King of Capital

The silk indigo Persian carpet with gorgeous patterns is hung on the wall like a work of art, and the smoke from burning agarwood is wafting, with a strong aroma of wood oil.

Zhou Kaixuan sent Xie Jingxing away and returned to the study on the second floor of the villa. He wrinkled his nose slightly and said politely, "He needs some time to think about it."

"He didn't feel our sincerity."

The man with a cloth on his head sat at the desk, holding the cover of the scripture with one hand, and the big gem ring on his finger was shining.

Zhou Kaixuan was speechless. The test was obvious but there was no sincerity at all. Just relying on the PIF signboard, he wanted Xie Jingxing to bow down to him. He really underestimated the Chinese market.

This time she acted as a matchmaker purely out of personal feelings, so she stayed out of it and planned how to cash in on the favors she had earned.

"We hope to have a formal meeting with him in New York in a week. Solina, please help convey the invitation." The cloth man started the conversation again.

Zhou Kaixuan responded with a slight hesitation: "We are limited to superficial communication, no intention of cooperation, no investment strategy goals, it is difficult for me to convince him to meet with you."

"No, not to meet with me, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

As Zhou Kaixuan stared at him in astonishment, the cloth man shook his head helplessly and repeated in a deep voice to confirm again.

Over the past many years, China's venture capital industry has reaped the dividends of the development of the times. If they see anything good, they will follow the venture capital and the return rate will not be bad. The trading strategies of star investors have not experienced the test of a complete downward cycle.

However, the Middle Eastern sovereign funds have changed from being optimistic about China's development dividends and pursuing pure financial returns in the millennium to being eager to buy tangible influence with US dollars.

His Royal Highness, the 31-year-old Crown Prince, was curious about how a rising star in the financial world, six years younger than him, achieved his brilliant success, and was happy to provide him with a check in order to share in his outstanding reputation.

So even though the decision-making team headed by Bu Pian Man disagreed, they still arranged this dinner tonight in advance.

It would be best if Xie Jingxing passed the preliminary test smoothly. If he performed poorly, someone would persuade His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to reconsider carefully. Unfortunately, he was too lazy to go upstairs to the study and chat with the interviewer.

There is no other way but to hope that when the two young people meet in person, they will remain rational and not be too eager for success.

"China……"

The cloth man watched Zhou Kaixuan leave the study, put down the scriptures in his hand, clasped his hands together and whispered some words. Although he didn't know what the conversation was about during the dinner, the result clearly proved that the middleman didn't do his best.

People know that Arabs are wealthy and generous to their friends, but that is no reason to be treated in a perfunctory manner.

Energy is a gift from God. It should not be squandered but must be passed down from generation to generation. If anyone thinks it is easy to fool, they are very wrong.

…………

"Suddenly one day, all the work of your colleagues satisfies you 100% instead of satisfying the customers. You stand in the middle of the room and perform, sucking out all the oxygen. No one dares to take a deep breath and stand up to say you are wrong. This is the beginning of the disaster."

The next morning, Xie Jingxing accepted a personal interview at Stanford University and finally answered questions about leadership.

The public classroom was packed with students. He shared his views sincerely in front of the whole audience: "You must build mutual trust with your colleagues and eliminate communication costs as much as possible to perceive the true picture of the business project and make the right decisions."

"There are many ways to build trust, such as always doing what you say or maintaining a clear self-awareness. On this basis, my personal technique is to allow myself and my colleagues to make mistakes and have the courage to accept failure."

Xie Jingxing's status as an Ivy League undergraduate earned him special recognition from his classmates, some of whom might be a few years older than him.

This set of clichés may be a summary of the lessons learned from the blood and tears of good advice, but it is not what everyone wants to hear. The assistant host was puzzled and asked: "Have you ever failed in your career?"

"Uh, sure."

Xie Jingxing thought about it and nodded in agreement. There was a burst of friendly laughter from the audience, and the teaching assistant spread his hands and made a helpless gesture.

He just felt that there was no need to talk about the original strategic expectations for Didi, and it was quite frustrating to be understood as having never failed.

But it does seem to be the case on the surface. As long as everyone is happy and the goal is achieved, Xie Jingxing relaxed and chatted with his classmates. When the time came, he clocked in and rushed to the second fundraising event.

Because of the relationship with Chinese son-in-law Jim Breyer, Stanford is the LP of Grapefruit's first US dollar fund.

Interviews at prestigious universities are mutually beneficial in terms of publicity and deepen the brand reputation, while public relations are necessary to a great extent in the actual fundraising process.

Major dollar fundraising channels such as American university endowment funds and sovereign funds usually allocate 2-5% of their managed funds to the high-risk venture capital industry.

This money is further divided into two sub-sectors, PE and VC, and then divided according to global regions. The amount that the Chinese venture capital circle can get is really limited.

