If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 4, 3 points level

He vaguely remembered that Eleme did use this name in its early days, but it was not until around 2010 that it officially adopted the now well-known "Eleme" brand.

"Our entrepreneurial idea is very simple: to allow students at Jiaotong University to enjoy delicious food from all the restaurants around the school with just one phone call from their dorm rooms."

Zhang Xuhao gradually got into the swing of things, his tone becoming more confident, and he explained using the flowcharts on the PPT:

"Please see our food delivery flowchart: Student calls → Call center accepts order → Restaurant notifies by phone → Merchant/student delivery person picks up and delivers the meal..."

Following his established plan, he began to speak eloquently, recounting how they negotiated with nearby restaurants and solved the "last mile" problem, his words filled with the passion and aspirations of the early stages of entrepreneurship.

Ma Chunmei, who was on the sidelines with a learning attitude, listened very attentively, nodding from time to time. She admired the other person's clear logic and intuitive model.

"The advantage of our model lies in its low-asset startup, directly addressing the pain point of students being 'too lazy to go out,' and the model is simple and clear..."

"We've already secured deals with 18 restaurants around Jiaotong University... and our daily orders have exceeded 70!"

"Our goal is to conquer all universities in Shanghai and ultimately become the largest campus food delivery platform in the country!"

When Zhang Xuhao reached the last page, the "Acknowledgements" section, Ma Chunmei finally couldn't help but whisper in admiration, "He spoke so well!"

"If the full score is 100, what score would you give him for this project?" Geng Zhi's voice suddenly came from across Niu Baoguo.

"Such an excellent project deserves at least 90 points," Ma Chunmei leaned forward and said truthfully, then asked, "What score would you give it?"

Looking straight ahead, Geng Zhi said calmly, "The project itself is a 70 out of 100, but the presentation... well, it's at most a 50 out of 100."

Upon hearing this, Ma Chunmei gave Geng Zhi a disdainful look mixed with a "you do it if you're so good" attitude.

She couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention to Geng Zhi, and only complained to Niu Baoguo in a low voice: "I don't like you, you arrogant fellow villager. You have little ability but a big mouth."

Niu Baoguo also thought Zhang Xuhao's words were good, but he felt a little uncomfortable hearing Ma Chunmei so directly belittle Geng Zhi.

Embarrassed, he could only scratch his head awkwardly, trying to smooth things over: "Old Geng, what do you think are the specific problems with his project?"

Without much hesitation, Geng Zhi listed a series of problems in a steady voice: "Heavy assets, high management costs, poor replicability, high marginal costs, fragile technical solutions, no competitive barriers, and poor profit model."

Niu Baoguo was completely confused and could only say "Oh." The concepts of "marginal cost" and "competitive barriers" were beyond his knowledge.

Ma Chunmei let out a soft hum through her nose, uttering two syllables: "Pretentious." Then, ignoring Geng Zhi, she refocused her attention on the stage, ready to listen to the judges' "professional approval."

On stage, Zhang Xuhao finished his passionate speech, feeling quite pleased with himself, and bowed deeply to the audience with a smile.

Below the stage, several of his team members took the lead in clapping loudly, which sparked a round of enthusiastic applause from those around them.

However, the judges' panel remained calm. The judges simply clapped their hands politely a few times, their faces showing no particular expression.

The host then smoothly transitioned the conversation back on track: "Thank you, Zhang Xuhao, for your excellent presentation! Now, we will move on to the 8-minute Q&A session with the judges."

Her gaze swept across the judges' panel, and seeing that Vice Principal Yang Jinqian seemed quite interested in this project related to campus life, she politely invited, "Principal Yang, would you like to give us a few words of comment?"

Principal Yang preferred to give a concluding speech, so he smiled gently and gestured to the person next to him: "Let Professor J go first; he is an expert in the field of economics and management."

Professor Gou's surname is Gou (苟), but a few years ago at a university-wide assembly, a senior leader, whether by mistake or with ulterior motive, addressed him as "Professor Jù Youqian" in public. Since then, everyone has tacitly adopted this form of address.

Professor Gou didn't refuse. He adjusted his glasses and got straight to the point: "Student Zhang, your passion for your presentation is commendable, but I have two critical questions."

"First, the 'asset-light' model you claim is not actually light at all—you rely on a large number of people to take orders, schedule and deliver, which results in high management costs. It is essentially a manpower-intensive tactic. Once the order volume increases tenfold or a hundredfold, your marginal cost will rise exponentially, and the error rate will also surge."

Upon hearing this, Niu Baoguo and Ma Chunmei were both stunned for a moment, and turned to look at Geng Zhi in unison.

The keywords Professor Gou used, such as "heavy assets," "management costs," and "marginal costs," are almost identical to those Geng Zhi casually mentioned before!

Before Zhang Xuhao could recover, Professor Gou posed his second question:

"Secondly, you profit by charging restaurants commissions, but in order to seize market share, you keep commissions extremely low. Have you calculated the specific order volume needed to break even? How long can your low-commission subsidies last? If you can't turn a profit for a long time and funding doesn't keep up, how will your team survive?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuhao was momentarily speechless. After a brief moment of thought, he hastily replied, "Thank you for the question, Professor Gou! We believe that... initial scale is more important than profitability... We will address management issues by strengthening training to reduce costs."

Professor Gou pointed out the project's fatal weaknesses in large-scale management and sophisticated financial models, but Zhang Xuhao's answer did not truly address the core concerns.

It wasn't that he didn't want to get to the point, but rather that his team hadn't really thought about these things in depth before.

The first issue concerns the bottlenecks of large-scale management, which the team has never even touched upon; the second issue concerns financial calculations, which, although they have a vague concept, has never been modeled in detail.

With time limited, Professor Gou simply smiled meaningfully and refrained from asking further questions, relinquishing the right to speak.

At this moment, Professor Qi Chuqin from the School of Computer Science spoke up: "After listening for a while, I can tell that the core of your project is a 'call center,' which has no technological barriers whatsoever."

"If major internet companies also set their sights on this market and replicate your model, your 'telephone order taking' system will be extremely vulnerable. Have you considered building your competitive advantage with technology? Or is your perceived core competitiveness merely a 'first-mover advantage'?"

Fine beads of sweat had already appeared on Zhang Xuhao's forehead.

He racked his brains for more than ten seconds before stammering, "Professor Qi, we believe that... offline operations and service experience are very important, something that internet companies will find difficult to replicate in the short term... We also have plans to develop a simple website next."

On stage, Zhang Xuhao was drenched in sweat, while Ma Chunmei in the audience felt a chill run down her spine.

She originally thought Zhang Xuhao's project was almost perfect, and his speech was passionate and logical, but she never expected that the judges' questions would be so tricky and sharp.

She couldn't help but imagine herself on the stage, facing such a barrage of questions, and she would probably be several times more embarrassed than Zhang Xuhao.

What shocked her even more was that the keywords Professor Qi used, such as "competitive barriers" and "technological moat," were highly consistent with his "ordinary" and straightforward casual comments!

She couldn't help but cast her surprised and suspicious gaze at Geng Zhi once again.

Geng Zhi calmly observed Zhang Xuhao, who looked somewhat disheveled on stage, shook his head almost imperceptibly, and muttered, "That answer is only at a thirty-point level!"

===

PS: Three chapters today! Please read on, leave comments, vote, and give monthly tickets to help this seedling grow strong. Thank you so much!