This is the third time in ten years that Wu Changjiang, the founder of NVC Lighting, has been expelled by a major shareholder, and it is also the most isolated time for him.
"There have been three turmoils in ten years, and people will think that I am a very problematic person. In the future, when it comes to financing in the financial market, negotiating cooperation with others, or in public evaluations, how many people are willing to believe me?" Wu Changjiang's face was full of fatigue, "My original intention is definitely not to cause any trouble, but I am really forced to do nothing."
In the past week, the behavior similarity between NVC Lighting (2222.HK) founder Wu Changjiang and chairman Wang Donglei was as high as 90%. They are busy holding press conferences and repeating the same rhetoric to reporters from all walks of life; they are busy contacting dealers to appease their respective spheres of influence.
They accused each other with great righteousness and confessed themselves with great sadness. The charges listed by the two for each other are almost interchangeable - related transactions, hollowing out listed companies, violent destruction of production, and breach of trust. As for self-complaints, Wang Donglei said sadly like Mr. Dongguo that he was Wu Changjiang's great benefactor, while Wu Changjiang said, "I am too naive and gullible."
The only difference is that Wang Donglei came prepared. After the vigorous official seal snatching incident on August 8, Wang immediately released the news through domestic first-line financial public relations companies, and immediately threatened and lured NVC dealers, asking them to support him. Wu Changjiang was on a business trip two days before the accident. Afterwards, he spoke out more in the form of self-media on Weibo.
"Actually, most of the dealers signed that statement without their intention. Wang Donglei called us to a meeting and security searched us, which made everyone feel uncomfortable. We have had feelings for NVC and trust in Lao Wu for so many years, so everyone signed it out of helplessness. He still has hundreds of brothers, and they always have to eat. If Lao Wu asked us to send a statement to support him, most of them would sign it, but Lao Wu didn't want to embarrass us. After all, the two people have very different feelings towards NVC and dealers," said a NVC provincial dealer interviewed by "Chinese Entrepreneur".
Despite the confrontation between the two sides, Wu Changjiang still became the number one leading actor in the eyes of public opinion. This is not only because he is the founder of NVC Lighting, but also because of his ups and downs struggle history for NVC. Wu Changjiang, who cherishes NVC the most, has always been deeply involved in non-share control rights and desire for control maintained by emotions. Today, Wu Changjiang’s absolute controlling interest in NVC has dropped from 45% to 2.54% (according to Wang Donglei, this 2.54% equity no longer exists). Every time the equity in his hands decreases, Wu Changjiang always relies on his "killer trump card". It was his willful, conceited, and face-conscious choices time and time again that made NVC hand over to others inch by inch.
"I am NVC's most valuable asset. Why does NVC develop so fast? Why has it been ranked number one in China for more than ten years? I must be superior, and this is not a boast." He told "Chinese Entrepreneur". But others do not evaluate his irreplaceable value in this way. The co-founders have severed ties with him, the PE investors have turned against him, the brothers who once hit it off are about to go to court with him, and the dealers who have always supported him are also wavering in their interests. Wu Changjiang's every attack was intended to strangle Lei Shi, but Lei Shi passed away in the palm of his hand like quicksand.
Wu’s “killer trump card”
Wu’s experience as a teenager was similar to that of many entrepreneurs of the same generation. He came from a poor family, was talented, and won a gold medal. After graduating from college, he worked for Shaanxi Hanzhong Airlines. In 1992, Wu Changjiang resigned and went south. When he was leaving, the old factory director of his former unit said to him, "Xiao Wu, you are too idealistic and too loyal. This character is your greatest strength and biggest weakness. If you succeed in the future, it will be due to your character. If you fail, it will also be because of your character." Looking back today, it became a prophecy.
In 1998, Wu Changjiang, who had already made his first fortune, began to get involved in the lighting industry in Huizhou. He called on his high school classmates Du Gang and Hu Yonghong to help.
It was a sweltering midsummer in Guangdong, and three energetic young people were drinking beer and eating fried rice noodles downstairs of Wu Changjiang's house. After chatting happily, the three decided to change the form of cooperation from helping to starting a business together. Wu Changjiang raised his glass and said, "I will contribute 450,000 yuan, accounting for 45% of the shares, and you two will contribute 550,000 yuan, each accounting for 27.5% of the shares."
