CEO of Zunku.com was dismissed by the board of directors: the fruits of luxury e-commerce taken away.

CEO of Zunku.com was dismissed by the board of directors: the fruits of luxury e-commerce taken away.

Respect for cool. The domestic luxury e-commerce website com has undergone major personnel changes recently. Hou Yujiang, former chairman and CEO of Zunku.com, has left his post. At present, Wen Yi, the former vice president of Zunku.com, is the CEO, temporarily managing the company, and at the same time, the overall team of the company is making layoffs and paid. It is understood that Hou Yujiang left his job because the investor Cape of Good Hope questioned its advertising effect, and at the same time thought that Zunku.com had not achieved the expected goal. At present, Zunku.com will mainly develop offline business.

Coincidentally, the reporter learned that Lu Ye, CEO of Shanghai Leyi, another company invested by the Cape of Good Hope in June last year, also left in February.

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This is a decision made in Zunku. Com meeting. At the shareholders' meeting on February 24, Huang, a partner of the Cape of Good Hope, an investor of Zunku.com, said: "The current model of Zunku.com has accumulated too many users and paid too high promotion costs, so we should focus on developing offline business." At the same time, the company decided to lay off staff and reduce salary at the meeting.

Such remarks were unexpected to the participants. According to many middle-level participants at that time, they could not understand the meaning. At the meeting, the marketing department was even directly asked by investors: "I invested so many Internet advertisements, what benefits did you bring me?"

At the board meeting on February 24th, Hou Yujiang was declared "out". Subsequently, the company acted faster than expected. Cool trial staff. Com received a notice on 27th and left on 29th. The salaries of other employees in the company have been reduced by 20-50%. The marketing department and wardrobe consultant who was mainly responsible for online promotion before, is also the sales group of key customers, and the sales group cooperates with conferences and banks offline. Han, the current assistant to the president, is the main person in charge.

With the popularity of luxury websites, only Zhong You, Shangpin, Zunku and Fifth Avenue are vertical B2C e-businesses. Together with other pan-luxury enterprises, catwalks, Vipshop, ihush, Jiapin, etc. have established their brands. From the end of 20 1 1 to the beginning of 20 12, Huha.com and Pinju.com announced that they could not continue to operate due to the break of capital chain. There were also news of layoffs in Shangpin.com and Xiuxiu.com, but few negative news from Zunku.com was heard. This major change in management has made the industry unexpected.

Respect for cool. Com was launched on April 25th, 201/,and received angel investment from Yan Zhifeng, the founder of Shi Sheng Julong. In August, the Cape of Good Hope announced that it would invest 30 million yuan in Zunku. In less than four months from April to August, the data shows that 20% users have made repeated purchases on Zunku, with an average customer price of 3,300 yuan. This has also become the reason why the Cape of Good Hope announced its good development.

In less than half a year, the attitude of investors took a 180 degree turn, from enthusiastic investment to direct decline. Is it because of the management problems of Hou Yujiang, the former chairman? Are there any other factors? With all kinds of questions, the investment community interviewed Hou Yujiang.

"Non-compliant" management was forced to retreat.

When I met Hou Yujiang in the coffee shop, he looked good, but the ashtray in front of him was full of cigarette butts. "I want to smoke five packs of cigarettes a day now." Hou Yujiang smiled helplessly at the reporter.

"This belongs to the fact that the management has been forced to retreat and is not in compliance." Hou Yujiang cut to the chase. The original board members were Hou Yujiang, Huang. As management, Hou Yujiang and Wen Yi each have the right to appoint a director. Later, the board of directors revised the articles of association, with Hou Yujiang as chairman, Huang as director and two directors appointed by the management. Hou Yujiang was sentenced to "out" at the board meeting on February 25th.

"Now the board of directors has two votes for me and one vote against me, so you can fire me directly. I am no longer involved in company management, but I own more than 65,438+0/3 of the shares and remain the largest shareholder. Some special resolutions stipulated in the Company Law still need my consent. " Hou Yujiang said.

