189: A reckless act? It was simply the wisest decision ever!

Zhang Yiming looked at the remaining moguls.

He felt a bit apprehensive.

Even though these moguls were still here, it meant that they were still interested after listening to Zhang Yiming's presentation.

But if their investment failed to meet his requirements, this financing meeting would likely fall through in the end.

At this moment.

Neil Shen from Sequoia Capital also began to take control of the situation.

He looked around and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, those remaining are basically all very interested in collaborating and possess significant strength."

"Even the newly emerged Junlin Finance has cash flow that should not be underestimated."

"With so many people here, I'm afraid you can finalize this Series C financing on the spot today!"

Zhang Yiming knew that Neil Shen was helping him push the progress forward, so he quickly smiled and said, "Many thanks for your kindness, Mr. Shen. Shall we start now?"

"I wonder what Mr. Shen thinks our Series C valuation should be?"

Business is business.

Neil Shen naturally had to prioritize the interests of his own company.

He first reminisced, "We're already at Series C financing; in the blink of an eye, time has passed so quickly!"

"I still remember when the daily active users of your products first broke one million; it was truly dazzling!"

"Who could have imagined that your company would now be starting to build a traffic ecosystem platform!"

Zhang Yiming was also filled with confidence.

Indeed.

Since 2012, when their company was first established, it had been expanding at a crazy speed.

This also indirectly reflected the strength of their company!

Neil Shen continued, "Likewise, as I said before, Series C financing has begun, and our various investment firms must also start to put in real effort."

"Those with money contribute money, and those with capability contribute effort!"

"So!"

After a pause, he held up two fingers, "20% equity; this is Sequoia Capital's requirement."

"As for how many people will share it, and what the value of this 20% equity is, we can discuss that later!"

William Xiong, Lei Jun, and Xu Xin were all old acquaintances in the venture capital circle.

They looked at each other and all expressed their agreement.

Even Wang Lin nodded.

20% equity was indeed a very good choice.

Zhang Yiming opened his mouth, but closed it again in the end.

The transfer of 20% equity was indeed right at his psychological threshold, and besides, these were his old investors.

There was no point in him saying anything more.

Zhang Yiming smiled bitterly, "In principle, I agree to the transfer of 20% equity."

Zhang Yiming thought a lot.

He knew that if he didn't give up this much equity this time, it would be impossible to get so many moguls to invest willingly.

With so many of them here, they weren't here for a mere 10% equity.

He also didn't know how many resources this 20% equity could exchange for, or how far it could support their project.

Upon hearing this, a hint of a smile flashed in the eyes of everyone present.

Since Zhang Yiming was willing to give up 20% of the shares, the next matter would be the struggle among themselves!

This "themselves" specifically referred to these VCs!

Zhang Yiming was also very clear about this, so after saying this, he sat back in his chair quite relaxed.

Furthermore, he added, "For 20% of the shares, our company requires at least 100 million USD in investment, plus various other resources to help promote our company's upcoming flagship software!"

Regarding this matter, the moguls present all understood.

100 million USD for 20% of the shares, and it was unknown how many companies present would split it.

It was a typical case of too many monks and too little gruel.

Then it would depend on who offered a higher price.

Neil Shen looked at Wang Lin beside him and said with a smile, "This is my first time meeting Mr. Wang from Junlin Finance. Why don't you start by saying how you want to split it?"

Wang Lin didn't show any stage fright; this was the time to grab as much as possible.

He stood up, scanned the room, and shocked everyone present: "Isn't it just 100 million USD in investment? I accept the 500 million USD valuation. I'll provide all 100 million USD myself, and I want 10% of the shares. What do you all think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked.

Neil Shen's expression also changed; he had to admire Wang Lin's decisiveness and boldness.

By his calculation, in his hands, the valuation of ByteDance Company would not be 500 million USD, but 1 billion USD!

But truth be told, this move by Wang Lin—advancing by retreating—really made the others quite uncomfortable.

William Xiong cursed inwardly, "Damn it, this kid knows he doesn't have other resources, so he's just jacking up the price for the brothers here, right? How disgusting!"

Lei Jun was also stunned; everyone present could afford 100 million USD.

But that's not how VC investment works.

Who goes all-in right from the start?

At the current valuation of ByteDance Company, 20% of the shares are only worth 100 million USD, at most with some other resources added.

If it were to go any higher, it would really be out of the question; it wouldn't be worth investing.

Neil Shen shook his head inwardly; young and frivolous. Although everyone was quite optimistic about ByteDance Company.

But when it comes to investment, you never know the result until the very last moment.

Such crazy, reckless all-in behavior—it's the act of a brute.

Watching the shocked gazes around him.

Wang Lin felt that what he had just said had indeed served its intended purpose.

Wang Lin didn't really want to exchange 100 million USD for 10% of ByteDance Company's shares, although if everyone really calculated it that way in the end, Wang Lin would gladly agree.

His real goal was actually to set a benchmark and make his intentions clear.

In this equity battle, even if Wang Lin couldn't become the lead investor, he wanted to be the second-ranked person.

And he wanted to be the second-ranked person by a landslide!

The more equity he could gobble up today, the more his future profits would multiply by thousands or ten thousands.

As for jacking up the price?

If it weren't for the fact that he alone really couldn't help ByteDance Company with the Series C financing, and that Junlin Finance currently couldn't handle all the various aspects, he wouldn't do it.

Even with Old Ma's Ali Baba, it wouldn't be enough.

When it comes to coaching startups for development, it still has to be Sequoia Capital; you have to admit that, they are the professionals at this.

If not for these reasons, Wang Lin would have swallowed this Series C financing all by himself long ago.

For the subsequent Series D, Series E, and so on, he would then slowly let other companies join and enrich ByteDance Company's network.

Today, Wang Lin had only one goal here: to gobble up as much of this equity as possible.

His relationship with Old Ma, their strategic partnership, was not yet the time to be utilized.