Chapter 106: 103 Confrontation (5k)

Yu Xing attached great importance to the meeting with Today Capital.

Therefore, the senior management of Bai Xiaosheng set out collectively on the morning of the 10th. The second-in-command Lu Haiying, third-in-command Zhong Zhiling, Chairman Song Yufeng, and Kong Huilin, who could be considered the chairman's assistant, all sat together on the subway heading to their destination.

Zhong Zhiling had just returned from out of town yesterday. Catching an event today that was highly likely to be a historic moment for the company left him feeling both excited and awkward.

He whispered to his senior disciple, "Brother Xing, shouldn't we have rented a car? This doesn't feel like we're going to negotiate a multi-million dollar deal..."

"Zhiling, can't a mode of transportation with such a high construction cost satisfy you?" Yu Xing laughed. "We are grassroots entrepreneurs; there's no need to be particular about such appearances."

Zhong Zhiling nodded convincingly. His senior disciple truly had a higher realm and a clear understanding.

After a while, Yu Xing mused, "What should we buy as the company's first car? How about an A6?"

Zhong Zhiling looked at his senior disciple in astonishment: "Uh..."

"Once we raise the money, we'll be grassroots entrepreneurs with capital backing," Yu Xing laughed. "Look at our chairman; his arm is in a sling. I can't bear to see him get injured again from squeezing onto the subway."

Zhong Zhiling pursed his lips and said sincerely, "Brother Xing, he won't get injured from squeezing. You just need to make sure he doesn't get beaten up and injured."

Yu Xing shook his head: "Sometimes these things really depend on luck. If I hadn't run fast last time, I might have ended up in a sling just like him."

Zhong Zhiling deliberated: "Well, Brother Xing, I've heard colleagues describe your style when you faced off against Li Song."

Yu Xing smiled; he really didn't know how his colleagues were discussing this matter in private.

Zhong Zhiling added, "If we can successfully raise funds this time, the company will have a very stable period of development."

A moment later, Yu Xing responded to this: "A major characteristic of the internet industry is that it rises very quickly. We cannot save money; if we can raise funds, Bai Xiaosheng must aim high and act big."

Zhong Zhiling asked hesitantly, "What does 'aim high and act big' mean?"

Yu Xing smiled slightly: "It means spending money quickly."

Zhong Zhiling asked again: "How quickly?"

Yu Xing said vaguely: "Fast enough that our Series B financing can be sought out proactively."

Zhong Zhiling didn't quite understand, but he felt that since he started his own business, there were more and more things he needed to learn.

At 8:40 AM, the group of five arrived at the conference room of Today Capital.

The scene in the conference room was starkly contrasting: on one side, people in suits and leather shoes looked extremely professional; on the other, they looked slightly disheveled, carrying backpacks.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries. The leader from Today Capital was Vice Liu Zong Jiankai. Yu Xing had thought today would just be an exchange with him, but he didn't expect that after chatting for a while, the sect master, Xu Xin, would also arrive.

"President Yu, there are roughly four or five aspects to discuss today." Xu Xin greeted them simply and got straight to the point upon sitting down, though she took an extra look at the injured Bai Xiaosheng Chairman, Song Yufeng. This shouldn't have been caused by her husband and his associates, right?

"Xu Zong, please go ahead." Yu Xing liked this kind of straightforwardness.

"I see that the revenue directions provided in your prospectus are in fields like advertising and recruitment, but they haven't been launched yet," Xu Xin asked. "Do you have a plan for when to start? Bai Xiaosheng is positioned as a 'workplace social and workplace topic platform.' Do you think this is a sustainable path?"

"We originally intended to try accepting advertisements after reaching 50,000 users, but the speed of user growth exceeded our expectations. Coupled with the fact that we are now in contact with you, we are considering launching the advertising business, which is the easiest to do, after the financing is in place and a portion has been spent," Yu Xing replied. "Regarding the recruitment business, this is a relatively traditional direction. It certainly cannot be launched this year, but it will inevitably be a business that appears in our mid-term."

"This is a business that has already been verified, and our user base naturally overlaps. Furthermore, we have preliminarily studied brands like 51job on the market, and there is no essential difference in their core; this is not a field with a very high threshold."

"Regarding Bai Xiaosheng's positioning, the mutual reinforcement of social interaction and topics is something we have elaborated on in the prospectus. Simply talking about theory won't yield more; let's rely on practice. Practice produces true knowledge, and it may also produce new knowledge."

