My Age of Investment

   Chapter 1273 VC Supernova

   "Relying on the $30,000 income from selling cereals, our team supported it until the end of 2008, and then began to face funding problems.

   Fortunately, under the recommendation of our mentor, we successfully got an opportunity to meet Paul Graham, founder of YCombinator, a well-known business incubator in Silicon Valley. "

  Xia Jingxing asked calmly, "Has YC Incubator invested in you?"

  Brian shook his head first, then nodded again.

   "Our interview process was not smooth, and Mr. Graham, like previous investors, was not optimistic about Airbnb's development prospects, and said that our idea was terrible.

   Therefore, we have to leave with regret!

   But before we left, we gave Mr. Graham a box of cereals we designed and made as a souvenir. "

   The puppy asked with a smile: "Then what? Graham fell in love with your cereal? Decided to support you in starting a cereal company?"

Brian chuckled and shook his head, "That's not true! Mr. Graham learned that this box of cereal was designed and manufactured by us, and we successfully sold thousands of boxes and made 30,000 US dollars. He decided to make an exception to provide us with $20,000 in start-up funding and invited us to join the YC training camp.”

   The puppy asked, "Why?"

  Bryan smiled, "The reason given by Mr. Graham is that the founding team has the belief of immortality and is very imaginative.

   In other words, the Airbnb project didn’t really impress Mr. Graham, what really impressed him was our entire team. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled without saying a word, these old capitalists really understand the essence of investment!

  Early investment is actually casting a wide net and catching more fish.

   But it's not just throwing it all together!

  Before the early projects did not shine, investment institutions naturally focused more on the founders and teams.

  Learning to capture the strengths and characteristics of the founding team is almost a required course for excellent early-stage investment institutions.

   "We have been in the YC incubator since January this year, and it has been almost three months now.

  Under the careful guidance of YC training camp instructors, Airbnb’s development has finally been on the right track, and its income has grown from $200 per week when it first entered the incubator to $4,500 per week now. "

  Bryan changed the subject, "However, we recently found that the transaction situation on the website is not very optimistic, and the business growth rate has declined.

  So we visited dozens of listings and finally found that the crux of the problem was the landlord.

   Their poor photography skills and poor copywriting conceal the advantages of the house itself, resulting in a decline in transaction volume.

  In response to this situation, we rented a high-end camera at a high price and prepared to go door-to-door to help them take room photos for free.

   We can’t afford to hire too many people, so these jobs can only be done by our three founders. "

  The guy who was knocked down by Pete and Airbnb’s CTO Nathan said: “The two of them took photos, communicated with hosts, collected feedback, and I was in charge of handing out flyers.

  We have already started to enter the apartment market, and we may enter the villa market and luxury residential market in the future.

   Right, Brian? "

  Bryan said with a smile: "Yes, Airbnb will not set limits on itself. Our ultimate goal is to collect a variety of listings to meet the different needs of different users."

  Xia Jingxing nodded slightly, he thought he could come out on top, but he did not expect that First Blood had already been won by YC.

   But it doesn’t matter, even if you miss the seed round, you can still invest in the angel round and the A round.

   "I asked you a question, and you answered me truthfully. If your answer can satisfy me, I can provide you with nearly 300 houses. In the future, this number will become 3,000 or 30,000 houses."

   Xia Jingxing's words made the three founders of Airbnb feel short of breath, and they all looked at Xia Jingxing directly.

   They know that the next thing to do is to go back and sell cereal to make extra money, or to ride the wind, it depends on the other party's question.

   I hope you and others can answer it!

  Xia Jingxing didn't mean to concoct the three people, he didn't have time to spare, and asked bluntly, "How did you get the owner to allow strangers to stay in their house? In other words, how was the trust problem solved?"

  Bryan's heart suddenly "squeaked", secretly screaming bad!

   This is the biggest dead end of their business model. Some investors have put forward similar soul torture before, without exception, all of them have been defeated and cannot give investors a satisfactory answer.

   "We have communicated with many homeowners offline, and it is very pleasant to get along with them.

  Sometimes the host even invited us to drink at their house, thanking us for helping them earn an income.

   Every one of them strongly agrees with Airbnb’s business philosophy and trusts our website.

   Everyone gets along very well, like family.

   Those who are willing to rent out vacant rooms for a short time are mostly open and easy to get along with. "

   Brian knew it was going to be bad as soon as he heard Nathan's answer.

as expected!

  Xia Jingxing shook his head and said, "If only human feelings are used to maintain the relationship between the website and the host, the cost will be huge.

