Before meeting S, Li Mu met with the representatives of two Silicon Valley venture capital institutions in the office that Lin Ching-ah prepared for him. However, during the meeting with these two venture capital institutions, Li Mu did not talk too much about financing. Most of the time, he was playing dumb with the representatives of the two companies.
Li Mu did not doubt that most Silicon Valley venture capital institutions could come up with more than a billion US dollars, nor did he doubt that most Silicon Valley venture capital institutions would be willing to invest in Makino Technology. However, now he was choosing partners. The capital brought in by Makino Technology's C round of financing was very important. Money alone was far from enough to be a partner for Makino Technology in the next strategic stage.
After chatting with the representatives of the two companies for too long, the representatives of the two companies could not help but try to ask Li Mu for the business plan for Makino Technology's C round of financing.
A normal business plan would not only specify the company's current development scale, business progress, revenue, and the resume of the core team, but also the intended valuation of the company's financing. Getting the business plan was equivalent to getting Li Mu's target price for financing this time.
However, Li Mu did not prepare a business plan for Makino Technology's C round of financing at all.
In other words, Li Mu did not have a target price that could be written on paper at all. His target valuation was more than 20 billion US dollars, but this valuation still needed to be supported by several subsequent major moves. Otherwise, if he put out this target price now, all the venture capital institutions would be shocked. The premium ratio was too high, and the market would think that he was overinflated.
Therefore, under the questioning of the representatives of the two companies, Li Mu gave a rough entry condition. That was, the ideal valuation of Makino Technology was more than 17 billion US dollars. After confirming the minimum valuation of 17 billion US dollars, they would sit down and talk in depth.
The incredible price of 17 billion US dollars really shocked the representatives of the two companies. Makino Technology had indeed made great progress recently, but after all, Makino Technology had been separated from Makino Technology. Therefore, the revenue of Paradise Town could not be directly used to calculate the valuation of Makino Technology. Even if the additional influence of Paradise Town was calculated in the valuation of Makino Technology, it was absolutely impossible to have such a high premium.
The market currently gave a relatively calm valuation of Makino Technology, which was about 15 to 16 billion US dollars. The reason why there was a fluctuation of one billion US dollars was not because the valuation of 16 billion US dollars was relatively calm, but because the valuation of 16 billion US dollars required a breakthrough in YY's business in the near future.
If YY could have greater development in the near future, or PayPal could have a greater breakthrough, then the capital parties would correspondingly increase the valuation of Makino Technology. A floating space of one billion US dollars was enough to show how optimistic these venture capital institutions were about Makino Technology in the United States, where the dot-com bubble had just burst.
However, as soon as Li Mu opened his mouth, he raised the threshold of admission to 17 billion US dollars, which scared the other party.
At any time, capital was always cautious. Behind every seemingly large investment, there was a lot of investigation and discussion that went deep into the bones of the company and the industry. Investors not only had to measure the current scale and revenue of the company, but also in-depth analysis of the company's future development space. Most importantly, they had to estimate and control risks. Even if everyone knew that the probability of Makino Technology being successful was not small, everyone was worried that the company would take a detour in the decision-making process, and even more worried that the industry would suddenly turn cold.
The dot-com industry sold concepts. A large part of the market value of high-valued companies was supported by concepts. If there was another dot-com bubble burst, then no capital in the market would pay for the concept. At that time, these high-valued dot-com companies would inevitably collapse, and even Makino Technology would not be spared.
As soon as the twenty-minute meeting time was up, the representatives of the two companies left with deep shock. They needed to report back to the company as soon as possible to see what the top management would decide on the threshold of 17 billion US dollars.
After Li Mu sent away two groups of people in succession, he rested for a while in the office. At 10: 25, Lin Ching-ah knocked on the office door and said, "Li Zong, the people from Sequoia are here."
Li Mu nodded. "Please come in."
Under the guidance of Lin Ching-ah, S walked through the long corridor to the door of Li Mu's office. S, who had played an important role in countless large and small investments, had long been familiar with these meetings and negotiations. But even he did not expect that at this moment, he was a little nervous.
