Amazon has changed its name several times this year, from Joyo.com to Joyo.com, to Amazon China, and finally to Amazon. The twists and turns are bumpy. Amazon's predecessor Joyo.com was co-founded by Lei Jun, Chen Nian and others.
Joyo. com was one of the most successful e-commerce companies in early China, from the initial online bookstore to comprehensive categories. However, Joyo was lost to Amazon in 24, and Lei Jun and others gained huge returns from it. Obtained the freedom of wealth, and invested in many Internet companies such as Duowan with this wealth.
Then why did Lei Jun and others sell Joyo?
Back on August 9th, 24, Amazon officially signed a contract to acquire Zhuoyue. Many people and things were involved in the merger, and the founder Lei Jun also stepped down as the chairman. Lei Jun sold the "child" he raised by himself, and his desolation and sentiment can be imagined. This marked a heavy dash on the Internet in China at that time.
At that time, Lei Jun stepped down as the chairman of the board, and all interviews were also cancelled. Because this merger involved many people and things, and also took into account the major shareholders Jinshan and Lenovo behind him, Lei Jun did not speak. Internet mergers and acquisitions are normal, and most founders generally follow up with new companies, and no one can bear to leave the children raised by one hand. Selling eBay Shao Yibo is still on eBay, selling 3721 Zhou Hongyi is still on Yahoo, and Lei Jun is the most thorough one.
E-commerce keeps burning money, but Lei Jun can't survive the cold winter
A VC once advised Lei Jun not to give up, because online retailing is a long-term business. Retail has existed for thousands of years, and software is only a few decades. As long as there are no major problems, Wal-Mart will definitely outlive Microsoft. Gates' 4 billion became the richest man, and Walton's five children each had 2 billion. If the old people don't leave home, there are 1 billion, and the two Gates are not the richest men.
Lei Jun said that it's only been 3 years since Gates started his business, but the Walton family has gone through two generations. Let's take a look at Amazon, which was founded in 1994 and didn't start making profits until 22. At that time, it had already spent billions of dollars.
compared with the United States, it is more difficult to do B2C in China, and the complexity is increasing with the scale.
when Excellence started, it was easy to handle 1 orders a day. From 1 orders to 5 orders, it was found that the warehouse was not enough and things could not be sent out. All employees were rushed to the warehouse for packaging. 1 to 1 is a qualitative change, and 1 to 1 is another qualitative change. Excellence has passed 1 thousand, but it is extremely painful to reach 1 thousand
The capital only wants to cash out, so it can't follow up
In February p>4, Zhuoyue started its fourth round of financing. Amazon, the global ally of B2C, is one of the intentions, because it has abundant financial resources and experience, and is also interested in China. Amazon visited China twice in February and March. The first time, it called on Zhuoyue and Dangdang respectively, and the second time, it only looked for Zhuoyue.
there are three modes in the initial discussion. First, Amazon holds small shares, like Google's capital injection into Baidu. Second, Amazon holds large stocks, like IAC holding E-Dragon. Third, wholly-owned acquisitions, such as Yahoo buying 3721 and eBay buying eBay.
first, Amazon can't pass; They have a good eye on the China market, and they must intervene forcefully, leaving no room. The second kind, Zhuo Yue can't pass. The capital strength of the two sides is too different. If Amazon wants to increase its capital and invest another 1 million US dollars, will Jinshan and Lenovo follow or not? If you can't keep up, you can only be kicked out. And even if Amazon doesn't take more actions, how can Kingsoft Lenovo cash out? Amazon has no plans to go public again.
since sooner or later, we will be thrown out or locked in, so it is better to give up now, which is the third mode, wholly-owned merger and acquisition.
actually, it's ok to raise funds from VC. Jinshan and Lenovo have an initial investment of 16 million yuan, and the shares are roughly 7% to 3%. Later, VC invested 9.2 million dollars successively, and diluted Jinshan shares to below 5%. In order to achieve steady profit, Excellence will have to invest at least tens of millions of dollars. In the end, there is no escape from a result: the shares are diluted, the dominance is lost, and the company is out.