The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

Chapter 345 Ice Cream Cone Short Video

Beijing, Inkmark Capital.

A woman was sitting in front of Shen Mo's desk.

This woman's name is Zhang Nan. Three years ago, she started her own image community, which was acquired by ByteDance. She was in charge of UG0 for Toutiao under ByteDance.

business.

At the beginning of the year, Shen Mo poached me.

For this matter, Zhang Yiming charged Shen Mo several drinks.

However, Zhang Yiming didn't care. It was just a UGC business; it didn't matter who did it.

After all, Shen Mo is one of ByteDance's angel investors and major shareholders. If he just wants someone, he'll give it to him.

However, what Zhang Yiming didn't know was that it was this person who seemed indifferent to him.

He launched TikTok from scratch, and when TikTok was at its peak, he resigned from his position as CEO of TikTok and turned his attention to AI, leading the launch of the AI ​​video application JiMeng.

Zhang Yiming didn't know, but Shen Mo did.

Therefore, when Shen Mo was recruiting Zhang Nan, the salary and benefits he offered were secondary. What mattered more was that he would let her be independently responsible for the project planning of the short video app section. Shen Mo's description of the fragmented future of short videos also appealed to Zhang Nan.

"Kelly, how's the short video project going?"

Zhang Nan smiled, took out his phone, and pushed it in front of Shen Mo.

"Mr. Shen, that's exactly what I came here to report."

She opened an app on her phone.

The screen displays a brand-new app icon, with the outline of an ice cream cone, which is consistent with the icon of Mohen Video, but with an additional jumping musical note at the top, and the overall lines are more rounded and the color scheme is brighter.

Shen Mo nodded, picked up his phone, and opened the app.

The main interface pops up, displaying a single-column information stream in a full-screen immersive experience.

The buttons for liking, commenting, and sharing are arranged vertically on the right side of the screen.

As you swipe up and down, fifteen seconds of content will automatically switch, with background music playing in sync with the visuals.

Shen Mo stared at the screen, his fingers unconsciously swiping twice, a strong sense of familiarity surging into his chest.

This is exactly what the product that would later become—with over 700 million daily active users and completely upend the internet content ecosystem—looked like.

And at this moment, it lies quietly in his palm.

He guided Zhang Nan to develop in this direction, providing her with all the insights into the operational logic, design philosophy, and algorithm recommendation methods of Douyin (TikTok) in later generations.

But seeing these ideas digested, restructured, and implemented into lines of code by a top product manager is truly remarkable.

He still underestimated Zhang Nan's ability to execute.

No wonder they were able to create Douyin Plus Dream.

Shen Mo scrolled through a few more short videos before putting down his phone.

"Is the API provided by ByteDance sufficient for the algorithm recommendation part?"

"It's sufficient, but not good enough," Zhang Nan said frankly.

"ByteDance's algorithm is optimized for text and images and long videos; short videos require a faster feedback loop."

"The user's swipe action must be reflected in the negative weights of the recommendation model within 0.3 seconds."

"The current delay is 0.8 seconds."

Shen Mo nodded; he had thought of one of the solutions that Douyin (TikTok) would provide in the future.

"The loading time of videos is brought forward, so that the second and third videos start loading when the user scrolls to the first video."

"Even if they scroll through videos incredibly fast, it's impossible for them to scroll through two videos in 0.8 seconds."

Zhang Nan's eyes lit up. She hadn't expected that the problem that had troubled her and her team for so long would be solved by Shen Mo in just a few minutes.

She once again admired Shen Mo's philosophy. From the inception of this short video app concept to the present, Shen Mo had provided near-perfect solutions and suggestions at almost every stage.

Although some of his suggestions were not very clear to the team, they found that the results were so good after they actually designed the product according to his method.

Shen Mo continued, "Regarding the app name, since our Mohen Video is called Ice Cream Cone TV outside, let's call this short video app Ice Cream Cone, and ride on the popularity of Mohen Video to debut."

"If there's an overseas version in the future, we'll use the initials of ice cream cone, TT, or TikTok!"

Overseas version! At this moment, Zhang Nan couldn't help but smile slightly. She hadn't expected Shen Mo to have considered things so far ahead.

This job change was definitely the right one; she can already see a bright future ahead.

"Okay, Mr. Shen, do you have any other suggestions regarding the ice cream cone short video?"

Shen Mo tapped the table with his finger and pondered for a moment.

"In terms of algorithms, we can't always rely on ByteDance."

"You need to recruit more people. Based on the algorithm services provided by ByteDance, you need to develop and prepare our own algorithm team. You need to do your best to recruit the best algorithm engineers in the market."

Zhang Nan smiled. "Just dig anywhere? How about ByteDance?"

Shen Mo was taken aback, then laughed. "If you're not afraid of your former boss turning against you, go ahead and do whatever you want. I don't care."

Zhang Nan nodded heavily.

