Ordinary Road 2010

Gu Caiwei's activity after leaving Beijing was to participate in this year's bosom friend award ceremony. Under Peng Yuchen's operation, their GIVE ME FIVE won the 2014 Popular Female Singer Award.

This is a great honor, second only to the "Best Female Singer" at the awards ceremony, also known as the "Queen" by the media.

The winner of the Popular Male Artist award at the same time was a Canadian male artist who was originally working for a boy group in South Korea. He terminated his contract and left in May this year without saying goodbye. His arrival sparked a wave of idols in the domestic entertainment industry.

Afterwards, several of his teammates will return to China one after another, collectively referred to as the "Four Returning Sons", who once ruled the top popularity in the circle, and the era created by them is called the "Flow Era".

As far as girl group idols are concerned, apart from some unknown underground girl groups in China, GIVE ME FIVE, which Gu Caiwei belongs to, is considered to be excellent in both appearance and singing and dancing ability, and has already accumulated a lot of popularity due to Gu Caiwei's appearance in the circle.

So they fully enjoyed this wave of traffic dividends. Not only did Gu Caiwei be named a "little queen", but even her teammates each attracted a lot of fans, and they were no longer transparent in the entertainment industry.

In the nascent girl group world, GIVE ME FIVE is already the only one of Dugu Qiubai, but this award is for PK with all new and old singers.

Gu Caiwei's "Singer" at the beginning of the year has been popular all the way to the China TV program at the end of the year. This kind of ability to keep going out of the circle is simply hard to come by. It is obviously the biggest contributor to GIVE ME FIVE's winning this popularity award.

You must know that at this time last year, none of them were qualified to win a best newcomer award!

This can't help but make people feel that the new generation in the entertainment industry replaces the old, and the ebb and flow of changes is fast.

There is even a popular saying in the circle that 2014 is the "Year of Gu Caiwei".

……

Lin Yi wasn't just in love during this period of time.

In December, Uber in the United States once again made a big news, announcing the completion of the E-round financing of US$12 billion.

After this round, Uber’s valuation has reached 400 billion U.S. dollars, making it an unprecedented super unicorn, attracting much attention.

Compared with six months ago, the valuation has more than doubled again!

The most exaggerated thing is that in recent years, Uber has maintained a growth rate of doubling its size every six months. According to the valuation model of the investment industry, it can pass, which means that this exaggerated valuation is supported by performance. .

Coupled with the successive refreshes of Wanli, Dudu and Kuaidu in the domestic market some time ago, there is no doubt that taxi-hailing software is the most beautiful boy in the global technology industry in 2014.

Even Liu Jianni couldn't help complaining: "At the beginning, Kalanick uttered nonsense in front of us, saying that it was only a matter of time before he surpassed Xiongchang."

"At that time, we still thought that this guy was not ashamed, but now it seems that Silicon Valley investors really hold him in their hands."

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with Wanli travel. If you look at it strictly, it may not be a bad thing, because Uber's valuation will continue to increase the popularity of this industry and the price of its peers.

When Wanli Travel’s next round of financing, the reference system will be Uber, which is worth US$400 billion instead of US$170 billion.

But Lin Yi didn't intend to do nothing.

"There are two points that we need to pay attention to. The first is whether Uber's valuation growth rate can continue to be maintained?"

"Even if Uber still has great growth potential, even if it doubles its size again in six months, are there still enough investors in this market who can give him money?"

"Even if investors stick to him, there is an upper limit to the size of the venture capital market."

"In fact, almost all mainstream investment institutions have participated in the financing arms race of the ride-hailing industry. This is still under the hot market of hot money influx in recent years."

"Considering Kalanick's insistence on Uber not going public in the short term, investors have a very long exit period. How long can this trend last?"

Liu Jianni admits that what Lin Yi said is reasonable, but things like the market are difficult to predict, and irrational overheating is not unheard of.

But she didn't intend for her young CEO, she intended to let him finish the sentence.

"Secondly, after Uber gets the $18 billion, its cash reserves will reach an astonishing level. I judge that it is only a matter of time before Uber increases investment in the domestic market."

"After Uber entered China, it has been lukewarm before, but that doesn't mean Kalanick doesn't pay attention. It is said that the CEO visits every three months, which is the most important market besides the US mainland."

"We can't wait for him to come to our door. We should take the initiative to extinguish Uber's arrogance, so that the next time we see Kalanick, this Yankee will not recognize his relatives again."

This time Liu Jianni didn't even bother to discuss whether Lin Yi's previous judgment was accurate, she asked a little suspiciously: "What are you going to do about Uber?"

Naturally, Lin Yi didn't do it on a whim, he was already prepared.

