Wind Rises 2005

Chapter 594 Dispute

The next day, in the large conference room of Twitter's corporate headquarters office, an emergency board meeting was going on.

The Big Four of Twitter, investors from the previous round, as well as Ma Liang and Jennifer are all on the list.

As for Jiang Yinqiu, an outsider who was not allowed to attend the meeting, when Ma Liang revealed that she was the person in charge of the New York branch of [Dale Capital], everything became no longer a problem.

The reason for this urgent meeting of the board of directors is because yesterday Twitter released all its big moves.

Apple's strategic cooperation, Twitter company turned losses into profits.

As soon as these two blockbuster news came out, the so-called battle for the king of the social networking field was no longer in doubt, at least in the eyes of most investors, and it was basically settled.

In a good situation, no one would doubt that Twitter would lose to Facebook again.

Therefore, countless capital tycoons have extended their tentacles, trying to get involved before Twitter’s Series B financing.

This pressure is so great that even the Big Four of Twitter cannot handle it.

Unless Twitter announces that it will no longer accept any financing before going public, it is impossible to offend all investors as long as you still want to raise funds.

It’s up to you who to choose and who not to choose. I have to give everyone an explanation.

That's why Twitter held an emergency board meeting to plan in advance for the next financing, so as to have a unified voice to the outside world.

“Dear directors and shareholders, I believe you are all aware of the recent situation.

Now that Twitter has reached the point where it has to open its Series B financing window, especially in the past few days, the four of us have been buzzing on the phone.

Some people even came to visit us, making it impossible for everyone to work peacefully.

Therefore, it is urgent to start Series B financing.

But before that, I must say thank you to Marlon on behalf of all the directors.

Without his continued support, Twitter would not be what it is today.

It is even less likely to beat Facebook and become the king of the social track.

Especially for this strategic cooperation with Apple, our Ms. Jennifer can be said to have taken the greatest credit.

However, we have paid a certain price to reach strategic cooperation with Apple.

After Jennifer's early matchmaking, Apple and Steve himself will invest in Twitter in this round of financing.

The valuation we quoted to them was US$100 billion, and we sold 1.5% of the shares.

Apple is willing to pay $1 million in cash for this, and Steve himself is willing to spend $5000 million to participate..."

As the chairman of Twitter, Evan Williams explained everything to the letter.

The four giants of Twitter are all aware of the conditions that Jennifer has negotiated with Gang Leader Qiao. After all, they also have to participate in the specific implementation of strategic cooperation and cannot keep it secret.

What's more, this kind of thing itself is aboveboard. Unlike Ma Liang's stock exchange merger plan, there is no need to hide it.

But this information was unknown to other investors before. After all, the financing agreement with Apple has not been signed yet, and there is no need to only know it to prevent it from leaking out.

After all, although the investors here are all shareholders of Twitter, there is a chance that some of them are cheating.

Who told these guys that the shares they bought in the last round were too few, and it might have been leaked.

Now that Twitter is preparing to officially launch Series B financing, it is natural to hold a board meeting to inform everyone, especially the details of the financing, which must be announced.

After all, the resolution documents of the board of directors still need to be signed by these guys.

"What? A valuation of ten billion dollars?

This is too exaggerated. The last round of valuation was only 3 million US dollars, and suddenly it jumped to billion US dollars. If you tell me, people will think that we are crazy about money. "

The first person to exclaim was Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen. He was stunned by Big Ivan's last words on the spot.

You must know that as an investor in the last round, I was not able to acquire too many shares.

Everyone originally thought that they had already bought the boat tickets, thinking that they could get more shares in this round and get more returns on investment in the future.

Unexpectedly, Twitter's valuation is now sky-high, so how can he accept it?

What's more, Marc Andreessen himself has privately contacted many capital tycoons, thinking about connecting with them to see if he can attract more capital support.