Yu Xing's response was unhurried, and this attitude successfully eased the mood of his colleagues.

Liu Jiankai quickly followed up: "President Yu, the mechanism of your Bai Xiaosheng has initially achieved results, but it is not complex, nor has it established a moat. The entire platform needs more time and resources."

"Yes, that is why we need financing." Seeing this, Lu Haiying knew the other party was inflating the value of the funds, so she chimed in, "Bai Xiaosheng has already taken two steps ahead. As long as the funds are in place, our ecosystem will mature rapidly. Once it truly gets running, it will reduce the possibility of competing products rising."

She added, "Moreover, we haven't run any advertisements, yet we have achieved our current user volume solely through word-of-mouth. I believe everyone can see the highlights."

Lu Haiying placed emphasis on the word "everyone," clearly referring to more investment institutions.

Although, apart from Today Capital, "everyone" hadn't truly seen the highlights yet, their side believed in "everyone."

Liu Jiankai raised a question studied by the team: "President Yu, you should know that the revenue of the recruitment business is aimed at B-end enterprises. From current observations, Bai Xiaosheng's topic mechanism, including your anonymous measures, is more likely to bring out negative news about enterprises."

"This is actually unfavorable for the promotion of recruitment business revenue. It is very difficult to collect money from the C-end."

"This is an essential conflict. Have you considered how to resolve it?"

Bai Xiaosheng's stance was more on the side of workplace employees, while the recruitment business collected money from enterprises. The contradiction between the C-end and B-end existed.

It was impossible to expose major scoops about Zhen'ai or Ctrip today and still successfully collect money from them for business development tomorrow.

Bai Xiaosheng inevitably wanted to develop rapidly, so how could it be rapid?

What was presented now was using topics to attract the C-end, but the better this aspect was, the more difficult the B-end recruitment business would inevitably be. Plus, the competition intensity in the workplace platform was low, but the competition in the recruitment field was not lacking at all.

This kind of mid-term revenue pie seemed not round enough.

Lu Haiying was stumped by this question; the company hadn't discussed this step before.

She couldn't help but look at her senior disciple.

The office was quiet for a few seconds; Xu Xin and Liu Jiankai were both observing the performance of the core team opposite them.

Song Yufeng instinctively felt that this situation couldn't continue to be so awkward, so he mused: "Liu Zong, one cannot say it that way. We..."

Yu Xing waved his hand, interrupting the chairman's speech, and admitted generously: "Liu Zong's point is very well taken. It is something we hadn't considered before; after all, we haven't progressed to that step yet."

He did not deny the question that sounded very reasonable.

This was also something that couldn't be denied; everyone's instinctive reaction was already in the eyes of the other party.

There was no need to deny it either.

"Fortunately, the recruitment business is not a core business in our plan," Yu Xing said seriously. "Recruitment will be an important part of the future and will be a powerful supplement. Moreover, the conflict between the B-end and C-end is not so irreconcilable. As long as the number of C-end users goes up, this part will naturally have B-end value; it just depends on how it is done."

"The role Bai Xiaosheng plays in the industry—whether we call it whistleblowing or supervision—is very unfamiliar now, which means it requires adaptation."

"We received two lawyer's letters within two months of going online, which I believe is also very rare."

"However, the industry will not remain unfamiliar forever. When enterprises become familiar with or adapt to Bai Xiaosheng's ecological niche in the industry, I believe the conflict will not be so intense, and there will be room for communication between each other."

Xu Xin and Liu Jiankai couldn't help but nod secretly in their hearts; Yu Xing's response was very appropriate.

This founder of Bai Xiaosheng was indeed more than one level higher than the four people beside him; the contrast was particularly obvious when compared face-to-face.

Liu Jiankai said "Hmm," but didn't agree much verbally; instead, he said: "This issue still needs to be taken seriously. After all, if the contradiction is difficult to resolve and can only be eased, Bai Xiaosheng's future earning ability will not be sufficient."

This was a euphemistic version of "you are not profitable enough."

Yu Xing replied just as euphemistically: "The concept of social networking, the concept of the workplace—this is something that can be easily understood and accepted both domestically and abroad. We hope that Bai Xiaosheng will become a US-listed company in the not-too-distant future, capable of leveraging more capital market money to develop itself."

A hint of a smile flashed in Xu Xin's eyes and vanished; it was hard not to admit that some people were particularly smart.

