Chapter 90 ByteDance
Time quickly came to August, and more than half of the filming of the TV series was completed. The director was very happy to see that the filming progress was getting faster and faster.
According to the current progress, it is estimated that the TV series will be completed by early September and will be concluded ahead of schedule.
Unfortunately, the news one after another shattered the director's unrealistic ideas.
The heroine Yang Mi has to take leave again.
As a popular star, it is unrealistic to expect her to devote herself to filming on the set for three months.
She would be asked to do all sorts of things, and asking for leave was a common occurrence.
Fortunately, "Gu Jian Qi Tan" is a big production with an investment of hundreds of millions of yuan, and it is also a drama produced by Yang Mi's employer Huanrui.
Yang Mi didn't dare to go too far.
Otherwise, according to her current popularity and her own work habits, it would be easy for her to take on two or three dramas at the same time.
"Tiny Times 2" was released in August. Although the popularity of the first movie has not subsided, these actors still have to come out to promote it.
At the same time, another movie starring Yang Mi, "Palace Lock and Bead Curtain", was released at the same time. This movie has the same name as the TV series "Palace Lock and Bead Curtain", and is a drama directed by Yu Zheng.
Although Yang Mi only made a cameo appearance in the film, Yu Zheng had to repay his favor. This movie was mainly to take advantage of the popularity of the TV series "Palace".
She has to help promote it.
The day after the heroine left, Gu Wei also asked for leave.
His agent Yang Liwen called him and said that Zhang Yiming had agreed to meet Gu Wei.
Discuss financing.
Yang Liwen contacted Zhang Yiming when she was filming in Thailand, but ByteDance was still developing well at that time and the money from the A round of financing had not been used up yet.
Moreover, Zhang Yiming was still wary of Yang Liwen, the investor who came to him out of nowhere.
In recent months, the situation has changed dramatically.
Originally, the APP [Toutiao] launched by [ByteDance] last year has been going smoothly, and the number of registered users has been increasing.
As long as the time is right, you can continue to raise funds in rounds B, C, and D, and finally successfully go public and reach the peak of your life.
Just when everything seemed to be going well, media outlets suddenly exposed that Toutiao was suspected of copyright infringement!
Soon, multiple online media outlets simultaneously revealed that [Toutiao] was suspected of infringing on the copyright and authorship rights of other news media, hoping that it would change its infringing behavior as soon as possible and make timely rectifications.
Because so many media outlets were involved, it caused a stir online.
This made Zhang Yiming extremely anxious, and some of the financing parties that were originally in talks also backed off due to the influence of public opinion.
In fact, Toutiao did commit infringement, and CEO Zhang Yiming was well aware of this.
[Toutiao] is a news app, but it does not produce even a single piece of news.
All the news content above is crawled from other websites.
It is a recommendation engine application based on machine learning, aiming to help users efficiently discover valuable information.
However, after it captures this valuable information, it remains on its own application, and the user's traffic naturally settles in [Toutiao].
It would be fine if there were few people watching.
Now the number of registered people is slowly increasing. Other media outlets see that you don’t need to send any people or put in any effort. You can just copy our news. Then users will flock to your site and you will make a fortune from advertising fees.
Of course they are not happy.
Moreover, the [Toutiao] algorithm captures news from the entire Internet, which means it stands in opposition to all media.
Gu Wei returned to the capital and met with Zhang Yiming under the arrangement of Yang Liwen.
The meeting place was set at Gu Wei's company. After all, the situation had changed and the current predicament of [Byte] gave Gu Wei some initiative.
Moreover, inviting Zhang Yiming to the company can also allow him to see the company's strength, which is not the makeshift team as imagined.
After more than half a year of recruitment and expansion, Weiming Tianxia Film and Television Company is no longer just a company with only two or three members.
Due to the increase in staff, the company has rented an entire floor of the original location as office space.
In the conference room, Gu Wei and Zhang Yiming met for the first time.
Zhang Yiming is probably in his early 30s. He is short and thin, with dark skin and small eyes. He wears a pair of black-framed glasses, a sky blue T-shirt and jeans.
He doesn't look like the CEO of an internet company valued at hundreds of millions, but more like an ordinary "coder".
The two shook hands and sat down.
"Mr. Zhang, I've long heard of your great name, but never had the chance to meet you. Today, I'm honored to have you. It's true that hearing about you is worse than meeting you in person."
