Volume 2: Storm Rising 2015 Chapter 296: Uncertainty
People only know how to cherish something when they lose it, and the happiness of regaining something lost is obviously not something that everyone has the opportunity to experience.
Looking at the beautiful scenery of the Huangpu River and the Bund outside the hotel, Zhou Dongsheng was sweating happily on the treadmill.
Lu Sifang acted as a spectator on the side, waiting with a towel in his hand. He truly put his words into practice and said he would serve you wholeheartedly without any ambiguity.
After a while, Zhou Dongsheng took a breath and stopped. Lu Sifang came over immediately. Zhou Dongsheng took the towel and wiped himself. Then he smiled and said, "I'll go take a shower first, and then we'll have breakfast and chat while we eat."
"Okay, boss. We'll go to the restaurant and wait for you first." Lu Sifang said with a smile.
Zhou Dongsheng nodded, and went to wash up with Li Jiana before coming to the restaurant. At this time, Lu Sifang had already found a seat and waved to them.
"Boss, I'll go order some food." Li Jiana said considerately. As an assistant, she already knew the boss's taste preferences.
After sitting down, Zhou Dongsheng said leisurely, "It's good to find this short video project this time. Tell me what you think."
Although Zhou Dongsheng only knew some fragmentary information, through the data and information collected by Lu Sifang's investigation, he could expand this fragmentary information a little bit.
Even if they cannot know the full picture, it is enough to take a certain initiative. After all, as investors, the initiative is in their hands.
Upon hearing the boss's affirmation, Lu Sifang became energetic and began to introduce the information he had learned.
"Boss, this Wenxue Network Company is located in Shanghai. It is a standard small and beautiful company. The entire team has only a few dozen people, but one of its short video software is very famous overseas!"
"The app is called Musical.ly. Compared to similar domestic competitors such as Kuaishou and Xiaokaxiu, it has no reputation and very little domestic user traffic. However, overseas, it has already topped the Apple App Store in July and is popular in Europe and the United States!"
"This time, the company is seeking financing to continue to implement its overseas strategy, seize this opportunity to continue to expand rapidly, and establish its own user base in Europe and the United States..."
Lu Sifang briefly explained his understanding of the company. A major common problem faced by most domestic Internet companies is how to go overseas and overcome the difficulties in Europe and the United States.
Regardless of the cultural differences between China and the West or historical issues such as cultural invasion, relevant European and American companies have always had smooth access to our domestic markets and reaped rich rewards.
Even many overseas companies that have average development in their home countries have easily turned around after entering the Chinese market, making a ton of money while reviving.
It is easy for overseas companies to come in, but it is extremely difficult for local companies to export abroad, whether it is film and television culture or other things. This has become a concern for many companies.
Unexpectedly, this old problem was easily solved by such a small and beautiful company. This is also the confidence of Wenxue Network in financing.
However, the financing was not smooth. After all, there are only two or three big players in the domestic short video industry, and it is still in a confusing stage.
In particular, even the Internet giant Tenda chose to retreat and turn to invest in the leading Kuaishou. Judging from Tenda’s attitude, the short video industry seems to have entered the "80/20 rule" stage where the winner takes all.
Tenda’s strategic decisions still have a significant reference value in the investment community, so a lot of capital is already in a wait-and-see stage for the short video industry.
Compared with the booming live broadcast industry next door, where countless capitals are pouring in, the short video industry seems to have been abandoned by capital and relegated to the "cold palace".
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that Wenxue Network chose the overseas strategy and unexpectedly opened up the overseas market, achieving many achievements that ordinary Internet companies only dream of.
In response to this, Wenxue Network also wants to build on its success and ambitiously wants to continue to accelerate the pace of occupying overseas markets. After all, compared with the fiercely competitive short video industry in China, the overseas market is vast and has great potential.
Unfortunately, under this domestic capital trend, financing did not go smoothly.
Even Cheetah Mobile, a Kingsoft-affiliated company that invested US$5 million in the A round, has adopted an ambiguous attitude.
On the contrary, overseas capital is very interested and has shown strong investment interest in this software. After all, this is a short video platform rooted in the European and American markets.
Unexpectedly, at this time, a company called "Dongsheng Investment" came to the door and also expressed a strong interest in investment, and even wanted to monopolize the B round of financing.
This also surprised Yang Luyu, the founder of Wenxue Network, and he quickly investigated the background of this investment company.
You don’t know until you check. You will be shocked when you check. You originally thought it was just a small, unknown capital, but you didn’t expect that there were shadows of a group of bigwigs behind it.
Just the investment project of Xunmeng Technology involves a number of bigwigs who stand in the open, such as Duan Yongping and Ding Sanshi.
It was founded not long ago, and it often invests in large projects worth tens of millions of US dollars. Even if it is not as big as the capital giants in the investment world, it is obviously not a small capital.
At least, for his small company, he is already at the level of a capital tycoon.
This also made Yang Luyu dare not delay, so he rushed to the company early in the morning to make preparations in advance and wait for the arrival of the emperor.
In the hotel restaurant, Zhou Dongsheng slowly finished his breakfast and, through the information conveyed by Lu Sifang, he roughly completed the information he knew in his mind.
After comparing the two, Zhou Dongsheng already had an idea in his mind. Compared with the " untimely " short video company Tenda, this Wenxue Network Company has indeed achieved considerable results by focusing on the development of overseas markets.
It also set off a short video craze overseas. Unfortunately, when Wenxue Network was full of ambition and ready to return home in glory and redevelop the domestic market...
A software that is extremely similar to theirs has become like a rising overlord. Taking advantage of the explosive growth of mobile Internet, it has completely occupied the domestic short video industry.
It even ambitiously launched an overseas strategy, and ran head-on into Wenxue Network, which had returned home.
It is hard to say who is real and who is fake when Li Kui meets Li Gui, but the strong capital strength and foundation of Toutiao are incomparable to Wenxue Network.
In the end, Toutiao offered a number that Wenxue Network could not refuse. According to rumors, it was as high as 1 billion US dollars!
It then directly took over the overseas market where it had worked for many years, realizing Toutiao’s dream of unifying the short video industry at home and abroad, and even developed to the point where the beacon country of America needed to pay attention.
As for who is Li Kui and who is Li Gui , this Rashomon is just like that. Since we are all one family, there is naturally no need to pursue it further.
The news that "Li Gui bought out Li Kui" caused a lot of heated discussion on the Internet. Zhou Dongsheng happened to see it, so he had some impression of it.
However, at this time when the outcome is uncertain, this is naturally Zhou Dongsheng's opportunity to perform.
