Wind Rises 2005

Chapter 500

"Jack, you should say something!"

It’s still San Francisco, and it’s Twitter’s new headquarters.

After Ivan Williams patiently gave a detailed introduction to the other three partners, he looked at CEO Jack Dorsey with encouragement in his eyes.

More than a week has passed since New Year's Day. Thanks to Dick Costolo's efforts, Twitter's operations have finally stabilized.

Not only have more servers and bandwidth been added, but they have also initially adapted to the daily use of users and the pace of rapid growth, with fewer and fewer downtimes.

If the services provided are better, users will naturally have more fun.

Just a few days ago, the number of registered users of Twitter had already exceeded the 2500 million mark, reaching a huge 2683 million.

The difference from Facebook’s total number of 3470 million users is less than 1000 million.

Although there is still a big gap, the four giants of Twitter are not panic at all, because the Twitter website's user growth rate is several times that of Facebook.

The appeal of celebrity artists, the popularity of magical games, and the fun of farming in [Farmville] on the personal homepage...

The combination of these factors actually produced a magical effect.

The massive amount of information and addictive gaming and entertainment content on the Twitter website is like a black hole, attracting new users continuously.

Nowadays, this website is going viral on the Internet all over the world, and Twitter has become the most interesting social networking site in the minds of countless netizens.

It has to be said that era makes everything. In the era when the mobile Internet was the most developed, there was so much fun on smartphones, and Twitter would definitely not have such a big traffic-draining effect.

It's only the beginning of 2008, and the Internet has just entered its explosive period.

Originally, many netizens had just been exposed to the Internet for a short time. Naturally, everything they saw seemed new, and it was normal for them to be attracted by Twitter's new products.

And everything is just as Ma Liang expected, human nature is interconnected.

After Twitter launched its personal homepage, the product defeated Facebook, and many users were naturally snatched away.

So now it's not just Twitter itself that's growing strongly, it's also curbing Facebook's development.

The so-called Matthew Effect of the strong always being strong is happening every day in all walks of life.

In the last month of 2007, Facebook's registered user growth declined for the first time since its inception.

It's not that Facebook isn't growing, but it's not growing as fast as it did in previous months.

Anyone with a discerning eye will know at a glance that Twitter's strong rise has posed a great threat to Facebook.

If even the user growth of the website has been greatly affected, then it is still a joke.

And just yesterday, Jack Dorsey made an announcement for the first time through major technology media, releasing the news that the number of registered Twitter users exceeded the 2500 million mark.

This directly shocked the entire North American venture capital circle. Even venture capital institutions around the world couldn't help but start asking around.

Because this news was so shocking, all the investment tycoons were dumbfounded. It was the first time they had seen such a "miracle" in so many years of working in the industry.

Because just seven or eight months ago at the SXSW Carnival, Twitter was just a start-up website with less than 1 registered users.

As a result, half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already catching up with Facebook.

It was so fast that even Google, now a Silicon Valley technology giant, did not have such exaggerated performance in its first two years of business.

Looking at Twitter’s current crazy situation, if the big guys can still sit still, then they are not worthy of being called investors.

So in the past week, countless investment institutions have expressed goodwill to the Big Four of Twitter through various personal connections.

There is only one purpose, trying to get Twitter to start the next round of financing.

You must know that the worse the economy is, the more high-quality assets are in demand.As the saying goes, antiques in prosperous times and gold in troubled times are actually the same thing.

Therefore, countless investors are targeting Twitter, the best investment target in the market, and want to get on this bus as soon as possible.

After all, the earlier you invest, the better you can get in when valuations are low.

After all, if Twitter continues to grow at its current user growth rate, its valuation could double several times at any time.

If you invest a few months late, you will lose a lot of profits.

Therefore, the investment giants are desperately encouraging, and even the investors who invested in the previous round are constantly shouting and urging Twitter to launch Series B financing as soon as possible.

If too many people talk about it, Jack and Ivan will inevitably be shaken.

That's why today's closed-door meeting of Twitter's four giants is discussing how to persuade Ma Liang to agree to launch the next round of financing.

Jack Dorsey looked at Evan Williams with a look of expectation and felt very embarrassed.

