Reinventing the Millennium

Negotiated a price and had a drink.

The host and guest enjoyed themselves and made their own plans.

Ma Huateng didn't bargain to the death, and Fang Zhuo didn't insist on holding on to a certain price.

Friends.com has an open attitude and is willing to accept various possibilities. Penguin has Liu Chiping, who has a former Goldman Sachs background, as the liaison.

After such a night, Fang Zhuo slept soundly, Penguin's core executives talked late at night, and investors from Friends Network also had some contact.

The next morning, everything was calm, but Penguin was still talking about coming to Beijing.

However, in the afternoon, when Ma Huateng and his friends continued the conversation, they unexpectedly discovered that Mr. Fang was not present.

"Mr. Fang went to see the leaders to report on the development of ice cores. Friends.com is willing to have more exchanges with Penguin on cooperation." Wang Xing of Friends.com is neither humble nor overbearing.

Penguin executives exchanged glances, and some were slightly dissatisfied. They all felt that although Wang Xing was the founder of Friends.com, he obviously could not make the decision on this matter.

IDG's Xiong Xiaoge said with a smile: "President Fang said he was too valuable, so today I am killing myself."

Zeng Liqing, who is in charge of Penguin Dating Network, sighed slightly: "The price of Friends Network is indeed too high."

Penguin President Liu Chiping suddenly asked: "Where is Mr. Xu? He's not here this afternoon?"

The number of people in the conference room was no less than yesterday, but two heavyweights, Mr. Fang and Xu Kaiwei from Goldman Sachs, were not present.

Xiong Xiaoge said tactfully: "Mr. Xu went to pick up foreign guests in the afternoon."

Liu Chiping smiled and said: "Foreign guests? It can't be Facebook, right?"

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said nothing.

Liu Chiping had communicated with Xu Kaiwei on the phone in the morning, but he didn't hear him mention this matter. His emotions were a bit complicated. Now that Penguin has arrived in the capital, in addition to strictly guarding the communication field, he is naturally willing to promote the development of his own dating network through acquisitions. .

If Facebook is really allowed to enter the country through Friends Network, Dating Network will undoubtedly have a strong competitor.

The atmosphere in the bright conference room was a bit dull.

Wang Xing and Zeng Liqing had a friendly exchange on the development of domestic acquaintance socialization.

However, both of them noticed that everyone present was slightly absent-minded.

They are not worried, and they understand that many key factors are off the court.

In the evening, the procedural negotiations between Friends Network and Dating Network came to an end, and everyone in the conference room breathed a sigh of relief.

There are still differences in price. Penguin increased the price to 850 million on the basis of yesterday, and Friends.com successively reduced the price to 1.75 billion. There is still a big psychological gap between the two sides.

Ma Huateng did not comment on the purchase price, but after shaking hands with Wang Xing, he invited Xiong Xiaoge: "Mr. Xiong, let's have dinner together tonight."

He knows that President Xiong and President Fang have always been close, and Penguin and IDG also have a close relationship.

"I have no problem, but I'm afraid Mr. Fang won't be able to come." Xiong Xiaoge said the main thing first.

This is not something that Mr. Fang has to figure out, but it is a real temporary change. He has to have dinner with his boss at night, so he is not sure whether he can attend to support the Facebook team.

Ma Huateng said with a smile: "I know Mr. Fang can definitely see our sincerity. It's okay if he can't come because of something. As long as he can feel our willingness to talk, that's fine."

He continued to talk about the news that had been confirmed by Liu Chiping in the middle of the meeting: "Anyway, selling to Facebook is a sale. Can't we sell it because Penguin and Friends have competed in the past?"

Xiong Xiaoge nodded and said: "That's definitely not the case. Since Mr. Ma said it so openly, in fact, for Friends.com and Mr. Wang, the situation is now very clear. Selling to Penguin is a sale, and of course selling to Facebook is also a sale. Of course, it depends on who is more sincere and who can better manage the user group of Good Friends."

Ma Huateng nodded slightly, but he actually didn't believe that Facebook could offer such a high price.

After repeated discussions last night and this morning, and with some data support, their current psychological expectation is between 700 million and 1.11 billion, and they also believe that it is a relatively appropriate and even somewhat premium price.

He shook hands with Xiong Xiaoge and said with a smile: "Okay, Mr. Fang is not going to have a good time today. I will treat everyone to authentic seafood and fish rice tonight."

Xiong Xiaoge agreed again.