In fact, the situation on February 25th was even more severe than that described by Hou Yujiang. In the morning, the board of directors called an emergency board meeting, decided to dismiss Hou Yujiang, and requested a general meeting of shareholders. Hou Yujiang questioned the resolution of the board of directors and refused to sign it. At the same time, the shareholders' meeting was held five days in advance to check the company's articles of association, so it was not held that day. On Friday of that week, Hou Yujiang was dismissed and asked to hand over next Monday. With the rapid development of the situation, many employees didn't know the news until a few days after Hou Yujiang left.

Hou Yujiang was very angry at the investor's statement that Zunku.com died in May: "I still have cash in my account, accounts receivable outside, goods in the warehouse, and advertising expenses for three months. According to the normal business and sales figures, the cash flow is definitely positive, and it is really impossible to break even in the short term, but it is not a huge loss. All the money from the Cape of Good Hope arrives in September. How can the company go bankrupt in just a few months? "

E-commerce network advertising law

In fact, the focus of the contradiction is more focused on investors' doubts about respecting coolness. The advertising cost of com. Investors think that Hou Yujiang spends too much on Internet advertising, and even put forward the requirement of audit intervention review.

It is understood that Zun Cool. At present, the Internet advertisements of com are mainly delivered through the third-party advertising platform MediaV, namely Jusheng Wanhe Advertising Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "MediaV"). Hou Yujiang explained: First, all advertising investors have gone to the source of MediaV, and the shareholders' meeting failed to pass a resolution prohibiting advertising in MediaV before the end of 65438+February; Second, the price of advertising space. The price of Sina advertising space is180,000 a year, and Hou Yujiang will put it into normal at the price of 9 million a year through MediaV. In addition, the cost of Baidu framework is also a normal discount in the industry. In Netease, Qiyi and other advertising spaces, ROI advertising cooperation is the main way.

"In the statistics of iResearch 20 1 1 in the second half of the year, the advertising space in Zunku.com is 40 million yuan according to the display volume, but in fact our expenditure is 6 million yuan, and I am clean." Hou Yujiang stressed.

The reporter interviewed Liu Changhua, deputy general manager of MediaV. He introduced that Zunku.com spent less on advertising than Youzhong.com in the same industry, but in four months, the ROI (Return on Investment) has increased from 0.23 to 1.0. "It is very rare to achieve ROI 1: 1 in the luxury goods industry. Under the same launch, Zunku.com belongs to' spending small money to do big things'. " Liu Changhua said.

In addition to the cooperation with MediaV, Hou Yujiang specifically pointed out that the cooperation with Murray was previously said to be an activity form, so the delivery cost was extremely low, but the transformation effect was very good. "Respect the overall return on investment released by all media. Com, including Baidu, has a framework of 1: 1.5. I am doing a high-end transformation, and no one in this circle can say' no'. Fully in line with the rules of e-commerce operation. " Hou Yujiang concluded.

The team structure fluctuates greatly.

After Hou Yujiang was dismissed, the management structure of the company has also undergone tremendous changes. In the past, Zunku.com's core team included CEO Hou Yujiang and vice president Wen Yi. Angel investor Yan Zhifeng introduced Wen Yi to the company. I am familiar with the industry because I participated in Tianjin Satellite TV's You Are Me, and I am controversial because of the "Liu Lili" incident. After Hou Yujiang left, Wen Yi took over as CEO of Zunku.com. .

During Hou Yujiang's tenure, he respected the library. Com is in the initial stage and has experienced extensive growth for many years. More than 40 people work in a room of 200 square meters. At first, there was no perfect management team. 10 After June 30th, the team expanded step by step and eventually increased to a team of more than 60 people. The core buyers, operation and marketing teams have been following Hou Yujiang's business from the very beginning. "Other companies that reach the same scale are teams with more than 100 people. I only have more than 60 people here. These are brothers who have worked hard with me. " Hou Yujiang said that these colleagues are still grateful.

However, after the personnel turmoil, most of the probationary employees in Zunku.com have been dismissed, and the middle-level and above cadres such as the Operation Department have also chosen to resign voluntarily. Other employees who stay in the company generally have their salaries reduced by 20-50%. Among them, the marketing department and the wardrobe consulting department merged into the key account sales group. Hou Yujiang revealed that most of the employees who started business with him were "tired" by layoffs or salary cuts, and some team members got a raise.

History is always strikingly similar.

