Chapter 247: Free Navigation Maps! Who the Hell Is This?

Yanjing, 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 shabby; if not for the novelty of the ride-hailing model and the explosive popularity of Kuai Di Taxi drawing investment bank attention, Cheng Wei knew full well that today's capital's vice president would never deign to visit his makeshift startup base.

"Cheng Zong, your conditions are brutal," Li Guangping said, taking the water and glancing around the cramped space with a teasing smile.

Previously, Today Capital had missed the chance to invest in Kuai Di Taxi, whose valuation had now surpassed 600 million U. . dollars.

Boss Xu Xin believed that rather than investing in Kuai Di Taxi, which had already grown large, it was better to focus on Didi Taxi.

Only then would Today Capital's profit potential be greater.

Cheng Wei gave an awkward laugh; 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 his account balance nearly depleted and no investment in sight, he could only humbly announce his startup's failure and return to working for others.

"Mr. Li, here is Didi Taxi's business plan. Please review it."

Cheng Wei pushed a thick folder 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. million taxis nationwide, generating daily revenues of 300 million, or over 100 billion annually; even if Didi Taxi took just a 10% commission, its annual revenue would reach 10 billion.

At that point, Didi Taxi's valuation would exceed 100 billion!

"When will Didi Taxi go live?" After a long silence, Li Guangping closed the file, looked up at Cheng Wei, and fixed him with a sharp gaze.

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

In truth, he had already realized the outsourcing company he paid 90, 00 yuan to was utterly unreliable.

He wasn't even sure if it would launch on schedule by month's end.

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

"Too slow! Kuai Di Taxi has already entered Lucheng. Add Hangcheng and Jin Ling, and their market coverage includes 20 million potential users—Didi must accelerate."

Li Guangping shook his head, his expression grave.

I want to move fast too!

But I have no money!

Cheng Wei smiled bitterly, silently raging inside.

These past days had been hell—he'd learned that most of his team members were former business staff from Zhifubao's B2C division, with zero technical expertise.

The agonizingly slow R&D progress left him sleepless night after night.

On one hand, Kuai Di Taxi was rising aggressively, having raised 90 million U. . 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 quitting as general manager of 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: "Mr. Li, I know Didi Taxi is at a disadvantage compared to Kuai Di Taxi in both technology and funding, but I firmly believe that such a vast domestic taxi market can produce at least two or three unicorn companies."

In other words: I may lack money and tech, but if Today Capital invests in me, I'll leverage first-mover advantage to grab second or third place easily.

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

In his view, Didi Taxi wasn't without merits; Cheng Wei and his entire team were core members of Zhifubao's sales force, masters at market expansion.

Just as Ali, after investing in Meituan, sent Shan Jiawei, head of the Huagong Iron Army, to assist Wang Xin in managing ground promotion teams 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 contribution was 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 froze—he 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 pause, he finally answered: "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 replied flatly, without even bothering to refuse, leaving no room for negotiation.

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

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 cash!

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.

He couldn't say, "I spent 800, 00 yuan and couldn't even build an app," could he?

Fortunately, Today Capital had relieved his immediate crisis!

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

Meanwhile.

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

A year ago, he had been forced out of Gao De Map's management center 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 Gao De Map CEO starting April 10.

Cheng Congwu wouldn't believe such a coincidence—he was certain this Xiao Jun was the old friend and former subordinate he'd pushed out.

Yet, after a moment's thought, he shrugged indifferently.

Gao De Map was history; his and Hou Jun's focus now lay on the Fenghuanggucheng cultural tourism development project.

Having made peace with this, Cheng Congwu smiled and stepped out, ready to bury the hatchet with Xiao Jun.

As he neared the office area, he saw Xiao Jun walking toward him.

Compliments erupted all around!

"General Xiao? Is that really you? We thought it was a namesake!"

"With you here, Gao De Map will crush Baidu!"

"General Xiao, I've reserved a private room at Jingzhao Yin tonight—let's catch up."

As Xiao Jun walked past, his peripheral vision caught these greetings—from loyal old employees who'd stood by him, to former subordinates who'd switched allegiance to Cheng Congwu.

