Wind Rises 2005

Chapter 572 The Proud Big Ivan
USA, California, San Francisco.

Although the subprime mortgage crisis has put the global economy into trouble, there are always some special groups in the world who are not affected in any way and can still enjoy themselves and make money.

Just like tonight, horses are still running and dancing in many places in the city, and various gatherings or parties are going on non-stop.

In a mansion in San Francisco, a grand dinner is going on.

The stars were shining brightly and celebrities from all walks of life gathered.

They laughed and enjoyed this wonderful night.

However, among all the guests, there were a few guys who were surrounded by a circle of people and were constantly flattering, which made them particularly eye-catching.

These guys are the Big Four of Twitter, and Mark Pincus.

As the most popular entrepreneurs in the venture capital circle in the United States and even the world recently, the five of them can be said to be very proud of themselves recently.

The powerful combination of Twitter and Zynga has made the whole world crazy.

What followed was that the valuations of both companies soared like a rocket.Especially Zynga, because its size was too small before, its valuation suddenly increased dozens of times due to the sudden explosion.

This made Mark Pincus even more proud, and he even regretted selling his shares to Gale Capital too early.

But he also knew that if he hadn't agreed to Ma Liang's investment before, there wouldn't have been a series of subsequent events.

As the saying goes, there are gains and losses. If he had to do it over again, Mark Pincus would not hesitate at all and would still agree to the investment proposal of [Gale Capital].

So now when faced with the olive branch from a number of investment institutions, he had no choice but to decline.

In fact, it's not just tonight. From the very beginning when "Farmville" was launched, countless venture capital institutions have been eyeing Zynga and want to invest in it.

But at that time, I had already signed an investment agreement with [Dale Capital], so how could I accept the good intentions of other institutions?

What's more, there is a bigger plan waiting later, and Mark Pincus will not easily cause unnecessary trouble.

Even when Zuckerberg called to question him, he kept passing the buck and trying to fool him.

At this time, watching the four famous Twitter giants being pulled by several well-known investors to please them, Mark Pincus was not envious at all.

Because after a simple test, he knew that the four guys didn't know about Ma Liang's subsequent merger and acquisition plan.

Of course, as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the PY transaction, it is impossible for Mark Pincus to be so stupid as to leak the news to the Big Four of Twitter in advance.

So when he saw Ivan Williams talking to a group of investors, he just found it very funny.

I really don’t know what kind of face the other party will show when the M&A transaction plan is thrown on the table of Twitter’s board of directors.

Mark Pincus is looking forward to that day coming soon.

"Ivan, when do you plan to start the next round of financing? The financial market is getting more and more difficult now. Don't miss the best financing window!"

The person speaking was none other than Gene Sabet, a partner of Spark Capital who was an investor in Twitter’s previous round.

Evan Williams responded triumphantly: "It's coming soon, be patient and wait!"

Now that Twitter is in a period of rapid growth, its operating data will increase by a level every month, and they have no worries about the next round of financing.

Now what the Big Four of Twitter need to consider is how to raise more money.

In order to achieve the purpose of Series B financing, they had already reached a consensus with Ma Liang and waited until June.

I believe that by then, Twitter's data in all aspects will have surpassed Facebook in all aspects, and there will be enough basis to support a higher valuation.

So it's worth the wait.

“Ivan, I think we might as well accept Facebook’s acquisition offer.

This way, everyone can cash out earlier and be safe, hahahaha..." The person who made the joke this time was Marc Andreessen.

This guy was also an investor in Twitter’s last round and the original co-founder of Netscape.

As a well-known angel investor in Silicon Valley, Marc Andreessen is naturally well-informed. He has already received rumors from the circle.

Zuckerberg proposed on Facebook's board of directors that he wanted to acquire Twitter entirely.

Although I don’t know if the news was deliberately released there, this piece of gossip has been spreading in the North American venture capital circle recently.

Because the content is so explosive, it may even be the most powerful acquisition proposal in the history of the American venture capital circle.

According to rumors, Facebook is willing to fully acquire Twitter for US$2 million in cash and US$5 million in stock, and the price is negotiable.

Such a large-scale effort is unprecedented in the American venture capital circle, and it has made everyone excited.

