Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 661 Capital Rising Star
For a time, the news that Pinxixi had gained 100 million users spread like wildfire, like a gust of wind sweeping across the entire e-commerce track, sounding the clarion call for challengers.
As a country with 1.3 billion compatriots, 100 million users "only" accounts for 1/13 of the total population. Although it is high, it does not seem to be exaggerated.
But if you look at it from another angle, you can naturally see the value of this number, according to the data in the 38th "Statistical Report on Internet Development" released by relevant departments.
As of June 2016, the number of Internet users in my country has reached 710 million! This means that more than half of the country's total population has become Internet users, and in the past six months, the number of Internet users has increased by 21.32 million!
Among them, mobile Internet users account for a very high proportion, reaching 656 million, an increase of 36.56 million from the end of 2015. The mobile Internet usage rate of netizens is 92.5%!
Words may be deceiving, but data cannot. From this part of real data, we can see that mobile Internet has occupied an unshakable and important position in the Internet.
At the same time, smartphones have become the main tool for accessing the Internet, and this historical trend of occupying a dominant position has already become a reality. The trend has been set, and the wheel of history is irreversible.
Combining this freshly released data, we can naturally realize the value of Pinxixi's 100 million users, as a new e-commerce player rooted in smartphones and using mobile Internet as its main platform.
In just one year, it has captured nearly one-sixth of mobile Internet users. This crazy pace is so fast that even veteran can't help but feel terrified.
Especially before this, they didn't even pay much attention to when such a fierce competitor appeared in this traditional e-commerce track.
It was as if a huge monster suddenly emerged from a dark corner that no one cared about, and before that, they knew nothing about this competitor!
Fear comes from the unknown. With Pinxixi showing its edge, the e-commerce track seemed to be crying "wolf". Several old e-commerce companies had to hold emergency meetings and prepare to study this opponent carefully.
Pinduoduo, which now has 100 million users, is obviously growing stronger. It is too naive to think of nipping the danger in the bud.
However, studying the model of Pinxixi's rise and making some targeted strategic adjustments are obviously a more reasonable response.
Of course, this is just a shock in the e-commerce track. The capital circle is obviously more interested in the big news of a US$150 million financing for new e-commerce players.
Obviously, since the stock market crash in 2015, the short investment winter has passed unknowingly, and impatient capital has sprouted again. The craze brought by shared bicycles is perhaps the most representative manifestation.
With the in-depth digging by a number of capital institutions, the information about Pinxixi that was already exposed without any concealment was naturally very easy for people to see at a glance. After all, there is no wall that is impenetrable in this world.
However, you don't know until you dig in. Once you dig in, you will be shocked by the luxurious capital lineup behind Pinduoxi. Whether it is Duan Yongping or Mr. Duan, or the four-in-one investors, they are enough to show the luxurious capital foundation of Pinduoxi.
Judging from this family background alone, Pinxixi's achievements are indeed brilliant, but it also seems to be reasonable. After all, the fact that it can get support from so many bigwigs is enough to show that the founder Huang Zheng is not simple.
Among them, the news that Mr. Duan met with Buffett in his early years and that the young man he brought with him was Huang Zheng naturally came to light. For a time, the title of "Mr. Duan's disciple" was naturally attributed to Huang Zheng.
With the achievements Pinxixi has made today, it is not difficult to understand that it was able to obtain financing from Tenda.
After all, Tenda has repeatedly hit a wall in the e-commerce track over the years, and the result of its unsuccessful efforts is well known to everyone. Its killer social network, which has always been effective, seems to be ineffective only in the e-commerce track.
In this regard, everyone can only understand it as "there can't be two tigers in one mountain". Just as Alibaba cannot do social networking, it seems reasonable that Tenda cannot do e-commerce.
Therefore, Tenda could only settle for the second best and made a strategic investment in JD.com, an e-commerce player that ranks second only to Alibaba, and continued to deepen the cooperation between the two companies.
It even launched the Tengjing plan to bring together powerful forces, hoping to be the first in the world to create a precedent for the combination of social media and e-commerce that has never existed before.
