"3 billion for 18%." As Jiang Cheng quoted the figures, his gaze didn't leave Huang Zheng's eyes. He spoke seriously, "Based on a post-money valuation of 16.7 billion, it matches the share value offered by Penguin. Only then would it be worthy of the resources Xingchen brings. By the way, Xingchen isn't just investing money; it's also providing a traffic interface from TikTok. Last month, TikTok's e-commerce conversion rate was 3.7%. This resource is solid, isn't it?"
These words hit the nail on the head.
What Pinduoduo lacked most right now was precise traffic.
TikTok's Daily Active Users were three times theirs.
Moreover, the user overlap in the lower-tier markets was as high as 62%.
Huang Zheng's brow furrowed slightly.
18% was as much as Sequoia and Penguin had proposed.
This baseline was almost touching the red line where 'major matters require the consent of all shareholders.'
"18% is too much." Huang Zheng shook his head immediately. "At most 16%. We can sign a separate cooperation agreement for the traffic interface and pay based on the traffic's performance; there's no need to convert that into equity."
"Does President Huang view Xingchen as a simple financial investment?" Jiang Cheng smiled. "A traffic cooperation agreement can be signed, but what Xingchen wants is a deep bond. 18% for an observer seat on the board of directors isn't excessive, is it?"
This was actually just casual talk.
Anyone can boast.
Just like when Huang Zheng deliberately overestimated his company's annual GMV earlier.
Although he was a shareholder of TikTok...
He naturally had the right to delete posts or block certain keywords...
But making decision-level commitments like providing traffic interfaces to other companies wasn't something he could decide alone.
Jiang Cheng paused and added, "Once the equity is settled, we'll open a targeted push channel on TikTok. Your '9.9 Yuan Special Sale' channel will directly interface with TikTok's lower-tier market user pool. Neither Sequoia nor Tencent can offer a condition like this from Xingchen."
The meeting room fell silent for a moment as Huang Zheng and the CFO exchanged a low-voiced look.
18% equity indeed exceeded their expectations.
Seeing that Huang Zheng didn't speak, Jiang Cheng made a stretching gesture as if he were tired.
Leaning back against his chair, he stretched out: "This is Xingchen's bottom line."
"President Huang is also aware that Sequoia and Penguin are still waiting for a reply. We can't afford to waste time, and you probably can't either."
Sequoia and Penguin had already obtained shares of Pinduoduo during the Series B round.
If he were Huang Zheng, he would rather choose Xingchen than let them continue to increase their stake.
Any smart person knows that the more dispersed a company's equity, the better.
Given Pinduoduo's growth speed, this round of financing had only just begun, and they were already preparing for the next.
In the current domestic market, there were only a few with the most cash flow.
For deals involving billions, besides cash, one would look to established investment firms like Penguin or Sequoia.
Now that Xingchen had emerged as a rising star, to balance the equity issue...
Giving equity to Xingchen was better than giving it to them.
Seeing Jiang Cheng's 'I don't want to talk anymore' expression, Huang Zheng sighed helplessly to himself.
Talking to young people was indeed straightforward.
But there was also a downside: they were too blunt and didn't care for the superficial back-and-forth.
"17%." Huang Zheng finally relented. "A board seat can be given, but we must have veto power over major decisions."
Jiang Cheng didn't agree immediately; instead, he picked up the equity structure chart Chen Xue had prepared.
He finally looked through the materials, but only glanced at them before putting them down.
"17%? By that calculation, Pinduoduo will sign a separate cooperation agreement for the TikTok traffic interface and pay based on the conversion results."
Hearing this, Huang Zheng was so frustrated he laughed.
This was profiting from both ends.
The money he invested in the company would be used by Pinduoduo for promotion on TikTok...
And then it would end up back in Jiang Cheng's hands.
He wasn't willing to lose out even a little bit.
However, giving up a percentage point of equity just to get Jiang Cheng to provide the channel directly was too high a price.
The reason for choosing Xingchen was naturally because Xingchen was a shareholder, and according to the news they received...
Xingchen also intended to continue investing in TikTok's upcoming Series F round.
If Xingchen really succeeded in this round of investment, their influence in TikTok would grow even further.
Once Xingchen joined Pinduoduo...
Business coordination with TikTok wouldn't be difficult at all.
Huang Zheng stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly laughed: "President Jiang, you don't look like an investor; you look more like an entrepreneur who deals with equity year-round."
