As we all know, Cheng Wei is from Alibaba. He was Alibaba's youngest regional manager. In 2011, he was promoted to Deputy General Manager of Alipay's B2C Division. Move from salesperson to product manager. As a result, he accumulated a lot of experience and resigned in 2012 to found Didi.

Cheng Wei invested 100,000 yuan when he founded Didi, and Wang Gang, who also came from Alibaba, invested 700,000 yuan to establish the company together. The two worked together at Alibaba for many years and left in 2012. Therefore, it is okay to call Wang Gang an investor or a co-founder of Didi.

Why did Didi start in the capital instead of Hangzhou or the Magic City?

Just because Wang Gang used to be in charge of the B2B Beijing Region. Its nickname within Ali is "Lao Dan". Very discerning for investment. Before Ali went public, he had acquired Alibaba's original shares and made a lot of money. This matter was later stopped by Ma Yun.

In 2013, Didi engaged in Series B financing, Cheng Wei and Wang Gang met with Pony Ma, and the two agreed that this round of financing could not take Tencent's money, at least not let Tencent lead the investment. Because they both thought they were Ali's men.

In fact, at that time, Ali had already invested in Didi's competitor "Kuaid".

As a result, the conditions given by Brother Ma were too generous, and the two of them agreed. Didi's B round of financing, Tencent's exclusive investment of $15 million. When he returned to Hangzhou, Wang Gang wanted to go to Jack Horse to play cards again, but Jack Horse had disappeared from him and didn't take him to play.

It's 2016. In the financing in June this year, Ali won in Didi's financing. Tencent has been sidelined as Didi's largest outside shareholder. And Ali replaced Didi with a Gaode map. As for Tencent Map, where to play.

Wang Gang returned to Hangzhou, and he could play cards with Jack Ma and Xie Shihuang again.

Therefore, don't look at Liu Qing's high-profile claim later, Didi is the only company that has received BAT investment, but in fact, there is still a difference between inside and outside.

At this moment, Wang Gang was in Hangzhou and called his old friend Cheng Wei directly, "Old Cheng, Uber directly burned 100 million yuan in Hangzhou yesterday." What the hell!"

Cheng Wei squinted his eyes and said calmly: "How much do you charge and how much do you give away like Yidao?"

Wang Gang said: "That's not as blind as Yi Dao." Their activity in Hangzhou is to charge 100 and get 20 free, and users enjoy 6% off every 3 times. The percentage of the commission given to the driver has been reduced to 8%. Lao Cheng, you hurry up and understand the situation. On their APP, there is a national unification campaign. ”

Don't doubt Ali's strength in Hangzhou. Wang Gang wanted to know about Uber's specific discount plan in Hangzhou, which was not a problem at all.

Although Wang Gang is a co-founder, he didn't care about Didi's usual affairs from the beginning. His positioning is to make investors. So, he only understands what he is exposed to. Where Didi's internal processes go, he doesn't know.

Cheng Wei took a breath softly, "This subsidy is ruthless enough." I'll get to know the situation. Wang, I'll hang up first. ”

Since 2015, Didi has been fighting with Uber for a long time on subsidies, so as the helmsman of Didi, Cheng Wei is very clear about Uber's shortcomings.

First, Uber has fewer employees on the team than Didi. This is true even with the addition of interns. Therefore, many things will be flawed.

Second, Uber's software code modification rights are in Silicon Valley. As a result, Uber's user experience is not as good as Didi's. This is an old problem with foreign investment. At that time, Microsoft's msn beat QQ in various ways, but the user experience was that it couldn't do QQ, and it was finally killed.

Third, Uber's tactics are a bit like wolf pack tactics. One city, one team. Flexible and very responsive. However, it is difficult for Uber to achieve regional and national coordination and unified preferential activities.

Therefore, the old man Wang Gang called him, and what he valued most was the words "national reunification activities". It doesn't matter how many promotions there are. It is nothing more than wooing the passengers with one hand and the driver with the other.

