After Meng Chang finished this opening statement, many investors who had initially frowned and thought the idea unreliable softened their attitudes considerably.
Everyone began to listen attentively.
Meng Chang was very relaxed, without any pressure whatsoever, and began to eloquently explain the “Cold-faced Girl” business model.
The overall content was similar to what he had told He Desheng earlier, but many details were explained more thoroughly.
Because when he met He Desheng previously, time was limited, and he could only compress all the content into less than half an hour.
But now, since this was a press conference, a time that was too short would certainly not be enough to produce the desired effect, so Meng Chang extended the time to nearly two hours.
All the content was divided into three major parts.
The first part demonstrated the enormous market demand for “grilled cold noodles” and the changes that “Cold-faced Girl” would bring to the grilled cold noodle and even the fast food industry.
The current market situation remained at those few points, mainly that grilled cold noodles were unhygienic, had inconsistent taste, and limited variety, while the internet + food service was currently a huge trend.
At this stage, “Cold-faced Girl’s” task was to create a brand concept that could be linked to the traditional food “grilled cold noodles” through its products and marketing, making everyone immediately think of “Cold-faced Girl” whenever they heard “grilled cold noodles.”
The second part: after establishing the “Cold-faced Girl” brand, expand around this brand concept and develop various Chinese fast food business models.
Produce peripheral fast food products around the “Cold-faced Girl” brand and concept, such as wraps, Chinese hamburgers, side dishes, porridge, cold noodles, and so on.
These products would serve as supplements to the signature “grilled cold noodles” and gradually evolve customers’ perception of “Cold-faced Girl” from a simple grilled cold noodle brand to a fast food brand.
The third part: after “Cold-faced Girl” established a firm foothold in the fast food industry, it would embrace the internet ecosystem, breaking down barriers between online and offline, food service and the internet, users and platforms—the so-called “multi-dimensional fusion.”
Because “Cold-faced Girl” represented a lifestyle and internet thinking, users would naturally accept this “multi-dimensional fusion” model.
For example, they could develop central kitchens, food delivery, food reviews, and other industries, continuously expanding the concept and competitive moat of the “Cold-faced Girl” brand through content accumulation.
During his explanation, Meng Chang made some abstract concepts easy to understand and quoted many internet moguls, causing many investors present to nod repeatedly.
For potentially controversial points, Meng Chang explained them in advance, directly blocking the path for others who might want to question him.
“Some might ask, ‘Cold-faced Girl’ only makes grilled cold noodles, why do you place so much emphasis on marketing and brand building, even planning to spend huge sums on it? Is this meaningful? Isn’t this just hype?”
“I’d like to ask everyone a question: We all know ‘product is king,’ but who knows the exact definition of ‘product’?”
“Some believe that marketing and product are opposite poles, that focusing on marketing means you can’t focus on the product. I think this perspective is narrow-minded.”
“A product is the sum of the physical item and its concept.”
“When we buy a Pineapple phone, we’re buying both the physical item and the concept. If it had no concept, its value would diminish by at least a third.”
“So, the reason why we internet companies place such importance on marketing is not because we want to hype or pass off inferior goods as quality ones, but because to create a business model with a competitive moat, we must balance the relationship between ‘physical items’ and ‘concepts’—that’s what makes a good product.”
“By combining the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ brand with traditional grilled cold noodles and creating a deep bond, we build a competitive moat, so that when customers want to eat grilled cold noodles, their first thought is to eat ‘Cold-faced Girl’s’ grilled cold noodles. This kind of marketing is certainly meaningful—how could it be mere hype?”
“Hype is blindly pursuing popularity and traffic without planning how to utilize that popularity and traffic; our marketing is about creating a brand concept, which is part of our product.”
“Some might also ask, Grilled cold noodles are just a snack. No matter how delicious they are, most people would eat them once a week. How could they possibly serve as a meal?”