"Okay, Mr. Shen, give me six months, and I guarantee I will develop our own real-time recommendation engine specifically for short videos."

Shen Mo picked up the landline on the table and dialed an internal line.

"Let Wanqing in for a moment."

One minute later, Zhou Wanqing pushed the door open and entered.

Shen Mo skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Call the entire HR team, search for algorithm engineers in the market, and work with KeIly's ice cream cone short video team to poach talent as much as possible. That's all, you can go now."

Zhou Wanqing glanced at Zhang Nan and nodded: "Okay, President Shen, I'll go out and make the arrangements right away. Kelly, we'll discuss your specific requirements later."

As soon as Zhou Wanqing left, Shen Mo stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up a marker.

"Kelly, I have no objection to your technical approach."

"But regarding the product pacing, I need to align three things with you."

He wrote three words on the whiteboard: music, filter, topic.

"First, music."

"Short videos are not silent films; the background music determines user retention within the first three seconds."

"I want you to set up a music copyright team, and then sign the original musicians who publish excellent songs on our platform."

"Exclusive licensing, revenue sharing—all this music is ours."

Zhang Nan looked at Shen Mo with a puzzled expression: "Mr. Shen, we don't need to buy the copyright for the song in our 15-second short video, do we? Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

Shen Mo shook his head. "15 seconds is just the beginning. It still has certain limitations. In the future, the duration needs to be expanded. It's better to be prepared."

Zhang Nan nodded.

"Second, filters and beauty effects."

"The key point is to convince people why they would want to use our software to film their own videos."

"We want to create the best real-time tracking dynamic effects on the market, including facial recognition, gesture recognition, and scene recognition. The technical threshold for this is not high, but the user experience barrier is extremely high."

"We want users to feel that they look better in photos taken with our software filters than with any other software."

Third, the topic.

Shen Mo circled the last word.

"After launch, we will create at least three official topic challenges every week, packaging the hottest background music, the most popular filters, and the easiest-to-imitate creative ideas into a topic pack to lower the barrier to creation for users."

"If an ordinary person clicks in and sees the challenge, all they need to do is record a 15-second video to the music, and that's it."

"The lower the barrier to entry, the higher the daily active users."

Zhang Nan pulled a notebook out of her bag, quickly wrote something down, then closed the notebook and looked up at Shen Mo.

"President Shen, I will immediately push forward with these three matters."

"But there's one more thing: money."

"How many?"

"At least $100 million within six months."

Zhang Nan didn't blink when she announced the numbers.

"Half of it was used for the talent acquisition, self-developed algorithms, music copyright signing, and filter modification technology, as mentioned earlier."

"I want to use the rest as subsidies for creators."

Shen Mo nodded, signaling her to continue.

"I used to be in charge of Toutiao's UGC business."

Zhang Nan paused for a moment, then continued to explain.

"I know very well that if a platform is completely blank, why should creators come to it?"

"The answer is simple: money."

Shen Mo glanced at her, a slight smile playing on his lips.

As expected of the founder of Douyin, she is not only a product manager, but also understands business.

"Money is not a problem." Shen Mo sat back in his office chair.

"Also, there's another project you need to know about."

Zhang Nan raised an eyebrow.

"Musical.ly." Shen Mo opened his phone, tapped a few times, and then pushed it in front of her.

You've probably heard of this app.

Zhang Nan had certainly heard of it.

Launched in 2014, it features 15-second music videos and became incredibly popular among teenagers in North America.

Two months ago, its global daily active users exceeded 70 million.

More importantly, its product form overlaps significantly with what Shen Mo wants to promote.

"What does Mr. Shen mean?"

"I want to acquire him." Shen Mo smiled.

"Isn't this a bit like a snake trying to swallow an elephant?" Although Zhang Nan was very confident in his product, it hadn't even been launched yet, and he was already thinking about acquiring a product with 70 million daily active users.

Shen Mo shook his head.

"Kelly, our product, structure, and model are too similar to Musical.ly."

"Although we know that our core lies in algorithms."

"However, if we release it like this, we won't be able to shake off the accusation of plagiarism."

"Our competitors will not let this opportunity pass. At that time, no matter how good the product or algorithm is, they will have already lost half the battle in the public opinion arena."

Zhang Nan remained silent. She knew Shen Mo was right, but she preferred to create a product entirely on her own from scratch, rather than merging with other companies in the early stages.

Seeing Zhang Nan's expression, Shen Mo roughly guessed what she was thinking and began to comfort her.

"But don't worry, the acquisition of them is just for show; we won't let them return to China to develop their businesses."

"You still have full control over the operation of this product, so you can give full play to your talents."

"And," Shen Mo continued.

"Musical.ly's user profile and North American market share are the best springboard for our overseas expansion."

"Instead of building your own ship, you should buy a ship that has already been to sea and replace its engine with a better one."

