Global monopoly of technology

(Ps: Chapter 504 has been lifted. Everyone will subscribe to pull the data, so blocking it is a little bit hurt)

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An hour later, Cao Yi came to Toutiao’s office address and learned that a VC came to the door in person. Wang Qiong, the general manager of Toutiao’s angel investor Heina Asia, was very surprised.

This is very rare. In the early stage of the capital market, the headlines were not very optimistic. This year, Bluestar Technology and Alibaba successively extended an olive branch, but the founder Zhang Yiming and arrogantly rejected them.

In the reception room, Toutiao founder Zhang Yiming, Toutiao angel investor Wang Qiong, and Cao Yi, who came to visit, gathered together.

"It's true that I don't understand the headline model. The reason I am interested is because Bluestar Technology favors it." Cao Yi said.

These words made Zhang Yiming dumb, and it has really changed recently. Because of Bluestar Technology, suddenly many VCs took the initiative to call for consultation. No, there are already VCs visiting.

The words Bluestar Technology seem to have peculiar magical powers.

Cao Yi added: "But the very real problem is that the entire information market has basically been carved up. News clients such as Wangsha, Sohu, Tengxun, and Phoenix have covered almost all users. As an investor , I would like to ask: There are already portals. Both Wangxu and Souhu claim that they have 200 million users. In addition, there are Xianguo, Wumi, ZAKER and the like. Is there any room for your headlines?"

Cao Yi added: "As for how to make money for this product, commercialization, etc., the status quo of Toutiao hasn't even reached that point. As an investor, we only discuss whether this market can still accommodate a new information customer. End, the product is good? But the market has been divided up."

Zhang Yiming said concisely: "Toutiao is a slow product."

At this time, Ms. Wang Qiong also spoke: "I remember that I went out with Yiming to show others our products last year. Everyone thought the technology was good, but how much does technology have to do with success? The existing portals did not use this technology, and they all It satisfies the needs of users very well, so they will question whether the value and benefits that this technology brings to users are so great?"

Then Zhang Yiming said frankly: "We can't answer these questions right away, we can only rely on the follow-up numbers to speak."

As the exchanges continued to advance, Wang Qiong began to introduce the past development of Toutiao to Cao Yi.

"In October last year, Yiming took the product and went out for a round. It really didn't go well. At that time, we judged that the shipment of smartphones would continue to increase this year, even exceeding last year. We must seize this opportunity. So at the end of last year , Haina Asia invested another $1 million in A+ rounds for Toutiao, and provided a bridge loan of $1 million. The two million dollars are to make Toutiao have enough time to grow bigger and have more data. Be convincing."

Hearing this, Cao Yi asked briefly: "How about the current data?"

Zhang Yiming: "As of now in March, Toutiao has 3 million daily activity data, and it has been steadily increasing."

Sitting next to him, Wang Qiong joked to herself: “In the past, I brushed my face and brushed at least 20 friends in the investment industry, met with them and introduced Yiming’s products. But I walked around, No one is optimistic about Toutiao. Recently, one or two companies have expressed their willingness to invest because of Bluestar Technology, but the price is too low and does not meet our expectations. The domestic capital market has hardly been optimistic about Yiming and Toutiao before Bluestar Technology. The organization is really frustrated."

In fact, what makes Zhang Yiming even more frustrated is that the current capital market understands him and today’s headlines is Bluestar Technology, but he is not willing to accept it because he does not want to be the younger brother of any giant.

On the other hand, Zhang Yiming was actually frightened. The technology of Toutiao is the intelligent recommendation engine, and the blue star technology of intelligence is undoubtedly the most slippery one, or the blue coast. Luo Sheng is now the number one AI player anyway.

Now that he has rejected Bluestar Technology, Zhang Yiming is very clear that once Bluestar Technology really exerts its strength, the chances of Toutiao trying to stand out from the competition are almost zero.

Not only will my dream of becoming the world’s largest content creation platform as a billion-dollar company be in vain, I also feel very sorry for the investor in Heiner, because Toutiao is the only angel project in Heiner, and participated in Toutiao from 0 to 1. the whole process.

Cao Yi watched Zhang Yiming methodically and said: "In today's Internet entrepreneurship circle,'burning money' seems to be a problem that every startup company encounters every day. What is Mr. Zhang's opinion on today's competition in the industry?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yiming thought about it for a while before answering: "If your system is much more efficient than its opponents, in fact, by simply burning money, it can generate very little competitiveness. For example, two cars. If the conversion from fuel combustion to power is several times worse, then if you only rely on fuel, the larger the scale, the greater the loss. Therefore, whether it is burning or not burning, it should be at this efficiency Under the premise."

