Zhang Junjie beneath the water surface

Text | Zhong Yixuan, Yang Yafei

Editor | Qiao Qian

People are eager to see Zhang Junjie in the spotlight, and he is good at it. Among all the leading tea - beverage companies today, this founder is not only the youngest but also has the most comprehensive profile. From his family background, education to personal ups and downs, you can almost find stories for every stage of his life, which are rich and dramatic.

These elements have shaped an image of a grassroots leader for this tea - beverage company that emerged from the southwest - a rough, head - on - facing - giants and ambitious one. The company's business performance and the founder's words and deeds are in perfect harmony.

However, Zhang Junjie beneath the surface remains rather vague.

Many people don't understand Bawang Cha Ji because its products are too simple. Compared with some peers with deep supply - chain accumulations and extremely high efficiency, Bawang's strength in "marketing" doesn't seem prominent enough.

But Zhang Junjie himself does have his strengths. There are many stories about Bawang Cha Ji in the industry. The repositioning of this company can be traced back to the late - night "investment decision - making meeting" held by XVC at the end of 2020. It was a choice about people. The institution selected Zhang Junjie among the three partners and used the "biggest check" ever to make this young man the actual controller of Bawang Cha Ji.

Last year, an investor in Bawang Cha Ji conducted an internal review of this case. An insider told 36Kr that besides many discussions about the business model, they reached a consensus on the founder Zhang Junjie - He has mediocre qualifications, but he has qualities that ordinary young entrepreneurs don't have. "His greatest advantage is the ability to manage people."

This judgment has been repeatedly verified among various people that 36Kr has contacted later.

In 2021, not long after Bawang Cha Ji's headquarters moved from Yunnan to Chengdu, an investor met Zhang Junjie. "This guy is either a hero or a fraudster," the investor recalled to 36Kr, sharing the deepest impression Zhang Junjie left on him.

At that time, Bawang Cha Ji had just opened a flagship store on Chunxi Road in Chengdu. On the opening day, it invited people from the Hanfu circle to create a national - style atmosphere and had already gained some popularity in the southwest. However, many investors told 36Kr that Bawang Cha Ji didn't show any advantages in its business model at that time. The stores were quite ordinary, showing too many traces of Cha Yan Yue Se, and the single - store revenue was just average.

But Zhang Junjie's responses to these problems were impeccable. "He knows exactly what investors want. He will proactively offer all the points you want to hear," the investor said.

Thanks to his excellent insight into human nature, Zhang Junjie was quickly recognized by capital.

XVC once mentioned in an open letter its appreciation for Zhang Junjie himself. Zhang Junjie, who didn't receive a formal education, redefined Bawang Cha Ji's brand, stores, products, and packaging and built a new brand team in just a few months after getting the financing in 2021. This ability shown by Zhang Junjie was summarized as "extremely strong growth potential" in the letter.

However, in the face of such a smart and "talented" person, the aforementioned investor expressed his real inner vigilance. "He understands you too well, and you don't know what his real state is. If you've known him since his humble beginnings and know how he got to where he is today, you'll definitely trust him. But if you decide to invest after just a few meetings, it's no different from gambling."

But in fact, this ability quickly helped Zhang Junjie break into different circles. An industry insider told 36Kr that Zhang Junjie's early benefactor also included Wang Xiaokun, the founder of Cha Baidao. This well - known figure in the industry who also started his business in Chengdu once invited investors to help Zhang Junjie when Bawang Cha Ji was having the most difficult time raising funds. Later, in public, Zhang Junjie would always call Wang Xiaokun "elder brother".

And the cooperation between the two companies in the upstream has already begun. In November 2023, the news that Bawang Cha Ji and Cha Baidao established a joint - venture subsidiary hit the hot search - even competitors can cooperate.

(On April 17th, Eastern Time, Bawang Cha Ji was listed on the NASDAQ in the United States. Zhang Junjie is on the left)

On the other hand, Zhang Junjie's ability to recognize and use talents has also been demonstrated.

When summarizing the reasons for Bawang Cha Ji's expansion across the country to 36Kr, an early senior executive of Bawang Cha Ji mentioned the company's organizational ability. Zhang Junjie is good at letting "the right people do the right things".

"This is not easy. Many catering enterprises are still generally in a state of 'people looking for things to do'. It's already good if 30% of a company's employees' time is spent on doing the right things, and the rest of the time is spent on solving problems," he said.

Zhang Junjie showed great interest in building the organizational structure from the very beginning. The aforementioned senior executive told 36Kr that during the interview with him, Zhang Junjie spent less than half an hour talking about the position itself in the total several - hour conversation. "The rest of the time was spent talking about how the organization operates, the systematic thinking of structure building, and the future planning of the brand."

Once someone is selected, Zhang Junjie "will fully trust you and give you full authority". Another investor in Bawang also confirmed this. "Managing people is not easy. The founder himself will have many ideas and desires. The key lies in how to control himself."

Looking back, one thing Zhang Junjie has been continuously doing is to maximize the value of people.

