After thinking about Li Mu's experience, Mark Zuckerberg immediately made his decision. After chatting with Larry Page and the others, he said to Li Mu in private, "Li Zong, I've thought about it carefully and decided to accept Mr. Page's suggestion. I'll take a break from Harvard and move the company to Silicon Valley. What do you think?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "I support your decision to take a break from school because the next few years will be the golden age of rapid development of the Internet. If half of your body is still in school, the high-speed train will tear you apart when it starts. However, it's not a good time for you to move the company to Silicon Valley."
Mark Zuckerberg was puzzled and asked, "Why? Silicon Valley is the center of the industry. If you stay in Silicon Valley, you can get in touch with more core resources in the industry. "
Li Mu smiled and said, "Your current business line is targeted at college students. Silicon Valley is a gathering place for Internet elites, but it's not a gathering place for college students. So what you need to do now is to temporarily take a break from school, and then fully immerse yourself in the huge ivory tower of college campuses and college students."
As he spoke, Li Mu asked Mark Zuckerberg, "Did you notice that those people just now, including Larry Page, didn't pay much attention to the core of the Facebook project?"
Mark Zuckerberg nodded and said, "It's exactly as you said."
Li Mu said, "Do you know why?"
Mark Zuckerberg shook his head.
Li Mu smiled and said, "Because deep down, they don't think you're a real Internet entrepreneur. They think you're just a college student making a small fuss among college students, and your project is just a small fuss among college students. This proves that they don't value college students that much. It's like how the NBA Lakers look at a college basketball team. They think you're not professional players at all, and your level and prospects are not worth mentioning at all."
Mark Zuckerberg agreed and said, "Indeed …"
Li Mu snapped his fingers and said with a smile, "This is the best situation for you. When others start to develop, they all rely on lying low. If they show a little bit of progress, the big bosses will quickly annihilate them. But now, you are in a field that these so-called big bosses don't pay attention to and don't care about. However, this group has tens of millions of potential users and nearly 100 million potential users around the world. Once you grow and develop in this field to a certain level, when you go from the university to Silicon Valley, you will already be one of the big bosses in Silicon Valley."
Speaking of this, Li Mu added, "There was a great man in Huaxia who once created the great strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside. Now, this strategy is suitable for you to learn and emulate. For the elites of Silicon Valley, only Silicon Valley, New York, Los Angeles, and Wall Street are the 'cities' of the Internet industry. It is suitable to use the strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside to catch them off guard.
Mark Zuckerberg could not hide his excitement and said, "Then I'll go back and apply for a leave of absence. Then, I'll quickly make Facebook bigger and stronger among the college students!"
Li Mu nodded. "I'll arrange for the additional investment funds to be transferred to you soon. Larry Page will direct all Google searches related to universities to you. You don't have to worry about anything from now on. Just focus on expanding rapidly among the college students."
…
After chatting with the guests from afar at the cocktail party, Li Mu met with Steve Johnson, the head of Sequoia Capital, in private.
Steve Johnson was now most concerned about the subsequent capital operations of Makino Technology and Li Mu's other companies. Sequoia had tasted great benefits from Makino Technology and could not wait to find other breakthroughs. However, Li Mu's attitude toward capital was extremely cautious. Due to the upward trend of the global capital market, Li Mu did not give any opportunities for capital to penetrate. This made Steve Johnson very anxious.
Every time the capital market went down, companies were anxious to raise funds. Because they were worried about the capital winter that could come at any time, they sacrificed part of their shares in advance to save up cash to survive the winter. However, every time the capital market went up, companies began to grit their teeth and wait for the price to continue to rise before selling their shares.
Now that the global capital market was doing well, Li Mu was naturally not in a hurry to raise funds. Instead, he looked forward to being able to raise a large amount of funds through the listing.
After Li Mu and Steve Johnson sat down, the latter handed Li Mu a cigar and said with a smile, "Li Zong, have a taste of the world's top Cuban cigar."
Li Mu shook his head and said with a smile, "Thank you, but I'm not used to this stuff."
As he spoke, Li Mu took out a pack of domestic cigarettes from his pocket and asked him, "Do you want to try this?"
Steve Johnson hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, I'll try it."
Li Mu took out two Panda cigarettes, handed one to him, and lit one himself. Then he asked him with a smile, "Steve, you're in such a hurry to meet me. Do you have something good to tell me?"
