Roy said categorically: "No, Internet services are different from traditional retail, and the result is mostly a Matthew effect, that is, a winner-takes-all, so the speed of market expansion in the early stage is very important."

"In the early days of entrepreneurship, you shouldn't care about political correctness or innovation, everything should be for speed.

"Lose one step, lose one step at a time!"

Hearing Roy say this, Noah also began to become serious, and asked, "Is there any good countermeasure?" ”

Roy took a deep breath and made up his mind, "We're going to be harder than they do!" ”

"What's your plan?"

"Desperate to recruit from Stanford or MIT. When forming a technical team, all people with similar backgrounds, courses, ways of thinking, and even living habits are recruited. This way, companies don't have to spend a lot of time debating decisions about what language to program, what is the best internal communication tool, or even where to work. Once the team spends its time on this debate, the advantage of being a startup is gone. ”

"OK, I'll cooperate with you."

"Hasn't the HR director been decided yet?"

"Almost, I'll speed things up."

"Hmm." Roy frowned, now behind in the start. The first step of competition is undoubtedly to lose. If you lose the opportunity to seize the market at the beginning, due to the Matthew effect of the characteristics of the Internet market, if you want to catch it back in the later stage, you must overtake in a corner to win in a dangerous way.

Debra entered the door and reminded, "Roy, Alyssa called to say that she was downstairs. ”

Roy said, "Well, you go down and pick her up, remember to be polite." ”

"Okay."

Noah asked, "As an investor?" ”

Roy said, "That's right. ”

"We started financing so early?"

"Hey, I don't want to, the strength of the opponent should not be underestimated, so be prepared."

"What about the amount of financing and the proportion of equity?"

"Fifty million, 20% equity."

Noah looked shocked: "Are you crazy?" No investor would be so stupid, we're just a startup with no track record. ”

"Hey Noah, how do you know if you don't try?"

Noah still objected: "Even if this Series A financing is successful, what about Series B? Where do you get the confidence to double the company's market value, if you can't continue to raise money, the company is finished! ”

"Trust me, trust you, and believe in this company, okay?" Roy said genuinely encouraged.

In fact, Roy is playing opportunistic calculations in his heart, hoping to use strong cash capital to fight a subsidy war in the early stage, destroying PayPal and retreating. If the battle line is drawn to the middle and late stages, it will be like a world war, and it will be difficult for any individual will to stop the spread of the brutal war.

Noah stared at Roy, labeling the other party as a "madman" in his heart, and people became vigilant.

Led by Debra, Alyssa and Ivy walked in.

The three of them were very familiar with each other, and there was no politeness, so they went straight to the topic.

……

Alyssa said: "Roy, because you didn't interview for a job at PayPal, you gambled and did this business?" ”

Roy said: "Elisa, I have to emphasize that I am optimistic about PayPal's business model, so I went to talk about cooperation, as for whether I have negotiated with PayPal and I am now doing services similar to PayPal, it doesn't matter, understand?" ”

"I have personally learned about this business model, and it is indeed very promising. How much are you going to raise this time? ”

"Fifty million, 20%."

Alyssa was dumbfounded, "Are you sure you're not wrong?" ”

"Pretty sure."

"Roy, you know what! The financing amount you proposed is more than enough to buy PayPal. ”

Roy said domineeringly: "Even if you buy 1,000 companies like PayPal that are about to be bankrupt by me, it is useless, because they are worthless in the future." But worry-free payment is different, it incorporates my product thinking and Noah's management talent, we will be invincible, invincible, and ultimately unify the market. ”

Alyssa smiled helplessly, "I don't think we have anything to talk about today." You probably don't know who your last name is. ”

Alyssa said hello to Noah and left with Ivy.

This result, Noah expected, "What? ”

Roy said angrily: "She's just a mercenary slut, with no vision, no strategic sense, and little knowledge in financial and legal matters, let alone helping with all kinds of chores such as corporate public relations, among all investors, she is simply terrible!" “

"I hope you can find an investor who is as you imagined......" Noah stood up and left silently.

……

Debra sneaked a few peeks and walked over to Roy's side.

Roy didn't raise his eyelids, and said unceremoniously: "You also came to see my jokes?" ”

Debra stood 1 meter away, pondered seriously, as if she had made up her mind, and said decisively: "Roy, I can feel that you are anxious, restless, scared, panicked, self-questioning, and panicked these days......

Roy pretended to be surprised and clapped his hands and said, "It's a good summary, it's been a long time coming, right?" ”

"Roy, this is not what you really are, in the past, you were always able to face challenges with confidence and pride, and when everyone gave up or was discouraged, you always inspired everyone to overcome obstacles and move forward. But now ......"

Roy roared like a lion on on the scales, "What can I do? What else can I do? What the hell am I going to do? Can anyone tell me? Do you know how stressed I am? Do you know how strong your opponent is this time? Do you know how desperate it is to fail like a lost dog? ……”

Debra remained motionless, patiently listening to Roy's roar for half an hour, watching Roy finish venting, leaning weakly on the sofa, looking depressed and collapsed.

She boldly took a step forward and stretched out her hands at the same time: "Roy! Now our roles are reversed, I'm black – Morpheus, and you're the main character, Neo, The-One. (Appendix 1)

A faint glimmer rekindled in Roy's disgraced eyes, and Debra's words reminded him of the scene he had comforted the other party before.

Debra continued: "I have two capsules in my hand, one red and one blue.

"Choose blue and your saga is over. You go back to the comfort of your daily life and can trust whatever you want to believe.

"Choosing red means that you have chosen the only path of heroism. Let's explore a real world that is not necessarily wonderful, but full of surprises and excitement. Even if you see the truth of life, you still love life. ”

Such familiar words unconsciously moistened Roy's eyes, and he stood up tremblingly, staring at the capsules of these two colors, as if caught in the whirlpool of future fate, blue or red, determined his future story.

Memories flashed through my mind like slides, as if they were from another time and space.

How many things in ancient and modern times are laughing and talking.

In the face of his own ridiculous life again, what is there to hesitate.

He held out his right hand.

[PS] Addendum 1: Neo and Morpheus are both characters in the movie "The Matrix".