Chapter 824 Head-On Conflict

When Page suppressed his anger, briefly introduced the reason for the meeting of the board of directors tomorrow, and sought Feng Yiping's support by the way, he heard "beep" prompts from his mobile phone from time to time, and asked, "Who's calling?"

Followed by asking and answering, "Oh, it must be his,"

Yes, it was Schmidt who called.

Page talked here for nearly half an hour. Feng Yiping saw that there were a total of six missed calls from Schmidt on his phone. It seemed that this usually calm and refined person was also very excited now.

"Fon, Paige will definitely explain to you what happened. Whether it is from a work perspective or personal feelings, I am not willing to make such a decision, but," Schmidt paused, as if drinking Take a sip of water, "Why can't Page understand my difficulties?"

"Since this year, I have been silently bearing the pressure of KPCB's refinancing and their pressure of expecting the company to go public as soon as possible. I only hope that the four of us can understand each other and keep pace with each other to develop the company well and make the performance more beautiful. Let the venture capital have nothing to say.

To achieve this goal, in addition to further optimizing our existing products, preparing more other products at the same time, sales are also a very important part. Why can’t you support me once in the matter of building a sales team? "

The matter is very simple to say. Page once again rejected Schmidt's proposal to strengthen the sales force. The old Schmidt, who has always been gentle, also lost his temper this time and used his power as CEO to suspend the funding of a project.

This is the first tit-for-tat conflict between Schmidt and Google's two founders since he took office last year.

How could Paige stand this! In the company I founded, I couldn't use the funds I found and earned by myself? It's a disgrace! He immediately thought of Jobs' deportation.

So, the helplessness of having to step back from the CEO position, and other things, in short, the anger that had been suppressed for nearly a year broke out completely.

The same is true for Schmidt. He went to Google and followed a group of young people. He swallowed his anger for almost a year, but he was still constrained in everything and everywhere. The venture capital company behind him frequently put pressure on him.

From the state of the two of them when they called, Feng Yiping could roughly guess the intensity of the conflict. It was probably impossible to talk about the facts, and many things would be pulled out. Maybe it was not just the incidents.

One side is the veteran and well-known experts and executives in Silicon Valley, and the other side is the idols and rich men of many young people in Silicon Valley. The conflict between these two parties must be like a fire with bright flowers, absolutely intense and abnormal.

Feng Yiping probably has a clue about what Schmidt will say, but Feng Yiping really has no clue what will happen to Paige when he is angry. Anyway, he usually talks and doesn't pay much attention to other people's feelings, let alone this time.

It's a mess!

Sure enough, there is nothing new under the sun.

The essence of this conflict between Schmidt, Page, and Brin is just one of the conflicts between many business founders and venture capitalists, which is too ordinary.

Venture capital, from the day it appeared, has two faces. They are friends of entrepreneurs, but sometimes they are also enemies of entrepreneurs.

There are many such things in China, for example, the dispute between Wahaha and Danone, the dispute between South Beauty and CDH in the family of a certain son, and the expulsion of the founder of NVC, which alarmed many people, etc., many, many.

"Don't get excited about Schmidt, I want to know why KPCB and Sequoia proposed a new round of financing?" Feng Yiping asked.

He didn't ask these two VCs why they want to conduct a new round of financing, which is the usual practice of VCs.

For most start-up companies, when you need funds, VC will give you a sum of money to make the business run, after that, you may embark on a road of no return, before the IPO, he will continue to The reason for asking you to carry out the next round of financing is very simple. He hopes to dilute the investment risk as much as possible, increase the chance of investment return, and provide a stronger guarantee for his exit.

"Because the company is developing too many projects at the same time, the funds are not too abundant," Schmidt said.

"For such a problem, you don't need to bear the pressure alone, you can let us talk about it,"

Sequoia and KPCB jointly invested US$25 million in 1999 and jointly owned 20% of Google's shares. Last year, Feng Yiping invested US$150 million, which only accounted for 15% of Google's shares. That was their investment. In four years, there has already been an 8-fold return.

In the face of such rewards, as the founders, in front of the two venture capitalists, of course Page and the others can straighten up and speak, there is no need to compromise like a little daughter-in-law.

"Feng, you have to understand my difficulties. I was recruited by KPCB and Sequoia," Schmidt sighed.

"Oh, sorry," Feng Yiping forgot this.

For Schmidt, since those two venture capital firms could recruit him, they could naturally fire him.

If Moritz and Dole think that Schmidt is too weak in the company, or has no control over the company at all, then firing him is also a good option.

Judging from Schmidt's radical move this time, I'm afraid this matter is already brewing.

For Schmidt, such a result is obviously unacceptable. During his previous tenure at Sun and Novell, he was repeatedly defeated by Microsoft, and the two companies he worked for have always hovered on the verge of bankruptcy.

Fortunately, Sequoia and KPCB have strange views on employment. They believe that a CEO who can support under such pressure is strong enough.

But if he is fired again this time, then Schmidt's career will undoubtedly be labeled as a loser.

"Then let's change the angle, Schmidt, you must make it clear to Moritz and Dole that Google is not another company they invested in. When you joined Google, Page and Brin owned the majority of the company's shares. , and the two of them add up, but only own 20% of the shares, and anyone who has a little knowledge of the board of directors' operation should know who is in charge."