However, it was unexpected that the wealthy Tencent was not satisfied with the investment from JD.com and was ready to support a new e-commerce player again .
Obviously, to a certain extent, the rise of Pinxixi has more vividly interpreted what the perfect combination of "social + e-commerce" is, allowing Tenda to see the real "social e-commerce".
However, the above industry trends are not the most moving ones. When digging deeper into Pinduoduo’s shareholder lineup, even Tengda has only become Pinduoduo’s second largest external shareholder.
Above Tengda, the largest external shareholder of Pinduoduo is Dongsheng Investment...
This is the most surprising news, Zhou Dongsheng! It's Zhou Dongsheng again!
Why is this guy everywhere? His investments are behind the two leading companies that are sparking a bike-sharing craze in the capital circle!
Nowadays, even in the traditional e-commerce field, the new e-commerce players that have suddenly emerged have Zhou Dongsheng’s investment behind them!
In addition, in the currently emerging internet celebrity economy sector, both Douyin short video invested by Zhou Dongsheng and the two major media under his control have maintained a strong leading performance.
The annual No. 1 internet celebrity [Papi Jiang] alone is already a standout, and now she has even personally taken part in the event and produced a phenomenal short video work "Zhou Dongsheng's Boring Life", which has received unprecedented response.
With such a keen sense of investment and precise internet sense, he always seems to be able to grasp the pain points of the general public, and then kill them with one blow and put the money in the pocket neatly!
Previously, the capital circle was full of praise for Zhou Dongsheng, a new capital upstart who suddenly emerged from nowhere, despite his absolutely zero background, being a typical grassroots person who started from scratch.
But there are still many people who are stubborn and believe that Zhou Dongsheng is most likely the "white glove" of a certain big boss. This view was once very popular.
After all, it is somewhat difficult to accept the fact that a young man in his early twenties is gifted and even performs better than most of them.
It would be better to regard it as the "white gloves" of a certain big boss. If you think in this way, you will feel more at ease about Zhou Dongsheng's success.
However, this statement became somewhat untenable when Zhou Dongsheng began to show up in public and even made a particularly high-profile short video program with a lot of black humor, "Zhou Dongsheng's Boring Life".
In addition, the most powerful evidence may be "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds", a phenomenal game that has swept the world.
As the largest shareholder of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Dongsheng Investment is undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary. At the same time, this investment can be regarded as the most successful investment of Dongsheng Investment.
After all, whether it is Pinxixi or Douyin, although they are currently developing rapidly and their valuations are constantly rising, the so-called valuations are more based on an estimate of expected future returns.
At present, both projects are in the stage of continuous financing and using money to exchange for development. There is still a long way to go before the investment is recovered, and even the projects themselves are far from reaching the point of breaking even.
But the game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is obviously different. It is a cash cow with an endless supply of cash. Although it is under the banner of "free", it is well known that free is the most expensive.
Today, relying solely on the revenue generated by the sale of accessories, the monthly turnover in the domestic market alone has easily exceeded 100 million, and the cumulative revenue is approaching the 1 billion mark!
This truly illustrates how terrifying the blood-generating ability of a phenomenal game is, and this is not even including the terrifying performance in overseas markets.
Nowadays, relying on its free "dimensionality reduction strike" method and its performance that is better than its predecessor, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has already surpassed H1Z1, the originator of the chicken-eating game, on the Steam platform.
Nowadays, there are only a group of paying players left in "h1z1", and the number of players has been greatly lost, which shows that the game is doomed.
I guess even the team behind "h1z1" didn't expect that the Brandon Green they let go would turn out to be a move that would lead to trouble.
Now it has not only become a major threat, but also seems to be ready to completely wipe out "H1Z1". Under huge competitive pressure, the team is already considering whether to make it free to open to the public in order to attract more players.
This strategy, which was forced upon us, might have been very effective if it had been used when PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was first released. It would have been the pioneering work in the game.
However, now that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has become a huge success, it is obviously unrealistic to use this trick to turn the tide.
After all, if it’s also free, why not choose a better chicken-eating game?
