Rebirth 98, the rise started from ripping off Microsoft

Chapter 724 Acting aggressively is the primary productive force

In fact, Lu Yiming really contributed a lot to PayPal being able to sell such a high price, and he deserved the money.

In the original history, PayPal struggled hard in the cold wave of the Internet until July 2002, and had to go public to raise funds. At that time, PayPal's total market value was 7 million US dollars.

Relying on the geniuses of the paypal gang, eBay found that the payment software bundled by itself was no match at all, so it could only spend 15 billion US dollars to get paypal into its pocket a few months later.

But now, with the financial support of Lu Yiming, coupled with Lu Yiming's vision beyond the times, the development of PayPal is much smoother than in the original history. expansion.

So far, the number of PayPal account holders has reached 900 million, and more than 38 transactions are carried out every day, crushing a lot of competitors.

If not, it would be impossible for Lu Yiming to hold Meg Whitman's head down and let eBay accept an outrageous offer of 35 billion US dollars.

As long as Meg Whitman had a little way, she would not make such a choice.

However, paypal is so capable, she tried her best, but she was still helpless.

However, eBay did not actually lose money in this transaction, but actually made a profit.

On the day when Meg Whitman and Lu Yiming signed the contract, eBay's stock price soared in response to the successful acquisition of PayPal. Within a few days, the market value broke through the 290 billion US dollar mark, making technology stocks hot again Standing up, it aroused the investment enthusiasm of countless American leeks.

In Beverly Hills, in a villa under the name of Su Zhenge, Lu Yiming looked at the newspaper in his hand, showing a somewhat regretful expression: "EBay's market value has increased by almost 40 billion US dollars? This is the purchase of PayPal I have earned all the money back, I have lost a lot of money, I should have quoted a higher price if I knew it earlier."

Su Zhenge just brought out a bottle of high-quality red wine from under the wine cellar. Hearing Lu Yiming's complaint, his beard almost crooked, and he complained, "You, you have earned almost one billion and you still feel that you are losing money. ? Then what are me and old Joe, the abject poor class who are so poor that they eat dirt every day?"

"Young man, do you need to be content to know?"

After a few words of ridicule, Su Zhenge pried open the cork with a "boo", poured wine for Lu Yiming, and said with emotion: "I used to think that making movies is really good for making money, but now when I compare it with you, I suddenly feel that The box office of "Resident Evil 2" is not good. I have worked hard for more than a year, and the box office is only one-eighth of that of a company you sold. I even have to share the money with theaters and other shareholders. "

Lu Yiming said solemnly: "Ah, I almost forgot if you didn't tell me, I seem to be one of the shareholders of Suqiao Films, so I also have a share in the box office."

When Su Zhenge heard this, the expression on his face was distorted, and he said viciously, "Why do you remember this?"

The PayPal team is disbanding, and everyone decided to have a good breakup meal.

There is always a banquet in the world. The friends who once started a business together have now sold the company and are about to part ways for their respective ideals.

This meal was suggested by Lu Yiming. After all, in Xiaguo, no matter whether it is graduation or unemployment, in short, when a team is about to disband, they will choose to have a breakup meal.

In the hearts of those born in the [-]s and [-]s, the breakup meal after high school graduation may be the most impressive.

In the office, everyone had a heated debate about where to eat the meal.

Musk suggested: "We are going to go to the most luxurious Manresa in Silicon Valley, which is the only Michelin three-star hotel in Silicon Valley. Since it is a breakup meal, of course we must be extravagant."

"I think there's a better place to be than a big hotel," Thiel said.

Musk asked suspiciously: "Is there a more luxurious hotel in Silicon Valley?"

Thiel walked to the window sill, pointed to a hamburger restaurant opposite the office, and said, "Here."

Musk followed Thiel's gaze and glanced out of the window, and suddenly said that he couldn't understand at all: "Wait, we are all billionaires now, and we broke up to eat burgers?"

However, when some people around saw that burger restaurant, expressions of longing and nostalgia appeared on their faces.

"Ah, I think so too. We should go here."

"That's a good idea!"

"I thought, if I were to walk away from here today, maybe it would never be possible to eat a burger in there again."

The decisions of these people made Musk puzzled.Lu Yiming remembered the thing that he often missed the fried rice noodles at the school gate after graduating from high school, and said with a smile: "Actually, it is not an ordinary hamburger restaurant. For everyone, it represents the memory of the past."

Thiel said with emotion: "When we first started our business, we could only afford the most common hamburger, which cost about $4 to $5 each. In the burger shop across the street, the most expensive burger was $168. If you buy it with money, the store will give you a bottle of red wine. We often joked that if one day IPO, we must buy the most expensive one and taste it. Is it the most delicious. Now, a few years have passed, I haven't eaten that $168 burger. I guess this is my last chance to get one."

"That's right, it's time to try!"

"I don't want to leave with regrets, I have to eat once no matter what!"

