If Li Mu acted dishonestly, most people wouldn't be able to stand it.
Ding Zhenglin was speechless by Li Mu's rhetorical question. Makino Technology had never told the outside world that it wanted to raise funds. The news came from Xu Jiaming's Mingcheng Capital, but all venture capital companies knew about Mingcheng. There is a close relationship between capital and Makino Technology. It is not just as simple as the two parties having capital cooperation, but also the personal relationship between Xu Jiaming and Li Mu. Therefore, the information delivered by Mingcheng Capital was regarded as official news by these venture capital companies who were hungry for Makino Technology. There was no doubt about its authenticity.
At this moment, Ding Zhenglin also realized that he had caused trouble. Since Li Mu did not say the words, it was really unjustifiable for him to reprimand Li Mu in person.
Embarrassed and ashamed, Ding Zhenglin hesitated for a long time, then wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead and said hesitantly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Li, I was impulsive just now. I take back what I said. I hope you don't remember me." I’m so sorry!”
Li Mu shook his head, smiled, and said, "I'm not as petty as you think. Let's sit down and chat."
Ding Zhenglin nodded hurriedly, sat back down in his seat with anxiety, and asked tentatively: "Mr. Li, since Makino Technology is not ready to integrate Series C, what is the purpose of your meeting with me..."
Li Mu said with a smile: "I invited you out today because I wanted to have more direct communication with professionals in the investment banking circle. With the development of Makino Technology, we actually have very little or even no contact with the real investment banking circle."
Ding Zhenglin nodded, but he was cursing in his heart. He was not prepared to raise funds, and he asked me out to meet him in a serious manner. You are in contact with people in the investment banking circle. How can I communicate with you when I go back? Could it be that this is all a misunderstanding? Makino Technology simply Not ready to raise Series C? I'm afraid the boss won't believe it at all. They prefer to believe that they are incapable of winning this investment.
Li Mu saw Ding Zhenglin looking thoughtful and not answering, so he asked him with a smile: "Mr. Ding, in your opinion, what are the areas that urgently need improvement in Makino Technology's financial operations?"
Ding Zhenglin put away the depression in his heart and said hurriedly: "Mr. Li, Makino Technology is now the top Internet company in the country in terms of magnitude. As a person who works in a venture capital company, how can I dare to comment on it?"
Li Mu smiled and said: "Our scale is built up by our products, users and business models. We basically have no focus on financial operations. You are an expert in financial operations. I believe that in your eyes, Makino Technology There must be a lot of room for improvement.”
Ding Zhenglin hesitated for a moment, thinking that since Li Mu wasn't going to talk about financing, he didn't have to be cautious. So he reached out and unbuttoned the front of his suit, took it off smoothly, carefully folded it in half and put it on his lap. After completing this series of actions, Ding Zhenglin let out a long breath and said to Li Mu: "I'm sorry, Mr. Li, it's really too hot..."
Li Mu smiled unkindly, and Lin Qingya next to her also pursed her lips and smiled happily. Ding Zhenglin no longer had any psychological burden, and he felt much more natural when facing Li Mu than at the beginning. He loosened his tie with one hand and said seriously: "Li In summary, to be honest, it is rare for a company of the size of Makino Technology to pay so little attention to financial operations, both internally and externally. Makino Technology’s own financial operations are very few, namely two rounds of financing and one round of financing. Apart from the split of Yiting Technology, there are no other actions. Even externally, several companies that currently have capital ties with Makino Technology are still your own industries. Strictly speaking, Makino Technology has not yet Real external financial operations.”
Li Mu nodded and said seriously: "You are right. The attempt and operation in the direction of financial capital is indeed a relatively blank area for Makino Technology."
Ding Zhenglin continued: "Since the rise of Makino Technology, the development speed of the domestic Internet has significantly increased. There are many new companies emerging, and there are many new business models. We are always paying attention to the development of the Internet industry when making investments. When looking for potential investment targets, not only us, but several relatively large Internet companies in the industry have also been making frequent moves in terms of financial capital. NetEase has just acquired two online game development companies, and Kingsoft has invested and acquired a number of security software developers. In order to do a good job in mobile value-added business, Sina has established or acquired several shell companies outside. While everyone is doing their own business, they are busy outside. However, Makino Technology has made little external noise, except for the acquisition of Hao123. , there was no other action.”
