Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 749 The So-Called Value
The significance of Silicon Valley to Palo Alto is roughly the same as that of Zhongguancun to Beijing.
It’s just that the former is not on the same level as the latter, either in terms of status or influence.
In this area where the population does not even exceed 100,000, there is not only Silicon Valley, but also a world-famous university, Stanford University.
It can be said that the reason why Silicon Valley was born here is because Stanford University is located here. After all, this is an inexhaustible treasure trove of talents.
This is why the Palo Alto area has become one of the most expensive areas in the United States.
Even in America, a country with a vast land and sparse population where one can buy a big villa for free, the price of the villa naturally depends on where it is located.
A place like Palo Alto, if rounded off in China, would be considered a "school district house" [funny], so how can the housing prices not be expensive?
Ahem, just kidding. The main reason is that this place is the gathering place of young wealthy people in Silicon Valley. Most of the well-known technology companies are basically located here.
From hardware to software, it has everything, so this place is also a national high-tech center with considerable strategic value.
However, these are obviously not the main reasons why Mr. Duan settled here. After all, the time when he chose to retire from China and start settling on the other side of the ocean...
It was when the Internet bubble burst, in that cold winter that swept the Internet. Some of today's world Internet giants had not even been officially born.
The reason why Mr. Duan chose to settle here is more because it is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a typical Mediterranean climate, warm winters and cool summers, and pleasant seasons all year round.
Living here is enough to satisfy most people's fantasies about the capital elite class. After all, this is where the largest number of billionaires gather in the United States.
When the car drove into the small town of Palo Alto, a familiar sign happened to pass by the car window.
Zhou Dongsheng turned around and saw a sign that looked like a "T" shape, which was very familiar to most people.
"Tesla? This is a good project." Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but mutter.
For a speculation enthusiast, Zhou Dongsheng's only concern is naturally the rate of return on investment, nothing else.
From this perspective alone, the return on investment for this project is much higher than that of Apple.
After all, Apple has already become a behemoth today, and it is obviously not an easy task to achieve several times the growth.
But in comparison, it is much easier for Tesla to achieve tenfold growth.
The former has already received attention from the market, and the market will not underestimate such a company. In the eyes of most investors, this is a project that is sure to make money.
Under this consensus, it is naturally not an easy thing to make a profit from it. The only way is to use the concept of "value investment" to hold it for the long term and let your wallet grow together with the company.
This is value investing.
As for the latter, although it is already a new company with a market value of over 10 billion US dollars, it is a trend-setter that can set off waves of waves around the world in the future...
There is no doubt that this trend-setter is now greatly underestimated by the entire market, and the valuation of "merely" nearly 30 billion US dollars is far from the end of this stock.
After all, for this trendsetter, perhaps only the "sea of stars" is the end.
Thinking of this, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but feel moved. Even though the market value was only 30 billion US dollars, Zhou Dongsheng had already missed the opportunity to become its investor.
Perhaps only those who "lose everything" have such a chance, but capital alone is obviously not the decisive factor in becoming an investor.
After all, at this level, the value of some scarce resources is often difficult for capital to quantify. Even if it is forcibly quantified, there is no market for it.
However, the primary market is definitely unable to catch up, but going to the secondary market to "save the country in a roundabout way" is still a better choice.
Even if it is the US stock market, it is still the stock market, and no matter how things change, they remain essentially the same...
It was just a return to his old job, but Zhou Dongsheng was no longer the same person as before, so even if he returned to his old job, he wouldn't need to be in charge of it himself...
Just as Zhou Dongsheng was distracted, the car had turned into a tree-lined avenue with tall and dense trees on both sides and lush greenery dotted with flowers.
Although not far from the bustling Silicon Valley, it gives people a sense of tranquility away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and there is a bit of the pleasure of "stealing a half day of leisure from the busy life".
The distance between villas is also very wide, and each household has ample personal space to use. Apart from anything else, the living conditions are indeed very superior.
