After the two parties reached a preliminary cooperation intention, Luo Fan invited Mr. Xiang to have a meal.

At the dinner table, Luo Fan said that he would send someone to Baidu to discuss the specific details in person.

Mr. Xiang also knows that it is impossible for both parties to sign a contract directly this time. In all likelihood, Xingyuan will set up a company that has nothing to do with Xingyuan on the surface to cooperate with Baidu.

Because the online ride-hailing industry is indeed very troublesome at this stage, let alone Xingyuan, Baidu is also under great pressure.

Therefore, Xingyuan's operation items are always understood very well, or rather, this is something that everyone understands tacitly.

After having had enough wine and food, both parties dispersed.

Luo Fan sat in his Rolls-Royce and thought about some details of the conversation between the two parties just now.

To be honest, the cost of entry in the online ride-hailing industry is actually lower than that of group buying. The only trouble is that it is too close to the government department and the risk is relatively high.

Luo Fan remembered that in his previous life, starting from mid-2011, the online car-hailing industry was actually born in the Imperial Capital, but there was no concept of online car-hailing at that time.

By 2012, the scale of the online ride-hailing industry had expanded somewhat, but overall development was still very slow.

In addition to the fact that capital from all parties dare not invest excessively due to government reasons, when online ride-hailing platforms are developing, they always conflict with some local people.

Needless to say, the first batch of people who directly tested the waters of civilian cars basically died within a year. The financial staff of such companies were either paying tickets at the traffic control bureau or on the way to pay the tickets, and the fines were very large every time.

Heavy.

Because domestic control over the commercial use of civilian vehicles is very strict, and insurance is also a difficult problem. If there is no problem, it will be fine, but if there is a car accident, it will be a mess.

And even the "taxi online booking platform" that seems to follow the rules has been too restrained in its development.

The simplest point is that it takes away from the traditional taxi-hailing business, and the beneficiaries of this business are generally some influential people in the local area.

This is a slow game. Only when the government department accepts this new business model will online ride-hailing experience a big explosion.

But now that development is slow, it does not mean that there is no need for development. In fact, this time is the most important time.

Throughout 2012, through constant trial and error, many small companies have, in a sense, paved the way for Baidu.

They cross the river by feeling the stones, and Baidu can help them cross the river by feeling the stones.

As one of the three giants, Baidu's entry is likely to allow the online ride-hailing industry to quickly receive funds as it develops, leading to rapid expansion.

However, there are actually some drawbacks to Baidu's entry now. Baidu is too famous. Once it enters the online ride-hailing field, it will immediately put the entire industry in front of capital.

In addition, Penguin had a similar idea last year. Now that Baidu enters the market, it will definitely attract the attention of all parties.

Maybe it will allow some capital to enter the online ride-hailing field earlier than in previous generations, which will cause a huge butterfly effect.

Luo Fan believes that the best way is to support a team, let it develop slowly without the capital from all parties paying much attention, form a certain scale, and form a team with practical experience. When the time is ripe, then

Introduce strong capital for development.

But if you do this, the advantages of Baidu Maps will not be fully utilized.

All in all, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

On the other hand, Mr. Xiang also contacted Mr. Li and told him about the conversation he had just had with Luo Fan.

After hearing this, Mr. Li smiled and said: "So far, Luo Fan's reaction is within our expectations."

"With Xingyuan on our line, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Xingyuan will not help us with publicity in the early stage. This industry is so risky, and Xingyuan will not make fun of its corporate image, so in the early stage we still have to make something ourselves." said Mr. Li.

"Mr. Li, when will our Baidu Taxi Service start operating?"

"Next month! I have already rented an office building, which is near the Capital Airport, so it will be more convenient for you to start your work."

"Then how much capital do we need to invest in the initial development?"

"I will give you 20 million yuan first. This money is mainly used to explore the business model of online ride-hailing. You don't have to consider profitability, but don't spend too much money to grab the market. You just need to figure out the operation of online ride-hailing first.

model.

I will give you a period of time, one month later, to read your market research report and then decide our next move."

"Mr. Li is relieved, I understand." As Baidu's second-in-command, Mr. Xiang knows Mr. Li very well.

Mr. Li's words actually emphasize the issue of balance.

At this stage, if Baidu directly rolls out taxi-hailing and expands on a large scale, it will definitely have to face various acute problems, which cannot be solved with money.

It takes time to slowly clear up the relationship. Mr. Li said that it would start next month, and then gave him a month of research time.

In other words, Li is always sure to clear up some relationships in these 40 days.

Thinking of this, Mr. Xiang said: "Mr. Li, have you seen the local referral companies I selected before?"

"After reading it, the companies you recommended are all good. I asked people to check their backgrounds and finally decided to cooperate with Haiyan Company."

