Chapter 416: Investing in Yahoo

After Chen Jiajun arrived in Silicon Valley, he quickly found his United Universe Capital.

Although it was hidden away in an office building and didn't look like much, it was still much better than the shabby state of those newly started high-tech companies.

After Chen Jiajun arrived in the company lobby, a blonde, blue-eyed beauty immediately stood up: "Welcome to United Universe Capital, may I ask if you have..."

Before the beauty could finish, Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "I'm looking for Cao Weicai, have him come out to see me!"

"Ah! You must be Mr. Chen, right?" the beauty said enthusiastically at once: "The President is already waiting for you in his office! Please, this way!"

Chen Jiajun nodded and followed behind the beauty into the interior of the company.

By now, the interior of the company had been fully renovated, and one couldn't help but marvel at the efficiency of that guy Cao Weicai.

At this moment, some clerks had already started working.

Chen Jiajun arrived at the President's office and found that Cao Weicai was pulling a group of people together to study the data in their hands; these guys who dealt with numbers were exceptionally serious.

It wasn't until the female receptionist knocked on the door that they reacted.

"Ah, Boss, you've finally returned!" Cao Weicai raised his head, saw Chen Jiajun, and immediately said with a smile: "Let me introduce them to you; these are our analysts, every one of them is an elite."

Chen Jiajun looked at the people under his command; they were all young, and Chinese people made up the majority of the team, which he presumed was because Cao Weicai had used his own connections to find them.

As the saying goes, if you employ someone, don't doubt them; if you doubt them, don't employ them. Since they were recruited by Cao Weicai, Chen Jiajun had no objections.

After greeting a few analysts, Cao Weicai led Chen Jiajun into the Chairman's office.

The two discussed things for a while, and in the end, this United Universe Capital would still operate as a normal company; after all, Cao Weicai's future was already tied to Chen Jiajun's, so there was no need to act as a fund manager anymore.

Chen Jiajun thought highly of Cao Weicai's talent, so he didn't ask about these details.

Instead, he directly asked about investment matters.

"Do you have a target?" Chen Jiajun said to Cao Weicai.

Cao Weicai nodded and said: "You know, I actually do have a target."

"Oh? What's the situation?" Chen Jiajun asked with a smile.

"Didn't you tell me before that the next big trend would be the internet?" Cao Weicai said proudly: "I found two talents within my circle of friends."

Chen Jiajun asked curiously: "What's their background?"

"Two top students from Stanford, one is Chinese, one is a Gweilo! The two of them used the campus network to create a very popular thing, it seems to be called something like... Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web, you can open the computer and take a look," Cao Weicai said to Chen Jiajun with a smile.

Chen Jiajun was confused when he heard the name; in his impression, there didn't seem to be an internet company called Jerry, right?

But since it was introduced by Cao Weicai, Chen Jiajun didn't mind giving it a try.

After all, the internet was just starting out, and it was still only used for things like military industry and research.

Plus, dial-up internet was very expensive, and ordinary people couldn't afford to play with it.

However, when Chen Jiajun entered the website, he found that it was actually free, and all kinds of information had already been categorized and organized, looking especially like a portal website that had been developed.

Chen Jiajun immediately thought of a possibility: that it was the world's first portal website, Yahoo.

Just as Chen Jiajun was browsing the webpage, he suddenly found the mouse frozen and stuck, and he looked at Cao Weicai with a bewildered expression.

Cao Weicai said somewhat awkwardly: "After all, they are using the school's server to host it, and it's free, so there are too many people browsing; I guess the server is overloaded!"

Chen Jiajun immediately made a decision and said: "Not bad, really not bad! I want to meet these two."

Cao Weicai immediately laughed: "Good, I'll go contact them right away; they are also worrying about this matter right now!"

Cao Weicai had always been swift and decisive in his actions; by the afternoon, these two had already been brought over by Cao Weicai.

After all, Stanford University was near Silicon Valley, and the drive was only half an hour.

Soon, in the office, Chen Jiajun met the two of them.

Cao Weicai introduced them with a smile: "Boss, these two are the founders of Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web, Wang Zhiyuan and David Filo."

Hearing their names, Chen Jiajun was able to confirm that these two were indeed the founders of Yahoo.

He immediately shook hands with them enthusiastically and then invited them to sit down.

These two were originally students, and it was their first time seeing a Big Boss, so they appeared somewhat reserved, and for a moment, they didn't know how to start.

Chen Jiajun smiled very kindly; after all, these two were his future top employees, so he took the initiative to start the conversation.

For example, the vision when the website was established, future development plans, and so on.

This website was originally something Wang Zhiyuan and David had come up with on a whim, and now, hearing Chen Jiajun ask like this, they didn't know how to answer for a moment and could only blurt out all the ideas in their heads.

Chen Jiajun loved such Shibaitou, so he gave Cao Weicai a look, and then they began to talk about investment matters through side-talk.

The two students were very happy to be able to get investment.

On one hand, they felt that their talent was valued by someone, and on the other hand, they could solve the website's issues.

They were using the school's network to run the website, and the increasing traffic had already made the school's server unable to bear the load; even people from the school had already found them.

Although the school acknowledged the website they founded, it also caused the school's interests to suffer.

So they gave the two of them two choices: either take the website and leave, or shut the website down.

After all, it was something they had spent a lot of effort on, so even if Chen Jiajun hadn't come looking for them, they would have come to Silicon Valley to seek opportunities.

Wang Zhiyuan was a bit more naive, but this David had been influenced by the United States' commercial atmosphere since he was young. Plus, Stanford University had many successful startup cases, so he specifically kept a guard up: "Then... how will the equity be distributed?"

