My 1999

After hanging up the phone, Xu Liang picked up the due diligence information for the working day prepared by Sequoia and read it carefully.

Only then did he realize that there was no one investing in Workday.

In fact, they have completed Series A financing.

The investor is Greylock.

This venture capital institution was established in 1965 and is older than Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield \u0026 Byers.

Although it is slightly less well-known, it is also a very successful investment institution.

But this is normal.

Compared with inexperienced college students, venture capital investors naturally prefer entrepreneurs with a successful past and rich industry experience.

Especially in the field of entrepreneurship, it is still the B-side, which is much more difficult than the C-side. For those without industry experience, venture capitalists will not even read a business plan.

Although the two industry giants lost control of PeopleSoft, they were driven out of their homes by Oracle in disgrace.

But he did not step down because of bankruptcy or financial scandal.

On the contrary, being able to be taken over by a hostile takeover just shows the quality of the company.

No one cares about a crappy company.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when two people set out to start a business, they were intercepted by other investment institutions early on.

However, due to Oracle's intimidation and the fact that the company's development was not as good as expected, many investment institutions have retreated.

In order to reserve the company's cash reserves and liquidity in advance, Workday hopes to raise another round of financing.

Not Series B, but Series A+.

Generally speaking, financing rounds are divided into seed round, angel round, round A, round B, round C, round D, round E, etc.

However, depending on the actual situation, some projects will also carry out Pre-A round, A+ round, and C+ round financing.

No matter what kind of round it is, the core is nothing more than how much money investors invest, and the more money they raise in the future, the more money they will raise.

Angel Wheel: The man and the woman have met several times, and the man wants to continue developing.

Men are willing to treat girls to expensive candlelight dinners, Western food, etc.

Round A: After getting along for a while, the man may start buying the woman some brand-name bags, perfume, etc.

The color of gambling is relatively strong. The hope of men and the long-term development of women jointly welcome a bright future. (Of course, there is also the possibility of breaking up. Bags and perfumes are just clouds).

Round B: Both parties have an in-depth understanding. The man has a detailed understanding of the woman’s living habits, personality and sentiments, family environment, and parental composition.

When I was sure that I could get married to a woman, I bought a house and wrote her name on the real estate certificate, preparing to get married and start a happy life.

Rounds C and D may mean that the woman gave birth to a son for the man, and the man bought the woman a car and took the woman’s family to travel abroad. Therefore, the styles of business plan writing at different stages are also different.

So what is the difference between Series A+ and Series B? In fact, there is no difference. They both require money.

"I'm determined to eat this 'working day'."

Xu Liang said.

——

Pleasanton, meaning Happy City, is the wealthiest medium-sized city in the United States, located outside the San Francisco Bay Area and 40 kilometers away from Silicon Valley.

As the car drove on the road from Silicon Valley to Happy City, Xu Liang closed the document in his hand and looked out the window.

At this time, we have entered the urban area. There are rows of restaurants, shopping and leisure centers on both sides of the road, and the community is clean and tidy.

From a livable perspective, Happy City is undoubtedly a good place to go, far away from the increasingly traffic-congested and noisy Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

PeopleSoft's headquarters is located in this city.

The Workday company that was re-established after its two founders were kicked out of the company is also located here.

Xu Liang didn't know whether the two of them really liked this small town and couldn't live without it, or whether they were deliberately disgusting Oracle.

Because nothing can bring out the evil in your chest more than growing and growing under Oracle's nose.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, for that reason alone.

You should invest a little during the working day.

The car slowly stopped in front of a six-story office building. In order to show his sincerity and to win more equity, Xu Liang came in person this time.

After looking at the door number, he dialed Duffield, the founder of Workday.

After a while, an old white man with silver hair and a middle-aged man with brown skin appeared downstairs.

"Hello Mr. Xu, I am Duffield."

The old white man took the lead and stepped forward to shake hands with Xu Liang.

Xu Liang shook hands with the old man and looked at him.

This old man is 65 years old and has already reached the age where he should live out his life.

As the founder of PeopleSoft, he received US$600 million in a US$10.3 billion company acquisition and was financially free.

But this old man is a well-known workaholic and loves to mess around. Now that he is starting a business again, he is determined to do it with Oracle!

It is not an exaggeration to describe it with the phrase "the martyrs are full of ambition in their old age"!

By the time the listing bell rang, the old man was already in his seventies and had become a legend among entrepreneurs.

It has also inspired countless young entrepreneurs. Even an old man who is about to die can make a comeback. What qualifications do young people have? They can do it without working hard?

I remember that he drank a lot of Duffield chicken soup back then.