Who is afraid of the price war!

Cheng Wei picked up the phone on the desk, dialed it out, and said in a deep voice: "Liu, sort out the information about Uber's national discount activities this time, and bring it to me in the afternoon." ”

"Okay, Mr. Cheng"

...

...

Deep City. The morning sun shone from the side of the high Nanyou Building, sprinkling a large shadow. But in August in the deep city, don't think about the cold. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the sun is already blazing and cool.

Leng Qing walked out of the peasant village with his handbag and walked along the flow of people to the bus stop. She works at Vanke headquarters and is responsible for drawing design.

Mornings are usually tight. It just so happened that she was five minutes late for going out today, and it was definitely too late to take the subway to the company. Turn on your phone to request a ride. She usually uses Uber. On a slightly longer distance, Uber is more cost-effective than Didi.

As soon as I opened Uber's app, a prompt popped up: "Thank you for choosing Uber." New and existing users will have three chances to enjoy 6% off each during this promotion period. Hurry up and use it. ”

Leng Qing lifted his glasses and placed an order with the software, but the map is still not easy to use as always.

In less than ten seconds, it shows that there is a driver taking the order. It is less than 1,000 meters from the bus stop where she is.

"Hey, beauty, you're using Uber too? Do you want to carpool together? I'll go to Nanshan Science and Technology Park. ”

Leng Qingzheng waited anxiously, calculating the time to go to the company, and the map showed that the car was blocked at the traffic light. A boy next to him came over to talk to him and directly gave him a "triple hit", "No, thank you." I've got something. ”

As a beauty, you will encounter all kinds of pick-ups at the bus stop, and the excuses are all kinds of strange. The most exaggerated time she encountered was when an uncle came down from a Mercedes to ask her for directions.

The boy took two steps back. There are many white-collar workers who are working on the platform. This guy estimates that he has read too much advertorials on the Internet. Such a delicate beauty is something you can easily talk to?

After a while, a white Honda arrived. Leng Qing skillfully checked the license plate and sat in the back row Zheng

Dealing with the driver's small talk, he arrived downstairs at Vanke's headquarters twenty minutes later. She squeezed directly on WeChat, "Oh..."

It's only 16 yuan in total, which is really 6% off!

Leng Qing walked into the building quickly, and found a colleague in the elevator discussing Uber's big discount, and smiled knowingly. She just used it. These taxi-hailing companies are good at fighting, and they are cheaper consumers.

This scene is happening in major cities all the time. This time, Uber has launched a large number of discounts, and the first to feel the discount during the week are white-collar workers who go to work.

...

...

On August 15, Uber took the lead in launching a nationwide subsidy war, which was even more fierce than it was in March. Didi reacted quickly after the first and began to follow up on subsidies in major cities.

Major media quickly followed up. Comment articles have been published on official Weibo and headlines on the Internet. Big V followed and participated.

The news that Uber had received a $450 million bank investment quickly broke.

Of course, the news of Uber and Didi can only rank third. The first place is still the case of Wang Baobao and Ma Jinlian, who are at the top of the list. In short, Ma Jinlian's various demons and actions have made the people of the whole country dumbfounded.

It's just refreshing the bottom line of morality! What Ma Jinlian did was put on hold in ancient times, and he was directly going to dip in the pig cage. Wang Baobao was caught red-handed, but this evidence could not be legally admitted. This feeling of powerlessness is infuriating.

The second place search is related to the Olympic Games. Olympians frequently report good news.

I really don't understand, China is still in second place in terms of gold medals, and has not yet surpassed the United States, so why do some people start to talk about the inadequacy of the national system everywhere? Standing first in the world, can't we pretend to be nonsense again?

On Thursday morning, Uber's regional managers and senior executives from the headquarters held a video conference together to share their results and summarize the three experiences.

