How China’s Bytedance became the world’s most valuable startup | The Verge

Maybe read the EULA carefully, if you're signing up for a Bytedance app (unless you have no qualms about potentially sharing all of your profile and activity data with the Chinese government)... Also see TikTok Is a Short-Form Monetized Musical Meme Machine | Wired

"TikTok is inescapable right now, and it’s not just teens paying attention — it’s rocked the business world as well. Bytedance, the owner of the wildly popular short-form video app, is now valued at more than $75 billion following a new round of investment. This means Uber has unexpectedly lost its long-held title of the world’s most valuable tech startup to a low-profile challenger from China.

You could be forgiven for not having heard the name Bytedance before the recent news. The founder, 35-year-old Zhang Yiming, rarely gives interviews, and the company’s Western-facing media presence is close to nonexistent. But the company’s global ambitions are real and so are its chances. Bytedance is the first Chinese internet company with a significant, genuinely engaged following around the world, which means it’s worthy of serious attention."

How China’s Bytedance became the world’s most valuable startup | The Verge