Thread by @ruima

Things You Probably Didn't Know about Bytedance (owner of TikTok), I'll be adding to this thread ...

Ways it's like SV tech cos:
1) Bi-monthly OKR review. OKR transparency across firm
2) 3 free meals, afternoon tea + snacks
3) No titles, call by direct name or "classmate"

Bytedance was intent on internationalizing even from the beginning, but we can see it clearly in this leaked management presentation from Jan 2013, less than a yr after it was founded in March 2012, when Toutiao was just 2mm DAU.
"Attempt commercialization & internationalization"

As mentioned in @TechBuzzChina episodes, Bytedance's Chinese nickname is "Super App Factory."
Its experiments extend well beyond TikTok (video), Lark (2B) & the like. For example, it also has the #2 auto media in China (DAU 4mm+), 懂车帝 (dcdapp.com).

Don't think Bytedance just builds tho! It does plenty of investing and M&A💰. From 2014-19, it did ~60 transactions & pace is increasing. 📈 The last 30 or so deals 2018-Q3'19 are 32% in content, 23% in enterprise, 13% in edtech, 13% in social, 19% other (fintech, games, etc.)

As for Bytedance M&A, everyone knows abt musical.ly (acq 2017), but what abt the $300mm it paid for AR selfie app Faceu in 2018 (250mm registered users)? 😍 It had some cool face sticker / effects tech. Faceu was by 郭列, founder of 脸萌, extra pts if u know it! 👀

When we held a session on working for BAT at @TechBuzzChina, 996 (working hrs) was a big Q 🕘.

At Bytedance, the rule is Big-Small-Week: u only get every other Sat off. So half the time, just 1-day wknd.

And yes, most ppl end up working past 9pm. Cab subsidy🚖 avail post 10pm.

You prob wouldn't be surprised to know that Amazon is a big inspiration for Bytedance. 📦

"Always Day 1" is one of their major slogans & plastered everywhere. 1⃣

Another Amazonian habit? More docs, less PPTs, relatively speaking anyway. ✍️

Was Bytedance always experimenting so "patiently" though?🤔

In the ~5 months between formally founding and releasing the first version of Toutiao (their first big moneymaking news app) ...

Bytedance launched no less than 12 different apps. 😱

Told ya, Super App Factory! 🙃

Point is, Bytedance isn't attached to just one product / vertical. It's opportunistic that way. It IS obsessed w info & speeding up info flow. Even internally.

"Efficiency engineering" unit built Lark / Feishu AKA Slack clone for this purpose & there's more too, its own HRM etc.

CEO Zhang Yiming insists Bytedance is a "romantic" co tho. U can see it in the name🤷‍♀️

Legend goes: co named after Steve Jobs idea Art + Tech is Apple's real magic

Byte (tech)👩‍💻 + Dance (art) 💃

All I know is, its Chinese name = translation of English & named concurrently 🙃

Bytedance CEO Zhang Yiming is an engineer thru & thru.
& a self-learner. 📖

After Toutiao launch, he realized they needed a rec engine but didn't know how to write it. He tried to get an advance copy of ref book on it (below) & failed.

Instead, he learned frm the internet.🌎

Lesson here is don't give up. 🦾 Which is how TikTok came abt.

2014: Bytedance considered short video but didn't go for it bc so many competitors already in China (below). They thot they'd missed the wave.🌊

2015: Still nah.

2016: This is too big to give up on. We gotta try.

Mid-stream promotion:

You should really listen to our @TechBuzzChina podcast Ep 28 on Bytedance if you haven't. 🎙️

It covers the most impt controversies the co has faced.

Hint: Just 2 yrs ago, it was viewed extremely negatively by many. 😡

Transcript: techbuzzchina.com/episodes/ep-28…

Back to Bytedance ...

Founder Zhang Yiming's management philosophy is "develop a company as a product."

What do you think it means?

I think it means that Bytedance wants to iterate quickly on its own structure & processes & goals & well, everything. The constant is change.

1 big thing abt Bytedance:

The org structure is functional (ish). Products are managed / operated separately yes, but much of the engineering resources are centralized. This theoretically allows for a more rational & flexible & responsive allocation of resources to diff projs.

At Bytedance, engineers have the highest status (altho it does depend on product, Douyin growth is quite respected, they've been very successful & clever).

The selling point for eng is: ur work can (potentially) be immediately applied across all products. Think of the impact! 🙃

I should qualify above statement w everyone is impt! 🙌

Some of the most sr ppl in Bytedance now aren't engineers.

Kelly Zhang, creator of Douyin / TikTok (& Huoshan), joined in 2013 after her interest-based photo-sharing community was acquired. She's now Bytedance China CEO.