Jeff got up and straightened his formal attire and muttered, "Whatever the outcome, let's meet the famous godfather of the Internet!" See what he has to say! ”

In the humble conference room, Jeff meets Son again, a five-foot-tall, bald-haired, unsightly Korean-Japanese man known as the "godfather of the Internet." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Masayoshi Son has created a miracle of the entire Internet, and has also become a miracle in the Internet investment community around the world, especially on the eve of Yahoo's listing, injecting 100 million US dollars to own 33% of Yahoo's shares, which is a stroke of genius, and it is precisely because of this step that he is famous all over the world.

Among the many venture capital institutions and investors in Silicon Valley and even the world, only Masayoshi Son is more likely to invest in Blogger and Ebay at a valuation of $500 million and ICQ with a valuation of $800 million. Sequoia and IDG are also possible, but so far only SoftBank has visited Angel Capital's headquarters again.

Among so many venture capitalists, only this "madman", only the long-term Masayoshi Son, can really accurately assess the value of Blogger, eBay, and ICQ. Once he decides to invest, only this person will really spend a lot of money without wavering, and he will not care about the evaluation of him by the outside world. And once Son values an important Internet company, he will not care about the rise and fall of the stock price and choose to sell and cash out, he will hold it for a long time.

This is good news for Liu Si to worry that a Chinese Yankee will control Blogger, eBay, ICQ and introduce restrictions and laws and regulations, and the SoftBank Group itself is composed of Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo... and other consortium backgrounds, and the PR in the United States is very good.

Son's English language is very good, and he studied economics at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley. Therefore, Masayoshi Son and Jeff can communicate without obstacles.

"Welcome, Mr. Sun! Your visit has filled the faces of Angel Capital up and down. "Jeff and Son have met once, and without introduction, he took the initiative to hand over his right hand.

"Thank you! Please forgive me for taking the liberty of visiting! Mr. President, Blogger, eBay, and ICQ have all achieved excellent results, which makes me very excited, and successful businessmen will not sit idly by and watch business opportunities slip away from their eyes! Sun Zhengyi smiled and explained his intention, paused for a while, and said: "We had a good start when we met last time, and this time we are here to continue our relationship." This negotiation has been authorized by the shareholders' meeting, and to be honest, I am looking forward to working with Angel Capital. ”

"Although there is a heated discussion about the valuation of Blogger, eBay, and ICQ in the outside news media, in fact, people with real vision will not think that valuation is outrageous." Jeff said with a smile, "So at present, only Mr. Sun has visited Angel Capital twice!" ”

Jeff is not worried about whether Son will invest or not, anyway, the boss has promised that as long as there is no venture capital institution to invest in the end, then Liu's Capital will invest. The main reason for speaking is to explain that the valuation of Blogger, eBay, and ICQ is fine, and angel capital will not regress, so don't do indifferent bargaining.

Masayoshi Son has the title of "madman", but he is not really brainless, and he understands the subconscious meaning of Jeff's words, "I understand, I think we can have a formal negotiation!" Blogger and eBay are valued at $500 million, and ICQ is valued at $800 millionSoftBank has no opinion, so I don't know how much the three companies want to raise? ”

"Blogger and eBay plan to raise $200 million this time, and ICQ is $400 million." Jeff conveyed Liu Si's meaning word for word, and finally added, "Mr. Sun, after this financing, Blogger, eBay, and ICQ plan not to refinance within two years. ”

From this sentence, it can be heard that angel capital is still very sincere, Blogger and eBay plan to raise $200 million this time, and ICQ is $400 million, so that is to say, angel capital's absolute controlling stake in the three companies will be lost.

"Oh, what do you mean by that?"

"Because in two years, the three parent companies of Blogger, eBay and ICQ will seek to list on the NASDAQ." To be honest, if it weren't for the criteria for listing on the NASDAQ, which requires the company to be established for more than three years, he would definitely prefer to be listed on the NASDAQ, even if the market value of the IPO is smaller.

The purpose of venture capital investment is not to obtain ownership of the enterprise, not to hold, not to operate the enterprise, but to invest and provide value-added services to expand the investment enterprise, and then through public listing (IPO), mergers and acquisitions or other ways to exit, in the flow of property rights to achieve a return on investment. Jeff's remark that he would seek an IPO in two years was very appealing to Son.

"Well, although Angel Capital occupies an absolute controlling stake in Blogger, eBay, and ICQ, I still need to ask, what does Phoenix Capital mean?" Masayoshi Son is a scheming old fox in the field of venture capital in Internet companies, and his mind is naturally very delicate.

Blogger, eBay, and ICQ have been established for a few months, but in general, they are still in the initial stage of business. During this period, enterprises still need to focus on the development of users with peace of mind, rather than falling into the power struggle and dispute within the company.

"When Phoenix Capital invested, the responsibilities were already clear. Mr. Sun does not have to worry about the unhappiness of Phoenix Capital. "There is no one from the founding team and Phoenix Capital in this meeting, and the reason is naturally clear to Jeff.

