My Age of Investment - Chapter 1473 coercion

   Chapter 1473 Coercion

   The Social Network is based on a novel published by Ben Mozrich.

  The content of the novel is partly factual, and partly fabricated, or artistically processed.

Since the novel was published last year, it has achieved very good sales results in the United States, and countless American people rushed to bookstores to see what happened.

  The love-hate relationship of the Facebook entrepreneurial trio, as well as the secret story behind the founding of Facebook, coupled with the exaggerated title of the book, are still very attractive to many young people.

  Ben Mozrich is also worthy of being a well-known published author, a simple entrepreneurial story, but he wrote the ups and downs, full of conspiracy.

  In the novel, although there are places where Xia Jingxing and the dog can't stand against Christina, both of them are eventually expelled from the company by her using various means.

   That is to say, Christina is described as a woman full of scheming in Mozrich's writings.

   This incident made Kristina very unhappy, so there was a matter of Marvel Studios investing in "The Social Network".

  Beauty's smile is one of them, and the more important thing is that Xia Jingxing planned a movie to hype the Facebook IPO pricing plan.

  If nothing else, Facebook will complete a super-large IPO on Nasdaq with the help of the movie-watching craze and topicality set off by "The Social Network".

   For the entire film project, in addition to the $40 million invested by Marvel Studios, which is 100% controlled by Vision Capital, Sony Columbia Pictures also invested $20 million and served as the film's US distributor.

  This movie is very interesting, because the three founders of Facebook are from three different countries, so the three-country movie market is a potential ticket warehouse.

   In view of this, the three leading actors of the film were also hired by Chinese, Japanese and Americans respectively, and the crew also went to China and Japan to take some scenes.

  Christina is played by the fledgling new actress Lily Collins, who has dual British and American nationalities. She just turned 21 this year, and she is young and beautiful, which matches the image of Christina who was studying at Stanford a few years ago.

   As the actor of Xia Jingxing, the crew originally wanted to find an ABC to play the role, but Xia Jingxing stopped him and asked a pure Chinese to play him. In his opinion, ABC's body language and movements were too awkward.

After   , the fact that Hollywood came to China to recruit a male lead to play Xia Jingxing also caused a great sensation in China. All the young actors in the entertainment industry took action, looking for ways and handing in slips everywhere, hoping to get this opportunity to break into Hollywood.

  Because this movie is the first time for a Chinese person to play the leading role in a Hollywood movie besides Bruce Lee and Zunlong, it is not a villain or a trick, but a bright and beautiful image.

   And there is news from Hollywood that "The Big Short" may be adapted into a movie. If nothing else, Darren Xia is one of the male protagonists.

   That is to say, the Chinese actor who performed well in "The Social Network" will most likely get a leading role in another Hollywood movie.

   Moreover, no one knows whether there will be biographical films such as "Revival Industry" and "The King of Chinese Society" in the future.

   Just guarding the role of Xia Jingxing, he is lucky enough to eat half his life.

  Huang Huazhong, Wang Changtian, and Yu Dong all called Xia Jingxing and recommended many actors from their company, such as Oil King.

  Xia Jingxing declined all of them, and appointed a contracted actor named "Lin Miao" under Jupin Pictures to participate in "The Social Network".

   The young man was born in 1990 and is only 20 years old this year. He is handsome and handsome. He has also learned martial arts. The most important thing is that he looks somewhat similar to Xia Jingxing.

   Originally, the company wanted him to appear in "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman", but the movie was never filmed, so Xia Jingxing asked him to come to "Social Network" first to get familiar.

  If Lin Miao can make a little name abroad, "Shushan Swordsman Biography" can also try to be released overseas in the future.

  The Japanese actor who played the dog, Sony Columbia chose Kimura Takuya.

  38-year-old middle-aged man, playing the role of a young man in his teens and twenties, even a little makeup is not too far behind.

   But this temperament can only be said to be seriously inconsistent with puppies.

  Xia Jingxing and his party of four sat in the back row of the theater, watching the movie with relish.

   On the big screen, the movie has been playing for more than ten minutes, and three young people from different countries have started a Facebook website and are struggling with development funds.

  Lily Collins, whose hair was specially dyed red, sat in a small office, and opposite her sat Takuya Kimura and Lin Miao, who were dressed as young people.

  “…How about we sell adult products directly? I have channels at home.

   Just a Stanford University, I don’t know how many related supplies are consumed in a day. "

   The puppy played by Kimura Takuya is not much better than in reality, and as soon as he opened his mouth, it caused a burst of laughter in the theater.

  Lily Collins held her hands in her arms and said angrily: "Little dog, we are a social networking website, not an e-commerce website, let alone an adult e-commerce website!"

   Kimura Takuya said amusedly: "The essence of social networking sites is to make friends! The essence of making friends is to roll the sheets!"

   The movie hall burst into laughter again, and even Xia Jingxing couldn't help laughing. It seemed that Little Dog had proposed to sell adult products before, but he didn't realize his dream on Facebook.

   "Okay, stop arguing, selling stuff is a good idea in my opinion, and it can support the development of the website before we get VC financing.

