This year, the mainstream media in Europe and the United States finally admitted that China's economy has risen, and that only fools believe the "China collapse theory".

James Gingch, a China correspondent for the Financial Times, published a book entitled "China Shakes the World: The Rise of a Hungry Nation", which not only sold well in the UK, but also ranked in the top 10 of the national book sales list in the United States.

Erik Izralevich, a journalist for the French newspaper Le Monde, also published a book called "When China Changes the World", which became a bestseller throughout Europe.

Sarah Bongiolny, a financial journalist in the United States, decided to do an experiment on New Year's Day last year, and she and her family would not use any products containing "made in China" for a year. This year, she published a book about this experiment, entitled "A Year Without Made in China".

According to the book, first of all, her son could not buy shoes. Nearby shoe stores that only sell "not made in China" have been crowded out of business, while local American brands, including Nike, all have "made in China" logos. In the end, she had to find a catalogue from a magazine and buy a pair of high-priced sneakers made in Italy.

Then, the electric lights, birthday candles, firecrackers, and mousetraps in her house...... All of them are made in China, and these products in nearby stores are also "made in China", and there is no way to have a birthday party for children. Appliances that are broken cannot be repaired, take the vacuum cleaner as an example, because the filter is broken, she ran all over the store, and the vacuum cleaner filter is all "made in China".

This "A Year Without Made in China", the content is more understandable and vivid than the previous two, which has caused a huge public opinion response in the United States, and the Yankees have verified it in their own homes. It turned out that the things they used in their homes were either produced directly in China, or various components were produced in China.

In 2006, three books, "China Shakes the World: The Rise of a Hungry Country", "When China Changes the World", and "A Year Without Made in China", came out one after another, making China's name "World Factory" deeply rooted in the hearts of European and American people.

Influenced by this public opinion, more and more European and American businessmen came to China to seek development.

Not to mention the large multinational companies, many small businessmen come to China to pan for gold. They look for very cheap Chinese goods, cooperate with Chinese manufacturers, and then ship them back to Europe and the United States, and even to Africa, West Asia and other regions for sale. This has led to local media reporting from time to time which local brand has earned foreign exchange through exports, and has taken the first step to the world.

Even Michael Moretz of Sequoia Capital came to China.

Sequoia Capital has always had a "twin star" phenomenon, the first generation of leaders is Don Valentin and Pierre Lemond, the second generation of leaders is Mielke Moretz and Doug Leone, and even Sequoia (China) has Shen Nanpeng and Zhang Fan.

Michael Moretz is best known for leading investments in Yahoo, Google and PayPal. His previous investments revolved around Silicon Valley, and this year's "Chinese wind" was blowing too fiercely, and this guy actually came to China to investigate.

And after Michael Moretz came to China, the first person he visited was Song Weiyang!

Tomson Golf Villas.

The two founders of Sequoia (China), Shen Nanpeng and Zhang Fan, are neighbors of Shen Nanpeng and Song Weiyang, and he organized this party.

"Hello, Mr. Song, it's a pleasure to meet you!" said Michael Moretz with a smile and shook hands.

Song Weiyang smiled and said, "Me too." ”

Zhang Fan reported to his home: "Mr. Song, hello, I am Zhang Fan, the co-founder of Sequoia (China). ”

"I know, you led the investment in the air net," Song Weiyang shook his hand and said, "Fortunately!"

In another time and space, Zhang Fan also invested in Baidu, but unfortunately Baidu in this time and space may not develop so well.

As for the air network invested by Zhang Fan, it has been particularly powerful in the past two years. Listed on NASDAQ in 2004, the main wireless value-added business and mobile games, its mobile phone revenue before the listing of the country to do the first, WAP and MMS business has maintained three years of the country's first, its mobile phone network community three years ago surpassed the "mobile QQ".

However, with the mobile Montnets crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, the air network has a little hard time this year.

Michael Moretz is always sharp in the media, but in private he is a very funny and kind person, he said: "Song, in fact, I always wanted to talk to you in person before Google was preparing to go public. ”

"Talking about venture capital?" asked Song Weiyang.