No one had expected Xiao Jun had quietly aligned himself with a new boss and seized the CEO position.

"Congratulations!"

Cheng Congwu stopped, stood facing Xiao Jun, extended both hands, and beamed at him.

He looked ready to embrace his old friend.

Xiao Jun laughed silently; his former anger, grievance, and confusion vanished.

In a flash, he recalled years ago, the three of them crammed in an office with only one electric fan, jointly studying electronic map development and surveying certification procedures, trusting each other, working hard together.

"Cheng Zong, when I left Gao De last time, I forgot to say goodbye. Let me make it up now—is that too late?"

Xiao Jun said calmly.

"Not at all! The idea for Gao De Map originated with you; having it returned to your hands makes me happy."

Cheng Congwu replied with a smile.

Xiao Jun nodded and clapped in approval.

Around them, Gao De employees, spurred by his lead, clapped enthusiastically, witnessing the handover of Gao De Map's top leadership.

In the end, Xiao Jun still held back, swallowing his questions to Cheng Congwu whole.

That afternoon, Gao De Map's spokesperson announced publicly: effective immediately, Gao De Navigation would eliminate all fees.

Both electronic maps and navigation services would be completely free!

This move caused downloads on the App Store, Android markets, 91 Assistant, Wandoujia, App Treasure, and Orange App Mall to skyrocket.

Within just one hour, downloads surpassed four million!

It was as shocking as if, over a decade later, Tencent Video suddenly announced free access and abolished its membership system entirely.

Upon hearing the news, Baidu Map and Kailide were stunned.

They'd seen price wars—but never a competitor launching straight into a free strategy.

Kailide was relatively unharmed; its business focused mainly on pre-installed navigation systems for car manufacturers, with no B2C segment.

Baidu Map panicked instantly!

Its head, Huang Wei, pulled out his phone and called Cheng Congwu: "What the hell are you doing? Does Gao De not want to make money—or let Baidu make any?"

"Mr. Huang, you misunderstand! The new CEO of Gao De Map isn't me, and this policy has nothing to do with me," Cheng Congwu hurriedly explained.

"Xiao Jun? You mean Senlian Capital is pulling the strings behind this?" Huang Wei asked suspiciously.

He knew Senlian Capital had acquired Gao De Map—but he didn't know that on their first day of control, they'd replaced the CEO with Xiao Jun.

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

Huang Wei, puzzled, knocked on Li Yanhong's office door.

"Robin, Gao De Map is the market leader in electronic navigation—and now it's going free. We must respond immediately, as fast as possible," Huang Wei said gravely.

Once he understood Gao De Map's free strategy targeted the B2C market, his last lingering hope vanished.

Li Yanhong remained silent, frowning deeply, his face clouded with hesitation.

Though B2C revenue accounted for a small share, it still guaranteed at least 30 million annually.

Earlier, when he'd heard the name Senlian Capital, he'd always thought Chen Yansen was astonishingly gifted—earning a hundred billion by age twenty, his business talent breathtaking.

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

Li Yan was hesitant.

"Robin, slow down another step! Individual users will all switch to Gao De; once they gain a scale advantage, it'll be several times harder for us to surpass Gao De in a short time."

Huang Wei urged anxiously.

"Have the marketing department issue a statement!" Li Yan sighed, waving his hand.

Seeing his boss listen, Huang Wei also breathed a sigh of relief, replied, and hurried out to find product and marketing staff to first disable the charging function of QianDu Map, then issue the announcement.

The two major electronic navigation maps both announced free services, immediately topping the trending list.

This nearly instantly changed the travel habits of ordinary people in Huaguo; many who couldn't tell north from south no longer got lost thanks to navigation guidance.

Physical maps entered their countdown to obsolescence!

At 10 PM that night, an even heavier piece of news broke: Lashou Network was suspected of financial fraud, and its IPO plan was shelved.

"Who sent the tip-off letter to the Securities Association? Find them!"

At Lashou Network's headquarters, Wu Bo was nearly driven mad; just one step away from going public, who the hell had struck so ruthlessly?

(End of chapter)