Lawrence's humor enlivened the atmosphere of the scene to a great extent. However, when it came to the question-and-answer session, his previous wit and humor didn't win him the attention of the media reporters. All the eyes of the media reporters were focused on Li Mu. They had too many questions to ask Li Mu, who was sitting beside Lawrence.
When countless media reporters raised their hands, Li Mu said with a smile, "Sorry, everyone. I'm from Hua Xia, so I'd better take care of the media in Hua Xia first. The first chance to ask a question will be from the CCTV reporter in Hua Xia."
The microphone was given to a female CCTV reporter in her twenties. Although she was sure that Li Mu would give the CCTV reporter a chance to ask a question, she did not expect that Li Mu would be so magnanimous and give the first chance to ask a question directly to her.
The female reporter stood up and asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, now there are many professional comments in the financial and Internet fields. They all agree that the ultimate purpose of you choosing the American capital to discuss the C round of financing for Makino Technology is for the company to be listed in the United States. I would like to ask you, in your plan, is Makino Technology really inclined to be listed in the United States?"
When Li Mu heard this question, he smiled slightly and said very frankly, "Yes, I am indeed inclined to let Makino Technology be listed in the United States in the future."
The female reporter asked, "Can you tell me why you are doing this?"
Li Mu said seriously, "As the most developed market in the Internet industry, the understanding, tolerance, and recognition of the Internet by society and capital in the United States are far greater than that of other countries. The Internet industry is different from the physical industry. Most of the assets of Internet companies are intangible assets. The specific evaluation of intangible assets is based on the market environment. If you want the market value of Makino Technology to be recognized to the greatest extent, then it must be listed in the most mature market. Otherwise, there will be a serious undervaluation, which will have a great impact on the development of the company."
Li Mu didn't know why the CCTV reporter asked him if he would go public in the United States in the future, but the ambition of Makino Technology to go public in the United States was now very obvious. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to the United States to raise funds and make such a big move in the United States.
The reason why Li Mu did not consider listing in China was not because he was unpatriotic, but because Makino Technology was not suitable to be listed in China.
First of all, the domestic A-share market had a very strict threshold, and it was not suitable for the current Internet companies, especially the profitability indicators.
The A-share market required the listed companies to be profitable for a certain period of time, but most Internet companies were burning money. Although Makino Technology could still barely be self-sufficient by relying on YY and Paradise Town, this was only the current situation. Once the financing was successful, the burning of money would immediately start. At that time, the negative book profit of Makino Technology might be frightening. It was normal for a negative book profit of hundreds of millions of US dollars or even more than a billion US dollars a year, which fundamentally did not meet the requirements of the A-share market.
Secondly, there were no Internet companies in the A-share market yet. In addition, the entire capital environment lacked sufficient understanding and recognition of Internet companies. Even if Makino Technology could be listed in the A-share market, the valuation would be far lower than expected. In that case, it would be equivalent to breaking one's own legs.
After the CCTV reporter finished asking questions, Li Mu's second choice was a reporter from CNN in the United States.
The reporter from CNN was a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes. He asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, the current development speed of Makino Technology has shocked the entire Internet industry in the United States, and it has directly become a direct competitor with Microsoft MSN. What I want to ask is, in your opinion, which Internet companies in the United States are likely to become strong competitors of Makino Technology?"
Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "There is no doubt that there are many great Internet companies in the United States. Whether it is Google, Microsoft, Oracle, etc., they are all models for Makino Technology to learn from. But in my opinion, I hope that all the large Internet companies in the United States can become competitors of Makino Technology."
As soon as Li Mu said this, many reporters were surprised. The meaning of Li Mu's words was obvious. He hoped to become competitors with all the large Internet companies in the United States. The subtext was that Makino Technology would take the initiative to launch attacks in the fields of all competitors.
The reporter asked, "Mr. Li, can I understand that Makino Technology is not satisfied with the current direction of development, and will develop in more fields in the future?"
Li Mu nodded. "For me personally, I will not confine Makino Technology in the field of instant messaging software. I also hope to have the opportunity to let Makino Technology develop horizontally and expand the battlefront. Once the battlefront is expanded, there will naturally be more opponents."
Then, the Wall Street Journal reporter asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, as far as we know, the current valuation of Makino Technology in the venture capital industry has exceeded 20 billion US dollars. Are you satisfied with the valuation of 20 billion US dollars?"
Li Mu laughed. Although he did not know why the Wall Street Journal reporter asked such a question, he still answered, "I must answer your question honestly. First of all, am I satisfied with the valuation of 20 billion US dollars? I can tell you clearly that I will definitely be satisfied with this price if it is proposed at a certain stage, but that stage is not now. Secondly, I think the thinking speed of most venture capital companies cannot keep up with the development speed of Makino Technology. In this case, if we want to reach a cooperation, then they must catch up with our speed because the development of Makino Technology will not stop because of them. If they can't catch up, then the valuation they give to Makino Technology is meaningless. "
Li Mu's words were already very clear. The valuation of 20 billion US dollars was not attractive to the current Makino Technology. If the capital wanted to invest in Makino Technology, they must offer a price that could really catch up with the development speed of Makino Technology.
