以下为黄峥2019年致股东信原文：
是拼多多上市后首封致股东信
致股东:
这是一个有意思的时代，世界正以前所未有的速度改变着。好的坏的都在发生，很多是不曾预期的，有些甚至让人惊讶或者紧张。旧力量的惯性依然很强，产生的问题依然存在；新的力量、新的思维、新的方法又在竞相萌发。如狄更斯在《双城记》里所写，“……这是一个相信的年代，这是一个怀疑的年代……”，但无论你信仰还是质疑、主动或是被动，我们与世界都正以近乎冲刺的速度进入到一个新的时代。
（一）新时代的新电商
在新的时代，就我们这个局部，我们倡导的新电商意味着什么？和传统的电商前辈的关系又是什么？
首先我想新电商的最大特征是“普惠”，这是由它出生的时代决定的。20年前互联网刚在中国起步时，使用者是知识经济水平较为靠前的小部分人。20年后拼多多出现时，不论乡村还是城市，教授还是农民，移动互联网已经平等地进入到了普通人的生活中。这个时候出现的新平台，它的历史使命就是服务最广大的普通人。从第一天起，我们就沿着这个使命前行，希望通过农产品上行为农户增加收入，为城市居民提供实惠，这成为了当时平台成长的最强劲动力。之后，通过工厂C2M直销提高商品的性价比，给普通人提供买得起的升级生活用品，又让平台向这个方向迈进了一步。
新电商的第二个特征是“人为先”，这是由它的基因决定的。拼多多诞生于移动互联网，摒弃了PC搜索购物年代的“物为先”。新电商不再把活生生的人当成流量，把商业模式做成流量批发，它试图理解每个点击背后人的温度，试图通过人和人的连接和信任来汇聚同质需求；只有服务好人和对人足够尊重，人群才能聚集成力量，我们才能将长周期零散需求汇聚为短周期批量需求，出现柔性定制生产的可能性，提升供应链效率，让价值回归劳动者和创造者；新电商也希望通过人和人的互动，让用户更开心，类似多多果园这样的产品虽然只是初步尝试，但验证了一种可行性。
新电商的第三个特征是“更开放”，这是它的战略主动选择，更是时代进步的要求。我们的策略不是从打破一个垄断到创造一个新的垄断，而是从打破一个垄断到提供一个新的选择。拼多多的快速增长，也是行业里的每个公司争取长期生存权的必然结果。以快递行业为例，我们在物流领域的基础很薄弱，但拼多多推出的电子面单系统能在短时间内成为中国乃至世界第二大电子面单系统，靠的不是我们，而是人心。大家从内心深处都不希望被强迫，虽然阻力重重，但为长期生存权而争取一个新选择的愿望和力量是强大的。
虽然其他主流电子面单系统到现在都要求自身体系商户只能使用其唯一指定面单，但我们依然允许商户选择其他的电子面单系统。我们希望身体力行促进产业走向开放，将力量从争取垄断与反对垄断的局部利益斗争中解放出来，投入到更值得我们全力比赛的——例如农产品上行的物流效率提升，这样的更有利于社会和大多数消费者和劳动者的难事上来。
从现在来看这样的策略对于物流行业的好处是明显的。
除了物流，在云服务上，我们现有的体量可以自建也可以只用一家，我们依然选择了所有主流云计算平台；在支付上，我们接入了所有主流支付平台，坚持把多种选择留给消费者。
关于新旧关系，很多人习惯用你死我活的战争思维来看待，好比对于整日围坐于古罗马角斗场的人来说，非此即彼就是全部的世界。也许角斗画面能带来一些感官刺激，但大自然多样生态共生迭代才是持久的真实。
新电商是后来者，又是开创者。既是后生，各方面不完善，弱的一方；又是新生力量，充满了活力和希望，代表了先进的方向。拼多多在一个特殊机遇期通过商业模式和技术创新，突破了既有格局，开创出了一个新的购物场景，我们希望可以通过自身努力，引导生态向着更普惠、更有温度、更开放的方向不断迭代。
（二）拼多多当前的状态
2.1 拼多多依然是一家创业公司
虽然拼多多成长很快，也有了一定的规模，但它从成立到现在仅有4年时间，依然是一家创业公司。就好比是刚读小学的YAO，个头虽高但依然只是个小学生。在这个阶段，需要的是充足的营养和适当的磨炼。虽然偶尔也会被推上球场，与大块头成年球员较量较量，这里就特别需要裁判和教练关注场上对抗是否合理，小大人是会在皮肉青紫中成长，还是会韧带断裂半月板受伤。我们相信大家愿意看到越来越多的优秀球员涌现，贡献精彩比赛，而不是赛场互殴。
作为监护人，如果想要培养他向善和自立，周末去做做公益，去餐厅做做临时工赚点钱也许不错。但督促他把赚来的钱都存在罐里，每周数数存了多少，这恐怕不是一个聪明的投资，用这笔钱给他买双心爱的篮球鞋也许应该更好吧。
因为进入了赛场，这个小大人随时具备了产生收入和随时赚钱的能力。同样的，现在的拼多多也具备了产生大额营收的能力，当前的短期开销和营收只有很弱的关联。账面上的短期费用（我们认为相当一部分是具有价值的投资）也有极强的随时可调性。我想，拿“储蓄罐”里的钱去存定期恐怕不是一个好主意。我们在相当长的一段时间内将不会改变现在的经营策略，将持续聚焦在企业内生价值上，积极寻找对长期公司价值有利的投入机会，即使这些投入按照会计准则会被记为大额短期费用。
