Back to 80: My Literary Life

Investment? !

The couple looked at each other and were immediately ecstatic.

I was short of money for starting a business, and someone actually delivered it to me!

"Mr. Fang, wait a minute, I'll get you my business plan." Bezos immediately went to the garage.

"Don't bother, just tell me briefly." Fang Minghua said.

Bezos briefly talked about the original intention of creating the website and the commercial benefits contained in it.

"Mr. Fang, most physical bookstores in the United States have an annual inventory turnover rate of only 2.7 times, but my Amazon can do 20 times! This can greatly improve the capital turnover rate. This data is not fabricated. You can go to the Book Publishing Association to check it out!" Bezos added at last.

"No, I just bought a bookstore called Ashley press in San Francisco. I have read the previous financial statements of the publishing house. The annual inventory turnover rate of the bookstore is only 1.5 times." Fang Minghua laughed.

"You bought a publishing house?!"

The couple looked at each other and saw each other's fear.

Rich man.

Bezos continued to speak, and Fang Minghua nodded repeatedly.

To be honest, what Bezos said about business innovation sounded common to future generations.

What customer experience, focusing on long-term users to increase user stickiness, price discounts. But now is the 1990s, the early stage of the Internet economy!

It must be said that this bald guy with a smile on his face not only has a good hand in technology, but also has a forward-looking business vision.

After Bezos finished speaking, Fang Minghua asked: "Mr. Bezos, how much money do you plan to raise in total?"

"1 million US dollars."

"Oh, then how much is your website worth now?" Fang Minghua asked again.

Bezos immediately looked at his wife MacKenzie - she is the accountant of the website, specializing in finance.

"Mr. Fang." MacKenzie did not have the enthusiasm of fans looking at stars just now, she became calm and pondered for a while.

She hesitated a little.

MacKenzie studied finance, and after valuation, she believed that the business value of the Amazon website founded by her husband and herself should be around 6 million.

But this data has scared away several investors - a small website that has been losing money is worth 6 million US dollars?

Are you crazy about money?

So she decided to be conservative and not scare away the rich man in front of her.

"Mr. Fang, according to our valuation, Amazon has a certain commercial value, and the valuation is about 4 million."

4 million

Fang Minghua pondered for a moment: "So, Mr. Bezos, how about I invest 2 million and get 50% of your company's equity?"

Oops

That's too low!

The couple looked at each other and read each other's eyes.

Of course they didn't want 50% of the shares, so they would lose their position as the largest shareholder of the website!

After bargaining, Fang Minghua finally invested 2 million US dollars to obtain 38% of the shares of Amazon, becoming the second largest shareholder after the Bezos.

The two parties immediately signed the investment contract, and Fang Minghua called Li Li and asked her to transfer 2 million US dollars to the bank's fund account of Amazon immediately.

Both parties were happy.

For this reason, the Bezos couple also specially invited Fang Minghua to dinner at home. MacKenzie cooked a delicious steak for him and brought a bottle of champagne to congratulate him.

During the dinner, Bezos looked at Fang Minghua with a glass of wine: "Mr. Fang, I have a question."

"Oh, you say."

"You are a writer, you own a physical bookstore, and you are not short of funds. Why don't you build an online bookstore yourself? Just like Barnes \u0026 Noble." Bezos raised his own question.

Barnes \u0026 Noble is a bookstore with a long history, older than Simon and Random House. It was founded in 1873 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993.

Unlike book publishing companies such as Simon and Random House: Barnes \u0026 Noble also created an online bookstore on the Internet - mainly selling books published by its own company, so Bezos asked this question again.

Hearing her husband ask this question, MacKenzie also looked at Fang Minghua, and she also wanted to know the answer.

Fang Minghua played with the champagne glass in his hand and smiled, saying: "It's very simple. Barnes \u0026 Noble's online bookstore is just an extension of traditional bookstores on the Internet. I am not interested in this business model. I prefer Amazon's model, which is the real Internet economy."

"And I am lazy and dislike trouble. Also, I am more optimistic about you, Mr. Bezos."

"Thank you." "It is of course a happy thing to be optimistic about investors.

"No more talking, you work hard, the website is ready to go public." Fang Minghua said at last.

"Don't worry, Mr. Fang, the listing issue is already in my plan, and I will provide you with a detailed listing plan soon."

"OK, let's have a toast." Fang Minghua raised his glass.

The three glasses clinked together.

Fang Minghua did not stay in Seattle for long, and flew back to San Francisco that night.

Li Li drove to the airport to pick him up.

On the way home, Fang Minghua told Li Li the details of the westward process of investing in Amazon in Seattle.

Li Li was surprised to hear it.

"For just a website, 2 million US dollars can only get 38% of the shares?"

"Haha, don't underestimate it, Lili, you can also invest. It's cheap now, but it will become more and more expensive later." Fang Minghua said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'm not as rich as you. I'll invest 200,000 yuan." Li Li said.

"Only 200,000 yuan? I'll give you some and strive to become the third largest shareholder of the website." Fang Minghua said.

But Li Li refused.

"No. I can't take your money. Your money will be of great use in the future. I can't spend it carelessly."

Investment is not spending money carelessly.

However, seeing Li Li's determination, Fang Minghua said no more.

As Fang Minghua expected, a year later, Amazon was listed on NASDAQ. Before the listing, it received the largest investment, 8 million US dollars from KPCB (Kleiner Perkins Caufield \u0026 Byers), a well-known American investment company. At this time, Amazon's valuation had reached more than 60 million US dollars, but it only exchanged for 13% of Amazon's equity.

Fang Minghua's affairs in the United States were all done, and he was completely free. In addition to writing, he also went out for a walk.

He also went to San Francisco State University to meet Howard Goldblatt and his wife, famous sinologists. It was Howard Goldblatt who introduced Li Li to San Francisco to teach.

He, Li Li, and some colleagues formed a team to translate outstanding contemporary Chinese literary works.

Time soon arrived on December 25th. Today is Christmas, the most important festival in Western society.

Li Li has been on vacation. She got up early this morning and packed her luggage. She and Fang Minghua have already discussed and prepared to spend the holiday in New York.

Of course, the most important thing is to go to Times Square to watch the advertisements on the MiFi big screen standing in the square.