On August 8, after a small batch test on Shanghai Stock Exchange, DiDi began to provide short-distance travel subsidies nationwide. You can basically get a half discount within 3km and a 30% discount within 5km, but everyone only has one chance per day.

This price is a little more expensive than the bus, but there will be no restrictions on the starting point and the end point. The comfort of the two is not the same. It only costs two or three yuan, so most people naturally prefer to choose DiDi.

As for shared bicycles, it is even less useless. It is also troublesome to find shared bicycles. It is in the hot summer, and staying outside for a minute is a pain. When the price is a little more expensive, if there is an air-conditioned car, you will have problems with your mind.

A ride is enough for most people, and some office workers need to take twice a day, but many of them experience comfortable online ride-hailing in the morning, and are even less willing to struggle to save a few dollars when it is hotter after get off work in the afternoon.

However, soon, better news came. In addition to DiDi, KuaiDi and YaoZhaoChe also started their own subsidy plans. However, their subsidies are different from DiDi, and they are more aimed at new users. The amount for old users is not as large as DiDi, but for consumers, subsidies are always much better than none.

As the subsidies of the three online car-hailing giants and the payment giants behind them began to become popular across the country, the utilization rate of shared bicycles began to decline in half. Ofo, Mobike and even Toutiao Xiaolan Bicycle have been seriously affected. However, the three companies are still working hard to expand, and more bicycles are being invested in, and greater subsidies are being prepared slowly. When summer passes, war will start again.

In a magnificent super building in Tokyo, Japan, David and Cai Chongxin sat side by side, and opposite was a thin bald man. If someone who knows a little about the Internet or finance field, he would immediately recognize him. This is the peak investor in the Internet industry and the founder of SoftBank Group - Masayoshi Son.

This Japanese Korean, who founded SoftBank in the 1980s, took less than 20 years to turn SoftBank into the world's largest Internet venture capital. The total market value of the Internet companies it invested in was as high as 7% of the global listed companies. The most well-known investment was its investment in Yahoo and Alibaba.

Yahoo is the peak of investment in the past. Although it has declined, SoftBank has easily made dozens of times. Alibaba, a giant with a market value of more than US$300 billion, SoftBank holds 26% of the shares, and Yahoo, which it invests in, also holds a huge stake in Alibaba. As for the founding team led by Ma Yun, it only holds 9.2%. If it were not for the protection of domestic policies, even if Ma Yun's team has AB shares, it may not be able to protect its absolute voting rights.

However, Masayoshi Son will not compete for the company's controlling stake at will. It is his investment style to let professionals do professional things.

Masayoshi Son put down the teacup in his hand and smiled and said, "Good tea, Mr. Cai is intent."

Cai Chongxin said: "If Mr. Sun likes it, I will arrange some air transport to come here."

"Thank you." Masayoshi Son smiled and then said: "Mr. Cai, Mr. Dai, ofo's information has been read. The market for shared bicycles is indeed very large, but it will be seriously affected by the weather and temperature. In addition, online ride-hailing is very convenient now, and the average annual usage rate will not be very high. As far as I know, recently, several major online ride-hailing companies in the Chinese market have started subsidies again, which has also seriously affected shared bicycles. So how should ofo deal with this situation?"

David was also prepared and said, "Mr. Sun, the comfort of online car-hailing is naturally much better than shared bicycles. The disadvantage is that the experience is expensive. If there is a subsidy, I will not compete directly with online car-hailing. When the subsidy for online car-hailing is over, even DiDi, who has headlines behind it, it is impossible for me to continue to be unlimited subsidies like this."

"It's good to avoid its edge." Masayoshi Son smiled and nodded, saying: "But over the years, China's per capita income has been getting higher and higher, which will naturally lead to the upgrading of domestic consumption. So online car-hailing with better comfort will inevitably become the choice of more people. How should Mr. Dai face this situation?"

David said: "Mr. Sun, this is not completely correct. The average domestic income is increasing, but this is just an average. The polarization phenomenon is still very serious. The rise of Pinduoduo is actually evidence of this. More people will rely on low-priced consumption.

Moreover, bicycles are sports, which for hundreds of millions of urban office workers, they have no time to exercise at all. Then riding a bicycle is also an opportunity to exercise and improve. The demand in this area will become higher and higher with urbanization."

"It makes sense." Masayoshi Son nodded and asked again: "The future of the shared bicycle market may be good, but ofo is the largest in the country. SoftBank invests such a large amount of funds at this time, so I must ensure a higher rate of return.

What I want to know is that if ofo monopolizes the shared bicycle market, what is the subsequent profit plan? In theory, it can be profitable by relying on deposits and bicycle charges, but the maintenance of shared bicycles is also as expensive. I will not invest only with this current business model."

Cai Chongxin is more casual. As an intermediary, he has no pressure, but he also hopes that SoftBank can invest in ofo, because ofo has the opportunity to monopolize the shared bicycle market.

After monopoly, Alipay, as an exclusive payment, will also gain tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of stable users out of thin air.

But the question asked by Masayoshi Son is very good. Venture capital investment is not about whether it can make a profit, but whether it can double or even dozens of times. The biggest benefit after ofo monopoly is occupied by Alibaba. Masayoshi Son can naturally see this. SoftBank only cares about the rate of return. The scale of ofo is now very large. Investment requires a large amount of funds at this moment, and the profits obtained by investment may not be as good as venture capital of millions of dollars. Therefore, he must ensure that the projects he invests in can have other huge profit points, so as to ensure that the stock price will have higher room for improvement in the future.

If you can only make a little profit, SoftBank will naturally not invest, because it would be better to participate in some angel rounds or ABC rounds of potential companies, etc.

David naturally had already prepared a speech, saying: "Internet companies, obtaining user base is only the first step. When ofo acquires hundreds of millions of users, it can naturally develop horizontally and expand its business to Japan, Europe and the United States. The horizontal is to expand its business. The most basic project is to open financial projects."
Chapter completed!