"Zhou, you are as young as I was when I started my business." Jerry Yang, also known as Jerry Yang.
An inescapable figure in the early development of the Internet, the founder of Yahoo.
There were many investors who found Zhou Xin, and the group of Internet fund investors on Wall Street pounced on him like hyenas that smelled the scent.
This group of people was basically rejected by Zhou Xin.
Mainly I still don’t understand.
When you first start a business, of course you are open to investment. The most important thing at this stage is to develop the company.
But when Riot Games reaches its current size, money is no longer the most important thing.
This time is equivalent to the D or E round of financing for an ordinary Internet startup.
It has its own hematopoietic ability.
The company co-owned by Zhou Xin, Ashley and Stephen was renamed Flamingo Games.
And the electronic community continues to own the Riot Games name.
Most of the current Internet companies rely on bragging to make a big pie, and they have no ability to make blood.
Even so, these companies can be listed on Nasdaq.
For Internet companies like Riot Games, which have found their own profit model, from the perspective of investors, they can start operations and go public directly with just one investment.
Is there a more perfect unicorn company than this?
As for Yang Zhiyuan, Yang Zhiyuan contacted Zhou Xin through Hu Zhengming, and Zhou Xin was also very curious about Yang Zhiyuan.
Although Yahoo gradually declined during the development of the Internet, it is currently very popular.
"Haha, Mr. Gates said something similar when I had dinner with him before.
It seems that most Internet people were young when they started their businesses.
After all, the Internet is a brand new thing. "
"Yes, the Internet will change the world, I have never doubted that.
Yahoo changed the way people received information. Previously, people would get information through newspapers and magazines.
And now people are starting to get information through Yahoo.
Likewise, you are changing an industry.
Although the video game industry has a long history, in the past they had a large number of offline links.
From the production of game cartridges to game distribution to the final game in the hands of players.
This large series of links need to be implemented offline, and you have broken the entire chain.
The right to evaluate a game lies in the hands of print media.
Players' opinions on the game are scattered on various large and small forums.
There is no one thing that consolidates these opinions and gives a suggestion to players who have not bought this game yet.
But in Riot Electronics Community, all this has changed.
Players express their opinions on games through electronic communities, and game publishers can collect players' opinions through electronic communities.
Electronic communities themselves can publish games.
All this forms a complete closed loop.
This is the best Internet product I have seen this year.
If Chenming hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you were his student. "
Hu Zhengming and Yang Zhiyuan are also from Wanwan, and both work in the Los Angeles area. It is normal for the two of them to know each other.
“I was studying at Yanda, and Professor Hu discovered my talent and brought me to Los Angeles.
If he hadn't brought me to Los Angeles, I wouldn't have discovered my talent in Internet products. "This is more false than true.
In the eyes of outsiders, there is no fake part.
Internet people in Silicon Valley don’t think China has any Internet industry. They copy products from Silicon Valley in China.
They have not yet been defeated by the Chinese Internet people on a frontal battlefield. Only when they are defeated many times in the future will they realize that China also has a local Internet industry.
"Chenming is the most powerful professor at Berkeley in the field of integrated circuits in recent years.
He all thinks that you are extremely talented, and it seems that you also have a strong talent in the field of integrated circuits. "
After the two sides exchanged a lot of pleasantries, Yang Zhiyuan's main purpose was exposed.
“I want to acquire Riot Games, and I can give it a valuation of about $300 million.
If you let it, this will be the largest acquisition in the entire Silicon Valley this year. "
Zhou Xin could probably guess Yang Zhiyuan's purpose without the other party having to tell him.
After arriving in 1998, Zhou Xin still maintained his efficiency in information collection. He went from having only a rough impression of Silicon Valley in this era to now having a thorough understanding of the current situation in Silicon Valley.
After its market value exceeded US$4 billion, Yahoo has maintained a high degree of aggressiveness in the capital market. It recently acquired Yoyodyne Entertainment, an Internet direct sales company.
Last year they acquired Four11.
With Yahoo's size, it can indeed afford so much money.
Jerry Yang is right. So far, the largest acquisition in Silicon Valley comes from ICQ, the earliest instant messaging software that QQ "learned" from.
AOL spent $287 million to acquire ICQ.
But the price Yang Zhiyuan was willing to offer exceeded Zhou Xin's imagination.
Riot Games currently has a turnover of less than 10 million, and the other party is willing to offer 300 million US dollars.
Zhou Xin asked: “The price exceeded my expectations.
Although I won't sell, I still want to ask why you are willing to offer such a high price? "
“Because Riot Games is worth it.
It has more than 200,000 paying users, and these paying users are still growing.
This price is not set casually.
Before we come to talk to you, we have already asked a business valuation company to conduct relevant investigations.
The user stickiness and willingness to pay in the Riot Electronics community are currently the best among all online forums.
Video games have been a high-growth industry since their invention.
Last year, video game sales totaled $4 billion.
Even if only one-third of video games are released through Riot Games in the future, the market value of Riot Games will be comparable to that of Yahoo.
Therefore, $300 million in angel investment is not expensive in my opinion.
Of course, you haven't reached that step yet. It will take time for you to build that form, and you will face many competitors.
Even if you don't accept Yahoo's acquisition, Yahoo will set up its own gaming forum.
If you are willing to sell to Yahoo, then Yahoo’s brand plus the existing inventory advantage of Riot Electronics Community, we are invincible in this field.
Three hundred million US dollars, 95% of the shares, and you will retain 5% of the shares.
You can consider this five percent stake to be owned by Riot Games, or converted into Yahoo shares at a valuation of $300 million.
Think about it.
No one can offer a higher price than Yahoo! "
Yang Zhiyuan impressed Zhou Xin with his sincerity.
"At US$500 million, Microsoft's price is definitely the most sincere!"
The next day, Zhou Xin went to Seattle to meet Bill Gates. After Bill Gates heard the price offered by Jerry Yang, he raised the price by 60% without thinking.
