Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 275 Liu Yifei's First Step to Becoming the World's Richest Woman!
As for those who only have money

For Liu Yifei, who had no resources whatsoever,

The best time for her to strike is when everyone is fearful.

"Hello, Gu Bei, I should thank you for the invitation. I've always loved the scenery of Malibu Beach!"

Zuckerberg looked at Gu Bei curiously and responded very quickly.

His expectations for accepting investment were not high when he came to meet this time; rather, his curiosity about Gu Bei made him more interested in investing.

Although Silicon Valley and Hollywood are both in California

But Zuckerberg had never previously linked Facebook with Hollywood.
The two are like parallel lines, almost unrelated. Generally, only consumer companies like Apple would get involved with Hollywood.

After receiving Gu Bei's offer of investment cooperation, he learned a little about Gu Bei and Rose Pictures.

But once I learned more, I couldn't help but feel a little curious. After all, Gu Bei's experience of venturing into Hollywood was quite legendary, which is why we met this time.

"The beach here is indeed very beautiful."

Gu Bei welcomed the two in and introduced them to the villa's owner, Leonardo.

Afterwards, Gu Bei went to get drinks for the two of them.

When he returned, he happened to pass by Leonardo DiCaprio, who whispered in his ear, "You were right, I really don't like him!"

Actually, I don't like him either!

Gu Bei smiled.

In his previous life, when he came to Silicon Valley, he had interviewed at Facebook. In the final round of interviews, he met these two people: Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

During the interview, Zuckerberg was quite satisfied with Gu Bei and offered him a job.

But Gu Bei felt that Zuckerberg was a bit fake, so he turned around and accepted Google's offer. He didn't know if Zuckerberg was angry, but he returned to China a few months later.

However, Gu Bei can't afford to turn down money right now.

He warmly invited Zuckerberg and Sandberg to sit down: "Facebook's funding situation must be a bit tricky lately, right?"

"Bruce, I..."

Sandberg was about to speak,
Zuckerberg said somewhat irritably, "Facebook has always been very popular with investors, and I can't even keep up with all the funding requests piling up on my desk."

Looking at Zuckerberg, who still seemed a little emotional, Gu Bei felt a pang of nostalgia.

He recalled that when he later saw Zuckerberg online, he was almost expressionless, like a robot.

The Zuckerberg we know now is more human than the one we met during his job interview in his previous life.

At that time, Zuckerberg was already somewhat hypocritical, which was the thing Gu Bei disliked most about him. That's why Gu Bei chose Google's offer, and it had nothing to do with the higher salary offered by Google.

He looked at the somewhat indignant Zuckerberg and the somewhat helpless Sandberg, and said with a smile, "We all know that this is not true."

In fact, the very fact that you were willing to come and see me proves what I'm saying is true!

"Bruce, we're here with good intentions to approach you about investment, not for you to humiliate us. Facebook has surpassed MySpace to become the number one social network in North America, and we have our own pride!"

Sandberg responded on Zuckerberg's behalf, causing Zuckerberg to swallow his words before he could speak.

However, judging from Zuckerberg's slightly vacant eyes, he is currently immersed in his own world, and the genius programmer's mind must be racing.

Gu Bei turned his attention to Zuckerberg.
Compared to the seasoned Sandberg,
Zuckerberg, who is in his prime, is the best target.

He said to Zuckerberg, "Mr. Zuckerberg, you should be able to sense that this is the most difficult period for you in the past few years."
I also want to tell you that this will be the best period of your life in the next few years; things will only get worse in the future.

Are you trying to tell me that an economic crisis is just around the corner?

Zuckerberg responded very quickly, "Although the exchange rate situation has been very abnormal this year, and the global stock market is in a gloomy state, the Federal Reserve's corresponding policies are being rolled out continuously, and the global economy is recovering in a positive direction..."

"Your eyes tell me you don't believe any of this."

Gu Bei said lightly.

In fact, looking at Facebook's financing history,
This shows that they are seeking funds to weather the winter.

Last October, Microsoft invested in Facebook during its Series D funding round, valuing the company at $15 billion.