In the evening, the seafood, fish and rice that Penguin Ma invited to eat were fragrant, but Fang Zhuozhen did not show up. Instead, Goldman Sachs Xu Kaiwei, whom he had not seen in the afternoon, showed up.

During the dinner, Liu Chiping asked again about FB. Xu Kaiwei did not shy away and mentioned that FB senior vice president Pittman and important investor Thiel were involved.

As a former Goldman Sachs employee, Liu Chiping pays close attention to Facebook, a company that becomes a giant once it goes public, in his spare time. He knows that Thiel is indeed the "important investor" claimed by Mr. Xu. He participated in the investment before Facebook changed its name. Board member, also has a close relationship with Zuckerberg.

Led by Thiel and Pittman, FB's acquisition intention is indeed not low.

When Xiong Xiaoge participated in the discussion, she mentioned something about Mr. Fang: "Mr. Fang said that when foreigners come to do business in China, the most important thing is localization. Companies like eBay and Amazon have made mistakes. If Friends.com really succeeds in negotiating Yes, I must remind you."

Everyone laughed. Penguin and Tesco both benefited from the failure of localization by foreign giants.

After finishing a delicious seafood and fish meal, the two parties chatted again, and it was a bit late.

However, Friends.com waved goodbye to Penguin and immediately drove to the venue and headed to Mr. Fang's location.

The Facebook team arrived. Fang Zhuo couldn't have dinner because he was communicating with his leaders about his views on the domestic semiconductor industry, so he chose to have a late-night dinner, which was convenient for his foreign friends because of the jet lag.

Eleven o'clock at night.

Xiong Xiaoge, Wang Fengyi, Xu Kaiwei, and Wang Xing arrived at the late-night snack restaurant.

Fang Zhuo had been chatting happily for a while. When he saw his friends, he immediately said enthusiastically: "Come on, come on, take a seat. I'm waiting for you. Try the chef's seafood and fish rice."

A group of people who had just eaten all-you-can-eat seafood and fish rice: "?"

Fang Zhuo smiled and introduced each other to each other. This was an exchange with foreign colleagues.

Because there is no substantial competition, the atmosphere of late-night snacks is very relaxed and enjoyable.

Investor Thiel probably did his homework before coming. He said in Chinese "If you don't visit the Great Wall, you are not a hero", which made everyone laugh.

When the supper was over, Fang Zhuo was unambiguous and directly talked about the purpose of inviting the other party this time, and then Wang Xing introduced the development of Friends Network in China.

Pittman and Thiel from Facebook both listened attentively and occasionally asked a few targeted questions.

Wang Xing gave the answers one by one.

Both Pittman and Saul seemed satisfied with the answer.

Finally, Pitman gave an offer from Facebook-95 million US dollars, which is almost 750 million Chinese coins.

This price tag is even lower than Penguin’s 850 million.

Of course, neither side will be the final transaction price, but Facebook’s price makes everyone on the friends network faintly disappointed.

Fang Zhuo did not discuss the informal bid at a late-night snack, but just looked forward to the prospects: "Whether it is acquisition or cooperation, there are many possibilities for mutual benefit between Facebook and Friends. This depends on the increasingly rapid development of China Internet." The speed of development also depends on China’s potentially huge user base.”

Pittman agrees.

At nearly one o'clock in the morning, Facebook's team returned to the hotel to rest.

The people on the friend network did not disperse, but instead served tea again.

"Mr. Fang?" Xiong Xiaoge handed over a cigarette.

"He quit a long time ago." Wang Fengyi on the side yawned, somewhat admiring himself for having to talk about business so late.

Fang Zhuo waved his hand and commented on the offer from Facebook: "Fb can't even compare to Penguin. Sure enough, the unlisted company is Chesou."

Xu Kaiwei of Goldman Sachs laughed: "I feel that there is not much room for Facebook to negotiate, maybe 1 billion at most."

Wang Fengyi said: "With a price tag of 2 billion reported to Penguin, I always feel that 1 billion is too much of a loss."

Fang Zhuo complained: "You have to blame me for raising your expectations?"

Several investors smiled and said nothing.

At this time, Wang Xing, the founder of Friends Network, was struggling and said: "If the prices of Facebook and Penguin are not high..."

The investor's smile faded slightly, and he could hear what Wang Xing meant, but now that the conversation has begun, are you still thinking about continuing to compete with Penguin? The premise for such an experience is that the friend network can no longer keep up with the traffic flow of the dating network.