After all, valuation is valuation, but acquisition transactions involve actual cash.For an Internet project to have such an acquisition offer in its early stages of business, this is something that has never happened before in the American venture capital circle or even in the global venture capital circle.

To be honest, if Twitter hadn't been developing so fast right now, Marc Andreessen and the others might have been a little tempted.

After all, by agreeing to Facebook's acquisition, not only can they cash out in advance, but after the merger and acquisition, the Facebook shares they exchange will only be more valuable.

So from an investor's perspective, we are happy to see this happen.

Just like Ma Liang wants Dajiang and GoPro to exchange shares for merger and acquisition, this kind of transaction is good news for both companies, and the valuation will also be greatly improved.

It's just that Dajiang and GoPro are exchanging shares, while Facebook wants to acquire it wholly, so it needs to be more ruthless.

If the roles were reversed and Twitter took the lead in acquiring Facebook, investors like Marc Andreessen might have strong support.

After all, only by unifying the world of social circles as soon as possible can we monopolize more benefits.

But the situation is not as everyone thinks. Today, Twitter's capital strength is indeed not as strong as Facebook's, and it is impossible to complete such a defiant move.

Therefore, countless talents have been discussing this topic and want to see whether the four major Twitter companies will agree to Facebook's acquisition proposal.

Although this rumor is just a rumor and has not been officially confirmed by Facebook, many people in the circle are very sure of the reliability of the source.

For Twitter investors, the news couldn't be more exciting.

Putting aside the fact that no one would be stupid enough to agree to Facebook's acquisition proposal, this offer alone is enough to give Twitter enough confidence in its next round of financing.

Everyone really wishes that Zuckerberg could raise the price a little higher, so that everyone's return on investment would be greater.

As for Facebook's acquisition proposal, everyone naturally took it as a joke.

Evan Williams, in particular, was even more dismissive of Marc Anderson’s ridicule: “What a joke, how is that possible!

Is that guy Zuckerberg stupid?
He wants to acquire Twitter with just US$2 million in cash and US$5 million in Facebook stock. What a waste!

Even if the quotation were doubled, we would not be able to agree.

It is a foregone conclusion that Twitter will surpass Facebook. Will it be his turn to acquire us?
After a while, Twitter will almost acquire their Facebook..."

Evan Williams responded arrogantly, even without hesitation.

After all, Twitter now has a greater chance of winning and has the upper hand in the competition on the social track.

Although Microsoft is standing behind Facebook, they are not afraid at all.

The United States is not dominated by Microsoft. There are many financial consortiums and technology giants. The rules of the game in the capital circle have long been extremely mature.

As long as Twitter can surpass Facebook, there will be no shortage of capital support.

The reason why Ivan Williams responded so strongly was to release the news. On the one hand, he wanted to build Twitter's prestige, and on the other hand, he wanted to build momentum for subsequent financing.

He has been thinking about what Ma Liang said before, that this round must raise more money for Twitter.

It needs at least US$3 million to start, the more the better.

No, at today's dinner, the Big Four of Twitter did not hesitate to come out to make friends with the big guys from investment institutions, just to get more money in the future.

What happened tonight was a surprise to everyone. As soon as they arrived at the dinner, they were surrounded by venture capital bosses.

It turned out that Facebook, its biggest competitor, actually came to the rescue and spread rumors that it wanted to acquire Twitter. The offer was extremely exaggerated, which completely detonated the entire venture capital circle.

Twitter was originally very popular in the capital market, but now it is even more popular.

I have to say that Xiaozha is such a good person that even the top four Twitter giants had to secretly like him.

This is equivalent to having a guarantee. Even if Twitter loses the competition in the end, it can still be acquired by Facebook. So what are the investment institutions worried about? They can just use the money to move forward.

If you win, wouldn't the return on investment be greater?No one will refuse a business that is sure to make money without losing money.

As a result, the four giants of Twitter were like a halo, and they instantly became the protagonists of today’s dinner.

The proud Ivan traveled around, constantly building momentum for Twitter's financing, and chatting with one capital tycoon after another.

He even shamelessly said that he wanted to raise more money in the next round to reverse acquire Facebook.

He also worked hard for Twitter’s Series B financing, and he couldn’t stop talking about it.

The key is that many investors still believe in it and are even very optimistic about Ivan Williams' ambitions. Do you think it's irritating or not?

(End of this chapter)