From this point of view, Feng Yiping admires the shrewdness and foresight of Page and Brin very much.

In 1999, they were in urgent need of funds, and they also needed investors with rich contacts in Silicon Valley who could bring a lot of additional convenience to the company.

They were the first to spread the word, hoping to get Sequoia's investment. After being introduced, Michael Moretz took the time to meet the two young people, was moved by their passion, agreed to their offer, and decided to invest 25 million US dollars. One-fifth of Google's shares.

But in Moritz's view, those two guys, who are like middle school students, already have defenses and countermeasures. They need Sequoia Capital, the most outstanding venture capital in Silicon Valley, to bring them financial and other support.

However, not to mention what happened earlier in Komodo, Apple, Compaq and other companies, the venture capital drove away the founders and found a new helmsman. Sequoia invested in Cisco before, and then drove away the founders to support Chambers. The matter of being superior is still vivid in my mind, and Paige and the others don't want to follow in the footsteps of these predecessors.

Therefore, after successfully arousing the interest of the reserved Sequoia Capital, the two of them immediately stepped on two boats and played the trick of one woman marrying twice. With Sequoia agreeing to invest as a background, they invested a large amount in another company Dude, also an old rival of Sequoia, KPCB warmly extended the invitation.

With Sequoia's endorsement, John Dole quickly met the two of them, was also moved by them, and gave Sequoia the same conditions.

Therefore, Page and Brin, who had been begging for help before, took the initiative-only sold 20% of the company's shares and let the two companies compete.

At this time, Sequoia and KPCB both hope to reach an agreement with Google, and they both want to take the 20% equity alone, laying the groundwork for controlling Google in the future. There was a fierce tug-of-war, which lasted for more than a month.

At this time, Page, who had teased the two companies so much that he took off his pants and was about to pamper Google, a new target that looked sweet and delicious, issued an ultimatum to them through an intermediary, "Within two to three days, if If they haven't agreed to our terms, then we won't consider cooperating with them," he said.

At this time, Google, because of the fierce tug-of-war between the two major venture capital companies, has become a favorite in the eyes of other investment companies on Sand Hill Road. An investment company has already approached Google and raised Google's valuation from 125 million to 150 million, Sequoia and KPCB had no choice but to jointly invest and share the fifth equally.

As a result, these two guys have received the full support of the two venture capitalists in Silicon Valley who were originally incompatible. At the same time, they also firmly control the company, so that the company will not be affected by capital for a long time interference.

Coupled with Feng Yiping's capital injection last year and the increase in Google's revenue, in the short term, how can it be necessary to continue financing?

"As for going public, of course it can be considered now, but such an important matter must naturally be approved by the board of directors,"

The meaning of these words is also very clear, and the same sentence, on the board of directors, the shares held by the two venture capitals are only a small number.

Page and Brin combined more than half of the shares, plus their own 15%, more than 60% and close to 70%, the two said it still doesn't count.

"Schmidt, although I don't know much about the specific process, I think that everyone has gone too far. I also do the work of Page. It is good for the company. It is best for everyone to understand and support each other. Don't make such a fuss, okay?"

"I have a sentence that may not be pleasant, but I think that if you think Google is a company worth paying for, then you should get Page's support more than those two venture capitals,"

This is also very clear. The person in charge in the company is always Page. If Sequoia and the others want to replace Schmidt, but Page does not support it, it may not be possible to replace him.

"Feng, I naturally understand this, I believe you understand my efforts, but you also know the result," Schmidt sighed, "I don't think I can get his support,"

Later Feng Yiping, of course, did not understand Google's internal affairs, but judging from the external results, the troika of Schmidt, Page, and Brin successfully made Google grow into a world-class company. Although it is impossible for this combination to be free of internal conflicts, it should still have merits. From this point of view, it shouldn't be as rigid as it is now.

"I will try my best to do my job, you wait for my news,"

How to proceed, he actually only has a general idea now, anyway, there is only one, it is better not to bring such matters to the board of directors for discussion. There is no room for compromise.

How to do this, he felt that he could ask someone for his opinion.

He didn't care about eating right now, so he put aside the paella that had completely cooled down, and called Mayer regardless that it was already past four o'clock in the night.

The first time, no one answered, and the second time, it rang for a long time, and finally someone answered, "Hello," with a sleepy look, probably without seeing who was calling.

"It's me, sorry,"

"It's you," the other side seemed to wake up a little, followed by habitual teasing, "Why, miss me so much?"

It was difficult for Feng Yiping to resist the teasing of such a tough beauty.

For about two or three seconds, he was thinking about Mayer's current clothes and state. From a man's point of view, it was quite tempting, but the business mattered. "Do you know what happened today?"

"You mean, Page vetoed Schmidt's recruitment of those business students to join the company? It's nothing unusual. We all know Page's attitude towards those business students. Of course, you are a special case,"

It seems that these people also know how to control the influence, and the matter of Schmidt's suspension of funding has not yet spread.

"So, do you think it is necessary for the company to strengthen the construction of the sales force?" Feng Yiping asked.

He himself actually supports it. No matter how good a product is, it must have a strong sales force.

"There is a need," Mayer asserts.

"I usually seldom involve specific management. Do you have any good suggestions on this aspect, which can make Schmidt get what he wants and make Page not object?" The CEO, presumably, should have a few brushes on these issues.