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It is hard to find a live broadcast company that has as many "contradictions" as Yuhui Xingxing: the team is only about 160 people, but it is under high-intensity traffic attention; Dong Yuhui suddenly changed from an anchor to the head of the company, but he still has not reconciled himself well with live broadcasting. On August 18, Beijing Business Daily reporters learned from many employees and practitioners that after Yuhui Xingxing became independent, some anchors and behind-the-scenes members selected by Dongfang may face a "choose one of two" situation, and Yuhui Xingxing's personnel structure and management model are still unknown.

Some practitioners also believe that whether Dong Yuhui can continue to realize profits in the live broadcast field depends on the subsequent establishment of the supply chain and the formation and management of the behind-the-scenes team. Compared with large and comprehensive live broadcast organizations, the studio model that expands business around a single IP may be more suitable for the future development of Huixingxing. From small things like product selection to large things like organizational structure, the decisions made by the person in charge, Dong Yuhui, will affect the development direction of Dong Yuhui's personal IP and Huixingxing.

Recently, Dong Yuhui, who went solo, has been on the hot search again, and "Dong Yuhui talks about the reason for his popularity" has been on the hot list of Douyin and Kuaishou. On August 18, Beijing Business Daily reporters learned from several former employees of Oriental Selection that although Oriental Selection announced the breakup with Dong Yuhui in July this year, the shock caused by this breakup not only affected fans, but also left an aftermath in the hearts of employees.

Lin Lin (pseudonym) is a former employee of Dongfang Zhenxuan. According to her recollection, after Yuhui Xingxing broke up with Dongfang Zhenxuan, the team members behind the scenes had to face the current "choose one of the two" situation. Some colleagues who had a good relationship with Yuhui Xingxing's resident anchors chose to resign from Dongfang Zhenxuan and join Yuhui Xingxing. Before that, when Yuhui Xingxing was not yet independent, Yuhui Xingxing and Dongfang Zhenxuan shared anchor resources.

Recently, Dong Yuhui said that the Yuhuixing team has about 160 people. Compared with other leading live broadcast organizations, Yuhuixing is like a "baby" that is still developing. Public data shows that Meiwan has about 1,200 employees, Xinxuan Group has more than 4,000 employees, and Dongfang Zhenxuan has 1,785 full-time employees and 720 part-time employees as of November 30, 2023.

"For the anchors and behind-the-scenes team who chose to work with Hui Xing, the organizational structure of the new company may not be as clear as that of Oriental Selection, so some former colleagues are still relatively cautious when making their choices." Lin Lin said that in her team, only 1-2 people went to work with Hui Xing.

So, will Dongfang Selection intervene in the "two-choice" decision of employees? In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Dongfang Selection told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that he would not respond.

But in any case, the young company Yuhuixingxing has amazing traffic. After Yuhuixingxing left Dongfangzhenxuan, Huitun data showed that from July 26 to August 12, Yuhuixingxing's Douyin account added 665,000 new fans. At the same time, Yuhuixingxing is also stepping up recruitment for category operations, anchors and other positions, and expanding categories such as clothing, beauty, and 3C.

At present, Yuhuixingxing still has enough financial resources to continue to maintain the operation of the team. According to the data disclosed by Dongfang Zhenxuan, from its establishment on December 22, 2023 to June 30, 2024, Yuhuixingxing achieved an unaudited pre-tax profit of approximately 189 million yuan and a net profit of approximately 141 million yuan. The net asset value of the unaudited accounts as of June 30, 2024 was approximately 76.5855 million yuan.

After going solo, Dong Yuhui also received a share of the net profit of 141 million yuan from Yuhui Tongxing, and is about to receive the 141 million yuan in net profit from Yuhui Tongxing and the 76.5855 million yuan paid by Yu Minhong for him to acquire the equity of Yuhui Tongxing.

For a startup, this amount of start-up capital is quite generous, but it does not mean that Yuhui Tongxing can sit back and relax. Zhuang Shuai, an expert in the retail e-commerce industry and founder of Bailian Consulting, did some calculations for a Beijing Business Daily reporter. He said that if Yuhui Tongxing paid a salary of 20,000 yuan to an employee in Beijing, the monthly salary expenditure for a team of 200 people would be 4 million yuan, and the annual labor cost would be at least 48 million yuan.

"140 million yuan is only enough to pay the team members' wages for less than three years," said Zhuang Shuai.

This does not include the cost increase brought by the gradual expansion of the team. Take Dongfang Selection as an example. In order to support a company of more than 2,000 people, the total salary expenses of Dongfang Selection reached 625 million yuan in the six months ending November 30, 2023. This means that Huixing must continue to increase its overall revenue and expand its business scale, thereby bearing the gradually growing personnel costs.

In December 2023, a "small composition" incident tore apart the relationship between Dong Yuhui's fans and Dongfang Zhenxuan. The main promoters of this public opinion storm included the "mothers-in-law" behind Dong Yuhui. If you observe the fans of anchors such as Li Jiaqi and Simba, you will find that there is not much difference between the connection between fans and super anchors and star chasing. They will pay for the anchor's personal charm, identity and product quality, and they will also worry about the anchor's business development and even "stand up for the injustice."

