The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 790 The Liu Family's Financial Tentacles Are Everywhere!

Duan Yongping smiled slightly and tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "I said, five hundred million US dollars, 'Jingxi Capital' wants 15% of 'New Wolf's' equity, is that alright?" He got up and walked to the French window, looking out at the bustling Shengli Avenue.

Wang Zhidong's pupils contracted slightly, and his fingers gripping the folder tightened unconsciously, his heart filled with elation.

Duan Yongping's offer was 30% higher than he had expected, which was almost the greatest recognition of "New Wolf" at the lowest point in the current Internet market.

He took a deep breath, his gaze following Duan Yongping's retreating figure: "Mr. Duan, this valuation..."

“This is based on your ‘New Wolf’s’ technological reserves and brand premium,” Duan Yongping turned around, his gaze behind his glasses sharp as an eagle. “More importantly, I have high hopes for you as a person.”

He walked back to the tea table and personally poured Wang Zhidong a cup of pre-Qingming Longjing tea. "The internet winter will eventually pass. As long as you 'new wolves' are on the right track, you will eventually take off."

"Thank you! Thank you for your support, Mr. Duan..."

As the tea swirled in the cup, Wang Zhidong suddenly recalled that stormy night five years ago.

The dream of that time is now facing its most severe test, and the appearance of this man may be the turning point for "New Wolf".

He picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp: "Mr. Duan, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Three days later, the financial section's headline exploded with shock: "Jingxi Capital Makes $5 Million Strategic Investment in New Wolf."

On the day the news was announced, Nasdaq's "new wolf" stock price surged 15.7% against the market trend, marking the largest single-day gain for a Nasdaq-listed Chinese stock.

At the subsequent joint press conference, Duan Yongping publicly demonstrated the mobile news push system jointly developed by the two parties, while Wang Zhidong announced the launch of the "New Wolf 2.0" plan, which focuses on the development of mobile Internet and intelligent recommendation technology.

After the press conference, Wang Zhidong stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the backstage lounge, looking down at the media reporters and investors who flocked to the scene, a long-lost smile appearing on his lips.

My phone kept vibrating, and the screen displayed a congratulatory text message from an old friend in Silicon Valley: "Old Wang, congratulations, your 'new wolves' are about to set sail!"

The assistant knocked gently and came in: "Mr. Wang, Morgan Stanley and Sequoia Capital have both called and would like to schedule a meeting with you to discuss this further."

……

News of Nadas' investment in "NewWolf" by the globally renowned capital firm "Kingwest Capital" has caused "NewWolf" to surge against the market trend during the internet winter.

When Google founder Larry Page, who was in Mountain View, saw this news in the financial news, he was immediately captivated.

“Brin, come to my office for a moment, I want to talk to you…” Page picked up his phone and called his friend and partner, Sergei Brin.

When Brin pushed open the door, Page was browsing Wall Street news on the screen. The headline was about "Jingxi Capital" acquiring 15% of "New Wolf" and becoming its third-largest shareholder.

“Brin, my brother, take a look at this,” Page said excitedly, pointing to the computer screen. “I remember 'Kingwest Capital' contacted us a while ago, wanting to invest in Google, didn’t they?”

Brin adjusted his glasses and said, "Yes, but it hasn't been finalized yet."

They're asking for way too much; they want 10% of the shares! That means the two of us will only have fewer and fewer shares, which will affect our control over the company..."

Page's fingers tapped rapidly on the table, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness: "But look at the stock performance of 'New Wolf,' the market is reacting strongly to the endorsement of financial giant 'Jingxi Capital.'"

Perhaps we can reconsider their terms. It's an internet winter now; most internet companies can only talk about other things after they've found a way to survive.

Brin walked to the window, gazing thoughtfully at the engineers moving about in the park: "The question is, do we really need the funds from Xia Country?"
While Google's current cash flow is insufficient to support our next development plans, many institutions on Wall Street remain optimistic about us.

“No, Brin, you’re wrong.” Page stood up and walked over to him. “This isn’t about funding.”

This "Jingxi Capital" is no ordinary financial giant; they have connections and resources across the entire Asian market, which is exactly what our globalization strategy needs.

A brief silence fell over the office, with only the faint sounds of conversations coming from the work area.

Brin suddenly turned around, his eyes behind his glasses lighting up: "What if we only give them 5% of the shares, while requiring them to help us open up the Xia Kingdom market?"

Do you think they'll back down?

Paige grinned slyly: "Hahaha... Brin, I knew you'd see the light."

