In the eyes of technology geeks, Li Mu is simply the most terrifying robber and gangster in Silicon Valley, but in the eyes of capitalists, they believe that Google has been wrong for so long and finally made the right choice in this matter.
Technology geeks are not sensitive enough to capital operations. Many times it is capitalists who push them to look at money. For companies like Google, Larry Page is not an expert in capital operations, so in the early days, he was not an expert in capital operations. It has always been an afterthought, as is the case with other companies in Silicon Valley founded by tech geeks.
Capital operation is something that only after a company has developed to a certain level will it have the opportunity to come into contact with and learn. It is like an upper-level skill in a skill tree. Only when you click on the skills along the way can this skill be triggered. Many companies in Silicon Valley have Entrepreneurship trajectories are like this.
Entrepreneurs who don't understand capital operations often just add a single entrepreneurship route. Just like Zhang San opened a kebab shop and found that the business was very good, so he saved money to open a second branch and then opened a fourth branch. At that time, Zhang San felt that it had reached its extreme development and that if he opened more branches, he would not have enough energy to take care of it.
At this time, capitalists will come to Zhang San, first tell Zhang San how capital operates, and then give Zhang San a sum of funds for rapid development, allowing Zhang San to build a professional operations team, and then use the capital to carry out rapid fission, and the four companies Change into eight families, eight families into sixteen families, sixteen families into thirty-two families...
Li Mu forced Google to acquire Muye & Baidu, which was almost a shell company. In fact, it gave Google an opportunity for fission development at the capital level. However, if you want to get this opportunity, you must pay the cost. 33.3% of the shares is the ticket.
In nature, this is a bit like the relationship between a celebrity's agency and the artist. A powerful economic company has the ability to support an artist's debut and turn him into a top star, but the prerequisite is that the artist must sign a contract with the agency. A long-term contract with harsh conditions, and even handing over most of the income to the brokerage company, may seem a bit harsh, but in fact it is a cooperation agreement that both parties agree to accept. When some celebrities become popular, they turn around and file lawsuits with the brokerage company, hoping to advance the contract. Ending a long-term contract and gaining freedom is actually a manifestation of the lack of contract spirit.
Fortunately, there is no possibility of going back on the contract or breaking the contract between Li Mu and Google. As long as the signature comes into effect, Makino Technology will become a shareholder of Google, and he will abide by the spirit of the contract and help Google further develop and grow in the non-Chinese search market.
To give a more appropriate metaphor, Li Mu is the United States after World War II, with rapid development and strong capital; Google is Japan after World War II. It was once glorious, but is now being sanctioned by the United States everywhere, and the possibility of turning around is slim. Suddenly, somewhere At this moment, the United States decided not to sanction Japan but to cooperate with Japan. This gave Japan an opportunity to overturn its destiny and quickly turn around.
Tech geeks in Silicon Valley don’t understand this, but Larry Page, as a person who has experienced hardship, has deeply realized the importance of this.
…
The legal teams of both parties completed the polishing of the terms of the merger contract as quickly as possible. Later, Li Mu and Larry Page decided to hold a grand signing ceremony in Yanjing.
Grandeur is the same psychological need of both parties.
Li Mu wanted to make the signing ceremony more grand because he wanted to take this opportunity to send a signal to technology geeks and entrepreneurs around the world. The specific content of this signal is: First, if I want to hit you, you will never be able to hit me. ; Second, if you kneel down to me, not only will you not get beaten, but you will get more;
Larry Page wants to make the signing ceremony more grand because he wants to take this opportunity to send a signal to all capital parties: Don't keep looking down on me like you did some time ago. I now have a big brother, big brother. The resources will allow me to develop rapidly. In the future, my eldest brother may be number one in the world, and I may also be number two in the world.
Since it needs to be more grand, it is natural to invite all media to the scene. Makino Technology is the host and has booked the entire main exhibition hall at Yanjing International Convention and Exhibition Center. Thousands of square meters of area are used for press conferences, which can accommodate at least several thousand people. audience and reporters from various media.
All IT media, high-tech industry media and financial media around the world have received invitations from Makino Technology, and even many founders, shareholders and executives of domestic and foreign companies have been invited.
When negotiating the terms of the contract, Li Mu did not bring Robin or any of Baidu's management to participate in the negotiation. This is because, in Li Mu's eyes, although Muye & Baidu is a joint venture between the two companies, Makino Technology holds a shareholding after all. 90% of the major shareholders, and Baidu has signed a concerted action agreement with Makino Technology, giving up the voting rights corresponding to 10% of its shares. Therefore, any strategic planning and program formulation of this company are fully decided by Makino Technology. In this way If so, there is no need to invite another party to add chaos, Baidu just needs to wait quietly to make money.
However, when preparations for the signing ceremony began, Li Mu decided to invite Robin to the scene. As Muye & Baidu's second signing representative, he signed a contract with Larry Page together with him.
