My Age of Investment

"Buzzing~"

On the workbench in the workshop, a motor with precise workmanship is rotating at extremely high speed, and it is also connected with dense circuits and devices.

On the industrial computer screen at the side, various experimental data collected are displayed.

Xia Jingxing and Eberhard stared at the various data on the screen.

After a while, the experiment was over.

Eberhard glanced at Xia Jingxing who had remained silent all this time, and said in a low voice, "Daren, this is our current solution. It is equipped with a two-speed gearbox with a gear ratio of 4.2:1 for the first gear and a gear ratio for the second gear. The ratio is 2.17:1, the final transmission ratio is 3.41:1, the motor is 185kW, and the battery is 53kWh..."

Xia Jingxing nodded lightly, "This gearbox should be randomly picked up by Xtrac, right?"

Eberhard smiled a bit awkwardly, "It can't be said that, they still considered Ro

Xia Jingxing smiled and said nothing, only a few top OEMs in the world can completely master the independent research and development of gearboxes, even if they are as strong as BMW, they only cooperate with ZF in the form of in-depth cooperation.

However, BMW enjoys some patents and exclusive use rights for the gearbox that BMW cooperates with ZF.

In other words, if ZF wants to sell the cooperative gearbox to other car manufacturers, it needs BMW's consent.

It is conceivable how deep the moat built by the technology of the automobile industry is, and the gearbox Tesla ordered is just a high-end product.

However, Tesla does not have the strength to develop its own gearbox.

Developed in cooperation with Xtrac, private customization is a way that looks good, but it is definitely a road of no return.

"How much money is left in the company's account?" Xia Jingxing looked at Eberhard.

"Not much, not including the customer's car reservation, we still have more than 10 million US dollars in funds."

When speaking, Eberhard intentionally avoided Xia Jingxing's eyes, and seemed a little unconfident.

If you want to rate his performance as a CEO in recent years, it is absolutely unqualified.

When the car is about to be mass-produced, there is a problem with the gearbox design, which may delay the delivery, which can easily cause a crisis of trust among customers, investors and the market.

But to support the mass production plan, it has to continue to raise financing.

At present, Tesla wants to raise funds. Once the real situation is disclosed, it will definitely not be as popular as when it released the prototype last year.

Last year’s Tesla was very beautiful. It said on Twitter that it would challenge Porsche and Ferrari, which ignited public opinion on the Internet. Countless people looked sideways at it. At the same time, they also remembered this electric car brand that paid tribute to the great scientist Tesla.

As a result, the car will not be produced this year, and the mass production schedule will be postponed infinitely.

Eberhard couldn't imagine that once the news spread, what employees would think, and how the outside world would ridicule Tesla. The most critical company valuation, I'm afraid it would be fractured.

Xia Jingxing was reviewing and thinking about Tesla's financing activities and R\u0026D expenditures in recent years.

Counting from the moment he became a shareholder, Tesla has completed three rounds of equity financing in sequence of US$7.5 million in the A round, US$13 million in the B round, and US$40 million in the C round in more than two years.

The funds of more than 60 million U.S. dollars are actually just a drop in the bucket for building cars.

But fortunately, he "guided" Straubel to come up with the battery management system more than half a year ahead of schedule, which saved a lot of useless experiments and saved time and R\u0026D costs.

But there are some things that cannot be saved, such as employee salaries, and the experimental equipment in the room in front of us.

Generally speaking, Tesla in this life has developed faster than Tesla in the previous life, and saved more research and development funds at the same stage.

After doing the math, a total of 50 million US dollars was spent. Eberhard’s previously announced 25 million US dollars to complete the mass production plan has become a complete joke.

In the previous life, Tesla burned 140 million US dollars to complete mass production and delivery, and Musk was almost bankrupt.

The backhand swept Eberhard out the door.

Among them, the place that burns the most money is the endless design and experimentation of the two-speed gearbox.

"Go and call Tarpenning, and we'll have a meeting."

After a while, Eberhard called Tarpenning.

The three walked into a conference room together.

"Guys, what's the next step?"

Xia Jingxing propped his hands on the table, bent down and watched the two of them.

Tarpenning, as the founder and an important shareholder holding 7.94% of the shares, is very aware of the company's current predicament.

He sighed and said, "Daren, the transmission problem is not fixed, Ro

"So?" Xia Jingxing continued to ask.

Tarpenning glanced at Eberhard first, and after a round of eye contact with the latter, he slowly said: "So, we are going to conduct a new round of financing. I know there will be many problems, but we have no choice .”