Michael Moretz shook his head and said, "No." I just wanted to ask you why you were bullish on Google in the first place. The shareholding ratio at the time of your investment is too high, which has far exceeded the red line of venture capital, and according to the normal investment logic, Google is likely to lose the next financing opportunity because of your shareholding ratio, or even never develop. ”

Song Weiyang smiled: "But Sequoia Capital still entered the market, didn't it?"

"I almost gave up," said Michael Moretz, "because Google is a cake that has been eaten and I feel bad about being bitten into it." ”

Song Weiyang said: "The true meaning of venture capital is not to share the cake, but to help make the cake bigger. ”

Michael Moretz said, "Yes. Google's pie was made big enough that I came into the market with nausea. Emotionally, it's the hardest investment I've ever made, even though it's only been second to Yahoo in terms of returns. ”

"Hahahaha!" Song Weiyang laughed.

Michael Moretz said: "After you made it to the top 10 of the world's richest people, I studied your investment case specifically. I'm pretty sure you're an outsider in the venture capital space, and your previous investments have been a game-breaker. I was baffled by the fact that this was extremely risky, but it all worked. ”

Song Weiyang spread his hands and said: "I don't care about the rules of the game, because I invest from the perspective of an entrepreneur, not from the perspective of a venture capitalist. If Google misses out on the next funding opportunity because my shareholding is too high, then I will make additional investment myself, because I am very optimistic about Google, and I will invest all the way until Google goes public. ”

"Maniac, this way of investing, like playing roulette in a casino, betting heavily on a single number every time," says Michael Moretz, "and while you can make an infinite number of profits if you win, the odds of losing are infinitely magnified." Whoever keeps using this method as a venture capitalist is guaranteed to lose money within a few years. ”

Song Weiyang smiled: "It seems that I am very lucky, and I have won every number I bet." ”

"No, one bet is luck, and the second bet is strength," Michael Moretz asked with a smile, "It's really a novel idea to do venture capital from an entrepreneur's point of view." How do you choose who you invest in?

Song Weiyang said: "Select an industry with potential and look for a company with potential. Of course, the most important thing is that the founders of this company are worth investing in. ”

"Haha, just like me," Michael Moretz clapped his hands and laughed, "I invest in a company, and I also look at the company's entrepreneurs first, not at other things in the company." ”

Shen Nanpeng suddenly interjected: "Invest in people, not companies." ”

"It's not just the founders, it's its early team," Michael Moretz explains in detail, "and every company has a unique DNA that takes shape in the first six months of a company's start-up." A technology company, with the first three or four engineers, will determine the future of the company and form its own unique corporate DNA. An outstanding entrepreneur has many outstanding partners, and they each find outstanding employees. If the entrepreneur is outstanding, but the people he hires are mediocre, then it will be too late. Three months is a deadline, and if you can't hire outstanding employees in three months, the company's future is in doubt. If it doesn't hire exceptional employees for six months, the company will never be able to do much, because its DNA is already formed. ”

"Very interesting company DNA theory. Song Weiyang nodded.

Zhang Fan interjected: "But is there such a possibility." For example, seven or eight years ago, China's commercial Internet was a blank space, and there was a mediocre entrepreneur who was nurtured in the United States and saw an opportunity when he returned to China. He has some business talents, but he recruits all mediocre employees, but he has become bigger and stronger because of the Internet outlet. ”

Song Weiyang laughed: "As long as you stand in the wind, pigs can fly." ”

"No, no, no," Michael Moretz shook his head, "once the initial team is mediocre, this company will never be big, unless it can do a high-level change." Even if this kind of company flies because of the wind, it hides countless contradictions and problems, and it is very likely to detonate before the IPO. Even if it is successful, it will fall into chaos within a year or two, and investors will not have time to sell their shares. ”

Song Weiyang said: "Thousands of avenues, different paths to the same end. I like to read history, just look at the history of China. Whenever there is war and recklessness, the initial team around the warlord often determines the development limit of the warlord. The mediocre Yuan Cong Hero occupies a high position, which will bring the entire group of forces to mediocrity. And Mr. Moretz said before and after the listing, just like before and after the warlord claimed the title of king, these are two very important nodes. Before claiming the title of king and emperor, the Yuan Cong heroes will inevitably detonate internal contradictions in order to compete for power and profit. After being proclaimed king and emperor, the contradictions between the meritorious heroes of Yuan Cong will become superficial and white-hot, and this contradiction will inevitably affect the entire power group. The same is true for companies and enterprises, which are always changing. ”

Michael Moretz laughs: "It's the first time I've heard someone use history to analyze businesses and investments, but I have to say that you have a lot of point. Is the thinking angle of Chinese businessmen so jumpy and peculiar, or is it limited to Mr. Song?"

