With IPO plans, China’s hipster social network Douban turns pragmatic

Douban—a Chinese social networking service that focuses on film, music, and books—revealed on August 5 that its plans to go public overseas would bring in cash flow necessary for its product lines to run on independent budgets. The email did not mention which overseas market the company planned to list on.

The announcement comes from a leaked internal email (in Chinese) that founder and CEO Yang Bo (more widely known as Ah Bei) sent to his employees, calling for a “pragmatic” pivot for the company. A person familiar with the matter has confirmed the authenticity of the email to TechNode.

Ah Bei said in the email that the “waning, profit losing” products including Dongxi, a product once with high financial expectations, will be terminated. A new content business group, centered around its first paid content feature Douban Time, will launch with the focus on generating revenue.

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