At that time, the idea of starting a business originated from Wu Changjiang, and his economic strength was far superior to that of Du and Hu. If he wants to spend an extra 60,000 yuan to occupy 51% of the shares, or directly buy 70% of the shares for 700,000 yuan, there is nothing wrong with it. But in Wu Changjiang's value system, controlling rights are not important. Only brotherly love and loyalty can achieve his sense of existence.
The curse that Wu Changjiang and NVC could not escape for more than ten years began with the agreement at this roadside stall.
What followed was a period filled with passion, dreams and friendship. At that time, the domestic lighting industry was still swirling in the whirlpool of low-quality competition. In 2000, NVC’s first brand store opened, and three young people introduced the brand monopoly system into the domestic lighting industry.
The business was booming until 2002, when the three founders made an equity adjustment. NVC paid 10 million yuan to Wu Changjiang, and the equity of the three people was equal to 33.3%. As for the reason for the equity adjustment, Wu's explanation was that at that time, the company paid dividends, and he received more than Du and Hu. This made him, who put brotherhood first, very uncomfortable, so he took the initiative to dilute his equity. But there is also another version of the rumor in the world, saying that Wu Changjiang, who is addicted to gambling, took too much gambling money from NVC's books and was not allowed to dilute his equity.
Perhaps there was a rift in the relationship; perhaps after the world was divided into three parts, the industry still only equated NVC with Wu Changjiang, which made Du and Hu very unhappy; perhaps the strategy formulated by Wu Changjiang was too radical in the eyes of Du and Hu; the more mainstream view was that Wu Changjiang wanted to establish more than 30 operation centers across the country to support superior operators, but Du and Hu firmly opposed it because they were worried about the merger of princes.
In short, by 2005, the conflict between the three co-founders broke out. First, Du and Hu held a meeting with Wu Changjiang in accordance with the company's articles of association and asked him to leave with 80 million. A week later, Wu Changjiang reversed the situation with the support of dealers and decided to stay on his own. NVC paid Du and Hu 80 million each.
The only thing that can be clearly seen is that Wu Changjiang is superior to Du and Hu Qi in the channel change strategy of supporting excellent operators. At that time, dealers and manufacturers in the industry were still immersed in the intrigue of "the big store bullies the customer, and the big customer bullies the store." They took the initiative to irrigate dealers who might restrain them in the future. They considered not only the vision and structure of the decision-makers, but also the mind and courage.
"If you formulate a business strategy and everyone can understand it, is it still called a strategy? If my decision-making was understood by everyone, there would be no NVC and Wu Changjiang today. In today's ever-changing business competition environment, some people do not understand this opportunity. If you discuss with them, you may encounter constant obstruction, but the opportunity is fleeting." Speaking of partners who do not understand themselves, Wu Changjiang raised his voice twice.
The strong dealer system not only became NVC’s secret to being unique in the martial arts world in the future, but also became Wu Changjiang’s invisible trump card. Wu Changjiang's strategy of cultivating excellent operators means that NVC selects a core dealer in a region to be responsible for the operation center, and the latter is responsible for mastering and managing the distribution network in the region, all the way to the terminal. From the manufacturer to the terminal, a value chain is formed. This chain is completely connected in the information system and is a "manufacturer value integration" model that realizes sharing of personnel and resources. After more than ten years of operation, dealers are highly dependent on NVC for business, and emotionally they almost only recognize Wu Changjiang, who started from scratch together. In such a subtle bundling method, the core competitiveness of NVC Lighting is outside the listed companies that will be listed in the future, and is controlled by Wu Changjiang.
Even if NVC is in chaos today, and dealers are suffering from the company's production stagnation and inability to supply goods, some people are still willing to follow Wu Changjiang. The above-mentioned provincial dealers told this publication that if Lao Wu can overcome the difficulties this time, they are still willing to be bound to Wu Changjiang. Because Wu has ideas and is willing to win-win with others. But this is what most people think.
ANNA