In general, integration is progressing step by step, and time will smooth everything.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Fueling Finance” (ID: rancaijing), the author burns the financial studio. Authorized to reprint.
M&A is a common phenomenon in the business world.
Drip combines Uber China, US Mission to merge public comments, US group buys Mobai… In the capital-driven Internet industry, the story of acquisitions between companies is staged from time to time. Recently, Alibaba Group acquired the news of Netease’s cross-border e-commerce platform koala for US$2 billion, and the merger and acquisition was once again heated by the public.
M&A is the result of confrontation and compromise between Internet companies. The acquisition has brought about a change in the Internet landscape, which means that the war between some companies can come to an end, but the cultural conflicts, team break-ups, management differences, and the extensions of the acquisitions have only just begun.
Volkswagen’s eyes tend to focus on the management team of both parties, but after the company is acquired, where do employees go?
Uber employees were shocked when they heard the company was drunk, and there was a sense of powerlessness that “I am fighting on the front line and the marshal surrendering in the big camp”. If there is a hungry employee, the employee chooses after the company is acquired. Going out, because the leader said, “You don’t need to do anything, just stay,” so that he can’t find his own value; wherever there are employees, the team integration of both parties is an illusion, and independent development is a lie. However, they all understand the company’s decision, because no one can say what it would be like if it were not acquired.
This tavern focuses on the average employees of the acquired companies and the story of the company after its acquisition. Burning Finance interviewed six employees, their story is a microcosm of Internet mergers and acquisitions.
01.The people who have been beaten are not able to integrate
Zhangmu Where are the employees?
Event: On October 26, 2015, Ctrip announced where to merge with where to go
The merger happened when I joined the company for more than a year, when we were still busy with Ctrip. In the previous circle, there was always a rumor that the two sides would merge. We never believed, because the CEO repeatedly said that it was impossible and disagree. But I didn’t expect this day to come suddenly, or it happened without all of us knowing it.
We were still working as usual. After work, I suddenly received a message from my colleague saying, “It’s best to come to the company.” On the way, I kept receiving WeChat from friends in the circle. I still said that it was impossible, no. It is said that. When I arrived at the company, my colleague was dignified and said that it really happened.
In the next two months, everyone had to go to work without a ride, and felt that they might be ready to go. That time was the easiest time – no work pressure, no need to fight, and count the day. Two months later, the team leader told everyone that our team has stayed and will stay in the company, but the focus will shift to Ctrip. After that, we went to Shanghai collectively to meet and know each other. At that time, I was sitting together and sitting in a room, at least half of them left later. At that time, we also took a group photo and watched it two years later. The object is human. Figure /Pexels After the merger, I went there for another three years. The work content has not changed, but the focus has been adjusted. I first thought that we are all working, taking professional food for food, and working for everyone. But later discovered that in fact, others do not think so. Because one of the two companies is in Beijing, one is in Shanghai, not in an office, it seems that the “fusion” is easier, and my former colleague in Shanghai, because I have to work with Ctrip, I realized that The pressure is not what we can’t feel. One of the colleagues had almost depression in the next six months and finally left. The battle between the two companies is terrible. Some people will make small reports, even if you lead a computer, they will deliberately give you bad. We didn’t feel it because we were far away. We always thought that everyone would love each other. Until then there was a small group of screenshots that were leaked out. I saw that they were talking about the words we used to be “the group of silly people who went there” – at that time, the two sides had been merged for two years, and they did not expect them to treat us as heterogeneous. It was later discovered that it remained the same after three years. The integration of the team is an illusion, and people who have been beaten can’t be integrated. I can’t assume what would happen if the merger didn’t happen. Because the winter of capital came soon after the merger. If our two companies do not merge, maybe our company will not be able to continue, but it may exceed the other side. Now looking back, the other party’s receiptThe main goal of buying is to destroy the opponent, not to develop us. The so-called “independent development”, each company will say this when it is acquired, but in my opinion, no one is true. Liu Min The former 58 city employees Event: On April 17, 2015, 58 cities merged with the market 58 When I was in the process of collecting, I was less than a year old. I was a frontline sales consultant, responsible for product promotion and customer consultation. The news of the previous acquisition was still in the state of “legends of the rivers and lakes”. Until one day, everyone received an email from Lao Yao (founder Yao Jinbo), and the team leader held a department meeting to convey the matter of 58. At that time, the entire department was quite excited, and the enemy who had played for a long time became a feeling of comrades. After hearing the news of the merger, I didn’t have much concern. I still chose to stay and work at 58 and accept it naturally. After the merger of 58 and the market, all the businesses under the two brands have also been merged, including 58 homes, good cars, and so on. I didn’t change much in my