It is understood that Hangzhou Cape of Good Hope Sailing Fund is an investment fund focusing on the theme of e-commerce. Huang, a partner of the Cape of Good Hope, has been looking for the best time to cut into the field of e-commerce. 20 1 1, we completed the investment in zunku. Com, Perry Advertising and Shanghai Leyian E-commerce.

After investigation, the reporter found that the e-commerce situation of Shanghai Le Nian, which also received the investment from the Cape of Good Hope, was strikingly similar to Zunku. 201110 The Cape of Good Hope announced that it would invest 20 million yuan in e-commerce in Shanghai Happy Year, and the original founder, director and CEO Lu Ye would no longer hold the post of CEO.

An investment journalist named Lu Ye admitted that he was no longer in the company. According to the resolution of the board of directors, he left his post in February. At present, the company is managed by three managers and one investor.

"I left the Happy Year because it is inconsistent with the strategic direction of investors. Le nian is a health care product e-commerce company that locates middle-aged and elderly people and women's products. In the case that the traditional Internet e-commerce market has not fully occupied a certain share, investors proposed to develop in the direction of mobile Internet. I don't think it's time yet. " Lu Wei said.

Lu Ye introduced that it has been a year and a half since the establishment of the Year of Music. He and Hou Yujiang both met the Cape of Good Hope at the LP meeting of 20 1 1. After three meetings, a cooperation agreement was reached and the investment intention was determined in August of that year. After obtaining the investment, the company developed by leaps and bounds, with a good performance of 20 1 1. Lu Ye recalled that in June, 5438+00, Huang proposed that the speed of browsing the Happy Year webpage by mobile phone was too slow, and put forward the idea of increasing investment in mobile Internet.

"Le Nian is an e-commerce company focusing on health care products for middle-aged and elderly women. The main profit points come from call centers, DM and specialty stores. Due to the low usage rate of the Internet and smart phone platforms by middle-aged and elderly people, increasing investment in the mobile Internet is obviously contrary to the enterprise and product strategy. " At that time, Lu Ye had questioned this strategic plan. Happy Year was established one and a half years ago, with 260 employees, and its monthly sales increased from zero to nearly 10 million. If we change the strategy rashly, it will inevitably bring about changes in the internal structure, products and processes of the company. Lu Ye believes that the mobile Internet is a trend and must be followed up. If Zian invests money and manpower on a large scale, he thinks it is not yet time.

At this board meeting, Huang also questioned the company's strategy and suggested turning the company's main strategy to the direction of mobile Internet. "If there is no problem with the traditional Internet and call center, the goal of Happy 20 12 is to reach nearly 200 million sales. I can sign any additional gambling agreement with shareholders. But if I invest heavily in the mobile Internet, I have no idea. I can't destroy the company. " This is why Luye chose to quit directly. After the board meeting, Lu Ye handed over the core affairs of the company to an executive vice president and two other responsible persons whom he trusted very much, and signed a withdrawal agreement in early March.

Looking back on this year and a half of entrepreneurship, Lu Ye feels a lot. "This is my career tuition. It feels good to start a business when there is no money. Although there is some pressure on funds, I can realize my idea. However, after the funds went in, the employees worked hard and did not expect the board of directors to have a problem. "

Lu Ye introduced that he has worked in the health care industry for 16 years, and several partners in Happy Year also have many years of experience in the traditional health care industry. In the past year, Lu Ye's basic working hours were from 8: 30 am to 10:30 pm, and the whole team was also very cohesive. When he left Happy Year, he carefully handed over the company to several very responsible management, hoping to help Happy Year continue its good operation.

However, we have to admit that this major personnel change may shake the morale of the army. According to insiders of Le Nian, many grass-roots employees have already distrusted the board of directors. Since the last board meeting, the company has not confirmed the detailed rules for entering the mobile Internet. "I know that investors are also for the better development of the company, but sometimes it may be too beautiful. If the company goes astray, it will be bad for the existing company and bad for both shareholders. " Lu Wei said.

It is understood that Lu Ye has come to Beijing from Shanghai to set up a cosmetics e-commerce company. He said that he would not make the same type of products as his last company, but he was confident in the fields he would explore in the future. "I should contact investors again this time, but I will choose to be more cautious." Lu Wei said.

In fact, there are more than two cases of CEO's resignation in the Internet field, which can be traced back to July, 20001year. The board of directors of Sina unanimously decided to terminate Wang Zhidong, the former CEO, as the company's president, CEO and director.

