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June 7, 2004
New York
Five-star Peninsula Hotel
In the small conference hall on the fourth floor, the Red Hat Venture Capital Fund under the consortium is conducting a centralized review meeting of venture capital projects. There are entrepreneurial teams from famous Ivy League universities such as MIT, Harvard and Stanford University, with a total of 11 project founders.
Participate in review meetings.
A buffet was being held in the hall outside, with a dazzling array of meals, fruits and drinks placed on the long dining table.
The young business elites in suits and ties were not in the mood to talk loudly, nor were they in the mood to eat or drink. Instead, they gathered in small groups to discuss nervously how to deal with detailed inquiries from venture capital funds.
For every project founding team present, the review of Red Hat Ventures is crucial, because Red Hat Ventures’ reputation in the industry is number one (first).
Everyone is very nervous and cherish this precious opportunity because it may change the destiny of their lives.
It is said...
The Godfather of Silicon Valley, Boss Wang, will be on hand to have a brief chat with the entrepreneurs.
For every elite student who is interested in engaging in high-tech network entrepreneurship;
The boss king is an eternal idol in my heart, a pioneer with a shining light, a great god who has ascended the throne without any doubt, and is worthy of worship.
Mark Zuckerberg, who always dresses casually, wore a light-colored suit today without a tie. He has always disliked ties, calling them suffocating strips of cloth and the most boring invention in the world.
The Facebook entrepreneurial team also includes his high school best friend Adam DeAngelo, Harvard classmate Dustin Moskowitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin, a total of five people in their 20s.
The hairy boy.
"Everyone, please be quiet. We must seize this precious opportunity. Oh my God! I still can't believe this is true. I can see my idol, the King Boss, and I am so excited that I want to sing.
"Dustin Moskowitz's voice was trembling when he spoke.
"Hey, do you even need to say this?"
"Just... shut up, Moskowitz, and let's hear what Zuckerberg has to say?"
Dustin Moskowitz did not take the ridicule of his partners seriously. Everyone's eyes were focused on Mark Zuckerberg, who was the soul of this project and the original designer of the software.
When Mark Zuckerberg saw everyone looking at him, he couldn't help but puff up his chest, pretended to be calm, coughed twice, and said;
"Listen, guys, I have great confidence in this social software. In the past few months since its launch, it has had 650,000 users in more than 400 schools in California and nearby. It is called a 'dating tool' by classmates.
Our project is very competitive, and the boss will definitely see the potential and be willing to invest in us.
Because that's the boss king, and no one knows the Internet world better than him.
In order to do this project well, I am going to give up my studies at Harvard University and devote myself wholeheartedly to the Facebook project, rapidly expanding our user base to universities across the United States, as well as Canada, Europe and other places.
What we have to do now is to introduce the infinitely bright prospects of the Facebook project to Red Hat Ventures and obtain the crucial starting capital for starting a business.
Because we can no longer rely on renting computers for $85 per month to maintain a rapidly growing user base, we need this money."
The partners nodded in agreement. Harvard University alone has hundreds of entrepreneurial projects every year, and less than 1/10 of them can last for more than half a year. Most of them are interrupted due to funding problems.
Best friend Adam D'Angelo thought for a moment and asked, "Look, Zuckerberg, we don't know the estimated price of this project yet, what kind of price do you think is appropriate?"
"yes!"
"How about $1 million? Is it too high?"
"Okay...don't interrupt, just listen to what Zuckerberg has to say."
When everyone calmed down, Mark Zuckerberg smiled confidently and said, "Before coming here, I was approached by investor Peter Thiel and offered to pay $500,000 for 10% of the equity, but I refused.
, because he is unable to provide the channels and technological support needed for the future development of the Facebook project, so my project quotation is US$5 million, and no more than 30% of the co-founders’ equity will be transferred.”
"Wow... there are so many, we are so developed."
Adam D'Angelo thought about it and said, "Yes, yes! Could it be that the offer is too high, and the transfer of 30% of the equity is too little, and it may be rejected directly?
I know that Red Hat Investment Fund generally holds more than 50% of the equity. This is the case for successful investment projects such as Amazon.com, photo gallery website and YouTube website.
In 1999
In order to win the favor of their boss, Larry Page and Sergey Brin sold their Google web crawler patents for US$1 million.
The funds obtained were used to occupy a total of 13% in Google's angel round. Now after dilution, each still has a 3.1% interest, and is now worth more than 1 billion US dollars. This is a great win-win strategy.