"It's not that Friends.com can't continue to raise funds." Fang Zhuo said.

Wang Xing held his breath and concentrated, knowing that there was more to come, and also knew that his words were probably the last discussion with Mr. Fang about the friend network.

"I'm not afraid of money-burning competition, and neither are Mr. Xiong and the others. The problem is that Friends.com's competitors are not afraid either. Moreover, the competition between Friends.com and Penguin is increasingly being dragged into the areas it is good at." Fang Zhuo said seriously. , "In the past six months, we have burned money, we have launched farms, we have launched competition for parking spaces, and we have tried our best to build community culture."

"But apart from the community and cultural atmosphere, Penguin can keep up with everything else. This is very unexplainable."

"Let's talk about this community culture. It is actually a very good website feature. However, Mr. Wang, with the jump from campus + workplace to national social networking, you should also feel that the community culture has been impacted and the user growth rate has dropped."

"How to solve this problem? I still don't see an effective way."

"On the contrary, the popularity of games such as farming has concealed the problem in disguise."

"Friends.com is a social product for campus + workplace. Its user stickiness is normal. But if it is a social product for all people, its user stickiness is precious. However, this stickiness will inevitably change with the changes in the national attributes. reduce."

"It is difficult for Penguin to realize this change because they introduced traffic pools prematurely in order to compete with us. Their pseudo-real-name system did not encounter this problem at all."

"We are unlikely to be able to deal with the changes and challenges encountered by Friends Network slowly. It is better to take advantage of the precious community culture and sell it at a high price."

In the final analysis, it is a thrilling leap from campus + workplace to the national stage. Friends.com has now jumped into the air. It is a state of "you can't judge that I have failed the jump". On the contrary, it seems to have a perfect start and good jumping posture, and it is suspected that there is hope to reach it. The other side.

Wang Xing met Mr. Fang's gaze and couldn't answer.

Friends.com has given up on commercial profit attempts and has been in the stage of burning money and user base. It is really the pressure from Penguin’s dating network.

However, burning money is not a panacea. Putting aside the wishes of several investment institutions, as Mr. Fang said, Friends.com’s insistence on the real-name system has gradually encountered challenges, and there is a vague feeling of being unable to do what it wants.

It still seems lively, people are stealing food, people are fighting for parking spaces, and people are sharing their lives, but behind the scenes, there is a bad trend in user portrait analysis and group activity analysis.

Is it possible to go from campus to workplace to the whole nation?

There is still a possibility of success.

But will your strong competitors give you time to get through?

King Xing is under a lot of pressure.

He was silent for a while and sighed quietly: "I wish I could pay users to register."

Xiong Xiaoge smacked her lips for two seconds: "Coupons, that's what Tesco does."

Tesco can do this, and the cost of discounts can be shared with suppliers, but what can Friends.com coupons be used for?

Wang Xing's courageous struggle fell silent again.

Fang Zhuo continued to think.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

When someone started to smoke a second cigarette, Xiong Xiaoge took a sip of tea, moistened his throat and coughed.

Fang Zhuo looked at Lao Xiong, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Xiong Xiaoge put the tea cup on the table and said seriously: "Mr. Fang, why don't you take everyone to make another cup!"

Fang Zhuo was stunned, huh?

Xu Kaiwei also said: "The price offered by Facebook and Penguin is so low. Since Mr. Wang doesn't want to sell it, let's just follow Mr. Fang's wishes. With our strong troops and horses, we will rush into Penguin's communication field to see how good it is."

Fang Zhuo: "..."

Wang Fengyi cheered up and put out the smoke.

Fang Zhuo looked at the head of Shenxin Science and Technology and said with a smile: "Come on, let's hear what Penguin's shareholders think?"

Wang Fengyi's passion is boiling over, so he first sells Penguin shares and then builds PC communications!

However, he suddenly changed his mind and thought that this was what Lao Xiong and the others thought.

Wang Fengyi took a breath, lit a cigarette again, and said steadily: "Mr. Fang, do you think everyone can rush?"

Xiong Xiaoge glanced sideways and continued to look at Mr. Fang.

This matter has high risks, high returns, and high investment. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't want to do it. However, if it were Mr. Fang... Mr. Xu just said it well, a strong army and a strong horse!

"Benefit Xunxun, ah no, Xun Xin." Fang Zhuo was amused, he took a lick of his mouth, and cursed with a smile, "Okay, you people deserve to be plotted!"