Moreover, once it becomes free and open, it will undoubtedly offend the paying players who have been holding on to their positions, which will be a lose-lose situation. This will also be the last straw that breaks the camel's back for the game "H1Z1".
In comparison, the glory of the game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" and the decline of "H1Z1" undoubtedly formed the most striking contrast, breaking platform records one after another on the Steam platform.
In just a few months, it has won seven titles on the Steam platform, including the honor of "the fastest game on the Steam platform to sell over 100 million US dollars".
Moreover, this record was set several months ago. Now, with the passage of time, this data has more than doubled.
Such a phenomenal game that is popular all over the world has almost completely shattered the "white glove" theory. After all, games are one of the most widely accepted art forms among the general public, just like movies.
Art certainly cannot do without the support of money, but money alone obviously cannot conquer the general public.
As the largest shareholder, Dongsheng Investment has received a return of a considerable amount from its investment in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds alone.
If we really want to value Dongsheng Investment, the value of the investment in "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" alone is more than 1 billion US dollars!
After all, such a popular phenomenal game is a money printing machine that is constantly printing money, and no one knows how much profit it can generate.
No one would be willing to sell it, and if they had to sell it, it would definitely be sold at a high price.
Putting aside other things, if it is 1 billion US dollars, I believe that both QQ Games and Tencent Games would be very happy to be the buyer.
After all, it is easy to get thousands of soldiers but difficult to get a good general. For the two major game companies, no one would have too many such phenomenal games that are popular all over the world.
Even if they don't want it, the big game companies in the overseas market will surely be happy to take it over. Obviously, the supply and demand relationship is not equal, but a naked seller's market.
As long as Zhou Dongsheng is willing to sell, there will definitely be plenty of people willing to take over.
Looking at the investment projects that Dongsheng Investment has disclosed, in addition to the outstanding "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds", there are also investments in two platforms with great potential, Pinxixi and Douyin.
Plus the two major shared bike companies that are at the forefront of capital...
Compared with the surprise at Zhou Dongsheng's youth, what is even more surprising is undoubtedly the success of Dongsheng Investment. Being able to bet on any one of these five major projects is enough to become a great achievement in an investor's life resume.
However, the fledgling Dongsheng Investment has already scored five goals in a row. This brilliant record is far more shocking .
As the person in charge of Dongsheng Investment, Zhou Dongsheng is undoubtedly the first and foremost contributor. Even if there is so-called "expert guidance" behind him, it cannot conceal the brilliance of this achievement.
Although this time, the news did not make it to the so-called Weibo hot search list, but the name "Zhou Dongsheng" was undoubtedly passed on by word of mouth in the small circle, and once again made his name famous.
Faced with the facts, countless investors have to face up to this young man and re-evaluate his importance in their hearts.
In particular, Dongsheng Investment's ability to make money and its impressive rate of return really make profit-seeking capital salivate.
Today, Dongsheng Investment, which is in its rising period like the rising sun, is like a rooster laying golden eggs. It is not easy to get Zhou Dongsheng to give it up.
Even if they want to buy shares, they will mostly give priority to their own people, not outsiders. However, seeing the extraordinary investment talent demonstrated by Zhou Dongsheng, they are particularly envious.
After all, there is no shortage of cash in the capital market, even during the Great Depression, and the money will only depreciate if you keep it in your hands. If you are not sure enough to invest...
Handing over your money to someone else to manage is obviously a good choice. This is also the prototype of most of the old capital institutions, commonly known as "private equity capital."
As early as when Zhou Dongsheng was active in the stock market, Principal Wang and others once joked that Zhou Dongsheng should start a private equity fund and they would provide the money for Zhou Dongsheng to display his talents.
It was just a joke at first, but now, with the passage of time, it has really come true. More than one institution has come to Zhou Dongsheng to manage their money...
Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but fall into a dilemma about this.
On the one hand, he has a good understanding of his own abilities . On the other hand, the temptation of fame and fortune is like the whisper of a devil, tempting Zhou Dongsheng to step into the abyss...
…
