Chapter 1032 Domineering Side Leak

$17 billion, let's talk.

Li Mu's indifferent words left Eriks speechless for a while.

Before he came, the CEO explained that Sequoia's bottom price was $16.5 billion.

The so-called bottom price is the maximum limit for Sequoia to participate in the bidding.

Although the CEO did not explicitly say what should be done if the price required by Animal Husbandry Technology is higher than Sequoia's base price, but according to the normal process, once Sequoia sets the base price, there are only two results: within this price range If the price can be negotiated, Sequoia will enter; if it exceeds this price, Sequoia will retreat. Over the years, the third possibility has hardly occurred.

Like other VCs, Sequoia has to calculate potential profit margins and capital risks for every investment. A large investment such as the C round of Makino Technology will send out more than one billion US dollars in cash in one go, so it is necessary to repeatedly evaluate the risks. , after all, Sequoia's money is not blown by the wind, it is the common asset of all board members and the investors of its subordinate funds.

In this case, even if Sequoia believes that Makino Technology may reach $170 billion in assets in the next few years, it is necessary to reasonably measure the risks behind it, and it must not be because a company's current development is smooth. , to make hasty decisions, leaving hidden dangers.

For VCs, when they lead the investment or invest alone, they will definitely find a way to lower the actual valuation. This is to reduce capital investment, and it is also to better sell in the future.

Come in when the valuation is 100 million, withdraw when the valuation is 500 million, and let the next company take the offer at the price of 500 million. This is the general way of making money for VCs, but if you don’t grasp the premium when you take the bid, let Other investment banks think that the price of their bid is too high when they evaluate it, so it will be difficult to sell at a high premium when they sell in the future.

Eriks thought a lot at once. Seeing his strange expression, Li Mu also guessed that the price he offered might have scared him. Before him, he had scared the representatives of two venture capital companies, so Li Mu didn't think that at all. He said with a slight smile, "Mr. Hanks doesn't need to be too entangled. There is an old saying in China that 'the sale and purchase cannot be achieved by benevolence and righteousness', which means that even if we fail to reach a cooperation because of the price negotiation, we still Still friends."

Eriks nodded lightly and said to Li Mu with a serious face: "Mr. Li, frankly speaking, we have done a very in-depth objective assessment of the situation of Muye Technology. The valuation of 17 billion US dollars is indeed too high. If To raise funds at this valuation, I am afraid that there is very little capital that can be accepted.”

Li Mu's expression was indifferent, and he said with aloof confidence: "Mr. Hanks, I want to correct the mistake in what you just said."

Eriks raised his brows, watching Li Mu waiting for his next words.

Li Mu smiled and said, "I'm not asking for a valuation of 17 billion US dollars. I want to start with 17 billion US dollars. You can understand that this is a starting price."

Eriks felt the strong confidence in Li Mu at this moment. In his opinion, the tone of Li Mu's words was not as simple as self-confidence, and even a little arrogant.

Sequoia has been in the Internet field for so many years, and already knows all about Internet companies. It is no exaggeration to say that Sequoia is the godfather of the Internet industry. With these precipitations, Sequoia can basically evaluate an Internet company. In other words, if Sequoia uses $16.5 billion as the base price of Muye Technology, then most companies in this industry will not give a higher price than this, Li Muyi He started talking about $17 billion, which seemed a bit arrogant to him.

Li Mu could see that there was a little anger and dissatisfaction between Eriks' eyebrows.

But Li Mu didn't care, and continued to smile and said, "Mr. Hanks, Chinese people like a kind of jade called jadeite. The price of jadeite with good quality is astonishingly high. Even if it's just a jadeite ring, it may be worth thousands of dollars. Ten thousand yuan, but if the quality is not good, you can buy it for a few hundred yuan. Because the price range of jadeite is very large, a model of betting on stones has been born in the industry. Betting on stones is very interesting. I think it is related to the investment industry. There is a lot in common, if you are interested, I can tell you about it."

Eriks held out a hand. "Please speak."

Li Mu said: "Jadeite is a special kind of ore. What's interesting is that when it is mined, it is basically covered with a weathered outer skin. The value of the jadeite inside is so valuable that no one can see it if you don't cut it open. That’s why, sometimes a piece of rock the size of a basketball can be worth over 100 million yuan, but sometimes it’s worthless. Therefore, in order to pass on the risk, the seller of the ore does not completely cut the ore, but asks the buyer to buy it and cut it by himself. "

Eriks listened a bit intriguingly, waiting for Li Mu's next sentence with a curious expression.