“In fact, ‘Cold-faced Girl’ absolutely does not encourage customers to treat grilled cold noodles as a meal. Because this is neither nutritious nor healthy, and doesn’t align with most people’s eating habits.”
“‘Cold-faced Girl’s’ grilled cold noodles are just a signature item, a concept, a star product, not the only offering.”
“In the first stage, we will not only have various flavors of grilled cold noodles but also side dishes, porridge, cold noodles, desserts, and other accompanying foods. In the second stage, our goal is to create a Chinese fast food brand, including wrapped rice, braised rice, and so on—these are all part of our menu.”
“So why do I keep emphasizing the concept of ‘grilled cold noodles’? Because ‘grilled cold noodles’ is our entry point to break through.”
“If we started by shouting about making Chinese fast food, we would fail miserably, because there are too many competitors in Chinese fast food, and we wouldn’t have a memorable point that could quickly be remembered by all consumers.”
“Focusing intensely on the concept of ‘grilled cold noodles’ can greatly reduce the cognitive difficulty and memory cost for consumers regarding the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ brand.”
“By emphasizing ‘grilled cold noodles,’ it means our direct competitors are not those Chinese restaurant brands but the nameless, unhygienic roadside stalls selling grilled cold noodles. This is fully leveraging our comparative advantage.”
“The primary goal is to acquire customers. First, create differentiation and characteristics, make customers recognize and remember us, and then enrich our layout and consider more long-term directions.”
“Some might also ask, what’s the difference between ‘Cold-faced Girl’ and Slackin’ Delivery? As products under Tenda, would there be a conflict?”
“My answer is that ‘Cold-faced Girl’ will focus on ‘fast food,’ while Slackin’ Delivery, strictly speaking, should be ‘set meals’ or ‘simple meals.’ Just like steak and pizza versus fried chicken and hamburgers, different categories don’t interfere with each other.”
“‘Cold-faced Girl’ and Slackin’ Delivery, even including most food service models in the market, don’t constitute direct competitive relationships. We’re in a differentiated competition, each targeting our user base.”
“Some might also ask, you’re just making grilled cold noodles, what’s all this talk about ‘multi-dimensional fusion’? You haven’t even opened your first grilled cold noodle shop yet, but you’re already thinking about future industry linkages. Isn’t this aiming too high?”
“I want to say, those who cannot plan the whole situation are not qualified to plan a corner; those who cannot plan the general trend are not qualified to plan for the moment. As internet entrepreneurs, having a far-sighted vision is a very scarce but necessary ability.”
“If my goal was just to make some grilled cold noodles, open a few branch stores, and have a monthly turnover of a few million, why would I hold a press conference and try to obtain so much financing?”
“If I were a person satisfied with small wealth, what return would you get from investing in me?”
“So-called ‘aiming too high’ actually refers to not being down-to-earth, with everything being castles in the air—jumping directly from the foundation to the highest point, with a huge gap in between.”
“But the model I’ve planned for ‘Cold-faced Girl,’ with its three-step goal, is crystal clear. For each step, I’ve clearly stated the goals, means, and final results to be achieved, without any gaps in between.”
“Of course, some details are trade secrets that I can’t elaborate on and must keep confidential. This is a necessary condition to ensure entrepreneurial success.”
“As I said before, I don’t expect everyone to decide to invest immediately after seeing this PPT.”
“You can closely follow the developments of the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ brand. When I open the first store, complete the first marketing event, achieve profitability in the first month, open the second store… when you see my goals being completed one by one, you’ll naturally understand that everything I said was serious.”
“Now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. As long as they don’t involve details that touch on some confidential matters, I’ll share everything I know.”
Meng Chang signaled the staff to prepare the microphones that had already been prepared for the investors below.
After nearly two hours of presentation, many investors had developed a strong interest in this brand.
Whether this brand could ultimately succeed, no one could guarantee. But at least, after listening to the entire press conference, this model was quite interesting, so regardless of whether they questioned it with approval or opposition, these investors were all very interested.
