Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 378 Go Home and Hold the Baby
The three of them exchanged pleasantries, and Zhang Lidong gestured to the two of them and said, "Let me introduce you first. This is ByteDance's CEO Zhang Yiming, and this is our Chang'e CEO Fang, who you should know as well."

Zhang Yiming nodded to show that he knew him. He couldn't help but look at Fang Hong twice more. It was the first time he saw someone younger than him.

However, the two are of the same age, with only a few years difference between them. Zhang Lidong is not too old either, only 34 years old, and belongs to a very young team.

Consultant Fang Hong asked, "Are you also in the capital?"

"Yes, we rented a house in a nearby residential area and used it as an office." Zhang Yiming nodded.

He speaks softly and seems to have a gentle and elegant temperament, which is completely different from the calmness of bigwigs like Jack Ma, Tony Ma, and Lao Wang.

He seems non-aggressive and gentle.

"Mr. Zhang previously worked at Kuxun.com and later developed several software programs in Wang Xing's team. He is very experienced and has excellent algorithm technology."

Zhang Lidong helped by saying, “ByteDance now has a product called Toutiao, which is for information collection and distribution. It’s doing pretty well, but it’s a little tight on funding.”

The product Toutiao reflects the power of Zhang Yiming's technology, recommending content based on multiple dimensions such as user habits, interests, and location.

It’s not that other companies can’t do it, but they just can’t do it as well as him and are irreplaceable.

"Oh, that's how it is."

Fang Hong hesitated and spoke in a rather tactful way.

It's impossible to say that we will recruit you right away. That would be too ugly. In fact, it only takes tens of millions of dollars to invest in ByteDance now. It doesn't cost much at all.

In fact, Zhang Lidong can decide on his own how to spend this amount of money. Just tell him.

There is no need to bring Zhang Yiming here. Bringing him here means you want to recruit him.

"We have accumulated some users now, and we have a certain amount of technical experience from our previous entrepreneurial ventures. We also have a technical team. This time we came here to seek some investment," said Zhang Yiming.

“I’ve heard of you and seen your Toutiao. You’re doing great. At least I personally think it’s a successful product.”

Fang Hong first gave his affirmation, and then said: "Let me say this, someone like you who has experience and a team probably doesn't lack funds."

"Yes, I do. My previous investor Wang Qiong introduced me to more than 20 venture capital friends, but none of them invested in me. One of them even left after just chatting with me for 15 minutes." Zhang Yiming smiled bitterly.

I don't know whether he is laughing or crying.

It seems that successful people all have a history of attracting investment with great pain, and Fang Hong has experienced this several times.

But he has a good woman, which Zhang Yiming doesn't.

Zhang Yiming added: "But there are some interested parties. We have already negotiated with 360 and DST to raise million US dollars. We were already in talks. I heard from Brother Zhang that you are investing, so I came here."

He is essentially a technician and speaks directly.

"I understand. If you want money, I can give it to you. I am not interested in money."

Fang Hong boasted, but the two men didn't react much, as if it was normal. He then said, "But you have to pay a portion of your shares in return."

Zhang Yiming nodded to show that he understood.

Capital investment requires shares, which is inevitable.

"But I can give you another plan. You may have heard about our company's system. You can also join us and become a partner. We can do business together and you won't lose anything." Fang Hong stated his purpose.

Hearing this, Zhang Lidong straightened his back and sat upright. He was just waiting for Mr. Fang to say this.

To be honest, he was attracted by Zhang Yiming, so after becoming a partner, he wanted to bring the ByteDance team in, since they were all the bosses after all.

Partners are equivalent to bosses. Instead of giving them capital shares, Zhang Yiming would rather let them do it themselves and decide how to divide the capital.

Zhang Yiming's expression also became more serious. He had heard Zhang Lidong talk about this before. Even if he became a partner of Chang'e and one of the bosses, he could still play a role.

"One thing I'm very curious about is, can Chang'e Technology continue to obtain funding?" he asked.

For a company like this, don't even think about making money in the first few years. A continuous source of funds is the only guarantee, so he asked this question.

"Yes!" Fang Hong said firmly.

"How to get it?" Zhang Yiming asked.

"Loans, stock market, and games." Fang Honglian said three words.

That is to say, we have been relying on loans to get through this year. Now that the loans have been received, we will definitely have extra money after acquiring Shanda Literature.

We will get through the next year relying on the stock market, that is, Tesla.

We will rely on games to make ends meet the year after next, and next year "Honor of Kings" will take back the global agency rights. At that time, Chang'e Technology will operate it itself, and the income from this part is bound to increase significantly.

After that, mobile games, "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" and the subsequent "Fortnite" will be developed one after another.

As Chang'e Technology grows, the gaming industry will also grow, and this is all part of Fang Hong's plan.

"Isn't this too unsafe, Principal?" Zhang Yiming didn't know what Fang Hong's trump card was, but it sounded unsafe.

He knew about games and loans. Loans are also a form of financing, but interest needs to be paid every year, which is not a big deal as long as the company can make money.

Chang'e Technology already has games, and "Heroes of Glory" is quite profitable.

But the stock market sounds unreliable.

"You don't need to worry about this. All you need to know is that if you join Chang'e Technology as a partner, I will give you a corresponding share and I will solve the money issue. If I can't solve it, even if I need to seek capital financing, I will not dilute your equity." Fang Hong said confidently.

Zhang Yiming was quite touched by this statement, because no matter what, his rights would be protected.

"If we don't give you capital shares, will there be no corresponding resource help?" Zhang Yiming looked at the two of them.

