If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 172 Redwood is impressed, AT advances.

Chen Yizhou spent tens of millions to rent the Water Cube and hold a press conference, intending to crush Momo with popular celebrities, real-name registration, and a deluge of GG (Girls' Love) posts.

Unexpectedly, their attempt to steal a chicken backfired, and the straightforward Momo team used the opportunity to launch a new feature called [Lingxi].

As soon as the press conference ended, the media outlets that Renren.com had arranged beforehand began to exert their influence, reporting extensively on the private app and highlighting its selling point of "anonymity and secrecy," which indeed generated a considerable response.

But who would have thought that Momo's [Lingxi] would ride this wave of popularity and force its way onto the trending topics, focusing on [pure soul matching], and without spending a single penny on promotion, its popularity directly caught up with or even surpassed that of [Private App].

The hashtags #MomoLingxiLaunch#, #ChenYizhouSlappedInTheFaceByReporters#, #YangMiUses[Private]ForPrivateChat#, #LingxiStillPrivate#, and #HanGengYangMiJJLinSupportRenren.comPressConference# trended on Xinlang Weibo's hot search list.

Of the top 10 trending topics, 5 were related to Momo.

[A beautiful appearance is a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million] quickly became a new viral catchphrase, and became the most popular and attention-grabbing slogan for [Lingxi].

Chen Yizhou's disdainful remarks about "soul matching" at the press conference sparked a collective outcry from netizens, with many criticizing him for "not understanding the needs of young people" and some even mocking Renren for copying Momo.

The online debate was raging, and the backstage area of ​​the offline press conference was in complete chaos.

After the press conference, Chen Yizhou suppressed his anger, politely dealt with several pre-arranged interviews, and chatted insincerely with the big names who came to support him. Then, with a dark face, he quickly returned to the backstage dressing room.

"Someone tell me! Why did they let that CCTV reporter attend the press conference?! Why did they put him in the front row?!"

As soon as he entered the room, Chen Yizhou could no longer hold back. He loosened his tie and started hysterically roaring at the executives in front of him.

The lounge fell silent instantly; all the executives lowered their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

No one dared to speak, and no one dared to refute—

Inviting the CCTV reporter was Chen Yizhou's own decision, and calling on reporters to ask questions after the press conference was on a whim. He even personally called on the CCTV reporter.

Everyone knows that this whole thing was messed up by the boss, Chen Yizhou, from beginning to end.

But no one dared to expose this secret, and could only let the boss vent his anger and silently endure his accusations.

After a while, Chen Yizhou's anger subsided somewhat, and product manager Lao Liang cautiously raised his head, mustering his courage to advise, "President Chen, I just tried out Momo's [Lingxi] for a bit. It involves some kind of mind test, all of which is just empty talk. Our [Private App]'s real-name system is on the side of justice. Momo trying to whitewash itself with that [Lingxi] won't make any waves at all."

Operations Director Cai Cai chimed in, "Yes, Mr. Chen, we don't need to worry. We've already blocked Momo on the Renren platform. Next, we'll launch a public relations campaign..."

The GG wars are raging everywhere; Momo will be crushed sooner or later!

"When have I, Chen Yizhou, ever been afraid of Momo?" Chen Yizhou slammed his hand on the table.

"I can't stand this! What angers me is that they're causing trouble and stealing the spotlight right under our noses!"

The break room fell silent again; no one dared to speak, fearing they might inadvertently ignite the boss's anger once more.

After a long while, Chen Yizhou finally calmed down. He took a deep breath, his voice regaining its usual composure: "Old Cai, Old Liang, keep a close eye on the data changes of the [Private App]. Also, try to get firsthand information on Momo's data, do cross-sectional comparisons, and report back to me immediately! As for the others, attack them relentlessly!"

"Understood! Don't worry, Mr. Chen, we will definitely handle it well!" Lao Liang and Cai Cai nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, at Sequoia Capital's office.

The original negotiation room became Mingfan Technology's temporary command center. The original negotiation meeting became an internal command-issuing meeting for Mingfan Technology.

The busiest person was C00 Tang Yan, who kept making phone calls one after another, without even having time to drink a sip of water.

[Tang Yan]: "Xiaowen, what are the user participation data for the Soul Test? Please sync all the key data, including participation rate, completion rate, and user ratings."

