If you are a first-time entrepreneur, after listening to Zhang Chen's analysis, the greatest possibility is to refute it immediately.

Entrepreneurship is a very sharp thing, in addition to being forced to be helpless and wrong and embark on the road of entrepreneurship, every entrepreneur must have a strong confidence in the cause they want to create, so they can break the boat, pay their youth and not rich property, to bet on the success that seems to be within reach but can not be chased.

When faced with other people's doubts about their entrepreneurial projects, no matter who the other party is, the first reaction of first-time entrepreneurs is to refute and justify, and they are unwilling to accept others' doubts and judgments.

First-time entrepreneurs are more convinced that they are the ones who are chosen, and as long as they are persistent enough, they will be able to succeed, and they can't listen to the slightest doubt about their careers.

Of course, there are times when this persistence is right, and the success of many great companies comes from the almost paranoid persistence of their founders, and they have all become legends.

However, more entrepreneurs who blindly stick to their beliefs and do not listen to any doubts taste failure at different stages, but those who have a full understanding of their own situation can go further.

Jay Walker isn't a first-time entrepreneur, and Priceline is already his fifth company. His experience of failing to establish those three companies has long made him understand that it is absolutely impossible to succeed by relying only on faith without objectively formulating entrepreneurial plans.

Zhang Chen really didn't know about Priceline in his previous life, he generally used Ctrip in China, and also used Agoda, Booking, Airbnb and other websites abroad, but Zhang Chen really didn't know much about this Priceline. Although Mr. Zhang had heard his American colleagues mention the site, he had never even logged in.

Despite this, Zhang Chen is not talking nonsense. After all, he is now an investor who has invested in more than 30 projects around the world, and his vision is different from his previous life, and he is talking about the problems that Priceline will definitely face in the future.

Jay Walker loosened his tie and began to really treat Zhang Chen as a venture capitalist in his heart, "I admit that what you said has some truth, and sooner or later Priceline will also involve the price comparison platform business." But today, only by sticking to the customer pricing model can Priceline be attractive to capital, and Priceline can get a higher valuation. ”

Jay Walker blinked, "Zack, I really didn't expect you to have such a deep understanding of Priceline's business model. Maybe you are indeed the one who knows Priceline the most among investors, and I believe that you can really play a very important role in the rapid development of Priceline in the future. But I still can't accept Tinder's exclusive participation in the seed round of financing. ”

Zhang Chen sighed secretly in his heart, Jay Walker is an old man after all, and he doesn't eat fools.

Jay Walker paused: "Sequoia is a very good partner and has been able to help Priceline a lot in the capital markets and management team, and I can't possibly give up on Sequoia's investment." As for Paul Allen, Zack, you know, the name alone can add a lot of exposure to Priceline and save on publicity costs. ”

Paul Allen has also pledged to join Priceline's board of directors. So, I have to keep a certain stake for them. ”

Paul Allen is the founder of Microsoft, to be precise, even Bill Gates was brought into the industry by Paul Allen. At the time of Microsoft's founding, Paul Allen owned 40 percent of Microsoft.

Later, this guy got lymphoma at a young age and quit the Microsoft board. By this time, Microsoft had already made a name for itself in the IT world with MS-DOS, and Paul Allen himself became a young billionaire.

For some wealthy people, cancer is not a terminal disease as long as they actively cooperate with the doctor's treatment. Paul Allen's lymphoma was discovered relatively early and was cured. Later, Microsoft gradually became a company with a market value of more than 100 billion, and although Paul Allen sold some of his shares, he still had a net worth of billions of dollars.

Having experienced life and death, and being one of the world's top 10 super-rich, Paul Allen is running all the way on the road of playboy.

His yachts can form a fleet, private jets can form a fleet, and even Trump's luxuriously decorated Boeing 757 was bought by him later.

Unlike Bill Gates, Paul Allen is not low-key at all. Playing rock 'n' roll, model bubbles, mixing in Hollywood, getting rich with Larry Ellison, buying NBA and NFL teams... These side events have brought Paul Allen a lot of exposure, making him a regular in various media outlets.

After Priceline's acceptance of Paul Allen's investment was known by the media, it would naturally gain corresponding exposure without public relations.

A man with his own traffic.

Zhang Chen nodded, knowing in his heart that if it was him, he would make the same choice. The reason is not only what Jay Walker just said, but also the more important reason is the checks and balances.

A mature entrepreneur must know how to check and balance investors and avoid investors having too much say in the company. With the introduction of multiple investments, Jay Walker's control over the company will be more secure.

"However, I can give Tinder the same stake as Sequoia. Jay Walker changed his words, "Although Priceline is still just a project, there should be no doubt that it is valued at $100 million. Previously, I was going to give away 25 percent of the shares, 10 percent each for Sequoia and Paul Allen, and 5 percent for Spark, but now, I can accept 10 percent of Spark's financing, 10 million dollars, the same as Sequoia and Paul Allen. ”

Zhang Chen thought about it for a long time and said with difficulty: "Okay, since that's the case, I won't say anything." However, there is one point, Tindersource must have priority in subsequent financing rounds to ensure that the shares are not diluted. ”

Jay Walker doesn't care about this, and subsequent rounds of financing are of course a must. The $30 million he can use for half a year at most, that is, in two or three months, Priceline will have to start preparing for the next round of funding.

In Jay Walker's view, Zhang Chen put forward this condition, which is also optimistic about the performance of Priceline.

With the increasingly crazy market, the Internet industry has become more and more money-burning. And it's been a very fast transition, incredibly fast.

Half a year ago, a company like Priceline was valued at a maximum of $10 million, which was already the limit.

But in just half a year, this kind of company with only one name can easily obtain a valuation of more than 100 million US dollars, proving that the Internet industry has truly entered the bubble stage.

Zhang Chen knows that this kind of bubble will exist for a long time, and the growth rate of the bubble will get faster and faster, until the high point of the early 20000 years, the NASDAQ index actually exceeded 5,000 points!

You know, after the bubble burst, it took fifteen years for the Nasdaq to return to the 5,000-point mark. One can imagine how big the bubble is blowing in this round and how crazy the market is.

Although the Chinese stock market has also risen from 3,000 points to 6,000 points in five months, the rise of the NASDAQ in recent years has not been a general rise, and only the Internet industry-related companies have really risen, and in 99, these companies only accounted for less than 20% of the total number of NASDAQ listed companies.

In other words, a 20% increase in the company's stock price has raised the market value of the NASDAQ by nearly 4,000 points in two years。。。。。。

This also means that the market will change more drastically than ever, and Zhang Chen will have to readjust his investment strategy.

That kind of leakage investment method will be rare for at least two or three years, and if you want to make greater gains in this wave, you must find a more reasonable outlet for your remaining funds.