Chapter 499: A Scholar Dies for a Confidant

"Yahoo founder Jerry rejected the sky-high acquisition offer of 450 million dollars from America Online president Case!"

Gruna said to David Bohnett about the rumors he had heard.

In Silicon Valley and Huaerjie, real news cannot be hidden. Once there is any movement, it starts to spread.

The rumor that America Online wanted to acquire Yahoo also started to spread, and along with it came all sorts of gossip.

To be honest, the acquisition price offered by America Online was not low. At the very least, this acquisition price made Gruna and the others quite jealous when they heard it.

If someone were willing to spend 400 or 500 million dollars to acquire ASK, Gruna would definitely sell it without blinking an eye right now.

That is hundreds of millions of dollars! Founders of small internet companies like them don't know how many lifetimes it would take to earn that kind of net worth!

According to news reported by Huaerjie media, Yahoo's valuation at listing was only a little over 300 million dollars. America Online being able to offer such an acquisition price can already be considered full of sincerity.

"I heard it was Li, the president of the Zhixing Foundation, who supported Jerry and the Yahoo founder team, making Sequoia Capital give up its support for this acquisition!"

Bohnett also talked about the rumors he heard. This belongs to gossip.

But for newcomers to Silicon Valley like Bohnett and Gruna, they were still quite envious of Li Dongling's move to support Yang Zhiyuan.

Speaking of which, who wouldn't want to meet a true Bole (talent scout)? An investor who can support them at a critical moment—this kind of investor is rare in Silicon Valley and Huaerjie. Most are investors who have no regard for the founders and treat them like discarded shoes.

"President Steve, please this way!"

Just as Bohnett and Gruna were talking in low voices, a figure came in and invited Steve Kirsch and Li Yanhong out.

After all, "there is a difference between close and distant." The Zhixing Foundation has now invested in Souxin but has not yet invested in the GeoCities website and ASK. Li Dongling cannot bypass Souxin to see Gruna and the others first.

"Li!"

"Souxin needs your support. You said you would support Souxin. We need more funding now!"

Li Dongling, who was hunched over his desk processing documents, heard Steve Kirsch, who started complaining loudly the moment he entered the door. Li Yanhong, who was following behind him, showed a slightly embarrassed expression on his face.

Clearly, Li Yanhong was not yet used to this kind of scene of begging for money from venture capital firms. However, thinking about Li Yanhong, he is indeed different from other founders.

He had outstanding academic performance since childhood, went to prestigious domestic schools, and then studied abroad. The hardest days were just when he first arrived abroad, sharing a rental with others, taking turns to make phone calls, cooking for himself, and cleaning the house. But that was only for that period. Later, he went to work at the Huaerjie parent company Dow Jones, with an annual income exceeding 50,000 to 60,000 dollars, so he never had to worry about life.

Even when establishing Baidu, Li Yanhong easily obtained a large amount of venture capital by relying on his fame abroad. Compared to Ali and Penguin, who worried about funding, his life was much easier.

Li Dongling wrote the last character and put down his pen. Li Dongling had come to America, but there were still some documents faxed over from the domestic side that Li Dongling needed to process.

This is because email technology has not yet become completely popular. Otherwise, even if he came to America, Li Dongling would probably have a lot of emails waiting to be processed.

He reached out and let Steve Kirsch and Li Yanhong sit down, and Li Dongling poured them two glasses of water.

"Steve, of course I remember the agreement reached between the Zhixing Foundation and Souxin!"

Li Dongling pushed the water glass in front of Steve Kirsch, "What Souxin should be worried about now is not funding, but when it can go public, right?!"

Having his mind read by Li Dongling, Steve Kirsch, whose acting skills were not yet up to par, couldn't help but blush. Indeed, compared to funding, what made him even more anxious was when Souxin could get on NASDAQ.

One must know that Souxin debuted at the same time as Yahoo. In just one year, it successfully applied for listing. But Souxin's listing was nowhere in sight. How could Steve Kirsch not be anxious?

More importantly, the internet industry is currently not optimistic about the search industry, believing it to be a money-losing business, which cast an even darker shadow over Souxin's path to listing.

"Those venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and Huaerjie institutions are too unfriendly to the search industry. They think the search industry is just a burden!

Damn it, they don't want to think about it—Netscape, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft IE browser—don't all those websites' internal searches need to use search technology!" Steve Kirsch complained.

Hearing this complaint, Li Dongling glanced at Steve Kirsch and shook his head secretly in his heart. It's no wonder Silicon Valley venture capital firms are unwilling to invest in Souxin. Even Steve Kirsch himself didn't treat Souxin as the protagonist of the internet, but only as an auxiliary product for websites like Netscape and Yahoo.

If the founder thinks this way, how can he convince others?

For search to truly become one of the major industries of the internet, it still has to be advertising bidding ranking. In one leap, it made search one of the most profitable industries on the internet, with revenue crushing industries like portals, e-commerce, games, and social networking.

However, advertising bidding ranking cannot be pushed out just by saying so. At the very least, search technology must keep up. If you search for a cow's head and get a horse's mouth, who would be willing to use this search engine?

