The 'Boundless' War Machine: Why is Wang Xing's Meituan Always 'Crossing Borders' and 'Making Enemies'?
What you'll learn:
- • A company's core competency is not its business, but its ability to serve users. As long as the core competency is strong enough, it can continuously expand its business boundaries.
- • Offense is the best defense. In a rapidly changing market, standing still is tantamount to waiting for death.
- • An entrepreneur's ultimate vision determines the company's growth boundaries. a great entrepreneur never sets limits for themselves.
Prologue: "Always Up to Something"
"Too many people focus on boundaries, not on the core," Wang Xing said in a public interview in 2017, introducing his famous "boundless" theory for the first time.
At that time, Meituan had just repelled Ele.me on the food delivery battlefield and achieved a phased victory. Everyone thought Wang Xing would focus on reaping the rewards of the food delivery war.
However, Wang Xing's actions stunned everyone.
First, he high-profilely announced his entry into the "ride-hailing" market, directly challenging the industry hegemon "Didi Chuxing."
Then, he fully acquired "Mobike," plunging into the "bike-sharing" industry, which was in a state of disarray at the time.
Later, he extended the battle to multiple fields such as hotel booking (challenging Ctrip) and community group buying (challenging Alibaba and Pinduoduo).
For a time, Meituan became the most "belligerent" company in the Chinese internet world. It single-handedly "declared war" on half of the internet giants.
Many people couldn't understand Wang Xing. They criticized him for being "unfocused" and "too greedy," believing that this approach of "making enemies everywhere" would sooner or later bring Meituan down.
But in his heart, Wang Xing had a completely different "strategic map."
Act I: The Empire Built on "Eating"
The underlying logic of Wang Xing's "boundless" expansion is actually very simple.
He defines Meituan's core as "Food + Platform."
"Food" is the "foundation" of all of Meituan's businesses. Because "eating" is the highest frequency essential need. Through the super entry point of "food delivery," Meituan acquired a massive and highly sticky user base.
And "Platform" is Meituan's "future." Wang Xing believes that once a user gets used to using Meituan to solve their "eating" problems, they will naturally want Meituan to help them solve other life service problems as well. For example, transportation (ride-hailing, bike-sharing), entertainment (watching movies), travel (booking hotels), shopping (buying groceries, flash sales)...
These seemingly "unrelated" businesses actually revolve around the same "user" and the same "local life scene."
Wang Xing's ambition is not to build a "food delivery company" or a "movie ticket company." He wants to create a "one-stop" "super app" that can cover all of a user's "food, clothing, housing, and transportation" needs.
"We do whatever the users need."—This is the true core of Meituan's "boundless" expansion.
He is not "crossing borders," but continuously "drawing circles" outward in a huge concentric circle of "local life services."
Act II: "Finite" and "Infinite" Games
Wang Xing is an entrepreneur deeply influenced by the book "Finite and Infinite Games."
He believes that there are two types of games in business competition. One is a "finite game," the purpose of which is to "win" the war, for example, defeating Ele.me in the food delivery market. The other is an "infinite game," the purpose of which is to keep the "game" itself going forever.
In Wang Xing's view, Meituan is playing an "infinite game."
The goal of this game is not to defeat a specific "enemy," but to continuously meet the endless new needs of users, so that the Meituan "platform" can maintain its "vitality" forever.
Therefore, when Meituan achieves a leading position in a "finite game" (like food delivery), Wang Xing will not hesitate to invest the resources and capabilities gained from it into a new "finite game" (like ride-hailing or community group buying).
What he really cares about is not the victory or defeat of a particular "battle," but whether the Meituan "war machine" can evolve stronger organizational capabilities, stronger technological capabilities, and stronger user service capabilities in a continuous state of "war."
This is an extremely grand and "terrifying" business philosophy.
It means that Meituan will never stop "expanding." Its boundaries are only determined by the boundaries of "user needs."
Epilogue: An "Evolving" Beast
Wang Xing's "boundless" strategy is undoubtedly extremely risky and challenging.
It requires Meituan to have an extremely powerful "organizational middle platform" that can support multiple business lines fighting at the same time; it requires Wang Xing himself to have a super "learning ability" to quickly grasp the essence of different industries.
More importantly, it requires Meituan to have a "strong heart" to withstand the continuous losses and endless external doubts caused by "fighting on all fronts."
To this day, the controversy surrounding Wang Xing and Meituan has not stopped.
But it is undeniable that Wang Xing, with his unique "boundless" theory, has successfully found a "second growth curve" for Meituan, and has provided a new model for "growth" and "competition" in the second half of the Chinese internet.
Like a never-satisfied "explorer," he leads the beast that is Meituan, constantly trying, making mistakes, and evolving in a foggy business world.
No one knows what the "endgame" for Meituan will be.
But the only thing that is certain is that as long as Wang Xing is still at the helm of this giant ship, its course will always be towards that unknown deep sea, full of more possibilities and more wars.