Chapter 45: Transforming Mobility, Reigning Supreme in Social Networking

Leaving the UberCab office, Blas spoke up, "Boss, I could tell that Travis and Garrett had firmly agreed on a baseline of thirty percent equity. It will likely be very difficult to get more out of them. Besides, in the vast majority of investments, they do not release too many shares in the angel or Series A rounds, as that is unfavorable for their future financing and development."

Hearing this, Yan Fei smiled faintly and replied, "We have an old saying in China: doing business is all about negotiating the price. You can throw out any opening offer and talk a few times. As long as both parties still have a need, there is always room for discussion, and you will eventually reach a price that everyone can accept."

Blas nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this, and said in a deep voice, "The boss means that Travis and Garrett have no choice but to reconsider the price, and we still have a second chance at negotiations."

"Exactly!" Yan Fei laughed with confidence. "From the negotiation just now, I could see that although the UberCab company is profitable in high-end travel services, the funds on their books are not substantial. They are extremely eager to expand and must seek financing. This is our opportunity."

Meanwhile, inside the UberCab office, Travis said in a grave tone, "Garrett, we must expand, or competitors will spring up like mushrooms after the rain. By then, we will only be trapped and left to die in San Francisco, let alone the entire state of California, or even the entire American market, which will bid us farewell."

With a serious expression, Garrett retorted, "Travis, Mr. Yan wants sixty percent of the shares. That is not an angel investor; that is a demon, a greedy financial crocodile. If we agree, we will lose control of the company and might even be driven out. A result like that would be no better than going bankrupt."

Taking a deep breath, Travis said earnestly, "Garrett, buddy, look at me. Do you want to watch UberCab go under?"

"I don't!" Garrett said in deep frustration. "But what other choice do we have?"

Travis continued, "Pal, cheer up. Things haven't reached that point yet. Didn't Mr. Yan say it—aim high, and let them bargain you down? I think he was just testing the maximum share percentage we are willing to give up. As long as we hold our ground at thirty percent—no, our bottom line at thirty-five percent—he will definitely invest."

Garrett, who came from a technical background, asked with some confusion, "But the bottom line we agreed on was thirty percent."

Travis smiled faintly and said, "Listen to me, buddy. Mr. Yan will never accept a thirty percent share because that would make him look like he lost face. I understand the Chinese; they value face above all else. So we need to add five percent to the shares."

The next day at ten o'clock, Yan Fei was in his room managing trades when Blas rushed in excitedly, shouting, "Boss, Travis from UberCab called me and invited us back for another round of negotiations this afternoon."

Hearing this, Yan Fei stood up and smiled faintly. His expression was calm and composed, making everything seem effortless and serene, as if all of this was completely under his control.

Looking at Yan Fei's expression and recalling his words from yesterday, Blas felt her admiration for him climb to a new level. In America, this was the first time she had witnessed such a negotiation. Most American investment institutions analyzed and evaluated everything before a meeting, reached a conclusion, established an internal investment baseline price, and locked down their bargaining chips during the first talk. Unlike Yan Fei, who made zero analytical evaluation, whose bottom-line chips could change at any moment, and who manipulated human hearts during negotiations rather than being as straightforward as Americans—this must be the wisdom and statecraft of the mysterious Oriental giant!

In the afternoon, the two arrived at the UberCab company. Travis and Garrett were already waiting at the entrance to greet them. This had been Travis's proposal, as he believed it would give Yan Fei plenty of face, fill him with goodwill toward UberCab, and facilitate the upcoming negotiations.

After receiving such a warm welcome from UberCab, smiles remained on Yan Fei's face. A harmonious atmosphere surrounded everyone from the moment they stepped through the door, making the negotiating environment relaxed and comfortable.

Seeing this, Garrett secretly gave Travis a thumbs-up, which made Travis extremely happy as he led Yan Fei and Blas into the conference room.

After a few minutes of pleasantries in a friendly atmosphere, Travis changed the subject and said in a grave tone, "Mr. Yan, we had a lengthy discussion yesterday and ultimately decided we can only yield thirty-five percent equity. As an apology, we agree to an investment amount of ten million US dollars. This is our absolute bottom line. If we cannot reach a consensus, we will have no choice but to seek other financing partners."