Another middle-aged brown-skinned Indian-American, Bhusri, is the former vice chairman of PeopleSoft and is now a partner of Greylock Venture Capital, founder and co-CEO of Workday.

Among the two, Duffield is still the leader, and the old man is also the chairman of Workday Company.

After exchanging a few words, the two greeted Xu Liang and went upstairs.

Although the company has only been established for a few months, looking at the densely packed workstations, it is obvious that it is as described in the information and has almost become a refuge for laid-off employees of PeopleSoft.

After a quick glance, Xu Liang quickly made a plan in his mind.

Duffield took Xu Liang to the conference room and asked his employees to make a cup of tea and handed it over.

"Thanks, it tastes great."

Duffield laughed: “We were founded with the mission of putting customers and partners first, and the company second.

When PeopleSoft opened a branch in China a few years ago, I went to China and learned that Chinese people like to drink tea.

Yesterday, I heard that Mr. Xu was coming over. I specially asked my staff to go to a nearby Chinese city to buy the best tea. I hope you will like it, Mr. Xu. "

The old man's remarks did make Xu Liangsheng feel a lot better.

The other party has been in the shopping mall for decades, and he is really good at dealing with people.

Duffield smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, let me first introduce you to Workday Company."

Xu Liang nodded, put down the brand new blue and white porcelain tea cup, and looked like he was listening attentively.

"Before you came, you may have investigated PeopleSoft and our team.

Today's Workday Company still plans to continue PeopleSoft's entrepreneurial direction and continue to delve into human resources services.

The first product we currently plan to launch can not only analyze employee costs, but also manage employee salaries..."

Duffield made a brief introduction, waved, and asked Bousri to hand over a piece of paper.

Xu Liang took it and saw that the confidentiality agreement was a basic operation.

After reading the document carefully, Xu Liang signed his name.

Seeing that Xu Liang went straight to review and sign without asking a single question, the smile on Duffield's face grew threefold.

Then Duffield asked his partner Bliss to bring in a computer and give Xu Liang a detailed demonstration of their human resources software.

Although the old man once served as the CEO of a company with a market capitalization of tens of billions of dollars, he did not show any prestige at this time. He talked about his business plan just like an ordinary entrepreneur.

Xu Liang also listened very seriously.

Although he had decided to invest in Workday, he also wanted to really get to know the company.

This is not only respect for the other party, but also a demonstration of the professionalism of Hanhua Capital.

About half an hour later.

"Mr. Xu, now you should have a general understanding of our products, right?"

Duffield smiled, "If you still have any questions, you can ask them directly and I will answer them one by one."

Xu Liang basically understood that this is a company that provides SaaS (Software as a Service) to enterprises.

There are many types of enterprise software.

‘Workday’ company belongs to the category of vertical niche, focusing on human resources management.

To put it simply, companies purchase software services on an annual basis and use Workday software to help their companies with performance evaluations, compensation plans, optimization of employment costs, etc.

With the help of software, when companies conduct performance analysis, they can not only see the link between employees' performance and salary, but can even trace the channels through which employees were recruited.

The American enterprise software market is booming. Even a small business with more than a dozen people will buy and use B-side software.

At present, domestic small and medium-sized entrepreneurs lack awareness in this regard, and many still use local methods to manage employees.

Large enterprises generally choose customized services and do not use SaaS services.

Therefore, compared with the United States, even after more than ten years, two decent enterprise software unicorns have not been born in China.

Enterprise software companies in the U.S. market are thriving. Oracle and Salesforce are both large companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Satisfied is satisfied, but Xu Liang still has to pretend to find fault. If he agrees too readily, it will be difficult to negotiate the valuation next.

"As far as I know, Oracle intends to let PeopleSoft continue its low-price strategy for a period of time until it crushes you."

Xu Liang spread his hands, "If I guess correctly, the seed customers on weekdays must come from PeopleSoft's old customers, because we all have a certain friendship.

But if PeopleSoft provides more mature and stable services and has an advantage in price, the friendship will not stand the test. "

Duffield smiled, "You are right, no matter how good a friendship is, it cannot withstand the test of interests.

But Mr. Xu, have you ever thought about it? Why is Larry Ellison so afraid of us? "

"Afraid of you? The Ellison I know is an arrogant guy."

Xu Liang smiled.

Duffield looked confident: "Yes, if he is not afraid of us, why is he engaging in low-price competition strategies and threatening investment institutions in the venture capital market?"

Xu Liang shook his head, "Not necessarily because you are afraid of you, but maybe because you want to eliminate all unstable factors?"