Reborn with Consumption System

Only the smartest, most determined, and bravest people can embrace this uncertainty with joy, until they conquer it and turn it into certainty—such a sense of achievement is simply unparalleled!

To achieve all of this, one must abandon short-term speculative behavior and be extremely pragmatic!

Isn’t it contrary to what you imagined?

You might think I am a financial speculator, but I am not. Pure speculative thinking can’t do well in finance. Grasping the essence, cutting through the noise, respecting the market, and understanding human nature are the keys to long-term stable profits.

Yiming, we are very alike!

I am more rational and pragmatic than you, but you possess the romance that I lack, making you more suitable for the internet, while I am more suited to finance.

But essentially, we are the same kind of people!

We love challenges, aspire to greatness, and want to make our voices heard in this era..."

Zhang Yiming clenched his fist tightly.

Thinking to himself: What’s with this sudden sense of youthful fervor?!

Yet he didn’t dislike it.

He was even stirred up, feeling somewhat passionate.

"I really like your summary: grasp the essence, cut through the noise, respect the market, understand human nature. It’s standard in the financial market, and it also applies to us product creators.

Only on a foundation of such pragmatism can we unleash our imagination to create miracles!"

That’s for sure...

You, a tech guy, obviously aren’t interested in "elaborate and artistic praises," always thinking about code, even dreaming of creating the best product. Dog Lie knows you through and through; isn’t it just one coax and it’ll work?!

Zhang Yiming was completely energized to talk.

He eagerly recounted to Han Lie the various hardships involved in creating Toutiao.

"When Toutiao was still very rudimentary, with very little information, we imagined that the feeds were connected to a smart antenna, which linked to a boundless ocean of information. Every swipe would retrieve the information you are most interested in at this moment from the ocean.

Without imagination, we might just create a trendy app for specific categories instead of a personalized recommendation-based information distribution platform.

It was the end of 2012, and I gathered all the PMs (Product Managers) and RDs (Research and Development Engineers) for a meeting.

The core issue: We need to build an information platform, and it’s clear we have to perfect the personalized recommendation engine. Do we start this now?

At the time, many colleagues worried that we didn’t have the gene or ability, expressing their concerns.

I said: We may not know how to recommend yet, but we can learn!

So, I found the author of the book ’Recommender Systems Practice’, and asked him for an electronic version to review.

He said the book hadn’t been published yet and refused to give it to me, severely delaying the progress of our company’s recommendation capability. I had to search online for materials and imagined creating the first version of the recommendation engine myself.

Now, the author of that book already works at our company..."

Han Lie listened intently, analyzing more of Zhang Yiming’s character traits from it.

This big shot has a very persistent will.

Moreover, it’s not only his talent for programming from simple materials that’s impressive, but his mindset of addressing problems from the root and solving them.

In the future, TikTok’s ability to snatch e-commerce from Alibaba’s hands is a testament to such strategic ability of addressing core conflicts.

Therefore, Han Lie must have him recognize his own value, or else it would be impossible to join in.

If the chat becomes lively, both sit interspersed in the living room, holding a discussion.

The founding team of ByteDance has always been a team that loves "chatting."

During previous recruitment, they would invite people to the company for a "sharing session," and in the first two rounds of seeking investment, they let investors share their views. In the future, they will also gather Toutiao account creators for conferences...

They are very good at absorbing opinions from the outside.

Zhang Lidong and Panzi sought advice on management experience, Zhang Nan consulted Liu Minghao on the current legal issues facing the company, and the conversation heated up.

Then, naturally, the conversation turned to the public opinion environment of Toutiao.

Zhang Yiming suddenly turned to ask Han Lie: "President Han, back when I created FanFou, it was shut down by regulatory authorities due to the public opinion storm. How do you view the risks and challenges Toutiao faces in terms of public opinion?"

In an instant, all eyes focused.

Here it is!

The re-use of "您" signifies that this is the rhythm of officially beginning negotiations.

As the founder of a company, posing questions to an investor.

Everyone present understood that this question was Zhang Yiming’s evaluation of Han Lie.

On the surface level, it’s a routine consultation.

"Among three people there is always something to learn from." Observing Toutiao from an external perspective surely feels different.

The second layer is assessing whether Han Lie has the "qualification to partner."

If you don’t know our product well and can’t provide other key resources, why should we accept your investment?

The third layer assesses the level of perspective Han Lie possesses.

If you are very capable, please demonstrate it. If you can offer us insight, thought, and guidance, it’s not just about investment being negotiable; a voice in decision-making isn’t impossible either.

The three meanings progress layer by layer, this is the "qualification match" Zhang Yiming set up separately for Han Lie, when investment is no longer a lacking factor.

Naturally, Han Lie also realized this, and acknowledged the importance of the question.

It is different from previous chats, as it has already touched upon the overall strategic planning for ByteDance’s core product.