After entering the second half of 97, Zhang Chen obviously felt that the enthusiasm of capital for the Internet was much higher.

The Nasdaq index has soared, from 1285 points at the beginning of the year to 1626 points in just eight months now.

The Nasdaq rose by nearly 30%!

It's hard to say whether the frenzy of the stock market spurred VCs, or whether the myth of wealth made the Nasdaq more and more irrational. A positive cycle has been formed between the two, and under the influence of each other, the Internet industry has given birth to millionaires, multimillionaires, and even billionaires.

A large number of projects that no one cared about a year or two ago are surrounded by red-eyed venture capitalists, who are looking like the next "Jerry Young", the next "Bill Gates", the next "Mark Anderson", the next "Steve Case"... of people are waving their money, hoping that they will accept their investment and get a piece of the pie in this gluttonous feast.

And, of course, the next "Zack Chang".

Jay Walker is the entrepreneur who is sought after by venture capitalists as the next "Jeff Bezos", from the current immature venture capital theory analysis, Jay Walker has stronger investment value than Jeff Bezos, after all, as a serial entrepreneur, it is not the first time he has proven himself.

In the venture capital industry, most of the time it is a grandfather, but if others also fancy the project you like, and you have red eyes to invest at any cost, you will become a grandson in an instant.

Zhang Chen also began to experience in a real sense the feeling of those venture capital bigwigs chasing unicorns in later generations.

Jay Walker didn't believe Zhang Chen's words, which every investor would tell him, so he just said "oh?"

Zhang Chen looked at his expression and just smiled slightly: "The actual economic principle behind your self-pricing system is actually an extended interpretation of the principle of the relationship between price and value in economics - the value of products and the use value can be reflected through price. ”

"The closer the product is to the expiration date, the less valuable it will be, and theoretically when the expiration date is reached, the use value of the product will become zero. Specific to the airline or hotel industry, the closer to boarding or check-in, the smaller the actual value of airfares and hotel rooms, and once the plane takes off or the room is vacant for more than 24 o'clock at night, its use value will be zero. This part was originally the sunk cost of hotels and airlines, and Priceline combined the needs of both parties through the Internet to achieve a win-win situation or even a win-win situation. ”

Jay Walker raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. Although this theory is not complicated, it is still very rare for Zhang Chen to be able to grasp the core of this system so quickly.

Zhang Chen paused and continued: "

"Priceline uses a customer pricing system, which is essentially a competitive differentiator. I have to say that your strategy is very clever, avoiding the 'peak season' which is a highly competitive hotel and air ticket booking market, and choosing to open up an 'off-season' market where no competitors have yet appeared, which is very gimmicky for capital. ”

Jay Walker couldn't help but feel complacent, "Yes, but I need to say that not only do I have no competitors now, but I will not have one in the future, because I have patented the operating model of the 'self-pricing system'." Twenty years from now, no competitor will be able to enter this market without Priceline's permission. ”

Zhang Chen nodded: "Yes, it's very gimmicky." Zhang Chen paused, "But it's just a gimmick." ”

Jay Walker couldn't help but be stunned, and then laughed a little, all he had heard in the past two months was chasing, and some worried investors just euphemistically expressed that they didn't know how big the market was, and hoped that he could add more information. It is completely gimmicky to point out self-pricing like Zhang Chen, and he has not encountered any of them.

What to do? Sensationalism?

Jay Walker smiled and shook his head: "In this case, it seems that we don't need to continue talking, I still have a few institutions to meet later, so I will leave first." ”

Zhang Chen smiled faintly: "Jay, do you think I'm deliberately suppressing Priceline?"

Jay Walker raised an eyebrow and said, "Isn't it?"

Zhang Chen chuckled: "Do you think that this part of the market resources that can be applied to the self-pricing system is at least 15 billion US dollars?"

Jay Walker nodded: "It's just a conservative estimate. ”

Zhang Chen held the Wantejia Romeo given by Su Zhuohui in his hand, and wrote and drew on the paper: "In your current expectations, Priceline will monopolize this market. And as the hotel industry and airlines continue to expand, that market will also get bigger, right?"

Jay Walker blinked, "Of course. ”

Zhang Chen showed a confident smile, "You are wrong. ”

"Wrong?" Jay Walker smirked, "Zack, don't you think the global hotel and airline market won't expand?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "Of course it will be expanded, and this scale may be expanded several times." I'm referring to the fact that the market for which your 'customer pricing system' applies is not expanding, and it is probably going to shrink. ”

Jay Walker smiled dumbly, how is it possible? The ratio of vacant rooms in hotels to spare airline tickets is certain, and as long as hotels and the airline industry continue to develop, this market will also expand, this is common sense.

Jay Walker couldn't help but feel a little more contempt for Zhang Chen in his heart, what a genius boy, hehe, but Erer.

Zhang Chen ignored Jay Walker's expression: "You only pay attention to the changes in the overall market size, but ignore the impact of channel innovation brought about by technological progress on the travel service industry. ”

"I won't say much about the actual use of the customer pricing system, but I'll just mention one point: your current estimate of the 'off-season' market is just the sunk cost that hotels and airlines will have to pay if the channels are not developed at present. But one day, when online hotel booking and ticket booking become widespread, all customers will be able to see the number of available rooms in the hotel and the number of airline tickets remaining in real time. Then the vacancy rate of hotels and the vacancy rate of airlines will drop rapidly, and at that time, will this market still be so big?"

Jay Walker's face changed dramatically, "Impossible!"

Zhang Chen tilted his head and said strangely: "What is impossible? Is it impossible to book hotels and air tickets online, or is it impossible for customers to see room and ticket information in real time? If it is the latter, I believe that this is just a simple technical problem that can be solved in two or three years." If you think it's impossible, why would you want to do Priceline? That's what your company does?"

(End of chapter)