My Age of Investment

  Chapter 245 The minister of the brachial stock (1010, the lord of the dead cat in deep water)

  After signing the agreement, Value Equity Partners Capital organized due diligence on Tesla’s Series B financing.

  Xia Jingxing itself is the company's major shareholder and is very familiar with Tesla's various situations, but in fact there is not much need to spend a lot of time.

  But as the lead investor, he still has to do a routine job. He sent Andrew to participate in the due diligence work.

  He personally returned to his main business, focusing on Facebook and YouTube.

  A few days later, he received a call from Eberhard, and the other party said angrily on the phone:

   "Daren, you really got it right, Nicolas put his idea on us."

  Xia Jingxing frowned, Musk is not too particular about this.

  He didn't panic too much, but calmly asked what happened.

  "Musk has offered the position of co-founder and chief technology officer, plus 5% of the equity, to poach Straubel.

   has opened the position of director of battery research and development, plus 3% of the equity, ready to poach Gene. I also offered David a 2% stake..."

  Eberhard reported six or seven names on the phone, all of whom were Tesla’s core technical backbones.

   "This Musk has done a lot of research on us. As soon as he makes a move, he is ready to put our technical backbone into one pot."

  Xia Jingxing said lightly, and then asked: "These employees have signed a non-competition agreement, right?"

   "I signed it, but it didn't take long, just one year."

   Eberhard said with a bit of chagrin, "It's mainly to blame me, I should have signed with them for a longer time."

  Xia Jingxing pondered for a moment, and asked, “How did these people react? Does anyone want to leave?”

  "Most people refused Nikolai's invitation, and some even voluntarily came to show me this.

  Because everyone knows, the company is about to complete the B round of financing, and the next step is mass production.

  At the same time, I also conveyed the news of option incentives. "

  Eberhard changed the front and said with some regret: "But there are still people who want to leave, and I can't persuade him."

   "Straubel?"

   "Hey, how do you know Darren?"

  Xia Jingxing had heard of the friendship between Straubel and Musk in his previous life, so he was the first to think of this person.

  Furthermore, Musk did offer a high price, with a 5% stake and the title of co-founder. Even if the two are not familiar with each other, they may be tempted.

  "Straubel, what kind of work is currently in charge of the company? Is it substitutable?"

  Eberhard came up.

  This person is indeed amazing. He joined Tesla only two months ago, but he has the demeanor of the first person in technology, and has a gentle personality and practical work.

  Eberhard also valued this person very much, and a little bit reluctant to let this person go.

   "Okay, I see, I'll come over right away."

  Xia Jingxing hung up the phone and drove to Tesla.

  As soon as he arrived at the door of the company, Eberhard was beckoning to him.

   "Where are people?" Xia Jingxing asked.

   "In the office, Tarpening is still persuading him."

  Xia Jingxing nodded and followed Eberhard into the office.

Pushing the door open, Xia Jingxing saw that Tarpening was eloquently persuading: "What is good about Nicholas, Musk will give you 5% equity, but 50% equity. If the car cannot be mass-produced, It is also destined to be a pile of waste paper..."

  "Daren~"

  The two stopped talking when they saw Xia Jingxing walking in.

   "Tapening, you go out first, let me talk to Straubel."

  Tapenning nodded, walked out, and carefully closed the door.

  Xia Jingxing sat down opposite Strabel, took a look at the other person, smiled and asked, "Really want to leave?"

  Straubel apologized: "I'm sorry, Darren."

  "Are you dissatisfied with your current position or options?"

  Straubel shook his head, "No, Musk and I met last year.

  At that time, I wanted to build an electric plane. I searched for entrepreneurs in Stanford and Silicon Valley, making crazy calls, letters, and emails. Only Musk was willing to invest in me. "

"That's it?"

  Xia Jingxing shook his head and laughed, "That's because you didn't find me."

  Straubel was taken aback, and then smiled: "I forgot. Besides, I didn't expect you to be so rich."

   "Electric plane, it sounds very good."

  Xia Jingxing turned on the open-eyes nonsense mode, "In fact, I really like innovative things.

  Otherwise, I wouldn’t invest in Tesla. I would start Facebook, start YouTube, and invest in Scape and LinkedIn. "

  "You also invested in Scape, which is the Internet phone?"

  This matter is more secretive, mainly because the Scape team is relatively low-key, and Straubel really doesn’t know.

   "Of course, I have invested in two consecutive rounds and I still hold 8% of their shares."

  Straubel exclaimed: "Daren, your investment vision is really good. I dare say that this company will definitely make you a lot of money."

   "Hahaha~ Thank you, I think so too."

  Xia Jingxing chatted with Straubel, just like friends, with a casual attitude.

   "Your electric Porsche is well modified. I have been driving to work every day these days."

  Xia Jingxing actually drove once, and spent the rest of the time lying in the garage eating ashes. However, this does not prevent him from using a condom almost.

