Chapter 745 Only Giants Can Fight Giants (Two in One)

April 30th, the last day of this month.

Wang Xing stood downstairs of the Hang Lung Building, feeling excited and mixed.

The past month was the most shocking month in his life.

On the 1st, he flew to Shanghai and met Mr. Fang. At that time, the sudden praise from Zhihu made many people participate in the discussion of Xiaonei.com. With the favor of Sequoia, it can be said that Xiaonei.com was at its most vigorous time.

For various reasons, Wang Xing declined the investment from Mr. Fang. After returning to Beijing, he replaced Xiaonei.com with a bright and beautiful office and formulated an ambitious promotion plan.

However, in the middle of the month, Sequoia Capital switched to Zhanzuo.com.

Even so, this was only seen as a small change, and soon the American venture capital ES was found again and they had a good talk.

But with Penguin announcing the launch of QQ Alumni, the entire Xiaonei.com encountered setbacks. The most direct and critical one was ES's retreat, and other venture capitals that had been contacted before also turned to wait and see.

On the one hand, there was the entry of giants, and on the other hand, there was a shortage of funds.

Wang Xing could sense the change in the mentality of the management, and gritted his teeth to borrow one million from his father who was in the cement business...

However, compared with the "Thousand Parks Plan", this amount of money seemed very stretched.

Wang Xing tried his best to boost the morale of the management and tried his best to find investment institutions, but with little success.

On April 20, the morale of the management of Xiaonei.com suffered a new round of blows.

Chen Yizhou of Qianxiang Group had come to discuss the acquisition at a price of 10 million. This time, he took the initiative to come to discuss the acquisition again, and the price was raised to 12 million.

Wang Xing did not think that the extra two million was a heavy bargaining chip, but the management was tempted.

Several people had a big fight in the brand new and empty conference room, and finally Wang Xing made a forced decision to reject the acquisition from Qianxiang Group.

Chen Yizhou was not disappointed or angry about the result. He just said, "Mr. Wang, as far as I know, the Penguin team has already contacted universities. They are extremely determined to build a social network."

"You are not the only one who can imitate Facebook. Penguin has money and traffic. As long as they are determined, they will definitely do better than you."

"It won't take one or two months, or even one or two weeks. Maybe in a few days, the website and users in your hands will become worthless."

"When you regret it, it won't be sold at the price of 12 million."

Wang Xing did not respond to this, but just sent Chen Yizhou away in silence.

The acquirer left, but the team had cracks.

Xiaonei.com was first started with 300,000 yuan of funds. Wang Xing contributed more than 100,000 yuan, and Wang Huiwen, Lai Binqiang and some other classmates contributed the rest. Money was needed during the development process. Wang Xing had borrowed from his family once, and Wang Huiwen also borrowed 200,000 yuan from outside.

Now, the development situation of Xiaonei.com has deteriorated rapidly, which cannot but make the co-founders consider the follow-up situation.

At the very least, for Wang Huiwen, it is not right to not make money and be in debt, right?

Wang Xing can understand his friend's feelings, but he thinks that Xiaonei.com will not fall to that level. At worst, it can still be sold to make a little money.

However, the mentality of the entire management is completely different from half a month ago.

At the beginning of the month, it was still Oriental Facebook, and in the middle of the month, the website can still be sold for money.

On April 22, after Wang Xing contacted investment institutions again without success, he personally led the team to the campus for promotion, but happened to meet Penguin's new team in Beijing.

In front of the competitor, Wang Xing heard a sentence - "Classmates, you don't want to waste time on a website that can go bankrupt at any time, right?"

The four people of Xiaonei.com all looked very ugly.

When Wang Xing was about to go on stage to refute, he suddenly found that the other three people in the team were sympathetic, and the original scholarly spirit in his heart was dissipated at once.

That night, Wang Xing tossed and turned, deeply felt the internal and external troubles, and felt the irreversible collapse of people's hearts.

He asked himself, can such a team really create a career?

Three days later, Wang Xing arrived at the company after visiting two investors and found that several founders and shareholders were waiting for him.

"Chen Yizhou called again, and this time the offer is 15 million." Co-founder Wang Huiwen told the latest news.

Wang Xing heard this, but he didn't panic, just said slightly calmly: "Then let's discuss it together."

This meeting was different from the previous quarrel. Everyone expressed their own ideas.

There are Penguin and Qian Oak outside, such competitors are huge in size, especially the former, which is a collection of various elements.

There are financial difficulties inside. More than a week of contact has not brought further financing progress. There is not much money in the company's account.

In the past two days, even the website has been stuck from time to time due to server installation problems. Many users are complaining, and the company's money and technology may not be easy to solve in a short time.

In just 20 minutes, the management made a decision to sell Xiaonei.com to Chen Yizhou of Qian Oak Group.

Compared to the investment of more than 2 million in a few months, the selling price of 15 million is enough to satisfy everyone.

At the end of the meeting, Wang Xing discussed and said: "In fact, I have an appointment with an investor tomorrow. Can I finish the talk with him and see what will happen? Tomorrow night, let's have a midnight snack together and I will report to you."

