309: Wang Lin invests, and the short video trend explodes!

He told Old Feng to go buy it quickly; he had to get this thing before going to Brother Junlin's place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Cheng Xiao himself hurriedly prepared various materials about Kuaishou, as well as the current progress of commercialization and various outlooks for the future.

President Shen of Sequoia Capital had already helped him pave the way; as for what came next, it would depend on him.

Whether he would be a dragon or a worm all came down to this one moment!!

Cheng Xiao knew very well that if Brother Junlin could invest in their company this time, it would definitely be a leap forward for the entire company.

TikTok, which had just launched next door, had gained at least ten million new users because of a single move by Wang Lin.

What about them, entrenched in the Northeast with its deep "Lao Tie" culture?

Could they break out of the grassroots circle and attract the favor of those upper-level users?

Just thinking about this made Cheng Xiao feel a surge of excitement.

This time, he had to seize the opportunity.

That night.

Cheng Xiao didn't rest, waiting for Old Feng's items.

It wasn't until after 2:00 AM, under Cheng Xiao's constant urging, that Old Feng finally rushed back.

With a smile on his face, he said, "CEO Cheng, I didn't fail my mission. The items I found this time are definitely rare enough, and they will surely be deeply liked by Brother Junlin!!"

Cheng Xiao looked at the things in the trunk; they weren't tacky gold or silver jewelry—how could Brother Junlin like that kind of stuff?

Nor were they expensive items like cars or houses; he couldn't afford the best ones, and even if he could, would they be better than what Brother Junlin could buy with a wave of his hand?

So he took a different approach and got some very, very niche but high-quality items worth several million.

Looking at these things, a smile finally appeared on Cheng Xiao's face. His bloodshot eyes looked at Old Feng as he patted his shoulder: "Well done. Go to the finance department for reimbursement tomorrow. If this goes smoothly, you'll be the main hero!! Just wait for your bonus!"

.

Early the next morning.

Carrying these gifts, Cheng Xiao waited early at the entrance of Brother Junlin's home.

Around 10:00 AM.

Wang Lin woke up from his sleep. Next to him was a first-tier starlet named Yu Shuxin.

Her voice was a bit cutesy and high-pitched, but she looked decent.

He had played around a bit last night.

Seeing that she was still resting, Wang Lin ignored her.

He first pulled out his phone to check the time, then went to the bathroom to take a leak while checking the stock market.

Not bad. The market was up slightly today, and Junlin Finance had also risen by 0.7 points.

This was already considered very good.

Looking at the Stock Bar, no one had chatted for a long time.

The most recent messages were from half a day ago.

"Junlin Finance really can't seem to drop!!"

"Not only can't it drop, but it also can't rise!!"

"Damn it, I sold. This thing is really wasting my market opportunities."

"Why sell? Just leave it. Anyway, I only used half my position to buy this. I'll just uninstall the app and go long-term!!"

"My friend sold, but I registered another brokerage account. Anyway, you definitely won't lose money going long-term on this. Just look at the top ten shareholders; they're all dominated by big Institutions!!"

Surprisingly, there were actually a few people planning to go long-term.

That's good.

It made listing his company worthwhile.

After reading all this, Wang Lin remembered that he seemed to have agreed to talk business with the boss of Kuaishou yesterday.

Wang Lin looked outside, and sure enough, a car had been parked at the gate for a long time.

Cheng Xiao was standing at the door waiting.

Wang Lin slapped his forehead and thought, "Damn, I was too busy playing last night and forgot."

Walking downstairs and opening the door, Wang Lin asked, "CEO Cheng, I'm sorry, I overslept!!"

When Cheng Xiao saw Wang Lin, he was also startled by his youth.

As for Wang Lin's words, he waved his hands repeatedly after hearing them: "Brother Junlin, please don't say that. I just arrived too and haven't waited long. Besides, so many people want to see you but don't get the chance. Saying that makes us sound like strangers!!"

After the two greeted each other, Wang Lin led him inside.

Cheng Xiao followed cautiously.

This villa, located within the Second Ring Road of the Beijing, was worth a fortune.

He certainly couldn't afford it.

But seeing Wang Lin like this, he probably just stayed here temporarily.

Wang Lin sat on the living room sofa, looked at Cheng Xiao opposite him, and said, "Have a seat first."