2.2 当前面临的空前“二选一”会持续一段时间，但固有的藩篱必将被打破，形成以创新和增量为导向的竞合是必然。
拼多多的出现初步打破了既有电商格局，自然会让其他平台有所反应，这种反应有时甚至是夸张的。但所有的这些行为并不产生消费者价值，也不为品牌商、生产者创造价值，甚至大多数是以伤害生态相关主体及消费者利益为代价的。这种为了争取或维持某种垄断而进行的消耗与伤害有时是“杀敌一千，自损两百”，有时是“杀敌一千，自损两千”，如果不能维持长期的“独家排他”，那终将只是消耗而无所得。
而“长期独家排他”是必然会被打破的。一方面，一时的许诺放在一两年的长度，和商家、消费者的全体来看，是必然不可持续的，甚至是要反向加倍奉还的。另一方面，假设长期没有一个像拼多多这样体量的新电商存在，那整个产业上下游、品牌商、资金流、物流都将只能在实际上唯一可选的体系内流转，那是不可想象的，也不符合商业逻辑和自然规律。恐怕连自身认为获益的当事方都会逐渐意识到这是个灾难。所以大体量的新电商是必然会出现的，不是现在的拼多多，就是未来的“Costco + Disney”。
长期看旧的格局能否维持，不是看“追求独家垄断性的竞争”能分给周边多少利益，也不是看有多少违背自身利益和意愿的被迫表态。有时恰恰相反，每一次被强迫背后都是一次内心深处反抗力量的增长。
一种商业和格局能否持续，本质上要看是否有利于消费者，是否有利于劳动者和价值创造者，是否能创造出不可替代的价值，是否恪守本分尽了社会责任。
（三）下一步的策略
关于下一步的策略，我想主要还是下面四点：
- 坚持消费者导向，创造性地解决存量问题，为社会做增量贡献。
- 从生存的高度，理解履行社会责任是应尽的本分。保护知识产权，持续高压“双打”，全力扶贫助农。以钉钉子的精神，扎扎实实一个一个的解决实际问题。
- 专注于长期企业内生价值，立足长远，勇于投资未来
- 进化组织，一步一个脚印走向更包容、更透明、更国际化的成熟公众机构。
时代的洪流浩浩荡荡，方向难以阻挡。
拼多多在短短三年多的高速发展过程中经历了各种曲折，是一个个老百姓用自己的真金白银投票支持了她。在森林里，每一个局部树和树的竞争是激烈的，不同局部的较量是异常丰富、曲折变化的。但如果我们看整个森林，最终所有树的方向又是一致的，那就是向着阳光的方向。向着阳光的力量是异常强大的，他将改造很多事物，或为改造事物开辟道路。拼多多的出现和发展并不是因为我们有多厉害的能力，平台有多完善，甚至都不是我们有多用功，而是因为她生长在阳光充足的方向，这个方向就是普惠、以人为先和更加开放。摒弃零和竞争的帝国式思维，转变为以持续创新为基础，为消费者和社会创造增量价值的思维，这就是我们看到的阳光。
不论我们的作用有多大或有多微小，我们这一代人终将被这个时代急速的洪流推向一个属于我们的不一样的新时代。
感谢选择相信我们，加入我们创造新电商这一美妙旅程的投资人。让我们一起向着早晨七八点钟太阳的方向前进，因为那才是新生的方向。
黄峥
谨代表拼多多
2019年4月24日
以下为英文全文：
LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
These are interesting times. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace. Good and bad changes are simultaneously unfolding, many of which are unexpected, and some may even leave people anxious or in disbelief. The inertia of old forces remains strong, and the problems that arise from them persist. At the same time, new forces, new ideas and new approaches are emerging. As Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities — “It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” Whether you believe or question, by choice or by chance, we and the world around us are sprinting into a new era.
- “New E-commerce” in the New Era
In the new era, what do we mean by “new e-commerce”? What is Pinduoduo’s relationship with the forerunners in our industry?
