My Age of Investment

  Chapter 158 The Fat Sheep Delivered To The Door

  Sequoia Capital Office.

  Moritz scanned a group of middle-aged white men in their forties and fifties sitting on either side of the conference table and asked, “What do you think of the Facebook case?”

  All present were members of the investment committee, the highest decision-makers of Sequoia Capital, and each of them had been immersed in the venture capital industry for many years.

  Speaking of Facebook, these people are divided into two groups of dissidents.

  "Since Facebook has raised its valuation to 400 million U.S. dollars, then we should re-report 400 million. In any case, the potential of social networking sites is growing, and we must grab the top project."

   "I don't think we can be led by the nose, we should let them go. How much valuation do entrepreneurs want? How much valuation do we give? That's not for venture capital, but for charity!"

  " Facebook at this moment is very different from more than half a month ago. I think they are worth the price. If you continue to wait, you will only miss good opportunities."

  "With a pre-investment valuation of US$400 million and a Series A financing of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, few venture capital firms can afford this price. I think we should wait until the Facebook founding team recognizes the reality."

  ……

  A group of people quarrel together, each has its own reason.

   Moritz squeezed his eyebrows. He admitted that Sequoia Capital had made some mistakes this time.

  More than half a month ago, when Facebook just offered 300 million U.S. dollars, Sequoia Capital should win the project in one go. The final transaction price will never exceed 400 million U.S. dollars.

  After all, I still underestimated the young man who invested in LinkedIn with him.

  I wanted to hang the other person, but...

  Take it off!

  The price is getting higher and higher!

  To tell the truth, it is impossible not to be angry in Xia Jingxing's heart after being teased like this once.

  But people who are 50 years old, and they are also engaged in financial capital business, it is obviously impossible to stop making money because of the conflict of spirit.

  Looking at it from another angle, he should appreciate this young man. The other party's grasp of the situation, company's competitive strategy, operation strategy, etc. are all outstanding.

  Otherwise, it is impossible to reverse the situation and regain the upper hand when the financing environment is gradually unfavorable.

  If you invest in the other party, the probability of success of the project is higher!

  Thinking about this, he wasn't so angry anymore.

  …………

  …………

  The scene that happened in the Sequoia Capital office was also staged in the offices of many venture capital institutions.

  For Facebook’s sudden price increase to 400 million US dollars, most investors are unhappy.

  Ass decides the head, it is not surprising that they think so.

  And the truly intelligent people have already begun to act.

  …………

  …………

  A white man who appeared to be in his thirties came uninvited and suddenly visited Facebook.

  The front desk asked the man to wait a while, brought a business card, and ran to ask Xia Jingxing for instructions.

  Xia Jingxing looked at the business card and immediately let the front desk lead the person in.

   "Hello, Darren, my name is Jim Breyer and I am a partner of Axel Investments."

  As soon as the man entered the office, he first announced his identity and smiled and handed out his right hand.

  Xia Jingxing shook hands with the other party, and asked Kristina to make a cup of coffee, sat opposite the man, and looked at the other party calmly.

  Brayer has blue eyes and black hair. He is actually in his early forties, but he looks like he is in his early thirties and is well maintained.

  The hair is not combed enough, wearing a decent high-definition suit, wearing a luxury watch, full of elite style.

I took a sip of coffee and put the cup down. Breyer smiled and said, "Since the beginning of this year, I have been following Facebook. I actually graduated from Stanford, and I studied computer science in the same major as you."

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said nothing.

  Brayer looked at the other's face, and felt bitter in his heart.

  He actually misunderstood. Xia Jingxing knew about him and didn't treat him as an unknown person.

  Brayer cleared up his mood and began to introduce himself and his company in detail.

"... When I was 20 years old, in 1980, I was still in my sophomore year, was an intern at HP, and had a working lunch with the then CEO John. I suggested that he enter the personal computer market because there was a nearby company called Apple’s company is making PCs..."

   "When I was 22, I wrote a cover letter to Jobs, and the other party agreed and asked me to join Apple..."

"Later I went to McKinsey to work for a few years, then went to Harvard to study business school, passed an interview with Oracle’s boss Larry Ellison, and got an offer, but I didn’t join Oracle and eventually joined Axel... …"

  "Axel was founded in 1983. In 1996, our fund achieved a return rate of 20 times..."

  "In 2000, we formed the eighth investment fund with a single scale of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars..."

  ……

  When Breyer finished the introduction, he noticed that the young man opposite did not respond much, so he smiled.

   "Actually, Mr. Breyer, you don't need to introduce so much. I have heard of Axel and your name, and I also know some of your glorious past."

  Brayer is a little depressed, since you all know it, why don’t you say it earlier?

  He just worried about being underestimated by Xia Jingxing, and introduced his resume in too much detail...

  But he is American, not as humble as the Chinese, and he doesn’t feel particularly embarrassed.

  "I also know that Axel has encountered some trouble recently. The university foundations of Harvard, Princeton, and MIT have all withdrawn from the ranks of LP (investor)."

  When Xia Jingxing talked about this, Breyer's face was not very good.

Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "Of course, the Stanford University Foundation is still in your LP ranks. President John and I mentioned you and said that he still has confidence in you and believes that you can get out of the trough and recreate the nineties of the last century. The glory of the era."