Cheng Xiao didn't dare sit down at this moment. Instead, he placed the items he was carrying in front of Wang Lin with a face full of smiles: "Brother Junlin, I didn't know what you liked. I bought these temporarily last night. See if you like them."

Wang Lin glanced at them. Truth be told, they were quite interesting.

As for their value, probably a few million.

"Alright, let's begin!!"

Seeing that Wang Lin was somewhat interested, Cheng Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid Wang Lin wouldn't be interested in these things.

Next, Cheng Xiao used the simplest and easiest-to-understand terms to explain all his company's concepts, future profit models, and various other things to Wang Lin.

At this moment, he was like an elementary school student facing an exam.

Within twenty minutes, Wang Lin also made a few comments, but it was these few sentences that made Cheng Xiao realize that Brother Junlin was definitely an expert-level short video mogul.

He understood short videos too well; even a few words had a powerful impact on Cheng Xiao.

As for Wang Lin, he was naturally talking to Cheng Xiao using models that were already very mature in the future, so the feeling he gave was naturally impressive.

"Brother Junlin, no wonder you could casually film a short video that became a hit across the entire internet. Your understanding of this field is too profound!" Cheng Xiao definitely wasn't just flattering; he truly thought Wang Lin was amazing!!

As expected, such a mogul is extremely capable in everything he does!!

Wang Lin waved his hand and looked at Cheng Xiao.

In Wang Lin's view, everything he said was normal and hadn't gone off track.

In other words, according to the normal development of the future, Kuaishou would still be the first short video company to successfully IPO. If he were to invest in them now, the returns would indeed be quite astonishing.

Then let's do it.

Wang Lin said, "You've probably heard about my investment speed, so I won't dawdle. I'll give you a valuation of 3 billion USD and invest 500 million USD!!"

Hearing this, Cheng Xiao felt his head buzz instantly.

The surprise came too suddenly!!

You know, when Tencent invested six months ago, the valuation was only 2 billion USD.

After just one contact with Wang Lin, the valuation increased by 1 billion USD. Is this a damn cabbage? The price just goes up whenever.

As for the 500 million USD in shares, that was about a 17% stake.

Cheng Xiao could completely accept this.

In fact, the more Wang Lin invested, the happier he was.

The opportunity to be tied to the same warship as the world's richest man didn't come around often.

The smile on Cheng Xiao's face could no longer be hidden, and he nodded repeatedly: "No problem, Brother Junlin, you have the final say on everything!!"

500 million USD.

With this 500 million USD, Kuaishou would be strong and well-equipped, and they could speed up their progress in exploring commercialization.

TikTok?

Just stay behind and smell my exhaust!!

Although Brother Junlin also invested in TikTok, Cheng Xiao would make Brother Junlin understand that betting on Kuaishou was the most correct choice... The contract signing went exceptionally smoothly.

It was only after signing the contract this time that Cheng Xiao discovered that Brother Junlin's company was definitely the fastest at transferring money in history, bar none.

Just after signing the contract, the initial funding of 100 million USD was transferred.

This made Cheng Xiao unable to help but gasp: "Damn, how much cash is just sitting in Junlin Finance's account!!"

"A god-tier tycoon, this is a true god-tier tycoon!!"

After his lament, Cheng Xiao also began to have people announce the cooperation between himself and Brother Junlin.

This matter would definitely have a very positive impact on the company's image.

Listen, Brother Junlin also invested in Kuaishou.

This sentence alone could slightly change people's impression of Kuaishou.

It could also attract more investors' attention to Kuaishou.

[The World's richest man Strikes! A Heavy Bet on This!]

[Breaking! The World's richest man Invests, Aiming Directly at a Trillion-Dollar Track!]

[Disrupting the Industry? The richest man Spends Lavishly, Betting on the Next Big Thing]

[Brother Junlin Enters the Fray, the Short Video Industry Welcomes its Moment!! Who Will Be the Final Winner, Kuaishou or TikTok!!]

[Explosive! Brother Junlin Invests 500 Million USD, Is Kuaishou About to Take Off?]

Once these news reports appeared, they quickly went viral across the entire internet.

Not just because of these eye-catching headlines, but because there were too many keywords in them.

Brother Junlin, world's richest man, Kuaishou, TikTok, 500 million USD!

All sorts of things were catching people's eyes.

"Holy crap, has Kuaishou finally been noticed by Brother Junlin?!"