"If the equity is too low, Xingchen won't have the motivation to help you connect with resources; if it's too high, you'll be afraid of being restricted." Jiang Cheng leaned back, his tone relaxing. "17%, just right."
Huang Zheng laughed: "Then 17% it is, the same as the maximum equity figure we gave Sequoia. As for TikTok, as you said, Pinduoduo will coordinate with them separately."
Hearing the 17%, Zhao Linger almost couldn't help clapping, but fortunately, Chen Xueer stopped her with a look.
In the end, she simply rested her chin on her hand and stared at Jiang Cheng with a blatant smile, her eyes clearly saying, 'I knew you could do it.'
"Deal. 17%, and Xingchen gets a seat on the board. However, your veto power is limited to major matters like mergers and spin-offs; it doesn't apply to daily operations."
After Huang Zheng and his party left, the heavy wooden door of the meeting room slowly closed, the muffled sound of the door hitting the frame...
Seemed to mark the end of this tug-of-war that had lasted nearly three hours.
After escorting Huang Zheng to the elevator with Chen Xueer and Zhao Linger, Jiang Cheng returned to the meeting room and instructed everyone to prepare for a celebratory afternoon tea.
At this moment, the door to the meeting room wasn't fully closed, and a burst of uncontrollable cheering came from inside.
Like a balloon that had been held for too long finally bursting.
Manager Zhang from the Marketing Department loosened his tie, the tie clip snapping against his shirt. He leaned back against his chair with a long sigh of relief.
"It's finally settled! For this past month, I've been at the company every day. When I get home at ten at night, my kid is already asleep, and when I leave in the morning, he hasn't woken up yet. Now I can finally go back early and hold my boy for a while!"
"You've got it good." Director Li from the Operations Department rubbed his aching neck and shoulders, a densely packed competitor analysis chart spread out on the table. "My daughter had a kindergarten parent-teacher meeting last week. I promised to go, but I got held up by data reports. Her teacher messaged me saying the child stood at the door waiting for me for half an hour. Now that the deal is set, I'm taking half a day off next week no matter what to be a'Story Dad' for her."
This statement drew a chorus of agreement.
"Ever since President Jiang said we were going to approach Pinduoduo, we haven't had a moment's rest."
"In my schedule book, I've checked off over twenty 'temporary overtime' slots. When I went home the day before yesterday, my wife said my dark circles were as heavy as a panda's, but looking at this result now—it's worth it!"
"My side was even more intense. I ran twelve different equity dilution models alone."
"Let me tell you, to test the conversion data of the TikTok traffic interface, the three men in our group slept in sleeping bags at the office for a week, adjusting parameters on the screen every day. We've finally figured something out. I used to feel like I was looking through a fog when doing data analysis, but after finishing this deal, I can say my understanding of user profiling is worth at least two years of experience!"
"Exactly. I'd only been here for three months when I got caught up in this project. At first, I didn't even know where to start with the proposals, but now I can talk about competitor analysis for half an hour. Last time at the meeting, President Jiang praised the user segmentation idea I proposed as 'interesting.' I'm still excited thinking about it. This progress is more substantial than six months of training classes!"
Fragmented conversations drifted out, mixed with the sound of moving chairs.
The young girl from the finance team, who always liked to wear a high ponytail, suddenly raised her voice with a hint of tearful joy: "I'm so happy too! If there's a bonus, I can finally scrape together the money for my mom's surgery!"
These words were like warm pebbles, thudding into Jiang Cheng's heart.
Jiang Cheng paused in the hallway and didn't go in immediately.
He remembered that a month ago, when he first proposed approaching Pinduoduo in a meeting, many people were breaking out in a cold sweat.
After all, at that time, Pinduoduo was already very close to Sequoia and Tencent. As a rising star, the difficulty for Xingchen to get a piece of the pie was imaginable.
Chen Xueer had led the investment department through repeated calculations of valuation models, and near the Lunar New Year break, she had sent him materials from the marketing department's research in the lower-tier markets.
The technical department even set up a temporary data simulation system just to prove that the conversion rate of the TikTok traffic interface was no empty boast.
It turned out that this company, which he had once viewed merely as a tool to elevate his status...
And these people he once thought were insignificant, each had a very real life behind them.
A strange emotion slowly rose from the depths of Jiang Cheng's heart.
It wasn't the ecstasy of a successful negotiation, nor the expectation of future profits.
It was a heavy, warm sense of responsibility.