As the investment bank with the largest total amount of NASDAQ IPO projects in the past five years, Goldman Sachs has never been short of projects. Goldman Sachs' client network spans the globe, providing them with a steady stream of investment opportunities.

They only lack good projects, and they lack good projects that can be pulled out for a long time and publicized as well-known cases.

The companies founded by Zhou Xin have similar potential, and matrix, as a hardware brand, is an alternative among the companies founded by Zhou Xin.

Goldman Sachs' business intelligence system has always been at the top of the industry, and they have amassed a lot of intelligence on the matrix.

Zhou Xin has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the matrix project, which is the largest amount of investment in the early stage of any company he founded.

And Matrix only generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue, which is obviously a very failure for Zhou Xin.

The only commendable thing is the matrix product itself, the matrix keyboard has subverted the keyboard field after its launch, and manufacturers who were originally making membrane keyboards have begun to explore mechanical keyboards.

Mechanical keyboards have been revitalized many years in advance, and matrix has a high level of recognition in key rings due to its high price and pioneering status.

As for Matrix making mobile phones, Goldman Sachs also knows that Goldman Sachs knows that Matrix has recruited a small number of Nokia executives, but even with Zhou Xin behind it, they are not so optimistic about Matrix making mobile phones.

Because it is difficult for manufacturers involved in the field of mobile phones for the first time to quickly gain consumer recognition, mobile phones are now a field that takes time to accumulate.

Nokia, Motorola and other well-known manufacturers have decades of accumulation in order to gain consumer recognition.

There are thick barriers in the mobile phone industry and the Internet industry, and this kind of barrier does not seem like a barrier that can be overcome by individual talent.

Therefore, Goldman Sachs' investment department has a very low evaluation of the matrix project, and has a completely different treatment from the highest-rated NewPay, Goldman Sachs has a very high evaluation of NewPay internally, and has been trying to find opportunities to participate in the next round of NewPay's investment.

Even out of optimism about NewPay, he invested in some other companies in the same field, that is, other electronic payment companies.

But Zhou Xin's vigorous praise of Matrix still aroused Henry's interest, and he was curious about what kind of product could make Zhou Xin himself evaluate it as epoch-making.

The outside world has always compared quora to an epoch-making product, but Zhou Xin himself doesn't think so, whether he is in public or when chatting with people in private, he thinks that quora is just an ordinary community product, just with some innovations.

So this is the first time I heard from Zhou Xin that he has such a high evaluation of his products, which makes Henry have the idea of investment, even if the matrix is unsatisfactory, it will not affect the relationship with Zhou Xin through this project.

It's not that Goldman Sachs has been making money from Zhou Xin to be beneficial, and an appropriate loss is conducive to further bringing the relationship closer.

Zhou Xin said: "At present, there is no shortage of money for the Matrix project, and it is very important that the most important product of Matrix, that is, the Matrix mobile phone, has not yet been launched to the market, and it is difficult for us to have a price for him."

In terms of revenue, he may only be worth $500 million, but I've put less than $500 million into it in just over a year.

I have high expectations for it, and it's hard to get recognition from others until it's a relatively big success. So let's talk about it after the product is launched. ”

After being rejected, stop the topic in time and move on to the next topic, which is the law that Henry believes in.

There is no need to pursue all the goals at once, and requests for one thing can be made many times, or even gradually.

Henry continued: "Well, I'm also curious about what is different about Matrix's phone to be so highly rated by you.

It just so happens that I need to change my phone, and I'm looking forward to the launch of the Matrix phone, and I'll give each of the Goldman Sachs executives one when the time comes.

Next is the last purpose of today's come, I don't think you will agree to the invitation to be the CEO of Time Warner.

Today's last matter, you think about it seriously, it's good for all of us. ”

Zhou Xin guessed that what Henry was going to say next was what he really meant this time.

"We want to push for the merger of Google and Baidu, and after the merger, push the new Internet company to go public.

You, as the majority shareholder behind Baidu, need your permission before we go talk to Robin. ”

Without Baidu, Google would have a monopoly on the search engine and maintain a very strong position in the IPO process.

Originally, Google was looking for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse as the lead underwriters for the IPO, and more than 20 other investment banks as other underwriters, and even kicked Merrill Lynch out directly on the eve of the listing.

Now with a strong competitor like Baidu, Google is far less powerful in its IPO than it was in the original space.

Baidu, whether it is technology, operation, or capital operation, is no less than Google, and Google and Baidu share the entire search engine market equally.

If Time Warner hadn't kicked Baidu out of Quora's built-in search engine, Baidu's market share would have been larger than Google's.

Even after losing such an important partner as Quora, Baidu still does not fall behind in the competition with Google.

