Chapter 724: Pretending to be powerful is the primary productive force
In fact, Lu Yiming has made great contributions to PayPal's ability to sell at such a high price, and he deserves the money.
In its original history, PayPal struggled hard in the Internet cold wave until July 2002, when it had to go public to raise funds. At that time, PayPal's total market value was US$900 million.
Relying on the geniuses of PayPal, eBay found that its own bundled payment software was no match at all, so it had no choice but to spend $1.5 billion to acquire PayPal a few months later.
Now, with Lu Yiming's financial support and his vision that transcends his time, PayPal's development is much smoother than in its history. Not only does it not need to rush to go public for financing, it can even continue to burn money to maintain its own rapid expansion.
So far, the number of PayPal account holders has reached 19 million, with more than 380,000 transactions taking place every day, crushing many competitors.
Otherwise, Lu Yiming would not have been able to force Meg Whitman to accept the outrageous offer of US$3.5 billion.
If Meg Whitman had any way, she would never make such a choice.
But PayPal was so powerful that she tried everything she could to do nothing.
However, eBay did not actually lose money on this transaction, but made a profit instead.
On the day when Meg Whitman and Lu Yiming signed the contract, eBay's stock price skyrocketed due to its successful acquisition of PayPal. Within a few days, its market value exceeded the 29 billion US dollar mark, making technology stocks hot again and arousing the investment enthusiasm of countless American leeks.
In a villa owned by Su Zhenge in Beverly Hills, Lu Yiming looked at the newspaper in his hand with a regretful expression: "eBay's market value has increased by nearly $4 billion? This is to make back all the money I spent on buying PayPal. I lost a lot of money. I should have offered a higher price earlier."
Su Zhenge just took out a bottle of fine red wine from the wine cellar. After hearing Lu Yiming's complaints, his beard almost stood out with anger. He complained, "You, you made almost 1 billion and still feel like you lost money? Then what are me and Lao Qiao? Are we the destitute class who are so poor that we have to eat dirt every day?"
"Young man, you should be content with what you have, don't you know?"
After a few jokes, Su Zhenge pried open the cork with a "pop" sound, then poured wine for Lu Yiming, with a look of emotion on his face: "Before, I thought making movies was really profitable, but now compared with you, I suddenly feel that the box office of "Resident Evil 2" is a bit unimpressive. I worked hard for more than a year, and the box office was only one-eighth of what you would get if you sold a company, and I even had to share the money with the theaters and other shareholders."
Lu Yiming said seriously: "Ah, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten that I am also one of the shareholders of Su Qiao Pictures, so I also have a share of the box office."
When Su Zhenge heard this, his expression twisted and he said viciously, "Why do you remember this?"
The PayPal team is disbanding, and everyone decided to have a good farewell dinner.
All good things must come to an end. The partners who once started a business together have now sold the company and are about to go their separate ways to pursue their own ideals.
It was Lu Yiming who suggested having this meal. After all, in Xia Country, whether it was graduation or unemployment, in short, when a team was about to disband, they would choose to have a farewell dinner.
For those born in the 1980s and 1990s, the farewell dinner after high school graduation may be the most memorable.
In the office, everyone had a heated debate about where to have the farewell dinner.
Musk suggested: "If we are going, let's go to Manresa, the most luxurious restaurant in Silicon Valley. It is the only Michelin three-star restaurant in Silicon Valley. Since it is a farewell dinner, of course we have to be extravagant."
"I thought there was a better place to go than a big hotel," Thiel said.
Musk asked quizzically, “Is there a more luxurious hotel in Silicon Valley ?”
Thiel walked to the window sill, pointed to a burger shop across from the office, and said, "Here."
Musk followed Thiel's gaze out the window and immediately expressed his complete confusion: "Wait, we're all billionaires now, and we're going to have a burger dinner?"
However, when some people around saw that hamburger restaurant, expressions of longing and nostalgia appeared on their faces.
"Ah, I think so too. We should go here."
“That’s a good idea!”
"I think if I leave here today, I may never be able to eat a burger there again."
Musk was puzzled by the decision of these people. Lu Yiming recalled that he often missed the fried rice noodles in front of the school gate after graduating from high school, and said with a smile: "In fact, it is not an ordinary hamburger restaurant. For everyone, it represents the memory of the past."
Thiel said with emotion: "When we first started our business, we could only afford the most ordinary burgers, which cost about $4 to $5 each. The most expensive burger in the burger shop across the street cost $168, and if you paid for it, the store would give you a bottle of red wine. We often joked at the time that if we IPOed one day, we must buy the most expensive one to try and see if it was the most delicious. Now, several years have passed, and I still haven't eaten that $168 burger. I think now is my last chance to eat it."
"Yes, it's time to try it!"
"I don't want to leave with regrets. I have to go and eat it once!"
