241 It’s Enough to Go Myself
Wei Kai sat in the office, face to face with several other young partners, looking at each other speechlessly.
After a long silence, he said, “That Mr. Wang has arrived and will be here soon.”
Another partner asked, “Aren’t we going to the airport to pick him up?”
Wei Kai shook his head. “He said no need, he doesn’t care about superficial things. Organize the company’s data well, he said he wants to see that.”
A partner looked worried. “Our data is so miserable, and he still wants to see it?”
Another partner doubted, “That Mr. Wang looks too young, feels younger than us. Is he really reliable?”
Wei Kai: “He gave us a hundred thousand without interest. Do you think he’s reliable?”
The office fell silent instantly.
“Isn’t that Mr. Wang from Penguin’s investment department? It’s useless if he’s the only one optimistic about us. He has to be able to persuade the higher-ups within Penguin…”
“Penguin is a big company with a big business. Would they look at us?”
Seeing the two partners arguing, Wei Kai slapped the table and said, “Rest, everyone. The problem now is whether we can persuade Mr. Wang. In the past two months, we have visited quite a few investment institutions. What kind of look did they give us? If Mr. Wang loses confidence in us this time, let alone Penguin, it would be more straightforward for us to disband directly.”
Recalling the experiences of this period, Wei Kai really didn’t dare to hold too much hope. Those angel investors were not real angels. Their poisonous tongues without a single dirty word, hitting the nail on the head and making it hard to refute, were really too ruthless.
‘Have you really thought about how to make a profit? Have you considered the business model?’ This was relatively straightforward but still polite.
‘Student, did you walk into the wrong door? This is venture capital, not a talent show. What dreams are you talking about?’ This was more ruthless.
As for more face-slapping ones, there weren’t any. After all, they were all out to do business projects, so there was no need to speak too absolutely like hooligans. But Wei Kai had really seen a lot of contemptuous looks and cold attitudes.
In contrast, Wang Heng’s kindness and friendliness back then naturally seemed precious.
**
When Wang Heng arrived downstairs at the ofo office, Wei Kai had been waiting there for a long time.
“Sorry, Brother Wang,” Wei Kai smiled cautiously and bowed, “You came all the way here, and I didn’t even pick you up…”
Wang Heng waved his hand. “No need. Let’s get straight to the point. How much money do you have left?”
Wei Kai lowered his head instantly, seemingly embarrassed to say.
Wang Heng: “I can probably guess. No need to hide it.”
Wei Kai was silent for a long time, then suddenly sighed. “To be honest, I’m afraid you can’t guess. In our account, there is almost exactly one hundred thousand left.”
This answer surprised Wang Heng slightly. After all, in his impression, before ofo really started doing shared bikes, it seemed to have been in a desperate situation with only a few hundred yuan left in the account.
So he asked, “Is this hundred thousand not enough for you to continue supporting?”
Wei Kai smiled bitterly. “It’s not impossible to force it, but at most we can organize two more cycling projects. The two projects last month both lost money, and quite a lot. If this last hundred thousand is used up and not replenished, how can we pay you back?”
Wang Heng looked at this young entrepreneur, the pride of the shared bike industry in the first timeline, and then recalled the ending of ofo owing deposits to countless people in a mess. For a moment, he felt a little emotional. Just because he didn’t want to default on that hundred thousand yuan debt, this guy didn’t want to do it anymore?
An entrepreneur who hasn’t left the novice village yet is really adorably naive.
“Have you ever thought about…” Wang Heng considered his words, “changing your thinking?”
Wei Kai: “What thinking?”
Wang Heng: “The cycling project indeed has very limited prospects and no good profit model. Organizing it in school is okay, but it’s too difficult to really run a company. Think carefully, for most people, what is more needed?”
Wei Kai frowned. “Brother Wang, you mean, let me re-analyze the market pain points?”
Wang Heng: “Yes, analyze it. Regarding bicycles, what are everyone’s needs?”
At this time, the two had already walked to the door of the office. Wei Kai pondered silently, led Wang Heng into the conference room, and closed the door.
Sitting across the table, Wei Kai said, “I understand what you mean, Brother Wang. Market pain points are the rigid needs of most people. But in this case, there is even less need for us to do cycling. This project doesn’t seem rigid at all now.”
Wang Heng smiled. “But you can become rigid.”
Wei Kai: “?”
Wang Heng: “Think about it. What are everyone’s rigid needs? Can you use bicycles to meet everyone’s needs?”
Meeting that meaningful gaze, Wei Kai thought hard and finally had a flash of inspiration.
“I understand what you mean. Cycling is not a rigid need, but travel is! Everyone needs bicycles, but too many bicycles are stolen, and buying one is not easy to keep in the dorm…”
Seeing Wei Kai finally enlightened, Wang Heng couldn’t help but feel gratified. “Then make a new plan. Let me see it when it’s done. If it’s okay, I’ll invest.”
Wei Kai couldn’t help asking, “You invest? Wait, don’t you need to seek the opinion of Penguin’s investment department?”
Wang Heng shook his head. “No need for them. I have money in my hand.”
**
One day later, Wang Heng came to the ofo office again, sat in the conference room, facing all the partners—it sounded grand, but actually there were only six including Wei Kai.
These six people sat on one side of the conference room, and Wang Heng sat alone on the other side. The side with more people was obviously more apprehensive, with caution in their expressions and eyes.
Wang Heng finished reading the plan they rushed out overnight and pondered for two minutes.
In these two minutes, the six people didn’t even dare to breathe loudly, and could only wait quietly and obediently.
Finally, Wang Heng showed a satisfied smile. “This shared bike plan, the profit model makes sense in principle. If everything goes well, it can expand rapidly in the early stage, and start making profits after occupying first and second-tier cities in the middle and late stages.”
While saying this, he silently added in his heart—unfortunately, the premise for profitability is not having too many competitors and not starting a money-burning war. However, as long as capital enters the market and starts a price war, profitability is a fantasy.
Of course, for many things, as long as hot money pours in, the originally perfect blueprint will collapse. And even if Wang Heng is a reborn person, there is nothing he can change. It’s nothing more than helping the fledgling ofo, taking some shares, and selling them for a good price in the future.
“I can put up 600,000 first, plus the 100,000 given to you before, for 20% of the shares. Use this money to roll out shared bikes in major universities in the Imperial Capital. What do you think?”
Taking shares that would be worth hundreds of millions in the future at such a low price, Wang Heng was still a little uneasy. But as soon as his voice fell, he saw surprise on the faces of the six people across the table.
Wei Kai couldn’t help standing up. “No problem!”
