Shenzhen City, Tencent Headquarters.
Xiao Ma Ge, feeling a mix of anger and embarrassment, slammed today's Shenzhen Daily onto the table.
"He was prepared long ago, having anticipated our actions. Whether it's the media or the legal team, they've probably been waiting for who knows how long."
"Now, various internet and traditional media across the country are criticizing us fiercely. What's most infuriating is that even though we're copying Xiaonei.com, the firepower is mostly directed at us."
The numerous executives in the meeting room were silent and dared not speak.
They thought, this Chen Pingjiang is truly despicable, completely lacking in "wude" (martial ethics).
He packaged himself as a victimized vulnerable group, but in reality, he's quite cunning.
Tencent's reputation hasn't been great these past few years anyway, and Chen Pingjiang's move stirred up consumers' memories, creating a rebellious sentiment towards both Tencent and Xiaonei.com.
This feeling is somewhat similar to the later controversy between Mr. Zong and Zhong Shanshan.
Consumers have seen and remembered it, and it's not something Tencent can easily explain away with a few words, especially given its "repeated offenses."
Liu Chiping nodded,
"When I met Chen Pingjiang, I could tell he wasn't someone easy to deal with; I've never seen anyone like that at such a young age. Now that the matter has come out, we still need to quickly suppress the heat of the entire incident and divert consumers' attention."
At this moment, someone suggested,
"How about acquiring Kaixin.com? Firstly, the game 'Friends for Sale' is decent enough to play, at least it's very different from 'Parking Wars' and can attract some users who aren't interested in 'Parking Wars.'
Secondly, our QQ Alumni has a development cycle of some time, so acquiring Kaixin.com now would perfectly complement our product line. Thirdly, it could also appropriately divert consumer attention and alleviate public pressure."
Xiao Ma Ge's eyes lit up,
"That's a good suggestion. If we can acquire it, our SNS layout will indeed be complete. Although the current data for 'Friends for Sale' is ordinary, with our massive user base supporting it, the game's popularity can still rise."
Liu Chiping frowned,
"I've asked acquaintances about Cheng Binghao; he previously rejected the CTO position at Sina, insisting on leaving with a few people to start his own business. I'm afraid a full acquisition might not be very realistic."
"Try for full ownership, failing that, seek controlling interest, and if all else fails, take a stake."
.........
Cheng Binghao's days were clearly not easy.
Although 'Friends for Sale' was launched, it also exposed him, much like the law of the jungle.
'Friends for Sale' didn't achieve the imagined good results upon launch, mainly because the competition among the giants was truly too fierce at this time; his small company couldn't withstand it.
In his previous life, he could have entered the white-collar user market under the banner of being the first domestic social game, but now that had already been done by Renren.com.
Kaixin.com's disruption caused annoyance to Xiaonei.com, Renren.com, and Tencent alike, and everyone unanimously decided to first kick this guy out.
Acquisition efforts targeting Kaixin.com immediately commenced!
Just as Liu Chiping flew to BJ, Chen Yizhou of Xiaonei.com also made his move.
Xiaonei.com was currently wealthy and financially powerful, and coupled with Chen Yizhou's usual preference for solving problems through acquisitions, he naturally also set his sights on Kaixin.com.
If he could really acquire it, with Xiaonei.com and Kaixin.com combining forces, he felt he could still put up a fight.
Chen Pingjiang also noticed this.
In fact, unless absolutely necessary, he didn't really want to play his trump card, using the old trick of a genuine and fake Kaixin.com to deal with opponents.
Because he was still young, doing so would somewhat harm his character and reputation.
Chen Pingjiang called Guan Yifeng and asked him to schedule a meeting with Cheng Binghao.
At this time, Cheng Binghao was indeed planning to start his Series A financing, because the three million startup funds he brought were almost used up.
To avoid being manipulated by investors when he was desperate for money, he was currently hosting various investment institutions.
The first person to meet with Cheng Binghao was Chen Yizhou from the same city.
However, their discussion was not smooth.
Chen Yizhou's goal was acquisition, even offering an exorbitant price of ten million RMB.
Simply acquiring some shares did not fit Chen Yizhou's style, nor did it align with the interests of Xiaonei.com.
That would be equivalent to nurturing a competitor to challenge Xiaonei.com.
Faced with Cheng Binghao's refusal, Chen Yizhou was helpless.
After returning to the company, Chen Yizhou keenly noticed that Kaixin.com's domain name seemed to have a problem.
"It's actually kaixin001.com, not kaixin.com, and there's no kaixin website launched worldwide right now, so does that mean this domain name is hidden?"
"Interesting."
He queried the domain owner information via WHOIS, but unfortunately, only the domain registrar information, registration date, and DNS information were available.
However, Chen Yizhou discovered that there had been a transaction update for the domain, precisely two months prior, in May.
As for the domain holder information he cared most about, it was set to privacy protection and could not be queried.
For this reason, Chen Yizhou had to contact an intermediary and have them step forward to purchase it.
Consequently, not long after, the intermediary contacted Chen Pingjiang, which left him somewhat amused and exasperated.
The intermediary was quite generous, offering a direct price of 2 million yuan, ten times higher than what Chen Pingjiang paid for the Kaixin.com domain name.
After hanging up, Chen Pingjiang thought for a moment and immediately guessed who the real buyer was.