"Do you still remember the briefing you brought over some time ago, which said that there was a case of Uber in India where a driver raped a female passenger, which set off a wave of opposition from the whole people, and everyone in Uber is now shouting and beating?"

In addition to being responsible for financial and financing affairs, Liu Jianni, the CFO, is also in charge of PR and GR work, and regularly tracks and reports on the development of the international industry. Uber is naturally the top priority.

She naturally remembered this matter, but she didn't pay special attention to it at the time. The safety issue of the online car-hailing industry has always been a focus since its birth, but it has never been thoroughly discussed.

What happened to Uber in India this time is not an industry issue, but a public relations incident.

Liu Jianni responded very astutely: "You mean, we took action to stir up this matter in China, thereby affecting Uber's reputation?"

Lin Yi confirmed: "That's right."

"There are two problems"

Liu Jianni quickly considered the pros and cons, "The first is that if the impact of this matter is huge, will it make the regulatory authorities worry about the safety of the entire industry, resulting in uncontrollable policy risks."

"The second is that no one in China has paid much attention to the incident in India. If we deliberately intervene, the traces of artificial hype will be obvious, and it is very likely that Uber will find out that we did it."

Lin Yi didn't think these two points would form an obstacle.

"Jane, I want to make it clear that no matter whether the policies of the regulatory authorities are tightened or not, ensuring the safety of users is something we should devote 100% of our energy to, and it is not a reason for us to avoid this matter. Think the industry is going to be killed with a stick."

"If we don't take precautions against Uber now, it will happen to us sooner or later. Instead, I think this is a good opportunity for internal rectification."

"As for your second point, you misunderstood."

"I didn't intend to do it secretly at all, I just wanted to let Uber know that I did him with a lot of fanfare."

"He's about to knock on his door. Do you still talk to him about making money with harmony?"

Chapter 465

Before Lin Yi could convince his CFO, there was another news from Uber.

Kalanick was indicted in South Korea.

The reason is that the UberX business launched in South Korea by Uber, which he is the CEO, is suspected of allowing private vehicles without operating qualifications to provide transport services.

Simply put, it is driving a black car.

From a factual point of view, there is no problem, because the essence of private cars engaging in online car-hailing business is black cars going online.

Kalanick declared unabashedly from the beginning of his business that his purpose was to completely eliminate the outdated and backward taxi industry.

There is indeed a big problem in the taxi industry, which Lin Yi realized when he was almost robbed by a taxi in Shanghai.

But there is another problem with online car-hailing, which is that it has always been on the edge of the law since its birth.

Uber was not called Uber at the beginning, but Ubercab. The suffix cab means taxi in English.

So after Ubercab went online, it received a notice from the San Francisco Department of Transportation, saying that since you are called cab, it belongs to the taxi business, and you have to be in charge of me.

Kalanick said fuck off!

He directly removed the cab in the Ubercab, and then threw the notice from the San Francisco Department of Transportation into the trash can, ignoring it at all.

The character of this man is evident.

Kalanick's image of a madman largely comes from his many sharp confrontations with regulatory agencies across the United States and other countries around the world, completely ignoring the laws of various countries and doing his own way.

To a certain extent, Cheng Wei's small actions of obedience and infidelity were just learning from the advanced experience of his predecessors in the industry. Compared with this person, the nature seems not to be a big deal.

In any case, for this kind of knife delivered to the door, Lin Yi felt that if he didn't stab Uber, he would feel sorry for himself.

Liu Jianni finally agreed to Lin Yi's plan, but spent a lot of effort in implementing the plan.

For example, she didn't ask Lin Yi herself or a serious executive like herself to come forward to criticize Uber, but found a public relations director at the bottom, and "accidentally" revealed her views on her peers during an interview. view:

"We believe that Uber is a very unruly business with a long and extensive record of violations in various countries around the world.

Kalanick's prosecution in South Korea is just one of the trivial cases, but as a close neighbor of South Korea, we feel the unscrupulous arrogance of multinational companies.

I personally think that the so-called technological innovation is not a reason for any company to trample on the law and do whatever it wants, not to mention that Uber does not have the slightest respect for life, which can be called a reckless disregard for human life.

Recently, there was a vicious case of an Uber driver raping a female passenger in India. We have not seen Uber reflect on this matter deeply, or see it make any improvements.

They just prevaricate blindly, and blindly emphasize that this is just an accidental incident, but they are unwilling to respond positively to what kind of responsibility Uber should bear for the safety of passengers.

Especially as a woman, I don't feel the slightest bit of trust in the Uber brand.

I don’t think I’ll ever use Uber myself, nor would I recommend any of my female friends to use Uber…”

Of course, the publication of this report was not "accidental", but it was decided after a long time of careful consideration and careful consideration of every word.

This kind of violent theory that is obviously going to spark thunder, if the person concerned is not willing, it is impossible for the media to publish a single word.

