On the morning of August 10th, in a high-end coffee shop not far from Facebook's headquarters, Li Yang met one of Facebook's founders, Mark Berg.
In a very quiet corner of the cafe, Li Yang and Markberg sat opposite each other. There were two cups of hot coffee on the wooden table in front of them.
The atmosphere at the scene was very quiet. Li Yang and Markberg did not say anything and just quietly sized each other up.
In the US, Li Yang was known as the youngest billionaire, and so was Markberg. His reputation was no weaker than Li Yang's.
" Markberg, nicknamed Little pockmarked, really has a face full of that…" Li Yang stared at Markberg calmly, but he was secretly laughing in his heart.
Markberg was wearing a neat black suit. His eyes were very spirited and filled with confidence. His appearance was not very good. He had a common face, neither handsome nor ugly. The small spots on both sides of his cheeks gave him some extra characteristics.
"Li Yang, as his name suggests, is indeed the youngest and most handsome genius investor.”Markberg was also sizing up Li Yang, silently evaluating him in his heart.
Markberg would be lying if he said he wasn't envious of Li Yang's handsome appearance and perfect height. However, his looks were given to him by his parents. Unless he went for plastic surgery, there was no other way to change it.
After a long time, Li Yang changed the topic and said in fluent English,""Ma Ke, speaking of which, you are my senior. We are schoolmates. I admire your decision to drop out of school last year.”
"Mr. Bill Gates is my idol. I also hope that I can become someone like Mr. Bill Gates!”Markberg smiled. He obviously liked to hear such praise.
"Facebook is a great company. Its emergence has changed the traditional way people socialize. People can record their lives and share their lives through the Internet.”Li Yang exclaimed in admiration. His expression was sincere and sincere, as if these words came from the bottom of his heart.
" Facebook is indeed a great idea. I've already proved it with my actions..." Markberg said confidently.
Americans were not as reserved and humble as their countrymen. The words 'worldly wisdom' contained too much. Markberg was famous at a young age, so he naturally had the right to be proud.
"As far as I know, Facebook has already conducted two rounds of financing. The first round of financing was in September last year. Facebook received 500,000 dollars and lost 10% of its original shares. The B round of funding was in May this year. Facebook received 12.7 million dollars and lost 12.7% of its original shares, with a total valuation of 100 million dollars.”Li Yang smiled at Markberg and said unhurriedly.
It was now August, just three months after Facebook's Series B round of funding. Due to Facebook's rapid expansion and the number of users approaching tens of millions, major venture capital firms had raised the valuation of Facebook to 500 million gold.
In three months, the valuation had risen from 100 million to 500 million, a full fivefold increase. Such a rate of valuation growth could only happen to an internet company.
In an internet company, as long as you have users, you have value. Users are the core of an internet company. If you don't have users, who will use your products? How can you make money?
The core value of an internet company that faced the public was registered users and average daily active users.
On the other side, Markberg's expression was calm and he was not surprised. He could easily find out about Facebook's financing history. He was waiting for Li Yang to continue.
A moment later, Li Yang smiled and said,""Although Facebook received 12.7 million dollars in the B round of funding, after a few months of expansion, both the server and staff expenses are not a small amount. Facebook now has users, but there is no direction for profit.”
"That's right, Facebook is about to launch a C round of funding. The pace of Facebook's expansion can't stop!”Markberg nodded lightly. There was no need to hide anything.
He was prepared to wait for Facebook's registered users to exceed 10 million before starting the C round of funding. Only then could he pay the smallest share and get more money.
Li Yang was too lazy to continue talking nonsense and went straight to the point,"I'm very optimistic about Facebook, and I'm even more optimistic about you. The current valuation of Facebook by major venture capital firms is 500 million gold. I can raise this valuation to 700 million gold.”
" 700 million meters of gold..." Markberg frowned. He thought that Li Yang would be very generous. A mere 700 million meters of gold was far from satisfying his appetite.
It was obvious that in a few months, when Facebook's users reached tens of millions, then Facebook's valuation would at least start at one billion meters. It was already a certainty that Facebook's users would reach tens of millions. Looking at it this way, Li Yang's valuation of 700 million meters was indeed insincere and unattractive.
"210 million gold, 30% of the shares, and the decision-making power is yours!”Li Yang's eyes blazed as he opened his mouth to ask for a huge investment of 210 million meters of gold.
Originally, Li Yang wanted 50% of the shares, but that was impossible. Whether it was Markberg or the other two founders, they could not give up so many shares.
" 210 million meters of gold..." Markberg was shocked. He was not shocked by the number, but by Li Yang's appetite.
30% shares, what kind of concept was that?
Since Facebook's double financing, Markberg's shares had dropped to 40%. If he agreed to this investment, his shares would drop to 28%, and Li Yang would replace him as Facebook's largest individual shareholder.
In any case, Markberg would never agree to such an investment. He couldn't let himself lose control of the company. This had nothing to do with money. Facebook was his career, and Facebook could only be controlled by him.
No matter which investment institution invested in Facebook, the shares they could get were limited. It wasn't that you had money and could buy as many as you wanted.
"Why? Are you not satisfied with this number?”Li Yang asked with a smile.
"This valuation is too low, and giving up 30% of the shares is too much. Facebook will not accept such an investment, even if the price doubles..." Markberg shrugged helplessly and expressed his attitude.
"Doubling it is 1.4 billion gold. Mark, do you think Facebook is worth 1.4 billion gold now?”Li Yang's smile did not change as he asked.
"This has nothing to do with money. I need to maintain control of the company. Even if you pay 1 billion dollars, Facebook will not give up 30% of its shares.”Markberg said straightforwardly.
"Didn't I say that I have high hopes for you? The shares I hold will be decided by you!”Li Yang reminded.
" The decision-making power is mine…" Markberg shook his head and smiled, seemingly uninterested.
He was not a fool. How could he believe that the decision-making power belonged to him? In the future, Li Yang had plenty of ways to get back the decision-making power of the shares.
There were too many such examples. Many founders of large companies developed their companies to the peak, but they were eventually kicked out.
In a joint stock company, the number of shares you had was the number of words you had. This was the truth.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。