Wang Fengyi understood and sighed: "Mr. Xiong, I have said long ago that investment should not be driven by profit."

Xiong Xiaoge ignored Wang Fenggou and complained: "Have you spoken out what's on your mind? You are the one who has the most powerful plot against us!"

He reiterated his meaning at the end: "Penguin's traffic is indeed strong. Let's not say defeat it. Let's take a piece of the pie from here and build a software with acquaintance socialization + communication attributes. The future is also very good."

"What about my mobile phone? Are you giving up halfway?" Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "Old Xiong, human energy is limited. I am grateful to God that I can make a good mobile phone this time."

Xiong Xiaoge just wrote "The Importance of Yike Mobile Phone" on Zhihu a while ago. If I think about it carefully, it is also true that if the mobile phone fails, the future of Yike Company will be very bad, so Mr. Fang should give up the phone in his hands. It is indeed difficult for the project to turn to high-risk competition.

Since Mr. Fang doesn't want to lead the charge with his brothers, that's it, that's all.

Xiong Xiaoge thought about Penguin's overbearing traffic style, and finally felt a little regretful, sighing: "Penguin is supreme, traffic slays the dragon."

Xu Kaiwei took it naturally: "No one dares to disobey the orders given to the world."

Wang Fengyi understood this and sighed: "If Mr. Fang doesn't come out, who can compete with him?"

After the three people finished speaking, they looked at Wang Xing again.

Wang Xing was stunned for a moment. After all, he was not very good at this trick. He just nodded vigorously: "Yeah!"

"Go away, go away, all go away. You will be with me on Facebook tomorrow. I will continue to go to the leaders to ask for funds for semiconductors." Fang Zhuo said angrily, "If we can't agree on the price, we can't agree on the Spring Festival. If we can’t decide it now, we’ll continue it after the Spring Festival. We’ll fight while we talk, and we’ll fight while we talk.”

He then said to Xu Kaiwei, the key figure this time: "Mr. Xu will give me another blow. If we can't talk this time, let Penguin prepare to see us launch the communication software in April."

April!

For a moment, several people were stunned, not quite sure how to expect the negotiation to go.

…

The next day, February 15, there were only three days left before the Spring Festival.

I talked to Penguin on Friends.com in the morning and Facebook in the afternoon. All three parties were very calm.

However, FB has slightly raised the price. Considering China's huge market, it is willing to acquire Friends.com for an integer equivalent to 1 billion Huaxia coins.

Wang Xing, Xiong Xiaoge and others still did not let go.

In the evening, Fang Zhuo, who came in a hurry, had a conversation with Facebook in the conference room and only raised the price to US$140 million, which was about 1.1 billion Chinese coins.

Then, no matter how he talked about the market value and development prospects, FB's Pittman and Saul were unwilling to raise the price. This was already the highest price they could offer after contacting Zuckerberg.

"Hey, Mr. Fang, if you still have ideas about the price, you can talk to Zuckerberg directly when you get to the United States." Thiel actually wanted to increase the price, but the upper limit was what the United States meant.

Fang Zhuo is absolutely dissatisfied with 1.1 billion.

But he was not too disappointed. Instead, he introduced everyone in the conference room to the Facebook team one by one and said: "Pittman, Thiel, as you can see, there are both great company teams and many people here." Excellent investment team, if Facebook needs financing in the future, we can also be considered. As for this acquisition, I will go to the United States after the Spring Festival."

Thiel was stunned and laughed. Facebook no longer needs financing.

Fang Zhuo also laughed. He didn't know what Facebook's current financial situation was, but HSBC had been hit hard and the market would not be good in the future. Maybe?

The substantive contact between Friends.com and Facebook has ended. The latter is not unsincere, but when the two sides have major differences, multiple rounds of negotiations are the norm.

As the Spring Festival approaches, Pitman, Thiel and others readily accept Mr. Fang's arrangement, allowing them to go to the Great Wall to be heroes.

On the other hand, although Penguin has been maintaining communication with Liu Chiping and Xu Kaiwei, they have not fully accepted Goldman Sachs' rhetoric.

However, none of them, including Ma Huateng, left the capital.

Fang Zhuo didn't know whether the penguins were competing for patience. The Spring Festival was very close, and he, Wang Xing, Xiong Xiaoge and others were prepared that there would be no further progress before the year.

On February 16, Fang Zhuo, who had not seen Penguin for several days, once again attended the meeting between Friends.com and Penguin.