Listening to Travis's words and observing Garrett's expression, Yan Fei instantly deduced that this was their limit. Therefore, he feigned a moment of contemplation before smiling and saying, "Happy cooperation!"

Hearing those four wonderful and melodious words, Travis and Garrett jumped up with excitement. The two hurriedly shook hands with Yan Fei to express their gratitude, and both parties quickly finalized the cooperation agreement, signing the equity investment pact right on the spot.

The entire process was wrapped up in less than an hour. Both sides bid farewell happily, and as he watched Yan Fei's departing back, Travis felt immensely proud, believing he had mastered the secret to negotiating with the Chinese.

Stepping out of the UberCab company, Yan Fei looked at Blas and asked in a low voice, "Have you contacted WhatsApp yet?"

Blas immediately responded, "Boss, WhatsApp is in Mountain View. We have an appointment for this afternoon. I originally didn't expect UberCab to hold a second round of negotiations so quickly."

"It doesn't matter!" Yan Fei smiled. "It only takes forty minutes to drive to Mountain View. It's not even three o'clock yet. We can make it before four. You didn't set a specific time, did you?"

"I scheduled it between three-thirty and four. Boss, I was just so shocked by your investment negotiation that I forgot to remind you!" Blas lowered her head with a trace of embarrassment, looking like a little girl who had done something wrong.

Yan Fei looked at the girl two years his senior, patted her head, and smiled. "It's fine, Blas. We can make it before four; there won't be any problem."

Feeling Yan Fei's care, Blas experienced a fatherly warmth, involuntarily reminding her of the dictatorial father back home who used to care for her in just the same way.

"Let's go!" Yan Fei reached out to flag down a taxi. Blas followed and sat in the back row, listening to Yan Fei talk to the driver: "Hi, buddy, can we make it to Mountain View in half an hour?"

The taxi driver glanced at Yan Fei and said indifferently, "Pal, it takes fifty minutes to get to Mountain View. You won't make it in half an hour."

Yan Fei pulled a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and smiled. "Can we make it now?"

The driver was quite tempted by the doubled fare, snatched the bill, and smiled. "We can make it in forty minutes, sir."

Yan Fei pulled out another hundred-dollar bill, and the driver immediately grinned, "Sir, hold on tight, I guarantee I'll get you to Mountain View within thirty minutes."

With a stomp on the gas pedal, the car shot forward, accelerating to a hundred kilometers per hour in three seconds and speeding toward Mountain View. The increasingly rapid velocity forced Yan Fei and Blas tightly against their seats, causing them some discomfort as they watched the speedometer climb continuously.

Meanwhile, in Mountain View, inside a narrow office at the WhatsApp company, Brian and Jan repeatedly looked up at the time, their eyes meeting.

Brian spoke up, "Jan, when do you think Mr. Yan and Ms. Blas from Minxin Company will arrive? Are they really willing to invest in us?"

Jan pondered for a moment and said, "I think so. Ms. Blas contacted me earlier, showed a great deal of enthusiasm, and scheduled this afternoon for a discussion."

Recalling the background checks he initiated after hearing the news, Brian said in a low voice, "Minxin Company is a newly registered investment company, and Mr. Yan is also Chinese. Very few Chinese people invest in American startups. Although Mr. Yan is an emerging investment genius who has created extraordinary records, made a name for himself on Wall Street, and earned praise from big shots like Jester, that is still the secondary market. The venture capital in the primary market is vastly different!"

"Don't worry, Brian!" Jan said firmly, "We are developing quite well. Even though we have several evenly matched competitors, I believe certain investors will value us. It would be even better if Mr. Yan can invest in us."

As the two chatted and reminisced about the gathered information regarding this trading genius who had stirred up Wall Street upon his arrival in America, they imagined his peerless demeanor, stirring an irrepressible impulse within their hearts to meet him.

Half an hour later, the car drifted to a halt at 1601 Willow Road. The driver turned back with a smile to look at the pale faces of Yan Fei and Blas, and said cheerfully, "Sir, exactly thirty minutes."

Steadying himself against the door, Yan Fei got out of the car and couldn't help muttering, "True Fast and Furious. Just a heads-up, I saw a police car signaling you to pull over along the way—pay attention on your drive back."

Hearing Yan Fei's words, the smile on the driver's face froze. Blas covered her mouth and laughed, "Boss, why are you teasing him?"