[Tang Yan]: "Yi Xuan, summarize the most frequently mentioned user feedback—"

[Tang Yan]: "Baoguo, every fifteen minutes, send the latest data of the [Lingxi] secondary entry to the [Lingxi Project Group]."

[Tang Yan]: "Mingxia, monitor online public opinion at all times, and keep track of the public opinion index in real time. Report any abnormalities immediately."

CEO Tang Yan was extremely busy, while CEO Geng Zhi sat leisurely with Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong, drinking tea with a calm expression.

Throughout the entire conversation, Geng Zhi only spoke eight words to Tang Yan during a break from drinking tea: "Initiate the [Lingxi] Independent Project."

This was also the first time that Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong had the opportunity to observe the command and dispatch work of Mingfan Technology on-site.

Both men had been company bosses, but looking at the scene before them, they couldn't help but marvel at how Mingfan Technology, under Geng Zhi's guidance, was even better than their own companies back then—a textbook example of highly efficient collaboration.

Orderly, well-strategized, well-prepared, and highly efficient in collaboration—this was the assessment Shen and Yang gave themselves.

After arranging a series of tasks, Tang Yan began to report the latest data: "Boss, President Shen, President Yang, the latest data shows that the number of visits to the [Lingxi] secondary entrance has exceeded 45 and is still growing rapidly."

Upon hearing this, Yang Dong's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but excitedly say, "It's only been online for a short while, and so many people have already tried [Lingxi]? Your marketing strategy of riding the wave of popularity is quite something! Chen Yizhou is probably going to be furious!"

"Of course!" Tang Yan's lips curled up involuntarily, and he said smugly, "Chen Yizhou thought he could crush Momo with celebrities and real-name registration. But he didn't understand that the core of stranger social networking is not [security], but [freedom]. And [freedom] is only truly real when one is anonymous."

Shen Nanpeng basically agreed with Tang Yan's conclusion, but he then calmly questioned, "Simply having a large number of visits only shows that [Lingxi] is currently generating buzz. But if many users only click in, glance at it, and then leave, it's not very meaningful. We still need to look at retention."

"President Shen," Tang Yan continued, rummaging through the data, "we've calculated that the average user dwell time has reached 9 minutes! This shows that many users aren't just there for the spectacle; they're genuinely using the [Lingxi] function—"

He paused, then added, "Furthermore, inactive users account for over 20%, which suggests that many silent users may indeed dislike LBS, but they do like [soul matching] ————."

"Among them, users who actively participated in the soul exploration—that is, users who completed the soul test and also initiated a chat—accounted for more than 70% —"

Shen Nanpeng only asked one question, but Tang Yan rattled off eight or nine core data points one after another.

Shen Nanpeng's eyes widened, and Yang Dong was also speechless with surprise.

"Your data can collect so many detailed dimensions? And you've already got such complete data feedback right after going live?" Shen Nanpeng's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Yes! That's the most surprising thing I've experienced since joining Mingfan Technology."

Tang Yan first gave his boss, Geng Zhi, an admiring look before proudly explaining, "Our company, Mingfan Technology, is a data-driven company. When Momo was first launched, Boss Geng established a BI (Business Intelligence) department and built a data dashboard. Through visualized data, we optimize operational efficiency, discover product opportunities, and drive business growth—"

"These kinds of statements might sound empty if spoken in other companies, but at Mingfan Technology, they are very practical and applicable."

Shen Nanpeng became even more curious and asked, "President Tang, could you show me your data cockpit backend?"

"Of course. But there is a delay in the cockpit data." Tang Yan said, opening Momo's BI system and showing it to Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong.

On the screen, data icons unfolded one by one as Tang Yan clicked.

User scale metrics: such as daily new users, DAU, MAU, total number of users —

User engagement metrics: such as DAU/MAU, average number of app launches per user, average usage time per user, retention rate —

Matching interaction dimensions: PPC, PV, match success rate, number of chats initiated, mutual chat users —

Channel source dimensions: channel conversion rate, customer acquisition cost —

User profile dimensions: basic attributes, geographic distribution, behavioral preferences —

Hundreds of major indices and detailed indicators are neatly arranged, and many can be drilled down to see more detailed dimensions.

Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong were stunned.

Their entrepreneurial experience was all in PC-based products, and they didn't have much understanding of mobile products.

The two never imagined that product data on mobile devices could be so detailed.

Take user profiling as an example. In their minds, profiling mainly involves collecting data such as gender, age, occupation, hobbies, and region. Having a dozen or twenty indicators would be considered very good.

