After the three talked for about an hour, the Red-Clad Patriarch left.
In the end, Chen Pingjiang did not give any clear commitment, only saying he would see how things went.
He wasn't a greenhorn either.
If he gave Lao Zhou a clear answer, that old fellow would stubbornly fight Tencent, and Chen Pingjiang himself wouldn't benefit in the end.
It was best to wait and see.
His personal relationship with Xiao Mage was fine, but everyone acted from their own business interests, and sometimes what needed to be contested had to be contested.
Bu Housheng and the team behind him had already entered JD.com to conduct a special investigation.
Only after the investigation would they discuss the specific investment amount.
Zhang Yiming returned to Dongjiang with Chen Pingjiang.
He was also a decisive person, eager to accomplish something great.
After meeting Chen Pingjiang last time, he thought for three or four days and couldn't sleep at night.
Ultimately, he decided to submit his resignation.
Zhang Yiming didn't have clairvoyance; how could he know he would be so awesome a few years later?
At present, he was just an ordinary entrepreneur who had continuously changed jobs, and as Chen Pingjiang said, Jiujiu Housing had a visible ceiling.
In contrast, the conditions offered by Chen Pingjiang were so generous that it was hard to refuse.
The most crucial point was that Zhang Yiming himself was very interested in "Jinri Toutiao," and from any perspective, it was bound to become a successful product.
Chen Pingjiang wholeheartedly welcomed Zhang Yiming's arrival.
Currently, Jinri Toutiao didn't have a leader, and Li Xi was managing it temporarily.
Moreover, WeChat was being promoted, and with so many tasks, Li Xi was too busy to handle everything.
Furthermore, Zhang Yiming was a crucial figure for Jinri Toutiao and even for Douyin later on.
In Chen Pingjiang's view, the success of Jinri Toutiao and Douyin was inseparable from algorithm support.
Without powerful algorithms, they would have been defeated long ago.
The most incredible thing about this algorithm was that it could allow ordinary people to shine in front of society, discovering the strengths of people from different perspectives.
The right to speak and going viral were no longer exclusive to big internet celebrities and stars.
Without good content creation and video quality, even celebrities could fade into obscurity. Conversely, ordinary people could become stars!
Just look at why TikTok can dominate foreign social media!
After TikTok's rise, various internet giants in the US specifically developed products to counter it, investing huge resources and funds.
YouTube has Shorts, Meta, formerly Facebook, developed Reels, Snapchat launched Spotlight, and there's also Triller.
In short, TikTok has many competitors overseas, but none of them are truly effective.
Is it because YouTube and Meta don't have money? Obviously not.
Are resources insufficient? Not at all.
The reason for TikTok's rise lies in its algorithm; it's the algorithm that made it popular and unbeatable.
It's also because the algorithm is so important that its export is restricted.
Overseas, other major platforms give traffic to bigger internet celebrities and stars, making it impossible for ordinary people to rise.
In contrast, TikTok is simply refreshing and benevolent.
"Welcome to join us. I can't promise anything else, but as long as I manage Renren.com, I will always support you!"
Chen Pingjiang warmly and enthusiastically gave Zhang Yiming a hug.
Facing Chen Pingjiang's goodwill, Zhang Yiming was immediately overwhelmed and stood on his tiptoes to give Chen Pingjiang a light embrace.
He was still a bit confused.
How did this guy impress Chen Pingjiang so much?
When he arrived at the Renren.com headquarters, Twin Towers, Zhang Yiming looked at the two buildings in front of him, feeling a mix of excitement, apprehension, and anticipation.
"Let me introduce everyone, this is Mr. Zhang Yiming. In the future, he will be responsible for the Jinri Toutiao project. Please welcome him."
Chen Pingjiang held a makeshift welcome ceremony.
After Chen Pingjiang finished his introduction, everyone in the office looked curiously at the short man wearing glasses.
Was there something special about this person?
Otherwise, why would the big boss value him so much?
Even though Chen Pingjiang had just returned, his high regard for Zhang Yiming had already spread throughout the company.
Some said they saw the big boss personally open the car door for Zhang Yiming.
Some said they saw the big boss showing Zhang Yiming his new office.
The number of people in the entire company who received such treatment could not be counted on two hands.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen, and thank you all. I am very excited to join the Renren family and greatly look forward to fighting alongside you."
After the brief welcome ceremony, Li Xi first reported:
"Tencent's instant messaging project has been released. It's called Weiliao, and about seventy percent of its interface and functions are almost identical to ours."
"And since its release the day before yesterday, Tencent has put a lot of effort into promotion. Not only did they open up QQ friend import permissions, but all applications under Tencent are driving traffic to Weiliao, and its growth momentum is very strong."
Chen Pingjiang nodded,
"Who is in charge of Weiliao? Is it Zhang Xiaolong?"
"Yes, it's him. Does Mr. Chen know him?"
