Returning to his senior year of high school, he went all in and made billions by buying at the botto

This is what makes everyone at the table feel the most uncomfortable.

If Douyin needs money to stay afloat, then no matter how attractive its valuation is, there's still room for negotiation.

Suppress the price, slow down the pace, and wait for the other party's server bill to come up; they will naturally give in.

But Xingchen Technology is different. Chen Mo owns Jiangcheng Gold Mine and Xingxin Mining, and is also supported by Taichu Capital.

Many people wanted to give him money, but these rumors were mixed together, making it difficult for outsiders to see the whole picture.

Douyin started this round not to ask for help, but to join forces.

After a few seconds of silence, the Sequoia partner asked, "Mr. Chen, will Star Technology participate in this round of capital increase?"

Chen Mo glanced at him.

"Star Technology will not participate in this round of equity financing."

The people in the conference room were slightly taken aback.

Chen Mo continued, "The Series A funding will be reserved for external institutions."

"But if this round of negotiations fails, Xingchen Technology will continue to support Douyin's expansion through shareholder loans or special funds."

"Server, copyright, team, operation."

He spoke calmly.

"I can afford to burn it all."

The meeting room fell silent.

Qiming's female partner sat up straighter.

"What if external institutions don't accept this valuation?"

"Then we won't vote."

Chen Mo said, "Douyin is short of money right now, but not money to survive."

"We're raising Series A funding to attract resources, not to survive."

"So money is important, but it's not the most important thing."

The institutions didn't rush to refute it anymore. Capital is most afraid of encountering this kind of company, where shareholders are not short of money at all.

The Sequoia partner looked down and flipped through a page of documents.

"Sequoia can accept a valuation of two billion US dollars."

The IDG representative then spoke up.

"IDG is also an option."

Jingwei smiled.

"Since no one is leaving, there's no need for us to pretend to be reserved."

The female partner at Qiming said, "The valuation is acceptable, but seven percent is too little."

"We need more shares."

The air in the meeting room tightened again.

Just now they were complaining about the price, but now they're complaining about the quantity.

Watching this scene, Zhang Ming felt very complicated. If he had had President Chen's capital background back then, ByteDance's valuation could probably have increased several times over.

Chen Mo picked up the pen on the table and tapped the document lightly.

"The original plan was to release 7%."

He paused for a moment.

"We can offer up to 10%."

The eyes of several institutions shifted simultaneously.

ten percent.

The post-investment amount is two billion US dollars, corresponding to two billion US dollars in financing.

This price is very high.

But being able to board this Mr. Chen's big ship is already a rare opportunity.

The Sequoia partner immediately said, "Sequoia wants three points."

The IDG representative frowned: "Three points are too many."

"Sequoia Capital could lead the investment."

Leading an investment doesn't mean you can take the lion's share.

A representative from Matrix Partners chimed in, "Douyin needs resources from multiple parties, not just a single institution controlling the market."

Qiming's female partner also looked at Chen Mo.

"Mr. Chen, since you say you want resources, then we can't let one company take too much."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Therefore, no single institution can exceed three points."

He looked at the redwood.

"Sequoia can lead the investment, but at most 2.5%."

The Sequoia partner frowned slightly.

"Too little."

"Quite a few."

Chen Mo said, "Douyin will have Series B and Series C funding in the future."

"If you take too much now, it will be harder to get on board later."

Everyone understood what Chen Mo was saying.

This wasn't the last ticket, but the first one.

The IDG representative immediately replied, "IDG has two points."

Latitude and Longitude: "1.5".

Qiming: "One and a half."

Junlian: "A single point."

The remaining dollar and RMB funds began vying for the last remaining shares.

Lin Wan stood to the side, quickly taking notes.

Looking at these investment institutions that are usually aloof and arrogant, Zhang Nan felt a little less tired.

Just a few weeks ago, they were still worried about their server bills.

Now, these people are scrambling to give money away.

Chen Liping sat to the side, unable to get a word in edgewise. The meeting lasted until noon, when the final plan was finalized.

Douyin A round.

The post-investment valuation is two billion US dollars.

Raised $200 million.

Release 10% of the shares.

Sequoia Capital led the investment, securing 2.5%.

IDG takes 2%.

Jingwei gets 1.5 percent.

Qiming gets 1.5%.

Junlian takes one percent.

The remaining 1.5% will be distributed among two US dollar funds and one RMB fund.

Xingchen Technology will not participate in this round of equity financing, but reserves the right to continue to support Douyin through shareholder loans, special funds or the next round of capital increase.

After the financing was completed, the equity structure was also written on the whiteboard.

Xingchen Technology holds 54% of the shares.

ByteDance holds 31.5% of the shares.

Chen Liping holds 4.5% of the shares.

The Series A investors collectively hold 10% of the shares.

As soon as the numbers were written on the whiteboard, many people in the meeting room stared at them for a few seconds.

Zhang Ming actually wanted to add more funds, but Chen Mo's valuation was too high, and the key point was that these institutions all agreed to it, so he was really short of money.

They were even less able to convince ByteDance's board of directors to come up with such a large sum of money.

With the final signature, the tense atmosphere in the meeting room finally dissipated.

Amidst the hum of the printer, letters of intent bearing the official seals of various top venture capital firms were delivered to Chen Mo.

