Chapter 502 Strong Acquisition

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Under Martin Abbard's explanation, Guo Shouyun spent more than half an hour to understand the complete data of this T-zero Tesla sedan in detail.

In his previous life, Guo Shouyun was not a person who loved cars very much, and he didn't have a car, so he didn't know much about cars. There are even fewer electric cars. As for Tesla, a high-end luxury electric car brand, I don't know much about this company except for his highly personalized CEO Elon Musk. Therefore, he does not know how far this T-zero sedan is from the pure electric vehicles of later generations, and at what level?

However, despite not knowing, compared to the current ordinary car, he can still find a lot of shortcomings of the T-zero.

"After listening to your introduction, I found that there are three main difficulties in the marketization of this electric vehicle. First, the safety and reliability of the battery pack. Second, the acceleration performance is too slow. Thirdly, the cruising range at high speeds is still insufficient. Right?"

Martin Abbold nodded in agreement.

"How soon do you expect to solve these problems through R&D?"

After thinking about it, Martin Abbard cautiously said: "If it goes well, 3~5 years!"

"3~5 years!" Guo Shouyun smiled and nodded, "If you want to solve it within this time period, you still need a lot of capital investment, right?"

"Yes, we need to recruit more engineers to solve technical problems. ”

"I think we need to sit down and talk about investing!"

Tesla employees, including Martin Abbard and Mark Tarpenning, had joyful expressions on their faces at the same time. In Silicon Valley, it's only natural for startups to thrive through venture capital. With money, Tesla has the possibility of continuing to develop. As the company's veterans, they have the possibility to become rich.

"The second floor is our office. Mr. Guo, let's go up and talk. ”

Guo Shouyun nodded, and went to the second floor under the leadership of Martin Abbard. Like many startups that don't have a lot of money in hand, the second floor is divided into two different areas: living and working. The decoration is very natural and simple, too. Some second-hand office furniture is placed in it, and there are no complicated furnishings in the corner, except for car-related things. In this office of less than 50 square meters, the most attractive thing for Guo Shouyun is probably the Apple computer on the table.

"Mr. Guo, please take a seat!"

"Thank you!"

After the two sides sat down, Martin Abbard got straight to the point: "Mr. Guo, although our Tesla Motors company has just been established, our team is all senior electrical engineers, many of whom are members of General Motors' 'EV-1' vehicle R&D team, and have deep experience in electric vehicle design and development. This is a talent advantage that no other EV startup can match. ”

Guo Shouyun, who has read Tesla's materials, naturally understands General Motors' 'EV-1' electric vehicles. It was developed by General Motors in 1991 and put on the market as the first mass-produced electric car, this car is not good-looking, with a range of 140 kilometers, due to the low input-output ratio, after producing more than 2,000 units, General Motors announced its abandonment in 2002. The incident brought General Motors a bad name, and a documentary titled "Who Killed the Electric Car" made the matter even more popular.

Although GM has abandoned the development and production of pure electric vehicles, it has trained a group of engineers with deep experience in the research and development of electric vehicles. These engineers were recruited by Martin Abbard, laying a solid foundation for Tesla's later rise.

"Tesla's talent advantage is indeed my main consideration for choosing you. However, you don't have a relatively mature product yet, the R&D cycle is too long, and the uncertainty is too high, which is my concern. ”

When Martin Abbard was about to speak, Guo Shouyun rushed ahead and continued: "However, like you, I believe that electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry, so I am willing to invest in Tesla." But I have another investment plan than venture capital. ”

"I want to hear about it!"

Having said that, combined with his simple understanding of the Silicon Valley boss in front of him, Martin Abbard already had a guess in his heart.

"Quite simply, I'm going to buy Tesla. Mr. Abbard, Mr. Tarpenning and Mr. Kony can enjoy 3~5% of the company's original shares, and the rest of the engineers can also own the company's shares depending on their ability and contribution. I can promise you that your shares will not change as I continue to invest in the company until it goes public. ”

Martin Abbard, and Mark Tarpenning and Al Coney next to him exchanged glances, "If it's a venture capital, what kind of conditions can Mr. Guo come up with?"