Lu Yiming looked at Musk, shrugged slightly, and said with a smile: "See, I was right, wasn't I?"
Musk laughed, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go eat a $168 burger!"
Amidst laughter and joy, the crowd rushed to the hamburger restaurant across the street.
At this moment, no matter how expensive the delicacies are, for them, they are not as good as a $168 hamburger with free wine.
Because this has been their dream for several years, and now it has finally come true.
A group of people rushed into the burger shop, and Musk shouted at the counter: "Give each of us the most expensive burger!"
The shop owner, who was wiping the table behind the counter, was stunned when he saw the crowd of people in front of him.
"Sir, you are kidding, right?"
One set meal costs 168 US dollars, and ten sets of set meals cost 1,680 US dollars. Judging from the current situation, the turnover can reach tens of thousands of dollars!
Levine was like a kid who finally had enough money to buy his favorite toy. He said to the boss arrogantly: "We want this burger for $168. Oh, and don't forget the wine!"
Seeing that the group of strange guests in front of him did not seem to be joking, the boss immediately started to get busy happily.
With so many people ordering the most expensive burgers together, today's business is even better than Christmas.
The burgers were brought to the table one after another.
I have to say that the $168 hamburger set is quite impressive. What appeared in front of Lu Yiming was a "real Big Mac" burger consisting of two double beef patties, breadcrumbs, onion rings, salad, strawberry juice and other ingredients stacked together. The finger-wide beef was fried to just the right degree, and looked fat and juicy.
While eating a hamburger, Lu Yiming asked, "What are you going to do with the money you make?"
Musk just drank a large glass of red wine and panted and said: "I want to develop the most awesome rocket and colonize Mars!"
When people around heard that Musk was going to break out of the earth, they immediately exclaimed that he was awesome.
"You are simply the light of humanity!"
“This plan sounds exciting!”
As soon as Lu Yiming heard it, he knew that the Silicon Valley Iron Man had already embarked on his own life trajectory. He immediately came to sit next to him, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Hey, buddy, if you need investment, just tell me. I'm so poor now that I only have money left. As for your rocket project, it sounds cool. Count me in!"
Musk was just talking nonsense at this time. After all, if you think about it, you will know that building rockets to colonize Mars is not very reliable.
But Musk is a person whose ideas are crazy and whose actions are even crazier. Now this crazy idea has been supported by Lu Yiming, which makes Musk even crazier. He said in surprise: "Do you think this idea is great too?"
Lu Yiming said seriously: "Of course it's great. The earth is the cradle of mankind, but people have to grow up and can't stay in the cradle forever. Our goal should be the stars and the sea!"
Musk was so excited by these two sentences that he shook Lu Yiming's hand tightly and said, "You said it very well. Our goal is the stars and the sea! The earth is our mother, and one day we will leave her embrace and grow up on our own!"
In later generations, Musk's Starlink and Tesla have been doing very well, and there are also projects such as reusable rockets and vacuum tunnels. Some of them even sound ridiculous, but in fact they have very important strategic significance, and there are even military shadows behind them. If Lu Yiming could be strongly tied to Musk before this, the benefits would be self-evident.
Then, Lu Yiming swept his eyes over the others and said expectantly, "If you have any new projects, you can come to me. Future Capital is happy to give wings to all those who have dreams."
Lu Yiming's actions made the other members of the PayPal gang become more interested.
It is said that a huge sum of money is worth buying a horse's bones. Lu Yiming is willing to invest in such outrageous projects as Musk's plan to build private rockets and colonize Mars. It is obvious that he is an investor who is "stupid and rich".
In addition to the successful cooperation case of the PayPal project, other members of the PayPal gang are also willing to continue cooperating with Lu Yiming.
Jeremy Stoppelman, an engineer who joined PayPal with Musk, said boldly: "Actually, I also have a dream."
"oh?"
Lu Yiming looked at Jeremy Stoppelman and asked with great interest: "Tell me, what is your dream?"
Jeremy Stoppelman didn't have many shares, so this time he only got $3.2 million.
However, his technical prowess is obvious to all in the team, and he is the kind of person who can definitely stand on his own.
Jeremy Stoppelman said excitedly: "I want to create a review website. In the past, when people wanted to go out for leisure, entertainment or shopping, they could only get information through newspapers, magazines or TV advertisements, or rely on word of mouth. I think these methods are too backward. The birth of the Internet has made the transmission of information more concise and efficient!"
When Lu Yiming heard the plan, he immediately became interested.
Review sites are really a great idea!
For example, Lu Yiming is well aware of the saying "Go to Dianping.com to find food and drinks".
Lu Yiming said to Jeremy Stoppelman without hesitation: "This is a great idea, you should act immediately! I will invest in you! By the way, what do you plan to name the new company?"
Jeremy Stoppelman was a little confused and frightened by Lu Yiming's enthusiasm.