   But it's really not suitable to sell adult products, we sell T-shirts! T-shirts with the Facebook logo..."

   Then the camera turned, and the three appeared in Yiwu Trade City, China, surrounded by a bunch of small vendors.

   After going around, the three of them still couldn't find a source of purchase, and finally found Ali Baba...

   Then, accompanied by a dynamic bgm, a large number of young people wearing Facebook T-shirts began to appear on the campus.

  The three founders were busy with their feet in the air, and several different sets of shots were shown on the screen, some were urging goods in China, some were contacting other schools to sell T-shirts, and some were looking for Amazon to discuss cooperation...

   At the same time, the number of registered users displayed in the background of Facebook began to soar, 100,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000... until it won all universities in the United States and began to penetrate into high schools.

  Seeing this scene, Jane Combe, who was sitting beside Xia Jingxing, couldn't help but asked in a low voice, "Daren, did the first pot of Facebook gold really come from selling T-shirts?"

  Xia Jingxing smiled slightly, "Do you think it's possible? Don't you need to buy goods without cost?"

  Jane Combe suddenly realized and said: "It's the capital obtained from angel investors, right?"

  Xia Jingxing nodded lightly and said nothing more.

   Seeing this, Jane Combe also watched the movie with peace of mind and didn't ask any more questions.

   At this time, the movie has been broadcast to the scene of Facebook’s A round of financing.

  The three founders worked together to fight with each other venture capital institution, and finally rejected the stingy and domineering Sequoia Capital, and chose Axel as the A-round investor.

After   $50 million was received, Facebook’s development was like riding on a rocket, starting to change guns, moving out of school, and into Silicon Valley…

   At this time, the movie was almost halfway through, and the storyline began to reverse. The three founders moved from inspirational, united, and funny in the first half to division, degeneration and depression.

   First, Lin Miao was dating other girls and was caught by Lily Collins, and then Kimura Takuya began to spend a lot of time...

After the    conflict appeared, the three began to quarrel endlessly.

   Gradually, Lily Collins began to take control of the company, and Lin Miao and Kimura Takuya were marginalized.

   Just when the two were gradually dissatisfied, Lily Collins shot again.

   Under the guise of getting back with Lin Miao, she rolled the sheets together, and the two conspired against the puppy on the bed.

   Then, the dog was out, left the company, and began to concentrate on developing his adult kingdom business.

   Then, Lin Miao was also kicked out by Lily Collins.

   But here, there is a difference between the film and the novel.

   In the novel, after Xia Jingxing and Kristina broke up, they boarded the plane to Wall Street in New York alone, and their career was revived.

   But this year's news proved that the two broke up several years later, and they both gave birth to one child and another in their womb.

  So there are different scenes in the movie, the two people have gone through countless twists and turns, and finally chose to forgive each other.

  At the end of the movie, Lin Miao rode to the country ranch and saw Lily Collins with a big belly.

  Under the blue sky and white clouds, on the endless grassland, the two people who met after a long absence silently watched each other...

   Then, subtitles appeared in the movie, the lights in the theater were lit, and the audience began to get up and leave.

  Xia Jingxing and his group of four also followed the crowd and prepared to leave, and then he heard a lot of people discussing the movie.

   "What does this ending mean?"

   "You don't understand this, Christina finally chose to forgive the **** from China."

   "Huh? Didn't we break up?"

   "Did you not read the news from the past few months? Darren Xia committed the same old problem again, and was swept out by Christina, and even lost her shares."

   "Darenxia is so miserable! Christina is too scheming."

   "It's all Daerunxia's own fault! The name of the novel tells it very clearly, the history of the birth of Facebook, a story about sex, money, genius and betrayal.

   Darren Xia is a genius, but he betrayed Kristina because of sex, so the money goes to Kristina. "

  …

  Xia Jingxing paid attention to it, most people were spurning him, and after seeing this scene, he finally felt relieved.

   It doesn't matter how many words he gets scolded, just don't scold Kristina.

   Aside from the fact that the fans scolded him for substituting reality, the whole movie has a good evaluation in the fans' mouths.

   In addition to reflecting the collision of Japanese culture, Chinese culture and American culture, it also portrays the images of the three protagonists in three parts, and basically reviews the entire founding process and development stage of Facebook.

  With the expansion of the company, the mentality of the three protagonists also began to change, paving the way for the final parting ways.

   Hearing the voice scolding him all the way, Xia Jingxing finally walked out of the cinema.

   He looked at Jane Combe and Brian Acton behind him, and said, "How about a cup of coffee together?"

  The two looked at each other and nodded. Although they wanted to ask Xia Jingxing what he thought of the movie, which plots were real and which were fake, but they finally held back and decided to talk about business and then talk about other things.

   The four of them took two cars to a coffee shop. After ordering a few cups of coffee, they sat under the umbrella outside and chatted.

   "I have been following your company for a long time, about a year ago."

   Xia Jingxing's words surprised the two founders of Wattspu. They didn't answer and continued to listen patiently.

  “Watsip, a company registered in February last year, gained 250,000 users a few months after launching the WhatsApp app.