According to the current accuracy of search results and search content, it will take at least two years for the advertising bidding ranking system to have a place to be useful.

"The most important thing for Souxin now is to survive. Only by surviving can Souxin let the NASDAQ committee see Souxin's value. Only then can it go public!"

Li Dongling pacified Steve Kirsch, "The Zhixing Foundation will seek to invest no less than 2 million dollars in Souxin again together with other investors. Of course, Steve, you and the founder team might need to give up another portion of equity!

In addition, the Zhixing Foundation will act as an agent for the Souxin brand, starting business in various regions in Asia, including the mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc., to increase Souxin's revenue.

Steve, what you need to do here is to make Souxin the internal search engine for Netscape and Yahoo. Of course, if necessary, it can also become the search engine for Microsoft IE browser to occupy the search market!"

It will indeed take a few years for search engines to become the protagonist of the internet industry. During this period, what the search industry can rely on is to occupy the search market by borrowing browsers, portal websites, etc.

The internet industry also needs to take sides. Taking the side of the powerful Netscape in the early stages can quickly gain search market share. Changing sides later to support IE browser is also forced by life...

There is no way around it. Microsoft will definitely win the browser war. This is not transferred by personal will. After all, once Microsoft plays the rogue, letting users choose between the Microsoft system and the Netscape browser—if the Netscape browser is on the desktop, the Microsoft system cannot run, and the computer will directly crash or lag. Who would users choose?

"As long as we have search market share and users, and revenue, who can stop Souxin from going public?"

Li Dongling drew a big pie. Of course, this was just said for Steve Kirsch to hear. Li Dongling would not hold onto Souxin and be reluctant to sell it, eventually turning it from a gold nugget into a lump of dirt.

If Souxin can go public, that's fine. If it can't go public, then Li Dongling will have to find a buyer for it. Either let Yahoo acquire it, or at the critical moment of the browser war, sell it to either Netscape or Microsoft for a sky-high price!

The last option is to let Souxin merge with Google, the future search hegemon of America, using Souxin to exchange for cash plus Google stock. Once Google's market value rises, then cash out.

But no matter which of these three paths it is, it must be ensured that Souxin can stand up. Otherwise, who would want a piece of trash?

Hearing Li Dongling's words, Steve Kirsch ignited some hope. Now Souxin can only rely on the Zhixing Foundation. If he doesn't count on Li Dongling, who else can he count on!

But it is indeed as Li Dongling said, even if search is not valued, as long as there is market share and revenue, are we afraid it won't be able to go public?

"As long as it can help Souxin, I and everyone at Souxin are willing to do anything!" Steve Kirsch said.

Li Dongling nodded, then pressed the phone on the desk, asking Zhou Hualiang and the legal department to come over to talk to Steve Kirsch about the investment in Souxin again.

This time, Li Dongling is prepared to pull Yahoo along to invest in Souxin together. As long as Yahoo goes public, Souxin can share the glory. If the latter two paths really don't work in the future, then just encourage Yahoo to acquire Souxin and be done with it.

Anyway, Yahoo has spent so many dollars over the years acquiring a pile of junk. Just ask, what's wrong with one more Souxin?!

Li Yanhong originally wanted to go out with Steve Kirsch, but was signaled by Li Dongling to stay. Li Yanhong hesitated for a moment, but still sat down.

"Have you ever considered returning to the country?"

After Steve Kirsch went out, only Li Dongling and Li Yanhong were left in the office. Li Dongling asked directly.

Shaking his head, Li Yanhong said truthfully, "Not for the time being. Domestically, whether it is the internet environment or technical conditions, there is currently no place for me to use my skills!"

Li Dongling nodded, and then asked another question that Li Yanhong did not expect, "Then have you ever thought about leaving Souxin?"

"Leaving Souxin?" Li Yanhong was clearly startled.

"With your search technology and hyperlink patents, it is enough to become a partner, or even a founder, of any search company!" Li Dongling said.

It seems that Li Yanhong is highly valued at Souxin now, but he is just a senior engineer. When he left Souxin in his previous life, he cashed out the Souxin shares he was allocated, which was only a few hundred thousand dollars. For someone at his technical level, to be honest, it was truly "plain and unremarkable."

"I..."

At this time, Li Yanhong was clearly hesitant again. He was quite satisfied with his current life. Although he had thought about starting his own internet company, he did not want to change immediately.

Seeing this, Li Dongling did not ask Li Yanhong to make a decision immediately, but took out a business card and placed it in front of him.

"If you ever want to return to the country, you can call this number at any time. Tianya Company, the internet business department of Dongling Gao Ke in the country, can support you in establishing a search company in the country. You will be a partner and the Chief Technology Officer!"

With Li Yanhong's technology and personality, developing search technology is more than enough, no worse than Google. But it is also limited to the technical aspect. In terms of operations and management, Li Dongling definitely needs Tianya Company to take the helm, so as not to be mired in scandals like in his previous life. ===== CHAPTER 500 =====