2010 On June 5438+00, Seek, the controlling party of Zhaopin, dismissed four management members of Zhaopin, including CEO Zhao Peng, Chief Operating Officer Lei Weiming, senior executives Chen Xu and Ni Yangping.

On 20111,it was announced that there was a change in senior management. CEO Zhu Hailong and Chief Operating Officer Zhou Dai both resigned, and the work was temporarily taken over by the staff stationed by the major shareholder Yinhu Investment.

On March 20 1 February1day, Jiang Lan, the founder of Share Media, resigned from the board of directors due to poor personal health, and * * * and founder Chen Lixuan took over as CEO.

Analysts believe that in addition to the founder leaving for health reasons, a large part of other reasons are that investors believe that the company's performance has not met expectations, or there are major differences on the company's future development direction. In addition, there are factional disputes caused by uneven distribution of interests or power within the company.

Reflect on the financing process

Looking back on the cooperation with investors, Hou Yujiang also reflected on his entrepreneurial process for more than a year. 20 1 1 At the beginning of the year, when the upsurge of luxury entrepreneurship just started, he founded Zunku. com。 In the financing in May, he held four letters of intent for investment, including a well-known domestic foreign investment institution, a Hong Kong VC, an American VC and the Cape of Good Hope. But because the Cape of Good Hope is a RMB fund, it promises to inject it as soon as possible. Hou Yujiang, who is in the critical stage of starting a business, chose 30 million from the Cape of Good Hope without much consideration, and even signed a gambling agreement.

Investors initially promised that the investment money injected at the end of June would not arrive until the end of August, and a large number of goods did not officially begin to arrive until September. On September 25th, Zunku.com officially launched. "It is really difficult to recall those days, because the funds were not in place and the company's business could not be carried out. Investors asked me,' Have you fulfilled your promise of 40 million yuan?' If the funds can arrive at the end of June, why don't I just stay for three months and fail to achieve this goal? "Hou Yujiang complained about this.

If 80% of the outstanding performance had been signed in the gambling agreement, the company would give investors one more point. This part of the equity was finally paid by Hou Yujiang personally, and he did not pursue it again.

Hou Yujiang revealed that it is cool. Under the influence of the long holiday, com still had sales of nearly 2 million in June 5438+ 10, and reached a peak of nearly 5 million in February 201. At the beginning of this year, he has started the negotiation of round B financing, and several investment institutions have expressed their investment intentions. However, due to the suspension of online advertising, respect for cool orders. Com is significantly lower than 1.

Hou Yujiang talked about the ridicule of his friends. "After a year of hard work in the luxury e-commerce industry, I finally came to a hard time. In the season of picking fruits, let others pick them. " He said with a smile.

Zero2IPO Data Center shows that investment in 20 1 1 Internet is hot, among which e-commerce in sub-sectors has received the most investment. From June 2065438 to October 2002 10, the overall investment enthusiasm of VC/PE dropped sharply, and the investment enthusiasm of Internet industry continued to rise, and e-commerce investment still got the highest number of votes. With the increasing proportion of online retail transactions in the total retail sales of consumer goods, more and more venture capitalists are involved in e-commerce investment.

However, the huge amount of funds entering the field of e-commerce will inevitably lead to contradictions between investors and enterprises in management and company operation. For the contact between luxury e-commerce and venture capital, the Economic Observer of 20 1 1 described it this way: "Disappointed, I found that they didn't understand the industry at all, and almost all of them were full of unrealistic fantasies."

Sun Yafei, CEO of Fifth Avenue, once said that seeing the sudden outbreak of market psychology, look at the venture capitalists in this industry. "A bunch of self-righteous digital analysis, I don't understand enterprises at all."

Luxury e-commerce has developed rapidly in China over the past two years. During this period, some enterprises abandoned the road of pure luxury goods and moved towards a more pan-luxury industry. Other enterprises shut down because of a large number of advertisements and the break of the capital chain. Respect for cool. As one of the few enterprises that insist on high-end luxury goods, com chose to focus on the offline market at this time.

Whether this kind of fruit will encounter the problem of "orange in the south and orange in the north" or whether it will be grafted with new varieties needs to be verified in the future. The only certainty is that others have already reaped the fruits.

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