"Pony, you also know that people from Facebook are in the capital. I won't hide it from you. The price there is not what we expected, but it is already higher than Penguin's."

"I will go to Silicon Valley after the year and continue to stay at Yike's R\u0026D center. I have made an appointment with Zuckerberg to discuss it then."

"As for the competition and cooperation between Dating Network and Friends Network, I believe there is still room for discussion in the future."

"Now, let's have a good New Year. I will fly back to apply tomorrow afternoon."

Fang Zhuo knew that this was the last meeting between Friends.com and Penguin before the year, and he didn’t want to waste time doing this again.

Ma Huateng was still not in a hurry. After a short discussion, he concluded the last meeting with a price of 1.2 billion.

Obviously, there was no agreement.

Both parties shook hands politely and gracefully.

That night, Liu Chiping called Xu Kaiwei and wanted to have another dinner for chatting.

However, Xu Kaiwei said clearly and briefly: "No need, Mr. Fang has decided not to talk anymore. We will talk about it after the year."

Liu Chiping heard some other meanings from the other party's tone: "Mr. Xu, what do you mean by whether we can talk after the new year? Didn't you say during the day that the Chinese New Year is now and time is too tight, so we can talk after the new year at work?"

Xu Kaiwei hesitated for a few seconds and revealed the news: "Mr. Fang has basically agreed on the same opinion. Let's try the communication software on the social networking site first and see the effect before we talk."

He added: "Even if the effect is not good, you can sell it to Facebook if you want to. The Chinese market is very attractive to them."

It’s Chinese New Year!

No more talk!

I’ll be on the newsletter after the year and let’s see the results!

If not, there is an alternative on Facebook!

What if... it works well?

Liu Chiping did not dare to ensure the authenticity of the news, and still discussed it with the Penguin Five.

What kind of new version will it be, a software that takes into account both social networking and communication, created by a real-name social product?

The six of them, Ma Huateng, Xu Chenye, Zeng Liqing, Zhang Zhidong, Chen Yidan and Liu Chiping, had a heated discussion, and it was really difficult to reach consensus.

vote.

Xu, Zeng and Liu agreed with the premium acquisition.

Zhang and Chen objected.

"Pony, it's up to you." Xu Chenye said.

If it’s 3:3, then we’ll see and talk after the year.

If it's 4:2, then don't have long nights and dreams.

Ma Huateng pondered for a long time, still unable to guess whether Fang was interested in the communications field.

He thought about this matter and this person over and over, thinking about the other person's style and method of doing things, and said slowly: "I'll call Mr. Fang and make the last bid. If he sells it, he will sell it, and if he doesn't sell it, he will fight."

Although Penguin strictly defends the communication field, it is definitely the overlord.

If Mr. Fang wants to try, come on.

Ma Huateng dialed Mr. Fang's phone number and asked directly: "Mr. Fang, will you sell Friends.com for 1.5 billion?"

"Ultimatum?" Fang Zhuo asked with a smile.

Ma Huateng asked, "Isn't Mr. Fang giving us an ultimatum?"

"Can't we talk? I took the initiative to cut off the first 2 billion, so my name can't be worth anything?" Fang Zhuo said.

Ma Huateng said succinctly: "Mr. Fang, let's just look at the project itself, not the people."

Fang Zhuo said slowly: "The fixed price is 1.55 billion. If it doesn't work, forget it. See you on the project after the year."

Ma Huateng felt stifled in his heart. He said he was going to bid for the last time, but he had already paid out 15. Is there still 0.5 left? This Mr. Fang...

He was silent for five seconds and then compromised: "Okay, since it's Mr. Fang who said it, then that's the number."

"No, Pony, it's not me. It's the Friends Network project that's talking. We only look at the project and don't talk about the people." Fang Zhuo was unwilling to talk about it. He repeated Ma Huateng's words and said, "We only talk about business and not about friendship. "

"1.55 billion." Ma Huateng finalized, "See you tomorrow."

Fang Zhuo ended the call, that's it, he was worthy of the big guy.

Socializing with acquaintances is too difficult, and PC communication is too difficult.

Only look at projects but not people, only talk about business but not friendship.

Sina, Alang, let’s socialize with strangers.

I made up for the last update on Saturday, and today’s update is made up for yesterday.

Last month we actually updated 10,000 words more than usual, and this month we planned to update 20,000 words more, so we won’t owe anything like monthly tickets and extra updates.