Lin Wan methodically gathered the documents and handed the copy belonging to Xingchen Technology to Chen Mo.

The Sequoia partner stood up, extended his hand, and gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, out of all the internet projects I've invested in, this is the fastest Sequoia has ever spent money, and also the most frustrating time in terms of share acquisition. Two or five percent, I don't know how I'm going to explain this back to headquarters."

Chen Mo grasped his hand, his expression calm and composed: "Three months from now, they will change the word 'frustrated' to 'brilliant'."

The other person was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter.

He had seen many arrogant people, but none like Chen Mo.

"Then I'll take Mr. Chen's good wishes."

The partners shook hands with Chen Mo and Zhang Ming to say goodbye.

They arrived in a flurry of activity, and they left just as swiftly.

With a massive sum of two hundred million dollars to be received within a week, the legal and financial departments of each company are destined to have a sleepless night.

The meeting room door closed.

The noise subsided, leaving only our own people.

Zhang Ming loosened his tie, sank into his chair, and casually took off his glasses to rub his sore eyes.

He turned his head and stared intently at the number on the whiteboard: ByteDance holds 31.5% of the shares.

The post-investment valuation is $2 billion.

This means that the value of ByteDance's holdings instantly soared to $6.3 million!

It's worth noting that even if the entire parent company of ByteDance (parent company of Toutiao) were to seek funding in the market, it might not be able to achieve this valuation.

In Chen Mo's hands, Douyin, which had been online for less than a month, was transformed into a super behemoth that devoured capital.

"President Chen," Zhang Ming took a deep breath, his voice complicated, "I would be willing to carry you all the way here."

Chen Mo smiled, unscrewed a bottle of water, and handed it to him: "Now you're not worried about your 20,000 yuan in cash?"

"I don't feel bad anymore. It's increased more than ten thousand times. Why would I feel bad?" Zhang Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly, then sighed, "You've really figured out how to play the capital game."

"No one can refuse a ticket to the future."

Chen Mo turned around and looked at Zhang Nan and Chen Liping, who seemed a little reserved.

Zhang Nan's palms were sweaty.

She was originally just a senior executive in charge of specific execution, but today, she witnessed firsthand how those financial giants who control hundreds of billions of dollars haggled over the products under her control, just like buying vegetables at a market, refusing to give an inch.

Chen Liping, on the other hand, seemed rather flustered.

He owns 4.5% of the shares, and in this $200 million deal, his shares inexplicably turned him into a billionaire of $90 million.

The way he looked at Chen Mo was completely different now, as if he were looking at a god.

"Two hundred million US dollars, after deducting taxes and subsequent routine reserves, the first batch of funds will be deposited into Douyin's independent account within three days."

Chen Mo walked up to the whiteboard and cleanly erased the equity distribution figures on it.

The whiteboard was now completely blank again.

"We have money in the account, Zhang Nan. Within half a month, throw all the national college challenge competitions at the internet. For music copyrights, get the highest quality ones if you can buy them outright. Expand the server bandwidth to ten times its current capacity."

Zhang Nan immediately stood up straight, his eyes gleaming with unprecedented ambition: "Don't worry, Mr. Chen!"

Chen Mo turned to Zhang Ming: "The algorithm team's optimization cannot stop. Now we need to shift our focus from Toutiao to Douyin."

Zhang Ming raised his head, wanting to refute.

But then I found I couldn't refute it.

ByteDance now holds a 31.5% stake in Douyin.

The faster Douyin takes off, the more ByteDance earns.

Moreover, Toutiao's recommendation algorithm is indeed one of Douyin's most important underlying capabilities.

Clinging to the comfort zone of Toutiao at this point is short-sighted.

He then nodded: "I can bring over the core algorithm team."

Chen Mo then looked at Chen Liping: "We can start testing the overseas version now. The $200 million Series A funding will be in full within a week. Your and Zhang Nan's only KPI going forward is to burn through that $200 million within six months. Do you understand what I mean?"

Six months, two hundred million US dollars.

That's over a billion yuan!

At this juncture when the mobile internet is just entering its golden age, such a terrifying rate of money burning is simply unheard of.

Zhang Nan's breath hitched, and Chen Liping felt a chill run down his spine.

After other companies finish their financing meetings, the bosses are so focused on making the most of every penny, emphasizing meticulous operations and cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

But when it came to Chen Mo, the task was "it must be burned completely, no saving money allowed."

Chen Liping's throat went dry, and he tentatively asked, "Burning two hundred million US dollars in six months, that averages out to over a million US dollars a day, both overseas and domestically. How much of this money... is considered acceptable?"

Chen Mo took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued, "Recruitment, expansion, servers, algorithm optimization, and buying out all the popular music copyrights available globally, so that GG can be installed in the software of every young person."

"If a competitor that looks like us appears on the market, we will either spend money to buy out its team or use ten times the budget to completely wipe it out of the app store."

"I don't need a nice-looking financial statement, and I certainly don't need you to help me save money."

"But this window of opportunity, once missed, will never come again. Now is the best time, and what we need to do is to capture all users at all costs."

The meeting room was silent.

Zhang Nan and Chen Liping exchanged a glance, both seeing madness in each other's eyes.

"clear!"

The two said in unison.

The era of Douyin has begun.