There were many people in Silicon Valley who could build a company with a market value of more than 10 billion US dollars, but Hua Xia people and Hua Xia's dot-com companies had never reached such a height. What's more, he had never seen a person who could do this at the age of 20, regardless of race or country. And in the door in front of him sat such a legendary young man, so S was involuntarily nervous, because he subconsciously felt that he was about to witness history.
Lin Ching-ah pushed open the door of the office and came in with S. She said to Li Mu, "Li Zong, this is Mr. S, the vice president of Sequoia Capital."
After that, Lin Ching-ah said in English, "This is Mr. Li Mu, the CEO of Makino Technology."
Li Mu stood up from his desk. As he walked out, he smiled and said to S in English, "It's nice to meet you." As he spoke, he walked to S's side. Li Mu reached out and shook hands with him. S responded politely, "Mr. Li, I've heard a lot about you in the United States. I've been looking forward to meeting you. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule today."
Li Mu smiled and said, "Mr. Hanks, you don't have to be so polite. We're meeting to have a chance to develop together, so there's no need to thank me."
S nodded and said with a smile, "Mr. Li is right. Developing together is the core concept that we are pursuing together."
Li Mu invited him to sit down in the reception area and said, "Mr. Hanks, I should have taken the time to visit you in person, but I've just arrived and haven't had time to deal with a lot of things. Please forgive me."
S knew that Hua Xia liked to speak politely, but she didn't expect him to be so polite. She hurriedly said, "It's Mr. Li's first time in Silicon Valley. Sequoia has been established in Silicon Valley for many years and can be regarded as half a host. Naturally, I have to take the initiative to visit you. Originally, I wanted to invite you to dinner yesterday. Although Silicon Valley is a high-tech industry, there are several very good specialty restaurants near Stanford University. One of them is known as the best roast pork ribs in the state. If you're interested, we can make an appointment to have a try."
Li Mu nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll definitely go and have a try when I have time."
As he said that, Li Mu sighed softly and said, "But I may be busy in the next few days. Makino Technology has just started in the United States. It takes a lot of time and energy to build the team, operate the product, and develop the market. So the dinner will have to be delayed. Please forgive me."
As soon as S saw that Li Mu took the initiative to talk about work, she smiled calmly and immediately followed Li Mu's words to open a formal topic. "Mr. Li, the performance of Makino Technology in the United States market has impressed the entire Silicon Valley. With the strength of Makino Technology, I believe that one day it will become the world's top Internet company. It's only a matter of time."
After saying this, S paid attention to Li Mu's expression. Seeing that Li Mu was smiling, she continued, "Mr. Li, opening up new territory is very important for any company. In many cases, the time needed to open up new territory is inversely proportional to the money spent. The more money spent, the shorter the time needed, and vice versa. The development philosophy of our Sequoia Capital is to help all companies better exchange money for time. The shorter the time spent on development, the greater the room for development. "
Li Mu smiled and said, "That's natural. Sequoia's reputation has been praised by countless companies in the industry. You have helped many Internet start-ups grow rapidly and made a great contribution to the development of the Internet industry."
S said, "It's not a contribution. Everyone is just taking what they need. We don't have an actual project operation team. Because of this, we can only look for projects and teams with potential and invest in them so that they can develop better. At the same time, it will bring us better returns."
S looked at Li Mu and said seriously, "Mr. Li, Sequoia has always been very concerned about your Makino Technology and Taobao. We also know that you have been looking for suitable partners for Makino Technology's C round of financing. As a senior venture capital company in the Internet industry, we very much hope to be your partners in the capital field. And please believe that Sequoia can bring you not only strong financial support, but also endless resources in the American capital market. Even when you plan to go public in the United States in the future, Sequoia can also provide strong support for you and your company."
Li Mu nodded seriously and said with a smile, "I believe what you said. At present, Makino Technology is indeed preparing for the C round of financing. I am also looking forward to establishing cooperation with your company."
Hearing this, S's expression relaxed a little. She smiled and said, "In this case, I think we can have a deeper discussion on this issue. I wonder if Makino Technology has prepared a business plan for the C round of financing?"
Li Mu shook his head and said indifferently, "We have not prepared a business plan. I believe you are also very clear about many things about Makino Technology. In order to save time and improve communication efficiency, we need to confirm a consensus with you before in-depth discussion."
S hurriedly said, "Please go ahead."
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