Faced with a series of questions thrown out, some gentle and some sharp, Meng Chang wasn’t flustered at all. He cited various sources and spoke eloquently.
Below the stage, Xue Zhebin looked confused.
He tilted his head toward Li Shi and said quietly, “Mr. Li, I think what he says makes a lot of sense. I can’t help wanting to invest some money to buy some original shares. If it succeeds, the return rate would be astonishingly high.”
Li Shi was silent for a moment: “Just listening to these things isn’t enough to determine. The risk is very high; it’s better to wait and see.”
“Smart investors don’t have a gambler’s mentality. Thinking that one project will yield ultra-high returns often leads to being completely swindled. The highest wisdom in investment is not only seeing opportunities but also knowing how to avoid risks.”
Xue Zhebin sighed: “Ah, investing is a technical job. If only someone could invent a lie detector, where one look would tell you if someone is lying. Then investors wouldn’t be scammed.”
Li Shi smiled: “A lie detector wouldn’t help either. Some people speak sincerely but lack the ability when it comes to actual work, so you’d still lose money if you invested; some people might not have thought that far ahead, but in the end succeed due to coincidental circumstances, which is also possible.”
“Besides, investing is inherently high-risk. Is it tragic when investors get scammed out of their money? Of course it is. But investors are not vulnerable groups; this is inherently a savage arena.”
“Are investors innocent? Of course not. Investment should be a far-sighted endeavor, but many investors are short-sighted, their only purpose for investing being to gain more immediate benefits.”
“Investors control large amounts of money, but most don’t invest where it’s most needed. Instead, they swarm to so-called ‘hot spots,’ burning money, hyping things up, harvesting the masses, destroying the environment, and ultimately leaving nothing but a mess.”
“I was like that a few years ago, but now my perspective has begun to change.”
“So in investing, you can’t blame heaven or others. If you encounter a high-return project, it’s because you have a discerning eye; if you encounter a scammer, it’s because your experience is insufficient.”
“Objectively speaking, investors who encounter scammers will indeed lose everything; but when investors meet entrepreneurs who lack experience and vigilance, they won’t show mercy either, but will do everything possible to squeeze them dry.”
“Business is like a battlefield, where you can’t talk about morality or personal feelings. Fighting to the death within the bounds of the law is perfectly normal.”
Xue Zhebin asked again: “Then, Mr. Li, in your opinion, what are the chances of success for the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ business model?”
After thinking for a moment, Li Shi said, “If I were to evaluate Meng Chang as a person, I would say he’s a marketing genius and a speech genius. As for whether he’s a business genius or a scamming genius…”
“It’s hard to judge now; we’ll have to see the situation after his first store opens.”
“Judging from how he’s answering the investors’ questions, he’s well-prepared and answers smoothly, without revealing any flaws.”
“I’m afraid just asking questions won’t get us anywhere.”
Xue Zhebin looked at He Desheng and Ma Yang sitting in the front row: “Will Mr. Ma ask a question?”
Li Shi couldn’t help but smile: “I don’t think so.”
Others thought Mr. Ma was very mysterious and likely a hidden investment genius.
But Li Shi didn’t think so.
Because Li Shi had dealt with Ma Yang many times before at Slackin’ Internet Café, and had once almost confused Ma Yang to the point where he couldn’t tell north from south. Li Shi knew exactly what Ma Yang was capable of.
Ma Yang was impressive, but that was because he had Mr. Pei’s guidance behind him!
Li Shi knew clearly that Ma Yang was just a tool in Mr. Pei’s hands. The reason he could reach such a key position was simply because he was obedient enough and loyal to Mr. Pei.
As for his intelligence and ability, Li Shi felt that compared to Mr. Pei, there was a world of difference—at best, he was at an average person’s level, perhaps even slightly below.
And who was Meng Chang? Whether he was a true genius or a big scammer, his IQ was definitely among the top tier.
Ma Yang questioning Meng Chang?
Anyone with a bit of self-awareness probably wouldn’t do that.