Why Bytedance might sell Tiktok to Microsoft despite opposition - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Chinese internet users have been voicing loud opposition against the possible deal by Bytedance to sell Tiktok to Microsoft, as the company might be hit by a ban by US President Donald Trump. But the verdict by startups and investors in China has been milder, says Shanghai-based VC William Bao Bean to Techcrunch. 

Techcrunch:

Startups and investors in China are more sympathetic toward ByteDance. Many agree that if the Microsoft deal goes through, it could be the least bad outcome for TikTok. 

“They are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said William Bao Bean, general partner at Chinaccelerator, a cross-border accelerator backed by SOSV. “We are in a fast-changing regulatory environment. I think the consumers would probably want to continue using the service, and this is one potential way to make that happen. Obviously, I don’t think it’s what ByteDance really wants.”... 

The tech community is well aware that TikTok is a rarity. Although the backlash will have a chilling effect on Chinese companies expanding to the US, and potentially other Western markets, there simply aren’t many internet companies going from China to the West in the first place. 

“Most solutions that are built for China don’t solve problems that people have in the West,” observed Bao Bean.

More at Techcrunch.

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