Gu Wei was used to it. He would start by praising the person, building a closer relationship and boosting his favorability, and then talk about other things.
"Mr. Gu, you're too polite. Your agent has contacted me several times before, but the company was too busy recently. Now I finally have time to talk to you."
Zhang Yiming smiled innocently. Coming from a programmer background, he didn't have the aura of a big-company elite at all. Instead, he gave off an air of honesty and loyalty.
Gu Wei exchanged a few polite words with him and then got straight to the point.
"Mr. Zhang, I used the APP developed by your company last year and I think this product is great.
Although the functions are simple, they are practical and convenient. I can see that the algorithm for capturing and distributing content is the most essential thing in the APP.
I heard that your company is planning to raise funds in the near future. I wonder if I have the honor to join your company?
"This? Mr. Gu, to be honest, I came here today to discuss financing with you.
Although the company’s cash flow is not tight right now, it’s better to be prepared, and we have started to consider the next round of financing.”
He frowned slightly after saying this.
“I just have a question. There’s been a lot of news about Toutiao online lately. Since you’re looking to raise funds, I believe you’re also paying attention to it.
Aren’t you worried that Toutiao will completely collapse due to infringement as many people on the Internet have said?
Your investment will be wasted.”
Although he needed money, Zhang Yiming still wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.
Gu Wei lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked at Zhang Yiming with a smile.
“I understand Mr. Zhang’s doubts, but this is what I think about this matter.
I know the difficulties that Toutiao is facing now, but I am not worried about it.
The Internet environment in our country is different from that in the West. We developed late, so we learned everything from others.
In the early days, in order to compete with mature foreign Internet companies, domestic Internet companies did a lot of plagiarism and infringement.
Even if what you do is wrong, you still have to survive first.
We can't let foreigners occupy our Internet market.
Therefore, various laws, regulations and policies are relatively relaxed.
This situation is changing little by little as the Internet market matures further.
But there has been no fundamental change to this day.
[Headline] Although it has infringed upon the interests of some people, I believe this will not be the reason for its collapse.
Laws and policies will not knock it down. Only it itself can knock it down.
Crisis is crisis, and where there is danger there is naturally opportunity.
The current situation is a great opportunity for Toutiao to grow bigger, stronger, and develop further.”
Gu Wei said a lot in one breath, then lowered his head, picked up the teacup and took a sip.
After listening to Gu Wei's words, Zhang Yiming thought more.
"Thank you very much for Mr. Gu's guidance. I was a little confused."
Then Zhang Yiming sighed again
"That being said, it makes sense, but only a few are willing to take the plunge. Mr. Gu has the courage to do so, which is already better than most people."
Gu Wei smiled and said, "Others don't know whether you will win or lose in the future, but I know you will definitely win. I have already seen everyone's cards before sitting at the table, so why wouldn't I dare to gamble?"
"Of course, the most important thing is that I believe in your ability, Mr. Zhang.
Before I thought about investing in ByteDance, I also learned about you, Mr. Zhang, through various channels.
I think you are a true genius.
I have always believed that only by working with capable people can we achieve ultimate success.
Rather than saying I want to invest in ByteDance, I would say I want to invest in you. I believe that under your leadership, ByteDance will eventually become a great company."
Gu Wei said this, looking at Zhang Yiming eagerly.
He was deeply moved by these words.
"Mr. Gu, I'm flattered by your kindness.
I, Zhang Yiming, am not as capable as you say, but I do have a strong desire to run the company well.
To tell you the truth, some time ago, several investment companies had plans to raise funds, but because of this incident, most of them backed off.
Besides you, there is also a Russian venture capital company in talks with us."
"It's okay, I understand this very well. A good woman is always sought after.
I'd like to ask, what is the amount of funding we plan to raise in our Series B round, and what is your company's current valuation?"
Gu Wei asked.
"We plan to raise $10 million in Series B funding, and the company's current valuation is $50 million," Zhang Yiming replied.
As Gu Wei knew, it seems that the Russian venture capital company finally agreed to ByteDance's valuation. It turns out that ByteDance's Series B financing was invested by DST Global, an investment company headquartered in Moscow.
Investment of US$10 million, valuation of US$50 million.
After the financing, the valuation was US$60 million, and DST held a 16.66% stake.
"Mr. Zhang, I completely agree with your company's valuation. I can put up $10 million for financing, and I only want a 15% stake after the financing.
