HPDBC Chapter 255 Raising Funds in the US
Chapter 255 Raising Funds in the US
At eight o'clock in the morning, Zhao Hu drove his car downstairs on time.
A black Audi was parked at the entrance of the building, its engine idling and wisps of white steam rising from the exhaust pipe. Zhao Hu stood beside the car, wearing a dark jacket and standing ramrod straight. Seeing Ling Yun carrying a suitcase out of the building, he went over, took the suitcase, and put it in the trunk.
An Shiyu followed behind Ling Yun, carrying a paper bag. "There are boiled eggs and apples inside, to eat if we get hungry on the way."
Ling Yun took the paper bag, the plastic bag making a rustling sound. He glanced at An Shiyu; she was wearing light makeup today, and the lipstick color suited her well.
"Let's go inside, it's cold outside," Ling Yun said.
An Shiyu shook her head, "I'll go up after you leave."
Zhao Hu was already in the driver's seat, the window half open. Ling Yun opened the car door and glanced back at An Shiyu. She stood in the wind at the entrance of the building, a few strands of her hair blowing in the breeze.
The car started moving. Looking in the rearview mirror, Ling Yun saw An Shiyu's figure getting smaller and smaller until it became a blurry dot and disappeared into the shadows of the stairwell.
"Go straight to the airport?" Zhao Hu asked.
"Mmm." Ling Yun leaned back in the back seat and closed his eyes.
The wheels rolled over the road, making a steady screech. Most of the shops along the street were still closed, with red paper signs on their shutters reading "Closed for Spring Festival, reopening on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year." A few shops were open, their owners wrapped in cotton coats sweeping up firecracker debris in front of them. "Mr. Ling," Zhao Hu glanced at Ling Yun in the rearview mirror, "Is everything arranged in Silicon Valley?"
"Carly has already made appointments with several institutions." Ling Yun opened his eyes, looking at the street scene rushing past the window. "The people from the French National Investment Bank arrived in San Francisco yesterday, and the people from Abu Dhabi will arrive this afternoon."
"So fast?"
"Microsoft did us a huge favor." Ling Yun's lips curled into a smile. "The price of 4.3 million for ICQ raised the valuation ceiling of the entire instant messaging market."
Zhao Hu didn't understand these things very well, but he sensed the certainty in Ling Yun's tone. "Then we can't ask for a low price."
"Of course it can't be low." Ling Yun pulled his phone out of his pocket—a Nokia 6110 with a monochrome green screen. He pressed a few keys, brought up his contacts, found Carly's number, but didn't dial it. It was too early; it was the afternoon before in Silicon Valley.
The car entered the airport expressway. The road widened, and the poplar trees on both sides were bare. Occasionally, a car would pass by, its taillights leaving red trails in the morning mist.
The outline of Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport came into view.
There weren't many people queuing at the check-in counters; after all, very few people travel abroad during the first month of the lunar year. Lingyun handed over her passport and ticket, and the ground staff typed on the keyboard, the printer spitting out the boarding pass.
"Mr. Ling, your flight is CA985." The ground staff handed him his boarding pass and passport back with a standard smile. "Have a pleasant journey."
凌云接过登机牌，看了眼上面的信息：13:05起飞，旧金山当地时间2月1日上午9:10到达。
The waiting area was filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and the warm air from the air conditioner. Ling Yun found a seat by the window and took out his laptop from his backpack.
Lingyun double-clicked the dial-up connection icon, and the modem emitted a series of harsh handshake beeps. The connection was established; the network speed was slow, but sufficient.
He logged into StarCraft Technology's internal email account. His inbox contained twenty-seven unread emails, most marked "urgent" or "pending." The latest few were from Carly, timestamped as yesterday afternoon Silicon Valley time.
The first email was titled "Preliminary List of Financing Institutions and Background Checks." Ling Yun opened it; the attachment was a PDF. He downloaded the file, and the progress bar slowly moved to the right.
The PDF finally finished downloading. Lingyun opened it; the first page was a summary table:
1. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) – Contact Person: Khalid Al Thani (Previous partner of Doha Internet Cafe)
2. Bpifrance (French National Investment Bank) – Contact Person: Jean-Pierre Durand
3. Goldman Sachs (has already invested in Star Technology and hopes to increase its investment this time)
4. Morgan Stanley
5. Sequoia Capital (has already been in contact with the Google project)
6. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB)
7. SoftBank (Japan)
8. Temasek Holdings, Singapore
Each company was accompanied by a detailed background analysis, investment style, and possible price range. Carly had done her homework thoroughly.
Lingyun continued scrolling down. The second page contained Xingyu's current key data:
- Number of registered users: 427 million (312 million in North America, 68 in Europe, and 47 in other regions)
- Monthly Active Users (MAU): 283 million
- Daily message volume: 1900 million messages
- Average user online time: 47 minutes/day
- Server clusters: 3 in North America, 1 in Europe (Frankfurt)
- Team size: 87 people (54 developers, 21 operations, 12 marketing)
The third page contained financial forecasts, densely packed with tables and charts. Ling Yun quickly scanned it, focusing on the cash flow forecast—at the current rate of cash burn, the cash on hand could only last five months, and financing had to be completed within three months.
In the email body, Carly wrote:
"Mr. Ling, the news of Microsoft's acquisition of ICQ has spread throughout the industry. This morning, the Wall Street Journal's front page headline was 'Microsoft makes a $4.3 million bet on instant messaging.' Everyone is reassessing this market."
Khalid called me yesterday, sounding very excited. He said the Abu Dhabi Investment Committee held an emergency meeting and decided to classify digital communications as a "strategic emerging sector." They want more than just financial returns.
Durand of the French National Investment Bank was more cautious, but made it clear that "France and Europe cannot miss out on the next generation of communications infrastructure." This statement carries a strong political undertone.
Goldman Sachs' Richardson invited me to lunch, hinting that they were willing to lead the investment but demanded exclusive negotiating rights. I did as you suggested, indicating that I welcomed fair competition from all institutions.
附件是详细的会议安排。你落地后，从2月2日到2月10日，每天上午下午各安排了一场。2月11日留作缓冲，2月12日是最终谈判日。
Also, someone from Microsoft contacted us this morning.
"It wasn't Ballmer, it was Jim Olson from operations. He wanted to meet with you 'privately.' Following your instructions, I told him you were currently in Asia with a full schedule. He left a message saying that Microsoft was 'willing to have an open dialogue about cooperation in the instant messaging field.' Let me translate: They wanted to sound us out to see if there was any possibility of acquisition or strategic investment."
I didn't completely refuse; I said I'd make arrangements when you got back.
Waiting for you to land.
Carly
An announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Boarding for CA985 to San Francisco has begun. First-class, business-class passengers, and Star Alliance Gold members, please proceed to Gate 3 for priority boarding..."
Lingyun closed the laptop and unplugged the power cord. The bottom of the laptop was a little hot to the touch.