A poor rural teenager, constantly working hard, changed his destiny through sports, and accumulated the first pot of gold through advertising. At a time when the sports industry is about to explode, he wants to build a world-class event IP.
China's original fighting event brand Kunlun Decisive, now valued at $350 million, has received financing from IDG, Morningside Capital and other investment institutions, and in an interview with the media, two investment institutions waited for two and a half hours.
At the end of 2014, the State Council issued Document No. 46 "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Sports Industry to Promote Sports Consumption", which officially upgraded the sports industry to a "national strategy", proposing that the total scale of the sports industry should exceed 5 trillion yuan by 2025, and the total scale of China's sports industry in 2015 is about less than 1 trillion yuan.
Since the launch of China's first professional event "A A" in 1994, China's sports industry has stumbled, and the path of commercialization has been hidden in the shadow of the national system. Favorable policies have stirred up this backwater. In 2015, according to the statistics of Zero2IPO Research Center, there were 33 mergers and acquisitions of sports projects at home and abroad with more than 10 million yuan, involving an amount of nearly 40 billion yuan.
Founded in 2013, Kunlun Decisive, determined to be the world's first stand-up fighting brand, just enjoyed this wave of market benefits. And its founder, Jiang Hua, relied on sports 20 years ago to take the first step in a life of poverty alleviation.
Sport is the only way out of the countryside
Jiang Hua was born in a poor rural area in Zhoukou City, Henan Province. Jiang Hua's great-grandfather (locally known as Taiye) had five brothers, and for a scoop of sorghum and four nest heads, the fourth grandfather was given to someone else.
When he was a child, Jiang Hua grew up with his great-grandmother (locally known as mrs.), lived in a thatched house, in order to save wood, the door was only one meter and seven high, and Jiang Hua was easy to bump his head when he grew up. The curtains are woven with sorghum stems, and in order to prevent theft, the windows are open very small, and the whole room is dim in broad daylight. The ground was dirt, sweeping more, and the flat ground became concave.
The wife has no culture, not even a name, only a name "Jiang Shi", widowed at the age of 27, and pulled a big family up by hand. The wife is poor and uneducated, and only the simple survival philosophy is "to work hard." She loves Jiang Hua, and whenever her great-grandson is naughty and beaten, she always takes a crutch and knocks people one by one to defend him. In Jiang Hua's eyes, The wife is a god-like being.
In poor rural areas, there are three ways to change fate: reading, joining the army, and sports. The local area is too backward, the school is similar to a private school, the son inherits the father's business, and the teaching level is not high. On the contrary, martial arts training has become a common practice, Jiang Hua has passed the long fist and dahong fist from primary school, and at the age of 12, he went north alone to learn to swim at the Beijing Chongwen Cultural and Sports School.
He remembered the saying of his hometown: People should be diligent in their legs, and people should be diligent in their mouths. "Only when others like you are willing to accept you and are willing to teach you things." How to operate the swimming pool heating system, the filtration system, and the disinfection system, he learned; watching others practice wrestling, he also went up to practice, and in the blink of an eye, the girl fell to the ground, practiced for many days, and people rolled around on the ground in a ball, and the ears were grinding out of the cocoon.
He got up early every day to clean the office for the coach and leader, and filled 15 bottles of thermos with water in one go. "When they're happy, they treat me well, and I'm happier." Jiang Hua realized that he was a foreigner and wanted to stay in Beijing and earn money well, so he learned to use lathes, learned to burn boilers, and passed various certificates. As he wished, he stayed, with a monthly salary of two or three hundred yuan, 110 yuan of meal tickets, and 10 pairs of shoes and 10 pairs of socks every year. He eats 5 meals a day and doesn't have enough to eat at all. In the late 1990s, there were not many places to learn to swim, many people went to Chongwen School to learn, he worked as a lifeguard, as a coach, every winter and summer vacation income was more: a class of more than a dozen students, each class taught 1 hour, teaching 6 classes a day. Each student attends 12 classes, the tuition fee is 260 yuan, and the coach commission is 30%. After 9:30 p.m., he also cleaned the swimming pool, which was another income. He used the money to subsidize his rural hometown, installed glass for the family, and bought a fan. "When others are athletes, they are athletes, and I make more money as long as I have something to do anyway."
