The community group buying mission is completed, and Didi’s focus is returning to internationalization? This article from the micro-channel public number: letter list (ID: wujicaijing) , Author: Jiangxiao Ting, head of FIG from: Visual China
With horizontal expansion for one year, Didi did not do anything for nothing. On March 24, Reuters reported that Didi will go public in the United States with a target valuation of at least US$100 billion. Compared with Didi’s valuation of US$56 billion on the global unicorn list released by CB Insights in August last year, it is more than 40 billion higher.
Unlike usual, Didi did not categorically deny the news of the listing this time, but only gave the three-character answer to the alphabet list: “No response.”
Investors who have waited for 7 years in the big game of Didi can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In the following week, Didi reported two more news: First, it raised 500 million US dollars for the self-driving business, used in the mass production of self-driving cars and invested in technologies such as artificial intelligence chips. The second is to continue to expand its international business and test the water-based ride-hailing business in two major cities in South Africa. It will enter Ecuador in Latin America in April. Two seemingly ordinary business news releases signals of changes in Didi’s strategic development: /p>
Internationalization and unmanned driving, this vertical route is the “Longzhong right” proposed by Cheng Wei in an interview with Caijing in 2017. Due to changes in the situation, Didi gradually deviated from the route and followed As the listing approached, Cheng Wei had no obstacles in front of him in a strategic way.
“The vast majority of successful companies in the world have achieved the ultimate in one field.” In Cheng Wei’s design, Didi will be a world-class travel platform that encompasses the entire ecological industry chain. It is internationalization and building the world’s largest one-stop travel platform; the second is to promote the sharing of new energy vehicles and supporting service systems, and Didi will act as a car operator for the entire city. The third is smart transportation and driverless driving.”< /p>
Although Cheng Wei ran off the road three years later, “The vertical direction can only be done horizontally. This is a Chinese characteristic.” The words are still in my ears, and Cheng Wei eventually became his “hate” person-the online “Orange Heart Optimal” as a community Group buy. This territory originally belonged to Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Hema, which is far from the main business of Didi.Far away.
From the data point of view, the results of Orange Heart Optimum are not outstanding. According to the results announced by Orange Heart: In December last year, the daily order volume exceeded 10 million, which was launched in 20 provinces across the country. Also in December, Meituan Optimal’s single-day order peak reached 27 million, which was close to twice the number of Orange Hearts.
“If you can’t win Meituan by doing group buying, it’s just like Meituan’s doing business but not Didi.” In the eyes of investor David, the value of Didi’s community group buying is nothing more than providing capital with horizontal imagination. , “Making new business points and telling new stories shows that Didi can extend to other areas, not just a travel platform.”
Facts have proved that Cheng Wei’s horizontal experiment has indeed brought good news to the capital market. The valuation has risen by US$40 billion in a year. The existence of Orange Heart Optimum is more or less for Didi to grow into a diversified business. A platform-based Internet company-not just a travel company, has contributed a lot.
With the listing of Didi, the capital market gave Didi investors and Cheng Wei each a multiple-choice question. The former can get a corresponding return on capital, and with the opportunity to opt out, the latter can choose whether to be themselves-no longer limited by capital pressure, tell stories for valuation, but return The vertical route proposed in 2017 will continue one by one.
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“If Didi’s internationalization fails, we are bound to become a local Chinese competition-driven diversified company. Assuming Didi one day, I would think that this is a strategic failure.”
It allows Cheng Wei to recognize the cost of his strategic failure, and draw a line on Didi’s business map that is not compatible with the main business. The biggest reason for the transformation to diversification is that Cheng Weide gives investors An explanation.
Being friends with time, this sentence has many investors talking about it, and there are few that can do it. Zhu Xiaohu, Didi’s Series A investor, once said the truth: “We investors, companies that can invest are companies that can earn back within a year, and we most hope that they can earn back in six months. As for It takes two years to make money back, which is basically a Ponzi scheme.”
As a capital miracle on China’s Internet, since its establishment in 2012, Didi’s financing has exceeded 20 billionIn July, an announcement issued by the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange showed that 137,500 shares of Didi were listed on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange for public transfer, and the transfer price was only calculated at a valuation of US$47.544 billion. In October of the same year, the two original shareholders sold Didi shares at a valuation of US$40 billion and US$43 billion, respectively.
