After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

Panda was raising funds publicly this time.

Pu Si planned to lead this round with forty million US dollars, partly because Little Wang was determined to go all in.

On the other hand, the market wasn't really buying into Panda's valuation of five hundred million dollars.

If three days ago, Panda had been the only player in the live streaming marketing game, a valuation of five hundred million dollars would have seen capital flocking.

But today, three days later, Douyu had rapidly caught up with ferociously rising transaction volumes and support from Tencent Capital, causing Panda to gradually lose its first-mover advantage.

According to Little Wang's estimates, including the twenty million US dollars invested by Lu Liang, the total was only around sixty million US dollars. To solidify the valuation, he had to ensure a follow-up investment of forty million US dollars.

This was why Lu Liang often said that sometimes a company's valuation is particularly illusive and should not be used as an actual reference standard.

Just like when Li Xiang ONE was launched, its valuation skyrocketed from two billion to three billion US dollars immediately.

That number sounded good and looked good.

But if Li Xiang went to a bank for a loan, he likely couldn't borrow even one hundred million dollars because only Tianxing, Meituan, Jingwei, and Ming Shi Capital acknowledged that valuation.

They were all co-founders of Li Xiang, and before the car company was recognized by the market, they had to keep investing money until it went public or the company's valuation was recognized by the market.

It was somewhat similar to the rules of trading in antiques and calligraphy.

An item might fetch five hundred at one auction and five thousand at another.

Before the value was recognized by the market, the sellers had to shuffle it back and forth until a willing buyer appeared.

As long as it was hyped up through a few cycles, even a low price could be inflated, due to increasing participation and nobody wanting to be left holding the bag.

But this was still slightly different; at least Li Xiang had development potential and wasn't purely a capital game of musical chairs.

Just past ten in the morning, interested investors had essentially arrived, and Little Wang, dressed in a suited smile, took the stage.

"Before last May, the market always thought that the e-commerce platform had matured, with all the ecological niches occupied by Taobao and JD. However, Pinduoduo emerged and rewrote the e-commerce landscape."

"There's never been a fixed market, just a lack of the ability to sniff out opportunities."

"Hence, Panda took the initiative to change, combining e-commerce with live streaming and greatly promoting the online guide shopping model."

"From zero to one hundred million dollars in transactions, Taobao took two years and ten months; Pinduoduo took three months and twelve days, but Panda only took six days."

Little Wang eloquently spoke, continuously adding glitter to Panda.

As an industry leader, a reform pioneer, and so on.

Old Ma once said, seeing JD rise, he was relieved because the existence of Taobao was to cultivate more companies like JD.

This statement originated when Old Ma and Qiangzi were bantering, but that didn't stop Little Wang from applying it to Panda.

If Taobao was the 1.0 e-commerce model, and JD the 2.0, then Panda, with its live shopping, was the 3.0 e-commerce model.

Blow the trumpet as one might, many words could be summed up in one sentence: five hundred million dollars, won't buy you a loss, won't deceive you.

With Ali valued at two hundred and forty billion US dollars, JD at thirty-eight billion US dollars, the 3.0 e-commerce Panda was projected to have a baseline value of twenty billion US dollars in the future, now offering a forty-fold return on investment.

"Mr. Wang's speech does indeed have some substance, and he must have done his homework, but this model is too easy to replicate, and Douyu has more potential, with Huya and Bilibili following suit."

"And Kuai Shou and Douyin must have noticed as well."

Despite Wang Xiaocong's flowery claims, the lack of interest in the subscription room showed that the investors present were not convinced.

There's an unspoken rule in the venture capital industry: invest in either the leader who dominates the field, or the second in line who has the potential to surpass the leader.

Or invest in the last in line, for low investment and high returns.

Panda being third was somewhat awkward, especially facing competitors who were both backed by Tencent.

Under Tencent's grand entertainment strategy, it was inevitable that the two companies would merge and go public, leading to a monopoly.

Panda, in third, was in danger!

It was understandable that investors were not optimistic.

Little Wang's expression was slightly troubled, although the round was tentatively set at sixty million, with Pu Si leading with forty million, topping up to exactly one hundred million.

But with no competitors, apart from Lu Liang, the investors might propose some outrageous conditions.

They might even retract at the last minute, as the rule of buying high and not chasing low is almost universal.

Lu Liang grinned, unwilling to let his friend Cong be caught in a dilemma, and turned to instruct Wen Chao.

Wen Chao nodded and headed straight to the subscription room.

Being Lu Liang's assistant, many recognized him around.

Seeing him processing to the subscription room, the minds of the investors started buzzing.

Wang Xiaocong and Lu Liang were friends, true, but Lu Liang was known for being a very sensible investor.

Like in the last round, and the round before that, when Panda was facing an almost broken capital chain.

Lu Liang, as a co-founder of Panda, firmly didn't invest a cent, indicating business is business, despite relationships.

And this time, he did invest.

Lu Liang's insight was undeniable, among so many present, no one dared to say they had a better vision than him.

Could it show that Panda's launch of the online guide shopping model, despite facing the huge challenges from Douyu and Huya, still had potential?

Soon, Wen Chao walked out of the subscription room.