"That's very good." Son didn't want some unpleasantness between Blogger, eBay, and ICQ investment institutions, "I have to admit that I was impressed by the prospect of the three companies!" eBay SoftBank invested $200 million, holding a 40% stake; Blogger and ICQ each invested $100 million, accounting for 20% and 12.5% of the shares, respectively. What does Mr. President think? ”

"As a top student at the University of California, Mr. Sun's math scores are recognized by the world." As soon as Jeff heard Son's words, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, finally someone invested, and he didn't care about the excess of ebay financing, angel capital and Phoenix capital were originally one, "The three major companies will set up a board of directors, in view of the current focus on business development, in order to stranded unnecessary disputes, I think there are not too many personnel, for the time being, SoftBank Group, angel capital, Phoenix Capital and the company's founding team and CEO!" In the future, if there are other venture capital injections, they are all one person, and the voting rights are subject to the actual shares! Moreover, four hundred million dollars must be paid in one lump sum! ”

"Yes. However, I think we still need to pay attention to the preferential right of repayment, equity repurchase... Make some rules as well! "Before Son arrived, SoftBank's board of directors had considered the details of the investment in Blogger, eBay, and ICQ in great detail, and there was nothing missing, and it naturally took note of the supplementary agreements such as preferential rights and equity buybacks.

Most of the supplementary agreements mentioned by Son at the end of the year, such as the right of first refusal and the repurchase of shares, belong to the content of the exit mechanism. The main purpose of venture capital is to make money by hitchhiking, not to help enterprises in the first place. If the capital enters at a high premium, it will naturally not exit at the normal price. As a result, VCs often include a liquidation preference clause in the investment agreement (termsheet).

eBay and ICQ Liu Si are not ready to sell, but Blogger has basically been put on the shelf for sale, because blogging is not the end, Twitter is the future trend.

Since Blogger intends to sell, the negotiation of the right of first refusal is particularly important. The "liquidation" in the liquidation preference is not liquidation within the meaning of the Company Law, and the liquidation here refers to the "asset realization event" of the target company, including merger, acquisition, or change of control of the company.

What is Liquidation Priority? In a nutshell, it is how the funds are distributed first to shareholders who hold a particular series of shares after liquidation and then to other shareholders (in other words, how much preferred shareholders get in return before common shareholders, or how much of their money is recovered by investors before entrepreneurs and teams). Upon the triggering of a liquidation event, Preferred Shares are entitled to a return of 2 times the initial purchase price per share of common shareholders.

This is also the reason why the right of first refusal is important, because if the blogger has an "asset realization event", then angel capital and the founding team are likely to not get a single hair.

If you can borrow money from a bank, you must take a loan from a bank, and don't take VC money! It's not unreasonable, isn't it!

"The equity repurchase is due, and it is also possible for SoftBank Group to enjoy the right of first refusal, but this right of preference should be the right to participate in the distribution with a ceiling." Jeff also thinks that the terms should be negotiated before the agreement is signed, and no one likes trouble.

As a figure who rolls in venture capital, he is still familiar with these Jeffs and will not be taken advantage of by SoftBank.

There are generally three types of preferential liquidation clauses: 1. Liquidation preference that does not participate in the distribution (the right to receive a return of [x] times the original purchase price per share and dividends declared but not yet paid (liquidation preference)) over ordinary shareholders; 2. Fully participate in the distribution of preferential liquidation rights (after the shares are returned to the liquidation preferences, the remaining liquidation funds will be distributed in proportion to the ordinary shares.) ); 3. Upper limit to participate in the distribution right (The upper limit to participate in the distribution means that the preferred shares participate in the distribution of the remaining liquidation funds in proportion to the distribution until a specific return cap is obtained.) )

"SoftBank agrees with this relatively neutral clause, but Mr. President gives how many times the preferential right of repayment." Son had no objection to Jeff's proposal, and the right of priority with a cap on the right to participate in the distribution was a relatively neutral clause.

……

After nearly an hour and a half of negotiations, the terms and conditions of the contract were finally decided. After confirming that there were no loopholes in the contract, SoftBank Group and Angel Capital's lawyers began to draw up the contract.

At the same time, the reporters who had received the news had already gathered at the door of Angel Capital, but were stopped by Angel Capital security guards.

On June 7, 1997, the news that Masayoshi Son invested in Blogger, eBay, and ICQ with a total investment of $400 million was like a huge thunderclap, shocking the whole world. The last time Son made a huge profit at Yahoo, will it be the same this time?

Angel capital has become the world's top venture capital institution in a few months, with a total investment of less than 30 million US dollars, it has obtained dozens of times the return at once, which has become a topic of conversation in the venture capital community.

When asked by a reporter why he invested in Blogger, eBay, and ICQ, Son said to the reporter with this meaningful remark: "The prospects of the three Internet companies are fascinating, and this time is the highest valuation I have given so far in my VC career. Blogger, eBay are valued at $500 million, and ICQ is valued at $800 million, which makes everyone scared, but I still invested. Time will tell if I'm a 'madman' or a fool! ”