According to Liu Jianni's request, the full text stated that it was not the official evaluation of Wanli Travel, but the opinion expressed "in a personal capacity" by the public relations director.

This is just a small means of security isolation from the legal level. In fact, anyone who is not blind knows what is going on.

As the most concerned taxi-hailing software in the technology industry this year, Wanli Chuxing's blatant criticism of Uber is of course a surprise, and it immediately detonated the public opinion field.

Not to mention that experts and media from all walks of life have to jump out and get mixed up. What is "innovation is to break the rules" and what is "online car-hailing is not a place outside the law", and there is no consensus on what to do.

The reaction on the Internet is more interesting. Whenever there is such a topic, there will be a group of three-no trumpets who don't know where they come from to come out to sneer, but they can still hold up a lot of heat.

"How does Wanli Chuxing have the face to talk about Uber? Aren't domestic taxi-hailing apps only developed by copying the ideas of other American companies? I haven't asked you for copyright fees yet!"

"If Uber is illegal, then what laws are Wanli Chuxing and other taxi companies operating according to? Fifty steps laugh at hundred steps?"

The only thing they avoided was the case of Uber in India, because no such major safety accident has occurred since the launch of Wanli Chuxing.

Naturally, Lin Yi wouldn't take the nonsense on the Internet that he didn't know if it was real, but Uber responded very quickly.

They immediately announced that the public relations director who had skipped the direct speech sued Wanli Travel in the name of "defamation and damage to Uber's reputation".

This was reflected in the plan before Wanli Travel. Of course, they will not push their employees to the front desk to take the blame, and are ready to actively respond to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit itself doesn't matter.

If delaying tactics are adopted, this kind of case will not be settled in one or two years. At that time, the industry structure may have been turned upside down.

Uber directly targets Wanli travel, which is an advantage for the media that they can request an interview in one name.

Wanli Travel did not express much about this, but only said that "the company does not believe that there is any fault, and has taken all necessary legal means, and the court decision shall prevail."

Everyone is very sorry, is this the end of the matter?

of course not.

Soon, although Lin Yi himself did not directly respond to this matter in an interview, he made references in every sentence without naming names.

"Many people say that I am the youngest successful entrepreneur, but I never encourage young people to worship or imitate me, because I know how much I am, and I also know that the development of Wanli Travel depends on the efforts of too many people."

"But some entrepreneurs may have lost their minds under the excessive pursuit of the market, leaving only arrogance and arrogance in their minds."

"I have had two entrepreneurial experiences, both of which are classified in the technology industry. In fact, it is more accurate to say that it belongs to business model innovation, but I never think that I or my peers should have any legal privileges."

"Entrepreneur, this is a very novel title, but whatever his name, what's so great about this identity?"

"Can he not eat whole grains or can he ascend in situ? Does he get rid of all the vulgar tastes of human beings or has he evolved into another species through reproductive isolation?"

"When an entrepreneur claims that the conservative and backwardness of the society or the ignorance and shortsightedness of the public hinder his innovation, who gives him the qualification to take such a challenge?"

"The law should have been the greatest consensus of the society. Of course, it will have inherent flaws and lags behind the progress of the times."

"But in any case, it is the bottom line that our society should and can only stick to. Before we update this consensus, who has the right to judge and decide for everyone what is advanced and what is correct?"

"If someone is killing, arson or raping, we usually call them outlaws and don't hesitate to bring the law to them."

"But when entrepreneurs break this rule, they seem to be able to hold the gold medal of avoiding death and get extra tolerance."

"What is this called, extrajudicial grace?"

Chapter 466 We Are Different

When Lin Yi's words were published, they were actually deleted a lot.

Although he has been very restrained, Liu Jianni still feels that the content is too sensitive and sharp, and after careful adjustment, it looks like it is dedicated to Uber and Kalanick himself.

And not cause any other associations, or over-interpretation.

In view of Lin Yi's performance this time, Liu Jianni was very keenly aware of a hint of danger, and specially emphasized to him:

"I don't intend to change your views, but you must be very, very cautious when you say these words in public. You don't want us to encounter any extra accidents because of your outspokenness, do you?"

"Lin Yi, I will carefully read every interview and every public speech you make from now on, and I forbid you to give speeches without script, OK?"

I didn't expect that I didn't rely on my fame for a living, but I was controlled by public opinion like Gu Caiwei. Lin Yi was a little bit dumbfounded, but he could understand Liu Jianni's worry.

"OK, I'll be very careful."

Sure enough, the speech handled by Liu Jianni did not cause any misunderstanding, but it just attacked the Uber family very accurately, and at the same time, it also continued to escalate the conflict provoked by Wanli Travel.

Could Kalanick be the one who suffers from being dumb?