Star Wardrobe Crisis Hidden Vertical Electricity Providers How To Break The Bureau

According to the world clothing and shoe net, in September this year, a self proclaimed employee of a star wardrobe said in a social media press: "how do you think of a star wardrobe who has money to make VR fitting rooms, but arrears of wages for more than a year?" below, more than 300 replies were received, one after another about their experience of being owed by a star wardrobe.

Starting in September 2016, star wardrobes ceased to pay staff salaries, and some employees had no choice but to take the road of salary seeking, which led the public's attention to the star wardrobe and his founder Lin Qinghua.

According to public information, Lin Qinghua served as vice president of Tianya community marketing, and founded in August 2012.

Shopping guide platform star wardrobe and served as the company's CEO.

Because of several big hand marketing, the star wardrobe entered the public view and claimed to have harvested about 70000000 female users, and then gradually became silent.

When the news came out again, the star wardrobe had already fallen into the dispute of "arrears of wages".

From the star shining to the halo, the experience of the star wardrobe reflects the development dilemma of the vertical electricity supplier. "How to develop?" this has become a problem that entrepreneurs in the vertical electric field must answer.

In 2011, the electricity supplier shopping platform, which earned a shopping guide Commission, developed like a raging fire. It was even regarded as a new type of electronic business in the future. Mogujie.com, beauty and other electronic business platform purchased a large number of female users in a short time. At the end of that year, mogujie.com's daily traffic reached 1 million.

At that time, Lin Qinghua was still in Tianya community.

Later, in an interview with the media, he said that Tianya did not develop a particularly good advertising product.

He wants to develop a good product and display his talents and ambitions on a new stage.

Eventually, he left office and worked with several partners in the field of e-commerce.

In August 2012, star wardrobe was formally launched.

The first online star wardrobe is positioned as

Class App (mobile phone software), attracting the flow of clothing through Star clothing, leading to Taobao and other e-business platforms, earning Commission. It is the same as mogujie.com, beauty and so on. It is also an e-commerce shopping platform. Competition is inevitable.

However, the fierce fighting in imagination did not happen.

In 2013, Alibaba limited the Commission interface of mogujie.com and beauty. As long as it came from links between mogujie.com and beauty, users would jump to Taobao's home page or fail directly, and mogujie.com and beauty were banned.

The market gap left behind was eaten by the star wardrobe.

On the one hand, the users are developing steadily, while Taobao is carefully treated. Lin Qinghua has developed a very low profile in the move.

But the shopping guide platform has strong dependence on the upstream electricity providers, and it is more difficult to grow and expand. Therefore, the star wardrobe has begun the Transformation Road, from the shopping guide business to the cross-border e-commerce platform pformation, through overseas direct mail, bonded warehouse stock and abroad.

Domestic production of the three models, clothing products sold to domestic young consumers.

In 2014, after the pformation, the star wardrobe began to "hurricane".

First, the investment show "goddess's new clothes", with the help of the star effect of the program, has constantly enhanced popularity. After that, the costumes of a star were photographed at a super high price of 61 million 190 thousand yuan, attracting numerous eyeballs. At the same time, the naming rights of programs such as "falling in love with supermodels" and "fashion king of China and South Korea" were successively captured.

In June 2015, the star wardrobe publicity will push the market with 5 hundred million.

"Fast" is Lin Qinghua's marketing secret.

In an open business class, Lin Qinghua preached, "when we get financing, we want to continue to vigorously promote and expect more users.

At that time, some friends reminded that heavy investment strategy is aggressive, so many users will not cause huge pressure on the operation.

Friends remind us, but we still insist on a view that only faster users can get more encirclement and gain competitive advantage.

As for making money, it's all follow up. "

It is understood that as of August 2015, star wardrobe received a total of 7 rounds of financing, the total amount of financing nearly US $100 million.

Among them, the most striking is that Star VC, a star venture capital organization jointly funded by stars such as Quan Ren, Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming, is involved in the "C+" round financing of the star wardrobe.

After the star effect "overweight", the star wardrobe is temporarily limelight two, from the "B wheel" 18 million 750 thousand dollars to the "C+" round of 150 million dollars, less than a year, the star wardrobe valuation has doubled eight times.

Quan Ren, one of the founders of Star VC, was a star wardrobe platform, calling it "the ability to change the pattern of future electricity market".

But Quan Ren and Lin Qinghua probably didn't realize that the crisis would be so fast.

In August 2015, the star wardrobe announced that the "Pre-D" round of financing was successful. At that time, only three months had passed since the "C+" round of financing. Some people in the industry "sniffed" an unusual smell.