personal work, and I didn’t adapt. Just in the work content, I made some adjustments to some of the online product packages sold at the time. The other ones didn’t have much impact. Because my 58 is the “acquisition party”, there is not much change. The “victory” side is always more tolerant and more open-minded. What’s more, “open collaboration” is the value of 58. . Figure / Pixabay The market was our biggest competing product at the time. After so many years of smashing, I suddenly shook hands and did not fight. Instead, I could let everyone put more energy into how to better serve customers, instead of being in the competition every day. Various contrasts, competition and consumption. If you don’t buy the market, 58 may put more money and time on the competition with the market. Instead of fighting for your life, it is better to shake hands and talk, and better service belongs to each other’s customers. Compared to the previous “snoring” days, the combined days are actually more comfortable. The running-in is definitely there. For those who are on the market, some old employees or those who have brought some old projects, they will not accept it, feel that they are overhead or have other concerns, and finally choose to leave. Including Yang Haoyong(The founder of the market) After seven months of merger, he resigned from the joint CEO to concentrate on the used car, which also reflected this problem. In the context of the Chinese Internet, joint CEOs are impossible to exist. Who are the people in charge under them? Every company has more or less “factions”, can’t achieve true integration, and finally is the boss of each station. And for the people left behind, it may be that there is room for improvement. Leaving or staying is to see if you have anything you want in this company, or something you insist on. After the merger, if the leader of each department leaves, it will take away a group of people, and there will be such a “linkage effect” in the group. A year ago, the boss who took me for many years left to Ali, and the new boss I felt more or less uncomfortable, and then I thought it was better to start my own business, so I left 58, but there are still many old people. Colleagues are sticking to their posts. Zhang Zhang Youku former staff Event: In October 2015, Ali acquired Youku After Youku was acquired by Ali, I probably spent a year in Ali. If Youku is a liberal arts student, then Ali is a science student. The difference in corporate culture between Ali and Youku is obvious. Youku’s main mode is online video, and its core model is still in the project of buying drama and making a lot of money. While Ali is more focused on data, it has a standard system and a standard KPI process. Ali expects to transform Youku with a more rigorous system, but in fact, entertainment companies are difficult to be strictly quantified. Even now, the head video website is still losing money, and most projects are unlikely to have a very reasonable data index. After Ali’s acquisition of Youku, every time a project is declared, it is necessary to go through a meeting to make a decision. It may have been decided by the producer himself to look at the script and choose an actor, but this decision is still a mysterious process. They will be more rigorously asking these producers, channel editors, or center leaders to explain their behavior in a more reasonable way, such as pushing several plays this year? How much does it cost? When is it different? Where is it? Why did you choose these guests? How to promote it? Probably hope how to make money? Picture/Pexels These questions are equivalent to a business plan for a show or content. Even after a while, these responsible people shut themselves down in the office and counted the data every day. Originally they were just a bunch of people who only watched scripts and actors. Of course, this change is not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it was because these people only watched the script, so many projects could not be quantified. However, there is no fixed quantitative standard. You can’t guarantee that a movie can make 1 billion box office. Ali has been waiting for a while after it acquired Youku. After Gu Yongzhen (founder of Youku) left, he changed Yang Weidong, who was still an old man. Ali’s early management of Youku was still separated from the original management. Of course, other executives of the Ali system gradually took over a certain number of businesses, but did not quickly replace the team. I personally understand that it does not buy potatoes like Youku. These two are inter-bank acquisitions. The positions, functions, and talent structure are the same. After the acquisition, you can quickly replace you. Ali does not necessarily have such a substitute. Moreover, from the final result, the large entertainment department established after the acquisition of Ali is a relatively independent department, and it has not brought the culture of Ali to Youku without a moment. First of all, in the very basic system of personnel and administration, the integration is carried out, and then it is legal and financial, and the business is relatively slower. My departure is for personal reasons. At that time, Youku employees had some stocks. There were also many free choices in the acquisition. All executive stocks could be converted into cash. If you are optimistic about the company’s development, you can also convert into Ali’s stock. I thought more about it and I changed it directly to cash. Fang Yingdong Former Uber employees Event: August 1, 2016, Didi merged with Uber China I joined Uber China in the second half of 2015. At that time, Uber was in the stage of snoring with Didi, and the drip melted a lot of money. The momentum was very fierce and people were digging everywhere. For a long time, Uber and Didi were not able to play, and none of us thought that the two companies would merge later. Combined on August 1st, I only heard the news in the afternoon. I was embarrassed at the time and felt that it was incredible. The key issue is that Uber is being merged, which means that we have been compiled by the drops and suddenly became the enemy camp. The merger brought about a