Although Baidu cannot intervene in the actual operation, Li Mu cannot put Baidu aside when harvesting results. The signing ceremony is also a strategic achievement of Baidu, and the company name is jointly named after Makino Technology and Baidu, so it represents Muye & Baidu. The company's signing representative cannot just be Li Mu. This is a sign of respect for the partners.
When Robin received Li Mu's invitation, he didn't react at first. After a while, he declined politely: "Mr. Li, it's enough for you to represent Muye & Baidu at the signing ceremony. I won't cause any trouble. But don't worry, it's such an important event." If anything happens, I will definitely be there.”
For Robin, he actually hopes to be able to show his face at this signing ceremony, but as a passenger who makes a lot of money by taking a ride, he is somewhat embarrassed. He always feels that just making a fortune in silence is good enough. It was necessary to compete with Li Mu for halo again, so he declined Li Mu's invitation.
But Li Mu insisted: "Robin, this is a good opportunity for you to show your face in front of Western capital. You have to know that as a company developing in the Chinese market, Baidu needs to ensure its exposure in front of Western capital. Sometimes, companies The valuation of a company is not necessarily determined by the company itself, but is also pursued by capital. As long as capital can grab something for one yuan, the value may exceed one hundred. On the contrary, if the attitude of capital is cold for something worth one hundred yuan, the value may exceed one hundred. Then he’s not even worth a hundred.”
Robin actually wanted to agree, and his decline was just out of respect for Li Mu, but he didn't expect that Li Mu still persuaded him to agree, so he thought for a moment and said gratefully: "I understand, Mr. Li, thank you for your concern, then I It’s all up to your arrangement.”
Li Mu nodded with satisfaction and said: "The most important thing about the signing of the day is the speech we will give before the signing ceremony. I have also arranged a time for you to give the speech. At that time, Google's Larry Page will serve as the acquirer. Give a speech first, and then you and I, as representatives of the acquired party, will take turns giving speeches, and your speech will be scheduled before mine."
"Okay, Mr. Li, I will follow your arrangements."
Robin said, feeling a little more grateful to Li Mu in his heart. He knew Li Mu's intention of making this arrangement and letting Larry Page give the speech first because Larry Page was Party A and should go first, and Li Mu let I was in front of him, so I was probably worried that I would get a cold reception if I gave a speech behind him.
Li Mu added: "Because I am the chairman of Makino Technology and have absolute controlling interest in Makino Technology, and Muye & Baidu is an absolutely controlled subsidiary of Makino Technology, so according to legal principles, I should be the actual representative of Muye & Baidu in signing the contract, so I will sign the actual contract privately with Larry Page in advance. At that time, our on-site signing ceremony will be just a formality, so our on-site contract will have three signature places. Google is the Party A, and there are There is a signature and payment office. We are Party B. There are two signature and payment offices. One is for you and the other is for me. When we are on site, we sign three agreements and then exchange them with each other. The signing ceremony is completed. .”
Robin hurriedly said: "Mr. Li, I understand."
Li Mu hummed and said, "There is one more thing about capital operations."
Robin said: "Please tell me."
Li Muchao: "After the signing ceremony is completed, Muye & Baidu will be officially acquired by Google, and then Makino Technology will open the floodgates to Google in the field of non-Chinese search. Google's valuation will definitely rise, and Makino Technology and Baidu are both shareholders of Google. Makino Technology holds 29.97% of the shares, and Baidu holds 3.33%. In this case, the valuations of Makino Technology and Baidu will also rise. It is inevitable that Google’s valuation will return to more than 10 billion US dollars in a short time, and it will reach 15 billion US dollars. It won’t take long for Google to be online. If it continues to obtain resources from Makino Technology, Google’s market value should be able to reach more than 20 billion US dollars by the end of this year or early next year;
At that time, Google will definitely launch an IPO. Due to its good concept and good prospects, Google's IPO will definitely go smoothly and gain high recognition from the capital market. In this case, Google's market value will definitely skyrocket after its listing. If Google's market value exceeds 40 billion US dollars , even if the 3.33% in your hand is diluted by 20%, the equivalent market value will be more than one billion US dollars. Coupled with the development and growth of Baidu's own business, at that time, you can prepare for the IPO. "
Robin asked: "You mean, Baidu will wait until Google's IPO is successful before applying for an IPO?"
"That's right."
After Li Mu finished speaking, he added: "After both of you have IPO'd, it's time for Makino Technology to IPO as well. As companies held by Makino Technology, if your two companies succeed in their IPO first, they will also have a great impact on Makino Technology's IPO." In this case, the scale of Makino Technology's IPO will be larger. The three of us will intersect, support each other, and incubate each other's concepts. The final result will be that the market value of the three companies will soar, achieving a win-win situation for all three parties."
"I understand." Robin said without hesitation: "When the time comes, we will strictly follow the rhythm you planned!"
(End of chapter)