Yan Fei smiled faintly, led Blas upstairs, and arrived at the WhatsApp company. Taking in the overall setup, the office of fewer than twenty people looked rather crowded, and co-founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum were also squeezed into a small office.

After stating their identities, Brian and Jan were thrilled and immediately led Yan Fei and Blas into a small conference room, happily introducing the situation of the WhatsApp company while displaying its future development and immense potential.

After listening to Brian's half-hour vision presentation, Yan Fei smiled and asked, "Mr. Brian, you just mentioned that WhatsApp only has one million registered users. I want to know why user growth has been so slow over the past nine months."

Hearing this, Brian hesitated slightly before saying in a deep voice, "Mr. Yan, to be frank, although we currently only have one million registered users, our growth rate has actually been increasing all along; it hasn't been slow. The slow growth you see is because we lack the extra money to buy servers, bandwidth, and marketing promotions. All of our current growth consists of highly sticky users who possess an extreme appreciation for WhatsApp."

Hearing this, Yan Fei smiled faintly, "If I give you five million US dollars, how much do you think user numbers can grow? How long will it take, and how would you use these funds?"

Without a moment of hesitation, Brian immediately replied, "With five million dollars, we can grow to ten million registered users. We can complete this within a maximum of six months. First, we would purchase server clusters..."

Listening to Brian's explanation, Yan Fei nodded continuously, approving of Brian's intended use of the funds as well as his estimations of user volume and timeframes. As the exchange deepened, Jan also offered many highly insightful ideas.

Having tested the professionalism of the founders, Yan Fei smiled and said, "Gentlemen, to be honest with you, I founded a dating and communication software in China that is even better than WhatsApp. If you understand Chinese, you can try it out."

Jan took the new Apple phone handed over by Yan Fei, opened the WeChat icon, and began operating and experiencing it. As the experience deepened, the expression on Jan's face grew increasingly solemn.

A few minutes later, Jan handed the phone to Brian. As Brian experienced it, cries of exclamation rang out repeatedly, expressions of shock kept emerging, and he repeatedly blurted out, "You can even do this? It's amazing! Brilliant! This idea is simply brilliant."

Yan Fei patiently waited for the two to finish their experience, then smiled and said, "Brian, Jan, my friends, what do you think of WeChat?"

Brian immediately stated, "It's fantastic! It's so much better than our WhatsApp. I've learned a lot. Thank you so much, dear Yan!"

Jan nodded steadily, frowned, and asked, "Mr. Yan, since you already have such a wonderful product, why do you still want to invest in us?"

Yan Fei smiled faintly, "Dear Jan, WeChat's registered users in China have already reached fifteen million. If you were in China, naturally I wouldn't invest in you. However, to a certain extent, WeChat finds it very difficult to develop outside of China, just as WhatsApp finds it very difficult to develop inside China. There are very complex political factors involved."

Hearing this, Jan experienced a sudden flash of understanding, recalled the circumstances of Google's withdrawal from China, nodded in agreement, and said in a low voice, "Since Mr. Yan is also an insider and, like us, a founder of dating and communication software, we are even more willing to accept Mr. Yan's investment. This way, we can reach a consensus on more issues and avoid wasting too much time arguing over principles and strategy."

"Right!" Yan Fei smiled and said, "Dear Jan and buddy Brian, tell me the funds you need and the equity share you are willing to cede."

After a brief silence, Jan spoke up, "Dear Yan, we are willing to cede twenty percent equity in exchange for five million US dollars."

Tapping the table, Yan Fei said in a deep voice, "Jan, Brian, I am not very satisfied with this percentage. How about a forty percent share for fifteen million US dollars?"

Shaking his head, Jan said firmly, "Mr. Yan, we don't need that much capital, and a twenty percent share is our absolute bottom line."

Waving his hand, Yan Fei smiled, "Dear Jan, don't rush to reject it. If you raise more capital in the angel or Series A round, it means you won't need financing for a long time, and the company can enter a phase of rapid expansion, leaving competitors far behind in the dust. You two must understand that in the field of dating and communication software, only one enterprise is allowed to survive."

Brian nodded in strong agreement, turned to Jan, and said, "Jan, I think Mr. Yan makes sense. As long as our founding team retains control, everything else is fine."