My Age of Investment

  Chapter 733 Long-term strategic goals

  On the second day after Xia Jingxing left, Ricky, the head of Vision Capital's US VC Fund, came to Tesla on behalf of the company and reached a D-round financing framework agreement with Eberhard and Tarpening.

  Afterwards, Tesla once again called the shareholders together, and everyone opened an internal meeting.

  "Vision Capital will invest 50 million US dollars in Tesla based on the pre-investment valuation of 200 million US dollars. Do you have any objections to this? If not, then we will officially start signing the investment agreement."

  Xia Jingxing sits first at the long table. He is Tesla’s chairman and top decision maker, so he will preside over today’s important meeting.

   After all, he glanced at the shareholders sitting in two rows and began to ask everyone for their opinions.

  Shareholders all have a scale in their hearts, and they feel that this valuation cannot be regarded as the advantage of prospective capital to Tesla.

  On the contrary, it is true that Tesla begged for a bargain.

  Everyone knows very well that if the financing negotiations are dragged on, Tesla will not be able to afford it, and the management and other shareholders will definitely compromise with Envision Capital.

  But Xia Jingxing did not take advantage of the danger, and behaved very openly and grandiosely.

  In fact, it is impossible to squeeze out a few taels of oil and water, because Xia Jingxing already holds nearly half of the equity, and he will also bear half of the loss in the depressed valuation.

  Compared to this small profit, we still have to focus on the overall situation.

  Anyway, his goal of holding shares has been achieved. This is the most important thing.

  Next, the shareholders expressed their opinions in turn, all of which agreed and praised Vision’s capital.

  Only Antonio’s mouth was broken. He grinned and said, “Darren, you have a good chance to hunt down!

  If it were not for you to have an agreement with the company first, the value equity capital would like to invest a little. "

   "It's okay! If you have an idea, I can give you half of the investment."

  Xia Jingxing looked at Antonio with a smile, and the little book in her heart had silently remembered this person's name.

   "Really?" Antonio looked happy.

   "I didn't make a joke with you, anyway, I haven't signed the contract yet, it's too late."

  Xia Jingxing didn’t know if Antonio was testing himself. He acted very freely and carelessly about Tesla’s equity.

  Antonio watched Xia Jingxing for a long time, but he didn't see anything, which made him feel a little regretful.

  After leaving the cafe that day, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

  Xia Jingxing and his investment funds have invested in Tesla for three consecutive rounds. When Tesla was still a small workshop, he fell in love with this company, how could he give up lightly.

  However, he was also a little uncertain whether Xia Jingxing was trying to catch it or was really bound by the agreement.

  If I don’t understand, he simply doesn’t want to buy it, so he will buy it. The valuation of $200 million is not considered a low sale of shares.

  If the valuation is reduced to 150 million US dollars, 100 million US dollars, he has to follow whatever he says.

   After thinking it through, Antonio waved his hand, "Forget it, I'll talk about it later if I have a chance!"

  Xia Jingxing has basically determined that Antonio is testing himself, and his heart is very dangerous. It seems that his acting skills still need to be sharpened, and he is almost seen as tricky.

  All of these investors are human spirits. This time he missed it. If he wants to buy the bottom in the future, there are not many opportunities.

  No shareholders raised objections, and the Tesla Series D financing agreement was formally signed.

  After the financing is completed, Xia Jingxing’s personal shareholding will be diluted to 21.34%;

  Lichun Fund 10.16%;

  Rainwater Fund 2.54%;

  Vernal Equinox Fund 25.33%;

  Vision Capital’s three VC funds collectively hold 38.03% of the shares, making Tesla the largest shareholder in nominal terms.

  But the three VC funds are all funds provided by Xia Jingxing alone, and there is no external fundraising. In fact, they are still left-handed and right-handed.

  If the various shareholding platforms are combined, he controls 59.37% of Tesla's shares in total, occupying the company's controlling position for the first time.

  …………

  …………

  After signing the D-round financing agreement, Tesla disclosed it to the public as soon as possible, eliminating the rumors that it was about to close down.

  But people’s new doubts are coming again. This car maker, even the brakes can’t be built well, can it build a mass-produced car? Can it be delivered normally? Invest only when you are blind.

  After seeing that the investor is Envision Capital, the media and many people who watch the excitement understand that this is deeply stuck.

  For a time, ridicules such as "Dairy Lun's eyes are gone", "Dairy Lun made money with luck, and lost money with strength", etc., spread like wildfire in Silicon Valley.

  Everyone is ready to watch Xia Jingxing’s jokes to see how much he will fall.

  There are also media and philanthropists teasing: "The rate of return of Envision Capital’s fund in this period will probably be ugly. Darren saved Tesla, but he could not save Envision Capital, or he took the two companies and fell into the pit together.