violent human disturbance. First, Uber’s original two regional managers then left. When they left, they took away a group of old men. At that time, I felt that people were upset. Everyone didn’t know how the situation would move. Uber’s hundreds of employees didn’t know how to resettle. After the merger, a group of people chose to stay in Uber and were sent to Uber overseas market; a group of people chose to leave and join new stars like ofo.The company, or start your own business; there are also a group of people who have joined the Didi. After adding the drops, I feel that these former Uber people can’t find their own position. I don’t know what I can do in Didi. I left the drop in less than half a year, and before I left, someone left the company, perhaps this is also expected. Figure /Pexels Drip’s corporate culture is completely different from Uber. Uber is a foreign company that advocates freedom and openness, and employees have great personal authority. The resume background of the employees is very good. Everyone has common values, has a strong cohesiveness, and can fight together. In contrast, Didi is more wolf and more grounded, more like a startup company, with a lot of internal systems and stricter management controls. When we were in Uber, we were staying at a star hotel. When it was a drop, the standard was reduced to a hotel. We feel very free at Uber, but always feel very restrained in the drop. The development of the droplets is indeed very fast, but the internal atmosphere is also very tight. No matter what you say in the outside world, in fact, we always feel that we are the winners of the defeat. It is actually very difficult to fully integrate ourselves into the Didi. In addition, differences in values are also important reasons for difficulty in integration, so many people have left. The Uber team is a rather awkward presence inside Didi. In terms of resources, Didi will not give priority to the Uber team. I know that we have tried hard to do some things at the time. Didi is a good example, but there are many struggles and compromises inside. I don’t think any merger will be so easy. On the surface, it seems that the contract was signed and the merger was completed. In fact, the real situation is much more complicated. It is very normal for the party to be merged to make layoffs. From management to middle level to grassroots employees, there will be different degrees of influence. The essence of business is like this. Zhang Xin, who are hungry before? Event: April 2, 2018, did Alibaba buy hungry? I was hungry in 2016, when the company had more than 10,000 employees and was at the end of a rapid expansion. It was acquired more than two years after I worked. After the year of 2018, the news was posted online.I want to buy us, I am not a pessimistic person, then the team morale is OK, I feel that the acquisition is to add some ammunition to us. The intuitive change after the acquisition is that Ali has a strong desire to control. When he merged, he sent a CEO, a person in charge of manpower, finance, and public relations. In addition, a small team took over some business in strategic planning. . In the back-to-back business lines, people have been sent, basically replacing all the original business line leaders, and the marginalized old employees are not rare. Our team at the time came to the new person in charge, and 80% of the old employees left in less than half a year. In April 2019, there were four departments in the middle of the five middle-level employees who left the group. The main factor affecting the departure of employees is management. I agree with the overall values and culture of Ali, but there are differences in the implementation of the specific people. Even a leader has directly asked an old employee, “When are you going?” The style of the two companies’ work is very different. Ali is a big machine. It relies on a set of architecture and system that works as a whole. The individual is more like a screw. Hungry? Before the acquisition, we value individual efforts, we will make some breakthroughs, and it is better to do less after being acquired. There was such a situation or because it was not trusted. The leader at the time said directly, “You don’t need to do anything, just stay.” But we rely on the ability to eat. I don’t want this job to become “aged”. “Retirement” will one day be killed. After the company was acquired, low-level employees may look at the aura of major companies. They feel that they will have a good resume even if they go out in the future, but in fact the ordinary employees of large companies are screws, and it is impossible for them to become traders. . Some of the higher-level employee values have long been formed, and most will go. Some of the employees who stayed have no better place, and some hope that one day they will be able to enter Ali’s big system. Others feel that this is a job. In terms of feelings, of course, I hope to be hungry and be able to go public separately, but to take a step back, the merger is definitely better than “death”. This decision was a wise and profit-maximizing approach. Zhang Xuhao (the founder of Hungry) has done a good job of getting the ideal ratio of options to employees and investors. Most of the options have been obtained after the merger. Our employees have a bad experience after the merger, but they can understand the logic and be acquired. The company must be with the gold surname, and the gold master is not stupid. Hungry, such a company can actually train people. Many people have started their own business or went to other companies to be executives or upgraded several levels, and the development is also very good. Most of our employees are very hungry and Zhang Xuhao is still very affectionate. With the company from obscurity to the Hundred Regiments and then to the Qiankun, I am honored to participate in such a large industry event. Looking back at this experience. Still very valuable. 
02.The party of “victory” is always more tolerant
03.Youku is a liberal arts student, Ali is a science student
04.The layoff of the party being acquired is very normal
05.People who rely on their ability to eat can’t stand “being pensioned”
06.