Chapter 4 LinkedIn

……

Stanford University, located in Palo Alto in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, is adjacent to Silicon Valley and forms the academic center of the western United States together with the University of California, Berkeley in San Francisco's North Bay. Stanford is one of the best in the world. Moreover, it is second only to Harvard University and has produced the second-largest number of billionaires in the United States.

Stanford is a desirable place for anyone around the world interested in computers and related industries. Here, from the moment they enter the school, Stanford students are instilled with the idea that the goal of Stanford people is to change the world.

Therefore, in many large companies on Wall Street in the United States, the staff of Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and other top American universities who joined the company at the same time, after three years of work, there are still more than sixty percent of the staff from Harvard, Princeton and other famous schools, but the people who were born in Stanford are basically gone.

They are either starting a business or are on the road to preparing to start a business.

Although Guo Shouyun is only 19 years old, he has been at Stanford for three years, and he has also been deeply influenced by the Stanford philosophy and the Internet boom that has emerged in Silicon Valley. After his studies were no longer much of a challenge for him, he chose the path of entrepreneurship like his predecessors.

However, his luck was not very good. When the startup was just a bit of an eyebrow and was still looking for angel investment, it caught up with the NASDAQ crisis.

Of course, when Bruce Guo became Guo Shouyun, everything was already different.

……

Because American universities are basically open, Guo Shouyun's Chevrolet can be parked directly downstairs. After locking the car door, I went to my dormitory on the third floor with my backpack on my back, and as soon as I opened it, a hot air came out. Then the 'tick-tock' sound reached his ears.

In this regard, Guo Shouyun, who fused Bruce Guo's memory, had already prepared in his heart, so he didn't feel strange.

After closing the door and walking through the porch, a messy-looking living room comes into view.

With the exception of the old sofa crammed into the corner, more than 70% of the central living room is occupied by four or five stacked tables. On the table is HP's LCD computer, of course, the size and style are very different from later generations. In the middle of the four sky computers are two cases that are larger than ordinary computers.

The messy-looking data lines are connected to each other while tick-tock electronic signals sound from the main chassis.

In addition to the kitchen and bathroom, there are two rooms on the left and right sides of the living room, and Guo Shouyun pushed open the one on the left, which was his bedroom. After putting down his backpack, he just wanted to knock on the door on the right. Then the closed entrance door was opened again.

A young white man in dark casual clothes, slightly obese, with curly brown hair, walked in.

"Bruce, you're out of the hospital?"

Looking at his roommate, Martin Alexander, who is also the only friend of the university, the entrepreneurial partner, and of course the top student in the computer department, Guo Shouyun smiled and nodded.

"Great!" came up and gave Guo Shouyun a warm hug, "Why didn't you give a notice in advance when you were discharged from the hospital, as a best friend, I should pick you up." ”

"No, I don't. In contrast, if there was a party to celebrate my discharge, I think it would be more appropriate!"

"OK, wrap it up on me!"

Wang Zheng smiled, "By the way, look at how neatly you dress." Why, did you have a girlfriend while I was away?"

"I'm not as popular as you are, I can have a school girl as a girlfriend!" After a pause, Martin Alexander's tone became slightly lower, "Bruce, I went to meet an angel investor just now, but he refused to invest money in our project. … It's all my fault, if I had listened to you earlier, we would have been able to get a lot of money for development before the NASDAQ crisis. ”

He patted his friend on the shoulder, "Don't be discouraged, Martin, we have another way!"

The latter shook his head and said with a dejected expression: "I have thought of all the methods. For those two used IBM enterprise servers, the two of us have spent all of our scholarships and competition prizes. If there is no more capital investment, the large amount of data generated by the operation will exceed the load of the server, and once the system crashes, all our previous efforts will be wasted...!"

"I've found an investor!"

Guo Shouyun interrupted him with a smile.

"What?"

"I said I've found an institution that is willing to invest!"

Looking at his friend's surprised expression, Guo Shouyun repeated.

"Really?"

"When did I lie to you!"

