Chapter 378: Go Home and Hold the Baby

The three exchanged pleasantries, and Zhang Lidong gestured to the two and said, "Let me introduce you: this is Zhang Yiming, General Manager of ByteDance, and this is our Chang'e General Manager Fang Hong—you should know him."

Zhang Yiming nodded, acknowledging he knew him, and couldn't help but glance at Fang Hong twice—he'd never seen someone so young before.

But they were roughly the same age, only a few years apart; Zhang Lidong wasn't old either, only thirty-four, part of a very young team.

Fang Hong the Consultant asked, "Are you also in Beijing?"

"Yes, I rented an apartment in a nearby residential area for an office," Zhang Yiming nodded.

He spoke softly and gently, exuding an air of refined elegance, utterly unlike Jack Ma, Tony Ma, or Lao Wang, who carried their own aura of senior authority.

He seemed non-threatening, very mild-mannered.

"Mr. Zhang previously worked at Kuxun, then developed several software products with Wang Xing's team—he has extensive experience and exceptional algorithmic skills."

Zhang Lidong added, "Now ByteDance has a product called Today's Headlines, focused on information aggregation and distribution—it's doing well, but funding is tight."

Today's Headlines clearly demonstrates Zhang Yiming's technical strength: recommending content based on user habits, interests, location, and other dimensions.

Other companies could do it too, but none could do it as well—he's irreplaceable.

"Oh, I see."

Fang Hong paused thoughtfully, speaking still rather tactfully.

You couldn't just come out and say, "We're taking you over"—that would be too crude. Actually, investing tens of millions in ByteDance would be enough; it wouldn't require much money.

That sum could easily be decided by Zhang Lidong himself—he could just tell Fang Hong.

There was no need to bring Zhang Yiming here; bringing him here meant the intent was acquisition.

"We've accumulated some users and have certain technical expertise from our previous ventures—we have a technical team too. We came here because we need investment," Zhang Yiming said.

"I've heard of you, and I've used Today's Headlines—it's excellent. At least, personally, I think it's a successful product."

Fang Hong first gave affirmation, then added, "Forgive me for saying so, but with your experience and team, you probably aren't short on funds."

"We are short," Zhang Yiming smiled faintly. "My previous investor, Wang Qiong, introduced me to over twenty venture capitalists—not one invested. One only talked for fifteen minutes before leaving."

No one could tell whether he was laughing or crying.

It seemed every successful person had a painful history of fundraising—Fang Hong had gone through it several times himself.

But he had a good woman; Zhang Yiming did not.

Zhang Yiming continued, "But there are interested parties—we've negotiated with 360 and DST, aiming for a $10 million round. We were already in talks, but when I heard from Brother Zhang that you're investing, I came over."

He was fundamentally a technician—his speech was direct.

"I understand. I can give you the money—I'm not interested in money."

Fang Hong boasted a little; the two showed no reaction, as if it were normal. He added, "But in return, you'd need to give up some equity."

Zhang Yiming nodded, indicating he understood.

Capital investment always requires equity—it's unavoidable.

"But I can offer you another option. You've probably heard of our company's system—you could join as a partner, build this business with us, and you won't lose anything."

Hearing this, Zhang Lidong straightened his back, sitting upright—he'd been waiting for Fang Zong to say this.

To be honest, he was tempted by Zhang Yiming; once he became a partner, he wanted to bring ByteDance's entire team in—after all, they'd all be bosses.

A partner was essentially a boss: Zhang Yiming would rather be his own master, deciding how to divide things himself, than give equity to outside capital.

Zhang Yiming's expression grew more serious—he'd heard from Zhang Lidong about this: becoming a Chang'e Technology partner, becoming one of the bosses, still able to exert influence.

"One thing I'm curious about: can Chang'e Technology continuously secure funding?" he asked.

Running such a company meant no profit for the first few years—continuous funding was the only guarantee, hence his question.

"Yes!" Fang Hong's tone was firm.

"How?" Zhang Yiming asked.

"Loans, stock market, games." Fang Hong named three words.

Meaning this year they'd survive on loans—loans had already been secured; acquiring Shengda Literature would bring in surplus funds.

Next year they'd survive on the stock market—that is, Tesla.

The year after, they'd survive on games: next year, Hero Glory would reclaim its global publishing rights, and Chang'e Technology would operate it directly—revenue from this would surge.

After that, mobile games plus PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, followed by Fortnite, would all be developed.

As Chang'e Technology grew, its gaming industry would grow too—all within Fang Hong's plan.

"Principal, isn't this a bit risky?" Zhang Yiming didn't know Fang Hong's full hand, but it sounded unstable.

He understood games and loans—loans were a form of financing, requiring annual interest, but not a big deal as long as the company earned profits.

Chang'e Technology already had games; Hero Glory was performing well.

But the stock market? That sounded implausible.

"You don't need to worry about that. All you need to know is: if you join Chang'e Technology as a partner, I'll give you a corresponding share. I'll handle the money. If I can't solve it, even if I must raise capital from outside, I won't dilute your equity." Fang Hong spoke with confidence.

This made Zhang Yiming deeply tempted—no matter what, his rights were guaranteed.

"If we don't take capital's share, won't we lack corresponding resources?" Zhang Yiming looked at the two.

"We're in an era of transformation—everything is possible. If in such an era we still can't build our own business, become masters of our own fate, and must rely on others for resources, letting others profit from us, then we're truly incompetent," Fang Hong understood his meaning.