Wang Huiwen and other shareholders looked at Wang Xing's pleading look and silently agreed to this last attempt.

Unfortunately, there are no miracles.

Late the next night, the management of Xiaonei.com had a supper together and drank while eating.

Wang Xing joked loudly about these blind investors, while Wang Huiwen talked about the dreamlike few months of starting a business.

Drink and chat, chat and laugh.

By the time the late night snack stall was closed, a group of young people were already in tears.

The bitterness of entrepreneurship is more unforgettable than the sweetness.

Wang Xing was very drunk.

When he woke up in a daze, lying in bed with a splitting headache, Mr. Fang's smile suddenly flashed through his mind, and the meeting at the beginning of the month came back to his mind.

——Many times, where a good idea will go may depend on what kind of investors it contacts. A good investor can help an immature team solve various unexpected problems.

These are Mr. Fang’s original words.

Wang Xing only felt it was Mr. Fang's faint warning before.

Now, after unexpected setbacks and unforgettable disappointments, he thought of these words again and found that "immature team" seemed to be the most suitable description for himself and others.

Why didn't you think of looking for Mr. Fang again when you were looking for new investors?

Maybe it’s the fear of the other person’s rejection, maybe it’s the fear of the other person’s ridicule, or maybe it’s the arrogance in the young man’s heart.

Wang Xing lay quietly on the bed, thinking repeatedly about the entrepreneurial process and opponents of Xiaonei Network.

Penguin, a giant with money, people and traffic.

He murmured to himself: "Only giants can fight against giants..."

Wang Xing sat up and punched the edge of the bed: "Only a giant can fight against a giant!"

Eat in a hurry, take a shower, book a flight.

When Wang Xing went out, he received a call from Wang Huiwen.

"Wang Xing, when will you come to the company? Let's set a time to meet Chen Yizhou." Wang Huiwen mentioned the acquisition.

"Hui Wen, Hui Wen, I'll try again, don't worry, I'll find the money, and I'll try one last time!" Wang Xing said hurriedly.

Wang Huiwen was speechless. The investor he mentioned before was the last time. He even had dinner yesterday.

Wang Xing said categorically: "I'll go to Shanghai, and I'll find Mr. Fang. If it doesn't work, I'll come back and sell the company!"

"This..." Wang Huiwen heard Mr. Fang's name and thought about the recent friction between the Yike Department and Penguin, "Okay, I'll wait for your good news."

However, after a not-so-long flight and a car ride to the Hang Lung Tower, when Wang Xing looked up at the tall building, his heart was still full of doubts, apprehensions, and timidity.

He got through the phone and thought it was just a courtesy from the richest man.

If it were you, why would you invest in an immature team at this time?

Especially if the Penguins enter the market, even if they want to invest, wouldn’t they invest in Thousand Oaks Group’s 5Q network? Isn't it Zhang Fan who returned to China after studying for an MBA with Sequoia?

Wang Xing put his cell phone into his pocket, shook off the thoughts in his mind, and walked into Hang Lung Tower.

He pressed the elevator button and saw the elevator going all the way down.

When the elevator door opened, Wang Xing suddenly saw Mr. Fang's smiling face revealed.

"Hi, Mr. Wang, we meet again." Fang Zhuo took the initiative to extend his right hand and said with a smile, "It's a beautiful scenery in Shanghai. We meet you again in the season of falling flowers. Come on, let's go up and chat."

Wang Xing never expected that Mr. Fang would come down in person to welcome him.

He was stunned for two seconds, then shook hands subconsciously before walking into the elevator.

When he walked into Hang Lung 23, Wang Xing said something: "Mr. Fang, I, I came here because I had no other choice."

Fang Zhuo glanced at Wang Xing in surprise and said with a smile: "Mr. Wang, you are a little too candid this time."

Wang Xing is embarrassed.

"Of course I know what it will be like. It's nothing more than investment withdrawals, low morale, and blocked business. It's normal to start a business." Fang Zhuo said, "The problems I encountered in my first project were more serious than this. Many, especially investors, are very arrogant. The domestic investment industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and everyone is much more polite. "

Wang Xing had heard about Mr. Fang's entrepreneurial story, but now that he heard the person involved's description, his past impression was almost overturned. It turned out that Mr. Fang had gone through the same hardships as himself.

"You don't have to go to the office, let's go to the conference room." Fang Zhuo took a slight turn and led Wang Xing to Yike's conference room.

"Sit down." Fang Zhuo motioned to the secretary to serve tea, and then said, "Let the two directors of the investment department come over, even Mr. Wang from Sina, and ask Mr. Wang from Shenxin if he can come over. Oh yes, ask Mr. Xiong. No time to connect.”

Wang Xing held the tea cup silently and soon saw executives from Yike Investment Department coming to the conference room.

But what surprised him was that notebooks were placed in several places.

"We have used foreign video conferencing systems for a long time. They are not that easy to use, but they can be used temporarily." Fang Zhuo explained when he saw Wang Xing's confusion.