The overall amount seems considerable due to the accumulation of a huge amount of funds. This was also the reason why Xie Jingxing's first fund received investment from Stanford, which caused a small-scale surprise.

In short, it is not that easy to get US dollars.

Especially university endowment funds and family offices, compared with public insurance capital, their funding sources are private, they are small in size and pursue stability and pure financial investment returns.

They are very picky, and on the contrary, deducting money from them means a certain degree of industry recognition.

"Boss, we're here."

The convoy sped back to San Francisco. Chen Xi gently woke up the dozing Xie Jingxing and asked the hotel manager to prepare lunch.

It was past noon and there was still some time before the afternoon interview salon hosted by the Warren Bechtel Family Office, enough time to take a break and fill my stomach.

The group went straight to the restaurant, sat at several tables and chose the food that was served quickly. The star-rated restaurant instantly turned into a Shaxian snack restaurant.

"Hey, what a coincidence, we meet again."

An Indian man appeared with a playful smile on his face, with dark skin and a mouthful of white teeth baring. He approached with a plate in his hand in a familiar manner.

Xie Jingxing shook off his napkin and picked up his knife and fork to deal with the plate of spaghetti with meat sauce in front of him: "Who are you?"

"Divish Makan, founder of ICONIQ Capital multi-family office, we met at the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Club."

The black Indian man was thick-skinned and continued to squeeze forward: "I am an old acquaintance of your boss, please make way, thank you."

Seeing that Xie Jingxing did not say anything, the bodyguard immediately made way. He calmly sat down across the table, unbuttoned his shirt collar, rolled up his sleeves, took a leisurely breath, and scanned the entire room with an undisguised look.

He looked at Choi Yun-soo and then at Chen Xi, then at everyone at the table, and no one had the tact to make room for a private chat.

"I'm here to attend the afternoon salon event. You're making a big move. The Bechtel family has actually gathered many colleagues from California for you. When I saw you for the first time, I knew you would definitely become a great figure!" Divish said with an exaggerated expression.

In a few words, Xie Jingxing finished a bowl of pasta, drank a sip of red tea to relieve the greasiness, and chewed the steak in big mouthfuls.

“You are going to raise $60 billion this time, right?”

Divish raised his eyebrows, but when he didn't get a response, he turned to look at Choi Yun-su and continued, "This money is divided into three funds? 5 million for venture capital, 15 billion for growth, and 40 billion for development?"

"The 40 billion development stage fund has entered the PE category. What do you want to invest in with such a large sum of money? New energy vehicles, the next Chinese version of Tesla? Super Internet applications, shared bicycles can't support the word 'super'; then hard technology chip manufacturing, it sounds good, ah?"

He leaned forward with one arm on the table, holding a fork in the other, picked up a piece of beef and stuffed it into his mouth, nodding his head in an unclear and rhythmic tone, looking like a real rogue.

"Pah." The silver knife hit the table and the blade trembled slightly. Xie Jingxing picked up the napkin and wiped the corner of his mouth. He asked calmly, "Who is he?"

"..."

Divish's expression froze and he twisted his neck and sat up straight.

"Oh, by the way, you were not here at that time."

Xie Jingxing looked around and smiled at Chen Xi first, then nodded his chin at Cui Yunxiu: "You were there the whole time, and Zuckerberg's good friend was barking in my ear, trying to vent his anger on behalf of his friend."

"That person is you, right? How about it, have you welcomed Kalanick to officially join?" he said in a teasing tone.

Divish's face was stiff, but he tried his best to keep a smile on his face and remain calm.

Back then, he relied on Zuckerberg's wealth and connections to support the establishment of a joint family office. That happened when the latter suffered the biggest failure in his entrepreneurial history, the WhatsApp acquisition. Naturally, he had reason to stand up and support his friend.

Hard work always pays off. In just a few years, Li Ka-shing, the founder of KKR, the founder of Twitter, and even many Hollywood stars have been trying their best to become his clients.

As a result, the social circle of people who manage funds worth tens of billions of dollars was regarded as an alliance of losers by the guy in front of him?
“You may not understand the meaning of ‘ICONIQ’. ICON stands for a person who is a big shot in a certain industry, and IQ stands for a new tech elite.”

Taking advantage of the few seconds of silence, Divish quickly adjusted his mindset and calmly restarted the topic: "No matter what your development fund wants to invest in, my family office can provide top resources in the corresponding industry field. It is undoubtedly the best cornerstone LP option."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"So in exchange, you want me to sell 7% of WhatsApp shares to Zuckerberg?" Xie Jingxing answered quickly.

The entire table suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at them with scrutiny, especially the partner of Deloitte's Los Angeles office, who was filled with surprise, doubt and contempt.