   Airbnb operates in this way, and it does not do much at all, and it has been able to operate dozens or hundreds of houses.

   What I need is for you to come up with a solution that can be replicated and scaled quickly. "

  Gibia said with a dignified expression: "Actually, we have thought about establishing a security system for the landlord. If the landlord's house is damaged by the tenant, we can provide a maximum compensation of no more than 5,000 US dollars.

   At the same time, we also plan to establish a security system for tenants in the future. If the tenant suffers personal injury or property damage in the room, we will also make corresponding compensation. "

  Xia Jingxing pursed his lips and did not answer, as if he was in deep thought, which made the hearts of the three of them instantly suspend.

   Airbnb, Uber and WeWork are also known as the three Musketeers of the sharing economy.

   In fact, in terms of the time of establishment, Airbnb is the true originator of the sharing economy.

  Since it is a sharing economy, some houses are in such a state that the landlord and the tenant live together, paying attention to the maximum utilization of a resource.

   In this way, while allocating resources reasonably, it also brings a lot of security risks.

  According to Xia Jingxing’s knowledge, in the past life Airbnb often happened to the tenants to damage the house.

  If only property damage is all right, what is really troublesome is the endless stream of candid photography, sexual assault of female tenants, and various other vicious injuries.

   But he just invested in Airbnb, and these issues are not his turn to be a headache.

   "The $5,000 guarantee is a bit too low, and it will be a big hindrance to your expansion."

  Xia Jingxing looked at the three founders and said, "If I were the owner, I would feel that the security fund did not fully cover the risk of renting out my house, so I decided not to rent the house."

  Bryan sighed, "For the time being, we can only afford this amount of security.

   If you want to achieve what you said to fully cover the risk of renting a house, the guarantee will be an astronomical amount. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled, "The solution is actually very simple, bring in capital!

   With the help of capital, we will help you expand, and at the same time improve the security system, solve the worries of landlords and tenants, and assist the company to complete the expansion from the side. "

  Bryan said very happily: "Daren, are you willing to invest in us?"

   "Of course! From you, I see the shadow of my entrepreneurial career, so I think, you are worth my investment!"

   If these words of pretense were said through someone else's mouth, Brian might sneer.

   But what Daeron Xia said was definitely a compliment and affirmation to their Airbnb founding team.

  Xia Jingxing asked Liu Xiaoduo to bring a business card, and he passed it on to Brian.

   "You will go to ED Ricky Milner, executive director of Vision Capital's Silicon Valley office tomorrow, and he will be responsible for discussing the specific investment details with you.

   After the investment is completed, you can enter the Facebook open platform, and at the same time, you can sign a cooperation agreement with the housing rental company Vision Home, and get nearly 300 houses.

   In addition, Ricky should also pull you into the Entrepreneurs Club of Vision Capital, which includes Reid Hoffman, Mark Pincus, Jeremy Stoppelman and other entrepreneurs.

   They are all start-up CEOs who have received investment from Vision Capital, and they are very friendly and united.

  If Airbnb needs promotion and various resources, you can contact them, they are happy to help. "

  The three of Brian were stunned. Is this the power of the boss?

   Give money and resources if you disagree.

   Facebook traffic, much-needed listings, and opportunities to cooperate with many star startups such as LinkedIn, Xingjia, and Yelp...

   The three of them really felt like they were stunned by the happiness that fell from heaven!

   "Let's talk about it today. I hope that when we meet again next time, Airbnb has already gone out of San Francisco and out of the United States. Your website is very interesting and worth promoting to the world!"

After   , Xia Jingxing got up and shook hands with the three of them one by one, and then left without looking back with a group of people.

   Watching Xia Jingxing's group walk away, the three of Brian slowly recovered.

   They all felt that what happened today was so miraculous that they didn't even dare to write a novel like that.

A few diaosi young people started a small company that didn't have the last meal, and when they went to the building to distribute flyers, they met a well-known billionaire, and after a few chats, the other party said they wanted to invest in them. .

  Gibia murmured: "Perhaps it was our experience of selling cereals that resonated with Daeron. After all, he has come this way step by step and understands the hardships of young entrepreneurs."

  Brian looked down at the business card in his hand, smiled and said, "Perhaps, it feels like a dream, an unreal feeling."

   Nathan suddenly slapped his thigh, "Damn it! Did you two forget? Mr. Graham said that he would recommend us to meet Sequoia Capital recently!"

   Hearing the words, Brian and Gibia looked at each other and both saw the tangle in each other's eyes.

   One side is Sequoia Capital, the king of VC, and the other is VC Supernova Vision Capital.

  How to choose?

   (end of this chapter)