After all, this idea is just a draft and has always remained in his mind. How come it came into Lu Yiming's hands and he wanted to set up a company?
Isn’t this progress a bit fast?
However, this opportunity was rare. Seeing that Lu Yiming was so optimistic about his idea, Jeremy Stoppelman was also excited. He then shouted excitedly: "I have already thought of the name of the new company. It is called Yelp!"
To be honest, Jeremy Stoppelman was actually quite nervous at this time.
But he had no idea that as soon as Lu Yiming heard the name Yelp, he had already made up his mind to invest in him.
Yelp is the most famous business review website in the United States. It covers businesses in restaurants, shopping malls, hotels, tourism and other fields. Users can rate businesses, submit reviews, and exchange shopping experiences on the Yelp website.
This is definitely a commercial project with great potential.
In fact, Yelp was successfully listed in 2012, and its market value increased from US$898 million to US$4.358 billion within two years.
"That's a really good name! Just based on your name, I think I have to invest in you! Tell me, how much start-up capital do you want?"
Jeremy Stoppelman was a little incredulous: "Are you really going to invest? Um, as for the start-up capital, I think I might need about $2 million?"
This was a number he made up casually. In fact, he had never started his own company, so he had no idea whether this new project would be successful or how much money would be needed to set up the framework.
However, Lu Yiming did not hesitate at all. He took out his checkbook, wrote a number, and said, "I'll give you four million dollars, but I want 50% of the shares of the new company. Are you willing to accept it?"
Anyone who doesn't accept this is a fool!
Jeremy Stoppelman seemed to be hit on the head by pie in the sky, and took the check for four million US dollars from Lu Yiming with a silly smile on his face.
I just casually expressed my thoughts, and I got four million dollars?
Later, from the perspective of an investor, Lu Yiming said to Jeremy Stoppelman: "I hope Yelp can have the following functions. For example, when I search for a restaurant or hotel on the website, I hope to see its brief introduction and comments from netizens. The reviewers will also give a star rating. Usually, the reviewers must be consumers who have personally experienced the service of the merchant, and the comments should be as vivid and detailed as possible."
In fact, it is the way users give feedback on Dianping.com.
This was a very pertinent suggestion. Jeremy Stoppelman immediately wrote it down carefully. After thinking about it, he praised Lu Yiming's suggestion: "Oh my God, you are much more in-depth than I thought. My previous idea was just to provide ordinary consumers with a place to share their experiences on the Internet, but I never thought about how to standardize reviews."
The benefit of standardization is naturally that it is suitable for commercial promotion.
Jeremy Stoppelman could imagine that if Lu Yiming could meet his requirements, Yelp would have a great chance of becoming a great success.
Seeing Lu Yiming chatting and laughing with Jeremy Stoppelman, and even investing four million US dollars on the spot, the others were drooling with envy.
Is it so easy to attract investment now? Just a few words can get millions of dollars of investment from Lu Yiming!
Those who were stupid were so anxious that they just pulled the people next to them to start brainstorming, hoping to spark some inspiration and get money from Lu Yiming on the spot.
Seeing Chen Shijun and Chad Hurley fiddling with their DV cameras, Lu Yiming asked, "What are you doing?"
Chen Shijun, like a shy boy, touched the back of his head shyly and said, "I am recording this scene in front of me as a precious memory."
Like Lu Yiming, he had just graduated from college, and everything he experienced at PayPal was definitely the most precious wealth in his life.
Here, he learned how to work in a team and how to start his own business.
Lu Yiming was very familiar with Chen Shijun. After all, he had often climbed over the wall to watch some hot ladies dancing those particularly energetic dances on YouTube.
Therefore, he smiled and suggested to Chen Shijun without hesitation: Steven, have you ever thought about making a video website?
"Video site!?"
Chen Shijun was stunned, because in 2003, video websites were still an unprecedented new thing.
Lu Yiming said: "That's right. For example, we can use your DV camera to record our farewell dinner and then upload it to the Internet to share the joy of our success with all Internet users ."
In the company, Chad Hurley and Jod Karim, who had the best relationship with Steve Chen, thought this was a great idea and they couldn't help but show expressions of sudden enlightenment.
"Yeah, why didn't we expect that?"
“I have to say, this idea is really cool!”
The so-called sharing of joy is actually just for showing off. After all, if you don’t return home when you are rich, it is like walking in fine clothes at night.
Pretending to be cool is the primary productive force!
Lu Yiming continued, "On the current Internet, the only way to send videos is via email. Videos sent via email will be compressed, the quality will be reduced, and the download time will be several hours. This is obviously inconvenient and cannot meet the needs of Internet users."
"I believe that once the video website is launched, it will be very popular. After all, many people are willing to share the interesting things they encounter in real life with others, or show off, and gain attention in this way."