   "Haha, your Tzero is also very good to drive. I think Tesla will be able to surpass it after it is produced."

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said: "Speaking of Tesla, I have high hopes for this company. If you are interested, you may wish to listen to my thoughts."

"my pleasure."

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said: “In everyone’s eyes, Tesla is targeting the high-end sports car field.”

  Straubel nodded, "This is because of the manufacturing cost, it can only be done like this."

   "But in the future, I hope that Tesla will enter thousands of households and ordinary people can afford it."

  Straubel shook his head and laughed, "Daren, I feel that your thoughts are...a bit...remote."

Taking into account Xia Jingxing's face, he did not say the words "unrealistic".

  Xia Jingxing said with a serious face: "I didn't make a joke with you, this is my real idea.

  The only way to do this is that Tesla is not a toy for the rich, but a new energy and environmental protection company that saves energy and reduces emissions. "

  Straubel spread out, "Daren, I admire your idea, but in my opinion, it's very difficult."

   "Yes, it is really difficult."

  Xia Jingxing said with a smile: “So Tesla decided to start with high-end cars, and when the technology matures and the cost is reduced, it will enter the mid-range field.

  Then expand sales and reduce costs through marginal effects, and then slowly penetrate into the low-end and low-end areas..."

  Straubel nodded, "This sounds crazy, and very difficult, and it requires a lot of breakthroughs in technology."

   "Yes, I will continue to invest in Tesla in the future, maybe five or ten years, and I will not ask for a cent in return from Tesla."

  Xia Jingxing continued: "In order to cooperate with Tesla's entry into thousands of households, we will also build a supporting charging network and build charging piles all over the world..."

  After listening, Straubel was deeply shocked by Xia Jingxing's grand plan, and asked again and again.

  Xia Jingxing smiled and answered, every point he explained made Straubel feel refreshed and eye-opening.

   "Have you heard of artificial intelligence?"

  Straubel nodded, “This is a concept that was put forward in the 1950s. It’s just a technology that hasn’t made much breakthrough yet.”

  "What kind of sparks do you think the combination of cars and artificial intelligence will produce?"

  Straubel thought for a while, then smiled and said, “It’s not a driverless car, right?

  This thing was studied by the US Department of Defense in the 1980s, but it was too slow and had a high failure rate. "

  Xia Jingxing nodded, “In the future Tesla, I hope that this function can be fully realized, and I will also invest a lot of research and development funds in this direction.

  To become a great company, Tesla must develop in the most cutting-edge and technological direction.

  We are not a traditional company, but a technology company located in Silicon Valley.

  If you set limits on yourself, it will always be a mediocre company.

  I don’t want people to hear Tesla. This is the reaction: Oh, the company that makes sports cars, I heard that the acceleration is faster than Porsche.

  This is not cool at all, and it makes no sense.

  I look forward to the response of the public when they hear Tesla: Wow! A car that can drive itself can be driven around the world, because wherever you go, there is a charging station for it. "

  Straubel smiled, "It sounds like a science fiction film, but if it can be achieved, it makes people feel very excited to think about it."

   Xia Jingxing observes his words and colors, and guesses that the fire is almost over, no longer talk about ideals, and start to talk about some practical things.

  "In the future, Tesla may have to build cars, urban off-roads, and build its own factories.

   Stay, you will find that Tesla’s work is far more exciting than you think.

  As long as you make achievements, not only options, equity, and even the position of CEO, I can let you do it. "

  Xia Jingxing shrugged, “You go to Musk and never want to be the CEO. He likes to be the limelight.

  Unlike me, I am willing to delegate power to the management and give the management more authority and possibilities. "

  Straubel was silent, staring at the desktop in a daze.

  Xia Jingxing did not bother the other party's thinking, and waited quietly for a reply.

  The reason why he values ​​this man so much is that in addition to the other's great skills, his work is also really down-to-earth.

  In previous lives, Tesla’s founders and key employees chose to leave because they couldn’t stand Musk’s temper and insults.

  How did Musk do it?

   said that he would cut a certain employee’s egg, spit coffee at the conference table, swear words, and had physical conflicts with the leaving executives.

   can be understood as true temperament, but it is too uncomfortable for people with strong self-esteem.

This is the only one who insisted on working hard at Tesla until 2019, and did not try to steal Musk's limelight. He also invented more than 30 inventions for Tesla, including Tesla’s core battery management technology, core factories and cars. Control system and so on.

  At the same time, even if this person left his job, he joined a battery recycling start-up. The job content is to recycle the waste from the Tesla super battery factory for the production of new batteries.

  This one can be called Musk’s minister of brachial stock.

  This kind of talent, Xia Jingxing naturally had to do everything possible to stay and train to become a core figure of Tesla, and at the same time cut off Musk's arm and let Iron Man build a small rocket with peace of mind.

  (End of this chapter)