Although Ma Liang’s voting rights for the Twitter shares he holds through Gale Capital have been delegated to himself, that is only for daily management matters.

When it comes to major matters such as corporate capital increase and share expansion, people can take it back in minutes.The proportion of shares Ma Liang currently holds does not exceed the total shares of the Big Four of Twitter, but he has already won the veto power.

Moreover, personal prestige and status are accumulated one by one. It can be said that Twitter has developed so quickly to the point where it is today because of Ma Liang's operation.

So now the Big Four of Twitter both trust and respect him as an angel investor.

Unconsciously, Ma Liang had inexplicably reached an unprecedented height in their hearts.

When they were encouraged by a large group of investors to start Series B financing, they unconsciously had to carefully consider Ma Liang's attitude.

Jack Dorsey said awkwardly: "This makes me embarrassed to speak!

Marlon trusts everyone so much. He has said before that we should focus on development and there is no need to rush the financing matter. "

Because everyone had already discussed it during the last round of financing, and the Series B financing would not start until March.

But it's only the beginning of January now, so it seems a bit impatient to start talking about it.

“Isn’t this happening now and then?” Ivan immediately urged anxiously, “You know, in order to cope with such a large number of user growth, we have almost spent all our money.

Dick, please say a few words too! "

In desperation, Comrade Ivan couldn't help but urge the alliance he had drawn.

Dick Costolo, as the COO of Twitter and a major contributor to the technical research in the past six months, now has a full say.

After hesitating for a moment, he still followed the advice: "Jack, what Ivan said makes sense.

According to the current situation, if you want to seize greater success, it is urgent to start the next round of financing.

If we can capture all of this wave of traffic dividends, we will definitely win this battle. "

"Anyway, I'm embarrassed to speak. I want you to speak for yourself." Jack Dorsey struggled for a long time and shook his head firmly.

As an artistic young man, he is too thin-skinned after all.

Evan Williams and Dick Costolo looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

Although they could directly negotiate with Ma Liang, they also knew that in the heart of the angel investor, they were not as trustworthy as Jack Dorsey, the CEO.

Just when the two were in trouble, Biz Stone helped: "How about we discuss it with Jennifer first?

As long as she can convince the other party, wouldn't it be better if she communicates with Marlon? "

"That's right, let's do it. I'm going to call Jennifer now." Evan Williams' eyes lit up when he heard this.

He immediately stood up excitedly and ran out of the conference room.

He could no longer attend to small meetings with the other three giants, he just wanted to finalize the launch of the next round of financing as soon as possible.

In fact, it’s not just him. Who doesn’t want to see the day when Twitter kills Facebook?

……

New York, Manhattan, Pierre Hotel.

Pierre Hotel is a world-renowned luxury high-end hotel brand, and its rooftop apartments on the top three floors are extremely luxurious.

The "Forbes" website has just released the "Top Ten Most Expensive Rooftop Apartments in the United States in 2007", one of which is the Pierre Penthouse.

The suite apartment on the top floor is now rented by Jennifer.

Even though the rent is very expensive, as the CEO of Gale Capital, she has enough strength to enjoy it all.

Not to mention renting it, once Twitter's life-changing plan is successfully completed, it will not be a problem to buy it directly. Jennifer is full of confidence in this.

At this time, the beautiful blonde CEO was lying in the oversized bathtub, drinking champagne and calling Ma Liang.

“BOSS, almost all the game companies and studios on the list have been acquired.

Running around these past few months has exhausted me.My two smooth and slender calves are now a little thicker!

I wonder how you plan to make it up to me? "

Jennifer was on speakerphone and kept making splashes of water as she spoke.

As if he was afraid that the other end of the phone wouldn't be able to hear him, he deliberately rubbed his body in the bathtub and let out a seductive moan from time to time.

As Ma Liang listened, the image of the other party's sexy and hot body looming in the bathtub appeared in his mind.

There is no way, it is also a pain to have too strong brain supplement ability.

Just after he thought about it, his blood started to boil, and he couldn't help but curse in his heart: "Sooner or later, you will be killed by trouble!"

(End of this chapter)