDi Taxi go live?" After a long pause, Li Guangping set down the documents, looked up at Cheng Wei, and fixed him with sharp eyes.

"No later than month's end," Cheng Wei gritted his teeth.

In truth, he had already realized the outsourcing company he paid 90,000 yuan to was utterly unreliable.

He wasn't even sure if the app could launch on schedule by month's end.

But to secure funding, Cheng Wei had no choice but to bluff.

"Too slow! KuaiDi Taxi has already entered Lushan City; counting Hangcheng and Jin Ling, their operational coverage includes 20 million potential users—DiDi must accelerate."

Li Guangping shook his head, his expression solemn.

I want to move fast too!

But I'm broke!

Cheng Wei smiled bitterly, silently raging inside.

These past days, he'd suffered immensely; most of his team members had previously worked in ZhiFuBao's B2C sales department and knew nothing about technology.

The sluggish R&D progress left him anxious, unable to sleep night after night.

On one hand, KuaiDi Taxi was rising aggressively, having raised 90 million U. S. dollars and aggressively seizing the ride-hailing market in Hangcheng, Jin Ling, and elsewhere; on the other, the nightmare of startup failure haunted him constantly.

After resigning as general manager of Mama Ali, if he failed to deliver results, not only would his former colleagues mock him, but even his parents and relatives would question his decision.

Cheng Wei took a deep breath and said: "Boss Li, I know DiDi Taxi is at a disadvantage compared to KuaiDi Taxi in both technology and funding, but I firmly believe that in China's massive ride-hailing market, at least two or three unicorn companies can emerge."

In other words, though I lack money and tech, if Today Capital invests in me, I can leverage first-mover advantage to secure second or third place.

Li Guangping smiled broadly; he greatly admired Cheng Wei's honesty.

In his view, DiDi Taxi wasn't without merits—all of them, including Cheng Wei, were core members of ZhiFuBao's sales team, and in market expansion, they were unquestionably top-tier.

Just as Mama Ali invested in Meituan and assigned Shan Jiawei, head of Huagong's iron army, to assist Wang Xin in managing the ground team and accelerating market expansion.

In less than a year, Meituan's market share surged to second in the industry.

While Wang Xin's operational skills played a part, Shan Jiawei's contributions were equally indispensable.

This was another key reason Xu Xin chose to invest in DiDi Taxi.

"How much money do you want? How much do you think DiDi Taxi is worth? What percentage of equity are you willing to give up?"

Li Guangping looked at Cheng Wei with a half-smile, firing off three questions in rapid succession.

Cheng Wei was momentarily stunned; he'd only wanted five million, enough to build the app and rent a more comfortable office.

As for DiDi Taxi's current valuation, he'd never seriously considered it.

For a moment, Cheng Wei fell silent; after a long while, he finally replied: "Eight million. I'll give Today Capital 15% equity."

"Three million, 20% equity—but you guarantee the app launches before month's end," Li Guangping didn't even bother refusing; he simply informed Cheng Wei in a calm tone, leaving no room for negotiation.

Facing the dominant Li Guangping, Cheng Wei had intended to deploy his extensive negotiation skills, but when he met Li Guangping's amused gaze, he immediately swallowed his words.

Losing some equity was better than losing the project's survival.

Cheng Wei, ever pragmatic, stood up, shook Li Guangping's right hand, thanked him profusely, and happily accepted Today Capital's investment.

He was desperate for money!

His former colleague Wang Gang had invested all his savings to support his startup; if DiDi Taxi failed, Cheng Wei wouldn't know how to face him.

Could he really say, "I couldn't even build an app with 800,000 yuan"?

Fortunately, Today Capital had relieved his immediate crisis!

After seeing Li Guangping off, Cheng Wei excitedly called Wang Gang: "DiDi got funded!"

On the other side.

At No. 18 Changsheng Road, over twenty kilometers from Digital Valley, Xiao Jun strode into Gao De Maps headquarters, radiant with confidence.

A year ago, he'd been forced out of Gao De Maps' management center in a scheme orchestrated by Cheng Congwu and Hou Jun; now he was back.

At this moment, Cheng Congwu sat glumly in his office, waiting for Xiao Jun to arrive for the handover.

Three days ago, Senlian Capital sent an appointment email: Xiao Jun would officially assume the role of CEO of Gao De Maps starting April 10.

Cheng Congwu wouldn't believe such a coincidence existed; he was certain this Xiao Jun was his old friend and former subordinate whom he'd ousted.

Yet, Cheng Congwu thought better of it and simply shrugged.

Gao De Maps was a thing of the past; his and Hou Jun's focus now lay on the Fenghuang Ancient Town cultural tourism development project.

After thinking it through, Cheng Congwu walked out with a smile, intending to bury the past with Xiao Jun in a shared laugh.

As soon as he approached the office area, he saw Xiao Jun walking toward him.

Flattering voices kept rising from all around!

"President Xiao? Is it really you? We thought it was just a namesake!"