"I just want to buy, I don't plan to venture capital. Looking at the abruptly changed expressions of the three people, Guo Shouyun continued, "Investment in new energy vehicles is something I have been considering. Originally, I was planning to set up my own company to develop and produce pure electric vehicles. However, when I was doing market research, I found Tesla, more precisely, your experienced talent team, so I have the current inspection and acquisition. If you refuse, then I will have to give up and set up my own company to develop according to the original plan. ”

Martin Abbard's face changed, although Guo Shouyun said it lightly, as long as he was not a fool, he could hear the threat.

After pondering for a moment, "If it is acquired, how much does Mr. Guo plan to use to acquire Tesla?"

"$3 million to acquire 88% of Tesla's shares, and the remaining 12% will be allocated to Tesla's top management and R&D personnel, including three. I myself will become the chairman of Tesla, responsible for the company's long-term planning. Mr. Hubbard remains the CEO of the company and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company. The positions of Mr. Tarpenning and Mr. Kony will not change much. ”

Three million already shows Guo Shouyun's sincerity, after all, Tesla now has no fixed assets at all except for those R&D equipment and a few modified but immature electric cars. Not to mention the new technology that has been developed independently.

"Mr. Guo, this is too sudden, can you give us a moment to discuss it?" asked Martin Abbard, after a moment of silence.

"Of course. ”

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Guo!"

Martin Abbbard took Mark Tarpenning and Al Kony for a quiet room.

"What do you think?"

"Do you think we have any other options than selling?"

After listening to Mark Tarpenning's words, the three of them looked at each other and smiled bitterly. As Guo Shouyun said before, Tesla's most valuable thing now is her R&D team. But with the other party's network resources, it is easy to poach this team. After all, compared with Tesla, Bruce Guo, who is well-capitalized and willing to invest, is more promising than Tesla.

If there is no experienced R&D team from GM's electric vehicle project, and only a few of them remain, Tesla is still somewhat attractive to investors, then it is really unknown.

"There's some money on the account, so can we get in touch with other VCs first?" said Mark Tarpenning.

GM's failure has made all venture capital firms lose interest in BEV startups. This point, when we contacted Sequoia, Fidelity and other investment institutions before, their attitude is already very telling. … In addition, Tesla has only been established for three months, and we have no fixed assets except for those few concept cars that are not successful. Bruce Guo's 3 million acquisition funds are sincere enough. And he has deep pockets, which can easily solve our financial problems, and quickly allow Tesla to expand exponentially and grow rapidly. … When the company goes public, the value of the shares we hold now will far exceed the value of the entire Tesla. Al Coney said.

As the company's chief engineer and one of Tesla's Big Three, Al Coney does not have as much stake as Martin Abbbard and Mark Tarpenning, the two real founders of the company. Therefore, among the three, he is the one who does not reject acquisitions.

After a moment, a half-pensive Mark Tarpenning spoke: "In Silicon Valley, Bruce Guo has always been known for his long-term vision and trust in management. Perhaps his joining Tesla will guide us in the direction of the future development of pure electric vehicles. In addition, we can respect our management and operation of the company. ”

Hearing this, Martin Abbold sighed inwardly. There is no doubt that Mark Tarpenning is also in favor of selling the company.

Two of the three high-level officials agreed, and he also lost the reason to insist.

"Hopefully it's the right choice!"

An hour later, Guo Shouyun took the acquisition contract he wanted and left Tesla's current headquarters satisfied.

"Things went even better than expected!"

Originally, he thought he would have to wait a few more days, but he didn't expect to get the entire investment in less than a few hours. Obviously, as his status has risen, things that he thought would be difficult are getting easier.

"Collect the contract and put $10 million into Tesla's account. ”

After Wang Jue took the purchase contract and put it away, he nodded.

"Boss, where are we going next?" asked Matthew.

"Go home for lunch and pay for another date in the afternoon!"

The details of lunch naturally don't need to be mentioned.

In the afternoon, Hanshan Villa. This club, which Guo Shouyun specially came to entertain guests, ushered in the guests he was more interested in.

"The boss, the CEO of the company, Mr. Elon Musk. Peter Thiel introduced.

"Mr. Guo, it's a great honor to meet you!"

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