Shen Nanpeng said: "Mr. Song is a recognized Confucian merchant in China. ”

Michael Moretz said, "A follower of Confucianism? I thought I was a follower of The Art of War." ”

"You also read The Art of War?" Song Weiyang asked.

Michael Moretz shook his head and said, "I don't watch it, but there are a lot of people on Wall Street who do." Because many politicians and entrepreneurs revere the Art of War, it's only natural that Wall Street analysts, strategists, and consultants will do what they like. They give advice to politicians and businessmen, and their analysis reports are stinky and long, making it difficult to get the approval of their clients. But if you read "The Art of War" and quote the classic expositions in it, you will be regarded by politicians and businessmen as high-end and high-level. ”

"Haha, it turns out that "The Art of War" is not a reference book, but an instruction manual. Song Weiyang said with a smile.

Michael Moretz also found it funny: "For those children on Wall Street, 'The Art of War' is an instruction manual, a decoration when communicating with big customers. They've most likely never read through it, but at least a few of the quotes have to be memorized. ”

The Art of War was popular in the West during World War II and the Cold War – especially after the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was initially confined to military and political circles.

The compulsory reading subjects in US military circles are "The Art of War" and "On War", and the compulsory reading subjects in US political circles are "The Art of War" and "On the Monarch".

Of course, most people belong to the vassal elegance, because a few big people and the media hold "The Art of War" very highly, so others also talk about "The Art of War". Even if they don't read it themselves, they will buy it and put it on the bookshelf to pretend to be, or memorize a few quotes from the book.

Since the 70s, "The Art of War" has been popular in the American business community again, and has been respected by many bigwigs in the fields of management and economics - in fact, this kind of admiration is the same as Song Weiyang's talk about psychology, mainly to pretend to be forced and improve the style, and by the way, to talk to the children about the big truth.

Publishers have followed the hype, with the result that The Art of War has been the world's best-selling book in the categories of military strategy, Asian history, and Eastern philosophy, and has occasionally ranked among the top 10 best-selling business books.

Publishers are making crazy money, and there aren't many bestsellers that don't have to pay author royalties.

If Sun Wu can live to modern times, he will be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires with only his manuscript fees.

Michael Moretz chatted with Song Weiyang about a serious topic, but Shen Nanpeng and Zhang Fan could only listen silently, occasionally interjecting a sentence or two to show their presence. Gradually, they began to talk nonsense, talking about P2P, nanotechnology and the like, which are among the hot spots of venture capital in recent years.

In the end, Michael Moretz invited Song Weiyang to participate in the event, but was decisively rejected by our richest man Song.

The Yankees came to China not only to investigate the market, but also to help Sequoia (China), which was created last year, attract investment partners. If Song Weiyang agrees to participate in their activities, it will be tantamount to openly helping Sequoia (China) stand on the platform, and be stupid to do such a thing that benefits others and himself.

Even if Shen Nanpeng took the initiative to help star in the Wenjun wine advertisement, it would be impossible to get Song Weiyang in return.

Michael Moretz has no plan, and he hopes that Sequoia (China) can reach a strategic cooperation with Taurus Capital. Venture capital is not too much money, but it is a lot of money invested by yourself, and a project always likes several institutions to invest together. In this way, not only does the investment risk be diluted, but also allows the invested company to enjoy the resources of multiple institutions.

Regarding strategic cooperation, Song Weiyang agreed.

In the future, Sequoia (China) will participate in the investment, and Taurus Capital will most likely follow suit. For example, Shen Nanpeng is currently inspecting the "rural base", and once he decides to invest, Taurus Capital may also throw millions into it.