Not long ago, when Li Mu offered a price of 17 billion US dollars, the media was already surprised by Makino Technology's overconfidence. At that time, many media outlets wrote articles to criticize him, thinking that his offer was basically impossible to be recognized by any venture capital company. However, they did not expect that in such a short time, because of the continuous success of Li Mu's multiple strategies, the venture capital companies had taken the initiative to value Makino Technology at more than 20 billion US dollars. Now, Li Mu had completely taken the initiative. 20 billion US dollars was nothing to him. This time, no media dared to sneer at Li Mu like before.
A reporter from the New York Times asked, "Mr. Li, it took you less than two years to create an Internet empire with a valuation of more than 20 billion US dollars. This is an incredible success in the world. So, what do you think prompted your success and the success of Makino Technology?"
Li Mu said, "There is an old saying in Hua Xia called 'the right time, the right place, and the right people.' It roughly means that if you want to win a war, you need excellent weather conditions, a favorable geographical environment, and a stable military morale. The weather conditions can be understood as opportunities, the geographical environment can be understood as the environment, and the military morale can be understood as the heart of the team members. Makino Technology just happens to have these three points."
The questions and answers of the first few questions were relatively harmonious overall, and Li Mu's answers also satisfied the questioner. Next, Li Mu took the initiative to choose a few media outlets in the Internet industry to ask questions.
The first to get a chance was Yahoo. However, what Li Mu did not expect was that the questions from Yahoo's reporter were full of gunpowder.
"Mr. Li, as we all know, although the Internet industry is developing very fast, the bubble is serious, and the speed of updates and iterations is also very fast. As an instant messaging software, YY is currently very popular in the American market. So, how long do you think YY's popularity will last? Or should I say, when do you think the bubble of YY will burst? "
Li Mu did not expect the first question from his colleague to be so unfriendly.
However, it was also in line with Guo Degang's classic saying, only people of the same trade are enemies.
Moreover, in 2000, Yahoo's market value had climbed to the scale of 100 billion USD. Currently, it was the number one company in the Internet industry. It was understandable that Yahoo's people were a little arrogant.
Therefore, Li Mu looked at the provocative Caucasian Yahoo reporter and smiled. "Although you're a reporter from Yahoo, I'm not sure how much you know about the Internet industry. Let me put it this way, in my eyes, YY is a product that can't be replaced. In contrast, as a portal and a free email service, Yahoo itself is not a product that can be replaced. Moreover, it's very replaceable. I'm confident that YY will continue to grow in the next ten years, but if Yahoo doesn't transform as soon as possible, I'm afraid that in the next few years, it will start to go downhill. If you want to see the bubble burst, it's more realistic to wait for Yahoo."
Among the Internet companies in the United States, the most interesting one was Yahoo. In Li Mu's eyes, other than finding the right direction at the beginning of the Internet, Yahoo had been making mistakes all the time.
They missed the opportunity to buy Google at a low price, and when they wanted to buy it, they found that they could no longer afford it.
Originally, they could have bought Facebook for 1 billion USD, but at the critical moment, they had no business ethics and wanted to lower the price to 850 million USD. In the end, they were rejected by Mark Zuckerberg. When they offered more than 1 billion USD, Facebook completely ignored them.
In 2008, Yahoo had been losing for many years. In order to compete with Google, Microsoft offered it 50 billion USD, but it was rejected by the proud Yahoo.
In 2016, Yahoo finally found a buyer, and the American telecommunications giant Verizon bought it for 4.8 billion USD …
In Li Mu's eyes, Yahoo could be said to have been living off its past achievements since 2000, and while living off its past achievements, it did not forget to show off. The most ridiculous thing was that Yahoo did not have any commendable achievements in the booming Internet and mobile Internet industry. This was really too funny.
But now, the funny Yahoo reporter actually looked down on Makino Technology, which made Li Mu quite unhappy. Therefore, regardless of the presence of so many media outlets, and even more so that Yahoo was the number one in the industry, he directly attacked the reporter in public.
That reporter did not expect Li Mu to attack so directly. He subconsciously asked, "Yahoo's market value is at least six or seven times that of Makino Technology. Why do you think that Yahoo's bubble will burst, and not Makino Technology?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Based on the current Yahoo, it is impossible for it to affect Makino Technology. On the contrary, Makino Technology can affect Yahoo in many ways."
That reporter was also young and energetic. After being rebuked by Li Mu, his pride and arrogance as a Yahoo employee were stimulated. He said excitedly, "How will Makino Technology affect Yahoo? Please give me an example. "
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