At that time, his happiest thing was that every time he competed, he would go to a 24-hour beef noodle restaurant and order two bowls of beef noodles for 6 yuan a piece, with large pieces of beef poured on the noodles, as well as a plate of tofu shreds, a plate of shredded potatoes, a plate of duck neck, and a plate of rotten bamboo.
In the Spring Festival of 1997, Jiang Hua bought autumn clothes and autumn pants for his wife to go home, and his wife was reluctant to wear them. When he left home and returned to Beijing, he had a bad feeling and told his father: I think something will happen to my wife. In June, his wife was critically ill, and he hurried home on leave and saw her for the last time.
The poverty of the family gave him a great stimulus: "I must work hard and work hard again, compress my time to succeed, so that my family can live a good life and have a good condition." "There is a fire hidden in his heart, and this fire tells him to work hard, to always look for opportunities, to always be ready to seize opportunities, to do everything to the extreme, and to be kind to everyone around him."
Desperately seize every opportunity
In 2014, Zhao Wenquan, an investor in Kunlun Angel and chairman of BlueFocus, called Jiang Hua, "Entrepreneur" held a dark horse games, you come to participate. Jiang Hua agreed, and when he arrived at the scene, he learned that the athletes were all entrepreneurs, in fact, it was a road show of entrepreneurial projects, and many people came on stage to introduce their projects. He also asked: Can you give me a chance to go up and talk about the project? The other party said: You look five big and three thick, this is a cultural person's business, can you do it? Jiang Hua insisted: You let me try it.
He realized that the opportunity had come. He longed to stand in this spotlight, must work hard, must let everyone know that Kunlun is definitely ok. At that moment, he devoted all his energy to the organization of the language, and every word and every action could not make it wrong. "My wife is my god, and I think of her in my heart." He didn't say a word wrong, didn't say a single mantra, didn't stumble, didn't pause, didn't even make a mistake in the number of seconds: the 5-minute speech ended 10 seconds early, and the last 10 seconds were used for interaction, so that the investors in the audience could get up. Jiang Hua is like an extra pair of eyes, staring at his movements and language next to him, "I must show the best of myself to everyone, work hard, the opportunity has come, I am today's host, I want to control everything." ”
He won the championship. He met many first-line investment institutions and plunged into the world of capital: he began to understand what is repurchase and what is betting, and knew that he could not choose investment institutions with repurchase and VAM clauses. In the end he chose IDG. In 2014, Kunlun Decided completed a series A financing of US$10 million, with investors such as IDG, Liang Botao, Zhen Fund, etc., with a valuation of US$50 million.
Jiang Hua's club was called Oriental Honor, and at first it was to play tickets. In 2000, Jiang Hua left the Chongwen Cultural and Sports School, where he had been staying for 10 years, and went out to explore. He's been a bodyguard, he's been a wellness center manager, he's sold ads, he's driven a hospital... His wealth has accumulated rapidly, buying a car and buying a house is his biggest favorite, at the end of 2009, he already owned 6 suites in Beijing, and also had a house in the United States, including 8 cars such as BMW and Porsche. He lived a life that was unimaginable to the imagination of the past. He built roads for his hometown, built biogas digesters, and returned home.
His weight grew with his wealth, and he weighed 103 kilograms at a height of 1.78 meters. Get up dizzy in the morning, a physical examination, the results of fatty liver, high blood pressure. Jiang Hua was frightened, picked up his old business again, and went to the Beiti Da Boxing Gym to train, thus getting to know many athletes.