First of all, we think the primary characteristic of “new e-commerce” is “Benefit All.” This is determined by the era in which “new e-commerce” was born. When the Internet was first introduced to China twenty years ago, it was accessible only to a select few — the more educated and the more affluent. When we launched Pinduoduo in 2015, whether you were in the city or the countryside, whether you were a professor or a farmer, mobile Internet was equallyaccessible to all. As the new platform born of this time, our mission has been to serve all and benefit all. From day one, we have devoted ourselves to this mission, working hard to increase the income of farmers by bringing agricultural products to cities directly, while providing savings to the urban population.
This effort was the most important driving force behind the growth of our platform. Thereafter, through the C2M (Consumer-to-Manufacturer) model of direct sales from factories, we have improved the value-for-money proposition of the merchandise on our platform, thus providing affordable and better-quality household items to all. This marked another significant step towards our mission of benefiting all.
The second characteristic of “new e-commerce” is “People First.” This is in the DNA of “new e-commerce.” Pinduoduo was born in the mobile Internet era, bypassing the PC era’s search-based online shopping model which placed products first. “New e-commerce” no longer treats each individual merely as traffic nor does it simply take wholesale distribution of such traffic as its business model. Instead, “new e-commerce” tries to understand the human touch behind each click; it tries to aggregate similar needs through analyzing the connections and trust among people. Only when we wholeheartedly serve and respect people, can we harness the collective power of the people and transform long-cycled scattered demand into short-cycled aggregated demand. This introduces the possibility of on demand customized production, improves supply chain efficiency, and returns value to their creators — the everyday workers. “New e-commerce” also aims to create more happiness through greater interactions during the shopping experience. Features like Duo Duo Orchard are amongst our early experiments and have demonstrated great potential.
The third characteristic of “new e-commerce” is “More Open.” This is a conscious strategic decision. It is also the requisite of the new era. Our strategy has never been to disrupt a monopoly in order to create a new one of our own, but to disrupt in order to provide a choice. The rapid growth of Pinduoduo is the inevitable result of every player in the industry fighting for its long-term survival. Taking the logistics sector as an example, despite being on a weaker footing, our e-waybill system has become the second largest in China and probably the world shortly after its launch in March. This is not the result of our hard work or being smarter than others, but simply the will of the people. Deep in their heart, nobody likes to be coerced. Despite countervailing forces, people’s desire and hope for having a new choice for their long-term survival is irresistible.
While other mainstream e-waybill systems have till now required the merchants in their ecosystems to only use their designated waybills, we still allow our merchants to choose from other systems. We hope this could set an example for the industry to become more open, to release the energy from fruitless and short-sighted fights for monopolistic power, and to divert them to more worthy causes, such as improving the logistics efficiency of agricultural products.
These are much more meaningful initiatives that can benefit our society and people.
From the progress to date, our strategy has brought evident value to the logistics industry.
Apart from logistics, in cloud computing, our current scale allows us to either build our own facilities, or we could use a single provider, but we choose to include all the mainstream cloud computing platforms. In terms of payment processing, we are connected to all the mainstream payment platforms. We believe we should leave the choice to consumers.
Between the old and the new, many people tend to view this as a battle of life and death. Much like the ancient Roman spectators in the Colosseum, their entire world view is limited to a zero-sum game. Perhaps the dueling of the gladiators is more sensational, but the lasting reality we see is more in line with how Mother Nature encourages diverse and constantly evolving co-existence among all things.
“New e-commerce” is a latecomer, but also an innovator. It is young and weak with much to improve, but it is also a new force, full of vitality and hope. It represents the way of the future. At this opportune time, Pinduoduo, through its business model and technological innovation, has disrupted the status quo and created a new shopping scenario. We hope we can lead the way in building a world that will “Benefit All,” put “People First” and be “More Open.”
- Where We are Now
2.1 Pinduoduo is Still a Young Start-up
Even at its scale and pace of growth, Pinduoduo is still only four years old. It is like when Yao Ming just started in elementary school. He might have been quite tall, but he was nevertheless only an elementary school student. At that stage, what he needed the most were adequate nutrition, appropriate training and life experiences. Occasionally, he got pushed onto the court to compete head-to-head with adult players. It was during those times that the referees and coaches should have watched closely to decide whether the competition was fair — would this “little grown up” become a stronger player through the cuts and bruises from the game, or would he suffer injuries that could be career threatening. We believe that everyone would prefer to see more talented players emerging and contributing to exciting games, rather than brawls on the court.