We can have the legal department redraft the agreement, adding a performance-based clause—if they cannot help us gain 20% market share in Xia Guo within two years, their shares will be automatically diluted to 3%.

If it exceeds 20%, why not give them 10% of the shares?

"To be honest, we made a huge profit..."

Meanwhile, at the North American headquarters of "Kingwest Capital" in Manhattan, New York.

Li Xun, head of the North American branch of "Jingxi Capital", was staring at Google's financial data on his computer screen.

His assistant knocked on the door and came in: "Mr. Li, we just received news that Google has contacted us and expressed its willingness to restart negotiations."

Li Xun's lips curled slightly upwards as he lightly traced the Google logo on the screen: "They've taken the bait. Immediately notify headquarters in China and report the situation to Director Duan..."

"Okay Mr. Li."

Li Xun slowly turned around and gazed at the dazzling New York night view outside the window.

Since last year, the North American branch has received strategic instructions from the domestic headquarters: take advantage of the coming internet winter to buy up shares of America High Technologies at rock-bottom prices.

Among these investment options, Google, though not yet publicly listed, has long been a key investment target for Jingxi Capital, becoming one of the top priority internet technology giants for investment.

Li Xun picked up the cigar on the table, gently cut off the end, and the flame flickered in the night.

He took a deep breath, and the smoke slowly filled the office.

The assistant handed over a freshly printed document: "Mr. Li, this is a draft performance-based agreement prepared overnight by the legal department. Please take a look."

The lights of Wall Street shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating Li Xun's face and outlining his deep features.

He quickly flipped through the documents, then suddenly stopped on a certain page: "These terms are too conservative. Tell them to adjust the betting agreement to 15%-25%. We need to put enough pressure on Google."

Three days later, tensions were high in the conference room at Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Page slammed the agreement on the table: "Lee, this performance-based clause is too harsh! We cannot accept a 25% share demand."

Li Xun leisurely picked up his coffee, his gaze sweeping over the two young founders across from him: "Larry, Sergey, do you know why 'New Wolf' has been able to buck the trend and rise?" He put down his cup, the metal clinking against the glass with a crisp sound, "Because we not only bring capital, but also the ticket to the entire Asian market."

Brin and Page exchanged a glance.

The only sound in the conference room was the hum of the central air conditioning.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Xun pushed forward a new document: "This is our revised plan. If Google can capture 15% of the Asian market share within three years, 'Jingxi Capital' is willing to invest an additional $5 million."

Paige's fingers clenched and unclenched discreetly under the table. When he looked up, his signature smile was already on his face: "Lee, 25% is too much, 15% at most..."

That night, the stars in Silicon Valley shone exceptionally bright.

Li Xun stood on the hotel terrace, his phone screen displaying a text message from Duan Yongping: "Xiao Li, you guys did a great job this time. Next step, prepare to contact Bezos of Amazon."

Upon receiving the congratulatory email from Mr. Duan, who was in charge of venture capital at the group headquarters, Li Xun's tense nerves finally relaxed.

This marathon negotiation, which lasted nearly eight months, has finally made a breakthrough.

As a core member of the negotiation team, Li Xun was well aware of the difficulties involved—Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were no ordinary individuals. These two tech geniuses demonstrated extraordinary business acumen from the early stages of their ventures and maintained an almost demanding and cautious attitude towards capital operations.

In America today, almost everyone knows Google and its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Lay.

Google, founded less than five years ago, is the world's largest search engine company and a leader and innovator in the internet field.

Like other young internet companies, Larry Page and Sergey Brin started their research project on search engines at Stanford University in January 1996.

They wanted to develop a search engine that could accurately analyze the relationships between websites in order to improve the relevance and quality of search results.

So they designed an algorithm called PageRank, which assesses a site’s importance by examining backlinks on its web pages.

Larry Page and his colleagues believe that the more links a webpage has to other webpages, the more important it is and the higher it should be ranked.

This algorithm differs significantly from other search engines' methods based on keyword frequency, demonstrating higher accuracy and efficiency.

Initially, Page and Brin named the search engine "BackRub" because it relied primarily on backlinks to function.

Later, they changed their name to "Google," a name derived from the mathematical number googol (the number 1 followed by 100 zeros), symbolizing their determination to provide people with a vast amount of high-quality information.

They launched the Google search engine on Stanford University's website, with the domain name google.stanford.edu, and it quickly gained popularity and praise from users both on and off campus.

A year later, Page and Brin registered the Google.com domain and decided to turn the project into a commercial company.

They began seeking investors and partners to expand their server and bandwidth capacity to meet the growing search demand.