Steve Johnson lit a cigarette and took a puff. He savored it for a while, then exhaled white smoke and said with a smile, "To be honest, Sequoia has been preparing a large amount of cash, just waiting for you to ask for it. But you're not willing to do another round of financing, so I can't do anything about it …"
Li Mu smiled indifferently and said, "Apple has already been acquired. At this time, financing is no longer attractive to me."
Steve Johnson said, "So I'm not here to talk about financing with you this time. I want to talk to you, Li Zong, about the future IPO of Makino Technology."
Li Mu raised his eyebrows and asked him, "About the IPO, what do you want to talk to me about specifically?"
Steve Johnson smiled and said, "I mainly want to know the general timing of Makino Technology's IPO."
Li Mu said, "After Google and Baidu successfully go public, Makino Technology will launch its own IPO plan."
Steve Johnson nodded and said with a smile, "Li Zong is really astute. After these two companies go public, the valuation of Makino Technology will rise further. It is indeed the best time."
After flattering Li Mu, Steve Johnson asked Li Mu with a serious expression, "Li Zong, Makino Technology should have started preparing for the IPO, right? Is it convenient for you to reveal the current progress? "
Li Mu smiled noncommittally and said, "Steve, if you have any ideas, just say it. We are partners after all, there is no need to beat around the bush."
Steve Johnson hesitated for a moment and said, "Li Zong, in fact, for Sequoia and myself, we very much hope to be able to cooperate with you on the IPO of Makino Technology. We have estimated the future valuation of Makino Technology. If Makino Technology maintains the current growth rate, plus the additional 30% of Google's shares, the IPO of Makino Technology is likely to exceed 20 billion US dollars, creating the largest IPO in the history of NASDAQ. However, all of this is based on a mature, reliable, and strong underwriter team."
Li Mu nodded. At this time, he had already understood Steve Johnson's motive. What he wanted was to be the underwriter for the future IPO of Makino Technology.
The first step for an IPO on NASDAQ was to submit it for review. The second step was to find a suitable underwriter team, and then determine the valuation, the number of shares to be issued, and the price. Then, the underwriter would promote the IPO shares to their major clients. Generally speaking, IPO shares in the US were not targeted at individual investors. They were all divided among major clients with assets of more than a million US dollars. The shares that fell into the hands of individual investors during the IPO stage were generally junk stocks.
Sometimes, the failure of a company to be listed in the US was not because the company did not meet the requirements for listing on NASDAQ, but because the company was not satisfied with the price given by the underwriter. Sheng, a former literary giant in China, had launched plans to be listed in the US many times. However, each time it was launched, it was delayed, and in the end, it gave up on the listing. The main reason for the delay was the difference in valuation with the underwriter.
Before a company was listed, it would have two valuations. One was the valuation of the company itself, and the other was the valuation of the capital market. This was no different from communicating with the employer when looking for a job. If the salary given by the company was lower than expected, most job seekers would reject it. If the job seekers asked for a higher salary, most companies would also reject them.
For example, a company that was going to be listed on NASDAQ would have a target valuation of 1 billion US dollars. They hoped to raise 100 million US dollars by issuing 10 million shares at 10 US dollars per share, accounting for 10% of the company's total shares. However, the underwriter felt that the company's prospects were not as good as the company thought. In the eyes of the underwriter, the company could only be valued at 500 million US dollars. If other conditions remained the same, the corresponding price of 5 US dollars per share could be sold. If the price was higher, it would be difficult to sell all the IPO shares.
On this basis, if the company accepted the underwriter's valuation, then the underwriter could only raise 50 million US dollars by offering 10% of the company's shares. However, the underwriter felt that the company's prospects were not as good as the company thought. In the eyes of the underwriter, the company could only be valued at 500 million US dollars. If other conditions remained the same, it would be difficult to sell all the IPO shares.
Therefore, in the process of an IPO, the role of the underwriter was still very important. The underwriter must be strong enough, and the underwriter must recognize the value and prospects of the client company. Although Makino Technology had a high reputation in the world and was recognized by the capital market, when it came to an IPO, a reliable underwriter was still needed to work together to strive for the maximum benefits for the company during the listing process.
For the seller, the best selling price was just close to the highest price that the buyer could accept. It was the same for Li Mu.
Therefore, Li Mu asked him, "Do you want to be the underwriter of Makino Technology?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
