My Age of Investment

Chapter 159: Sa

  Chapter 159 Sa

  Since 2000, Axel has encountered difficulties, and the endowment foundations of Harvard University, Princeton, MIT and other famous universities have successively withdrawn their funds.

  Axel had to shrink the size of the fund and reduce foreign investment, focusing on the post-investment management and industry research of the invested projects.

  In the eyes of the outside world and even insiders, this venture capital institution has been silent for several years. It has been outside the mainstream of the investment circle and rarely invests abroad. Even if it invests, it is also a small, unfamiliar project.

   Just when everyone thought that this investment institution with a glorious history was about to decline, no one thought that Axel would return to the mainstream of the investment circle with such a posture.

  A round of financing with a pre-investment valuation of US$400 million!

  This should be regarded as the largest round of A-round financing in the past two years after the Internet bubble.

  Even in the late 1990s, when the Internet venture capital market was the hottest, this was not a small-scale financing.

  A round of financing, the figures are generally several million U.S. dollars, more than 10 million U.S. dollars, and basically no more than 20 million U.S. dollars.

  Although Facebook declined media interviews, it did not disclose any details about the A round of financing.

  But the media still speculates that according to the pre-investment valuation of 400 million US dollars and the dilution of 10% of the equity, the amount of this round of financing will definitely exceed more than 40 million US dollars, and there may even be more.

   Industry insiders sigh: I feel that the Internet industry is recovering, and that golden age is coming back soon!

  ……

  ……

  Principal John called Xia Jingxing, "Daren, did the Axel people look for you?"

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "Yeah, Breyer has a lot of money, so I almost signed a check and hit me in the face."

  Principal John groaned, “In order to avoid suspicion, I didn’t recommend Axel for you. In fact, they are also very capable.”

  Xia Jingxing said "um", "I know and understand this."

  Axel's eighth fund, a considerable part of the capital contribution is undertaken by the Stanford University Endowment Foundation.

  Old man John is both the principal of Stanford and an angel investor on Facebook.

  If Axel succeeds in investing in Facebook, it’s okay to say, it’s not to avoid relatives.

  If the investment fails, it is the transfer of benefits.

  Although Americans are not as particular as domestic, but there is such a dirty water splashing on Old John, that is indeed not easy to explain.

  Xia Jingxing quite understands this.

  "Do you want me to exclude Axel?"

  Xia Jingxing deliberately teases old man John.

   "Well, if it's convenient, I better exclude it!"

  Xia Jing was stunned, and I just polite, you are serious, "Are you sure?"

  On the other end of the phone, a long time later there was a laugh, "I just made a joke with you. The school money is given to Breyer for management, and the decision-making power lies with him.

  He casts whatever he wants, we can't control it.

Do not worry! In fact, I quite hope that Facebook accepts Axel's investment, maybe it can help the school make a lot of money.

  However, as you said, the higher price will be paid, and no one needs to be given special care. "

  Xia Jingxing hung up the phone with a beep of "Ok".

   "Christina, go make me a cup of tea."

  Xia Jingxing stopped drinking coffee recently. Drinking too much is not good for his teeth, so he can only eat soft rice, so he went to a nearby Chinese supermarket to buy a bag of tea and changed to tea.

  The foreign girl pours a large bag of tea clumsily. The tea made is terribly bitter, and Xia Jingxing almost squirts out.

   "Are you making milk tea? Next time, put some tea less."

  Kristina gave him a glance, “You should hire a secretary, I don’t have to drink tea every day.”

  Xia Jingxing squeezed his chin, "This is a good idea. When the A round of financing is in place, I will hire two secretaries, a life secretary, a work secretary..."

  ……

  ……

  The news channels of various venture capital institutions are very well-versed. Before the media reported it on a large scale, they got very detailed information-Breyer really visited Facebook.

  Even Axel, a small partner who had been silent for several years, came to join in the fun, and various venture capital institutions finally took action.

