After Huang Zheng sat down, Jiang Cheng's fingertips lightly tapped the table. He got straight to the point, saying, "Xingchen has prepared 3 billion. It all depends on how many chips Mr. Huang is willing to offer."
The pen in Xiao Chen's hand fell to the floor with a "clack." He hurriedly picked it up, his face flushing red.
3 billion? That was 500 million more than their internal upper-limit estimate!
President Jiang really isn't playing by the rules, is he?
Did he even read the documents Chen Xueer gave him?
Chen Xue was also stunned for a moment. During her report yesterday, she had suggested starting with an offer of 2.5 billion to test the waters. She hadn't expected Jiang Cheng to show his hand right away, and with such an unquestionable aura.
How could Jiang Cheng not know to suppress the price before negotiating? This strategy might have worked for Pinduoduo last year.
That would have been feasible then.
But now, Pinduoduo was in an upward trajectory, at the height of its power.
To put it simply, there were plenty of people rushing to give them money for financing.
Other companies had already offered 3 billion.
Why would they think Pinduoduo would care about Xingchen's 2.5 billion?
Jiang Cheng didn't want to say a single word of that time-wasting back-and-forth.
The core of this negotiation...
...wasn't about squeezing 3 billion down to 2.5 billion, but rather, after giving those 3 billion, how large a territory Xingchen could occupy within the rapidly expanding Pinduoduo.
Huang Zheng pulled out a chair and sat down. He placed his laptop on the table but didn't rush to open it.
He spoke up, "President Jiang is straightforward. However, how much 3 billion can get depends on how much Pinduoduo is worth in President Jiang's eyes. After all—" He looked up, a sharp glint in his eyes, "Xingchen isn't the only one wanting to hand us money right now."
Jiang Cheng smiled and didn't respond immediately. Instead, he pushed a cup of tea toward the other side.
Sunlight filtered through the slats of the blinds, casting several bright lines across the table between the two men.
The employees from Xingchen looked at each other, seeing the surprise in one another's eyes. Normally, after Huang Zheng's clearly pressuring statement, they would have to scramble through materials to find counter-arguments.
But President Jiang had actually just taken it in stride, appearing completely at ease?
Both Jiang Cheng and Huang Zheng were the type of people who ran extremely fast in their respective tracks.
At this first face-to-face meeting, probes were hidden within pleasantries, and calculations were wrapped under smiles.
Neither had shown their hand yet.
Soon, the financial staff behind Huang Zheng spread several reports out on the table.
Huang Zheng's finger paused on the "Annual User Growth Rate" column. When he looked up at Jiang Cheng, his tone held a bit of certainty. "If Xingchen wants to bring in 3 billion, the upper limit of equity we can yield is 12%."
Jiang Cheng didn't speak, his fingertips lightly tapping the table.
Jiang Cheng had already understood this issue clearly in private.
Sequoia Capital's offer last week was 2.8 billion for 13%.
Tencent, as a shareholder of Pinduoduo, was even willing to let Sequoia go up to 14%.
To the side, Chen Xueer saw that Jiang Cheng wasn't speaking and thought he didn't know how to respond.
She quietly opened her own set of materials.
She pulled out Pinduoduo's valuation curve from the past six months and signaled Jiang Cheng with her eyes to look at her.
However, Jiang Cheng didn't give her a single glance. From beginning to end, Jiang Cheng was locked in an eye-to-eye probe with Huang Zheng.
"12%?" Jiang Cheng suddenly smiled. When he withdrew his gaze, there was a hint of nonchalance in his eyes. "Has Mr. Huang forgotten that your post-money valuation for the Series C financing last month was 22 billion? 3 billion for 12% means the current valuation is being calculated at 25 billion. It's risen by 3 billion in three months—isn't your appetite a bit too large?"
Hearing this, the CFO behind Huang Zheng had a slight change in expression.
They had thought a "cross-industry investor" like Jiang Cheng might not calculate things so finely, but they hadn't expected him to point it out immediately.
"President Jiang must be joking." Huang Zheng adjusted his sitting position, but his tone didn't soften. "Pinduoduo's DAU just broke 80 million last month, and the monthly GMV exceeded 4 billion. This growth rate is worthy of this valuation. Sequoia and Tencent are willing to accept it because they are also optimistic about this growth potential."
"They are them, and Xingchen is Xingchen." Jiang Cheng leaned back against his chair and casually picked up the calculator on the table, tapping it a few times with his fingertips.
He continued, "According to the current growth rate, putting in 3 billion to support a 25 billion valuation means that by this time next year, your annual GMV would have to break 120 billion. Do you believe that data yourself, Mr. Huang?"
The numbers on the calculator screen were blindingly bright. Huang Zheng's fingertips curled slightly under the table.
Their internal simulations had gone over this goal; even the most optimistic projection was only 100 billion.
Jiang Cheng had clearly done his homework.
Chen Xue watched from the side in surprise.
The materials she prepared did indeed have a GMV calculation model, but Jiang Cheng hadn't even opened them.
Yet now he was stating it so fluently.
Clearly, Jiang Cheng had done his homework in private.
What surprised her even more was that he didn't use the offers from Sequoia or Tencent to pressure the price.
Instead, he directly struck at Pinduoduo's growth bottleneck.
This was much sharper than simply comparing prices.
"Then, according to what you're saying, how much does President Jiang want to give?" Huang Zheng's tone grew heavier.
"3 billion for 15%." When Jiang Cheng stated the number, his gaze didn't leave Huang Zheng's eyes. He said seriously, "Calculated at a 20 billion valuation, that is a reasonable premium space. Oh, by the way, Xingchen isn't just investing money, but also TikTok's traffic interface. Last month, TikTok's e-commerce traffic conversion rate was 3.7%, which is 1.2 percentage points higher than the industry average. This resource is worth a 1 percentage point difference in equity. That's fair, right?"
These words hit the crucial point.
What Pinduoduo lacked most right now was precise traffic.
TikTok's DAU was three times theirs.
Furthermore, the user overlap in the Sinking Market was as high as 62%.
"15% is too much." Huang Zheng immediately shook his head. "13% at most. We can sign a separate cooperation agreement for the traffic interface and pay based on the traffic results, rather than converting it into equity."
"Is Mr. Huang treating Xingchen as a purely financial investment?" Jiang Cheng smiled. "A traffic cooperation agreement can be signed, but what Xingchen wants is deep binding. 15% would give us an observer seat on the Board of Directors. That's not asking too much, is it?"
He paused and added, "I've already spoken to the TikTok side. As long as the equity is settled, we can open a targeted push channel next week. Your '9.9 Yuan Special' channel will directly interface with TikTok's Sinking Market user pool. Sequoia and Tencent can't provide this kind of speed from Xingchen."
The meeting room went silent for a moment. Huang Zheng and the CFO exchanged a low-voiced glance.
15% equity indeed exceeded their expectations, but the allure of TikTok's traffic was simply too great.
They had tried using other platforms for traffic, but the conversion rates weren't even half of TikTok's.
Seeing that Huang Zheng wasn't speaking, Jiang Cheng made a tired stretching motion.
"Mr. Huang can consider it. This is Xingchen's bottom line."
Seeing Jiang Cheng's appearance of not wanting to talk anymore, Huang Zheng sighed helplessly to himself.
Talking with young people was indeed straightforward.
But there was also a bit of trouble: they were too straightforward and didn't want to give even a bit of superficial effort to the back-and-forth.
"14%." Huang Zheng finally relented. "A board seat can be given, but we must have veto power on major decisions."