Out of personal relationships, Zuckerberg used the interests of all the clients of the family office to seek personal gain for himself, which is a typical professional ethics risk. This is the main academic research field of Professor Joseph, Xie Jingxing's teacher.

Divish did come here for this purpose, but bringing it up in public was a devastating blow to his reputation, and even the toughest head could not withstand it.

I could only shake my head quickly and deny it without thinking.

"That's it, Divish, if you have nothing else to add."

Xie Jing Xing glanced at his watch, stood up and said, "I listened to your lobbying patiently to tell you that you can't impress me."

"I don't understand what you are saying." Divish looked confused and apologetic.

"It better be this way."

Xie Jingxing raised two fingers of his right hand and tapped his left wrist. The Knights Crucifix cufflinks he gave to Zuckerberg were still valid. The two sides could arrange an offline real-life octagonal cage boxing fight at any time.

Divish sat there for a long time, rubbing his cheeks hard in silence.

Crazy, Silicon Valley is full of crazy people. This guy has the right to support Tencent, and Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon also have the obligation to safeguard the interests of local companies.

This year, both parties have hawkish protagonists in their draft picks. Let's see who is more crazy.

Anyway, Zuckerberg must get WhatsApp, not because of ambition, but because he doesn't want to be torn apart by hyenas.

…………

Kobe Bryant

On the fourth day after Xie Jingxing arrived in Silicon Valley, he gave the fundraising team half a day off and led his colleagues to fly to Los Angeles by helicopter.

On April 4th local time, the Lakers played against the Jazz at Staples Center, the game in which Kobe retired.

All elements are complete, and the entire city is almost covered by No. 24 and No. 8 jerseys. When you walk down from the rooftop helipad, the facades of several buildings around the helicopter are filled with Kobe posters.

The blacks are partying and the whites are reminiscing, the main theme is that everyone is laughing, partying for you and me.

Mark Mellon took great pains to grab a VIP box, and his fellow fans sat down directly, joining tens of thousands of live audiences in partying before the warm-up show even began.

“Our creative workshop was very profitable last year.”

Using the noise to cover his face, Xie Jingxing sat on a high stool in front of the bar, propped up one leg on the ground, and started the conversation in a relaxed manner.

Mark Mellon responded calmly and handed him a bottle of wheat juice: "This is just the beginning. There are plenty of opportunities to make money. You need to be patient and wait for the right time."

“Patience and faith, I give you everything.”

Xie Jingxing took the beer and returned the favor. Mark Mellon pursed his lips, and they both laughed, with the sound of the bottles colliding crisply.

The two parties jointly invested 1000 million US dollars two years ago, planning to engage in three business directions: self-developed virtual currency types, promoting the legalization of virtual currency trading platforms, and creating platforms and Bitcoin mining.

The importance decreases one by one.

Two years have passed in a flash, and so far only the studio with the lowest priority, which is dedicated to Bitcoin mining, has earned tens of millions of dollars by taking advantage of several waves of big market trends.

Two other things: Mark Mellon has invested in several virtual currency products, but the trading platform is nowhere in sight.

Xie Jingxing had limited energy and was unable to handle this business, so for a moment he was confused as to whether this person was incompetent or had other intentions.

"Just focus on watching the game, we'll talk about work later."

He didn't take it too seriously and just said a few words to deal with it, then ended the communication and turned his attention to the court. It would be nice to just treat Mark as a network resource, as the illegitimate son of the Mellon family also has the surname Mellon.

Waste utilization environmentalism.

"They may be revered or reduced to ashes, but you will remember me, and I will be remembered through the centuries..."

Magic Johnson opened the show as the guest host and introduced the tribute. After the commemorative video was played on the big screen, Kobe slowly walked into the center of the court accompanied by live DJ music called "Centuries."

The roar from the entire stadium was deafening, and Xie Jingxing's ears rang and he couldn't help but lean back to avoid Mark Mellon and his fellow fans who were screaming beside him.

Even Chen Xi, the heroine of youth trauma literature who always has a sad face, raised her phone and took pictures excitedly.

"exaggerate."

Xie Jingxing shook his head and accidentally made eye contact with a blonde girl in the VIP box next door. They laughed at the same time for no apparent reason.

The advantage of the box is that it is independent and spacious. The actual viewing angle is located at the top of the mountain. Inside is an independent space, extending to the grandstand seats, which is equivalent to a semi-open space. The two boxes are separated by only a glass panel.

The box where Bai Niu was was crowded with more than a dozen people, no less than Xie Jingxing's. They were all cheering for Kobe's appearance, and only the two of them were standing outside.

"Have a nice night." He raised the beer bottle in the air.

Bai Niu looked down at the popcorn bucket in her hand, made a playful face, ran back into the room a few seconds later and returned with a glass of champagne in her hand. (End of this chapter)