He meant: without capital's resources to open doors, they'd have money but no access to key connections.

For example, Tencent's investment could help drive traffic; Alibaba's could help monetize. But Fang Hong didn't need them—he had vision, and these men had ability. If even this lineup couldn't control their own fate and still relied on capital, then they might as well go home and hold babies.

Seeing Zhang Yiming lost in thought, Fang Hong asked, "Do you really want to let other giants move in and acquire you?"

"No," Zhang Yiming shook his head.

He'd only asked to gauge their attitude—no deeper meaning.

"Then that's settled," Fang Hong spread his hands.

This man clearly had ambition—if he lacked ambition, he wouldn't have switched jobs multiple times, launched ventures repeatedly—he was clearly unwilling to be ordinary.

He may seem mild-mannered, but inside, he burns fiercely.

"Fine, if I come over, I want the CEO position. I need to be the one calling the shots." Zhang Yiming laid out his terms.

He had a lot of ideas in his head and didn't like being managed. If he couldn't call the shots, there was no point in coming over.

"That's fine, but you also have to respect the other partners. For every decision you make, the other partners have the right to be informed." Fang Hong didn't mention the right to advise, giving him autonomy.

"Naturally."

Zhang Yiming could read between the lines and knew that was how the partner system worked—everyone was a collective, so naturally any matter had to be disclosed. He said, "If I may ask, how many partners do we have right now?"

"Just the three of us at the moment." Zhang Lidong said.

Zhang Yiming nodded and asked again, "Then how do we split the equity?"

"I'll give you 3%, but you have to fold Toutiao in, take down the ByteDance brand, and use the Chang'e Technology brand."

Fang Hong added, "Partners need to make a certain contribution. Toutiao counts as yours."

3% was fine. In his previous life, Zhang Yiming had only held around 20% of ByteDance.

In this life, with Fang Hong around, whether he could build Douyin without joining Chang'e Technology was still up in the air, because the core Douyin team was being gathered by him right now.

Moreover, Chang'e Technology had sectors ByteDance never had in the previous life—games, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Chang'e Video, and so on—all part of a content-based grand entertainment system.

If all of those developed, plus Douyin, the traffic and user stickiness would only be more terrifying than ByteDance later on.

Zhang Yiming's strength lay in his algorithmic foundation, which complemented Fang Hong's content system perfectly.

Fang Hong had the vision to create content; Zhang Yiming's algorithms recommended content; Zhang Lidong monetized the traffic—a perfect combination.

Zhang Lidong said nothing. In essence, he hadn't really made any contribution, yet Fang Hong had given him equity.

This was to set a benchmark, to motivate more people to work hard.

Zhang Yiming thought for a moment and asked, "Will there still be room for this equity to go up?"

"Yes. It'll be adjusted based on your work performance going forward. If your work is lacking and you make mistakes, you can't keep holding the equity. If you perform outstandingly, it'll be raised appropriately."

Fang Hong thought for a moment and said, "I'll set aside 20% of the equity in the Partner Committee as an incentive."

That was acceptable; Zhang Yiming had nothing more to say. One had to leave something for the Principal, after all.

And also leave some for the outstanding people who would come later.

The current Zhang Yiming had no idea what he might accomplish later, how impressive he could become—everything was unknown. So, judging by Chang'e Technology's current scale—

This share was already more than he deserved.

After all, he only had one sector, while Chang'e Technology had several, and all of them were doing well.

"One more thing I need to remind you of: if you leave, this equity will be reclaimed. If you leave within five years, it won't be bought back at monetary value—it'll be taken back directly. I hope you'll take that into consideration." Fang Hong said.

In other words, if he left after five years, it would be bought back at the company's valuation.

It could be reclaimed because right now it was a grant, and grants can be revoked.

His whole reason for setting up this Partner System was, at its core, to gather talent. If someone left and took their equity with them, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

They had to stay at the company for at least five years before talking further.

If they didn't want to leave, they'd be partners for life—elevated among men.

"I understand that." Zhang Yiming got Fang Hong's purpose: to hold on to top talent.

People coming in and then leaving, policies unable to continue, having to find replacements—truly a headache.

He added, "It's just that ByteDance's previous angel investors still hold some shares, and employees have some incentive shares. Those need to be dealt with."

"Buy back the angel investors' shares. Convert the employees' incentive shares into stock options." Fang Hong said.

ByteDance had only raised money twice—the first time was a few million, the second was one million USD. Buying them out at a premium would do; even if they didn't sell, they'd be diluted to nothing.

ByteDance was gone. What could those investors do about it?

Chang'e Technology currently had 2.1 billion in cash and 2.5 million USD. 17.5 million would settle it.

"."

From then on, Zhang Yiming joined Chang'e Technology and brought ByteDance's team with him. Toutiao was incorporated into Chang'e Technology's lineup, and the ByteDance name was wiped away for good.

Zhang Yiming's position was also adjusted to Partner and Chief Executive Officer. Fang Hong put in another 200 million USD—1.4 billion—into Chang'e Technology's capital pool for them to use.

Of course, it would be overseen by CFO Gao Zhun.

In other words, Chang'e Technology right now was not short of money—not only not short of money, it could expand aggressively.

This made Zhang Yiming feel completely at ease, able to work with full freedom.

On this special date, September 19th, Zhang Yiming called a meeting of the management.

(End of chapter)