"Once you've successfully implemented the model in China, you can directly rebrand and launch it in North America."

Having gained Shen Mo's affirmation and trust, Zhang Nan's eyes changed; her gaze towards Shen Mo became even more resolute.

"What is their current valuation?"

Shen Mo smiled, knowing that Zhang Nan had completely adopted the perspective of the person in charge of the ice cream cone short video.

"They are currently raising a new round of funding, totaling approximately $100 million. If the funding round is completed, their valuation will reach $500 million."

Shen Mo paused for a moment, "But if it drags on until next year, it will probably start at a billion."

Zhang Nan nodded, then looked at Shen Mo.

"Then let's not wait any longer, we can start now."

"It's already moving."

Shen Mo pressed the intercom, and Chen Jun walked in.

"Chen Jun, Director of Strategic Investment Department, Mohen Capital."

Shen Mo explained, "Starting in April of this year, he only had one project on his hands, Musical.ly."

Chen Jun nodded slightly to Zhang Nan, which was considered a formality.

He took a document out of his briefcase and placed it in front of Zhang Nan.

"When I first made contact in April, the founders Zhu Jun and Yang Luyu stated that they would not accept a full acquisition, but would give up a maximum of 15% of the equity, based on a valuation of 500 million."

"In the second round of contact, Zhu Jun still refused."

Chen Jun paused.

"Then the very next day, Musical.ly announced the start of a new round of financing, trying to scare us off with the backing of capital."

Shen Mo leaned back casually in his chair, a smile curving his lips.

Judging from their expressions, Zhang Nan knew that they wouldn't retreat so easily, otherwise Shen Mo wouldn't have sent Chen Jun over.

"So what did Mr. Chen do?"

A sly smile crept onto Chen Jun's lips.

"They didn't want to be dignified, so I helped them be dignified."

He glanced at the documents in front of Zhang Nan and said, "At President Shen's place, we did a few simple things."

Zhang Nan opened the file and turned to the second page.

Chen Jun extended a finger, his eyes filled with aggression.

"The first step is to poach talent."

"I poached most of Musical.ly's proudest audio synchronization and streaming compression technologies from their VP in charge of core architecture and key members of their special effects team."

"Their software experienced a severe technical outage that week, causing a complete collapse of the zombie experience!"

"The second step is copyright."

Chen Jun looked at Shen Mo with eyes full of extreme admiration.

"Thanks to President Shen's advice to have Mohen Media go on a shopping spree in Europe, America, and China six months in advance, acquiring the exclusive adaptation rights for short videos of the vast majority of Chinese pop music, catchy hits, and European and American electronic music."

"As soon as I obtained the authorization, I immediately joined forces with the three major record labels to simultaneously file as many as 36 infringement lawsuits against Musical.Iy in courts in Los Angeles and Shanghai!"

"The inability to access most popular music caused their lives to plummet by 20% in just two weeks!"

Zhang Nan gasped.

"The real show is yet to come."

Chen Jun couldn't help but smile.

"Zhu Jun and Yang Luyu approached Shen Nanpeng of Sequoia Capital and Xiong Xiaoge of IDG Capital, hoping they would lead the investment. After all, with Mohen Capital targeting us like this, if they don't dare, then no other company in China will dare to invest."

Zhang Nan put down the document, "Indeed, if they really manage to do it, we can't afford to break ties with both giants at the same time."

Chen Jun glanced at Shen Mo, then answered.

"It never even came to the point of tearing each other apart."

"Mr. Shen gave me a piece of advice: Don't reason with capital, talk about interests with capital. So I brought the early prototype of the ice cream cone to meet with Shen Nanpeng and Xiong Xiaoge, and then we had a brief chat about our ideas for the short video app, and then we talked to them about the situation of Musical.ly."

"That old fox Chen has made it clear that they don't want to be enemies with Mohen, but they are very willing to be his companions."

"They indicated that they were willing to withdraw from Musical.ly's Series B funding round and were even willing to fully cooperate with Mohen Capital in acquiring Musical.ly."

"But the only condition is that they must reserve an absolute share of the future Series A funding for Ice Cream Cone Short Video!"

Chen Jun took a document out of the inner pocket of Yuan Wen's bag and placed it on the table.

"We signed a strategic cooperation memorandum that same day."

"Musical.ly's financing plan has now essentially failed, with the lead investor withdrawing and all follow-on investors standing by in vain."

Shen Mo nodded, then sat up straight.

"Now you can make contact for the third time."

"This time, the goal is a full acquisition, and we are open to funding up to 600 million."

Chen Jun stood up and patted his chest.

"Their valuation during previous funding rounds was only 500 million, so saying 600 million is just embarrassing me, isn't it?"

"Mr. Shen, just wait for my good news!"

Brothers, please vote with your monthly tickets!!! I only need a little over 100 more monthly tickets to reach 1000!!!

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