At the beginning, Larry Page and his team encountered some difficulties and challenges, such as how to make a profit, how to compete with rivals, and how to maintain innovation.

But Larry Page and his team did not give up on their ideals and beliefs; instead, they persevered in improving and perfecting their products and services.

In 1998, Google was officially established as a privately held company in Mountain View, California.

At the time, the two students had little cash, but needed to continue improving Google's search technology.

So Larry Page and his team saved up and bought 1000 GB of hard drives, and built Google's first data center in Larry's Stanford dorm room, while Sergei's dorm room became their office.

Despite the booming internet industry, the two did not feel any urgency to start a company.

At this point, Yahoo's David Filo's advice played a crucial role.

David Filo acknowledged that Google's technology was excellent, but he encouraged Larry and Serge to start their own company and provide services first.

"We'll continue our discussion once your business has matured and reached a certain scale."

Other portals showed almost no interest whatsoever; one portal's CEO even said, "Our users don't care about search at all."

Thus, encouraged by David Filo, the two put aside their doctoral studies and began their real "journey into the business" in August 1998.

The primary task, of course, is to raise funds.

Larry Page and his team first sought out angel investors, the first of whom was Bertelsheim, a Stanford alumnus, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, and the current vice president of Cisco.

Bertelsheim, of course, was a discerning veteran; after watching the demonstration, he felt the technology had potential.

But Bertol was interested, though he didn't have much time.

After a hurried demonstration that day, Bertol was in a rush to get somewhere else, so he said, "We don't need to discuss the details, I'll just give you the start."

"Checks, please." And so, $10 became Google's first seed money.

This check is quite tricky because Google hasn't officially registered yet, so there's nowhere to deposit the $10.

So the check remained hidden in Larry's dorm drawer for several weeks.

The two quickly registered a company and raised money from family, relatives, friends and acquaintances, finally raising $100 million.

September 7th is a special day, the day Google was officially born and opened its doors in Menlo Park, California.

Google's office was actually a garage that a friend sublet, where three of the company's employees were transferred.

This office has many conveniences, as it also has a washing machine, dryer, and hot tub.

It also provides a parking space, just enough for Craig Silverstone, the company's first employee.

At that time, Google was already receiving 10,000 searches per day, and the media began to pay attention to this rapidly rising star.

USA Today praised Google's excellent search results, and PC Magazine also listed Google as one of the 100 best websites of 98.

Google thus swept across the world with unstoppable momentum.

June 7th, a year later, will be an absolutely historic day.

Because on this day, Larry Page and his team received a definitive result: Kleiner Baggins, Silicon Valley's most famous venture capital firm, and Liu's Overseas Capital from Asia both agreed to invest a total of $2500 million in Google.

Representatives from both companies, Kleiner Baggins and Hong Kong native Ma Jinhua, joined the company's board of directors.

These two venture capital firms have also invested in high-tech companies such as Sun, Intuit, Amazon, and Yahoo.

From that point on, Google was no longer a garage company, but a formal player in the internet revolution.

Although "Liu's Overseas" is an investment company headquartered in Hong Kong, Asia, it is not an unknown entity; on the contrary, it is "renowned" in the world financial field.

In the past decade or so, they have been involved in many international financial crises.

This is a world-class financial giant; even the renowned Microsoft has invested in them.

The talented Larry and his 29-year-old partner Sergey Brin are a perfect match, serving as co-presidents of the company.

Larry Page is the president in charge of product development; Sergey Brin is the president in charge of technology research and development.

Where there are people, there is bound to be companies. Both founders were computer science majors, which determined that Google is a typical company with technology as its core advantage.

Both founders placed great emphasis on technology, and Google has excelled in search engine technology, leading the industry. Many Google employees, often referred to as "Googlers," are highly professional computer engineers who enjoy challenges and admire technological heroes, thus attracting them to Google. The two founders are most proud that a quarter of the company's employees hold PhDs in computer science, and its board of directors includes major investors and technical geniuses.

However, technology alone is not enough, especially in the fiercely competitive environment of the internet industry. A highly skilled and experienced manager is needed to steer Google smoothly and continuously expand it into a new aircraft carrier in the internet field.

Although the two worked closely together, sharing all the roles in the company.

However, last year, Google faced developmental risks and needed a more rigorous corporate structure and an industry expert.

This is Eric Schmidt, a senior partner at Liu's Overseas' North American branch.

He joined Google in March 2001 and was appointed chairman of the board.

On August 6 of the same year, he succeeded 28-year-old Larry as the company's CEO.

Google thus began a new era.

(End of this chapter)