It's no secret in the industry that the senior management team of Bawang Cha Ji has impressive resumes. Most of the current senior executives are external professional managers. When shouting out the goal of reaching 20 billion GMV and aiming to become the "Starbucks of the East" at last year's press conference, Zhang Junjie began to recruit a large number of middle - and senior - level executives from Starbucks, Tims, and even Xiaohongshu, including Huang Hongfei, the former CFO of McDonald's China, and Li Tao, the former vice - president of Starbucks.

A notable detail is that there are many talents with Huawei backgrounds in the middle - and senior - level management team. This is closely related to Zhang Junjie's experience. In 2015, he left the tea - beverage industry and joined a service - robot company named Muye Robot in Shanghai. Its founder is Jiang Huabing, the No. 1 employee of Huawei Mobile who worked at Huawei for 17 years.

In 2017, Zhang Junjie left Muye and returned to the tea - beverage business. What prompted him to make this decision was that Heytea began to expand across the country. In February of the same year, Heytea left Guangdong and opened a store at Raffles City in Shanghai. "He judged that it was the right time for tea - beverage brands," an investor who has contact with Zhang Junjie told 36Kr.

His experience at Huawei also had a profound impact on Zhang Junjie. This company is well - known today for its strong organizational ability and "wolf - pack culture". An industry consultant told 36Kr that Zhang Junjie once wanted to recruit a person with a Huawei marketing background. After meeting and talking with the person twice, he simply said, "Name your price. I'll buy you at any cost."

Learning from Cha Yan Yue Se in terms of products, from Heytea in terms of brand, from Huawei in terms of organization and IT, and inviting consultants from Haidilao to participate in the standardization design of stores - Paying the highest price to find the best teachers, all these form Zhang Junjie's recruitment profile.

Today, when talking about Bawang Cha Ji's organizational structure, the "1 + 1+9 + N" franchise strong - control model established by this company will definitely be mentioned. That is, the ownership and operation rights of the stores are separated. Franchisees own the stores, but the operation rights are in the hands of the brand.

Zhang Junjie also attaches great importance to the role of core franchisees. In this regard, Nie Yunchen, the founder of Heytea, once publicly mentioned the reason why Heytea is cautious about opening franchises. The personality and culture of franchisees will affect the employees in the stores and finally be reflected to consumers. "It's really terrible, especially when the core of the early - stage brand is not strong enough."

But Bawang Cha Ji has almost been open to franchising since its establishment. Some franchisees used to run clothing stores and have no experience in tea - beverage brands at all. Regarding this reason, an investor who has contact with Bawang Cha Ji told 36Kr that the business of clothing stores has declined. These store owners are considering transformation. Moreover, since clothing is an important category in shopping malls, these people have obvious advantages in shopping - mall resources and "can get good store locations".

Of course, if you look into it carefully, you'll find that this insight was also learned from Zhang Junjie's past experience. Since the age of 17, Zhang Junjie worked as a clerk in a chain brand called Dawei Milk Tea and gradually became the regional operation manager in Yunnan. Dawei Milk Tea, with its headquarters in Guangxi, has the most stores in Nanning and Liuzhou, specifically in Heping Mall and Fei'e Mall - both are the largest clothing wholesale malls in the local area.

This strategy even became a key to pry open the Changsha market for Bawang Cha Ji.

At the end of 2023, Bawang Cha Ji decided to enter the Changsha market. At that time, the booming Bawang had entered 28 provinces. But the company knew better than anyone that opening stores in Changsha was much more difficult than in other cities. Cha Yan Yue Se, the pioneer of national - style tea beverages with more than 500 stores, had a solid business here, and other competitors couldn't get close.

Zhang Junjie chose Wang Heng, a well - known local businessman with a background in fashion and clothing, as a cooperation partner. An entrepreneur who has cooperated with Wang Heng once evaluated her as having the top - level resources and strength in Changsha. "Without Wang Heng's help, it would be difficult for Bawang to get so many good locations in a short time, and the rent might not be the lowest."

"Bawang Cha Ji and Wang Heng jointly registered a joint - venture company, with Wang Heng holding 70% and Bawang Cha Ji holding 30%. The latter is responsible for management," another insider told 36Kr. So far, this strategy has obviously worked. With the support of large - scale franchisees, Bawang Cha Ji has quickly opened a gap. As of now, Bawang Cha Ji has opened more than 60 stores in Changsha.

On the evening of April 17th, Beijing Time, Bawang Cha Ji Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Bawang Cha Ji) was officially listed on the NASDAQ. On the first trading day, its stock price soared by 15.86%, and its market value once exceeded 7.5 billion US dollars (about 54 billion RMB).

Looking back at the growth history of Bawang Cha Ji, the precise control of people, organization, and efficiency has almost penetrated every aspect of this company. The extremely simple single - product strategy, the efficient supply chain, and the standardized production process enable a terminal clerk to make a cup of Bawang Cha Ji in just 8 seconds. All these have become the secrets for Bawang Cha Ji to expand rapidly in the past three years and quickly become a star company.

Behind all this, Zhang Junjie's active promotion is indispensable. A manager who understands human nature can give full play to human efficiency from top - to - bottom in today's extremely competitive tea - beverage market and keep the business wheel turning. Perhaps this is Bawang Cha Ji's greatest trump card.