Zhou Dongsheng seemed to have put himself into Mr. Duan's perspective. He traveled across the ocean to come here 20 years ago and fell in love with this kind of life at first sight, so he left his hometown and settled down here with his family.
In addition to the contrast in life, perhaps it is also closely related to the historical background at that time.
Zhou Dongsheng declined to comment on historical issues left over from the past. After all, everyone has the freedom to make their own choices, and having choices is better than having no choices at all.
Soon, the car stopped outside a courtyard gate, and an old man with silver hair but vigorous spirit was standing there with a smile on his face.
Who else could it be except Duan Yongping?
As soon as the car stopped, Zhou Dongsheng got out of the car flattered and hurriedly went to greet him, "How can this kid be worthy of the trouble of Mr. Duan to greet him in person? It's really embarrassing for me..."
"Well, I'm not old. It's said that it's a great pleasure to have friends from afar . It's enough that your friend still cares about me, a retired old man, when he travels across the ocean for the first time..."
Old Duan smiled happily and waved his hand indifferently. Then he glanced behind Zhou Dongsheng and looked at Lu Sifang and Li Jiana.
"My two capable men, this time I came to America, in addition to visiting Mr. Duan, I was thinking of doing some overseas investment to practice, just as a way to learn from you..."
Zhou Dongsheng acted like a junior and acted nicely in front of Mr. Duan. After all, Mr. Duan was already sixty years old and had long passed the age of knowing the destiny of heaven.
In front of this big man who has been in the military for half his life and has seen the ups and downs of life, Zhou Dongsheng feels that he is indeed a junior.
After all, the life experiences of my two lifetimes combined are less than sixty years in terms of years, let alone other things.
Zhou Dongsheng's two lives may not be as eventful as others' half-life, so he naturally has no idea of being arrogant.
"Oh? Then I will charge you for it." Mr. Duan joked seriously.
"Hey, Mr. Duan, what are you talking about? What do you mean by charging a fee? This is a gift from me to show my filial piety to you!" Zhou Dongsheng said with a grin.
Apart from anything else, what he said made Mr. Duan smile happily, and the huge courtyard was filled with a happy atmosphere.
This may be one of the main reasons why Mr. Duan has always liked dealing with young people. After all, at his age, he is inevitably a little decadent, and the youthful vigor can better offset it.
"Old Duan, what kind of guests have come to make you so happy? I haven't heard you laugh so happily in some days ..."
At this time, a woman with a calm temperament and a gentle smile walked out of the house. At first glance, it seemed that time had only left the precipitation of years, but not too many traces of carving.
Although she is plain-looking, she exudes the unique charm of an intellectual beauty. When such a woman appears here, her identity is naturally obvious.
Who else could it be other than the hostess here?
"Hey, wife! This is the young man Dongsheng that I always talk to you about!" Duan Yongping's smile became even brighter when he saw the person coming.
He immediately put Zhou Dongsheng out of his mind, walked forward and hugged his wife, looking so proud and satisfied, like a winner in life.
"Hello, Master's Wife! I often hear Master Duan talking about you, and I have longed for your story of a divine couple. Today I finally get to see you in person!"
Zhou Dongsheng suddenly had an idea and immediately decided to strike while the enemy was at it, without changing his expression. If Huang Zheng was here, he would probably be amazed.
Duan Yongping smiled cheerfully and did not deny it. Liu Xin smiled slightly and stretched out his hand to shake Zhou Dongsheng's. "Old Duan often said that there is a young man who is very interesting. It is true when I see him today."
"Please come in, don't stand outside."
Then he invited everyone to go inside. Needless to say, the layout of the house was completely European and American style from the 1980s and 1990s, but there were many objects from China dotted in it, highlighting the identity of the owner.
"Both children are away, so usually it's just me and Old Duan who are here to enjoy our retirement. Your arrival makes the place lively, so why not stay and make it more lively for a few days..."