Wang Xing nodded and soon saw several big guys coming online.

At 6:30 in the evening, everything was ready in the conference room of Hang Lung 23.

"This is Mr. Wang Xing from the school network. He will introduce you to the situation of the school network." Fang Zhuo said this, and then said to Wang Xing seriously, "Mr. Wang, although I still have a lot of confidence in the school network." Interested, but the next time is important for you.”

He continued with good intentions: "We are not interested in the past difficulties of the school network. Now we just want to know your views and understanding of this project. Don't be lyrical, just be objective."

This time, facing Mr. Fang's straightforward words, Wang Xing did not have any "mild warning" in his heart. Instead, he felt that this was how things should be done.

He nodded seriously, discarding the complicated emotions brought about by his experiences in the past month.

"Mr. Wang, please tell me." Fang Zhuo stretched out his hand.

Wang Xing finally took a sip of tea and introduced the current situation of the school network.

The entire company team currently has only 26 people, but from December last year to April this year, the number of users of Xiaonei Network has reached 800,000.

Wang Xing talked with a clear mind about his views on the current domestic social network. The mainstream instant messaging software is undoubtedly QQ, but its relationship chain expansion model is relatively closed. When it comes to university groups, neither QQ nor BBS models can fully satisfy Everyone’s social needs.

BBS divides content based on universities. Users do not have personalized characteristics and are not conducive to making friends. Real-name SNS can be personalized and have group tags, which meets the online social needs of this group.

Wang Xing spoke eloquently and very fluently described the prospects of the school network and its vigorous development after meeting the current needs.

When he finished speaking, the voice of IDG President Xiong Xiaoge came from the screen: "There is a ceiling for the college student group. It is foreseeable that as investment increases, the development of this group will soon slow down the growth rate. , how do you solve this problem?"

Wang Xing replied: "First of all, even if the growth rate slows down, the number of users among college students is already quite large. Secondly, we are paying attention to the development of Facebook abroad..."

At this time, he did not shy away from mentioning Facebook, the object of study: "FB has been a group of college students this year and then turned to high school students. However, our domestic situation is different, and it is not realistic to study Facebook rigidly."

"Fb is down, we can't go down, we can only go up."

"I have noticed that the domestic office white-collar group is also getting larger and larger. This is a goal that can be considered."

“College students and office white-collar workers are the two groups that are relatively easy to increase.”

“If the integration of these two groups in website use can be completed, the final step will be universal expansion.”

Xiong Xiaoge asked again: "The ecology of your school network is the campus content ecology. If you introduce office white-collar workers, can it still maintain its appeal? The national population is even more complex and diverse. Can a fragmented website retain users?"

"This is a huge challenge for the website, but different groups are not only fragmented, but also attractive. How to make the attraction greater than the sense of fragmentation is the key to ultimate success." Wang Xing said solemnly.

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said: "Mr. Wang, are you and your team confident in meeting such a challenge?"

Wang Xing's flow was stuck.

He has confidence in himself, but his team... He really can't boast unconscionably at this time, and Mr. Fang's words of "immature team" are still ringing in his mind.

At this time, Fang Zhuo interjected: "So, they need the guidance of excellent investors. I am not convinced by any domestic investors, so I am convinced by Mr. Xiong."

"Don't bullshit..." Xiong Xiaoge's voice echoed in the conference room.

Fang Zhuo turned around and said, "Disconnect it. It's stuck. The conference system has an old problem."

At this moment, Wang Fengyi from Shenxin Science and Technology Co., Ltd. arrived belatedly.

He walked into the conference room skillfully, sat next to Mr. Fang, and asked, "How was it? Where were we talking about?"

"Talking about how to deal with the Penguin competitor." Fang Zhuo glanced at Wang Xing.

Wang Xing was silent again.

If he could handle it he wouldn't be here.

Is that what humans can handle?

Wang Xing suddenly had an idea: "Penguin is a very threatening competitor. In order to deal with it, the school network found Mr. Fang. This is the most feasible method after our discussion. The number of other users and the campus ecology are secondary. "

Mr. Fang is no longer a human being today, Jiutian Xuannan has descended into the mortal world.

I signed up for our school network and wanted to have a fight with Penguin.

Fang Zhuo laughed.

Wang Fengyi nodded repeatedly: "Okay, let's work for Penguin, right? Count me as the Penguin shareholder."

Fang Zhuo stopped laughing and suddenly said: "Oh yes, you Shenxin Technology is still a shareholder of Penguin, can you do it? Brother Wang, can you do it?"

Only then did Wang Xing realize that there was such a relationship.

"There's nothing wrong with it. I, Wang Fengyi, have never missed it with my investment vision." Wang Fengyi said resolutely, "The school network has a future, I said so."

Fang Zhuo nodded and said to Wang Xing: "This is the confidence that excellent investors can bring to our entrepreneurs. It is extremely valuable confidence."

Wang Xing felt the same way. Seeing Mr. Wang Fengyi's determination, his heart was suddenly filled with fighting spirit and the gloom was swept away.