Unlike the previous rounds of financing, the "Pre-D" wheel of the star wardrobe is 50 million yuan of Zhejiang Yongqiang investment, which is not a general equity investment, but a form of "debt to equity swap".

According to the Zhejiang Yongqiang announcement, the two sides agreed that if the star wardrobe realized all or main parts of the VIE architecture (protocol control) in the 9 months have been completed, and "there is no substantial obstacle to the listing of the listed companies", the debt investment of Zhejiang Yongqiang will be converted into equity; if the star wardrobe is in the next 9 months, "the VIE frame demolition schedule has seriously deviated from the VIE framework demolition schedule agreed upon", then Yongqiang of the city has the right to choose to realize the creditor's right ahead of schedule.

"Not enough."

In the media interview, Lin Qinghua said frankly the gap between reality and ideal. According to Lin Qinghua's assumption, the "Pre-D" round of star wardrobe financing was originally planned for two hundred million, but obviously progress was not particularly smooth.

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When the star wardrobe carried out the "Pre-D" round of financing, the stock market plummeted. Investors were more cautious about capital and could not easily start.

This directly affected the financing of star wardrobe. Lin Tsing Hua once said that the last three funds of the investment committee had not been implemented.

By the end of 2015, the stock market began to show signs of rebound. The star wardrobe also restarted the "D round" financing. According to the plan, the "D round" financing started in 2016 before the Spring Festival, and ended at the end of March.

However, things are not always satisfactory.

The winter of 2016 was particularly cold for entrepreneurs. Some of the entrepreneurs who were well capitalized were like roller coaster, and suddenly fell from the peak to the bottom. The number of investment in many investment institutions dropped sharply compared with the same period in 2015.

Someone exclaimed: "capital cold winter" is coming!

It is understood that in order to achieve "D round" financing, the star wardrobe has lowered its own valuation. In 2016, Lin Qinghua had revealed that the company's valuation was 5 hundred million lower than originally expected, but even so, the "D round" financing of the star wardrobe is still slow to arrive.

In September, a celebrity wardrobe official said in a media interview that the company was financing, and that it would hold a press conference in October to announce the financing information. Subsequently, the financial news conference was postponed to December, and then there was no relevant news.

Financing is blocked, capital chain is broken, and star wardrobe crisis has broken out.

Zhang Chen joined the star wardrobe in March 2015 and served as the head of the clothing department. Because he was directly facing the supplier, he noticed the company's problems early.

"In October 2015, there has been a funding problem, when suppliers can not settle accounts, but wages can also be issued, the company's capital chain has been stuck."

Zhang Chen did not think too much at that time. The debts owed by enterprises and suppliers were common for two or three months. Suppliers were just calling to inquire, and urged, "my side also comforted the supplier that the end of October will not be over until the end of the year."

By 2016, however, things were getting worse. Zhang remembered that more and more suppliers came to the company to stay. "In the morning, when the company opened the door, there was a supplier waiting for the company.

Zhang Chen's original department was also dispersed. He became a liaison between the company and the supplier. He was responsible for receiving suppliers to collect debts. His work also reported directly to the star wardrobe co-founder Dai Bin.

In addition to the payment of suppliers, operators on the platform also found that they could not be raised on the platform, ranging from several thousand yuan to several hundred thousand yuan.

Ye Tingshuo is the operation manager of the star wardrobe. He is mainly responsible for the operation of the business, and he clearly grasps the progress of the business.

By the end of 2015, businesses had told her that they could not draw money successfully. She went to ask about the company's finance, and the reply was slow.

"At the beginning of 2016, the situation was not serious. I also had to do some work to conciliate the corresponding businesses."

Ye Tingshuo told reporters that the company will teach them to deal with the fixed routine of businesses: now the company has encountered minor problems and needs to wait a little.

At first, businesses understood, but later the amount became bigger and the time for delinquency grew longer.

In 2016, 5 and June, businessmen came to ask for funds. Ye Tingshuo said, when the company responded, you should not make trouble. Now, if you make trouble in the financing time, people will not vote. If the company can not get enough money, your money will be completely yellow.

Whether or not the star wardrobe can pay back debts, it is really "yellow" to Wang Yue for more than a year.

At the beginning of 2016, when the company delayed wages, Wang Yue did not take it too seriously. He thought that the start-up companies would encounter a trough. Until May, when she went to medical treatment and found that her medical insurance card could not be brushed, she began to pay attention.

At first, the company replied that it was a hospital problem and had nothing to do with the company. Later, more and more colleagues found that the medical insurance card could not be brushed. After checking, it found that the social security had been broken for more than 3 months.

