Chapter 776: Chapter 520 I Enter the Game Alone
Short video platforms, once they really take off, Cheng Zhu could support Eleme with traffic just like Tencent does.
Bubble tea as the top category along with QQ products, plus building a social platform… do you think I’m qualified to participate in the financing?
Admittedly, whether his short video platform will be a flop upon launch or truly take off is still an unknown.
These days, there are plenty of people getting into the platform business.
Moreover, short videos aren’t being given particular priority right now, not to a high degree at least.
But your Series F financing is in August, isn’t there still some time?
——Let’s just wait and see.
When Zhang Xuhao left the office building, he still had that half-empty bottle of Coke in his hand.
The Coke was no longer chilled at all.
Confused by Cheng Zhu, he sat in the business van and, out of habit, took a sip of Coke before setting it on the cup holder.
He felt it was tasteless!
After returning to his hotel, Zhang Xuhao entered his room, undid his tie from his shirt, casually threw it onto a chair, and then slouched on the sofa in an unmannerly way.
As the founder of Eleme, he naturally had a say in the Series F financing.
But the problem was that the backers behind him were too powerful.
“I don’t mean I can’t make decisions, I just want to hear everyone’s opinions!”
Brother Hao had to admit, he was a little tempted in Cheng Zhu’s office.
Because what Cheng Zhu could offer was… all very tangible!
After all, Eleme is a team of students, recently everyone has been exhausted, fueled by nothing but passion!
Zhang Xuhao himself could hardly sleep a few hours each day, always forcibly energizing himself and others.
Tencent Daddy is impressive, right? The traffic they can offer is described as “sky-high,” right?
But traffic is just traffic, it still needs to be converted.
This involves a whole series of work.
But with Cheng Zhu, it’s totally different, Eleme would not need to do anything.
He joins forcefully, and your market share in two categories just shoots to first!
Saves time, effort, and hassle…
With this thought, he decided to first contact Zhang Tao from Dianping and the folks from Red Mountain Capital.
He felt that neither of these two would object, especially Brother Tao.
Meituan and Dianping seem to be locked in a life-and-death struggle, officially in the final round.
He definitely wouldn’t want Cheng Zhu to join Meituan.
Sure enough, after he talked on the phone with Zhang Tao and mentioned the situation, Zhang Tao immediately said, “I’ll fly to Hang City tomorrow to meet with Cheng Zhu with you.”
Besides, he also suggested, “Set up a video conference later, pull Red Mountain and Tencent in, let’s discuss this together.”
“I can tell you my personal stance right now, I think it’s okay.”
On the other side, inside Cheng Zhu’s office.
Shen Qingning was sitting across from him, watching him typing on his phone with a serious, focused expression as if he’s discussing something important.
But in fact, Cheng Zhu was chatting with Yiyi and Chen Jieyu.
After replying to a WeChat message, he frowned, put the phone down.
Then, the jerk finally looked up at Ningning and asked, “What’s wrong, staring at me like that.”
“Nothing, I’m just a bit curious about your real intentions,” she said.
“Real intentions?” Cheng Zhu chuckled, “My real intention is to acquire a stake in Eleme, this is very important to me.”
He explained, “First, looking at the current situation of Eleme, getting in at the Series F financing round is a sure-win deal.”
He was very clear about this in his mind.
Even if the course of events followed the trajectory of his former life, where Eleme indeed faltered, Cheng Zhu could make money when Alibaba acquired Eleme in full.
“Secondly, my short video platform will have a ‘local services’ section in the future, and I need to form in-depth partnerships with some platforms.”
“Not just a food delivery platform like Eleme, but group-buying platforms as well,” Cheng Zhu responded.
This made Shen Qingning even more surprised, “So, are you actually thinking about investing in Dianping?”
“No, I haven’t really decided on that yet,” Cheng Zhu shook his head.
“Then you can’t possibly be thinking about investing in Meituan, there are no other choices left for group-buying, right?” Shen Qingning was puzzled.
“Of course, Meituan is out of the question, I know there’s no chance of such cooperation with Wang Xin, which is why I chose Zhang Xuhao,” Cheng Zhu spoke and added, “Look, this kind of insider talk, I’m only telling you, okay?”
Shen Qingning looked at him and responded with the pride of a young lady, “I know, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I’m not worried about you telling,” Cheng Zhu said indifferently, shrugging.
He was used to her proud, aloof attitude; just don’t take what she says too seriously.
Leaning back in his chair, in a relaxed posture, he said, “Wang Xin has big ambitions, and a much higher profile than Zhang Xuhao.”
“In his planning, Meituan is to combine group buying and delivery in one, aiming to become a domestic internet giant.”
“He’s the sort of person not even Alibaba can control.”
“Of course, he wouldn’t accept someone like me, a merchant of bubble tea and QQ products, wanting to invest at such a critical stage of the ‘food delivery war,’ thinking highly of himself and looking for opportunities.”
“In his eyes, the platform will eventually be the ‘Daddy’ of merchants; it’s only because the situation is special right now that so many subsidies are given and they’re begging merchants to join,” Cheng Zhu explained.