   Breyer looked a lot better when Xia Jingxing talked about this.

Now that he has said everything, he no longer hides it, nodded and said: "Yes, we have encountered a little trouble in the past few years. The eighth fund of 1.2 billion US dollars has been divested, but the scale is still 440 million. US dollars is enough to invest in most Internet companies."

  Xia Jingxing feels that the person in front of him is actually quite sad. When he was about to invest in Google, he encountered the withdrawal of funds from several university foundations, and unfortunately missed Google.

  Of course, this is also related to the poor performance of Axel's fund returns.

  After the myth of a single fund's return rate of more than 20 times was established in the 1990s, it became a little erratic. The investment profit share ratio increased from 25% to 30%.

  Then caught up with the Internet bubble and lost a lot of the principal of several university foundations.

  The charge is so high, and I am losing money. It’s strange if I don’t withdraw my capital.

  He also knows that the man in front of him is still a “second-generation investment”, and his father is also a venture capitalist. He once worked at IDG, and his family background is only slightly worse than Draper’s “third-generation investment”.

  In the future, Axel will still come out of the trough, and do a good job, ranking about a dozen of global venture capital institutions.

  Axel also has a well-known partner IDG in China. In the several funds established by IDG before 2010, most of the capital contributions are undertaken by Axel.

  The password for Axel's re-emergence is to hit Facebook.

  Yes, the previous life was the Facebook round A invested by Axel, and the B round also added additional investment, making a lot of money.

  Brayer thought for a while and said, “I’ll just say it straight. Axel is very interested in investing in Facebook. We can accept your 400 million dollar valuation offer.

   Facebook implements AB shares. We can all have A shares with only one vote, and B shares with ten votes. Don’t, but give us a board seat.

  The specific financing amount can be determined by you, either 30 million US dollars or 50 million US dollars, and the upper limit is 100 million US dollars. "

  After speaking, Breyer stared straight into Xia Jingxing’s eyes, waiting for the latter’s reply.

  Xia Jingxing did not directly answer Breyer’s question, but asked: “You are so heavily invested in Facebook, are you afraid of too much risk?”

   Breyer smiled and said, "We have been observing you for a year and are very confident in you.

  Choose us, we can give you the greatest trust and support.

  This is something that other investment institutions that are still lingering and waiting cannot give you. "

Xia Jingxing nodded and said, "I need to think about it and negotiate with my partner."

  Brayer laughed. He is a veteran, and he still doesn’t know the other party’s silly intestines.

  "If you want Sequoia Capital, Defengjie, and Kaipeng Huaying to participate in the bidding together, you can also notify them."

  Brayer is categorical compared to the index finger, "I can promise you that my price will always be 10 million dollars higher than them."

  Xia Jing was speechless, he didn't know where Breyer had such a strong confidence.

  "I have a question, why did you not participate in the last round of quotations?"

  Brayer spread out, "Because we are still investigating, a new discovery suddenly prompted us to make up our minds."

   "What new discovery?" Xia Jingxing suddenly became interested.

  Brayer shook his head, “I can’t tell you this for now. If I become a shareholder, I will tell you.”

  Xia Jingxing smiled and looked at Breyer, "You are so purposeful and can't wait. Are you afraid that I will raise the price?"

   "I have already said that our price is always 10 million US dollars higher than that of Sequoia Capital."

   Speaking of the name Sequoia Capital, Breyett emphasized his tone.

  Xia Jingxing nodded. He had heard some stories in his previous life and knew that this man had a great resentment towards Sequoia Capital.

  The reason for this is that when Axel was in trouble two years ago, his partner ran to join Sequoia Capital.

  He recalled carefully, when Xiao Mazi first raised his A round of financing, he actually chose the Washington Post as the investment institution.

  The price has been negotiated. The pre-investment valuation was 54 million U.S. dollars. The Washington Post invested 6 million U.S. dollars in, accounting for 10% of the shares.

  As a result, Axel came out abruptly and robbed the project at a price of 87 million US dollars before the investment and nearly 100 million US dollars after the investment.

  And the other party also said, has been following Facebook for a year.

  Xia Jingxing felt that the other party was clearly prepared, so he must invest in Facebook if he is determined.

  And it's the kind at all costs!

  From a certain level, Axel should be trying to break the boat once.

  I made the vote and completely turned over through the Facebook project.

   did not make the investment, the fund was liquidated and went bankrupt.

  Axel has also passed before, but now it has entered a period of recession.

  Compared with Sequoia Capital, Kaipeng Huaying, DFJ, and other investment institutions that are still thriving, Axel’s brand is a bit worse.

  If you want to impress entrepreneurs and choose them instead of other top capitals, you can only spend real money.

  Xia Jingxing is not a good man and believer, the other party has rushed to let him kill him, how can he not seize such a good opportunity.

  Anyway, one willing to fight, one willing to endure.

  After Breyer left, he called a certain media person, and then “accidentally” leaked the news during the chat.

  This media person is also very powerful, yelling everywhere like a big mouth.

  It took only one day, and the venture capital institutions on Sandhill Road basically knew about it.

  Axel wants to invest in Facebook, with a pre-investment valuation of US$400 million, and the negotiations are almost done, and an agreement is about to be signed.

  (End of this chapter)