Uber's chairman, Qiao Shuang, sat at the center of the conference room, next to Liu Zhen, who received $25 million worth of stock incentives. Her role remains the same, but with a new term: chief operating officer.

The career plan is obvious: as long as she does a good job, the next step is to be promoted to president of Uber. It's exactly the same as Liu Qing in Didi. As for whether she can become CEO, it depends on the results of her competition with several regional managers.

Then, the executives in the conference room also have the technical director, financial director, and human resources director of Uber's headquarters.

Outside of the magic capital, the regional managers who came in by video connection were Zhang Yanqi, the manager of the western region, Kang Xi, the manager of the northern district, Wang Ying, the general manager of the central district, and Luo Gang, the general manager of the southern region.

Among them, Kang Xi, the manager of the North District, was promoted by the firing line. The remaining three were former Uber executives and regional managers who report directly to Kalanick. Their positions as general managers of Rongcheng, Hangzhou, and Shencheng were all removed.

Recommend your respective cadre.

These three people, plus Liu Zhen, are full of contradictions with each other. Uber's CEO candidate has something to do with this.

As a result, Kalanick himself served as the CEO of China. His management method is very simple, one will favor this one, and the other will favor that one, maintaining the balance between several people.

Qiao Shuang looked at the picture on the video conference, plus herself, there were 9 people in total. This is the entire executive team at Uber. The name of the internal document is "Strategy Implementation Committee".

Of course, this was not her idea, but the idea of Mr. Jing.

"Let's start the meeting. First of all, Mr. Liu introduced the situation of the three subsidy wars. ”

Liu Zhen flipped through the folder, "Thank you, Mr. Qiao." Colleagues, let me start by introducing our situation. Since August 15, we have started subsidy activities in 18 medium and large cities across the country. Core cities such as Rongcheng, Jinling, Hangcheng, Shencheng, Beijing, Modu, and Jiaozhou, all of which burned 100 million.

I have posted the data to the group of the Strategy Executive Committee, and you can now view it on your mobile phone.

Although it burns money, the results are also obvious. Uber's market share in major cities has skyrocketed. The basic judgment is: Shenzhou Youche and Yidao will die. We and Didi will be the only ones left in the market. ”

"Didi has already reacted before, and is also increasing investment. In the current situation, they have an overall advantage, but they are overtaken by us in some cities. For example: Rongcheng, Jinling, Hangzhou. Next, it's an uphill battle. ”

Zhang Yanqi asked: "Mr. Qiao, counting the consumption of about 20 million per medium-sized city. Roughly calculated, we will burn nearly 920 million yuan. We have enough money on our books to burn four or five. How is Mr. Jing's financing?"

Qiao Shuang smiled slightly and maintained her demeanor: "It's not a big problem. Mr. Jing stressed to me that he promised that there would be no problems with the funds. ”

Zhang Yanqi said: "Then I have no problem." I don't dare to fight this battle in other regions. I guarantee that the West District is centered on Rongcheng, and all the medium-sized cities with a population of one million in the entire southwest region are left."

Wang Ying put down the pen and said pungently: "What does Mr. Zhang mean by this? Yes, Rongcheng is currently our benchmark city for Uber, but the newly expanded Jinling in our central district is not bad." On the first anniversary of entering Jinling, I surpassed Didi.

Mr. Qiao, as long as the funds are sufficient, I guarantee that the medium-sized cities under my jurisdiction and Didi will share the market equally. If I can't do it, I quit!"

Luo Gang then spoke, "Mr. Qiao, the central district that Mr. Wang is responsible for is in the hinterland of Didi's shareholder Ali, and our southern district is also in the hinterland of Tencent." I am asking for financial reinforcements. As long as you throw money at it, what market share can't be gained?"

This is a bit of a fire.

Liu Zhen frowned, "Everyone, this is not the first time we have experienced the subsidy war. Burning money has stages and is not sustainable. The most important task now is not how much market share to grab, but to strengthen team building and fight a protracted battle.