"I don't know him personally, I've just heard his name."
As expected, it was Zhang Xiaolong.
This guy was truly a genius; he copied it in just over a month.
Li Xi continued:
"The good news is that although they developed the iOS version quickly, the Android version hasn't been released yet, but I estimate it might be out by the end of the month. Also, due to rushing, Weiliao 1.0's interface and functions are very simple, completely incomparable to our WeChat. Most critically, it lacks a voice walkie-talkie function, but it does have Moments and Shake."
In just one month, even with WeChat as a guide, Zhang Xiaolong could only achieve this much; doing more would have been impossible.
After all, WeChat took about half a year to develop both versions and implement all its various features.
Everyone had long expected this, and there was no panic.
Chen Pingjiang was not the Red-Clad Patriarch, terrified by encountering Tencent.
"It will take some time for Zhang Xiaolong to develop voice calls. Before that, as long as we launch our video call function, they won't be able to catch up, no matter how hard they try,"
Chen Pingjiang said after some thought.
Video call technology is not difficult to implement; the real challenge lies in its application.
Once this feature is launched, it will inevitably face backlash from the three major carriers.
How to persuade the three major carriers and gain the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is a big problem.
Only Chen Pingjiang himself could resolve this issue; no one else could.
Carriers are not foolish.
Almost from the day Skype appeared, all telecom carriers gradually understood that traditional voice services would sooner or later be completely replaced and swallowed up.
But understanding is one thing; no one dared to rush forward drastically.
Instead, they took small, slow steps, observing each other, trying to lose as little as possible, as it truly was a painful blow.
After all, mobile data and broadband services haven't risen yet, and voice services are the top earner for the three major carriers.
Cutting into this would cause them immense pain.
It is precisely because of this that everyone, pretending to be ignorant despite knowing the truth, successively developed Fetion, Yiliao, and Woliao.
However, these three companies, like the pot calling the kettle black, or a monk not mentioning baldness, absolutely cannot succeed in instant messaging without a pure internet mindset.
What Chen Pingjiang needed to do now was to reassure the three major carriers and paint a clear picture of future benefits.
If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass!
Without enough benefits, it would be difficult to touch the big three's cake.
That's why Chen Pingjiang vigorously promoted the Orange S1 and the contract phone projects with the three major carriers.
After all, in this era, voice services like SMS and phone calls were the lifeblood of the three major carriers.
"I will notify all parties in advance."
After speaking, Chen Pingjiang adjourned the meeting.
Zhang Yiming, who had listened to half the meeting, was still sighing after leaving the conference room.
Big companies are indeed big companies; their opponents are often giants like Tencent, and they even involve levels such as the three major carriers and the government.
Their foundation was indeed extraordinarily rich.
Having started businesses multiple times, he deeply understood the helplessness of small and startup companies when facing these giants.
It was a despair of watching oneself slowly die with no power to stop it.
When giants didn't see this track or disdained to enter it, you could thrive and be full of vigor.
But once the giants entered, comprehensive attacks, even dimensionality reduction attacks, would follow one after another.
Every day, he would wake up to see his market share plummeting, like a dull knife slowly carving away flesh.
"Mr. Zhang, this way. I'll take you to the project team and introduce you to the staff,"
Li Xi said with a smile, coming forward to chat.
Zhang Yiming had been sitting a bit far from Li Xi earlier, only seeing his profile.
Only upon seeing him from the front was he surprised by Li Xi's youth.
Of course, there were few older people in the conference room just now; the management team was generally born in the 80s, a situation rarely seen in other companies.
"Okay, Mr. Li, thank you."
"Hey, we'll be brothers from now on, no need to be so polite."
Li Xi was currently the CEO of Renren.com and a board member.
Zhang Yiming was only the head of the Jinri Toutiao project, three ranks lower than Li Xi.
"Strictly speaking, Jinri Toutiao has been almost fully developed and can be tested at any time, but Mr. Chen said to decide the work progress after you arrived. This project team has thirty people, including UI designers, product managers, UE designers, frontend programmers, Android/iOS programmers, and testing/operations/backend programmers,"
Li Xi said as he walked.
"After Jinri Toutiao goes online, other personnel will be gradually assigned, such as content editors, graphic designers, SEO/ASO, and other support staff."
Zhang Yiming felt like crying.
A software project team in development already had thirty people.
When he followed Wang Xing to do Fanfou, and later when he started Jiujiu Housing himself, the technical staff never exceeded six.
He had never fought such a well-resourced battle before!
Upon reaching the 19th floor, Zhang Yiming pointed to the empty workstations and asked,
"This entire floor... isn't it all for the Jinri Toutiao project department?"
"That's right, this entire floor, 2500 square meters, is all for your department. It's currently empty. If all the workstations can be filled, it means Jinri Toutiao has made it big."
(End of chapter)