"Wait, 500 million USD? Why? What does Kuaishou have?"

"Brother Junlin invests 500 million USD at once; that's almost 4 billion RMB. He's so damn rich!!"

"What is Kuaishou? Doesn't Brother Junlin use TikTok? I even saw him promoting TikTok on the Social Media Platform!!"

"You know nothing. This is called two-sided investment. As long as one of these two short video apps survives to the end, Brother Junlin won't lose!! The professional term for this is hedging!!"

"Is short video really the next big thing? Then I'm going to quit my job to film short videos. I feel like there are a lot of incentive programs lately."

"Following Brother Junlin is definitely the right move!"

"Brother Junlin is too fierce! Kuaishou in his left hand, TikTok in his right—how can he lose?!"

This matter caused even more of a stir in the capital market.

Laymen were just watching the fun.

Only those in the industry knew just how ruthless Brother Junlin's move was.

Before the New Year, he had just snatched the financing equity of ByteDance Company from Sequoia Capital, and after the New Year, he started vigorously promoting the project he had launched, which was TikTok.

He even personally went down to film one.

If that were all, it would be normal—Brother Junlin promoting the company he invested in.

But then he turned around and made a huge move on Kuaishou, TikTok's rival.

You have to know that Kuaishou is currently the dragon head of the industry, with the support of hundreds of millions of "Lao Tie."

Even though from a directional perspective, Kuaishou and TikTok are on the same track but not in the same direction, and their audiences don't conflict.

But Brother Junlin's move is undoubtedly accelerating Kuaishou's growth.

Once Kuaishou has finished gathering the grassroots audience, who can guarantee it won't eye those trendy users?

Xu Xin of China Growth Capital: "So fierce. It seems another storm is about to blow in the domestic venture capital circle. Short videos? This trend is interesting!! I just don't know if it's too late to get on board now!"

Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital: "Brother Junlin's move has put me in a very passive position. I just invested in Goudong Finance and Blue Moon this year, and I've also laid out a lot in consumption, medical care, and the internet. But I haven't laid out anything in short videos. If I'm forced to jump in now, it'll be very difficult."

William Xiong of IDG Capital: "Short videos? That's not my cup of tea. Tencent, Baidu, Ahu, and Mimi—these are the major Chinese tech tracks I recognize. The rest is just clutter. Maybe Brother Junlin will flip his car this time!!"

These top venture capital moguls all had their own ideas, but it was clear that the short video trend had arrived early under Wang Lin's forced intervention.

These top investment moguls had their own rhythms, plus these short video projects were already monopolized by other capital.

They weren't interested in investing in the remaining small projects, so they were in a vacuum period with nothing to do.

On the contrary, those small venture capital firms also began frantically looking for short video startup projects during this time.

No matter if you did well or not, as long as you had a PPT, I'd invest in you first, and then you'd continue to burn money.

Just play with a gimmick for now.

And so, in just a few days.

Short video startup projects sprang up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Among them, the one doing well was Papi Jiang, who received over 10 million in financing.

More often, it was giants from other industries who saw this trend and personally entered the fray to start this chaotic battle.

For example, Baidu's Haokan and Quanmin Video, as well as Alibaba's Taobao Short Video, Tudou Short Video, and so on.

The war of the gods also began at this moment.

With so many short videos being launched in batches.

Countless netizens cried out that the wolves were coming.

Moreover, in order to attract users in the early stages, these short video platforms basically defaulted to a money-burning model to gain new users.

This made netizens even more delighted.

"So comfortable. I just made over 100 yuan from Papi Jiang; getting new users is great!!"

"You're happy with just 100? The big scalper next door has already made over 10,000 today."

"Quanmin Video is also quite good; they're really generous with the money!!"

"It feels like a dream back to the days of the War of a Hundred Regiments!"

"Haha, I hope this battle lasts a little longer so we can enjoy more of the dividends of the era and earn more of the capital's money!!"

Alibaba's boss, Old Ma, even called Wang Lin: "Brother Junlin, these short videos are indeed not bad. You don't mind if I also come in for a piece of the pie, do you?"

Hearing this, Wang Lin almost laughed his head off. Alibaba playing in other industries?

Wouldn't they just ruin everything they touch?

Was he supposed to be afraid of him?

Wang Lin said with a smile, "Old Ma is welcome to join!!"