"Daren, we have come to this point. No matter how hard it is, we must persevere and not fall one meter before the finish line."

Eberhard also spoke. He clenched his fists tightly and said very excitedly: "As long as we complete another round of financing with a scale of no less than 40 million US dollars, I am confident to solve the gearbox problem."

Xia Jingxing felt that this guy was better at fooling around than Ma Yun, at least all the bullshit he boasted about in the early years has come true, how about you? Want to bankrupt me too?

However, he and Musk are not on the same level. He is not afraid of cheating two money, but he is afraid of delaying mass production and delivery.

"You just go for financing like this. We have a problem with the gearbox. You quickly invest 40 million in Tesla. I can complete mass production next year, and the company can go public the next year?"

Xia Jingxing's sarcasm made the two of them feel uncomfortable.

Eberhard's face was flushed, and his breathing became short of breath.

Tarpenning was frowning, and he seemed to have returned to the time when he was desperate more than two years ago, when Tesla's road ahead was also in a fog.

"But if there is no financing, is there any other way?" Eberhard looked straight at Xia Jingxing.

"Investment institutions are not stupid. Tesla's dilemma cannot be hidden from them, and the valuation will suffer a lot."

Xia Jingxing's tone was calm, as if he was stating something irrelevant to him.

Eberhard spread his hands, "Then there is no other way, it is better to suffer a little loss on the equity than to lose the company, right?

In fact, as long as the company is successful, it doesn't matter if my stake drops to single digits. "

Xia Jingxing nodded slightly, with a pensive expression on his face.

Eberhard's shareholding is twice as large as that of Tarpenning, and currently holds 15.87% of Tesla's shares, making him the second largest shareholder of the company besides him.

"Daren, don't pay too much attention to the dilution of equity. In the final analysis, the equity is valuable only when the project is completed, otherwise it is a piece of waste paper."

Speaking of this, Eberhard paused, "Of course, I want to apologize to you here. I underestimated the difficulty of manufacturing electric vehicles, which caused you to invest so much money, and you may lose all your money."

Xia Jingxing waved his hand, "These are not important. Electric vehicles are a disruptive industry. If it was so easy to succeed, GM would not have given up."

Looking at Eberhard, Xia Jingxing said again: "Are you really sure about the gearbox?"

"Daren, don't worry, I have been in the industry for so long, and I still have some confidence in this. Even if I work an extra year, I will definitely come up with a satisfactory solution after working hard on this old bone."

As soon as Eberhard finished speaking, Tarpenning followed him and said: "Yes, there are still too few tests and verifications, like our battery management system, isn't it just tested bit by bit? "

Xia Jingxing smiled, thinking that he really knew how to give examples.

"Okay, since you guys are so confident, then I won't say anything more, let's start the D round of financing as soon as possible!"

After getting Xia Jingxing's statement, the two looked at each other and laughed. It seems that they found the right investor, Dai Lun is really a sensible person.

"I'm afraid the D round of financing will not go well, you have to be mentally prepared."

Staring at the two of them, Xia Jingxing reminded them first, then smiled and said, "If the most difficult and unsatisfactory situation arises, you can ask me to help.

I had promised to invest $84 million in Tesla, but now I have only invested $29.633 million.

Integrity is the most important quality of being a human being, and my promise is still valid.

Go ahead and do it, and I'll cover you both. "

"Daren, thank you!"

Eberhard smiled at Xia Jingxing, and heaved a sigh of relief. He had some dissatisfaction with Xia Jingxing, but it disappeared.

He didn't forget Xia Jingxing's promise, but he didn't know what Xia Jingxing was thinking, so he pretended he had forgotten it and didn't say it.

Now that Xia Jingxing took the initiative to mention it, how could he not feel good about it.

Tarpenning bumped fists with Xia Jingxing, "Dai Lun, meeting you is definitely the greatest luck in our lives!"

Xia Jingxing laughed out loud, he is just so helpful, he is not worthy of praise.

"However, I still want to put some ugly words in front. I trust you, but you have to be worthy of this trust, because it is a credit card with a limit!"

Eberhard nodded sharply, "Daeron, I understand, this time there will never be an uncontrollable situation again."

"Okay, let's stop here today. In the evening, call the key employees and the management team. Let's have a meal together and cheer everyone up. The D round of financing is coming soon. We can't mess up the morale of the army."

This is also a way for Xia Jingxing to bond with each other. Every time he comes to Tesla, he will pay for the employees to eat.

Because of this, everyone in the company likes the chairman who seldom shows up but spends a lot of money.