"Great. Bruce, or do you have a way... By the way, what's the name of the other party?" said Martin Alexander excitedly.

"Kwok's Trust Fund!"

"Is there such an investment company in Silicon Valley?"

Martin Alexander pondered through all the investors and institutions in Silicon Valley.

"It's not been long since it was founded, and it's normal that you haven't heard of it. ”

"No wonder!" After breathing a sigh of relief, Martin looked up at his friend's face and thought of his previous name, "Bruce, this can't be...?"

Guo Shouyun nodded.

"When my adoptive father died, he transferred his property to me in the form of a family trust. Although the money is not much, it is enough to support the development of 'Excellence' for a year, and with this year's buffer, it will be much easier for us to find VC again!"

Martin Alexander nodded in agreement.

"Bruce, about your adoptive father, look away. ”

These were the only words that Martin Alexander, who was not good at words, could think of to comfort his friend.

"Thanks, I understand!" After a pause, "let's talk about some happy topics!

"Not badly, we've added almost 15,000 more registered users this month. ”

"So, the entire 'Excellence' has more than 50,000 users?"

Martin Alexander nodded excitedly, "It's 52,340 people!"

The figure of less than 60,000 is not unexpected by Guo Shouyun, after all, their website is just a 'small workshop' located inside his dormitory. If it weren't for the opening of the comment area, where job search information can be shared, there may not even be more than 50,000 people now.

"Not bad!"

Guo Shouyun smiled and nodded.

"Bruce, in the future, Excellence will definitely become a big company like Yahoo and rewrite the entire talent acquisition and executive search industry. ”

"I also believe we can do it. But before we could do that, we had to find a suitable office location for the new company. There is not enough space in the dormitories. And we need to recruit more engineers. Also, I want to change the name of the company!"

"Why?"

"Excellence is too ordinary, and I think LinkedIn is more appropriate. ”

"LinkedIn, LinkedIn?"

Guo Shouyun nodded, according to the memories of Bruce Guo he received, the website they co-founded, like the later popular LinkedIn, is a professional social networking site for business customers.

Although he can't remember exactly when the LinkedIn was founded, he has a good idea of LinkedIn website architecture and profit model after getting a job from LinkedIn.

After savoring Guo Shouyun's new name, Martin Alexander nodded.

"LinkedIn is indeed more appropriate than Excellence, so let's call it 'LinkedIn!"

"Martin, it's still early. It just so happens that you and I have time. Why don't you just find a suitable office location, and I'll solve the company registration matter. ”

"No problem, I'll go!"

Martin Alexander, who solved the funding problem, was full of energy at this time. But just as he was about to turn around and leave, he was stopped by Guo Shouyun.

Looking at his friend's puzzled eyes, Guo Shouyun didn't sell it.

"Martin, the registered capital of the new company is $2 million, and I will leave you 20% of the original shares. In addition, I will be the CEO of the new company, and you will be the CTO, and we will find someone else for the other positions. If you have any other comments, you can do so now. ”

The brother settles the accounts, and the issue of the company's equity is of course made clear at the beginning.

Martin also understood the reason, so after careful consideration, he nodded. The operation of the website is the credit of two people, and Guo Shouyun's contribution is not less than his. Now that he has put another $2 million into the company, he can give him 20% of the shares, which is enough to show his sincerity.

"I don't have a problem. ”

"Okay, let's go! There's a lot of work to be done. ”

The two walked out of the room together.

"By the way, did you inform Alice about your discharge?"

"Not yet!"

"Did you really decide to break up?"

Guo Shouyun's footsteps stopped, and after a moment of silence, "After she gets her degree, she will meet in Taiwan~wan, and I can't go back with him! We don't have a second path other than to break up. ”

"Bruce, don't be frustrated. When we succeed in starting a business and making a lot of money, there will be a lot of beautiful girls for you to choose from. Martin patted his friend on the shoulder and comforted.

Guo Shouyun smiled and didn't say anything. With a foreknowledge of the future for nearly two decades, his worries have never been about money. However, this cannot be said to Martin, not even to anyone.