  Once the trust of LP is lost, fundraising will become extremely difficult in the future, and venture capital funds cannot raise funds and become a tiger without minions. "

  Tesla has gone from a small workshop to today, and the outside world has never stopped questioning this Silicon Valley car manufacturer.

  Only when we successfully built a prototype car last year and challenged Ferrari and Porsche, I was praised for their courage and gave some people a new understanding of electric vehicles.

  But now the bad news is one by one. Even if Tesla completes the D round of financing, it is a waste of money in many people's eyes.

  The remarks that electric cars are a pseudo-business model and that electric cars are toy cars and look like goods are beginning to rise again.

  Tesla company ignored these comments from the outside world, and devoted all of its thoughts to the design of the single-speed gearbox, because actual action is the most powerful weapon to break the rumors.

  However, worrying about the instability of the company's internal people, Xia Jingxing, after discussing with Eberhard and Tarpening, announced the company's collective holiday for a day, and then organized all employees to rent a yacht to go out to sea for team building.

  It is not only to celebrate the company's successful completion of the D round of financing, but also to boost morale and show employees the company's strength.

Fisherman's Wharf.

  The employees happily boarded a yacht, and went away with each department as a unit.

  Xia Jingxing and seven or eight senior executives from companies including Eberhard, Tarpening, Straubel, Bodicevsky, and Lanes boarded the same yacht.

  On the deck, Eberhard wears a straw hat, sunglasses, colorful shirts and shorts, and is very fashionable.

  He leaned on the sofa, holding a wine glass, looking at the endless coastline in the distance, and took a sip, looking intoxicated.

   "Salty, it smells of the sea! I haven't smelled it for a long time!"

  The people on the deck, including Xia Jingxing, couldn't help laughing.

  Blue sky and white clouds, clear sky, boating on the sea, blowing the sea breeze, drinking whiskey with ice cubes, I have to say it is a kind of enjoyment.

  In this environment, everyone naturally forgets the pressure of work and enjoys the moment.

  The yacht floated on the sea for several hours, when it started to return.

  Xia Jingxing broke through: “I shouldn’t have mentioned work today, but now the party is about to end. I have something to say to everyone.”

  Hearing this, the slightly drunk people suddenly became energetic.

  Straubel even straightened up, looking at Xia Jingxing intently.

  ***Brother claims to be Xia Jingxing's confidant, so his attitude is especially correct.

  Others performed much worse, sitting on the sofa crookedly.

  The cultures of the East and the West are different, and Xia Jingxing doesn’t bother to correct these minor details if he is not in the company.

   "After Roadster completes the delivery, have you thought about the next development?"

   Xia Jingxing scanned the crowd, “An Anxin is a small but compelling supercar company? Sell more electric supercars?”

  Eberhard smiled and said: "Daren, we haven't even completed the delivery of the first Roadster yet, so let's talk about the future after delivery. Is it a little earlier?"

   "It's not early!"

  Xia Jingxing knew what Eberhard meant, who was still worrying about the single-speed gearbox.

  Thinking about it, he looked at Eberhard and said: “I believe you will find the perfect solution to the gearbox problem.

  After this difficulty is overcome, Tesla should strive for a higher goal. "

  Eberhard felt that Xia Jingxing was too optimistic, but who made him a major shareholder, so he nodded in agreement, smiled and said, “Yes, after completing this goal, Tesla has no plans for follow-up.”

  "I told you and Tarpening before that just creating an electric supercar is not enough to become a mature car company, nor is it enough to subvert the existing car industry.

  From the perspective of long-term development, we must continue to push down the manufacturing cost of electric vehicles, so that electric vehicles truly become the future trend. "

  Tapening remembered, Darren had told them about it, but at that time even the prototype hadn’t been built, so he didn’t dare to expect so long-term.

  Now mass production is about to be delivered, after the last difficulty is a new world.

   Then what do you do?

  To be honest, he was a little confused.

  Xia Jingxing looked at the mid-level and senior executives of Straubel and other companies, and continued: “If Tesla wants to become a truly great company, its current achievements are far from enough.

   Even if you sell thousands of supercars a year, what can it do? How many supercars do you think are profitable? "

  Everyone began to ponder. They had different reasons for joining Tesla, but they basically had one thing in common. They loved this business, felt cool, and thought about changing the world.

  They feel that the boss is right. If only a few thousand supercars are sold a year, it is a question of whether the company can continue to operate for a long time, and it will not have a huge influence in the technology sector.

   Is this what they desire and pursue? It is too small and not cool enough.

  "To truly disrupt the auto industry, we must establish a long-term strategic goal and strive for it!"

  Xia Jingxing stood up and said, “The supercar is only our first model. Next, we have to start to develop the second model, which is the first model that we independently designed and developed in the true sense.”

  (End of this chapter)