By July 2020, news of the sale of Didi equity appears on the Ali auction website, with a starting price of 92 million yuan. According to Caixin and people close to Didi’s top management, investors do have a desire to withdraw. Former Tencent and JD strategy analyst Li Chengdong mentioned in an interview with Tencent Technology last year that some of Didi’s early investment shareholders and subsequent shareholders were eager to sell Didi’s shares, and the price fell to between US$25 billion and US$30 billion.
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Investors are eager to make a move, which means they have lower expectations for Didi in the future. The big test facing Cheng Wei is to raise market valuations as soon as possible so that investors can exit satisfactorily.
“Diplomacy is first, war is behind.” At the beginning, being pushed all the way by capital, Cheng Wei has always attached importance to building a good relationship with capital. In an interview in 2017, Cheng Wei frankly admitted, “It is difficult to get all investors Satisfied, try to make them satisfied.”
How to draw the next growth curve outside the travel market? Looking back on Didi’s four outings since 2020, restarting “Quick”, launching new businesses such as running errands, freight, and Huaxiaozhu, as well as registering travel agencies, establishing a financial ecological management department, and launching the group purchase project “Orange Heart Selection”… > The dazzling operation makes it difficult for people to find common logic from the business level, but from the perspective of capital, Cheng Wei’s approach is inevitable.
Wang Xing, who pursues the borderless theory, has turned half of China’s Internet into his own enemy, expanding from local life services to wine and travel, and the market value has risen. Zhang Yiming did not let go of the other half of the world. The byte business line touched on education, games, e-commerce, online literature, content and other markets, intending to brew “a Super Company that breaks through the boundaries and patterns of human business history.” Even if the byte is not listed, it is estimated The value has exceeded the combined market value of Baidu and Kuaishou.
Cheng Wei, who had initially sneered about horizontal expansion, finally lowered his head and Didi began to walk sideways.
Under the epidemic crisis in 2020, the giants are all looking at community group purchases, and Didi enters the game, regardless of the horizontal results.The community group buying track is wide and the market is loud. Getting an admission ticket is equivalent to getting an X card from the capital market who likes to listen to stories.
“Didi seems to be joining in the fun, but trying new business itself can test the product drainage capabilities of the high-frequency platform.” In the view of investor David, “Didi is already the number one in the travel market. As long as it can access Living in the new business point of growth, the imagination of the capital market will not be worse than that of Meituan.”
In this community group buying campaign, Didi not only spent tens of billions in subsidies, but also sent many generals within Didi. The CEO of Orange Heart is senior vice president Chen Ting, who was once the key to the battle between Didi and Uber. Characters, report directly to Cheng Wei. Liu Zicheng, vice president of Didi, was the leader of Cheng Wei when he was working in Ali. He was one of the core members of the Chinese supplier Iron Army. He served as the president of Orange Heart and personally led the team. There was also Lai Chunbo, CTO of the original Didi car-hailing team.
In an internal meeting, Cheng Weigen asked Orange Heart to do its best to win the first place in the market, and Didi’s investment in the project “has no upper limit.”
Regardless of people or resources, Didi is behind the Orange Heart Optimum, providing a full range of food and grass. Orange Heart’s preferred Chengdu base camp, the aisle wall on the first floor of the office building is covered with battle slogans: There is no choice but to win.
Judging from the current market reaction, Didi has achieved a phased victory at the capital level. “The roadshow for listing in the United States can benchmark Uber, and the secondary listing in Hong Kong will have game capital for giants such as Meituan and Alibaba.” According to David’s estimation, Didi still chooses to list in the United States at a time when the U.S. is heavily reviewing China’s concept stocks. The billion-dollar valuation is considered stable.
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As for the listing, Orange Heart prefers to continue or shut down and transfer this type of project used to tell stories to the capital market?
“The company’s subsidies are currently being tightened,” an Orange Heart preferred employee told the alphabet list. As the community group buying war has reached a deadlock, Didi’s support for the project has shrunk, and the work intensity of employees is much easier than before. “Now I can get off work at around 9 o’clock in the evening, before at least after midnight.”
Compared with Meituan’s full bet on community group buying, Didi doesn’t seem to have a deepening obsession with community group buying.
“Community group buying is hard work, with low profit margins and tired.” In David’s view, Didi will continue to do group buying after its listing.