The winter in Shanghai is colder and gloomier than that in Beijing because the moisture can directly seep into the crevices of bones.
Lin Zhi was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window at No. 27 Bund, holding a cup of cold Americano in his hand. She wore a minimalist camel-colored coat today, with her waistline drawn up extremely sharply, as if a knife had made her look thinner and sharper.
Behind him was the negotiation table, on which lay a thick stack of due diligence reports. The target company is called "Hua Xi Zi", a new Chinese-style beauty brand. Its GMV has grown from 0 to 900 million yuan in the past 24 months. The founder is a 27-year-old girl from Hangzhou named Song Yinzhang, who looks like a beauty in a classical painting.
The investors, however, were not here to praise her.
The valuation is too high. Fu Juanzhou's voice came from behind her, with a hint of a smile, like an ice block falling into whisky. "With a GMV of 900 million, the transaction volume is only 15%, the average transaction value is ridiculously high, and the repurchase rate is 30% lower than the industry average. How dare you set a 4 times PS for such data?"
He wore a dark grey custom-made suit today, with half of his Patek Philippe cuffs exposed and the dial as cold as himself. Lin Zhi is his deputy and is in charge of due diligence and valuation models today.
Song Yinzhang was sitting opposite, still wearing that sweet and soft smile of "being highly praised by capital" on his face, but the corners of his eyes were already beginning to turn red.
Lin Zhi didn't say a word. He just lowered his head and changed a figure on his iPad, cutting the valuation from 3.6 billion to 2.1 billion.
"Lin Zhi!" " Song Yinzhang's voice suddenly rose, "Are you crazy?" You all said before that you recognized our brand tone!
Lin Zhi raised his eyes, his voice as soft as a feather, yet each word was nailed to the table:
"Mr. Song, brand tone is not cash flow."
Your booth rate for last month's Double 11 was 42%, but your repeat purchases were driven up by padding orders, resulting in a retention rate of only 11%.
If you don't lower it to 2.1 billion today, someone will sign the TS for 2.2 billion tomorrow. At most, we'll have a little oversubscription right.
It's up to you to choose. Do you want 3.6 billion in PPT or 2.1 billion to be credited?
The meeting room was so quiet that the sound of the air conditioner's air outlet could be heard.
Ten minutes later, Song Yinzhang signed.
She cried so hard that her eye makeup was smudged, but still smiled and shook hands with Fu Juanzhou, saying, "Looking forward to a long-term cooperation."
After the event ended, Fu Juanzhou walked in front of Lin Zhi and pressed the down button of the elevator.
"Well done." He didn't even look back. "The first time I took the lead, I cut the valuation by 42%. That's quite ruthless."
Lin Zhi didn't respond. He just looked at his own cold and pale face in the elevator mirror.
It suddenly occurred to her that six years ago, Shen Yijun had also praised her in this tone
"Zhi Zhi, you're really amazing. I've never seen such a smart girl before." "
At that time, she had just graduated from university and obtained the qualification for direct admission to postgraduate studies, but she insisted on staying in Shanghai to accompany him in starting a business. Shen Yijun said that he wants to start a short-video MCN and is in need of a partner who can write scripts.
She believed it.
She put all her scholarship, lucky money and the inheritance left to her by her parents into that shell company called "Whale Fall Culture".
Shen Yijun held her every day and said, "Zhizhi, when I earn money, I'll marry you. Let's go to Iceland to see the aurora, shall we?"
And then?
Later, Jingluo Culture received its first angel round, with a valuation of 30 million.
That night, Shen Yijun told her, "Zhizhi, we might still be more suitable to be friends."
The elevator door opened with a "ding".
Fu Juanzhou turned sideways to let her go first, his voice as low as a whisper between lovers:
"Lin Zhi, do you remember there's a sentence in the merger and acquisition?"
Don't fall in love with your target. '"
Lin Zhi walked in in high heels, turned around and smiled at him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Mr. Fu, do you remember another sentence?"
Don't fall in love with your investor. '"
The elevator door closed, and in the mirror, the shadows of the two people overlapped, like two snakes testing each other.