My Age of Investment

  Chapter 732 Betting Direction

  A few days later.

  Xia Jingxing received a call from Peter Thiel.

  The other party came up and asked: "Darren, what's the situation with Tesla? Why do you want to develop a gearbox?"

  Xia Jingxing did not answer the question, and asked, "Eberhard did they ask you for financing?"

   "Yeah! Not only did it find me, now all Silicon Valley knows that Tesla is going to raise a D round."

  Xia Jingxing faintly replied: "Well, there is such a thing."

   "Hey, why have you been in circles with me! I want to ask you something!"

  Xia Jingxing sighed, “Hey, yes, the gearbox has to be re-developed, the original design is a bit problematic.”

   "Sure enough!"

   Peter Thiel on the other end of the phone said to himself: “Let’s just say, Tesla has received so many car orders, and mass production is about to be delivered. It’s definitely a problem when it comes to financing at this point.”

   "Well, the gearbox is a little problematic, but it has little effect."

  Peter Thiel smiled, "Daren, are you sure the problem is not big? How can I hear people say that Tesla will never be able to mass-produce?"

   "Who said this? Rumors, absolutely rumors!"

  Xia Jingxing's performance is very indignant, which is very in line with the personality of Tesla's major shareholder.

   "Hey, Darren, it's our relationship, if you continue acting, it will be boring."

  Xia Jingxing was silent for more than ten seconds before saying: "Okay, just the friendship between us, I won't hide it from you..."

  On the phone, Xia Jingxing briefly talked about Tesla's plight.

  After listening, Peter Thiel slowly said: "Man, I sympathize with you a little bit. The investment of tens of millions of dollars may be completely wiped out."

   "It's not necessarily true. As long as it can obtain new financing, Tesla can still be saved."

  Peter Tell laughed loudly, "Daren, stop teasing, there are no fools in Silicon Valley, and it's impossible for anyone to throw money into the fire.

  Let me put it this way, now the entire Silicon Valley knows that Tesla has a big problem.

  Connectivity has not made an electric car project by such giants, not to mention Tesla, a small start-up company.

  In short, if you want to open a little bit, stop the loss early! There are still so many good projects in the world, there is no need to spend on Tesla all the time. "

   "Okay, I get it!"

   chatted a few more words, Xia Jingxing hung up the phone.

   Leaning on the chair, he began to think.

  Peter Thiel is not the first investor to call him.

  Before this product, there are already no less than seven or eight investors calling him.

What are you doing?

  Without exception, it is all about the real situation of Tesla.

  Now all investment institutions are questioning Tesla, questioning the structure of the car, questioning the funding situation...

  There are even gossips spreading around, saying that existing shareholders have abandoned Tesla, and this start-up car company may go bankrupt...

  In this case, Tesla can successfully raise capital, and there is a ghost.

  After a while, Xia Jingxing received a call from Eberhard.

  "Daren, we really can't do anything, we need your help..."

   "Okay, I'll be at the company right away."

  Hang up, Xia Jingxing hurried to Tesla.

  After arriving at the company, he pushed open the door of the meeting room and walked in.

  As soon as I entered the room, I saw Eberhard and Tarpening sitting in chairs, both unkempt, tired and listless.

   "What's wrong? This is?" Xia Jingxing asked knowingly.

   "Daren, sit down!"

   Eberhard weakly pointed to the empty seat opposite.

After sitting down, Xia Jingxing observed the two of them.

  Everyone’s eyes are full of bloodshot eyes, and there is a sense of decay all over the body, and they don’t know what they have encountered these days.

   "Daren, we failed!"

  Tapening looked at Xia Jingxing, with a frustrated tone, “No investment institution is optimistic about Tesla. They either call us back and wait for the news, or they call us liars...”

  Xia Jingxing listened calmly. It is normal to suffer from a blank eye, but it is abnormal if he does not suffer.

   "Daren, we really did our best."

  Eberhard looked at Xia Jingxing and said sincerely: "We originally wanted to introduce new shareholders to reduce your investment risk.

  But the people outside are so ignorant that they don’t understand electric cars at all. "

  Xia Jingxing nodded, "Okay, I know, I expected all of these things.

  In fact, this is normal. Venture capital is more icing on the cake and less charcoal in the snow.

  I heard that employees are a little emotionally unstable, what's the matter? "

  Speaking of this, Eberhard was out of anger.

   "It's not that the media are spreading rumors, saying that our technology research and development encounters unsolvable problems, financing failures, and we are about to close down. Paying wages next month will be a problem..."

  Tappening added: “In addition, I found that there are people who are taking rhythm on social media and maliciously sing us badly. I seriously suspect that Nicholas’s people are doing the ghost.”

   "Nicholas?"