Whether it was smart in business, smart in technology, or smart in methods, as long as it could help the institution's money make money, that was enough.

Liu Jiankai shook his head slightly: "Going public is certainly good, but it's not that easy to go public smoothly."

He had previously browsed and researched Bai Xiaosheng, and had also seen and talked to Yu Xing, but only today did he truly match the person to the name; he was indeed extraordinary.

But today was largely a negotiation.

Liu Jiankai felt he still had to suppress this person's "arrogance."

He asked a question: "President Yu, what is Bai Xiaosheng's plan for the money raised?"

This time Yu Xing answered himself: "We plan to use most of it for advertising to first expand the user base."

This was also written in the prospectus.

Liu Jiankai nodded slightly and threw out a number: "Bai Xiaosheng's Series A financing must be over ten million Huaxia currency."

He closely watched the reaction opposite him. Lu Haiying and Zhong Zhiling had joy on their faces, Song Yufeng and Kong Huilin had smiles on their lips, but Yu Xing's expression was very calm.

For a startup company, ten million was already a very large sum of money.

Liu Jiankai continued to ask: "How long does Bai Xiaosheng plan to spend this money?"

He prepared to demand that Bai Xiaosheng spend this money within one year, showing a little bit of spirit.

Among the entrepreneurs Liu Jiankai had encountered who wanted financing, almost everyone was very meticulous about the money coming in.

Yu Xing answered without hesitation: "Spend it in half a year."

Liu Jiankai: "..."

Your mother... your family background must be very good!

You plan to spend ten million-level money in half a year??

Xu Xin said at this time: "If I remember correctly, the last time you shouted out, it was 5 million US dollars. Does your 'spend it in half a year' include the 5 million US dollars?"

"No matter how much money Today Capital can invest, I plan to spend it all in half a year," Yu Xing said very seriously. "Bai Xiaosheng is currently racing against time. The more money there is, the shorter the time, and the greater the advantage we can pull up. It seems like a lot of spending, but in reality, it is the minimum cost of competition."

"If you can't spend this money in half a year, you will have to spend double the money in the next year or two."

He asked back: "I believe Xu Zong has such courage and wouldn't mind my way of spending; otherwise, you wouldn't have given JD. com 10 million US dollars when they only asked for 2 million US dollars."

When Liu Qiangdong first met Xu Xin, he only dared to ask for 2 million US dollars, but Xu Xin stuffed 10 million US dollars directly into his hands.

Xu Xin said calmly: "You certainly know a lot."

She continued noncommittally: "The figure of 5 million US dollars is unrealistic. If 5 million US dollars only takes 20%, the company's valuation would head towards 200 million Huaxia currency. Do you think a company established for less than three months is worth that much? Who would invest like that?"

Yu Xing did not hide his intention of asking for a high price, did not delusionally think of implementing this number, and asked directly: "How is Today Capital willing to invest?"

Xu Xin shook her head; the topic was not over yet.

Another employee of Today Capital saw this and asked a question studied by the team: "Does Bai Xiaosheng plan to use offline ground promotion as an important promotion method? How is this aspect of work determined and launched?"

Yu Xing gave Zhong Zhiling a look.

Zhong Zhiling was currently responsible for this aspect. Over the past period, he had been running between Yangcheng and Lin'an, and he had done the work in Shencheng on the front line from the beginning, so he answered very smoothly now.

Regarding the considerations for targeted ground promotion, Zhong Zhiling had talked very deeply with his senior disciple, and the strategic intent was completely clear.

He talked eloquently, targeting and only targeting the promotion plans for the five cities of Jingcheng, Shencheng, Pengcheng, Yangcheng, and Lin'an. Whether it was strategic considerations or front-line experience, he had a target for every arrow.

Liu Jiankai felt that this person's performance was not bad, and asked a targeted question about advertising: "What is your charter for using money for promotion?"

Kong Huilin was assigned to this aspect of work and had also practiced in advance. She gave an answer that had been discussed: "We plan to focus on placing advertisements offline."

This counter-intuitive answer made Xu Xin and Liu Jiankai look at each other.

"Our website focuses on vertical, niche workplace users, but online advertising is difficult to promote accurately," Kong Huilin explained. "For users who don't have a workplace social need themselves, even if we spend a great price to get them to register, they won't use it substantially, and might even disturb other normal users."

"Therefore, Bai Xiaosheng is not suitable for large-scale online advertising promotion."

