My Age of Investment

Sequoia Capital Office.

Moritz glanced at a group of middle-aged white men in their forties and fifties sitting on both sides of the long table, and asked, "What do you think of the Facebook case?"

Insert an app: A perfect replica of the old version of the book-chasing artifact, an app that can change the source--Mimi Reading.

All present are members of the investment committee, the top decision-makers of Sequoia Capital, each of whom has been immersed in the venture capital industry for many years.

When it comes to Facebook, these people are divided into two groups of dissenters.

"Since Facebook has raised its valuation to 400 million US dollars, then we will re-report 400 million US dollars. In any case, the potential shown by social networking sites is growing, and we must grab the top projects."

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

"Facebook at the 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 the opportunity."

"With a pre-money valuation of $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 realizes the reality."

...

A group of people quarreled, each with their own reasons.

Moritz frowned, and he admitted that Sequoia Capital made some mistakes this time.

More than half a month ago, when Facebook just made an offer of 300 million US dollars, Sequoia Capital should have won the project in one go, and the final transaction price will never exceed 400 million US dollars.

In the end, I still underestimate the young man who invested in LinkedIn with me.

I wanted to hang on to each other, but...

Play off!

The price keeps getting higher and higher!

To be honest, it was impossible for him not to be angry when Xia Jingxing played such a trick once.

But they are all fifty years old, and they are also in the financial capital business. Obviously, it is 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, the company's competition strategy, operation strategy, and so on 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 project success is higher!

After thinking about it, he wasn't so angry anymore.

…………

…………

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

Most investors are unhappy about Facebook's sudden price hike to $400 million.

It's not surprising that the butt decides the head, they think.

And the truly wise ones have already begun to act.

…………

…………

An uninvited white man in his thirties made an unannounced visit to Facebook.

The front desk asked the man to wait for a while, and came to ask Xia Jingxing with a business card.

Xia Jingxing looked at the business card? He immediately asked the front desk to lead someone in.

"Hi Darren, my name is Jim Breyer? I'm a partner at Axel Investments."

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

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

Blaye, with blue eyes and dark hair, is actually in his early forties? But looks like he's in his early thirties? Well maintained.

The hair is not combed enough, wearing a decent couture suit? Wearing a luxury watch, the elite style is full.

Take a sip of coffee? Put the cup down? Blayer smiled and said, "I've been following Facebook since the beginning of this year? I'm actually a Stanford graduate, and I'm in the same major as you? Computer Science."

Xia Jingxing smiled and said nothing.

Breyer looked at the other party's expression? His heart was bitter.

He actually misunderstood? Xia Jingxing knew him? He did not treat him as a nobody.

Blayer cleared his mind and began to introduce himself and the company in detail.

“…When I was 20, in 1980, I was still a sophomore in my sophomore year, interning at Hewlett-Packard, and having a working lunch with then-CEO John, I suggested that he get into the PC market because there was a nearby company called Apple's business is making PCs..."

"When I was 22, I wrote a cover letter to Steve Jobs, who agreed and let me join Apple..."

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

"Axel was founded in 1983, and in 1996 our fund achieved a 20x return..."

"In 2000, we formed a single $1.2 billion eighth investment fund..."

...

When Breyer finished his introduction, he found that the young man on the opposite side still didn't have much reaction, so he smiled.

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

Blayer is a little depressed, since you already know that, why didn't you tell me sooner?

He was worried that Xia Jingxing would look down upon him and introduced his resume in too much detail...

But he is American, not as modest as the Chinese, but 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 LP (funder) ranks."

Hearing Xia Jingxing talking about this, Breyer's face was not very good-looking.

Xia Jingxing said with a smile, "Of course, the Stanford University Foundation is still among your LPs. President John and I mentioned you and said that he still has confidence in you and believes that you can get out of the slump and reproduce the 90s of the last century. The glory of the age.”

When Breyer heard Xia Jingxing talk about this, his face became much better.

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

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

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

In the 1990s, the myth of a single fund's return rate of more than 20 times was created, and then it became a bit floating, and the proportion of investment profits increased from 25% to 30%.

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

The fees are so high, and they give me a loss.

He also knew that the man in front of him was still a "second-generation investment", and his father was also a venture capitalist. He used to work at IDG, and his family background was only a little worse than Draper's "third-generation investment".

In the future, Axel is still out of the trough, and has done a good job, ranking around a dozen or so among global venture capital institutions.

Axel also has a well-known partner IDG in China. IDG established several funds before 2010, most of which were borne by Axel.

And the password for Axel's re-emergence is to vote on Facebook.

That's right, the previous life was the Facebook A round invested by Axel, and the B round also added investment, making a lot of money.

Blayer thought for a while and said, "Let me just say it straight, Axel is very interested in investing in Facebook, and we can accept your $400 million valuation offer.

Facebook implements AB shares. We can all want A shares with only one vote, and no B shares with ten votes, 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, Blayer 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 heavy on Facebook, are you not afraid of too much risk?"

"We've been watching you for a year and have a lot of confidence in you," Blayer said with a smile.

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

This is what other investment institutions that are still wandering and watching cannot give you. "

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

Blayer laughed, he is an old man, and he still doesn't know the other side's sloppy guts.

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

Blayer said, "I can promise you that my offer is always $10 million higher than theirs."

Xia Jingxing was at a loss for words. He didn't know where Breyer had such strong confidence.

"I have a question, why didn't you participate in the last round of offers?"

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

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

Blayer shook his head, "I can't tell you this for now. If I become a shareholder, I will tell you."

Xia Jingxing looked at Breyer with a smile, "You guys are so purposeful and can't wait, are you not afraid of me sitting on the ground and raising the price?"

"As I've said, our offer is always $10 million higher than Sequoia's."

When it comes to the name Sequoia Capital, Breyette accentuates his tone.

Xia Jingxing nodded. He had heard some stories in his previous life and knew that this old man was very angry with Sequoia Capital.

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

He recalled carefully, when Xiaomazi originally raised the A round of financing, the investment institution he chose was the Washington Post.

The price has been negotiated. The pre-investment valuation is $54 million. The Washington Post invested $6 million, accounting for 10% of the shares.

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

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

Xia Jingxing felt that the other party was obviously prepared, and he was determined to invest in Facebook.

And the kind that will do whatever it takes!

In a sense, Axel should be trying to break the boat once.

I hit it and turned it over completely through the Facebook project.

Missed the vote, the fund was liquidated, and it went bankrupt.

Axel has been wider before, but has now entered a recession.

Compared with investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins Huaying, and Defengjie, which are still prosperous, Axel’s brand is a little worse.

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

Xia Jingxing is not a good man and a woman, the other party has already rushed up and let him kill him, how could he not seize such a good opportunity.

Anyway, one is willing to fight, the other is willing to suffer.

After Blayer left, he called a certain media person, and then "accidentally" leaked the news during the chat.

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

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

Axel wants to invest in Facebook, with a pre-money valuation of $400 million, and has already negotiated almost, and will sign an agreement soon.