Liu Xin greeted warmly.
"Okay, this is just right for us to save some accommodation costs. I'll go back and check out of the hotel later. I'll stay here for ten days or half a month. I hope my master's wife doesn't mind!" Zhou Dongsheng said carelessly.
At the same time, he sat on the sofa with his arms and legs spread out, as if he was at home and at ease. Lu Sifang and Li Jiana were stunned. Wow, is their boss so friendly?
You know what, even at this age, Mr. Duan still falls for this kind of thing. After getting used to the hypocritical courtesy and so-called aristocratic etiquette, he actually likes Zhou Dongsheng's personality more.
Perhaps it was because they liked each other that they had this seemingly unrelated friendship.
Liu Xin smiled slightly, turned around and played her part as a hostess to prepare tea for the guests.
After chatting for a while, Duan Yongping asked with a smile: "You just said you want to invest overseas? Do you have a goal?"
Since Zhou Dongsheng has already shamelessly called her master's wife, it is only natural for me to pay a little attention to the career of my "disciple".
“Yes, it has been going on for a while. I wonder if Mr. Duan knows about Bitcoin?” Zhou Dongsheng perked up and took the lead in asking.
Unexpectedly, when Duan Yongping heard this, his brows couldn't help but frown.
“Is this the overseas investment project you are talking about?”
At Duan Yongping's level, it is obviously easy to do something like "not showing emotions on one's face".
The fact that he expressed his thoughts so openly shows that he thinks this investment has no value at all.
After all, there is obviously no need to hide anything in front of a junior like Zhou Dongsheng.
Zhou Dongsheng had anticipated this. After all, Mr. Duan is a staunch supporter of "value investing", which is one of the reasons why he is compared with Buffett.
After bidding for the lunch with Buffett, Duan Lao once bluntly stated in an interview: The reason why he spent money to bid for the lunch with Buffett was simply because he agreed with the concept of value investing and wanted to support it.
As for what Buffett said, he basically already knew it all and didn't need to accept his "teachings".
What runs counter to the concept of value investing is pure speculation. After all, in the eyes of the former, this is no different from gambling with no technical content at all.
Although Bitcoin was born during the financial crisis and has lofty ambitions, this cannot change the fact that it has no "value" in itself.
It is called currency, but it has no credit endorsement. Under the so-called "decentralization", such a market will naturally become a pure carnival for speculators.
Isn't this gambling or something?
Although investment involves an element of gambling, I believe that no investor would simply think of himself as a gambler.
"Of course not all of them. This is just one part of it. However, I have limited funds. I am just trying this aspect for now. I may consider trying the U.S. stock market in the future."
Zhou Dongsheng said readily.
“Do you think this kind of digital currency has a future? In my opinion, it has no value at all. It is purely based on the market’s frenzy. Once there is any disturbance, it may vanish in an instant.”
"Other investments might still leave a pile of waste paper, but this thing doesn't even have any waste paper left!"
Mr. Duan said earnestly.
The basis of value investing is value itself, but this logic does not work when applied to virtual currency.
Because the value of virtual currency itself is like Schrödinger's cat, in a wavering quantum state. It has value when the market needs it, and it has no value when the market does not need it.
And no organization will endorse its value, which is the so-called "decentralization".
This is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages of Bitcoin. There is no issuing agency and no one can completely control it.
To a certain extent, its existence is completely neutral and it is an absolute third party.
However, in traditional financial concepts, currency without an issuer is worthless!
And obviously, this is also the case in the eyes of traditional investors like Mr. Duan.
However, sometimes the market’s performance is often counterintuitive. It is precisely because the general public does not agree with it and the vast majority of people believe that it is impossible that it provides it with sufficient “value” to stand on its own.
"Mr. Duan, disagreement and non-recognition are themselves a kind of value!" Zhou Dongsheng said meaningfully as if he had sensed something.