Chinese sports have been a national system for many years, with athletes eating, living, training and living in a closed courtyard. Competition is cruel, if you can do the top five in the world or the top three in the country, you can get rich returns, as for others, they are cannon fodder. The vast majority of athletes come from rural areas and expect to change their fate through sports – just like Jiang Hua in the 1980s and 1990s. Originally, the state still gave them a solution to work, package distribution, but now it is not working, the national system of sports is loosening, disintegrating, there is no distribution, many people have to find a relationship to give gifts, as a physical education teacher, a policeman, even as a village official can not be. Even many people, because they have nowhere to go, will eventually become a burden on society, fight and fight, and commit crimes and debts. Jiang Hua himself is also from sports, feeling the social pressure carried by these athletes, "I know that many sports players are very hard, very tenacious, paid a lot, they do not know the future because of each of them's cultural background, living environment is different, did not do deep thinking, there is no way to create more wealth, and finally may become a burden on society", so he tried his best to help these athletes, let them help themselves drive, go to their own company to work... But after all, this is not a cure for the symptoms, he wants to calculate, simply set up a club to get it.
In 2012, Jiang Hua reunited 20 or 30 athletes and established the Oriental Honor Fighting Club. The income of athletes mainly comes from two parts, one is the salary that Jiang Hua gives them, and the other is the income they get from training students. This model did not last, and Jiang Hua thought about how to get more income from this group of athletes, so he began to contact some competitions and let them participate. In order to inspire the brothers, sometimes even if they lose, Jiang Hua will personally pay the reward. But there are still very few events, and you can't play one or two games a year. At that time, "Wulin Feng" was the boss of domestic fighting competitions, which began to operate in 2004 and was broadcast every Saturday night on Henan Satellite TV's golden file.
Jiang Hua thought, or do you want to make a game yourself. "The car doesn't change, take the money out and give it to the brothers to play." He got Kunlun Finals Director Tony and a few friends to do it together. Everyone invested money and scraped together 10 million yuan.
Majestic Kunlun, the ancestor of ten thousand mountains.
Jiang Hua thought of a bunch of names similar to the decisive battle at the top of the Forbidden Purple, all of which were too vulgar, and finally determined the Kunlun Decision. Including Wu Linfeng, many fighting programs are recorded, because there is no risk, but Jiang Hua they want to do live broadcasting, domestic public approval is difficult, they ran to Thailand, through the Thai satellite live broadcast to Qinghai Satellite TV. On January 25, 2014, the first match of the Kunlun Showdown was held in Thailand, and there was a problem with the satellite during the live broadcast, and it was successfully broadcast to find a relationship to switch to other satellites.
In February 2014, they were broadcasting the game live in Zhengzhou, and the grassroots team had no one to help, running the approval on their own, dealing with the public security bureau and the sports bureau, and was so busy that it almost collapsed. Thousands of seats in the stadium need to be printed with stickers one by one on the seat number. It was already midnight, and they couldn't find a printing shop, so they borrowed a printer to print it themselves, and pasted it on the seats one by one. Many people look at this team coldly, think that they can do a game and leave, and they don't know what you can do, why should you contribute?
With the broadcast of "Kunlun Decision", Qinghai Satellite TV rushed to the top ten of the average time slot, and the best time was the top five. By the end of the year, Qinghai Satellite TV and "Kunlun Decision" opened seven new programs at the same time, leaving "Kunlun Decision", which was broadcast in prime time in the evening and repeatedly broadcast for a week. Jiang Hua was very grateful to Qinghai Satellite TV, "Without the support of Qinghai Satellite TV, there would be no Kunlun Decision today." ”
The success of kunlun has become a fragrant feast for the capital market. Xiong Xiaoge, founding partner of IDG Capital, met Jiang Hua, and after listening to the statement for 5 minutes, he directly said: "You are all good, just one is not good, the platform is not good, change the platform." Kunlun decided to start talking about cooperation with Jiangsu Satellite TV, and locked up in the room for three days without talking. Jiang Hua sent a text message to the director of Jiangsu Satellite TV to the effect that he hoped to promote the development of Shangwu culture and hope to be perfect. The other side gave them the opportunity to negotiate in Nanjing. In the office building of the satellite TV, there was a person responsible for receiving them, Jiang Hua was very sensitive, seized the opportunity to talk to him, this person likes martial arts, Jiang Hua touched him. Later, they learned that this person was the director of the office, and when the station director came out, he helped Jiang Hua win 5 minutes of time, and in these 5 minutes Jiang Hua stated what Kunlun was determined to be, what the future would be, and what he could bring to Jiangsu Satellite TV. The director made a decision and set the tone of cooperation. Negotiating again, Kunlun decided to win tens of millions of yuan in copyright fees, as well as advertising shares.
