From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 180 Jack Ma: The wild geese have really given me a difficult problem.

The studio of Shanghai TV station.

Lin Mu sat in the interview chair, with several cameras pointed at him in front of him. These were media resources arranged by Tencent, their own people.

Before the interview, the reporter had already shown the questions to Lin Mu, and not only would he not ask any difficult questions, but he would also provide a mat.

The interview has officially begun.

The reporter is a senior host on the financial channel, in her forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and exuding a capable demeanor.

"Mr. Lin, thank you for accepting our interview." Reporter Zhou began with a smile, "First, I'd like to ask a question that many viewers are curious about: How did you come up with the idea to found Pinduoduo?"

Lin Mu leaned back slightly in his chair and said casually, "This is a long story."

"I used to work at Taobao for over two years. To be honest, I did a pretty good job, and when I left, I was almost in management."

Reporter Zhou smiled and said, "I know that. You were a prominent figure during your time on Taobao, and you created several best-selling classic products."

Lin Mu waved his hand dismissively, saying, "That was just past glory."

He continued, "Taobao is not quite the direction I envision."

"I want the internet and e-commerce to benefit the general public more. It shouldn't be just people who can afford branded goods who can enjoy the convenience of online shopping, nor should it be just people in first- and second-tier cities who can use affordable and useful products."

"China is a large country with countless counties, towns, and villages. The people there also need to use affordable goods."

"So, Pinduoduo's positioning from the very beginning has been focused on the lower-tier market?" Reporter Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

"You could say that," Lin Mu nodded, "but not in a 'downward' sense, but rather 'universally beneficial.' So that everyone, regardless of income level, can enjoy the fruits of industrial civilization."

"This concept is very interesting." Reporter Zhou followed up, "So how did you come up with those features that you later launched, such as referral bonuses and discounts? These features were groundbreaking in the e-commerce industry at the time."

Lin Mu laughed: "Well—actually, the inspiration came from a game."

She glanced at the interview outline and continued, "Recently, Pinduoduo has been attacking Taobao on Weibo, accusing it of shamelessly copying the 'one-yuan purchase' idea. But as far as I know, it's not just Taobao copying; other platforms are doing it too. Why are they specifically targeting Taobao?"

Lin Mu's expression became subtle.

He leaned forward slightly, his tone still calm, but the sharpness in his words was unmistakable: "Because Taobao has the largest scale."

"Moreover, I was genuinely concerned for Taobao, which is why I criticized them."

Reporter Zhou was taken aback: "What do you mean by that?"

Lin Mu smiled and explained unhurriedly, "Taobao claims to have a 'Six-Pulse Divine Sword' value system: customers first, employees second, shareholders third. But look at what they've been doing lately—copying Pinduoduo's one-yuan deals, copying our price-cutting model, copying our phone case collaboration strategy—after copying so much, which one of them is for the benefit of the customers?"

"The Six Meridian Divine Sword technique has been copied, but it's now called the 'Copy' version of the Six Meridian Divine Sword."

The reporter was amused by this statement, but her professionalism made her quickly composed herself and continue to ask, "So what do you think of group buying? I heard that it was launched by Taobao specifically to compete with Pinduoduo."

Lin Mu leaned back in his chair, his expression indifferent: "Watch while sitting."

Reporter Zhou laughed again.

Lin Mu continued, "I know the group buying team. They were the people who were eliminated from Taobao Mall before, then they moved to Juhuasuan, and later they were pulled out to do group buying."

"I won't comment on the team's fundamentals. But one thing I'm certain of," he said, looking directly into the camera, word by word, "the management of Jutuangou has serious problems with corruption."

"I have the transfer records, chat screenshots, and recordings."

"This morning, I sent this evidence to Jack Ma via email."

"I hope he can see it."

The interview ended quickly.

This interview will be widely disseminated across the internet through the efforts of Tencent.

Lin Mu smiled.

Old Ma, what will you choose next?

Hangzhou, Alibaba headquarters.

The air in Jack Ma's office was heavy.

He sat behind his desk, with a series of documents about Pinduoduo displayed on his computer screen.

Some of these materials were compiled by the company secretary, while others were found by him.

The webpage prominently displayed a newly released news article: "Three Major Capital Firms Join Forces to Invest 200 Billion Yuan, Pinduoduo's Valuation Exceeds 20 Billion Yuan."

Jack Ma narrowed his eyes and slid the mouse down.

The news article detailed the details of this financing round: Tencent invested 5 million, Goldman Sachs invested 8 million, and Sequoia Capital invested 7 million, totaling 200 billion RMB, valuing Pinduoduo at 20 billion.

200 million.

Jack Ma silently did some calculations in his mind.

In 2011, Taobao was valued at 2200 billion RMB.

200 billion is only one-tenth of Taobao's, just a fraction.

but----

Jack Ma glanced at the date; it was the end of December 2011.

Pinduoduo has only been online for a year and a half.

In just one and a half years, it went from 0 to 200 billion.

This growth rate reminded him of Taobao in 2003.

At that time, Taobao also grew wildly by taking advantage of a historical opportunity.

Jack Ma continued scrolling down.

The next document is an operational data analysis of the "cut a cut" feature.

Because Pinduoduo has not released specific data, but the data department estimates through web scraping and other means that the "cut a price" feature brought in at least 100 million new users in a month!

Upon seeing this data, Jack Ma fell silent.

He recalled that Taobao had once made a similar attempt, launching the group-buying function on Juhuasuan, but the results were mediocre.

It's not that the functionality is bad; it's that the team never even thought of going to this extent.

They are content with having this function, rather than perfecting it.

This is the gap.

Jack Ma continued scrolling down.

The next document is a marketing analysis of "Running Man".

Premiere ratings: 2.8%

Total online views: 1.2 million; Reads on related topics: 3.7 million; Pinduoduo search index: surged 127 times; Jack Ma clicked on screenshots of several key nodes.

Deng Chao's slip of the tongue saying "family," Li Chen's 1v3 name tag ripping game, Zheng Kai and Angelababy's on-screen chemistry —

Every memorable moment was edited into images and went viral on various platforms.

In the comments section of every short video, someone asks, "Where can I watch this show?"

The replies below were all the same: "Hunan TV, exclusively sponsored by Pinduoduo".

Look at them, they've found trolls all over the internet.

Jack Ma closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

He had to admit that this tactic was brilliant.

It's not simply about throwing money at sponsorships; it's about turning variety show content into viral material, encouraging users to share it spontaneously, and then converting that traffic into users through a "cut-a-price" feature.

The program, its functions, and its expansion form a perfect closed loop.

And what about Taobao?

Taobao has sponsored variety shows and invested in GG, but the results have been mediocre.

This is the difference in operations and marketing.

The wild goose almost single-handedly propelled Pinduoduo forward.

But these are all minor issues; the real big problem is—

He opened his email.

The latest email came from a familiar email address.

From: Dayan. The email body contained only one sentence: "Mr. Ma, you should take care of the group buying issue."

The attachments are more than a dozen files.

Transfer records, chat screenshots, and audio recordings were all neatly arranged.

After reading it, Jack Ma closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes, muttering, "Wild geese—they've really given me a tough problem."

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