(ps: Chapter 504 has been lifted. Everyone will subscribe to pull the data. It would be a little bit of a loss if they block it like this)

——

An hour later, Cao Yi came to Toutiao's office address and learned that a VC came to him personally. Wang Qiong, the general manager of Haina Asia, who happened to be present, was very surprised.

This is very rare. The capital market was actually not optimistic about Toutiao in the early days. This year, Bluestar Technology and Alibaba extended olive branches one after another, and founder Zhang Yiming was arrogant and rejected.

In the reception room, Toutiao founder Zhang Yiming, Toutiao angel investor Wang Qiong, and Cao Yi who came to visit gathered together.

"To be honest, I can't understand the Toutiao model. The reason I am interested is because of Blue Star Technology's favor." Cao Yiru said.

This made Zhang Yiming feel silenced. It has indeed become different recently. Because of Blue Star Technology, many VPNs have suddenly taken the initiative to consult. Now there are VPNs who are visiting them.

The words Blue Star Technology seem to have unique magic.

Cao Yi said again: "But the very realistic problem is that the entire information market has basically been divided up. News clients such as Netflix, Souhu, Tengxun, and Phoenix have covered almost all users. As an investor, I want to ask: There are already portals. Netflix and Souhu both claim to have 200 million users. In addition, there are fresh fruits, Wumi, Zaker, etc., do you still have room for headlines?"

Cao Yi added: "As for how to make money, commercialization, etc., Toutiao's current situation is not yet discussed. As an investor, it is only discussing whether this market can still accommodate a new information client. The product is good? But the market has been divided up."

Zhang Yiming said concisely: "Toutiao is a slow-hot product."

At this time, Ms. Wang Qiong also spoke: "I remember that last year I went out with Yiming to show others our products. Everyone would think that the technology is good, but how much does technology have to do with success? The existing portals did not use this technology and all met user needs well, so they would question whether the value and benefits this technology brings to users is that great?"

Then Zhang Yiming admitted: "We cannot answer these questions immediately, we can only talk about them based on subsequent numbers."

As the exchange continued to advance, Wang Qiong began to introduce the past development of Toutiao to Cao Yi.

"In October last year, Yiming took the product out for a walk, and it was not very smooth. At that time, we judged that the shipment of smartphones will continue to increase this year, even exceeding last year, so we must seize this opportunity. So at the end of last year, Haina Asia invested an additional A+ round of US$1 million in Toutiao and provided a bridge loan of US$1 million. The two million dollars were to make Toutiao have enough time to grow bigger and the data was more convincing."

Upon hearing this, Cao Yi asked concisely: "What is the current data?"

Zhang Yiming: "As of March, Toutiao has 3 million daily active users, and it has been increasing steadily."

Wang Qiong, who was sitting next to him, joked: "In the past days, I used to scan my face and brushed at least 20 friends in the investment industry. I met with them and introduced Yiming's products. But after a circle, no one was optimistic about Toutiao. Recently, one or two companies expressed their willingness to invest because of Blue Star Technology, but the quotation was too low and did not meet our expectations. The domestic capital market had almost no institutions that were optimistic about Yiming and Toutiao before Blue Star Technology, and it was really frustrating."

In fact, what makes Zhang Yiming even more frustrated is that the current capital market understands him and Toutiao is Blue Star Technology, but it is precisely what he is unwilling to accept because he does not want to become a younger brother under any giant.

On the other hand, it actually scared Zhang Yiming. Toutiao's technology is an intelligent recommendation engine, and Blue Star Technology is undoubtedly the one that can be played the most, or the Costa del Blue. Anyway, Luo Sheng is the number one player of AI now.

Now that Blue Star Technology has been rejected, Zhang Yiming is very clear that once Blue Star Technology really makes its efforts, Toutiao's chance of breaking through the competition is almost zero.

Not only will his dream of becoming the world's largest content creation platform turn into a bubble, I also feel very sorry for the investor of Haina, because Toutiao is Haina's only angel project and participated in the entire process of Toutiao from 0 to 1.

Cao Yi looked at Zhang Yiming and said in an orderly manner: "In today's Internet entrepreneurship circle, 'burning money' seems to be a problem that every startup company encounters every day. What is Mr. Zhang's opinion on today's industry competition situation?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yiming thought for a moment before answering: "If your system has a much higher overall efficiency than its competitors, in fact, by simply burning money, the competitiveness it can generate is very small. For example, if the conversion of fuel combustion to power for two cars is several times different, then by burning oil alone, the larger the scale, the greater the loss. Therefore, whether it is burning money or not, it should be under the premise of this efficiency."

