If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 67: Acquiring "Jiaotong University Matchmaker"

Meanwhile, in the Zhongguancun office of Baihe.com in Haidian District, Beijing.

Just as Mu Yan took a sip of the finest Longjing tea, his secretary placed two documents on his mahogany desk.

One document is a headache-inducing public opinion briefing, which summarizes recent online user complaints about Baihe.com's "false information" and "misleading consumption," as well as negative reports from several small media outlets.

The other document was the third version of the follow-up research report on the "Jiaotong University Matchmaker" project, submitted by Li Li, the marketing director.

Without hesitation, Mu Yan pushed the negative report aside and picked up the "Jiaotong University Matchmaker" report, reading it carefully.

"The core team consists of only two full-time employees, relying on inexpensive part-time students and volunteers... With zero paid investment, they successfully held eight events in three and a half weeks, all of which were sold out, with a variety of sponsors... The online buzz generated hundreds of thousands of impressions..."

Looking at the eye-catching data in the report, Mu Yan's face revealed a few undisguised expressions of excitement.

What excites him is not the current achievements of "Jiaotong University Matchmaker", but its huge future potential.

The current online dating market has become mired in a quagmire.

With high traffic costs and declining user conversion and retention rates, the entire industry is subtly hitting its growth ceiling.

Despite the slowdown in growth, Century Home Network continues to widen its lead over Baihe.com thanks to its capital advantage.

Mu Yan understood that Baihe.com had only two paths to break out of its predicament:

Either snatch market share from established players like Century Home Network and True Love Network, or explore entirely new growth markets.

In a saturated market, the old methods of throwing money at GG and packaging new concepts are no longer viable; disruptive products or models are needed.

How to subvert it?

The free model of "Old Zhou" that Geng Zhi once mentioned may be a powerful tool.

Currently, a large portion of the core revenue of the three major online dating platforms comes from users paying for chat and viewing emails. If Baihe.com can be the first to offer free services, it will undoubtedly attract a massive number of users instantly.

The only thing to consider is how to fill the profit gap after making it free.

So how do we expand into the existing market?

Offline is an excellent way to break the deadlock.

In fact, not only Mu Yan knew that they should do offline business, but Gong Haiyan of Century Family Network and Li Song of True Love Network also knew this and had done their research.

The reason why the three companies have remained inactive is that the offline model is too cumbersome—opening stores nationwide and recruiting and training matchmakers is costly, involves dirty and tiring work, and has a poor short-term ROI (return on investment).

However, Geng Zhi successfully replicated the offline event at top universities in just one month at a very low cost, proving that this model can be standardized, replicated, and can directly reach high-quality users.

For Baihe.com, this is a completely new and imaginative blue ocean.

If Baihe.com's capital and brand can be used to rapidly scale up this offline approach that has proven successful in its straightforwardness, its strategic value will be immeasurable.

First, secure a pool of high-quality users.

It can quickly acquire college students, the core consumer group for the next 5-10 years, and instantly expand the user base.

Second, build an experience moat.

The authentic experience and sense of trust generated by offline events is a barrier that purely online platforms cannot easily replicate in the short term, allowing them to rapidly expand their market share.

Third, tell a new story about capital.

By driving traffic from offline word-of-mouth to online VIP services or offline stores, creating a new growth narrative of "O2O online-offline integration" is enough to boost valuation and may even help Baihe.com become the "first stock in the marriage and dating industry".

Whether it's the free strategy in the existing market or the O2O strategy in the incremental market, it was actually proposed by that straightforward person.

Having analyzed this far, Mu Yan couldn't help but admire Zhu Xiaohu's keen eye for people once again. His interest in straightforwardness also grew stronger.

Despite holding Geng Zhi in high regard, Mu Yan remained resolute in his heart:

A student project relying solely on the meager income from offline activities can at best only achieve modest prosperity and has no chance of growing into a towering tree. If "Jiaotong University Matchmaker" wants to truly thrive, it must rely on an industry giant like Baihe.com.

Since I've noticed Geng Zhi, Century Home Network, which is also headquartered in Shanghai and has an equally keen sense of smell, is very likely also eyeing this lucrative opportunity.

We must recruit Geng Zhi and his team before Gong Haiyan does!

Give him a title—Director of Baihe.com's University Business Line; give him resources—funds and a team; let him lead the charge for Baihe.com and expand its offline territory.

Thinking of this, Mu Yan felt even more eager and immediately dialed the intercom: "Li Li, come to my office."

Two minutes later, Li Li, the marketing director, strode in.

"Li Li, have you ever met Geng Zhi in person? What's his personality like?" Mu Yan asked casually, toying with an exquisite fountain pen.

"Mr. Mu, it's said that Geng Zhi appeared at the first 'If You Are the One' event and even spoke, but I didn't get into the venue and didn't see him. He didn't appear at the subsequent events. But according to his team members during my research, he lives up to his name."

"Oh, as the name suggests, you're quite straightforward and easy to fool." Mu Yan's lips curled up slightly, which to him was almost equivalent to being easy to deal with.

"Hmm...that's roughly the idea."

After a moment's thought, Mu Yan asked thoughtfully, "Approximately how much net profit do they make per event?"

"Judging from the last two events, their revenue per event is about six thousand yuan. After deducting the costs of venue, labor, and some materials, the profit is estimated to be around four thousand yuan," Li Li estimated.

"Earning four thousand per game, sixteen thousand per week, sixty-four thousand per month..." Mu Yan quickly calculated in his mind, "Even if he works non-stop all year round, his annual profit would only be seven or eight hundred thousand. And this money isn't even earned by him alone; it has to be shared with the team."

"Mr. Mu, are you thinking of... acquiring 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker' and restarting your campus business?" Li Li vaguely guessed Mu Yan's intentions and was clearly surprised.

Because the direction they discussed before was based on the "Jiaotong University Matchmaker" model, which Baihe.com would then implement themselves.

"Yes, instead of trying to imitate him, we might as well just bring him into our fold and make him the director of campus business. It'll save us time and effort."

"But isn't he still a college student?" Li Li said.

"So what if he's still a student?" Mu Yan laughed, a smile carrying the composure of a capitalist. "After graduation, he still has to find a job and work for someone else, right? He's still in school now, can't we just find a way to get him out of school early?"

"Although Geng Zhi is successful in Shanghai, I'm still worried that he's too young. He simply won't be able to handle complex offline business that involves crossing cities," Li Li said, expressing her real concern.

"I trust Zhu Xiaohu's judgment," Mu Yan said with a playful smile. "If he's not a good fit, we can just replace him."

"President Zhu has also taken notice of 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker'?" Li Li was surprised again.

"Yes, Mr. Zhu saw Geng Zhi's roadshow back then and couldn't forget him. He even expressed his willingness to invest in him at the time."

Immediately afterwards, Mu Yan briefly told Li Li about Zhu Xiaohu's honest evaluation of him, his optimism about him, and his views on mobile internet.

As Li Li listened, her brows gradually furrowed, and a worry rose in her heart:

"President Mu, judging from what President Zhu said, is he also planning to invest in Gengzhi in the future, competing with us?"