Reborn Russia As An Oligarch

Sergey secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Wang Ye didn't blame him.

He said sincerely: "In terms of business, of course I'm still far behind you. Can you please tell me what Facebook should do next to quickly and effectively open overseas markets?"

This is not flattering Wang Ye, but Sergey's sincere admiration, because Wang Ye's achievements in business are indeed beyond the imagination of ordinary people!

In terms of technology, Sergey can surpass Wang Ye by a few steps, but in terms of business operations, he and Wang Ye are not at the same level at all.

You can understand this if you look at the many giant group companies under Wangye.

Coupled with Wang Ye's special status, his understanding of overseas markets is definitely far beyond what Sergey can compare with. Because of this, Sergey really wants to get effective advice from Wang Ye.

He now has some doubts about his own company management ability...

Wang Ye smiled slightly and said calmly: "This is what I am going to say next, and it is also what I plan to discuss at the shareholders' meeting, to introduce new strategic partners to facilitate our expansion of overseas markets!"

Sergey was a little confused. He remembered that Wang Ye had just said that he would start a new round of financing and introduce new strategic investors. Why was he now a strategic collaborator?

Is there any difference between these two words, and what does the introduction of new partners have to do with expanding overseas markets?

Knowing that Sergey didn't understand much about this, Wang Ye patiently explained:

“Facebook is different from ordinary Internet companies, it has stronger media attributes!

And it can be regarded as creating a new era of personal media or self-media!

You should understand that no country will let a foreign-funded enterprise casually enter the local market to conduct business when it comes to the media.

Even though many places have not yet imposed restrictions on Facebook, as Facebook's influence grows, those countries will sooner or later notice this and impose restrictions on Facebook.

The reason why I propose to introduce new strategic partners is to plan ahead and prepare in advance.

Moreover, these new partners introduced will be leading companies in the Internet industry in the country where they are located. This will also help Facebook localize as quickly as possible, adapt to the local market as quickly as possible, and promote it quickly.

There is even an invisible benefit, that is, it can prevent these powerful new partners from creating a Facebook competitor on their own.

Do you understand it? "

Of course Sergey is not stupid. Although he is not proficient in business operations, his mind is still very flexible. After being explained by Wang Ye, he already understood the reason.

yes!

Why Facebook has repeatedly encountered setbacks in overseas markets and encountered malicious competition? In the final analysis, it is because you are just a "non-local".

When I first arrived, I wasn’t just a dragon crossing the river. I had crushing strength, so I wasn’t about to be bullied by local Internet companies...

There is no reason for people to give up their "territory" to you!

But what if, like Wang Ye said, we directly cooperate with the most powerful local Internet companies and introduce these companies to become shareholders of Facebook!

Then there will be no need to spend much energy on your own, and those partners will have enough resources to successfully launch and promote Facebook.

But there is still a key question, that is, how to contact those leading Internet companies and get them to agree to invest in Facebook, so that we can establish branches together!

Of course, Wang Ye also gave an answer to this question.

“This is my plan. The overseas business is divided into two parts, and two companies are established, namely a North American company and a Chinese company.

One thing to note here is that a company is established directly, not a branch.

In terms of functional authority, the two overseas companies have a parallel relationship with the Moscow company.

From now on, the Moscow company will be responsible for business operations in Eastern Europe, that is, the Russian Internet.

The Chinese company is responsible for business operations in mainland China.

The North American company is responsible for all other regions! "

Hearing this, Sergey couldn't hold it any longer, and it was Wang Ye who said these words.

If it were anyone else, he would have jumped up long ago!

Because if you do this, it will be equivalent to directly elevating the Moscow company and restricting its development to the Russian Internet, while all other regional businesses will be assigned to two overseas branches!

"Mikhail, the Moscow company is the head office..." Sergey reminded tactfully.

Of course Wang Ye understood what he meant and said with a faint smile:

"Don't worry, we will establish a new holding company to control the Moscow company and the two overseas companies. From now on, the new holding company will be the head office.

Our shares and the like will also be converted into the holding company.

Sergey, you may not quite understand why I do this.

But you have to know one thing, that is, if you don’t do this, Facebook will never really develop and grow, let alone occupy the European, American and Asian markets.

I can tell you clearly that we will not even control the shares of these two overseas companies, but will let our partners control them.

In the future, these three companies will be listed as a whole depending on the situation, or they may be listed separately. "

Only then did Sergey understand what Wang Ye meant.

If it were true to his original intention, Sergey would not want to "split" Facebook into three companies.

But reason told him that perhaps Wang Ye's approach was the most correct. Once any business grew in scale and became transnational, it was not just business, but also had to consider many political factors.

Obviously, Wang Ye is a real expert in this regard, but he knows nothing...

…………

Seeing that Sergey was deep in thought, Wang Ye did not urge him. Instead, he picked up the coffee cup and drank the coffee while waiting for Sergey to think clearly.

After all, Facebook was founded by Sergey. Even though he does not hold many shares now, Wang Ye still hopes to reach an agreement with him.

After all, Facebook will still be managed by Sergey in the future. Where does Wang Ye have time to get involved in the company's specific affairs?

Sergey didn't think about it for too long. Before Wang Ye finished half a cup of coffee, he raised his head.

Looking at Wang Ye, he said sincerely: "Mikhail, if you think this is good for the future of Facebook, then do it. After all, this company might not have existed without your support. It will really appear in front of the public.”

