Topic
9 facts from 3 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2017
ByteDance launched Douyin at the end of 2016, and by fall 2017 it had 100 million users and over a billion video views a day.
“So first, ByteDance copied Musically domestically in China with Douyin. That launched at the end of 2016. Nine months later, in sort of fall of 2017, Douyin already has 100 million users, and they're serving over a billion video views a day.”
2017
ByteDance announced on November 10, 2017 that it was acquiring Musical.ly for between $800 million and $1 billion, beating Kuaishou and Tencent.
“it's announced on November 10th, 2017, that ByteDance, not Kwaisho or Tencent, is acquiring Musical.ly for between $800 million and a billion dollars.”
2017
One host calculated that the roughly $1 billion price for Musical.ly equaled about $10 per monthly active user, versus about $25 to $30 per US user that Facebook earns per year.
“But when you think about it, it's only $10 per monthly active user.”
2018
One host said ByteDance spent roughly $1.5 billion on advertising in the West after the acquisition to promote TikTok and move Musical.ly users over.
“ByteDance spent like a billion and a half dollars, I think, over the next several months doing a massive ad campaign in the Western world for TikTok.”
2019
In late 2019 a CFIUS review was opened into ByteDance's 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, which had not been reviewed when it closed.
“So formally a CFIUS review has been opened on the musically acquisition, which of course was two years ago.”
2021
Ray Ma says ByteDance made a $4 billion acquisition of a gaming studio and another acquisition three weeks later.
“they've just made a $4 billion acquisition of a gaming studio, and then three weeks later, they made another acquisition”
2022
Brad Gerstner said Altimeter invested in ByteDance at a $10 billion valuation and that the company was being marked between $350 billion and $500 billion.
“ByteDance, we invested in at $10 billion, okay? Today, it's marked, you know, somewhere between $350 billion to $500 billion, depending on which crossover fund, you know, you look at.”
Undated
Toutiao, ByteDance's original core product, means 'headlines' and is a news and content aggregation app.
“Toutiao literally means headlines. It is a news and content aggregation app, maybe more like Flipboard back in the day,”
Undated
ByteDance never took investment from Tencent or Alibaba, unlike many other Chinese tech startups.
“somehow that company has never taken investment from Tencent or Alibaba.”
Episodes