Baidu's ad distribution system was launched even earlier than Google.

Baidu has gone through 3 rounds of financing since its establishment, and after the end of the 3 rounds of financing, Zhou Xin holds 30% of Baidu's shares, which is second only to Robin's 35% of Baidu's individual shareholders.

Goldman Sachs captured the information and decided that their opportunity had come.

You can make a profit by merging Google and Baidu, and you can make another profit by operating and listing after Baidu and Google merge.

Goldman Sachs, who is accustomed to eating more than one fish, will not let go of this opportunity.

In Goldman Sachs' arrangement, it is not just one fish to eat two, it is completely possible to eat one fish and three meals.

That is to put the merger of Google and Baidu into a landmark event of the Nasdaq's recovery.

Since the bursting of the NASDAQ bubble, no internet company has been able to list on the NASDAQ.

Chinese Internet companies such as NetEase, Sohu, and Sina, which were originally going to be listed on the US stock market in the millennium, have not been able to get the opportunity to be listed on the NASDAQ.

They want to settle for the next best thing, and when they are listed on the Hong Kong stock market, investors in Hong Kong stocks have little interest.

Fortunately, the stock price of Riot Games has risen sharply, and the new term Newman concept stock has been coined, which has been recognized by investors in Hong Kong stocks. And NetEase and Sohu, as quasi-Newman concept stocks with Zhou Xin's holdings behind them, seem to have ushered in a turning point in their listings.

As for Sina, Newman concept stocks are bearish for them, because Zhou Xin is the only one who does not fancy Sina.

Zhou Xin asked: "This kind of commercial capital operation, you should ask Robin's opinion, I mainly invest in Baidu, and I rarely get involved in Baidu's daily operations." ”

Zhou Xin knew that Robin was definitely unwilling, Robin was a person with a strong desire to control Baidu.

If it weren't for the fact that he never showed interest in Baidu, Robin would not have allowed Zhou Xin to maintain such a high proportion of shares in the course of three rounds of financing.

People with such a strong desire for control obviously don't want their businesses to be acquired. It is said that it is a merger, but it is actually Google's acquisition of Baidu, and in the Google-Baidu consortium, Robin is bound to be marginalized.

"Baidu's other investors are willing to merge with Google, and if you do, the votes on this matter are more than 50 percent.

So your opinion is crucial.

Robin is skeptical about the merger of Baidu and Google, and he doesn't really want Baidu and Google to merge. Henry said.

Judging from Zhou Xin's agreement to sell Quora to Time Warner, Henry believes that Zhou Xin has a high acceptance of this kind of capital operation, and it is better to negotiate with Robin.

Baidu did not adopt a structure with weighted voting rights, and Zhou's 30% stake, plus 35% of the shares of other investment institutions, was enough to directly contribute to the merger of Baidu and Google.

Zhou Xin said: "I hold shares in both Baidu and Google, but I hold more shares in Baidu and less shares in Google.

From my personal point of view, I was able to get a lot of benefits from the merger of Baidu and Google, and then went public.

This is a great benefit for me personally, and I am willing to facilitate this.

But I'd like to have a good chat with Robin and promote it, rather than forcing the founder out of the way in this way. ”

It doesn't have an impact on Goldman Sachs, it has an impact on him.

After doing such a thing, Goldman Sachs is the one who eats more than one fish, and Zhou Xin can only eat such a one-time dividend as listing, and what is lost is his reputation.

As long as he is a founder, he will not like to interfere too much with his investors, let alone investors who have sold him privately.

Google and Baidu merged, and if Zhou Xin chose to cooperate with Goldman Sachs and kicked Robin out directly, the two sides would settle the matter.

After the news of this matter in the future spreads, it will be very difficult for Zhou Xin to invest in other Internet companies.

No one trusts an investor who can kick a founder out of the business.

Goldman Sachs has done a lot of this kind of thing, and they don't have too much psychological burden, and they are so deep in business that they don't worry about the impact of this kind of thing.

Besides, Goldman Sachs is only an IPO underwriter, not an investor, and being able to do this shows that they have great powers.

"It's also a huge benefit to Robin," Henry said.

Baidu and Google merged and went public, and he was able to quickly make a fortune. ”

Zhou Xin said: "I believe you have talked to Robin, and then he refused.

For entrepreneurs with ideals, money is really only secondary, and the most important thing is to meet the spiritual needs of the individual.

The price you are offering now is not convincing to Robin, and if you can leave Robin for the position of CEO of Google-Baidu, I believe he will agree. ”

Henry smiled wryly, so Robin would agree yes, the problem is that the founder of Google would not agree.

Larry Page is no weaker in control than Robin.

(End of chapter)