Cao Yi continued to ask: "We must face up to a very realistic problem. In the competition, no matter how many of the lat three giants are, they are a topic that cannot be avoided. They may face a choice. Which queue should they stand in? This is a multiple-choice question that everyone in the Internet entrepreneurship circle has to face. Has Toutiao ever thought about this?"

Zhang Yiming answered without hesitation: "Thinking means trying not to take sides."

Cao Yi looked at him: "What you said seems to not take sides as much as possible."

Zhang Yiming: "To be honest, maybe we have to use Luo Sheng's AI technology, and there is no doubt about the technical potential of intelligent push Blue Star Technology."

Cao Yi smiled and said, "Frankly speaking, I really appreciate your reality, but if you stand in the team, what impact will it have on the development of headlines?"

Zhang Yiming replied: "Early the new year, the two giants of Blue Star Technology and Alibaba fought around the payment market, and the entire industry was in a panic, because the giants are guarding against each other and entering each other's fields. If you take the team, the competition may be more intense, which is very likely. I think it is mainly because of this. We did not say that we must not take the team, or we must not take the team. I think it may be more meaningful if we have the opportunity to grow bigger independently."

After a pause, Zhang Yiming added: "Because in fact, the current pattern of the domestic Internet has been relatively long, and it has been more than ten years. If there are new companies and emerging platforms, I think this is also a good demonstration in itself."

Cao Yi immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang's approach is very direct, and the industry has seen it. At the beginning of the month, there were rumors that Blue Star Technology was going to invest in Toutiao. You just said, don't come, I still want to do it alone. This is true for Blue Star Technology, Alibaba, and all the recruitment of giants?"

Zhang Yiming looked at Cao Yi with serious expression and replied: "When I saw this news, a colleague came to ask me and said that I joined Toutiao and did not become an employee of Blue Star Technology. Maybe I don't know if he is a former employee of Blue Star Technology. He said that I was not here to become an employee of Blue Star Technology, so my response to him said that I actually found Toutiao and did not become an employee of Blue Star Technology. But this does not mean that there is any problem with our cooperation or competition with Blue Star Technology, but I just want to express one thing that is that we hope to become a platform-level company with great value to society, so this statement has no targeted meaning."

Cao Yi: "It's not that others invest too much, but that they can't grow up and become too boring?"

Zhang Yiming nodded: "Yes, I mainly want to express to employees or the industry, that Toutiao still needs to have its own ambitions."

This answer is almost exactly the same as the response to Pang Lei at the beginning, but Cao Yi didn't know that this, and he didn't even know that the boss behind him was actually the ultimate boss of Blue Star Technology.

Cao Yikan asked with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, are you worried that your attitude or expression will make Blue Star Technology and any of Alibaba unhappy?"

Hearing such a question, Zhang Yiming couldn't help but touch the bridge of his nose, lowered his eyebrows and thought for a while, and laughed jokingly: "I think they are all very smart. Whether it is Mr. Luo or Mr. Ma, they are great entrepreneurs with a big mind, so they shouldn't be angry about it."

Zhang Yiming's story has been told for almost forty or fifty minutes. Cao Yi felt that it was almost done. On the one hand, he really wanted to listen to the story told by the founder. On the other hand, what Cao Yi didn't say was that his boss clearly gave him a task to invest in headlines and invest in Zhang Yiming.

However, as a qualified and excellent VC, this urgent sense of need was not exposed throughout the whole process.

Cao Yi smiled and said, "I reserved doubts before seeing you, but after communicating with you, I began to believe that Mr. Zhang, you can make a company."

Zhang Yiming really has a big picture view in the process of telling stories. He is not eager for quick success or instant benefits, is conceited but not proud, and is very studious. Compared with other founders, he is a person who is closer to being able to do big things.

When Wang Qiong heard Cao Yi's words, he couldn't help but be happy. This VC is a playful thing.

Zhang Yiming smiled with a modest and polite smile and left his head, but did not say anything like over-rewarding.

Cao Yi really began to appreciate him, and also admired the boss at the headquarters who was really keen. The potential of the startup company almost depends on the founder. He immediately said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, on behalf of the Anaheim Asia Technology Venture Capital Fund, I hope to lead the investment in your company's B round of financing. I brought 70 million US dollars this time and I want to hand over it to you."

Zhang Yiming: “…”

Wang Qiong: “…”

Hearing the figure of $70 million really scared the two of them. They had not had time to understand the so-called Anaheim Technology Venture Capital Fund, what is the investment background, how strong, etc.

But as soon as this was said, it was $70 million. Not to mention anything else, it at least proves that this North American venture capital institution is a good deal.

Zhang Yiming suddenly felt that even if he did not rely on the giants, Toutiao would usher in a new dawn.
Chapter completed!