As his guardian, if you wanted to nurture him into a kind and independent individual, having him involved in community service or encouraging him to earn some pocket money on weekends might not be a bad idea. But it might not be a good idea if you asked him to count his pocket money in the piggy bank every now and then, and to solely keep it there. Investing in something that would benefit him in the future, such as a new pair of basketball shoes, might deliver better returns. This is because this “little grown-up,” having been pushed onto the court, had already proven his capability and potential to “generate revenue” and make real money at any time.
Similarly, at this current stage, Pinduoduo has the ability to generate revenue, but it is weakly correlated with the large amount of spending we choose to incur. These short-term expenses are highly discretionary. In fact, we view a significant portion as long-term investments where we foresee meaningful continuous returns. It is probably not a good idea to put our money “in the piggy bank” into a fixed deposit at this stage. Hence, we will not change our business strategy for a considerable period of time. We will continue to focus on building our intrinsic value and proactively seek investment opportunities that can drive the long-term value of our company, even if these investments are recognized as expenses under the accounting standards.
2.2 “Forced Exclusivity” and Thereafter
The current “forced exclusivity” observed in the market environment is likely to persist for some time. However, such a practice will eventually be dismantled; co-opetition for innovation, new opportunities and growth is inevitable.
Pinduoduo disrupted the existing equilibrium of China’s e-commerce landscape. Naturally and consequently, it has triggered existing players to react.
Sometimes, these reactions are out of bound. But none of these actions are constructive to the industry; they do not create value for consumers, nor do they deliver benefits to brands and manufacturers. In fact, most are at significant cost and damages to consumers and ecosystem partners. More often than not, these attempts to establish or prolong any monopolistic control are both wasteful and destructive. Sometimes it is akin to “killing a thousand enemies and losing two hundred men,” or worse yet, “killing a thousand enemies and losing two thousand men.” If such exclusivity cannot be maintained over the long term, all these short- term attempts would ultimately be in vain.
And these exclusivities are bound to be broken. On the one hand, taking a time horizon of one to two years, any momentary promise, from the perspective of merchants and consumers as a whole, is bound to be unsustainable. It might even require twice the payback. On the other hand, without a scaled “new ecommerce” player like Pinduoduo, the entire value chain of suppliers, brands, cash flow and deliveries will have no choice but to rely on one single de facto system. That is unthinkable and against any healthy business environment and natural evolution of a market. Even parties who thought they would benefit from such exclusivities would gradually realize that this closed system is a disaster. Therefore, the emergence of a scaled “new e-commerce” player is inevitable. If it is not Pinduoduo, then it will be another “Costco + Disney.”
Whether the current status quo is sustainable over the long run does not depend on how much commercial benefits can be split with the relevant parties, or how many participants would succumb to such pressure and make claims counter to their best interests. On the contrary, every incident of coercion only prompts a stronger innate desire to resist.
Whether a business model or landscape could be sustainable fundamentally depends on the value it brings – whether it is beneficial to the value creators themselves (factory workers, farmers, etc.), whether it is irreplaceable, and whether it fulfills its social responsibilities.
- Future Strategies
Regarding our next step, I think it’s mainly centered around the following four points:
· Commit relentlessly to a consumer-centric approach, explore innovative solutions to solve existing problems, and offer new contributions to society;
· Fulfilling our social responsibilities is the cornerstone of our value system — protect intellectual property rights, combat counterfeits vigorously, support
farmers, and alleviate poverty. We will focus on and get to the roots of these problems pragmatically and solve them persistently one by one;
· Focus on the long-term intrinsic value; we should not be afraid to invest for the future; and
· Continue to evolve our organization, and step-by-step make it a more inclusive, transparent, global and mature public institution.
The torrent of our times flows with great strength and vigor; its direction is unstoppable.
Pinduoduo has gone through many ups and downs over the past four years of rapid development. We have prevailed because of the vote of confidence cast by each and every one of our users through their purchases. In a forest, neighboring trees often vie fiercely for nutrients in deep and complex ways.
However, as a whole, they are uniformly growing towards the same direction. That is the direction of the sun. The desire to grow in the direction of the sun is incredibly powerful; it can transform many things, or pave the way for future transformation. The emergence and development of Pinduoduo is not because of our capability, or the maturity of the platform, or even our diligence, but because we grow in the direction of the sun, one that seeks to “Benefit All,” put “People First” and be “More Open.” The sun we see inspires us to abandon the imperialist mindset of zero-sum competition, and to transform our thinking towards continuous innovation and value creation for consumers and the society.
No matter how big or small our role is, our generation will eventually be pushed by the rapid torrent of our times into a different, new era we can call our own.
I thank the investors who choose to believe in us and join us in this wonderful journey of creating “new e-commerce”. Let us continue to move forward in the direction of the morning sun because that is where new life begins.
Colin Zheng Huang
On behalf of Pinduoduo
April 24, 2019