When Twitter raises its Series D financing, these capital tycoons will be able to acquire shares in Twitter.

He can cash out in advance and obtain a super high return on investment.

Marc Andreessen’s calculations have always been like this. After all, this is the correct way capital should play.

Not all investment institutions will wait until the project is successfully listed before cashing out. This depends on the investor’s own investment return expectations and the term of the fund. Each institution has different demands.

Everything was going smoothly, but Ivan the Great suddenly broke such shocking news.

Marc Anderson couldn't accept it for a while, and even sulked because of his disillusionment.

Seeing his indignant look, Ivan Williams immediately replied with disdain: "Mr. Anderson, are you still awake?

What was the situation before and what is the situation now?

Facebook, Twitter's loser, has a valuation of as high as US$150 billion, but we only reported a valuation of US$100 billion. Isn't this difficult to understand?

Moreover, Apple's board of directors and Steve Jobs himself all accepted this valuation offer.

Is it appropriate that as a shareholder of Twitter, you have objections to this? "

"you……"

Mark Anderson was immediately speechless by him, but no matter how unconvinced he was, he had to admit that Big Ivan's words were very reasonable.

As the saying goes, this moment is the same as that moment!

The current Twitter company and the Twitter company during the last round of financing are completely different concepts.

In less than a year, Twitter has undergone tremendous changes.

Especially in the past six months, there have been frequent and violent operations. Not only has the traffic doubled, but the profit and loss balance has also reversed.

With the release of the two blockbuster news of strategic cooperation with Apple and turning losses into profits, they can declare that Twitter has defeated Facebook in this battle for the king of the social track.

Based on this alone, it is not an exaggeration to call out a valuation of 10 billion US dollars.

This is the card that belongs to the king, who dares to disapprove?

"Big Ivan, is this guy too complacent? Don't forget that this is the period of the subprime mortgage crisis, and it is also the most difficult stage of the global financial market.

And as far as I know, Facebook’s valuation of US$150 billion is only Microsoft.

Few of their Series C rounds of financing were based on this valuation.

Even before the financing window closed, the valuation had been reduced to US$60 billion, which is not as exaggerated as you said.

Are you sure Twitter's valuation of US$100 billion is relatively reasonable?

Comparing Apple to Apple, they just happen to need Twitter as a shill. This is just an example.

It is impossible for all investors to be as easy to talk to as Steve.

If this valuation becomes public and the financing plan is delayed because the price is too high, won't Twitter become a joke in the entire venture capital circle like Facebook? "

The person who refuted this export was none other than Gene Sabet, a partner at Spark Capital.

There is no airtight wall in the venture capital circle, so even if Zuckerberg has not announced the details of Series C financing, some rumors will always leak out.

After all, those investors who have cashed out have no obligation to keep secrets for Xiaoza.

Having said that, Gene Sabet is indeed a veteran venture capitalist. After all, the news of Facebook’s latest valuation of Series C financing has only spread in a small circle.

But after grasping this piece of gossip, he immediately took control of the conversation and once again threw the problem to Big Ivan.

As soon as he said this, other investors present nodded in agreement.

After all, Jean Sabet spoke his mind for everyone. The high valuation will indeed bring high returns on your investment in the last round.

But in the last round, everyone didn't invest much money at all, so what's the point of having a higher multiple.

Ignoring the principal amount of investment and just looking at the rate of return, that would be a fool.

Originally, everyone thought that Gene Sabet's words would suppress Ivan Williams' arrogance, but the result was completely different from what they imagined.

Big Ivan was not moved at all, there was not even a hint of impatience on his face, he was very calm.

Listening to Gene Sabet's seemingly concerned words, but actually dissatisfied with the valuation, Ivan Williams responded with contempt: "Really? What about Google?

They also agreed to this valuation quotation. I wonder what Mr. Jean Sabet thinks now? "

"what?"

"Google is also prepared to participate?"

At this time, all the investors present were dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)