A Shibaitou is a Shibaitou; how could they be a match for someone like Cao Weicai who came from Wall Street?

In just a few sentences, he directly dispelled their doubts: "The two of you contribute your technology for a 30% stake, and our United Universe Capital will invest two million dollars in your company for the Angel Round as your starting capital!"

Cao Weicai was relatively cautious in his actions; even though both he and Chen Jiajun were optimistic about this company, he wouldn't rashly throw down a huge sum of money, as the high-tech industry was innovating almost every day and no one knew what would happen next.

Hearing the huge sum of two million dollars, undisguised excitement appeared on the faces of Wang Zhiyuan and David.

Cao Weicai didn't interrupt them, but waited until their excitement had passed before continuing: "However, we need to sign a supplementary agreement; if your company needs financing in the future, you must prioritize our United Universe Capital!"

Cao Weicai's approach was very American, meaning business is business, and he wouldn't mix in other emotions.

Even though Wang Zhiyuan was a cousin of his, he wouldn't hold back when it was time to strike a fatal blow.

Of course, Cao Weicai hadn't used his methods yet, as these two were still penniless nobodies.

But the contract had quietly bound their future technology to him.

When the time comes, if they dare to have other thoughts, Cao Weicai can openly kick the two fellows out of the company.

This matter was specifically brought up by Chen Jiajun, and Cao Weicai does not understand why his Boss would be so attentive to these two Shibaitou.

Chen Jiajun just smiled and said nothing.

Because he knows how Yahoo was ruined in the hands of this fellow Wang Zhiyuan later on, he specifically kept an ace up his sleeve.

Both sides quickly reached an Angel Round investment agreement, and Wang Zhiyuan and David were also prepared to drop out of school, roll up their sleeves, and do something big in Silicon Valley.

During this period, Chen Jiajun also chatted a lot with Wang Zhiyuan and David about things related to the internet.

Wang Zhiyuan and David discovered that this Boss is not the kind of nouveau riche who only knows how to throw money around, but has his own unique insights into the internet, and some things even made the two of them feel refreshed.

Especially regarding the profit direction of portal websites, he even proposed a mature plan, which made the two of them even happier.

After all, people who do technology hate it the most when laymen point fingers in front of them.

After signing the contract, Chen Jiajun and Cao Weicai do not intend to manage the subsequent matters.

They are just an investment company and do not need to help them oversee the whole process; if they don't even have the capital to set up a company, they are not worthy of receiving subsequent investments.

When the time comes, Cao Weicai will use those two million to buy the portal website in their hands and then sweep the two of them out the door.

After settling the first investment, Chen Jiajun appeared very happy.

After all, this is Yahoo, an internet company that once had a market value as high as 100 billion US dollars, and it is also the first internet company to go public.

As long as he walks on the right path relying on his past life's experience, according to the prominence of the internet's user base advantage and the high cost of user migration in this era, he can display the Matthew effect to the fullest.

By then, Yahoo can be like a snowball, with the winner taking all!

Cao Weicai looked at Chen Jiajun's expression from the side and said, "Boss, are you telling me this company really has potential?"

Cao Weicai was a bit puzzled at this moment; a potential stock he introduced casually was actually favored by Chen Jiajun, and he seemed very satisfied with this investment, which made him feel a bit at a loss.

Chen Jiajun said with a smile, "It doesn't just have potential, it has a lot of potential. You just wait and see! The portal website these two fellows come up with will soon become a banner for the internet."

"Tsk! Boss, your evaluation is too high!" Cao Weicai said in surprise.

"Not high, not high at all! Let's just wait and see!" Chen Jiajun lit a Cigar and smiled very smugly.

Just as Chen Jiajun was feeling smug, the phone suddenly rang.

But this call made Chen Jiajun a bit surprised, because this call was from his former employee, the God of Gamblers Gao Jin.

"Mr. Chen, I've run into trouble." Gao Jin's tone was low, clearly having suffered a great blow.

Chen Jiajun paused for a moment and said, "What trouble? Where are you now?"

Chen Jiajun still had quite a good impression of this employee of his.

After all, he had helped him manage the Macau Casino for five years, and he applied a whole set of structures learned from Las Vegas to his own casino.

Only then could Chen Jiajun's current casino make money every day and become an indispensable cash cow in his hands.

So, even for the sake of past sentiments, if Gao Jin has any difficulties, Chen Jiajun will extend a helping hand.

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Jin said, "In a hotel here in Sham Shui Po, it seems to be called something like Lihao Hotel!"

"Good, I will have people go over to help you immediately!" Chen Jiajun nodded, then dialed Lao Yu's number and told Lao Yu to take people to save Gao Jin.

At the same time, he was also puzzled: with Gao Jin's skills and his sense of the big picture, how could he get himself into such a state of having to ask others for help?

Chen Jiajun frowned and said to Cao Weicai, "Handle the matters here yourself. If there is any company you think is good, you can make the decision for anything under ten million! I'm going back to Hong Kong for a trip!"

Cao Weicai nodded and said, "Okay, Boss! But regarding the Expendables..."

Chen Jiajun said indifferently, "You go and scout for an agent first to be responsible for helping them take on business, and let them develop on their own for a while first! If your connections have anyone who needs to be used, you can also recommend them. The abilities of Barney Ross and the others are quite good."

"That's fine, then I will do as you say!" Cao Weicai nodded.

The reason Chen Jiajun was in such a hurry to go back was that he felt something was about to happen in Hong Kong.

Perhaps it was because he had been away from home for too long, giving him a feeling of unease. (End of chapter)