"We reflected the problem of social security to the company, and the company replied that there was a problem with the fund, which would help us later."

Until now, this commitment has not yet been fulfilled.

Wang Yue wants to stay in Beijing later, and breaking social security is equivalent to coming back again. "Some colleagues have paid social security for 2 or 3 years. If they break, they will have no chance to buy a car in Beijing."

By mid November 2016, Wang Yue found that he had no substantive tasks. He went to work places every day to deal with the investors who came to see the company, and the investors came to several waves, but there was no substantial progress in the financing of the company.

Room 2203, building 8, Wanda, Chaoyang District, Beijing - this is the office address of the star wardrobe. At the end of February this year, Lin Qinghua moved the company from the 21 floor of China Merchants Building, Chaoyang District China World Trade Center. "The rent of the original site is high, and we can't afford to rent it," Zhang Chen said.

On the map, the distance between the two places is less than 1 kilometers, and it is precisely the 1 km relocation that has shaken many employees' confidence in the company.

Most of the employees quit when they moved the company.

Zhang Chen also gave up waiting at this point.

He told reporters that in October last year, the company had more than 200 employees, and when he left, there were about 35 people on the job.

"The reason why I didn't go at the end of last year was because I wanted to stick to it again. I think if the company survived, it would not be better.

This is the trust of the boss, but this trust is the last thing we lose. "

Zhang Chen said that from the beginning of his stop pay, he had asked Lin Qinghua for several times to communicate his salary problem, and the guarantee was basically that the financing would soon become two months.

In two months and two months, the trust and patience between them are spent.

In April this year, Zhang Chen applied for arbitration; in August 11th, the court ruled.

Taking the verdict, Zhang Chen contacted Lin Qinghua and got the same statement: now there is no money, and a few days later.

Wang Yue had planned to give up the plan of returning wages. She felt that compared with the technicians of the company, she did not earn much more than 50 thousand yuan, and her colleagues around her had been good to her and had learned a lot in the company.

However, the company's practices made her feel cold, and eventually she joined the salaried team.

"Once I made a call to Lin, but when I finished, I found myself blacken, and I couldn't get through again."

Wang Yue said.

As an old employee of the star wardrobe, Ye Ting Shu didn't expect the company to be so inhuman.

When the star wardrobe was in arrears with wages, she was pregnant. When she applied for arbitration in May 2016, she hoped that the company could help her to carry out five risks and one gold so that she could get the child allowance.

After breaking the social security system, Ye Ting's fertility allowance has not been achieved. Until now, the company has not made any statement.

"He (Lin Qinghua) thinks that all the people who get paid are in the bottom."

Cheng Yao, who is still in the process of designing, decided to finish his work again after the end of the year. "I also said with my family that I had been with this company for quite a long time."

Every week, she sends letters asking Lin Qinghua's salary, but basically no response.

At the end of June this year, Lin talked to her once. "I didn't even say enough in 5 sentences. The boss told me for half an hour and let me out, saying that the money had not been borrowed and let me wait."

In two months, Wang Yue's application for arbitration will be held. She just wants to settle disputes with the star wardrobe quickly and not affect her life.

Her aid lawyer told her that the hope of returning wages was slim.

"The legal process to go is also going. If there is no salary, there is no way."

Zhang Chen is also preparing to apply for court enforcement, but he also has little hope for it.

After paying more and more employees, they built a WeChat group.

In September 9th, Lin Qinghua was also dragged into a group chat.

He explained to his staff: in the past half a year, several investment intentions failed in the end. The main reason is that the offline stores did not open up. In the past two months, he persuaded two franchisees to pay for them, to open two lines as soon as possible, and to talk about three investors who made clothes. They were willing to invest 10 million yuan for each household.

He assured his employees that some problems would be solved by the end of October, and that all problems could be solved at the end of the year, hoping that employees would give him some more time.

"Even if we apply for bankruptcy, we have to fill up the (salary) and apply again."

Lin Qinghua promised.

He seems to be preparing for the worst.

In October 2015, the star wardrobe signed the employees who were originally signed under the name of "Kuroshio network technology (Beijing) Limited" (hereinafter referred to as "Kuroshio") into the name of Beijing Wanxiang Xintian Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Vientiane"), and Zhang Chen and Wang Yue both signed the contract.

According to information from the sky, Lin Qinghua has been the director of "Kuroshio" and "Vientiane" corporate shareholders and chairman respectively. The registered capital of Kuroshio is $19 million 200 thousand, and the registered capital of Vientiane is 1 million yuan.

According to the company law of China, the shareholders of limited liability company assume responsibility for investment.

