After setting the financing amount and signing the contract, He Zhengcheng also needed to raise funds for himself, but it was difficult to get this money from Shanhai Capital. In fact, Shanhai Capital's money had already been invested.
Left with no choice, he had to sell stocks. Between eBay and Yahoo, he hesitated for a long time and finally chose Yahoo. He held no positions at Yahoo, but he had considerable influence at eBay, effectively acting as a director for eBay in place of Ji Jiasheng.
Coincidentally, just as he needed to cash out, Yahoo's stock price suddenly shot up, exceeding 400 US dollars. The next day, Yahoo opened higher, and he sold all 40,000 shares of Yahoo stock at an average price of 435 US dollars.
After repaying the financing funds and interest, he had 13.5 million US dollars left. After using 4.5 million US dollars for this financing, he still had 9 million US dollars.
At this time, he did not want the money to sit idle. Through Jensen Huang's communication and coordination, he obtained the right to purchase 500,000 new shares of Nvidia. Of course, this was not due to his charm, but because he promised not to reduce his holdings within three years and also entrusted the stock voting rights to him, similar to cornerstone investors in Hong Kong stocks. This accounted for about 2.6 percent of Nvidia's total shares.
He did not know the pros and cons of doing this, but with Nvidia's market value of two to three hundred million US dollars, even if this investment was a complete loss, he would not feel bad. However, if Jensen Huang's inner strength exploded and he could repeat the glorious achievements from his memory, that would be an unexpected surprise.
He also did not know the IPO price, so all 9 million US dollars remained in a securities account at a certain investment bank.
Speaking of which, Nvidia was quite pitiful at this time. A formidable chip company only had a market value of two to three hundred million US dollars, even less than many unlisted internet companies. Perhaps in half a year, Overture could surpass this market value.
Nvidia planned to issue a total of 3.5 million new shares this time, and the financing amount was not much more than Overture's current financing. The poor leather-jacketed man (Note: Jensen Huang's wife bought him a leather jacket when their family was not well off, and he was very touched at the time and still is now, so you understand... a good man!) was not as good as a reserved man like him.
"You guys are really efficient!" After He Zhengcheng finished dealing with the stock transactions, he quickly received a call from KPCB. They had three to five candidates and wanted to see if any were suitable.
"Of course, we always prioritize efficiency!" Middleton Bell replied. He was the person directly responsible for Overture's affairs at KPCB and might become a member of Overture's board of directors.
"Who are they?" He Zhengcheng did not say much and went straight to reviewing the resumes.
"Huh!" He almost exclaimed. Fortunately, after several months of training, he managed to remain composed.
"What's with this person? Didn't he start his own company? Can we really poach the founder of a startup?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"I was originally responsible for his company's financing request, but I rejected it. I saw little value in his business model; the costs were too high. However, this person is very talented, and he left a deep impression on me," Middleton Bell explained.
"Is that so? If we're satisfied, would he agree?" He Zhengcheng inquired.
"We could acquire his company and give him shares," Middleton Bell suggested.
"..." He Zhengcheng suddenly understood a lot, still worried about these kids.
"We can give it a try. Let's take them one by one. Can we arrange meetings with the others?" He Zhengcheng did not object, as it was best to decide after meeting them in person.
"Of course, no problem," Middleton Bell affirmed.
Within a few days, on the day Nvidia went public, he finally met that entrepreneur, the one who surprised him so much.
By the way, Nvidia's IPO price was 12 US dollars. With 500,000 new shares, it cost 6 million US dollars, leaving him with about 3 million. Nvidia's market value, calculated at the issue price, was approximately 230 million US dollars. However, the stock price rose by 65 percent on that day, bringing the market value to 380 million US dollars. This shows that even when the NASDAQ bubble was rampant, not every company succeeded. Niche products like graphics cards were typical victims, lacking market enthusiasm.
"Hello, Hastings!" He Zhengcheng met another Silicon Valley legend with excitement.
"Hello, Christopher!" Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, the future king of streaming, who at its peak accounted for one-fifth of global broadband network traffic.
Unfortunately, at this time, he was only offering DVD rental services via the internet, competing with Blockbuster, which had stores across America.
He had no experience in assessing capabilities. Regardless of how many talented people there were, He Zhengcheng knew that if he had the opportunity to bring Hastings into Overture, he would not miss it, even if he might lose control of Overture due to Hastings' excellence.
After a wide-ranging conversation, they discussed everything from the future of the internet world to the future of humanity, from science to philosophy. The knowledgeable otaku, unhindered by social awkwardness, fully utilized his extensive knowledge, discussing everything from American democracy to social organizations and social enterprises, from the rise of Daxia Country to the energy crisis, and from the energy crisis to new energy... "Are you interested in having Netflix join the Overture family? We can create a great venture together. You would be the CEO of the new company, responsible for daily management, and I would be responsible for coordinating the board of directors," He Zhengcheng suddenly interrupted the conversation and extended an invitation.
"What?" Hastings was not an unknown figure. He had previously founded a software company called Pure Software, which went public in 1996 and was later acquired by Rational Software for approximately 600 million US dollars.
Unfortunately, he was not satisfied with his performance as CEO. Hastings, who had repeatedly asked to step down, was appointed Chief Technology Officer by the new company, but he quickly chose to resign and start a new venture, perhaps having developed an interest in management.
"Overture, what kind of company is it?" Hastings asked.
"Our company has a very popular software called Music Player, which currently has about twenty million users," He Zhengcheng replied.
"The software that can download pirated music?" Hastings asked.
"We are preparing to transition into a digital music store with long-term plans. The most crucial part is to leverage the changes brought by technological progress to society, and quickly find our position in industries like music and film as they adapt to the internet society. This is a very challenging endeavor," He Zhengcheng explained.
"What kind of company are you?" Hastings inquired.
"We are a technology company, then an internet company, and finally an entertainment media company. I want to build Overture into a learning organization that can maintain its innovative capabilities long-term. However, the prerequisite is to find a suitable CEO..." He Zhengcheng stated.
"You trust me that much?" Hastings asked.
"Trust takes time. Our conversation just now made me feel that we will be very good partners. If our philosophies are similar, why shouldn't we try to cooperate?" He Zhengcheng said.
Netflix was just a small, struggling company at this point. After more than a year of development, its subscriber count was only around thirty to forty thousand.
How much potential did a company like Overture have? Which of the two companies had a brighter future? He truly didn't know. However, thinking about the future of Netflix, he decided to trust Hastings!
"Let's talk more!" Hastings suggested.
"Alright!" He Zhengcheng responded. Interest was good; the worst was a lack of interest.