However, just a few months later, around 2008, Li Ka-shing's Series E funding round still saw an investment valuation of $150 billion.

Just a few months later, Facebook, which clearly hadn't spent all of Microsoft's money, still accepted another round of funding.

For an internet company that is in a period of rapid growth, this behavior is tantamount to wasting an opportunity for revaluation during financing.

This is how they manage to secure funding for the winter; otherwise, if a Nasdaq bubble burst, Facebook could very well perish halfway through its journey.

The reason why Gu Bei was even more certain was...

This is because Facebook's next funding round is in May of next year, and its valuation has already dropped to $10 billion.

Clearly, Zuckerberg was aware of the impending economic crisis.

Therefore, they accelerated the financing process, attempting to weather the economic crisis by raising funds in advance.

However, the economic crisis came later than he had anticipated. Facebook still didn't have enough money and had to lower its valuation to accept financing, which allowed it to slowly emerge from the economic crisis.

Gu Bei's tone was calm, but his eyes were resolute.

It gave Zuckerberg the feeling that the other person could see right through him.

This gave Zuckerberg a slightly uneasy feeling.

After a pause, he asked in a cold voice, "So what kind of advice do you want to give me?"

"You and I both see an economic crisis coming, and although institutions like the Federal Reserve are trying to downplay it, the data doesn't lie."

Gu Bei began to soften his tone, not wanting to put too much pressure on them. "However, they did manage to postpone the outbreak of this economic crisis as much as possible."

If you ask me for advice for Facebook, it would be to try to raise as much funding as possible to weather this crisis.

If you run out of money, you'll have to accept financing at a lower valuation, which means giving up more shares.

"A very good suggestion!"

Zuckerberg and Gu Bei locked eyes. "Although you're trying your best to hide your purpose, your purpose is still to become a part of Facebook's funding round."
But I'm sorry, I don't see anything beyond money that you can offer Facebook!

Zuckerberg agreed with Gu Bei.

But it's just so right.

This made him unwilling to accept Gu Bei's investment.

He certainly didn't want a troublesome guy like Gu Bei to appear on Facebook's shareholder list.

Even if Gu Bei doesn't have many shares right now, if he can persuade him, he can persuade those brainless investment institutions to threaten his position.

"It seems like the pressure is too much!"

Gu Bei sensed Zuckerberg's rebellious attitude.

He knew he had pushed himself too far. Apart from a setback at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, Zuckerberg has been making great strides and is now riding high on becoming the number one social networking site in North America.

The pressure Gu Bei put on him was not enough to make him yield.

Fortunately, Gu Bei had also prepared a Plan B.

at this time,

Liu Yifei walked in.
She wore a set of clothes over her swimsuit, and apart from her still slightly wet hair, you couldn't tell she had just come back from the beach.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

After Liu Yifei appeared, she sat down next to Gu Bei.

"Who is this……"

Sandberg asked at the opportune moment.

“Crystal is also the owner of the investment fund that wants to invest in Facebook this time.”

Gu Bei introduced Liu Yifei to the two of them, "She is also the founder of Rose Pictures, and my boss!"

Gu Bei deliberately emphasized Liu Yifei's status as the boss in order to downplay his own assertive performance and pave the way for his Plan B.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg on the other side was originally staring at Gu Bei.

After hearing Gu Bei say that Liu Yifei was the investor this time,
He then turned his head sharply and carefully examined Liu Yifei: "She's the investor this time?"

Liu Yifei nodded to him: "Hello, Mr. Zuckerberg, I really like Facebook, which you founded!"

Gu Bei nodded: "That's right, all the funding comes from her own profits in Twilight. You should have heard about the movie's performance, right?"

After Liu Yifei appeared, the antagonism between Gu Bei and Zuckerberg vanished instantly.

When Zuckerberg realized that Liu Yifei was the one who owned the equity in this investment...
Instead of dealing with the difficult Gu Bei,
His insecurity vanished instantly.

Because of estate and gift taxes, holding shares on behalf of others is a very foolish thing to do in North America.