The funding subscription office went from deserted to bustling, all because Lu Liang had invested.

Upon witnessing this scene, Little Wang cast a grateful glance, though his eyes conveyed an indescribable difficulty. On stage, he had talked and talked, yet none of his words had matched the impact of Lu Liang's simple act, filling him with frustration.

Lu Liang patted his shoulder, smiling reassuringly, "It's just that there was a need for a leader."

Little Wang felt slightly better. Lu Liang's words weren't always hurtful; he could indeed say something nice occasionally.

The next second, he promptly retracted that thought as Lu Liang, still smiling, said, "But being that leader is even more crucial."

Little Wang turned grim, then quickly switched to a smile, "Indeed, being the leader is crucial."

He repeated in his mind ten times that Lu Liang was a freak. So many bigwigs had floundered before him.

He was nobody in comparison; just a change in perspective was enough to brighten his mood.

Lu Liang felt a slight sadness, sighed and said, "Xiaocong, recover yourself a bit. I'm not used to this version of you."

Wang Xiaocong gritted his teeth, his gaze unfriendly: "Are you asking to die?"

Little Wang was joking, but Xiaocong took him seriously; after all, in his mind, Xiaocong was his junior. The founder of a company valued at five hundred million dollars—such tolerance was beyond expectation.

"That's more like it," Lu Liang grinned.

The Series C funding for Panda,

attracted investment from twelve institutions.

Pu Si led this round with thirty million US dollars, closely followed by Tianxing and Qihu, each investing twenty million US dollars.

The remaining thirty million US dollars were divided among nine institutions or individual investors.

Post the Series C funding, Tianxing's stake in Panda rose from a diluted 8.2% to 12.2%, ranking it fourth after Little Wang, Qihu, and Pu Si, along with Golden Sand River.

Now at an approximate investment of twenty-five million US dollars, they held a stake valued at sixty-one million dollars, seemingly more than double.

But as always, valuation is valuation and value is value. The company has not yet listed; it's all unreal.

Lu Liang planned to leave, uninterested in Panda's upcoming internal meeting; he knew all he needed to know.

Just as he was leaving, he was stopped by the Red Robed Sect Leader.

The 360 at the start of Go, the infamous '3Q War,' and even surpassing Tencent in public opinion back then. Now infamous and known as the lending King, Zhou Hongwei played no small part in it.

"Mr. Zhou, good day."

Lu Liang paused, chatting casually with Old Zhou.

Seeing how bullish Lu Liang was on the new energy market, the financially robust Qihu showed interest as well. They had been discussing with Fang Yunzhou from Chery recently, planning to invest in setting up a new energy brand named Nezha, and asked Lu Liang if he was interested in investing.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry, I have no plans to invest further for now."

Lu Liang shook his head, politely declining. NIO and Li Xiang were still in early stages with numerous expenses; investing in similar products would be too much for him.

"That's all right then."

Old Zhou's eyes flashed with disappointment. Qihu had the full capability to support Nezha alone; involving Lu Liang was merely for added security. They would welcome it, but didn't push for it.

360 wasn't LeEco; they weren't short on cash.

That night, Lu Liang returned to the office to follow the second phase of America's presidential race— the race to the White House.

Every time he thought about how the next leader would emerge from one of these two, he marveled at the freedom in the United States.

One was a real estate tycoon climbing to the pinnacle of power; the other was the first female since the founding.

Whomever it ended up being, it was bound to be full of discussion.

To really stir things up, one had to look at America; no sound until a big bang is made.

"Businessman, it might be difficult," Lu Liang suddenly sighed upon seeing the 'Businessman inverse index' spike.

The 'Businessman inverse index' was similar to domestic A-shares focusing on new energy or AI intelligence themes—a concept born specifically for businessmen.

It included the Mexican peso and the ten-year US Treasury yield.

The former because the businessman advocated driving out millions of illegal immigrants annually, banning illegal drugs entries, and even claimed he would build a border wall.

Going to America and illegal drug production had become significant economic activities for Old Mexico.

The political declarations of the businessman would clearly break both of Old Mexico's arms, thus affecting the value of the peso.

The ten-year US Treasury yield rises because the businessman also favored imposing import tariffs, bringing capital and industries back to the United States.

Not all corporations and funds would embrace this; take for example an employee, earning three thousand yuan versus three thousand US dollars.

Any sensible business knows the right choice, but they couldn't resist, thus the capital flowed into financial markets like US Treasuries in quiet protest.

The surge in Mexican peso and stocks like the US stock market getting stronger were the market's strongest indicators for Larry winning the debate.

"Businessman, what do you have to win?"

Lu Liang mumbled to himself, waiting for dawn.

Though the businessman's actions were somewhat extravagant, his sense of ethics and governing policies resembled a normal person, truly considering the nation and its citizens, earnest and loyal not an exaggeration.

Yet, in this world influenced by power, his rival was supported by the husband of a former presidency, and the full support of the previous leader.

Together, they had sixteen years of political legacy. Compared to that, the businessman had nothing but money; he was virtually empty-handed.

The gap between the two sides was bigger even than between eight hundred thousand versus six hundred thousand.

What did the businessman have to win? It wasn't surprising that the market generally favored Larry to win this election.