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# Toutiao with Matthew Brennan
- URL: https://www.analysepodcast.com/episode-187-toutiao-with-matthew-brennan/
- Published: 2017-06-14T05:48:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-19T13:50:28.000Z
- Description: Matthew Brennan joined us in a fascinating conversation to discuss Toutiao, a mobile news app with AI built in & their surprise rise to prominence without BAT influence.
- Author: Leong Chung Wei Bernard
- Tags: Analyse Podcast

Matthew Brennan from China Channel joined us in a fascinating conversation on Toutiao, one of the new emerging mobile apps focused on AI and their applications in news and information. We discussed the chronology, product & services and business models behind Toutiao’s rise among the 2nd wave of technology giants (Toutiao, Meituan-Dianping & Didi) in China and how their surprised rise has no influence from the BAT in China. 

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

- Matthew Brennan, Co-founder of China Channel dot co ([chinachannel.co](http://chinachannel.co/?ref=analysepodcast.com), [@MattyBGooner](https://twitter.com/MattyBGooner?ref=analysepodcast.com) , [Linkedin](https://cn.linkedin.com/in/matthew-brennan?ref=analysepodcast.com), Wechat:Yowdy-CQ) \[0:40\]  
  - Re-introduction
  - Since our last conversation, what have you been up to? \[1:23\]
- [Toutiao](https://www.toutiao.com/?ref=analysepodcast.com) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toutiao?ref=analysepodcast.com), [mobile app](http://app.toutiao.com/news%5Farticle/?ref=analysepodcast.com)) \[2:20\]  
  - Jinri-Toutiao (Today’s Headlines) is a mobile-web app that recommends personalized information to users based on artificial intelligence. As of Jan 2017, they have 700M users, & 175 monthly active users. Over 78 million people use Toutiao for an average time of 76 minutes on a daily basis, resulting in 1.3 billion articles read every day.
  - Can you discuss the vision and mission of Toutiao? \[3:11\]
  - How does a publisher join Toutiao to publish news similar to Wechat’s Official Accounts? \[4:02\]
  - Can you describe the chronology of how Toutiao rise to dominance? Founder: Zhang Yiming, formerly from Microsoft \[4:57\]
  - What are the interesting products and services of Toutiao? \[8:58\]
  - Does Toutiao connect to other major logins such as Wechat or QQ login? \[11:40\]
  - What is the user behavior for Toutiao like? \[12:19\]
  - How do they generate revenue and monetize their activities? Advertising similar to Facebook and Ecommerce with a partnership with JD dot com \[14:35\]
  - In your opinion, with Tencent investing heavily in AI and Wechat, will they directly compete with Toutiao at some point? \[18:59\]
  - Who are the investors behind Toutiao? Weibo, Sequoia, Yuri Milner (DST). \[21:30\]
  - Where do you see Toutiao’s focus be in the next 12 months? \[23:08\]

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The show is hosted by [Bernard Leong](http://www.bernardleong.com/?ref=analysepodcast.com) ([@bleongcw)](http://www.twitter.com/bleongcw?ref=analysepodcast.com) and are sponsored by [Ideal Workspace](http://www.idealworkspace.com/?ref=analysepodcast.com) ([Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/idealworkspace?ref=analysepodcast.com), [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/idealworkspace) and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/3770397?ref=analysepodcast.com)) with their new [Altizen Desk](http://altizen.com/?ref=analysepodcast.com) on [Indiegogo](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aspirus-world-s-first-smart-standing-workstation/x/1909131?ref=analysepodcast.com#/) ([Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/thealtizen?ref=analysepodcast.com), [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/thealtizen), [Medium](https://medium.com/@thealtizen?ref=analysepodcast.com)). Also check out Ideal Workspace’s new standing desk, [Altizen](http://www.altizen.com/?ref=analysepodcast.com) and sign up for their mailing list. Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, “The Beginning” from Red Cliff Soundtrack.