Also, Sergey did this thing just for fun and didn't take it seriously at all.

At that time, he was still thinking about studying abroad, and he didn't focus on Facebook.

It was Wang Yehao who spent millions of dollars to directly help Sergey establish a formal company and start Facebook.

Later, when Facebook had not yet made a big improvement and continued to expand its capital, it attracted two "taken advantage of" Hovchenko and Abramovich, and raised a round of funds at a super high valuation.

This allowed Facebook to obtain sufficient funds and start its crazy expansion on the Russian Internet.

It can be said that the early stage of an Internet company is the most difficult, and it is also the time when the mortality rate is the highest.

The vast majority of Internet startups die before the angel round or the first round of financing because they cannot attract venture capital at all.

At that stage, the product only had a prototype, and there was no clear future at all.

Therefore, very few venture capital funds dare to invest heavily in such projects.

Facebook like Sergey can get one million U.S. dollars for an angel round, and directly get hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars for the first round of financing. To be honest, this is extremely rare in the Internet industry around the world.

Maybe there are only one or two cases every year...

Sergey also knew that in the first round of financing, the two oligarchs Hovchenko and Abramovich did not even bargain. They paid according to the valuation quoted by the company.

Do you really think Facebook has a particularly bright future?

Or do you think you are a rare genius, so you are willing to bet hundreds of millions of dollars on it?

Of course it's none of that!

The reason why the two of them paid so generously was just because this project was recommended to them by Mikhail!

As Mikhail, the weight of his words is worth the price!

Therefore, Facebook can be what it is today and become one of the largest companies on the Russian Internet, with thousands of employees, and it is even actively expanding overseas markets.

All this is not because of how talented I am or how great Facebook is, but because the name of the major shareholder of this company is Mikhail...

If there was no Facebook, as long as Mikhail wanted to, there might be other alternatives, and the scale would not be inferior to the current Facebook.

But without Mikhail, there would be no Facebook...

…………

Wang Ye smiled happily. The company has reached this scale. Sergey is still so clear-headed and understands why Facebook has reached this point so smoothly. He is not arrogant at all.

This is also very rare, and many founders of Internet companies cannot do it.

Internet companies are completely different from companies in traditional industries because they develop too fast and expand too quickly.

This will lead to a consequence, that is, the company's founder's ability or structure cannot keep up with the company's development...

Perhaps in just one or two years, an Internet company can grow from a start-up to a market value of several billion dollars!

The founder of the company also transformed from a poor college student into a billionaire.

Most people cannot recognize themselves when they reach this stage. They will feel that they are unique geniuses and that the company cannot survive today without them.

But they didn't see how much money was burned during the company's expansion...

And all that money was raised by major venture capital investors through rounds of financing.

The founders of the company think that they are indispensable, but in the eyes of capital, perhaps at a certain stage, the founders of the company have become an obstacle to the company's continued development!

Then capital will kick the founder out of the company without hesitation and replace him with a better professional manager.

Apple’s Qiao Gang leader is a good example...

He was driven out of Apple by shareholders for a long time, and later returned to Apple. He didn't have any Apple shares in his hands. It was basically equivalent to returning as a professional manager.

Fortunately, Sergey is relatively sober and does not really think that Facebook cannot leave him. He is also willing to respect the opinions of Wang Ye, the major shareholder.

Otherwise, Wang Ye may have to learn from Apple's shareholders...

…………

In the general direction, after the two people reach an agreement, the issues to be discussed below are also very important.

That is how to design a reasonable shareholding structure that will not only protect the interests of existing shareholders but also remain attractive enough to new partners.

Of course, Wang Ye still speaks and Sergey listens.

"Moscow Company will keep the current shareholding structure without changing it, and there is no need to add new shareholders. Just maintain the status quo.

As for China, the situation is a little more complicated.

I plan to join forces with Penguin and bring in an investment company with a relatively good background to form a new company to be responsible for Facebook’s operations in mainland China.

And according to the regulations there, the company must operate independently locally, and servers, data, etc. must be located locally. However, Penguin can help us solve this problem.

Therefore, Facebook Holdings can only hold 30% of the mainland company's equity, and the remaining 70% will be divided between the two Chinese partners.

The shareholding structure of North American companies is also the same. The holding company only accounts for 30%, and the majority is reserved for new partners.

In North America, Google is my chosen partner, and the remaining spot may be given to a Wall Street capital company. I’m not sure which one it is yet. I’ll make another choice then.

With Google's technical strength and its influence on the English-language Internet, it is not easy to promote Facebook.

…”

Wang Ye explained all his thoughts in an orderly manner, making Sergey nod his head.

In fact, Wang Ye's plan is a key point, that is, true "localization"!

After the establishment of the North American company, in addition to receiving technical authorization from Facebook Holdings, all other operations, data, etc. are 100% based on the local North American company model!

The same goes for companies in mainland China. If you don't check the shareholder relationship behind it, you may think that it is a local Internet company in China!

This is what Wang Ye wants.

The major shareholders of North American companies and Chinese companies are local companies or capital, and operating rights are also in the hands of local partners.

Then when the situation becomes complicated in the future, no one will target Facebook...

…………

After Wang Ye finished speaking, Sergey raised his hand without hesitation and said cheerfully:

“I fully support this plan!

Since Mr. Mikhail can bring in excellent companies like Google and Penguin to be our partners, I have enough confidence in Facebook's local development.

As for the shares, just distribute them according to your instructions. I have no objection. "