"I also prefer Haiyan. They have helped Meituan make offline maps in the past and are very experienced in this area."

"Well, the next step is the person responsible for operations and decision-making. Before selecting this person, you should pay more attention to Lao Xiang's project. I don't worry about the others."

"Okay! Then leave it to me! I will personally take part in the initial stage. No matter what you do in the future, I will find a way to understand the market first."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Mr. Li said with a smile.

Back at the company, Luo Fan called Cao Shuai.

Luo Fan told Cao Shuai about Baidu's taxi service. After hearing this, Cao Shuai immediately understood what Luo Fan meant: "Boss, do you want me to start a company and then negotiate with Baidu?"

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Yes, it is not easy for our company to directly intervene in the online ride-hailing industry. This is the safest way."

"Boss, I always feel that this online ride-hailing service is not very reliable. Last year, Uber caused a big incident in France, and I don't know how our domestic online ride-hailing service will develop. Is it too risky for Baidu to enter the market at this time?

Already?"

The major events Cao Shuai mentioned are related to Uber’s own development trajectory.

After the establishment of the United States, it was also miserable because the laws in many states in the United States were different. Just facing these legal issues made Uber's founding team physically and mentally exhausted.

After hitting a lot of snags, Uber's team decided to change their thinking.

They gave up on other states in the United States that they had not yet conquered, and instead chose to conquer some European countries that were receptive to new things.

When it comes to accepting new things, France must be the first to do so.

France was also among the first countries that the Uber team chose to enter.

At first, Uber developed very smoothly. Users found it very convenient, and private car owners could also earn some pocket money. However, this resulted in heavy losses for the taxi community. As a result, a taxi driver strike almost paralyzed the traffic in Paris.

And conflicts broke out between taxi drivers and online ride-hailing drivers.

The impact of this incident is too great.

The traffic paralysis in a city directly made global capital collectively dissatisfied with the online ride-hailing market. Obviously, Cao Shuai also felt that there was no future for online ride-hailing because of this incident.

Luo Fan shook his head when he heard this and said: "Brother, you think too much, I don't think you need to worry too much.

Uber overturned because they were too ambitious. They wanted to go to Europe before they had developed well in the United States.

Ultimately, they are actually worried that local ride-hailing companies will emerge in Europe, which will limit their market.

Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble. Uber doesn’t understand, but we or Baidu definitely understand. After all, Baidu just suffered a big fall in group buying.

And aside from the fact that we are too ambitious, the environment here is much better.

Of course, there will definitely be a lot of trouble in the early stages of promoting online ride-hailing, but as long as it is gradually solved, the method can be copied to other cities across the country.

Because our country’s laws, language and ways of dealing with people are basically the same, unlike those in the United States and Europe.”

"Then it depends on whether Baidu and the others can grow up." Cao Shuai said.

"It doesn't matter whether Baidu Taxi is successful or not. The key lies in Baidu Takeout. In my opinion, Baidu Taxi is actually an accumulation of experience or an attempt. Baidu most likely thinks the same way. What can be the best?"

, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work out.”

Luo Fan actually didn't know much about taxi-hailing software. At most, he knew that this market would explode one or two years in advance.

He couldn't provide any creative help to Baidu, and Baidu had never been involved in the taxi-hailing industry in his previous life. There were too many factors that had changed in this life, and Luo Fan was even more afraid to speak out.

In comparison, Luo Fan is most familiar with shared bicycles, because his 99 deposit has not been returned before rebirth.

For these 99 yuan, Luo Fan has been paying attention to the development of shared bicycles for many years.

It can be said that apart from the Internet, the industry Luo Fan is most familiar with is bike sharing.

Luo Fan has already thought about it. Next year, Xingyuan will start to invest in shared bicycles. This time, he will first invest in small bicycles, and then withdraw the capital when the bubble expands to its maximum, sell the shares to make a lot of money, and then set up his own company.

Bike sharing team.

Of course, this will all happen next year, and the focus now is still on Baidu Taxi.

If Baidu Taxi Hailing can achieve certain results, then Xingyuan will fully support its development. If not, then Xingyuan will not just throw money into it.

To put it bluntly, Baidu Taxi is a double insurance policy that Baidu has set for itself. It uses Baidu's funds and Baidu Maps to try to discover Baidu Taxi, and everyone is happy. If it fails, it sums up its experience and goes all out to make Baidu takeout.

By then, with Baidu’s failure experience in taxi hailing, there is still a high possibility that Baidu Takeout will be successful, and it may even drive the online ride hailing business.

The role Xingyuan plays in it is to promote and get money.

Because Xingyuan’s purpose is to cultivate its own payment user habits.

It is impossible not to burn money and spend time. Now there is Baidu burning money to accompany Xingyuan to attract people, so why not?
To be continued...