Dong Yuhui started from a "grassroots" and transformed himself into a "superstar", which is one of the reasons why many fans identify with and follow him. Compared with Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya who relied on individual efforts to gradually become the boss from anchor, Dong Yuhui is more like a lucky person in the team who was hit by traffic. But on the other hand, Dong Yuhui did not really manage and control a company like Wei Ya and Simba, including deciding and dealing with various complex issues such as company positioning, business strategy, personnel structure, and financial management.

An employee who used to work at Dongfang Selection said that among the teachers of the same period as Dong Yuhui, his eloquence and appearance were not outstanding. Before he became popular, some of the more powerful teachers were poached after the "double reduction". "Dong Yuhui is not that kind of outstanding colleague." Some New Oriental employees also believe that Dong Yuhui's ability to receive traffic shows that he has certain abilities.

Such a huge amount of traffic suddenly weighed on the shoulders of a young anchor, and all the company's attention was focused on him. Perhaps Dong Yuhui was also unsure in his heart. It was difficult for him to immediately jump out of the anchor's identity and "quickly become" a capable company leader. "It is also possible that I will fail. The worst result I can accept is that a group of people will disperse." He said in an interview with the media.

Leaving the protection of the port, Yuhui Xingxing has to sail alone to the vast sea. In the eyes of some people in the live broadcast industry, the brighter the spotlight, the more likely any words and deeds of the super anchor will be infinitely magnified by the public opinion field. The slightest mistake may even bring unpredictable impacts to the development of the company.

For example, the quality control link is an important part of triggering public opinion in the live broadcast room. Li Jiaqi, Simba, Luo Yonghao and others have all "run aground". For this reason, these leading live broadcast organizations have spent a lot of manpower on product selection and quality control. Luo Xin (pseudonym) gave an example to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the leading live broadcast organization he worked for even set up a team of about 50 people to do background checks on brands. The main purpose is to check whether the brand has had negative public opinion in the past, including whether it involves sensitive remarks and other issues.

“Some brands will deliberately conceal these details, but once they are exposed in the live broadcast room, the consequences will be quite serious.” According to him, the people in the above team are almost all experts in specific fields. For example, researchers in the field of chemistry can provide opinions on the ingredients of cosmetics.

"While making money, Dong Yuhui needs to maintain his own image and avoid risks such as counterfeit goods, taxes, and legal issues," Zhuang Shuai also emphasized to the Beijing Business Daily reporter.

More realistically, in the process of moving forward and installing wheels with Hui Xingxing, Dong Yuhui not only had to sort out his company's business, but also his heart. From a teacher to an anchor, and then to a super anchor and company leader, after such a rapid change of identity, Dong Yuhui seemed to have difficulty sorting out these "contradictions". In some variety shows or interviews, he talked frankly about "I don't want to say 1, 2, 3 links, I feel conflicted", "I resist selling things", and "I don't want to rack my brains to empty consumers' wallets".

Dong Yuhui may have become the most twisted company leader in the live streaming industry. He has to deal with live streaming sales and public opinion at the same time, but he cannot do without the live streaming room; he hopes that the company can focus on agricultural products, cultural tourism and books, but the reality is that the commercial conversion of these categories is not as good as high-priced products such as beauty products; he is worried that if he only pursues performance and profits, the entire company will be distorted, but he has to take into account the personal development of his employees...

At some occasional moments, such contradictions would suddenly appear in Dong Yuhui. As the leader of the company, Dong Yuhui did not have enough time to accept, adapt and make a choice on how to find a balance between his professional passion and commercial interests.

Shen Meng, director of Xiangsong Capital, believes that judging from the current development situation, Yuhuixingxing may not be as extravagant as Dongfangzhenxuan in terms of personnel structure. Compared with the organizational structure of MCN and brands, Yuhuixingxing is more likely to operate in the form of a studio. "Similar to the structure of a celebrity's artist studio, all the businesses of Yuhuixingxing may be carried out by the same person, Dong Yuhui, in the future, so there is no need for so many side personnel structures." He said.

In Shen Meng's opinion, Yuhui Xingxing will introduce new professional managers in the future to be responsible for the company's operations and structural adjustment. Dong Yuhui may also distribute company shares to employees who have contributed to the company as an incentive.

"The financing may still be relatively small. If the current profitability is maintained, Dong Yuhui's own IP traffic will be sufficient to convert into profitability comparable to that of Hui's peers." Shen Meng added that in the future it is not ruled out that Dong Yuhui will sell his equity to other interested companies for cash out through equity transfer.

Another senior person involved in brand live streaming judged to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that New Oriental and Yihui Tongxing may not be completely separated, and "the two will make money in harmony."

Perhaps, in the future, Yuhui Tongxing will, like other live broadcast organizations, incubate more anchors and vertical accounts, and try to create its own brands and other businesses that consolidate the commercial value of Dong Yuhui's IP, thereby sharing the risks of super anchors and finding a stable growth for the company. Dong Yuhui will also be able to free up more energy to focus on doing some cultural communication and other live broadcast content that he likes.

Zhuang Shuai pointed out that in order for the live broadcast room to have a stable conversion, in addition to the top anchors, a mature commercial supply chain system and an efficient behind-the-scenes team are also needed. He admitted that although there is no "0-1" problem in setting up a live broadcast room, if you want to achieve "1-100", Hui Xingxing still has a long way to go.

As of press time, the relevant person in charge of Yihui Tongxing has not responded to the Beijing Business Daily reporter regarding subsequent business plans and personnel structure.