"Now is an era of change, and everything is possible. If in such an era, we cannot create a career for ourselves and become the one who controls our own destiny, and have to rely on others for resources and make money for others, then we seem too incompetent." Fang Hong understood what he meant.

That is, they don’t have the capital resources to pave the way. They only have money but don’t have the corresponding resources to open up certain links.

For example, Tencent's investment can help attract traffic, and Alibaba's investment can help monetize. But Fang Hong doesn't need it. He has vision and these people are capable. If such a lineup can't control its own destiny and still rely on those capitals, then go home and hug your baby.

Seeing Zhang Yiming in deep thought, Fang Hong asked, "Are you willing to be acquired by other big companies?"

"I'm not willing to accept it." Zhang Yiming shook his head.

In fact, he was just asking to see the other party's attitude, and he had no other intention.

"That's it." Fang Hong spread his hands.

This person must be ambitious. If he wasn't ambitious, he wouldn't have changed jobs so many times and started several businesses. It's obvious that he is unwilling to be mediocre.

Don't be fooled by his gentle appearance, he is actually very passionate at heart.

"Okay, if I come, I want the position of CEO and I need to be able to make the decisions." Zhang Yiming negotiated the terms.

He has a lot of ideas in his head and is not under anyone's control. If he can't make the decision, then there's no point in him coming here.

"Okay, but you also have to respect other partners. Other partners have the right to know about every decision you make." Fang Hong did not mention the right to make suggestions, giving him autonomy.

"That's natural."

Zhang Yiming understood what he heard and knew that the partnership system was like this. Everyone was a collective and they would naturally inform each other if there was anything. He said, "Excuse me, how many partners do we have now?"

"There are only three of us at the moment." Zhang Lidong said.

Zhang Yiming nodded and asked again: "How should the equity be distributed?"

"I'll give you 3%, but you have to merge Toutiao into the company, remove the ByteDance brand, and use the Chang'e Technology brand instead."

Fang Hong said again: "Partners need to make certain contributions. Toutiao counts as your contribution."

3% is enough. In his previous life, Zhang Yiming only held about 20% of ByteDance’s shares.

Fang Hong is here in this life. If he hadn't joined Chang'e Technology, it would be hard to say whether he could have created Douyin, because he is currently gathering the core team of Douyin.

Moreover, Chang'e Technology also has sections that ByteDance did not have in its previous life, such as games, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Chang'e Video, etc. These are large content-based entertainment systems.

If all of them develop, and with Tik Tok, their traffic and user stickiness will be even more terrifying than ByteDance's later success.

Zhang Yiming’s strength lies in his algorithmic foundation, which complements Fang Hong’s content system.

Fang Hong has the vision to create content; Zhang Yiming uses algorithms to recommend content; and Zhang Lidong monetizes traffic. It's a perfect combination.

Zhang Lidong didn't say anything. In essence, he didn't make any contribution, but Fang Hong gave him equity.

This is to set a benchmark so that more people can work hard.

Zhang Yiming thought for a moment and said, "Is there still room for this equity to rise?"

“Yes, this will be adjusted based on your performance in the future. If you don’t perform well and make mistakes, you won’t be able to hold shares. If you perform well, your shares will be increased appropriately.”

Fang Hong thought for a moment and said, "I will put 20% of the equity in the partner committee as an incentive."

This is fine. Zhang Yiming has nothing to say. He should at least leave some space for the principal.

Also leave some for the outstanding people who come later.

Now Zhang Yiming doesn’t know what he will achieve in the future or how awesome he will be. Everything is unknown, so based on the current size of Chang’e Technology.

This share is already given to him in excess.

At least he only has one sector, while Chang'e Technology has several, and they are all doing well.

"I also want to remind you that if you leave, the equity will be taken back. If you leave within five years, it will not be taken back in the form of monetary equivalents. Instead, it will be taken back directly. I hope the size of the equity will be determined." Fang Hong said.

That is to say, if you leave after five years, your salary will be recovered based on the company's valuation.

It can be taken back, which means it is a gift now, and a gift can be taken back.

The essence of his setting up such a partnership system is to gather talents. If they leave and take away the equity, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?

You have to stay in the company for at least five years.

If you don't want to leave, you will be a partner for life and a superior person.

"I understand this." Zhang Yiming understood Fang Hong's purpose, which was to retain high-end talents.
They come in and leave again, the policy cannot be continued, and we have to find replacements, which is really a headache.

He added: "It's just that ByteDance's previous angel investors still have some shares, and employees still have some incentive shares, which need to be dealt with."

"We can just take back the angel investors' shares and convert the employees' incentive shares into options," said Fang Hong.

ByteDance has raised funds twice, the first time was several million and the second time was $100 million. It will be fine as long as the premium is recovered. Even if it is not sold, the funds will be diluted completely.

Now that Byte is gone, what can those investors do?
Chang'e Technology now has 21 billion in cash, 250 million dollars, or 1750 million can do it.

"."

Since then, Zhang Yiming joined Chang'e Technology and brought the ByteDance team over. Toutiao joined the Chang'e Technology section and the ByteDance sign was erased.

Zhang Yiming's position will also be adjusted to partner and CEO. Fang Hong has put 2 million US dollars, or 14 billion yuan, into the Chang'e Technology funding pool for them to use.

Of course, it is supervised by the financial officer Gao Zhun.

In other words, Chang'e Technology is not short of money now. Not only is it not short of money, it can also expand rapidly.

This made Zhang Yiming feel relaxed and able to work freely.

On this special day of September 9, Zhang Yiming convened a meeting of management.

(End of this chapter)