  Xia Jingxing frowned and asked, "Musk came to make trouble? Their company hasn't even released the prototype car, so come to join in the fun?"

  Tapening replied: “He has a deep hostility towards Tesla. In the past two years, he has not stopped digging our employees. He once sent people to our original workshop to hang around.

  He doesn’t focus on product research and development, he just thinks about these crooked ways in one day. I think Nicholas will finish playing sooner or later. "

  Xia Jingxing nodded.

  After Musk failed to invest in Tesla, he was unwilling to die, and he came up with a Nikola, which means nothing to do with Tesla.

  But because there is no technical foundation, Nikola's research and development progress is very slow. Nowadays, even the prototype car has not been successfully developed, and Tesla is temporarily not a threat.

  Xia Jingxing said: "Okay, let's not mention him. Within the company, you must stabilize your military spirit and don't be distracted by rumors."

  Eberhard nodded, "I know this, so we decided to ask you for help instead of seeking outside financing.

  If we continue to look for investment everywhere, the media will definitely blackmail us. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled: "Well, I see, how much do you plan to raise funds?"

  Eberhard and Tarpening looked at each other, the former compared five fingers: "50 million dollars."

"no problem."

  After speaking, Xia Jingxing stared at the two of them, "How is the valuation calculated?"

  The two fell silent.

After a while, Eberhard gritted his teeth and asked tentatively: "How about $300 million?"

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said nothing. Last year, Tesla's valuation after completing the C round of financing was $200 million.

  If there is no such thing as a gearbox, $300 million is definitely cheap.

  But today is different. There are investment institutions outside that value Tesla at zero dollars, which is worthless.

  Eberhard is now offering him 300 million U.S. dollars, which is really unclear.

  Tapenning explained: “Dylan, after all, it has been a year since the last round of financing. If the valuation does not rise a little bit, the shareholders will not be able to explain it.”

  Xia Jingxing still did not speak. He had promised to invest, but he did not promise how much to value.

Eberhard sighed slightly in his heart, and then said in an almost imploring tone: "Daren, due to the existence of the ratchet clause, if the valuation is less than 200 million US dollars, our management and your former shareholders of the C round need to compensate together. Losses for shareholders who entered the C round."

Tarpening also looked at Xia Jingxing eagerly, and kept complaining: "Yes, Dai Lun, we don't have much equity. If we dilute the D round of financing, and then compensate the C shareholders, there may only be one or two left. A little bit."

  Xia Jingxing said, it’s my shit.

   However, after all, he still didn't do everything, leaving a little leeway.

   "Well then, I will suffer a little loss, and at a valuation of $200 million, I will invest $50 million in Tesla.

  Although the valuation has not risen, you don’t have to be backed by the ratchet clause. "

   Hearing this, Eberhard and Tarpening breathed a sigh of relief, that this valuation just reached their psychological tolerance bottom line.

   "Okay, let's use this estimate."

  For fear that Xia Jingxing would go back, Eberhard quickly agreed.

   "Before investing, I also have a condition."

  Xia Jingxing's words made the hearts of the two hang up again.

  "Stop developing two-speed gearboxes, and make full efforts to develop single-speed gearboxes first." Looking at the two, Xia Jingxing said these words firmly.

"Why?"

  Eberhard looked at Xia Jingxing very incomprehensibly.

   "Because time can't be delayed, do you still want to face the current situation again if you delay it?"

Eberhard was silent for a moment, "Dylan, the single-speed gearbox has a big defect and will sacrifice the performance of the car. The customer spent $100,000 and bought back a household grocery cart. Then our brand is completely It's over."

  Xia Jingxing resolutely said: "Then you should think of more methods on the power of the motor. The gearbox must not be touched now, that is not something we can afford."

  Eberhard frowned, "But..."

   Xia Jingxing interrupted, “No, there is no precedent for electric vehicles. Everything depends on our own exploration.

  Single-speed gearboxes are much simpler. If this solution still doesn’t work, then we can think of a way.

  The primary task now is to deliver the car to the customer on time and defend the Tesla brand. "

  Eberhard still wants to continue arguing, Tarpening has already kicked him under the table.

  Looking at Xia Jingxing, Eberhard stopped talking, and finally sighed, "Well, I hope I can bet right this time."

  "Buy it! Now that you have made your choice, you have to persevere and waver, and you will only lose a lot in the end."

  After speaking, Xia Jingxing got up and prepared to leave.

  Eberhard understands what Xia Jingxing means. This is to let him devote himself to the development of single-speed gearboxes, not half-hearted.

  He looked at Xia Jingxing's back very solemnly, and said: "Dalun, I will definitely cherish this opportunity."

  Xia Jingxing's footsteps stopped for a while, and after making an "OK" gesture, he strode away with a meteor.

  (End of this chapter)