After the financing is completed, I will sign a concerted action agreement with you as a shareholder and entrust you with full voting rights."
When Zhang Yiming heard that Gu Wei only wanted 15% of the shares, his eyes moved. Later, when he heard that he could sign a joint action agreement, he suddenly raised his head.
"Boss Gu, are you serious?"
"Of course, although I, Gu Wei, am not a great figure, I have never broken my word." Gu Wei said lightly.
Then he added the last weight to Zhang Yiming's inner scale.
"Mr. Zhang, I believe that the Series B financing is definitely not the end of your company. As an internet company, everyone is striving to grow bigger and stronger and eventually go public.
In order to go public, some international capital will definitely be involved in the next few rounds of financing.
If foreign investors are allowed to join from the B round, then after the later rounds, the majority of the company's shares will be held by international capital.
This is not a good thing for a local internet company.”
Zhang Yiming didn't hesitate after hearing this.
“Mr. Gu, your conditions are very favorable, and I welcome your investment in principle.
But this is not a small matter after all, and I need to go back and discuss it with my team."
"Mr. Zhang, I'm waiting for your good news."
——
"Mr. Gu, are you really going to invest 10 million US dollars in Zhang Yiming's company?" Yang Liwen was the one who handled the communication with ByteDance.
She was also a little bit unbelievable at this moment. She was going to invest more than 70 million in an unfamiliar company?
You have to know that this money is not used to make movies.
Investment is not an area they are familiar with, and who knows whether they will lose everything in the end.
"Of course, I've already agreed, as long as he nods, I'll invest the money.
Sister Yang, please help me find a more reputable third-party company. As long as Zhang Yiming agrees, they can conduct due diligence as soon as possible and then sign the contract."
Two days later, Zhang Yiming responded and accepted Gu Wei's financing.
Hearing this news, Gu Wei felt as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart.
This investment may be the most profitable investment in his life.
You should know that as of 2020, ByteDance received financing from Tiger Global Management and was valued at US$100 billion.
Although the shares held by Gu Wei had been diluted by rounds of financing, the profit would still be at least hundreds of times.
With the cooperation of ByteDance, a third-party agency entered the market to conduct due diligence, which is a necessary procedure before a company can raise funds.
The investment company needs to ensure that the assets, liabilities, finances, legal relationships, corporate data, etc. of the invested company are normal and there is no fraud.
Gu Wei believed in Zhang Yiming, but he had to go through the investment process.
Sometimes, if you rashly sign or give money without any guarantee, it will not be considered as trust. Instead, people will look down on you and think that you are stupid and rich.
So although Gu Wei was very anxious, he still waited patiently for the due diligence process to be completed.
The $10 million is already in the account of Gu Wei’s newly established investment company and will be transferred to ByteDance once the contract is signed.
After the due diligence began, Gu Wei flew back to the Hengdian crew to continue filming. He couldn't delay for too long. If Gu Wei asked for another two weeks of leave, not only the director, but also Mr. Chen from Huanrui would have to come to him.
Although he was on the set, Gu Wei had something else on his mind, so he was not in the right state of mind every day when filming.
Fortunately, it’s just a fantasy idol drama.
With Gu Wei's acting skills, he can be on par with other actors in any role he plays.
Two days later, Yang Mi also returned to the crew.
As usual, I went to see Gu Wei in the evening after an intense basketball game.
Yang Mi lay quietly on his chest, stroking his strong pectoral muscles and abdominal muscles back and forth.
"Are you worried these days? You seem absent-minded day by day."
"I'm optimistic about a company in Beijing and plan to invest some money in it." Gu Wei did not hide it from Yang Mi.
"What kind of company is this? Don't get fooled." Yang Mi looked worried.
These days, many people are defrauded of money by celebrities’ financial management.
Many celebrities have low educational levels and do not have good financial management channels for the money they earn from filming movies and commercials.
In the end, he was deceived and his money was defrauded.
"Don't worry, I'm not someone who can be easily deceived. It's just an ordinary financial investment, but the amount is a bit large."
"How much did you invest?" Yang Mi asked curiously.
Gu Wei stretched out a finger.
"One million?" He shook his head.
"10 million?" Yang Mi exclaimed.
"10 million US dollars!"
Hearing this number, Yang Mi's breathing became heavy, and in her eyes, Gu Wei became even more attractive.
Her hand slowly slid down, and a new game was about to begin.
(End of this chapter)
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