Zuckerberg, I think you should seriously consider that exceeding 50% equity is Red Hat's consistent domineering style and will not make an exception for the Facebook project."
"No... I will not sell the Facebook project patent, it belongs to me." Faced with the persuasion of his best friend, Mark Zuckerberg stubbornly shook his head in response.
Dustin Moskowitz nodded in agreement with Adam's opinion, looked at his classmates Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin, and saw that they had the same opinion as him, he spoke to persuade;
"Hey... stop being stubborn, Zuckerberg, and face reality.
I admit that the Facebook project is very creative and very attractive to singles on college campuses who want to hook up. This is the unique charm that makes it so popular on campus.
But at the same time, you should also see that there are more than 150 dating websites in the United States, including Silicon Valley. I checked yesterday and found that the Facebook website ranks 81st among registered social networking websites in the United States.
Without strong support, we may not reach the end.
Please don't rush to refute what I say. Adam, Hughes and Saverin all have the same opinion here. We definitely need Red Hat Venture Capital, but the other party does not necessarily need us.
To put it bluntly, a dating website is an idea. Is it really difficult to implement it?
A few people can make it in a week, and the most important thing is the refreshing creativity.
Not to mention whether Red Hat Venture Capital will participate in this field, if they don’t invest, we can still invest in others, giving us an insurmountable and powerful opponent.
Take a look at Google search. It has only been listed for half a month, and its market value has reached 36.7 billion US dollars. This is the most successful example.
It is precisely because of holding the boss's thick legs that Google was able to overcome obstacles and finally go public despite the "Papa Billy's Nightclub Rape Case" that shocked the United States. This explains too many problems.
Think back to the beginning
There are so many websites dedicated to search, but why does only Google search stand out in the end?
Because of the Yahoo website controlled by the royal family fund, abundant resources and channels, and the mythical industry status of the boss in Silicon Valley, Google Search stood on the shoulders of giants from the beginning and had all the elements for success.
Don’t see Royal Fund taking away most of the controlling shares, because they can do things that no other venture capital fund in Silicon Valley or even the United States can do;
That is to help its network high-tech companies successfully avoid dangerous shoals that eventually lead to their demise, defeat powerful opponents one after another, and emerge as the final winner.
The Amazon website is worth US$10.3 billion, the Google website is worth US$36.7 billion, the Tuku website is now worth US$760 million, the YouTube video website is worth US$1.9 billion, the graphics work website is worth US$1.12 billion...
Without the strong operational capabilities of Red Hat Venture Capital Fund, they would not be able to reach this day.
Don’t turn a blind eye to this, Zuckerberg, this is the real reason why all Silicon Valley web startups want Red Hat Ventures.”
After saying some well-founded words, his teammates gave him warm applause, which caused other teams nearby who were whispering to roll their eyes.
It’s not that Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t understand this, but he is unwilling to hand over the leadership of the company he worked so hard to create to others and selectively turns a blind eye.
The words of his entrepreneurial partner caused waves in his heart, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
a long time
Zuckerberg said in a difficult tone; "Well, friends, I admit that what you said makes sense, but I really don't want to accept it!"
"Don't worry, man, the boss will not take away the leadership of the entrepreneurial team. The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, solved the problem of the rape case and are still serving as senior executives of Google."
Are managers and directors responsible for business operations?"
"I agree with Saverin. The boss has invested in more than 160 Internet companies. How can he have the energy to personally intervene?"
"Haha... don't forget that he is the richest man in the world. His wealth is far more than the 360 billion US dollars reported by Fortune magazine. His assets should exceed one trillion US dollars. He can still value our little money. He is putting himself too far away.
It’s serious.”
"If the valuation can reach 5 million US dollars, I am willing to sell my share of the stock. It is not bad to be a company executive. I can enjoy the dividends from the option pool and remain in an invincible position."
"Yes, I agree."
Looking at the unanimous opinions of his partners, Zuckerberg finally backed down and said after thinking for a while: "Since you all agree, then I am willing to let Red Hat Venture Capital account for more than 50%, but I will not sell my equity."
, you are left to your own free will.”
"OK, that's good. There is hope that it will be classified as a Class A investment by Red Hat Venture Capital. Only then will the Facebook website project be able to receive strong support and become a real winner."
Dustin Moskowitz breathed a sigh of relief and finally convinced the stubborn Mark Zuckerberg. This was not easy at all.