"This is exactly the time point in the development of the sports industry, and we who do TV media are also paying attention to the timing." Kunlun's team is also relatively reliable and has strong execution. Li Xin, director of the marketing department of Jiangsu Satellite TV's Beijing Program Center, said that in January 2015, Kunlun Decided began to broadcast live on Jiangsu Satellite TV.
Kunlun Had also struggled, and Qinghai Satellite TV had given them great support. Before flying to Nanjing to sign the contract, Jiang Hua sent a text message to the director of Qinghai Satellite TV: "The world has both laws and regulations, and it is not as good as coming and not living up to Qing." ”
The other person replied: "Bless you." ”
Sport changes destiny
"It used to be very customary, and I knew that buying a house and buying a car showed that I had money." Jiang Hua said that his uncle was the only college student who worked in the Municipal Archives Bureau and lived in a building. During the New Year, Jiang Hua rode a bicycle up 15 kilometers to pay his respects to the New Year. When she was a child, Jiang Hua's mother said, "Oh, when will we be able to live in a house with stairs?" ”
"He loves sports, but he loves success even more." Pan Yang commented on Jiang Hua.
In 1998, there were 8,000 yuan in the family, and Jiang Hua borrowed 6,000 yuan from his father to save the computer, and at that time he thought that even if he was an athlete, he would be able to become a typist in the future. He returned the money to his father, whose hands were shaking as he received it. In 2000, Jiang Hua, who had been in the sports school for 10 years, decided to go out and run, and was hired as a lifeguard at a recreation center in Shengshijiayuan, a high-end residential area at that time, and he gave a lot of advice to the wellness center, such as opening training classes, introducing aerobics, and rising 3 levels in 11 days to become an assistant manager. A customer of the wellness center suggested that he work in the advertising agency he opened, the main job is to drive, send children to and from school, usually a lot of free time, he will take the initiative to find the boss to ask for advertising.
The first time he went to see the customer, Jiang Hua couldn't pull down his face, his heart was pounding, and he turned around several times downstairs before he had the courage to knock on the door. The door opened and he said, "I'm sorry, I went wrong." "I turned around and left again, feeling like a thief doing something bad.
Jiang Hua began to learn how to make a sales, when standing on the bus pulling the sling, he saw the girl next to him reading a book about sales, which said, call others, to raise the tune, not to lower the tune. For example, "Sir, hello (uplofting)", just pick people up, and the other party will be "hello, hello". If it's "Hello (downgraded)", others will certainly not listen to it. On the eighth day of the first month of 2001, he joined the advertising agency, and on April 27, he made his first business, the newspaper flower of legal wencui newspaper, 800 yuan.
The performance standard set by the company for employees is 50,000 yuan per month. A lot of people couldn't hold on and went. Jiang Hua also wanted to resign halfway through, and when he passed the office, he heard two vice presidents discussing him: he was quite mental, maybe flashy and unrealistic, and couldn't do business. "I must prove myself and resign." He caught up with the golden age of the development of print media, many customers put advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and he made a performance of 130 million yuan a year. This was the first pot of gold he made his fortune. He watched his passbook number grow every day, saving $2 million in the first year and $5 million in the second year.
Once Jiang Hua gave a speech at Peking University, a student asked him, what if Kunlun fails? He was confused: "My heart only thinks about success, not about failure." He said, "Brother, you asked so well, I must have engraved this word in my heart, always thinking about what to do if I fail." I try, I try harder, because I don't know what to do if I fail, I can only succeed. ”
Jiang Hua told the media: "I am grateful for sports, sports have changed my life and let me have everything. "Sport only has a beginning, not an end. Human beings need games, and only games can make us evolve more perfectly. "I felt like this project could do the day I was old, the day I couldn't walk, I could take a crutch and say to the next generation, 'Oh, I started this thing.'" Maybe there will be a page on our history textbooks in the future, and that's what I'm most eager for. ”