However, Momo's user profiles and tags include fifty or sixty items: when they are active, what type of people they like to chat with, where they frequently go, their system version, network environment, and phone model—all of these are included.

Data, data, and more data.

This data is invaluable for analyzing user behavior, conducting business analysis of products, and making strategic decisions for the company.

"How did you manage to generate such detailed user behavior data?" Shen Nanpeng couldn't help but exclaim.

Tang Yan only knew how to use it, but he didn't know how it was made, so he could only look to Geng Zhi.

"We can simply embed data points on the mobile device; almost all of the user's behavioral data can be recorded," Geng Zhi explained. "In the future, the user profile dimensions that can be created on mobile devices could reach hundreds."

He paused, then continued explaining: "This is one of the biggest differences between the mobile internet era and the PC internet era. It's also revolutionary. Whoever controls mobile traffic will be the new king of the mobile internet."

"Senior Shen, President Yang, no internet company in China understands mobile internet better than Mingfan Technology, including Tencent."

Geng Zhi added one last thing: "Think about 360 Company."

Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong stared blankly at Geng Zhi.

Yang Dong frowned, his mind filled with doubt: 360 is a company that makes antivirus software for PCs, what does it have to do with the mobile internet industry?

At this moment, he had not yet fully grasped the meaning of "upright".

But Shen Nanpeng understood instantly.

After leaving IDG Capital, Zhou Hongyi founded 360 Company. Sequoia Capital, along with CDH Investments, IDG, and other institutions, invested in 360's Series A round. Sequoia Capital continued to invest in the Series B round, and is now 360's second-largest external institutional shareholder after Highland Capital.

Shen Nanpeng knew that the reason why 360 was able to stand out from the seemingly red ocean of the antivirus market in a short period of time and beat established antivirus companies such as Kingsoft, Rising, and Jiangmin was because of its disruptive killer move of offering free antivirus software.

360 quickly seized control of PC traffic entry points through a free model, and then developed various monetization models such as browsers, navigation pages, search, online gaming, games, and application distribution, making a fortune.

It was precisely because 360 ​​firmly controlled the PC traffic entrance, especially by controlling computer system-level permissions through antivirus software, that Tencent felt a great sense of crisis, leading to the escalating 3Q War.

Shen Nanpeng understood that the straightforward [WeChat] wanted to replicate 360's miracle and take the lead in the mobile internet.

However, WeChat's main function is chatting. Its only advantage over QQ is that it can send voice messages for up to 60 seconds. Apart from that, it has no other standout features.

Shen Nanpeng didn't understand how WeChat could so easily defeat QQ.

He glanced at Geng Zhi, sighed inwardly, knowing he wouldn't get any more information from him, so he turned his attention to Tang Yan, asking, "Mr. Tang, you just said that Renren.com excels at social networking among acquaintances and lacks the DNA for social networking among strangers. In the stranger social networking arena, Renren.com can't compete with Mingfan Technology, which excels in stranger social networking, right?"

"That's right!" Tang Yan nodded without hesitation.

"That's a contradiction. [WeChat] is targeting the familiar social networking market, but your Mingfan Technology doesn't have the DNA for familiar social networking. How can you possibly defeat the behemoth Tencent, which excels in familiar social networking?" Shen Nanpeng asked again.

Shen Nanpeng's "using one's own spear to attack one's own shield" left Tang Yan momentarily speechless.

[WeChat] was not Tang Yan's responsibility. He opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

Seeing this, Geng Zhi smiled and took over, saying, "Senior Shen, I'm in charge of [WeChat], so I'll answer that."

Shen Nanpeng: "

"The reason 360 was able to win was because of its disruptive innovation model of [free]. [WeChat] also relied on disruptive innovation."

"The specific innovative points are unknown to anyone but me. But I'm not at liberty to disclose them right now, I'm sorry," Geng Zhi said calmly.

Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong:

The two looked at each other, their faces filled with speechlessness.

Being straightforward isn't being pretentious; it's just that he genuinely can't say what WeChat's killer feature is right now, let alone what kind of opportunity he's trying to leverage.

Finally, Geng Zhi explained to Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong in detail how to drive traffic to [WeChat] through the Momo APP and how to invite friends based on the phone's address book, in an effort to increase the investors' confidence.

"Xiao Geng, wait a few minutes, we'll go and discuss this." Shen Nanpeng said, then called Yang Dong and went to the next meeting room together.

