The initial Dream Seeker, the mid-stage Radiance Sea/Whale, and now the Pinmu/Hongqiao/Pudong

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I think no one doesn't have something to say about Pinduoduo's new name "Xin Pinmu".

I was really idle, so I looked up the series of domestic and overseas entity company names established by Pinduoduo from 2014 to the present.

Surprisingly, I found that one can clearly see a trajectory of Pinduoduo's development: from pragmatic entrepreneurship and sprinting for an IPO, to determined overseas expansion and building a global empire, and then to low-profile concealment and risk isolation. The transformation in naming style is also a direct reflection of Pinduoduo's development stages and commercial considerations.

2014–2015: Domestic Startup Period — Internet Style, Pragmatic and Straightforward

Shanghai Dream Seeker: Pinduoduo's earliest company entity, carrying a clear entrepreneurial narrative, is the only name that truly has emotion and brand feel. I bet 10 yuan that this name was definitely thought up by Huang Zheng himself.

Hangzhou Emi, Hangzhou Aimu, Hangzhou Weimi: Micrometer / Angstrom are units of measurement, 1 micrometer = 10⁻⁶ meters, 1 angstrom = 10⁻¹⁰ meters, Aimu was probably used to avoid duplicate names during registration. Behind it lies a geek-style low-key, tech guy romance, implying starting from the smallest point, extreme precision, and underlying technology.

Walnut Street / Hutaojie: Used when building the VIE structure early on, probably to pay homage to Wall Street, using a homophone + low-key approach. Philadelphia's Walnut Street itself was also an important street in the early American financial center and was once the location of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

This period was the beginning of the Pinduoduo team, with names often containing beautiful meanings and the romance of tech guys.

2020: Temu's Overseas Expansion — Ocean Imagery + Technology

Radiance Sea: Radiance Sea

Whaleco: Whale Company

Temu's official business launch was in September 2022, but the company entity was already registered in August 2020, a full two years of preparation. Radiance signifies light radiating globally, Sea directly points to cross-border expansion, the naming system is highly unified and full of ambition, completely cutting ties with the previous domestic business naming style, forming an independent overseas expansion architecture branch. The subsequent Whaleco (Whale Company) series further uses the "whale" as a symbol, conveying the strategic intent of swallowing the global market and building a world-class platform.

Elementary Technology / Elementary Innovation: Basic Technology / Basic Innovation.

The entities of these two companies are for overseas investment and equity control, shifting to a naming style that is rational, restrained, and geek-tech. "Elementary" emphasizes foundation, underlying layers, and technical attributes, deliberately downplaying e-commerce and commercial colors. This is both to adapt to overseas compliance requirements and a typical arrangement for achieving low-profile expansion and avoiding regulatory and public opinion scrutiny through de-branding.

Just after going public, Pinduoduo embarked on a new journey of overseas expansion, with names full of high spirits and grand ambitions.

2026: Xin Pinmu — Casual + Concealed

Xin Pinmu: Pinduoduo + Temu, with a "Xin" (new) added.

Hongqiao, Pudong: Hongqiao, Pudong, directly using the names of the registration locations, are you sure this isn't a joke?

The new companies registered in February were only known to the market after the recent earnings report disclosure. The names are vague, homophonic, paired with no practical meaning, and have no distinctiveness, completely abandoning the previous tech guy romance, ocean imagery, and tech feel. I think this is also related to the market and business environment Pinduoduo faces at this stage. They want to be extremely low-key, achieve business isolation, risk segmentation, and test new businesses, being a bit overly cautious.

Behind this series of names is also a condensed history of corporate growth: early years of simple romantic dreams of a Wall Street IPO, mid-stage swallowing the seas to lay out globally, and now hiding behind the scenes for steady expansion.

Just like an accelerated life.