  Moritz of Sequoia Capital no longer hesitated. He rejected all the arguments, took the lead in person, and visited Facebook with a luxurious negotiating team.

  Draper, invested by DFJ, called back the team that contacted Diaoyou.com.

  He knew that it would be useless to play these little tricks anymore, so he set off with Howard, the only person in the company who had contact with Xia Jingxing, and planned to meet the young man who was crippling him in person.

  Kai Peng Huaying KPCB was established in 1972. Because of its impressive achievements in history, it is known as the Gemini constellation of the global venture capital industry, and is tied with Sequoia Capital.

  The well-known companies that have invested include America Online (AOL), Netscape Browser, Amazon, Compaq, Google, Lotus Software, Sun Microsystems and so on.

  The negotiating lineup sent by this company is also very luxurious.

  The team is personally led by the big boss John Doer, known as the "Godfather of Investment". Accompanying him is a female Chinese, Allie Lee, who is the first Chinese-speaking partner of Kaipeng Huaying.

   Axel's Breyer was naturally there, and brought two assistants.

  People from four investment institutions sat in the meeting room on Facebook, staring at them.

  Xia Jingxing's gaze swept across a group of people, and stayed on the group of Kaipeng Huaying for a while.

  He has had contact with the other three investment institutions, but he has not had any contact with Kaipeng Huaying. I don’t know the personality and investment style of their heads.

  He has a simple understanding of the two main characters sent by Kaipeng Huaying.

  Big boss John Durr, worth tens of billions of dollars in his previous life, is one of the richest people in the global venture capital industry.

  Another Ellie Lee, who worked in the Huayuan Science and Technology Association formed by Chinese entrepreneurs, is now one of the partners of Kaipeng Huaying, and is well-known in the Silicon Valley Chinese circle.

  When she just greeted her, she even used Chinese to compose a close match with Xia Jingxing.

   This woman looks more in line with Western aesthetics, her face is very angular, and she is in her thirties.

  Later, it separated from Kaipeng Huaying and established its own business. Its investment results were mediocre. The biggest achievement was the concept of "unicorn enterprise" in 2013, which is a start-up company with a valuation of more than one billion US dollars.

The concept of    was later improved by other investment institutions, and two new conditions were added: within ten years of establishment and not listed.

  Xia Jingxing's previous life also heard of a scandal involving Kaipeng Huaying, and Bao Kangru, another female Chinese partner, sued for sexual harassment and gender discrimination and demanded more than 100 million US dollars in compensation.

In the end, Kaipeng Huaying won the lawsuit, but its reputation suffered a lot.

  In fact, it’s not called sexual harassment anymore. Everything has been done. It should be that the price has not been negotiated.

  In Silicon Valley, in the venture capital circle, these are all commonplace things, no wonder.

  In general, when this happens, the legal affairs or supervisor of the company will come forward to compensate the female employees with equity and salary, and then sign a confidentiality agreement.

  After all, the company lost even more.

  It’s just that Kaipeng Huaying was rather unlucky and the matter was stabbed out.

  This is actually just the tip of the iceberg. Discrimination against women is very common in the US technology and investment circles.

  But it has nothing to do with him. The highest bidder today is the uncle!

  A group of investors looked at each other without speaking, and the scene was a little quiet for a while.

  John Doerr’s qualifications are older than Sequoia Capital’s Moritz, and he is more wealthy, but the two are almost equal in their identities, each in charge of a top investment institution.

  The two glanced at each other, then looked away, and both regarded each other as their biggest opponent.

  As for junior companies such as Defengjie and Axel, they are not too concerned about them.

  The old **** Breyer is sitting there, looking like a Buddha, but in fact the most emboldened.

  Draper couldn’t stand this weird atmosphere, and broke the calm first, and started a joke, “Daren, are you planning to auction off Facebook’s shares today?”

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "This idea sounds very good!"