Fu Zhengjun!
The CEO of 58.com.
After all, in his previous life, that's what the other party did.
"Since Fu Zhengjun is here, Chen Yizhou must not be far behind."
Meanwhile, Liu Chiping, who had traveled north, also met with a rejection.
As expected, Cheng Binghao also rejected Tencent's acquisition offer.
With a heart full of passion, he resigned from an enviable high-paying job to fulfill his dream of successful entrepreneurship.
Having just achieved some results, how could Cheng Binghao bear to sell it off so easily?
Here, one must mention the connection between Kaixin.com and Tencent.
In his previous life, Tencent didn't get involved with Kaixin.com until its Series C round.
Neither party disclosed specific details like investment amount or equity stake, but there were rumors that Tencent invested $100 million.
Due to Tencent's nature as a competitor, Cheng Binghao did not give Tencent any opportunities in the Series A round.
It was the same now; not only full acquisition, but Cheng Binghao didn't even want venture capital.
Chen Pingjiang rushed to a dimly lit residential building in Zhongguancun, where he met the somewhat disheveled Cheng Binghao.
Clearly, this guy hadn't been home for a few days.
Cheng Binghao was unremarkable in appearance, thin and small, wearing glasses.
His first words upon seeing Chen Pingjiang were:
"Welcome, Mr. Chen, I've admired you from afar for a long time."
If Chen Pingjiang and Cheng Binghao stood together, they would be like two poles of humanity.
Chen Pingjiang was a tall man over 1.8 meters, incredibly handsome; Cheng Binghao was the opposite.
Moreover, Cheng Binghao was a full sixteen years older than Chen Pingjiang.
"Which wave of visitors am I?"
Chen Pingjiang asked with a smile.
Cheng Binghao seriously recalled,
"You should be the seventh."
"Chen Yizhou and Liu Chiping have both been here?"
Cheng Binghao paused, a little surprised,
"How did you know it was them?"
Honestly, facing Chen Pingjiang, Cheng Binghao was quite impressed.
To make Renren.com so successful at such a young age, Cheng Binghao saw him as a favored son of heaven.
"That's not hard to guess. Since I'm here, how could they not come?"
Chen Pingjiang continued with a smile,
"With all due respect, everyone now wants to swallow Kaixin.com, both to eliminate a competitor and to complete their own product lines."
Cheng Binghao was amused by Chen Pingjiang's "frankness":
"If Xiaonei.com and Tencent came to me, I could understand, as they are currently in a 'pursuit' role. But I truly didn't expect you to come as well.
Recently, Renren.com has had a huge momentum, 'Parking Wars' continues its rapid success, and by introducing 'Happy Boys,' it penetrated Xiaonei.com's core user base, and even introduced new social concepts.
To be honest, acquiring Kaixin.com wouldn't have as big an impact for you as it would for those two."
It must be said that Cheng Binghao saw things very clearly.
Chen Pingjiang didn't intend to hide it:
"I'm a bit different from them. For me, it's enough to ensure that those two don't get Kaixin.com. As for Kaixin.com itself, honestly, it's insignificant to Renren.com."
Chen Pingjiang's words were a bit arrogant.
Cheng Binghao wanted to retort, but the words caught in his throat, and he had to admit that Chen Pingjiang was speaking the truth.
Cheng Binghao smiled,
"Actually, for Kaixin.com, Tencent is not our direct competitor, nor is Xiaonei.com. Only Renren.com is. After all, our target user group is the white-collar class. Both of them offered good prices, Mr. Chen, what's your price?"
"Me? I'm not as rich as them. One is a leader in China's internet industry, and the other just raised over two billion yuan and is flush with cash. It just so happens that I have what Mr. Cheng wants most in my hand."
Chen Pingjiang took the bottled cola Cheng Binghao handed him, didn't stand on ceremony, opened it, and took a big gulp.
"Are you talking about the kaixin.com domain name?"
"Mr. Cheng is clever,"
Chen Pingjiang praised.
In an instant, Cheng Binghao's expression changed.
He hadn't expected his guess to be accurate.
This is troublesome.
The most desired domain name was actually in the hands of his most direct competitor.
"When I first started Kaixin.com, I asked that American about it. He quoted 200,000 yuan. At the time, I didn't have that much money and planned to buy it later. But when I asked again last time, the other party said it had already been sold, and I never thought it would be in your hands, Mr. Chen."
Cheng Binghao said with a bitter smile.
"Let's be frank, Mr. Chen, what do you want in exchange for this domain name? If it's still an acquisition, then there's no need to talk. Even without kaixin.com, I believe our Kaixin.com can still succeed."
Chen Pingjiang chuckled, unconsciously rotating the bottled cola in his right hand, and said,
"It's good that Mr. Cheng has confidence, but Kaixin.com is actually destined to face a three-pronged attack from Renren.com, Xiaonei.com, and Tencent. After all, nobody wants a spoiler. In fact, if Mr. Cheng agrees to my acquisition terms, one day, I would be willing to hand Renren.com over to you to manage."
Cheng Binghao raised an eyebrow, completely surprised that Chen Pingjiang would say such a thing:
"Then, Mr. Chen, what do you plan to do?"
"I have many projects under my belt, and even more in my mind, and I personally enjoy the process of entrepreneurship more."
(End of Chapter)