Li Mu went on to say: "Some sellers trade pure rough stones. Whether or not there is jade in this stone, and if so, how fine it is, depends on the buyer's own judgment and luck. Generally speaking, the average price of this kind of stone is relatively low. , as the buyer bears the full risk;”

"Some sellers, when trading rough stones, will cut a little on the surface of the rough stone, so that the jade inside can reveal a little color. The jargon is called opening the skylight. After the skylight is opened, if the exposed part is of high quality, then The price of this stone will also skyrocket, because with such a little color exposed by the skylight, buyers have a little more confidence and less risk when judging;”

"Some rough stones have a skylight, and some rough stones even have three or five or more skylights, but on the contrary, the more skylights are opened and the better the quality of the exposed parts, the higher the price of the rough stone will be;"

"However, even if you open more skylights, there is a great risk, because the skylights are only open on the surface, and no one knows the texture of the more jade inside. There are many jade skylights that look very good, but after cutting them in However, I found that it is worthless except for the skylight part; and there are many jade merchants who cheat and deliberately fake the part of the skylight to be of high quality. In this case, the buyer buys it back and cuts it immediately. There will be chickens and eggs, and even bankruptcy."

"The opposite is also true. Sometimes the cut part doesn't look very good, but after buying it and completely cutting it, it is found that the internal quality is excellent. In this case, the return on investment will naturally be astonishingly high."

Having said that, Li Mu looked at Eriks and continued with a smile: "Look, how similar betting stones are to investing, and those who dare to buy completely rough stones are angel investors; companies that have developed for a certain period of time have allowed the outside world to have With a certain understanding, then this kind of enterprise is equivalent to opening a skylight. The longer it develops and the more projects it handles, the more skylights will open; once the company is listed and everything is completely disclosed to the securities market, it is equivalent to The jadeite that has been processed and sold in the market is clearly priced, and it is not deceived by the old man."

Eriks smacked his lips with a smile, and said, "Although I didn't understand it very well, it sounds really interesting."

Li Mu nodded, then changed the conversation and said, "In the stone gambling industry, no matter how many skylights are opened, there are mysteries inside that experts can't see through, and buyers can't see all of them, so I can't feel that my judgment is exactly equal to The actual value of the whole piece of jade."

Eriks heard that Li Mu was saying that Sequoia couldn't see the inside of the jade of Muye Technology, and he couldn't help but smile: "Mr. Li, according to your statement, what is the actual value of a piece of jade, the buyer does not know, the seller does not know. I don't know either."

Li Mu smiled and said, "Of course, neither the seller nor the buyer knows, they can only rely on their own judgment."

Eriks shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands and said, "Since it's all based on judgment, it must be that both sides have deviations. The most important thing is that they can reach a consensus before. If they can't reach a consensus, no matter how good jade is, they can't reach it. trade."

Li Mu laughed, clapped his hands and said, "This is what I want to express. If the buyer and the seller cannot reach a consensus on the value of jade, then naturally there is no way to reach a deal, but it doesn't matter if there is no consensus at the moment, you can go back first and wait for my hands. After opening another skylight, you can come and have a look. At that time, use your expert's vision to re-evaluate the price of Muye Technology who has opened a new skylight; if there is still no consensus, it doesn't matter, I can open another one, Open two, until you or other VCs are willing to agree with me!"

Eriks was a little cloudy and foggy. He thought Li Mu wanted to ridicule Sequoia for not knowing the goods, but he didn't expect Li Mu to say that he would take the initiative to open another skylight. What does this mean? He said that he understood the matter of opening a skylight for jade, but he really didn't know what kind of operation it corresponds to opening a skylight for an enterprise.

Although he didn't understand the specific metaphor, Eriks could still hear the domineering arrogance in Li Mu's words. The meaning of Li Mu's words was very clear. He must make the VCs willing to reach a consensus with him. The subtext is: only The VC bowed his head to him, and he would never bow to the VC.

Eriks was a little disgusted with Li Mu's youthful arrogance and arrogance. At the same time, he also knew very well that he was definitely going to return today. Li Mu killed the $17 billion offer, and he couldn't get him to lower the offer. Just have to go back.

If the CEO and the board of directors are willing to change their minds and accept the offer, then the two sides will continue to talk. If not, then Sequoia will get up from the negotiating table, and the project will be suspended indefinitely for Sequoia.

In that case, unless Li Mu changed his mind after hitting a wall, and then lowered his valuation, in exchange for Sequoia to continue to sit back at the negotiating table to continue discussions.

And Eriks was sure in his heart that the one who would change his mind must be Li Mu!