Li Mu deeply agrees with what Ding Zhenglin mentioned. From the time he established Makino Technology to the present, he has only thought about three issues, product, operation, and revenue. His energy has been almost exhausted by these three issues. I don’t have the time or energy to examine the current overall development trends of the Internet, and I don’t even have the time to study which companies that will be great in the future are still struggling in their early stages of entrepreneurship.
If we look at this issue from the perspective of Makino Technology, investment and acquisitions can quickly solve the problems of horizontal development and strategic layout for Makino Technology. If Li Mu wants to make the game business bigger and stronger like Teng Xun in later generations, he can start acquisitions As a game development company, if Li Mu wants to add a security software such as 360 Security Guard to the ecological closed loop of Makino Technology, he can also directly acquire a company engaged in security software research and development, and then use its products for secondary development. Quickly come up with mature products; if you want to add another download tool, then directly acquire Internet Ant or Internet Express.
Li Mu’s need for financial operations is not just as simple as registering an offshore company, executing offshore transactions, preparing for financing or even going public. He also needs someone who is good at spending money externally and can focus on the company’s business and spend every penny wisely. With such people as your right-hand man, once you start external capital operations, with precise vision and operation, the company's development speed can reach a higher level.
The rise of Tengxun has a classic routine that many people love and hate, which is his investment strategy. Its early rise relied on imitation, but after it gained a certain level of strength, it no longer bothered to imitate. Imitation is too tiring, and every day With so many new models being born, it is simply too busy to rely on imitation, so its truly awesome classic routine is financial capital operations. Once there is a business or product that it is interested in, in order to save time and energy, it will directly proceed Investment or acquisition; if the other party rejects its investment or acquisition, Tengxun also has its own complete response strategy. The first choice is to immediately switch to another company of the same type, give it money and resources, and let it rise quickly so that it can overcome the previous rejection. Kill your own company. If that doesn't work, then do it yourself.
In the more than ten years since its establishment, Tengxun has invested in hundreds of companies, including online literature, Didi Taxi, JD.com, Meilishuo, Dianping, Ele.me, bilibili, Weiying Times, etc. , and then make themselves more or less involved and accounted for in all business lines of the entire network.
By 2016, it will be almost impossible to find an Internet field that Tengxun has not set foot in. Tengxun also uses this method to maintain its diversified development. If it all relies on Tengxun to expand its territory bit by bit, It is impossible for it to have a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars in the future. This shows the importance of financial capital operations.
Li Mu also realizes that his energy is becoming increasingly difficult to cope with the diversified development of the Internet industry, so he now urgently needs experts like Ding Zhenglin with unique vision and high success rate to join him. If there is someone like him, he can immediately start a business for him. In order to expand the territory, all his energy will be gradually recovered from major products in the future. In the near future, he will no longer interfere with the stable old business, and the new business that has taken shape will slowly be handed over after stable development. Other capable people will do the work for him. What he has to do in the next stage is to focus on the grand strategic level and focus on YY and Taobao, two products that can be called nuclear reactors. As long as these two products remain strong, It can nourish countless various "Internet factories". Once the era of mobile Internet comes, we will build the third nuclear reactor - WeChat. The era of WeChat is the era of mobile Internet and the era of data. Started the fourth nuclear reactor - cloud computing business.
Once Li Mu is allowed to start up these four nuclear reactors and make them bigger and stronger, Li Mu will be omnipotent in the Internet world.
Therefore, Li Mu did not beat around the bush, but asked Ding Zhenglin seriously: "If I invite you to be the investment director of Makino Technology, would you be interested?"
Ding Zhenglin was stunned, watching Li Mu remain silent for a long time, but finally realized in his heart. He finally understood what Li Mu meant by his obscure words at the beginning. It was not how many stops before the listing, but how many people would be there before the listing. Get in the car, it turns out that’s what he meant!
Ding Zhenglin has not considered changing jobs. He has always felt that he is suitable for the financial investment industry, and Sequoia, as the most well-known multinational VC, is indeed an impeccable development platform. In front of Sequoia, a super financial giant, Makino Technology is still Some of them can't be brought to the table, so Li Mu's proposal is not really attractive to him.
After being stunned for a moment, Ding Zhenglin said seriously: "Mr. Li, thank you for your appreciation, but I really have no plans to change my job now."
Li Mu was not surprised by this answer, but asked him: "Can you tell me the reason?"
Ding Zhenglin said: "Sequoia is a unique platform. I feel that under this platform, I can display and realize my own ambitions to the greatest extent."
(End of chapter)