Lu Yiming looked at Musk, shrugged slightly, and said with a smile: "Look, am I right?"

Musk laughed, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go, let's eat a $168 burger!"

The crowd flocked to the hamburger restaurant across the street amidst laughter and laughter.

At this moment, no matter how expensive delicacies are, for them, they can’t compare to a $168 burger with free red wine.

Because, this is what they have been thinking about for several years, and now they finally got their wish.

A group of people poured into the burger restaurant, and Musk yelled at the counter: "Give each of us the most expensive burger!"

The shop owner, who was wiping the table inside the counter, was stunned when he saw the crowd of people in front of him.

"Sir, are you joking?"

One set meal costs US$168, and ten set meals cost US$1680. Looking at this situation today, the turnover can reach tens of thousands of dollars!
As if a child finally had the money to buy his favorite toy, Levine said to the boss proudly: "A hamburger for $168, we want this, by the way, don't forget the red wine!"

Seeing that the group of strange guests in front of him didn't seem to be joking, the boss immediately started to work cheerfully.

With so many people ordering the most expensive hamburger together, today's business is even better than Christmas.

Burgers were served on the table one after another.

I have to say that the $168 hamburger set meal is quite impressive. What appeared in front of Lu Yiming was a "real burger" stacked with multiple ingredients including two double-layered beef patties, bread crumbs, onion rings, salad and strawberry juice. "Big Mac" burger, the finger-wide beef is fried just right, looking plump and juicy.

While eating the hamburger, Lu Yiming asked, "What are you going to do with the money?"

Musk just drank a large glass of red wine, gasped and said: "I want to develop the most powerful rocket, and I want to colonize Mars!"

When the people around heard that Musk was going to rush out of the earth, they immediately shouted awesome.

"You are simply the light of humanity!"

"This plan sounds exciting!"

As soon as Lu Yiming heard it, he knew that the Iron Man of Silicon Valley had embarked on his own life path, so he immediately came to sit next to him, put his arms around his shoulders and said, "Dude, if you need investment, just tell me, I'm now You are so poor that all you have left is money. As for your rocket, this project sounds cool, count me in!"

Musk is actually just yelling casually at this time. After all, building a rocket to colonize Mars is not reliable if you think about it a little bit.

But Musk is a person with crazy ideas and actions, and now this crazy idea has been supported by Lu Yiming, which makes Musk even more crazy, and said in surprise: "Do you also think this idea is great?"

Lu Yiming said solemnly: "Of course it's great. The earth is the cradle of mankind, but people have to grow up, and it is impossible to stay in the cradle for a lifetime. Our goal should be the stars and the sea!"

In just two sentences, Musk was speechless.He excitedly held Lu Yiming's hand tightly, and said: "You are so good, our goal is the stars and the sea! The earth is our mother, and we will leave the embrace of our mother one day and grow up by ourselves!"

In later generations, Musk’s Starlink and Tesla have all done well, and there are also projects such as recyclable rockets and vacuum tunnels. Some of them even sound like nonsense, but they actually have very important strategic significance. , There is even the shadow of the military behind him.For Lu Yiming, if he can be strongly bound with Musk before then, the benefits are self-evident.

Afterwards, Lu Yiming glanced at the others, and said expectantly: "If you have any new projects, you can come to me. Future Capital is happy to give a pair of wings to all those who have dreams."

Lu Yiming's actions made other members of the PayPal Gang feel alive.

It is said that a lot of money buys horse bones, and Lu Yiming is willing to invest in such outrageous projects as Musk's private rocket and colonization of Mars. He is obviously a "stupid man with a lot of money" investor.

Coupled with the existence of successful cooperation cases in the paypal project, other members of the paypal gang are also willing to continue to cooperate with Lu Yiming.

Jeremy Stoppelman, the engineer who merged with Musk and joined PayPal, dared to say: "Actually, I also have a dream."

"Oh?"

Lu Yiming looked at Jeremy Stoppelman and asked enthusiastically, "Tell me, what is your dream?"

Jeremy Stoppelman doesn't have many shares, and this time he "divided the spoils" and only got 320 million U.S. dollars in his hands.

However, his technical strength is obvious to all in the team, and he is also the kind of character who can definitely stand on his own when thrown out.

Jeremy Stoppelman immediately said excitedly: "I want to be a review website. In the past, people who wanted to go out for leisure, entertainment or shopping could only get information through newspapers, magazines or TV advertisements, or rely on Word of mouth, I think these methods are too backward. The birth of the Internet has made the transmission of information more concise and efficient!"

When Lu Yiming heard about this plan, he immediately became interested.

Review sites are a really cool idea!

For example, what Lu Yiming is familiar with is "find food and drink on Dianping".

Lu Yiming said to Jeremy Stoppelman without hesitation: "This idea is great, you should act immediately! I will invest in you! By the way, what do you plan to call the new company?"