"With you here, Gao De Maps will definitely crush Qian Du right under its feet!"

"President Xiao, I've booked a private room at Jingzhaoyin tonight; let's all catch up."

As Xiao Jun walked through, his peripheral vision swept over those greeting him, including both old employees who had always supported him and subordinates who had parted ways with him to join Cheng Congwu.

No one expected that Xiao Jun had quietly attached himself to the new boss and secured the CEO position.

"Congratulations!"

Cheng Congwu stopped, stood opposite Xiao Jun, extended both hands, and looked at the other man with a brilliant smile.

It looked as though he wanted to embrace Xiao Jun like old friends.

Xiao Jun let out a silent laugh; his previous anger, grievance, and confusion vanished into thin air.

In a daze, he recalled years ago when the three of them huddled in an office with only one electric fan, researching the production of electronic maps, the application process for surveying qualifications, and so on, trusting each other and striving together.

"President Cheng, when I left Gao De last time, I forgot to say goodbye; making up for it this time shouldn't be too late, right?"

Xiao Jun said calmly.

"Not at all! The idea for Gao De Maps originated with you; since it began with you, I am also very happy to hand it back to your hands."

Cheng Congwu replied with a smile.

Xiao Jun nodded and clapped to show his agreement.

Under his lead, the Gao De employees around them enthusiastically applauded, witnessing the handover moment of Gao De Maps' highest executive.

In the end, Xiao Jun still forced himself to hold back, swallowing all the words he wanted to question Cheng Congwu with.

That afternoon, the spokesperson for Gao De Maps' marketing department announced to the outside world: Starting today, Gao De Navigation will completely cancel its fee policy.

Whether electronic maps or navigation services, everything is free!

This measure caused downloads of Gao De Maps on App Store, Android Application Market, 91 Assistant, Wandoujia, Yingyongbao, and Chengzi Application Mall to skyrocket rapidly.

In just one hour, downloads surpassed four million!

This was as shocking as if, over a decade later, Penguin Video suddenly announced it was free and completely abolished its membership system.

Upon hearing the news, Qian Du Maps and Kailide were instantly stunned!

They had seen price wars, but never one that started with a free strategy.

Kailide was fine; its business was mainly pre-installed navigation systems for car manufacturers, with no B2C sector.

Qian Du Maps immediately panicked!

The person in charge, Huang Wei, took out his phone, called Cheng Congwu, and scolded, "What is this! Does Gao De not want to make money, nor let Qian Du make money?"

"President Huang, please don't misunderstand! The CEO of Gao De Maps right now is not me, and this new policy has nothing to do with me," Cheng Congwu hurriedly explained.

"Xiao Jun? Do you mean Senlian Capital is manipulating things behind the scenes?" Huang Wei asked with a suspicious look.

He knew about Senlian Capital's acquisition of Gao De Maps, but he did not know that on the very first day Senlian Capital took over Gao De Maps, they replaced the CEO with Xiao Jun.

"Perhaps," Cheng Congwu said with a light laugh.

Huang Wei, filled with doubt, knocked on the door of Li Yanhong's office.

"Robin, Gao De, as the number one electronic navigation product by market share, has now announced it is free; we must follow up as soon as possible, the faster the better," Huang Wei said seriously.

Once he figured out Gao De Maps' free strategy targeting the B2C market, his last shred of illusion in his heart shattered.

After listening, Li Yanhong said nothing, his brows furrowed tightly, hesitation appearing on his face.

Although the B2C business accounted for a small portion of profits, it still guaranteed at least thirty million in revenue per year.

Previously, whenever he heard the name Senlian Capital, he always felt Chen Yansen was extraordinarily talented, having earned a hundred billion in wealth by the age of twenty, his business genius astonishing.

But at this very moment, the names Senlian Capital and Chen Yansen instantly became especially hateful.

Li Yanhong hesitated.

"Robin, one more step slower! Individual users will all turn to Gao De; once they form a scale advantage, in a short time, our difficulty in surpassing Gao De will multiply several times over."

Huang Wei urged anxiously.

"Let the marketing department issue an announcement!" Li Yanhong sighed and waved his hand.

Seeing his boss take the advice, Huang Wei also breathed a sigh of relief; after responding, he hurried out to find product and marketing department staff, first shutting down Qian Du Maps' paid functions, then issuing the announcement.

The news that the two major electronic navigation maps had successively announced they were free immediately hit the trending searches.

This almost single-handedly changed the travel habits of ordinary people in Huaguo; many who could not distinguish east, west, south, or north no longer got lost under the guidance of navigation.

Physical maps entered their countdown to elimination!

At 22:00 that night, even more shocking news broke out: Lashou Network was suspected of financial fraud, and its IPO listing plan was stalled.

"Who sent the whistleblower letter to the Securities Association? Find them for me!"

At Lashou Network headquarters, Wu Bo was about to go crazy; they were just one step away from listing, and who the hell was this person, striking so ruthlessly.

(End of this chapter)