  As soon as I said this, many people present changed their faces.

  "No, no, Darren, I suggest you never do this, because you will lose a lot of resources."

John Doerr looks like a wise man and faintly explained: "When you choose a venture capital institution to cooperate, you should not just look at who pays more, but you should also measure: who can bring other help to your career besides the money. .

   Let me give you an example!

   Facebook’s main partner, Amazon.com has our investment in Kaipeng Huaying, and I personally serve as a director of Amazon.

  If you want to establish a deeper cooperation with Amazon, I can help, let you sit and chat with Bezos, it’s not a problem.

  For example, if you want to cooperate with Google, I am also a director of Google, and I can also help.

  Kaipeng Huaying can link to any Silicon Valley resources you want. "

  After briefly speaking, John Doerr looked at Xia Jingxing with a smile on his face.

  Why the established venture capital institutions are doing better and bigger, because they have a solid foundation.

  He believed that the young man in front of him would make the right choice.

   Moritz coughed and attracted his eyes.

  The old man smiled and said: “Sequoia Capital has also invested in a number of Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Yahoo. We can also provide the resources that Mr. Doer can provide to Facebook.

  Moreover, the reputation of Sequoia Capital has always been praised by entrepreneurs. We respect and support every entrepreneur and partner.

  Dylan, you have worked with us once, should you have a deep understanding? "

  Xia Jingxing smiled without talking.

   LinkedIn only allows Lao Tzu to take a mouthful of soup, what do you think of my experience?

  "Speaking of cooperation, Darren, Defengjie and you have a pleasant cooperation, right?"

  Howard does not really want to intervene in this round of Facebook financing. But the big boss called him up, and he couldn't get rid of it.

  Seeing that Sequoia and Kai Peng Huaying were all showing off, he couldn't help but speak.

  Draper smiled and said, "Do you know Baidu in China? It is also invested by DFJ. I have always had a good impression of Chinese entrepreneurs. Hard work, self-motivated, smart, and studious are my biggest impressions."

  Moritz smiled and did not speak, and when Draper finished speaking, he continued: "Sequoia Capital has also invested in NetScreen and helped Deng Feng complete the company's listing.

  Dalun, you should know something about this Chinese entrepreneur, right? "

  Xia Jingxing nodded.

  The only woman present, Allie Lee also came out to help her company speak good things about how good Kaipeng Huaying is.

  The subtext is that you, as a Chinese, can also become a partner. Kaipeng Huaying will never discriminate against Chinese entrepreneurs.

  In this way, the three companies of Kaipeng Huaying, Sequoia Capital, and DFJ are all showing off how much resources they have and not mentioning company valuation.

  The three institutions have a certain degree of tacit understanding, and they don't want to bid, so they are ruthlessly slaughtered by Xia Jingxing.

   Breyer knocked on the table and looked at the audience: "Gentlemen and ladies, I think we should talk about something substantial.

  Axel bid 450 million U.S. dollars, is there anything I want to follow? "

  Sa!

  Xia Jingxing thinks this man is really too shabby.

  Looking at the expressions of other investors as if they had eaten a fly, he felt refreshed.

  I really need such a fan, otherwise this one-man show will not be easy to sing.

  When it's time to talk about money, you talk to me about your ideals. Isn't this a rascal?

    If you have any suggestions, you can put them forward in the chapter. In terms of rhythm, because it is the first round of formal financing, it is written in more detail. At the same time, I also introduced the big bosses of venture capital institutions that will appear in the future, and checked a lot of information.

     If everyone feels that the rhythm needs to be accelerated, I will continue to increase it.

     There are also some big guys' introductions. I also think that the space is a little bloated, because they are foreigners, and everyone may not be familiar with them. If you are a domestic boss, you basically don't need to introduce it.

     If you have any questions, you can ask them, and if you have them, you can change them, and you can encourage them if you don’t.

    

   

  (End of this chapter)