Jeremy Stoppelman was a little dazed, startled by Lu Yiming's enthusiasm.

After all, this idea is still just a draft, and it has been stuck in his mind before. How did it fall into Lu Yiming's mouth, and the company is about to be established?
Is this progress a bit fast?

But the opportunity is rare. Seeing that Lu Yiming was so optimistic about his idea, Jeremy Stoppelman also looked excited, and then shouted excitedly: "I have already thought of the name of the new company, it is called yelp!"

To be honest, Jeremy Stoppelman was actually quite nervous at this moment.

But how did he know that as soon as Lu Yiming heard the name Yelp, he had already made up his mind to invest in him.

Yelp is the most famous merchant review website in the United States in later generations. It includes merchants in restaurants, shopping malls, hotels, tourism and other fields. Users can rate merchants, submit reviews, and exchange shopping experiences on the Yelp website.

This is definitely a commercial project with great potential.

In fact, yelp was successfully listed in 2012, and its market value rose from $8.98 million to $43.58 billion within two years.

"This is such a good name! Just for your name, I think I must invest in you too! Tell me, how much start-up capital do you plan to ask for?"

Jeremy Stoppelman was in disbelief: "Are you really going to invest? Well, as for start-up capital, I think I might need $200 million?"

This is a random number he made up. In fact, he has never started his own company. Who knows whether this new project will be successful or not, and how much money will be needed to set up the shelf.

However, Lu Yiming didn't hesitate at all. He took out his checkbook, wrote a number, and said, "I'll give you $400 million, but I want 50% of the new company's shares. Are you willing to accept it?"

Those who don't accept it are fools!
Jeremy Stoppelman, as if his head had been smashed by the pie in the sky, took the check for $400 million from Lu Yiming with a smirk on his face.

I just said my thoughts casually, and got 400 million US dollars?

Later, from the perspective of an investor, Lu Yiming said to Jeremy Stoppelman: "I hope that Yelp can have the following functions. The introduction and comments from netizens, how many star ratings will the reviewers give, usually the reviewers must be consumers who have personally experienced the service of the merchant, and the reviews should be as detailed as possible.”

In fact, it is the way for users to give feedback on Dianping.

This opinion was quite pertinent, and Jeremy Stoppelman immediately recorded it seriously, and after thinking about it, he was full of praise for Lu Yiming's suggestion: "My God, you are much deeper than I thought, My previous idea was just to allow ordinary consumers to have a place to introduce each other’s experiences on the Internet, but I never thought about how to standardize reviews.”

The benefits of standardization are naturally suitable for commercial promotion.

Jeremy Stoppelman can imagine that if Lu Yiming's request can be fulfilled, Yelp is really likely to be a big success.

Seeing Lu Yiming talking and laughing happily with Jeremy Stoppelman, and even investing 400 million US dollars on the spot, the others were all salivating with envy.

Is it so easy to attract investment now?With just a few words, you can get millions of dollars in investment from Lu Yiming!

Those people who had no life in their heads were so anxious that they pulled the people next to them and started brainstorming, hoping to spark a spark of inspiration and get money from Lu Yiming on the spot.

Seeing Chen Shijun and Chad Hurley tinkering with the DV player in their hands, Lu Yiming asked, "What are you doing?"

Like a shy boy, Chen Shijun patted the back of his head embarrassingly, and said, "I'm recording this scene in front of me, and I want it to be a precious memory."

Like Lu Yiming, he has just graduated from university, and everything he has experienced in PayPal is definitely the most precious treasure in his life.

Here, he learned how to work in a team and how to start his own business.

Lu Yiming was very familiar with Chen Shijun, after all, he often climbed over the wall to watch some hot girls dancing that kind of particularly energetic dance on youtube in later generations.

Therefore, without hesitation, he smiled and suggested to Chen Shijun: Steven, have you ever thought about building a video website?
"Video site!?"

Chen Shijun was stunned, because in 2003, video websites were still an unprecedented new thing.

Lu Yiming said: "That's right, for example, our breakup meal can be recorded by your DV player, and then sent to the Internet to share the joy of our success with all Internet users."

In the company, Chad Hurley and Jod Karim, who had the closest relationship with Chen Shijun, both felt that this idea was very good, and they couldn't help showing expressions of sudden realization.

"Yeah, why didn't we think so?"

"I have to say, this idea is really cool!"

The so-called sharing of joy is actually for the sake of coercion. After all, wealth does not return home, it is like a night walk in brocade.

Pretentiousness is the primary productive force!
Lu Yiming continued: "On the Internet today, you can only send videos by email. Videos sent by email will be compressed, the quality will be reduced, and the download time will take several hours. This is obviously very inconvenient. It also fails to meet the needs of Internet users.”

"I believe that once the video site is launched, it will definitely be very popular. After all, many people are willing to share the interesting things they have encountered in reality with others, or to show off, in order to gain attention in this way."

(End of this chapter)