Didi Didi

DaDa / tr. by Phil Newell)

Cheng Wei, a huge loss from Didi, sent internal letters to employees.

The Yueqing incident slammed on the brakes on the rapid development of Didi.

Cheng Weifa, founder and CEO of Didi, sent an internal letter to employees on Sept. 7, mentioning that Didi is by no means a black-hearted enterprise. Didi has not made a profit in the past six years, and the company made an overall net loss of 4 billion yuan in the first half of 2018. Didi lost 39 billion yuan in six years. Cheng Wei said that profit is by no means the most concerned goal of Didi.

Cheng Wei pointed out that now Didi is actively cooperating with a number of departments on the mainland to conduct joint security inspections, and the company has now upgraded to set up a security headquarters to prepare for a more in-depth and protracted battle on security issues, with the goal of "working together for All in security."

"learn from the bitter experience, the problem lies with ourselves. The competitive heart has overshadowed the original heart, and the galloping development model has already planted hidden dangers. Cheng Wei said that the promotion of the internal system could not keep up with the scale expansion, just as the soul could not keep up with the pace. They don't really understand the responsibilities and challenges on their shoulders, and they lack awe.

At the end of the letter, Cheng Wei encouraged everyone that their efforts in the past were worthwhile.

Full text of internal letter

All the little orange people:

The Yueqing incident has happened for more than ten days. I think everyone, like me, is immersed in the pain of the loss of life. Didi is also caught in a storm of doubt. I blame myself. All the problems are the problem of the manager, the primary responsibility for the incident lies with me, and I am duty-bound.

Downline ride, late-night suspension of service, online a series of safety measures, internal cancellation of growth targets, to meet the inspection of multi-ministries. The fast-growing Didi slammed on the brakes. That day, I met a young colleague I didn't know in my office area. He came over and gave me a hug and said cheer. The heart is warm, very moved. You must have been having a hard time recently. I'll write this letter to you so that we can hug each other.

These days, like everyone else, I am listening to the criticisms and suggestions of the public and the competent authorities with pain, and I am also reflecting in my heart. We cannot avoid a few conical questions: does Didi have values? is it a black-hearted enterprise that only cares about interests? ignoring safety and evading responsibility? Does Didi have this ability in the end? can it protect users' safe travel? Is Internet travel an industry that should exist or not?

Learn from the bitter experience, the problem lies with ourselves. The competitive heart has overshadowed the original heart, and the galloping development model has already planted hidden dangers. The promotion of the internal system cannot keep up with the expansion of scale, just as the soul cannot keep up with the pace. For the first time, the Internet began to organize and transport lives on a large scale, and we have not really understood the responsibilities and challenges on our shoulders and lacked awe when we were given the opportunity of the times. There are blind spots in our safety index system, paying too much attention to macro indicators such as accident rate, death rate and conflict rate of 100 million miles, and the prevention and control system for major malignant cases is not perfect. Criminals swooped in, bringing irreparable harm to users, and Didi also paid a heavy price.

However, dear students, after the pain, are we going to completely deny the cause of Internet travel? Have we completely lost confidence, given up our dreams, and lost the ability to correct our mistakes?

My heart is firm. To make the trip better is not only the origin of our start-up, but also the original intention of every little orange person to join the company. Today's challenge is exactly what we will continue to strive for.

We are exploring a road that no one has ever traveled. Although some people question the safety of Internet travel, we still see a crime rate much lower than that of the traditional taxi industry, with a detection rate of 100%. Starting from taxi hailing software, we have successively launched safety functions and safeguard measures such as big data risk prediction model, face recognition, one-button alarm, emergency contact, number protection, itinerary sharing, itinerary recording, online and offline driver training, and so on. Every day, 27 million company calls are protected, and more than 400000 people share their itinerary and tell their relatives and friends that they are safe. Every day, customer service students handle 2.1 million inquiries and complaints, including more than 10, 000 emergency requests, and every day, the access review platform keeps more than 40, 000 unqualified applications out of the threshold. In 2017, the incidence of platform accidents decreased by 21%, and the use of rear seat belts increased from 2.5% to 10%. Everyone's efforts in the past have been worthwhile.

Didi is by no means a black-hearted enterprise, nor is it an enterprise that makes money above all else. We haven't made a profit in six years. The overall net loss of the company exceeded 4 billion yuan in the first half of 2018. The average Take Rate of our travel business corresponding to GMV is about 16%, most of which are returned to drivers and passengers, and the gross profit margin of the company as a whole corresponding to GMV is only 1.6%. In the first half of the year, the total amount of subsidies returned, including driver subsidies during peak hours, orders and service incentives, and passenger concessions, exceeded 11.7 billion yuan. Profit is by no means the most concerned goal of Didi. As a platform to undertake hundreds of millions of traffic trips, we will adhere to low-margin operations and invest more of our revenue into safety and experience.

We still carry the trust of hundreds of millions of users. Every day, passengers come into the line to express their gratitude for the good service. In the most difficult times, many drivers send encouragement to us, and each region treasures the banners sent by users and the police. It is in order to be worthy of them that we cannot give up lightly. We must redouble our efforts.

All the little orange people, please come with me and get up where you fall! Let go of impetuosity, put in safety, and make up lessons thoroughly. We need to put safety first into the blood culturally. We need to guard our lives day and night before we can have peace of mind. Users and society will feel at ease only if we believe that we will never give up security for profit.

New business type has just started, and we firmly believe that the integration of the safety management experience of the traditional transportation industry, coupled with the transparency of the Internet and big data technology, will certainly make travel safer. Actions speak louder than words, let's take actions to win back the trust of users and rebuild social confidence in mobile travel.

Didi wants to be a social enterprise with a clear-cut stand. We will make the platform rules and pricing mechanism open to the public and regulators, communicate with the public, regulatory authorities and experts from all walks of life more openly and transparently, learn from the outside world more humbly and sincerely, listen to criticisms and suggestions, promote the compliance process of ride-hailing more quickly, and work with the whole society to build a social travel platform that serves the people.

At present, we are actively cooperating with multi-ministerial joint security inspections to prepare for a more in-depth and protracted security offensive. The company has now been upgraded to set up a security headquarters. I am the group leader and Liu Qing is the deputy group leader. Core cadres on all fronts have been mobilized and put in:

-CTO line to mobilize forces, comprehensively upgrade the security product operation system, and maximize the reduction of security risks.

-the customer service system is put into the key campaign to ensure the establishment of a rapid response mechanism and disposal in place.

-all business lines work together to quickly promote the design and implementation of ride-hailing compliance programs.

-the Ministry of Security will strengthen the professional construction and supervision of the overall security system and make every effort to promote the linkage and cooperation between police and enterprises.

-other departments will work together on their respective fronts to build and improve the company's security system.

Race against time and do your best. United, All in is safe.

In times of crisis, I would like to say thank you to every determined little orange man and your family.

I love you all.

Cheng Wei

September 7, 2018