On December 7, Douyin quietly launched.
As a platform-type product with no specific direction, identity, or uniqueness, its download volume was less than three digits within 24 hours.
Moreover, at least half of those were downloads by Yang Zhenyuan's team, artificially inflating the data.
Lu Liang didn't help promote it on Weibo because Douyin at that stage wasn't worth his effort.
With Yang Zhenyuan being a novice entrepreneur, although his concept was recognized, his personal management capabilities remained a question mark. Not every tech-savvy engineer can successfully start a business or manage a company.
He needed to rely on himself to accumulate a group of initial users to prove to Lu Liang that he was a competent business manager.
Lu Liang set a target of 100,000 users, giving him enough time to develop but wouldn't invest another dime during this period.
"Mr. Lu, make it 500,000 instead. I don't want you to set your hopes so low."