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Ye Tingshuo joined the star wardrobe in 2013 and witnessed the process of moving from behind the scenes to the center of the stage. Now she and her "old family" are in such a situation that she is very sad. She often asks, "how can this be developed?"

On the issue of "how to evaluate entrepreneurs who have achieved success or fail," Zhang Ying, founder and managing partner of Jingwei, may give an answer.

She said, "first, in most cases, the company has no reason to melt so much money; second, the founders are not aware of the crisis, and the cash flow is not well managed. The two add up as a dead end."

This cave may also bury Lin Qinghua and his star wardrobe.

From the early stage of creation, the shopping platform has finally shifted to the cross-border apparel business platform. The strategy of star wardrobe has been adjusted several times, but no definite profit pattern has been found.

Cao Lei, director of the China Electronic Commerce Research Center, believes that the lack of clear operation mode is one of the important factors to break its "star myth".

In addition, several big hand marketing has brought the flow of star wardrobe, but also greatly accelerated the shortage of its funds. "Star wardrobe wants to seize the market in the market only with heavy gold and overweight marketing, resulting in high cost, while the profitability of the platform is weak, and has been burning money."

Cao Lei said.

"Because the traffic dividend has disappeared, the rush traffic is basically based on burning money, and the cost of obtaining customers is very high and it is very difficult to make profits," said Steve wise, director of investment at Cci Capital Ltd in Guangzhou.

He believes that at present, the electricity supplier is already the Red Sea. In the early stage, when there is a traffic dividend, through operation and promotion, it can also form a steady growth of customer groups, forming a reputation. Now it is very difficult to enter again and want to scale in the existing areas.

According to the clothing market of the star wardrobe, Cao Lei said that the clothing industry market is increasingly concentrated on the large platform, the living space of the small and medium-sized platforms has been constantly squeezed, and the online vertical clothing brands with a certain market share are also relying on the development of the comprehensive electricity supplier's flow, and the living space of the star wardrobe is squeezed.

Lin Qinghua seemed to be aware of the problem.

In July 2016, the first line store of star wardrobe was opened in Xiamen. He hoped to rebuild the fitting room experience with VR technology, and find a new growth point under the layout line.

However, CEO Zhang Yi of AI Media Consulting Group believes that under the star wardrobe layout line, it has a certain risk.

In an interview with the media, Zhang Yi said: "at present, the offline clothing stores are in a state of atrophy. If we want to achieve increment, we need to solve the problem of convenience rather than scarcity."

"It is normal to blindly expand the format and shortage of funds."

Cao Lei thinks that the star wardrobe wants to catch the "new retail" free car layout line, the span is too large and the pace is too fast, making cash flow not enough to support the normal operation of enterprises, and then lead to a series of problems.

At present, the "D round" financing of star wardrobe has not yet been implemented, and disputes with employees are still continuing. The operation mode is still exploring. Whether Lin Qinghua can finally solve the problem of life and death is still unknown, but he really sounded the alarm for entrepreneurs in the vertical electricity industry.

In recent years, a single category of vertical electricity providers are not favored by investors.

Shi Zhi Zhi said that the vertical profit of a single category is limited, the sales of products are ceilings, and to a certain extent, they must extend their product lines if they want to continue to grow.

"Vertical businesses in all walks of life are very difficult, whether they are clothing, 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) or beauty makeup."

Cao Lei also believes that the vertical electricity supplier because of product category restrictions, in today's network retail market development momentum is more than the comprehensive type of electricity supplier, because the electronic business platform oligopoly effect is increasingly apparent, vertical electric business met a big ceiling.

But at the same time, he pointed out that the experience of the vertical electricity supplier for the fine operation of a specific category is much higher than that of the comprehensive electricity supplier.

In the future, if vertical power providers want to break the situation, they should work hard from the user experience and construct a new service experience system, such as customization through means of increasing customer stickiness.

"The development of App, the opening of public numbers, and the opening of the experiential shop are all ways to get users."

Shi Zhi Chi recommends that vertical electric providers want to break the traditional growth mode of burning money to get traffic, so we must work hard in product design, user experience and supply chain production.

As of press time, reporters repeatedly called Lin Qinghua phone, and no one answered.

At the same time, paid employees repeatedly asked to protect their personal information in the media interviews, and they did not want to be affected again.

Wang Yue mentioned that in April of this year, a friend recommended that he had already received a notice of employment from a large domestic electricity supplier, but finally he was stuck on the threshold of "background investigation". "I asked my friend to ask," my friend said it was a bad evaluation of the original company (to me), "Wang Yue said.

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