The human resources side asked to recruit enough interns to cope with the impact of Didi. The structure of the headquarters will also be adjusted one after another, with more detailed responsibilities and room for promotion. ”

The four of them argued with each other, which roughly meant: the difference between radical expansion and steady progress.

The financial, human resources, and technical directors who had just been promoted and appointed by Qiao Shuang, as well as Kang Xi, who was slightly less qualified, couldn't interject.

Qiao Shuang sighed in her heart, she was also difficult to do as the chairman, and said, "Vote on it! She held up her hand.

Following Qiao Shuang was four votes.

Liu Zhen also raised his hand. That's what she stands for. Before the meeting, she communicated with Qiao Shuang. As for burning money, it is easy to burn $1.5 billion in the first half of the year, but what is the current situation?

Zhang Yanqi, Wang Ying, and Luo Gang were all dumbfounded.

Obviously, in the magic capital, Liu Zhen, who had met and communicated directly with Mr. Jing and Mr. Qiao, had the upper hand in the competition with them.

They were all routed. Liu Zhen rushed to kill in the front, and Qiao always made the final decision in the back!

Under the current decision-making mechanism, even if they are not satisfied with Qiao Shuang, a "novice", they have to admit it unless they are dissatisfied with the charter of the "Strategy Executive Committee".

At the end of the video conference, the Strategy Executive Committee sent an email to all staff in the office system.

In the price competition with Didi, Uber has an advantage in some cities. However, the overall strategy is still to steadily promote market cannibalization, team building, and user experience. Be prepared for a protracted battle with Didi.

The ultimate victory is ours!

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...

Uber's internal email appeared on the phone of the Didi supervisor Zheng that night

This internal email is CC to all staff. With 1,800 employees at Uber, it's easy for news to leak. Didi can directly inquire with a third-party partner to know the content.

Otherwise, how does Uber follow up on Didi's taxi subsidy plan every time?

Capital

Cheng Wei chatted with Liu Qing in a tavern among the high-rise buildings in the central business district. The night breeze is gentle.

The news came up layer by layer, and they had just had a meeting. Of course, Didi's side is in response! The industry boss wants to retreat and has no way out. As for the second and eldest fighting, the third and fourth in the industry were killed, so who is to blame?

The seating area outside the tavern on the fifth floor has a view of the shopping mall and the bright night view of the city.

Cheng Wei shook his wine glass, drank a cocktail, and said, "Jean, I'm going to trouble you running around again." ”

Compared with Liu Zhen, who is in Uber's public relations, interviews, and fire-fighting everywhere, Liu Qing's main responsibility at Didi is financing. Liu Qing, who comes from Goldman Sachs, a world-renowned investment bank, has a good capital background.

According to Didi's shareholders, they can't even type it with a piece of A4 paper. Core shareholders. Therefore, as Liu Zhen brings in more and more funds, she has more and more power in Didi.

Now Didi issues internal and external documents, which are generally co-signed by Cheng Wei and Liu Qing. It's like a co-CEO and a big two.

Liu Qing shook his head with a smile, took a sip of beer, and said calmly: "This is my duty." "She has no fear of the great war that has already begun. Then he said: "Lao Cheng, how about you and us get in touch with the Phoenix Fund?"

Cheng Wei said with reservations: "Will it be useless?" Although this Mr. Jing and the Phoenix Fund are both in the capital. We haven't met him yet. ”

Liu Qing said: "I have a Harvard graduate sister at Goldman Sachs, the daughter of the Guo family in Malaysia. Jing Gao is currently staying at the Shangri-La Hotel in the deep city, and it is very suitable for her to come forward to chat with Jing Gao. It is nothing more than us to raise the price of mergers and acquisitions. Now that the money is burning like this, the financiers of both Didi and Uber can't stand it. ”

Cheng Wei nodded and said, "Then it would be best for the school to negotiate and merge them." ”