Cao Yi continued to ask: "We must face up to a very real problem. In the competition, the LAT Big Three is a topic that cannot be avoided in any case. They may face a choice as to which queue they should stand in. Everyone in the Internet entrepreneurial circle has to face multiple-choice questions. Has Toutiao ever thought about this?"

Zhang Yiming answered without hesitation: "Thinking is to try not to stand in line."

Cao Yi stared at him: "You seem to try not to stand in line."

Zhang Yiming: "Speak truthfully. Maybe we have to use Luo Sheng's AI technology. There is no doubt about the technical potential of this piece of Bluestar technology in smart push."

Cao Yi said with a smile: "Frankly speaking, I really appreciate your reality, but if you stand in the team, what impact will it have on the development of headlines?"

Zhang Yiming replied: "In the new year, the two giants, Bluestar Technology and Alibaba, are fighting around the payment market. The whole industry is turbulent, because the giants guard against each other and enter each other's fields. If you stand in a team, you may compete. It will be more intense, which is very possible. I think the main point is this. We did not say that we must not stand in teams, or we cannot stand in teams. I think if there is a chance to grow relatively independently, it might be more meaningful. ."

After a short pause, Zhang Yiming added: “Because the current domestic Internet pattern has been around for a long time, more than ten years ago. If new companies and emerging platforms can rise, I think this is also a A good demonstration."

Cao Yi suddenly laughed and said: "Zhang's approach is very straightforward, and the industry has also seen it. At the beginning of the month, there were rumors that Bluestar Technology was going to be a shareholder in the headlines. You just said, you don’t come. I still want to do it by myself. This is true for Bluestar Technology, this is true for Ali, is this true for all giants soliciting?"

Zhang Yiming looked at Cao Yi with a serious expression and replied: "When I saw this news, a colleague asked me, saying that I joined Toutiao not to become an employee of Bluestar Technology, maybe he was a former Bluestar Technology employee. I don’t know the employees. He said that I didn’t come to become an employee of Bluestar Technology. So I responded to him that I did not come to become an employee of Bluestar Technology when I founded Toutiao. But that’s not to say that we and Bluestar Technology What are the problems with cooperation or competition, I just want to express one more meaning that we hope to become a platform-level company with great value to society, so this expression has no specific meaning."

Cao Yi: "It's not that it's boring that others have bought shares, but how boring it is that you can't grow up yourself?"

Zhang Yiming nodded: "Yes, the main thing I want to express to employees or the industry is that headlines have their own ambitions."

This answer is almost the same as the original response to Pang Lei, but Cao Yi didn't know this, and he didn't even know that his big boss behind the scenes was actually the ultimate BOSS of Bluestar Technology.

Cao Yikan asked with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, would you worry that your attitude or expression will make any of Bluestar Technology and Ali unhappy?"

Hearing such a question, Zhang Yiming couldn't help but touched the bridge of his nose, lowered his eyebrows and thought for a while, and laughed ridiculously: "I think they are very smart. Whether it is Manager Luo or Manager Ma, they are both great with a big mind. Entrepreneurs should not be angry because of this."

Zhang Yiming’s story has been told for almost forty or fifty minutes, and Cao Yi thinks it’s almost the same. On the one hand, he really wants to listen to the story told by the founder. On the other hand, what Cao Yi didn’t say is that his boss clearly gave the task , To invest in headlines, invest in Zhang Yiming.

It's just that as a qualified and excellent VC, this kind of urgent need is not exposed throughout the process.

Cao Yi smiled and said, "Before I saw you, I remained skeptical, but after communicating with you, I began to believe that Mr. Zhang, you can make a company."

Zhang Yi clearly has a holistic view in the process of telling stories, he is not eager for quick success, conceited but not proud, and very studious. Compared with other founders, he is closer to being able to do great things.

Wang Qiong couldn't help being overjoyed when he heard Cao Yi's words. This VC has a show.

Zhang Yiming smiled modestly and politely and turned his head away, but he did not respond by saying that he had been praised.

Cao Yi really began to admire him, and admired that the big bosses at the headquarters are so insightful. The potential of a startup company almost depends on the founder. He immediately said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Zhang, I represent Anaheim Asia Technology. The venture capital fund hopes to lead your company’s B round of financing. I brought in 70 million US dollars this time, and I want to hand it over to you."

Zhang Yiming: "..."

Wang Qiong: "..."

Hearing the figure of 70 million US dollars really scared the two of them. They had not had time to understand the so-called Anaheim Technology Venture Capital Fund, its investment background, its strength, and so on.

But when these words came out, it came up with a face-off of 70 million US dollars. Let's not say anything else, at least it proves that this North American venture capital institution is not bad at money.

Zhang Yiming suddenly felt that even if he did not rely on the giants, headlines would usher in a new dawn.