When Zuckerberg realized that Gu Bei posed no threat to him, his initial resistance naturally disappeared.

Gu Bei, on the other hand, deliberately adjusted his demeanor: "Mr. Zuckerberg, I think we have reached a consensus on our pessimistic outlook for the future."

“Yes, I admit I’m pessimistic about the future economy,” Zuckerberg nodded. “But we’ve just gone through two rounds of funding and have plenty of cash on hand, more than enough to weather this crisis.”

"Still not enough!"

Gu Bei shook his head. "If it's just a normal economic crisis, then the market will slowly recover in one or two years."

However, judging from the current data, this economic crisis is clearly not so simple, and it will take at least two or three years to recover.

If an economic crisis breaks out, it will be impossible for Facebook to obtain its current valuation from the market!

Zuckerberg paused for a moment.

Just like Hollywood, venture capitalists are at the forefront of funding and are the first to feel the chill of a capital winter.

Despite Facebook's rapid growth during this period, with a monthly user increase equaling Yahoo's annual user increase, Facebook still managed to gain a significant amount of users.
However, the offer from investment funds to Facebook not only did not increase, but actually decreased.

After a pause, he prepared to hear Gu Bei's offer: "What is your valuation?"

"The same valuation Microsoft gave you, $150 billion!"

Gu Bei said calmly, "The minimum investment is one hundred million US dollars. This money will allow you to survive for another year."

Zuckerberg felt relieved upon hearing this.

It's not too low, it's a bit too high!
From the moment they met, Gu Bei had been putting pressure on him.

Moreover, every move is deadly, far more precise than those mindless investment institutions.

Zuckerberg originally thought Gu Bei would try to drastically lower the price, but to his surprise, Gu Bei's price was about 10% higher than the market price, which made him feel that Gu Bei was actually quite reasonable.

Wait a minute... when did I start wanting to accept his investment?

Rationally speaking, accepting this funding would provide Facebook with an extra layer of safety during an economic crisis.

Zuckerberg hesitated for a moment: "Do you only offer financial support? Can you provide other resources, such as helping Facebook enter the Chinese market?"

You're dreaming of eating P!

Back then, even if you marketed yourself as a son-in-law of China and went for a morning run in the smog within the first ring road, you still couldn't bring Facebook to China.

Gu Bei doesn't have that kind of ability.

He said directly, "No, we don't have any direct contact with the Chinese government, but I do have a good suggestion for you."

After saying that, Gu Bei got up and went to borrow Leonardo's laptop.

Liu Yifei followed him out and asked Gu Bei in a low voice, "Do you really think Facebook will be that successful in the future?"

She hesitated for a moment: "I knew before that the founders of Facebook were young, but now they seem a bit too young!"

"This is your first step towards becoming the world's richest woman!"

Gu Bei didn't answer directly, but instead stated his purpose in a joking tone.

Investing $100 million now at a valuation of $15 billion could multiply that $100 million by at least a hundred times, becoming $10 billion in the future.

Liu Yifei is 10% on her way to becoming the world's richest woman!

Subsequently,

Gu Bei walked back.

Show the beta version of Weibo to Zuckerberg.

The Weibo project won't come to North America, and Zuckerberg won't be able to enter China, so Gu Bei is very confident.

“A very good timeline. Is this your social media startup project in China? Do you need investment?” Zuckerberg used the all-Chinese interface for a bit and quickly discovered the advantages of Weibo.

"unnecessary!"

Gu Bei shook his head and showed Zuckerberg the like button. "See this? This feature is called 'like.' When users think the content is good, they can use this button to encourage the creator."

What do you think of this feature?

Gu Bei clearly remembers that Facebook's "like" feature was to be launched the following year, and it later became one of the three magic weapons that enabled Facebook to dominate the world.

The fact that the "like" feature is even misunderstood by the public as being unique to Facebook demonstrates its importance to Facebook.

But in fact, this feature appeared as early as 2004, and there is even a project that Facebook recently acquired that now has a "like" feature.

"It will greatly enhance users' motivation to create content!"

Zuckerberg quickly realized the value of this feature.

(End of this chapter)