"President Zhong just talked about offline targeted ground promotion, so I won't talk much about it here. What I want to talk about is the website's brand."

"For a platform of workplace social interaction and topics, user trust is very important, and the best way to build trust is to establish a brand."

"To establish a brand, the effect of offline hard advertising is actually stronger than online advertising."

"Therefore, what we target will be scenarios like buses and subways in five cities."

Yu Xing saw that Kong Huilin's answer was finished and added: "Hard advertising is also a factor in our fast spending. Since it is offline hard advertising, it is the same principle: we must hit it through at once; otherwise, scratching the surface will only cost more."

"We have preliminarily investigated advertisers in this area."

Yu Xing said this and took a sip of tea: "For example, Focus Media. Its commercial location advertising is very strong. We hope to buy enough long advertisements in elevators instead of playing them once in a long while."

"The priority of screens in office buildings is very high, coupled with the combined placement of multiple scenarios such as subways and buses; this is our ideal plan."

Xu Xin nodded in approval. Spending a lot of money in the short term was necessary; although Bai Xiaosheng hadn't been online for long, its mechanism was stable, and it needed to establish a competitive threshold.

She signaled the vice president to report the price.

Liu Jiankai closed his notebook and said: "President Yu, we believe that it is very reasonable for Bai Xiaosheng's Series A to get 30% of the shares for 2 million US dollars."

According to the current exchange rate, that was a valuation of about 45 million for the company, and Series A financing of about 13.6 million.

Roughly calculated, Bai Xiaosheng's user volume was 100,000, and the value of each user reached 450 yuan.

He continued: "In addition, Today Capital must have two seats on Bai Xiaosheng's board of directors, and set up an office. We will station personnel to witness the company's use of funds."

"After our funds enter, we will also help Bai Xiaosheng sort out current business and promotion, establish performance appraisal processes and management mechanisms, and shape a more reasonable corporate culture."

Liu Jiankai looked at Yu Xing and said: "Bai Xiaosheng does not have a financial director yet; we can also help find suitable candidates. Hmm, the marketing area should also be taken seriously."

2 million US dollars had already reached the expectation.

But Lu Haiying, Zhong Zhiling, Song Yufeng, and Kong Huilin didn't have time to be happy before hearing the following words, which made their hearts skip a beat—why did it feel like he wanted everything?

Xu Xin also made a request at this time: "Mr. Yu, Baixiaosheng still needs to handle its relationship with the corporate side more gently. It won't do for you to be sending lawyer's letters at every turn like this. You need to generate revenue for the website; relying solely on advertising is difficult."

Yu Xing's expression didn't change much; he simply said: "Ms. Xu, I am approaching Baixiaosheng with a critical perspective."

He slowed his speech to discuss the price: "Five million US dollars might indeed be a premium, but your 30% stake for two million US dollars is also a serious undervaluation. Regardless of the industry's pioneering nature or the results we've achieved, such a workplace social and discussion platform has even greater potential."

Xu Xin did not answer.

Liu Jiankai shook his head repeatedly: "Mr. Yu, this price is not low, and it's not something I just said off the cuff. Let me show you our valuation method; this was calculated reasonably."

Yu Xing waved his hand, signaling the Vice President to stop his actions, and continued: "Additionally, regarding the setting up of an office, I think this point is open to discussion. Let's put the price aside for now; we will consider it further."

He stood up, and Lu Haiying, Zhong Zhiling, and the others followed suit.

Liu Jiankai was somewhat stunned. Not discussing the price? Was it because he didn't like the institution's interference?

Xu Xin did not try to keep them, only nodding and saying: "Fine, you all think it over carefully. Mr. Liu, see them out."

Yu Xing smiled and shook hands with Ms. Xu before taking his people away.

A moment later, Liu Jiankai returned to the office and asked for his boss's opinion: "Ms. Xu, do you think it's the price or the operational factors?"

"Yu Xing wants to negotiate the price," Xu Xin confirmed this point, then added, "But it's both."

Liu Jiankai clicked his tongue: "He's quite temperamental."

Xu Xin was not too surprised: "After all, he's a young man; it's normal to have a bit of a temper."

Liu Jiankai shook his head: "He will figure it out, and besides, Baixiaosheng's mechanism is already very transparent."

There was some deep meaning in these words.

Xu Xin nodded slightly; institutional investment sometimes requires a mix of soft and hard tactics, letting things take their natural course.