Geng Zhi, Tang Yan, and Lü Siyu sat in place, waiting for Shen Nanpeng's final decision.

When Lü Siyu saw her boss sweating slightly on his forehead for the first time, she quickly handed him a tissue.

Tang Yan: "Boss, are you nervous too?"

Geng took a tissue, wiped his forehead, and admitted frankly, "A little."

Lu Siyu asked in a low voice, "Boss, do you think President Shen will agree to our request?"

Geng Zhi was silent for two seconds, then shook his head: "It's hard to say."

The office fell silent immediately, and no one spoke.

In Geng Zhi's mind, he had already begun to consider various aspects of launching Plan B.

Seven or eight minutes later.

Shen Nanpeng and Yang Dong returned one after the other, both with expressionless faces.

The gazes of Geng Zhi, Tang Yan, and Lü Siyu all fell on Shen Nanpeng's face, and the three of them felt their hearts leap into their throats.

"Xiao Geng, I've discussed this carefully with Boss Yang," Shen Nanpeng said, pausing for a moment.

The three of them, Geng Zhi and his companions, were on tenterhooks. Tang Yan rubbed his knees with his fingers, Lü Siyu clenched her fists, and Geng Zhi held his breath.

"We at Sequoia Capital agreed to lead a $2.5 million funding round, with Sequoia Capital leading the $2500 million round, valuing Mingfan Technology at $1200 million post-investment," Shen Nanpeng said with a smile.

The three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I have one condition," Shen Nanpeng's expression turned unusually serious, "the [Lingxi] and [WeChat] products currently being incubated must ultimately be affiliated with Mingfan Technology's system and cannot be separated. I don't want to become the second Zhu Xiaohu."

"Absolutely!" Geng Zhi nodded quickly, extending his right hand in a vow gesture. "Senior Shen, we'll write this into the agreement, and we'll never break it!"

Shen Nanpeng nodded, his expression relaxing slightly. He then said, "Since Sequoia has already decided to invest in the Series B round, there's no need to hold another eight-way battle. That would be too chaotic, and your trade secrets would be in the hands of multiple parties, increasing the risk of leaks. If you only choose three companies in the end, leaving the other five as runners-up, it's easy to make enemies with them and affect future cooperation."

Geng Zhi's eyes lit up: "Senior Shen is right, so what's your suggestion?"

Shen Nanpeng said earnestly, "We will adopt a tiered, phased, and competitive bidding model."

"In the first phase, led by Sequoia Capital, we invited four financial investors—Matrix Partners, IDG Capital, KPCB, and Qiming Venture Partners—to communicate individually and gather their term sheet (TS) intentions. Whoever has the best terms will advance to the next round."

"In the second stage, two companies were selected from the four to enter the final bidding. At the same time, we communicated individually with Tencent, Yunfeng, and Xinlang to select one company."

"In the third stage, a combination of one financial investor and one strategic investor will be selected, with Sequoia Capital, as an existing shareholder, leading the investment, and they will jointly sign an agreement."

"Okay! I'll follow Senior Shen's professional advice." Geng Zhi nodded.

Subsequently, the five discussed the details of the investment plan—valuation adjustment mechanism, board seats, veto power, anti-dilution clauses, and liquidation preference rights, scrutinizing each point repeatedly.

The next day, Gu Wanning flew to the capital and met up with Geng Zhi, Tang Yan, and Lü Siyu.

-

Over the next two days, the Gengzhi team and Shen Nanpeng's team, adhering to the principle of "raising funds, choosing the right people, and avoiding enmity," held intensive meetings with seven venture capital firms.

On the first day, I met with Zhang Ying, founding partner of Matrix Partners China, Zhou Quan, partner and global managing partner of IDG, and KPCB (domestic).

Partner Ru Linqi and the team of Zi Ping, the founding managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners, had initial friendly communication.

With strong recommendations from Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners and Qiming Venture Partners agreed to invest $2.5 million in Mingfan Technology's Series B round.

The following day, in separate communications with Tencent, Yunfeng Capital, and Xinlang, Xinlang was eliminated because it did not accept such a high valuation, while Tencent and Yunfeng Capital both expressed their acceptance of the 2.5 million valuation.

On the third day, Geng Zhi and five teams from Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Yunfeng Capital, and Tencent met to conduct Series B negotiations for Mingfan Technology.

Meanwhile, negotiations between Arctic Capital and Lei Jun's team will also begin.