Global monopoly of technology

"For US$70 million, we need 40% equity and a veto, and follow-up financing. As long as you are short of money, we will support your development."

When he heard Cao Yi's request for a veto, Zhang Yiming finally calmed down. Toutiao also adopted the same-share and different-right AB share system, which was a trend brought by Bluestar Technology Group.

Almost all Internet startups now play this way.

Because of the shareholding structure with different rights in the same stock, Zhang Yiming didn't care about Cao Yi's 40% stake. Moreover, the current scale of Toutiao plus the $70 million investment amount makes Toutiao take advantage.

But the one-vote veto power is a very sensitive issue, which involves the control of the company.

The next negotiation between the two parties is no longer as smooth as before. Zhang Yiming is very reluctant to share this vote with VC. As Luo Sheng said in the opening speech at the IT Forum Summit the day before yesterday, capital is short-sighted. Zhang Yiming deeply agrees.

No matter how good the investor is, capital is capital after all.

Cao Yi said bluntly: "To be honest, Mr. Zhang, I am not investing in Toutiao, but you. You rejected the solicitation of giants such as Bluestar Technology and Ali, and almost all VCs, except me. , Maybe I will be rejected by you too. Few people will think you can have the last laugh."

“Objectively speaking, this is a very risky investment for Anaheim Asia Technology Ventures. Bluestar’s AI technology and Luo Sheng’s layout in this field can easily develop even more outstanding products than Toutiao’s current Intelligent push algorithm to provide users with content of interest."

Zhang Yiming had no way of refuting this. Wang Qiong had brushed his face with more than 20 friends in the investment circle, but in the end they could not reach a conclusion.

Every investor finally asked the same question: Toutiao rejected Bluestar Technology. How can Toutiao, which is still in the incubation stage, stand out in the face of Bluestar Technology's containment and strangulation?

Zhang Yiming could not give an answer to this question, or the answer is impossible.

Those VCs didn't even fight for a veto power like Cao Yi. After asking this question, they just passed. The VCs were really unconfident.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with VC. Once Bluestar Technology gains momentum, headlines that have not yet become a trend are bound to die.

Fight to burn money with Bluestar Technology?

Giants like Ali and Microsoft are both choking, so what does Toutiao use to fight against such opponents to burn money?

Can only rely on VC for blood.

Obviously, such an investment risk index has exploded, but any sensible investment institution will say NO.

Wang Qiong, who was sitting next to him, sighed, Zhang Yiming made the road narrower and narrower because of his abruptness. The thigh headline of Bluestar Technology is just around the corner.

But then again, if Zhang Yiming did this, Wang Qiong would not appreciate and support him as much as he does now.

In the end, Zhang Yiming compromised and stepped back.

It is true that there is not much negotiating capital in Toutiao, so it agreed to share a veto power with Anaheim Technology Venture Capital Fund, but at the same time it also won the transfer of 10% of the equity and only 30% of the US$70 million. The shareholding, and this veto power requires a 5-year closure period.

In other words, after this additional clause is written into the shareholder agreement, it means that this veto power will not be exercised until 2018.

Zhang Yiming's reason for proposing this additional clause is that he needs absolute control of the company during the start-up phase to ensure that the company can develop in accordance with the blueprint he planned.

This is the final concession, otherwise I would rather not make this investment.

In this regard, Cao Yi pretended to fight for a while and chose the final concession, and agreed to Zhang Yiming's additional requirements, but he was very clear about the task given by the headquarters, the amount of equity was secondary, and the veto power was the core of this task.

Zhang Yiming is not too stubborn. The veto power is of course precious, but only today can there be tomorrow.

But this is also the only one-vote veto. In the future, Zhang Yiming will never share it with the second VC. Anyway, Anaheim Asia will continue to lead the investment, which is to be included in the contract.

Sharing too many one-vote veto powers is really too great. Once you encounter disagreements with the VC, I will give you a veto. If you are satisfied and dissatisfied, you will also get a veto.

The company cannot develop normally.

Hainer Asia also continued to invest 5 million US dollars, so Toutiao’s B round of financing was two VCs, namely Anaheim Asia Technology Venture Capital Fund and Hainer Asia Ventures. A total of 75 million US dollars in financing gave Toutiao Current valuation of 230 million US dollars.

"The matter has been negotiated, then I should also leave. Tomorrow I will send a team of lawyers to sign the contract. Three days after the contract is signed, 75 million US dollars will be transferred to the account designated by your company on time."

After speaking, Cao Yi got up from his seat and left after completing the task.

...

A week later, the Science and Technology Complex.

"Cao Yi completed Toutiao's Series B financing and successfully obtained a veto, but there is a five-year lock-up period." Qin Weimu came to Luo Sheng's office to report on his recent work.

"The five-year closure period does not matter, as long as there is this vote of veto power, it is enough to use it as a veto." Luo Sheng is also quite happy to learn that the headline and Zhang Yiming have been dealt with.

The greatest significance of this veto power is that if there are conflicts and disagreements with Zhang Yiming in the future, you can use a veto power to negotiate terms with the other party to force the other party to agree, otherwise I will veto what you want to do, and I cannot advance one. Proposal, but I can veto any proposal with one vote. You must compromise.

"In the future, if Zhang Yiming knows that this veto is in your hands, he will probably be surprised by this surprise... he may be so angry that he will be so angry." Qin Weimu couldn't help but ridicule with a smile, the reason why he refused to solicit the giants. , Just to get rid of the giants, I did not expect to eventually jump into the pit.

"Haha, this is the mall. He doesn't want to be my employee. In the end, he still wants to be my employee and work for me." Luo Sheng said cheerfully. With this veto in hand, future development can be assured. Let the headline expand, and even realize it is possible to cooperate with Bluestar Technology to support it. Anyway, he is already a little brother firmly in his hands.

"By the way, how are the preparations for this year's Shengfeng Capital Global Technology Venture Capital Summit?" Luo Sheng ignored Zhang Yiming's question, and the headline has been put in his pocket for safety, so he doesn't need to pay too much attention to it. .

Shengfeng Capital Global Technology Venture Capital Summit, this is an annual technology investment event, organized by Shengfeng Capital itself, will be held on March 22 every year as scheduled.

This year is already the fourth.

"Everything is going well, and I am about to tell you about this." Qin Weimu said methodically: "Shengfeng Capital invested in 278 start-up technology companies worldwide in the past year of 2012. The annual investment amount is A total of 18.9 billion U.S. dollars. According to your requirements, 12 start-ups in popular areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud services, and Internet of Things chips have been selected as the key exposure targets of this investment summit."

If Bluestar Technology and the Blue Coast are the core of the DNA double helix structure that supports Luo Sheng's technological empire, then the significance of Shengfeng Capital's existence is that he vowed to build a solid technological moat for his technological empire.

Shengfeng Capital only invests in companies related to the technology sector. The start-ups invested in are fundamentally to serve Bluestar Technology and the Blue Coast, and the purpose is to create their own supply chain system for the two major technology giants in the future.

2013 is a very critical year for the global technology circle. The beginning of the year is the battle between the two major domestic giants of the Internet of science and technology. It is also destined to be a hot year for AI. At the same time, the Blue Coast will release the fourth generation of smart phone products this year. Everyone is eager to sing a good show.

...

(Ps: ask for votes~~)