Chapter 2320 Group Buying?

Dong Chenxi called Zhao Fusheng, naturally because she had something to discuss.

What she talked about was related to the financing of Future Advertising.

"Basically, there are no more issues. The funds we received have all been collected."

Dong Chenxi said slowly.

"That's good."

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "Is that all?"

He didn't think Dong Chenxi would call him over such a trivial matter.

"Alright, actually I'm very curious. Have you ever thought about investing in some new companies?"

Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng, "Group buying websites are booming right now. Would you consider investing in a few group buying sites?"

"Group buying?"

Zhao Fusheng sneered, then said decisively, "Whoever suggested this to you, fire them!"

"Why?"

Dong Chenxi's voice immediately rose a few pitches. Clearly, Zhao Fusheng's decision was incomprehensible to her.

In Dong Chenxi's view, the group buying industry was now flourishing, with a great situation. Various domestic group buying websites were springing up like mushrooms after rain, occupying a large market.

Moreover, many group buying sites were already planning to go public.

Under these circumstances, Zhao Fusheng actually disagreed with investing in group buying sites and even wanted to fire someone. Was there something wrong with his brain?

"What do you think is the foundation of these group buying sites?"

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and asked Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi was taken aback. Just as she was about to answer, she found that she couldn't immediately respond to Zhao Fusheng's question.

When the concept of group buying was first proposed, its core should have been to help offline merchants make full use of idle service resources.

However, to quickly acquire users, major platforms all adopted the method of offering low prices, which trapped them in a vicious cycle. Without a large influx of customers, they couldn't reduce costs to maintain low prices, and without low prices, they couldn't secure user resources.

As a result, although group buying platforms could achieve scale, they couldn't guarantee service quality well, causing group buying to embark on a distorted development path from the start.

Low prices could indeed bring traffic to group buying, but they brought more negative effects.

First, low prices alone couldn't generate user loyalty. Because discounts couldn't stay low forever, once the discounts disappeared, a large portion of users would leave.

For merchants, although customer traffic increased, profits were low. Merchants unable to handle the large influx of customers couldn't guarantee users' dining experience, ultimately damaging the brand.

At the same time, most merchants offered group buying products that were not selling well, with poor quality, greatly affecting users' offline experience. As merchants' visibility increased, even without relying on group buying platforms, they would launch a series of promotional activities. So what was the point of the group buying model?

Dong Chenxi understood this issue.

She just hadn't thought deeply about it.

Zhao Fusheng explained it to her directly and finally said, "Trust me, before long, when this group buying wave passes, the only ones who get screwed are the investors."

Dong Chenxi fell silent upon hearing this.

She naturally understood what Zhao Fusheng's words implied.

Those so-called entrepreneurs in group buying were essentially using investors' money to realize their own dreams.

When their dreams couldn't be realized,

the investors' money would naturally go down the drain.

Zhao Fusheng supported dreams, but he didn't intend to use his own hard-earned money to support others' dreams, because the vast majority of these people would eventually see their dreams shattered.

"So we just sit on the sidelines?"

Dong Chenxi hesitated for a moment, then asked Zhao Fusheng.

"How about this: select a few good projects and make angel investments."

Zhao Fusheng considered for a moment and said to Dong Chenxi, "As for the rest, don't get involved."

He paused and smiled, "Don't forget, Zuckerberg has indicated that Facebook is preparing to go public next year!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Dong Chenxi's breathing quickened.

Are you kidding me!

Facebook going public!

That was a top priority!

As the most valuable company among all the shares held by Future Investment, Facebook had always been Dong Chenxi's prized possession.

She cared more about Facebook's every move than Zhao Fusheng did. Dong Chenxi had even privately told Zhao Fusheng that even if they gave up all other shares held by Future Investment, if they could ensure Facebook's shares exceeded fifteen percent, it would definitely be a surefire profit.

Zhao Fusheng agreed with that, but now Facebook's shares could no longer be easily changed.

Even a change of one percent or one thousandth would attract attention from all sides.

Therefore, maintaining the current situation was undoubtedly the most cost-effective move.

"I'll send people to monitor that side immediately."

Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng in a deep voice.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. He knew Dong Chenxi would react this way.

"Alright, regarding the group buying situation, first compile the information, then discuss it with the team below. After that, you can send me the materials, and I'll also select some."

To not dampen her enthusiasm, Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi with a smile, "But let me say this first: don't send me companies that have no development prospects or unclear company positioning."

Having worked together for so many years, Zhao Fusheng was undoubtedly very familiar with Dong Chenxi's personality.

Dong Chenxi was the typical kind of person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

Even after rolling in the business world for so many years, she was still the same.

To this day, even though she had become the head of Future Investment, the largest subsidiary under the Future Group,

and was hailed as the Iron Lady in the investment circle, deep down, Dong Chenxi still retained that softness.

When facing dream chasers, she would unconsciously want to help them.

But the problem was,

she was no longer an ordinary person; she was an investor.

In other words, representing the interests of capital while sympathizing with entrepreneurs was itself a mistake.

But there was no helping it. Zhao Fusheng couldn't say much; he could only occasionally remind her, hoping she would notice her own problem and not act on emotion.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Dong Chenxi herself felt a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng seriously.

She knew her own problem and understood that Zhao Fusheng wasn't speaking without reason but was stating the facts.

"That's good."

Zhao Fusheng nodded and said no more.

Some things only needed to be hinted at. They were all adults and naturally knew what to do.