Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2965 Rekindle fighting spirit

The acquisition negotiations for Reddit went very smoothly.

There are absolutely no obstacles on both sides.

Out of respect for Sam Ultraman, Boss Zhou made a very sincere offer of US$1.85 million, which the other party immediately accepted.

Everyone is aware of the current situation.

No one wants to delay.

It would be best to finalize all acquisitions and complete financial transactions before the end of the year. By next year, Ziweixing International will be able to produce clean financial statements, which will make the IPO approval process smoother and faster. It will also be able to be more honest with the outside capital market, thereby gaining the favor of the capital market.

Many companies are not clean, so they feel guilty and make a mess of their financial statements.

Wall Street has been immersed in the financial field for many years and knows what is going on very well.

In many cases, there is no need to go to the front line to conduct research and understand the situation in the company like a fund manager. That is too low-end. Like Mr. Buffett, with his investor experience and experience, a financial statement is enough to see everything about a company.

If a company dares to prepare clean financial statements without any roundabout financial techniques or accounting methods, it can be considered a good and upright company.

Investing in such a company can at least guarantee that there will be no financial disasters.

Even if there is a loss, it will be limited.

For professional investors, financial statements are the first reference factor for investment.

Ziweixing International is going to be listed.

All parties are very clear about this.

As a financial institution, YC Investments is of course well aware of this situation and does not want to delay it for too long. It wants to finalize the deal as quickly as possible.

After the transaction price is determined, there are still some details that need to be discussed, such as the integration of businesses after the acquisition, subsequent capital investment, whether there will be layoffs, mobile transformation, strategic direction, etc.

Zhou Buqi did not participate and invited Sam Altman to his office.

This is what he thinks is the most important thing in the near future.

The office in the United States was relatively "simple", so Zhou Buqi could confidently take Sam Altman on a brief tour, which made him very envious. He said that this was the best office he had ever seen in his life, even more magnificent than the presidential office in the White House.

Zhou Buqi felt that he was a little unworldly, so he smiled and said, "That's nothing. I'll invite you to Hollywood if I have a chance. The offices there are more luxurious than the other."

When he was recruiting Snapchat founder Spiegel, he used Hollywood to attract him.

good results.

Unexpectedly, Sam Altman was not interested in these things. "I seldom watch movies."

"Oh?" Zhou Buqi pretended to be curious, "Then what are your interests?"

Sam Altman smiled and said, "Some new and interesting things, Snapchat and Ucgram, both of your products, I think they are great."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I heard that you started a business before?"

Sam Altman nodded. "Indeed, I dropped out of college in my junior year and started a business with a friend. We did a small project. But it wasn't very successful. We went in the wrong direction, so we sold the company last year. Well... I'm a little ashamed."

"Ashamed?" Zhou Buqi waved his hand. "Not really. It's normal to fail in starting a business. And you were able to sell the company for a large sum of money in the end, so it's not a failure. Although you didn't get the best result, it was still a success."

Sam Altman said: "No, that's not what I meant. I just feel ashamed in front of you."

"Ok?"

“My startup project is a product about location sharing.”

“Google Chrome?”

Zhou Buqi certainly knew about a trendy entrepreneurial direction that emerged in Silicon Valley in the past few years. Ziweixing’s domestic and foreign teams had all thought about participating, but were all rejected by him.

In fact, it is based on the HTML5 technology of Google Chrome to provide some LBS location-based sharing services.

This is a direction that Google is pushing hard, and many startup teams have participated in it.

At that time, there were two important directions, one was HTML5 of Google Chrome, and the other was to develop independent mobile apps.

Zhou Buqi is not superstitious about Google.

I firmly chose the latter.

This has confirmed Ziweixing International's current market position as the leader in the mobile Internet market. Not only did it start early, but it also chose the right direction and never got lost, always charging forward in the right direction...Today, it can be said that it has left all its competitors far behind, not even Facebook.

Judging from the appearance of Sam Ultraman, his last entrepreneurial project must have chosen the wrong direction.

Sam Altman said frankly: "At that time, Larry Page came back to the school to give a speech. He is a legendary alumnus of Stanford and we all respect him very much. The theme of the speech was about the location-based services of Google Chrome. I was immediately attracted to it and chose this track when I dropped out of school to start a business."

Zhou Buqi said: "I remember I once publicly said that I do not agree with this direction. Ziweixing International will participate in the construction of HTLM5 standards, but will not provide browser-based LBS services."

Sam Altman sighed, "Yeah, but we all trust Larry Page more."

Zhou Buqi laughed, then said seriously: "I even talked to Larry Page about this matter. I criticized him and said that he set a very bad trend and caused a lot of trouble for many young teams with dreams. He accepted it and said that he would be more cautious in expressing his views on some core direction route selection in the future."

Sam Altman remained silent.

Now I have seen the level of Boss Zhou.

He studied at Stanford University.

Larry Page can be said to be the most admired and respected senior among the new generation of Stanford students.

But compared with the boss Zhou in front of him, he seems to be much shorter.

Zhou Buqi smiled and continued the previous topic: "You started a business once, why didn't you continue? Why did you switch to investment?"

"Uh..." Sam Altman hesitated, "I don't think starting a business can fulfill my ambitions."

"Ah?" Zhou Buqi was slightly startled. "What kind of words are you talking about?"

Sam Altman said with embarrassment: "The opportunity is lost now. When the mobile Internet came, I decisively chose to drop out of school and start a business. It was a very good opportunity. If I succeeded, I could have created a mobile Internet-based industry giant similar to Ziweixing International like you. However, I failed and I chose the wrong direction. If I have to do it again, I think the opportunity is lost. It is difficult for new giants to emerge in the mobile Internet industry."

  He wants to do something big!

However, the opportunity for first-mover advantage is gone.

It is now impossible for him to start a business from scratch and establish a mobile Internet company to compete with industry giants such as Google, Facebook, and Ziweixing International, as the major territories in the market have already been divided up.

Behind it are emerging companies with potential to grab market share on the mobile side, such as Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, Square, and PayPal.

The big opportunity is gone.

Even if you enter the market, it can only be a small-scale operation.

That's not very attractive.

Zhou Buqi understood what he meant, "Doing big things by relying on investment?"

Sam Altman smiled and said, "That's true. Investing allows me to participate in dozens or even hundreds of companies at the same time. Even if none of them are industry giants, when accumulated, they can form a considerable scale and have a huge influence in the industry. I think this is what I pursue."

"Is that so..." Zhou Buqi seemed to be thinking about something, "But if we participate in the company through investment, we are outsiders after all. It is impossible for every company to be easily controlled by investors like Reddit."

Sam Altman was a little silent. In front of a big shot like Boss Zhou, people would instinctively speak the truth. "I have started a business once, and I have achieved financial freedom. For most things, it is difficult for me to have the same fighting spirit as I did at the beginning."

Zhou Buqi said: "Many people switch from the IT industry to investment because they retire or are eliminated by the times. I can feel that you are not one of them."

Sam Altman had already sensed something and looked suspicious, "Mr. Zhou, do you want to tell me something?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I have also done investment, and I have always wanted to do big things. We are the same kind of people, and I understand your current mood too well. What I want to do most now is to help you rekindle your fighting spirit! Seeing you working in YC Investment, I think this is a huge waste of talent! In you, I see my own shadow."

"Oh?"

Sam Altman's eyes lit up.