Chapter 296 A Round of Entanglement

The next day, Song Ya drove to Calabasas, located in the southwest corner of the San Fernando Valley.

After receiving his $250,000 investment, Terry Beard moved DTS from the garage to a formal office location, although the office conditions were still not good.

"Delay, Alicia."

Song Ya was not in a hurry to meet Terry Beard, but first met with Delay and Alicia who were in charge of the negotiation in a nearby cafe, "Do you know why Terry wanted to meet and talk to me?" He asked while shaking hands .

Delay shook his head, "At present, the differences between the two parties should still be the transfer of shares and valuation. We have no say in this matter, and as you have explained, don't be too active to offend David Geffen and Spielberg. them."

Alicia pointed out, "Terry Beard is obviously unwilling to give up 51% of the controlling stake in the A round, and Spielberg insists that one person needs 20%. The difference is basically in the This. Because everyone knows that A-level singers are not short of money after the album is sold out, so you are still a deterrent, Terry is more likely to want to work with you to force Spielberg and others to accept the high valuation of the company. Because if the joint If they force you to accept more dilution, no one is afraid that at this critical moment, a 17-year-old African-American hip-hop singer with a lot of cash will not play his cards according to common sense."

She took a sip of her coffee, then smiled and pointed at the paparazzi who were stopped outside the coffee shop by Old Mike and others.

"It seems that this identity can bring some benefits, ah?"

Song Ya smiled. These paparazzi followed all the way from Hollywood, but when they found out that their target was not the San Fernando Valley (the center of erotic movies), most of them left disappointed, "I won't lose my mind, and I won't help Teddy. Libeard, although we do have some common interests, but today is already June 20th..."

Spielberg is the key man, and time is getting tighter for him, not only because Jurassic Park opens in August, but also because Dolby's surround sound was a hit yesterday after the success of Batman Returns, and no matter how slow Universal Pictures is, I will turn my attention to surround sound technology in theaters.

What if Spielberg didn't want to wait any longer? Angrily, he went to cooperate with another company with similar patents, and Song Ya and Tribeard would be dumbfounded.

A+ Audio Company's 250,000 angel investment was exchanged for 20% of DTS's shares. That is to say, both parties agreed that DTS was worth 1.25 million. Since the A round could attract three powerful people from Hollywood Entering the market, the company's valuation must go to at least 20 million or more, but Spielberg will not do it, he has the resources in his hands.

Song Ya and Terry Beard certainly want DTS to have a higher valuation and fewer diluted shares, but they don’t want to let Spielberg go. Before Jurassic Park is released next year, Universal will definitely follow DTS on a large scale. Stereo technology has been transformed into sound systems in hundreds of theaters, and DTS is almost tied to the battleship of Universal and Panasonic behind it. If Universal's movies continue to use this standard, DTS is estimated to be not far away from being launched.

This is a big business, and the balance point of the game is difficult to find.

"Universal, like Columbia Pictures, is a bit chaotic under the management of the capital. Last month, Liangtang and his wife starred in the film, with a production cost of 60 million. The big ambition, and now Beimi's box office has not exceeded 40 million..."

Delay said: "Universal is likely to turn a blind eye. They need Spielberg's Jurassic Park and another World War II movie to help them turn around next year. Jurassic Park's production company Amblin The entertainment boss is Spielberg, he has the final say on what technology to use, and when the time comes to show the finished film, will Universal not obediently upgrade the theater equipment?"

Song Ya thought about it too.

The three left the coffee shop and met in Terry Beard's small office.

"Sony has SDDS, and Warner has used Dolby. If the company's valuation in the A round does not satisfy me,

I'm going straight to Universal, Paramount..."

Terry Beard is not the kind of engineer who doesn't listen to things outside the window. In fact, he took the initiative to find Spielberg. After he got Song Ya's angel investment, he gave Spielberg's old film The Third Kind of Contact Made a simple surround sound effect demo, trying to impress the other party.

After David Geffen found him, he had a premonition that his company was about to take off. He talked with David Geffen several times without telling Song Ya, an angel investor, and decisively replaced the lawyer and manager in the middle, and hired a more famous person. Also better at business negotiations.

"So what do you want me to do?" It has nothing to do with Song Ya who he went to find, and his relevant interests were well protected when he signed the angel investment contract.

"Would you help us?" Tribeld's lawyer asked. "It's in our best interest to drive up the company's valuation."

"impossible."

Song Ya glanced at Terry Beard. This guy must have been under a lot of pressure recently, his spirits were low, and his hair seemed to be thinning.

He will not reveal his position easily, so he did not persuade the other party from a commercial point of view, "I have consulted some Hollywood people these days, the SDDS used by Sony and the Dolby technology used by Warner can completely store audio information in two-dimensional code on 35mm On the negative, and DTS can only leave a very simple time code on the negative for synchronization, and the real audio file is recorded on another CD in digital format. I don’t understand the deeper technology, but I think this way of realization Shouldn’t be as good as the first two, right?”

"You are wrong. Dolby's storage method is more susceptible to film wear and degradation. I store it digitally, which is safer and has a larger capacity." Terry Beard is confident.

"But the investment in theater equipment will also be greater, right? After all, there is another system."

"Uh, yes."

Song Ya has been patiently chatting with him about technical issues, and Tribeard finally couldn't take it anymore, and motioned the lawyer to tell the truth about his real goal.

"The last time we talked with Catherine, Spielberg's negotiator, we broke down, so I hope you can help us turn around and let him return to the negotiating table." The lawyer said.

"That woman is too strong," Tribeld muttered.

"It's no problem, I like to be the middleman." Song Ya shrugged, "So do you have a plan in mind for the valuation of the A-round company?"

"15 million, but we will only sell another 20% of the shares." The lawyer said.

"Okay, I will find a chance to tell." Song Ya got up and shook hands to say goodbye.

Twenty percent is not enough to satisfy the three of Spielberg and the others. The other party is actually implying that they have accepted the dilution of equity by default, but Song Ya still does not give any indication, and does not ask what their previous bid is, and leaves directly.

"If the valuation is 15 million and the transaction is completed, then our previous investment of 250,000 dollars will be multiplied by ten times."

De Lay is very happy that 20% of the shares of DTS are in the hands of A+ Audio Company, and this unexpected joy will make the small-scale A+ Audio Company profitable for many years without any problem. Equity rewards are also stable.

Song Ya didn't expect this. If Dilai keeps making profits for five years, he will take 15% of the A+ audio. The value of this business will become higher and higher when it comes to DTS, which is a lot of money. money. He hesitated for a moment, and decided to forget it, after all, he was also his old brother for a long time.

Song Ya quickly conveyed the news to David Geffen.

David Geffen asked about the situation and told him that Catherine, Spielberg's negotiator, would go to the studio to find him tomorrow. This woman was originally Spielberg's assistant, and now she has become the president of Amblin Entertainment.

And tomorrow the BeautifulGirls MV will officially start filming.