   This is an amazing achievement that is developing fast.

   At the end of last year, you upgraded the app and added the function of sending pictures, which suddenly became more popular.

   But troubles also follow. In the face of large-scale growth of users, you need to recruit more people and rent better servers.

   But you put up a slogan in your office: Don't sell ads, don't play games, don't play tricks.

   I'm curious, how are you going to survive? "

  Jane Combe smiled, "Daren, you know us pretty well!"

   "I just said, I've been following your team for a long time, and at the same time, I'm also a Watsip user."

  Xia Jingxing turned on the phone and showed the Watsip app installed on the phone.

  Jane Koum nodded, "Thank you for acknowledging us! We have been thinking about the issue of survival for a long time, and we plan to charge Watsip, which is not expensive, and can be downloaded and used for $0.99."

  Xia Jingxing said with a smile: "This price is really not expensive, most people can afford it, but if you charge, users can only pay through credit cards or electronic platforms, which will block some users, such as students.

   Don’t underestimate student users, they represent the future of a company.

  I have another question, if there is a similar application of Wazepu on the market and it is free, how are you going to deal with it? "

  Jane Combe was about to speak, but his partner Brian Acton answered first: "Daren, before answering your question, can we ask you a question?"

  Xia Jingxing turned his gaze to Brian Acton, who looked calm, as if he was not afraid that his interjection would make Xia Jingxing unhappy.

   "Okay, just ask!"

  Xia Jingxing glanced at Ricky Milner who was about to have a seizure, and motioned him to stay calm.

   “Does Vision Capital intend to invest in Watsip?”

  Xia Jingxing nodded lightly, "Including but not limited to investment."

  Bryan Acton frowned, "In addition to investment, are there other ways of cooperation?"

   "This is the second question."

   "Okay, then I'm fine."

   Seeing that Brian Acton is quite interesting, Xia Jingxing doesn't know him in general, he just talked a little more with Jane Combe, and feels that this person should be a breakthrough.

  Jane Koum thought about Xia Jingxing's question for a while, and replied: "If there is a free similar application, we should only cancel the fee, at least for a period of time, and then charge again after gaining a competitive advantage."

   Xia Jingxing said: "Your strategy is correct, but it does not apply to the current Watsip.

   As far as I know, should you guys just get a $250k seed round from five former Yahoo colleagues? It has been more than a year since the application was launched, and no new investment has been received so far.

  I think if there are sufficient funds, the number of users of Watsip may be several times that of the present. "

  Jane Combe looked at Xia Jingxing with a smile on his face and said, "So we accepted the movie tickets you sent."

  Xia Jingxing suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Is the movie good?"

  Jane Combe said: "It's not bad, I didn't expect Daeron and you guys to be embarrassed when you first started your business."

   "Since the financing, it has not been too embarrassing."

  Jane Combe was amused by Xia Jingxing's words and said, "Daren, in fact, we do not reject your investment, provided that..."

Speaking of this, Jane Comb paused, glanced at her companion, and then said: "We have our insistence not to interfere with the operation of Watsup, such as the one you just mentioned not to sell advertisements, not to make games, not to Play tricks."

   "I respect every entrepreneur's decision, just as I was respected by Axel back then."

  Xia Jingling changed his words: "However, you may as well listen to the conditions I offer first."

   Hearing the words, Jane Combe and Brian Acton all turned serious.

   "Two options. First, Vision Capital invests US$10 million. We want 25% of the shares and the right to lead the next three rounds of financing."

  Jane Koum frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. The pre-money valuation of $30 million was not low, but it was just the right to lead the three consecutive rounds of financing, which made him a little hesitant.

  Xia Jingxing observed his words and noticed that Jane Combe might not be so satisfied with this plan, so he said: "The second plan, Facebook buys you and gives you $40 million in cash or equivalent stock."

   "We will not sell the company." Brian Acton said firmly.

  Xia Jingxing said lightly: "Wattspu is a good app, but it obviously doesn't make money, and it needs a giant company to support it."

   "Maybe Darren is right, but we definitely have a way to keep the company afloat."

  Xia Jingxing ignored Brian Acton and turned his attention to Jane Coombe. Judging from the collected information, this immigrant from Ermao is very eager to achieve success in the United States and change the fate of the whole family.

   In the face of the conditions offered by Xia Jingxing, Jane Combe was indeed very moved, but he had an agreement with Brian Acton, and a very important one was not to sell the company.

Seeing that his partner was holding on under Xia Jingxing's sugar-coated cannonball, Brian Acton nodded secretly in his heart, then he turned his attention to Xia Jingxing and said, "Daren, we cannot accept the second plan, Watsip is ours. Not for sale, but also the stage for our dreams to come true.”

   "After you sell the company, you can still lead Wattspu forward."

   "Sorry, I can't accept it."

   Xia Jingxing didn’t persuade him any more, he wouldn’t sell it if he didn’t sell it, anyway, he still had a backup plan.

   "What about the first plan, what's your answer?"

  Bryan Acton said: "25% is too much. We can accept half of it."

   "Then are you afraid that Facebook will compete with you?"

   (end of this chapter)