It has become a foregone conclusion to start expanding shares and raising funds at this stage.
In this case, as the largest individual shareholder of ICQ, Kyle will no longer object, but only hopes to gain the greatest benefits for himself in the process of "attracting allies and expanding development" in the future.
"Actually, I just want to be a shareholder in peace and wait for dividends. But now others are not happy about it. They are forcing me~!"
This was what Kyle had intended from the beginning.
Isn't it good that harmony brings wealth?
But sometimes this kind of thinking is too naive!
If you don't want to fight, others will fight with you!
To be honest, Kyle found it very difficult to start a business and develop it from scratch.
The number of companies he currently controls is already a headache. For this reason, Kyle has spent a lot of time studying management knowledge.
Recharging himself has become an indispensable part of Kyle's life.
Well, time travelers are awesome, that's true, but they are not omnipotent!
It is impossible to know everything and be proficient in everything.
Even those awesome travelers who took over industries with a market value of hundreds of billions at the beginning of their journey, if they did not have the corresponding abilities, they would only be devoured and divided up by the wolves and tigers that surrounded them. Well, there was no other outcome!
If a child carries gold through a busy street, it is a way to his death!
9 a.m.
There are less than 30 minutes left before ICQ's official share expansion meeting begins.
The founding team including Weisger, Wadi, and Kyle held an internal meeting first.
"Vesig, you are the CEO of the company. Since you and everyone else have decided to start expanding shares and raising funds, I won't say more. But... I want to hear which of the upcoming representatives you like? In other words, which investment banks and companies do you think are beneficial to the development of our ICQ."
Kyle said first.
"My friend, I am very happy that you agreed to expand the shares." Weisger said very happily.
Kyle shook his head and smiled, "My friends, I don't think I have ever opposed the company's expansion of shares to raise funds and to attract allies to promote development. My original attitude was to stabilize for a period of time and then expand shares."
The shrewd Visger's face immediately lit up with joy.
He knew that Kyle had made a concession.
Wadi on the side said, "Weisig, hurry up and speak. What Mr. Page said is also something we need to consider."
Choosing the right allies will inevitably play a decisive role in the future development of ICQ.
I can't afford to get hurt by such a stupid teammate!
"Ahem…"
Weisger cleared his throat and said solemnly: "Our primary target for financing and share expansion must be Microsoft, and only it!"
"After all, Microsoft is the dominant player in the computer system software industry. Once they enter the instant messaging field, we will not be able to compete with them, so we have to get them involved."
"As long as we bring it in, it will further discourage them from developing instant messaging software. Of course, even if it still wants to enter the instant messaging field in the future, it will buy us enough time for development."
After the words were spoken, everyone nodded.
Kyle also agreed with this point.
In the 1990s, Microsoft was not only the overlord of system software, but also a well-known rogue software!
Netscape is pretty awesome.
In the 1990s, Netscape was the first Internet company to go public. At its peak, its market value was nearly $10 billion. Around the world, countless people accessed the Internet through Netscape browsers every day.
Its huge number of users makes countless people optimistic about Netscape's future development.
For a time, it was the talk of the town.
But Microsoft is jealous!
It has set its sights on the lucrative browser market.
Well, Microsoft's IE browser is now online.
Relying on its dominance in the field of computer system software, Microsoft forces Internet users to install their IE browser when installing or updating computer system software, and sets it as the default browser without the user's knowledge.
Therefore, in a very short period, it had enough users to compete with Netscape Navigator.
During the entire year of 1997, the browser war launched by Netscape and Microsoft went from being evenly matched at the beginning to being crushed by Microsoft in less than a year.
You can't help but accept this hooligan behaviour!
Icq is pretty awesome.
It is the world's first instant messaging software and has hundreds of millions of registered users worldwide. In 1998, America Online paid $408 million to acquire it.
But.
Microsoft is jealous again!
It's in SN chat.
Rogue pre-installation, forced update installation and other means are at work again.
In a very short period, the process of the "browser war" was replicated again, and ICQ fell from grace in one fell swoop.
Therefore, regarding ICQ's first A-round share expansion, Kyle holds a positive attitude towards the idea of bringing Microsoft into the game.
....
After seven days.
Icq has conducted negotiations again and again regarding its Series A financing with representatives of major companies and investment banks around the world.
In the end, representatives from five companies had the last laugh.
In ICQ's Series A financing, they shared 30% of ICQ's equity with an estimated market value of US$200 million.
Microsoft, as the dominant player in the computer system software industry, accounts for 10%;
Goldman Sachs, a giant in the field of Wall Street investment banking, took 5%;
News Corporation, the parent company of 20th Century Fox, has advantages in media channels around the world and holds a 5% stake.
Sequoia Capital, which has a huge advantage in small island countries, has 5%;
Brand computer HP, share the last 5%;
In the end, Weisger and other founding team members, together with Kyle, still owned 70% of the shares and still held absolute controlling rights in ICQ.
Well, although there were conflicts between Kyle and Weissger during the A round of share expansion, their fundamental interests were still the same for the foreign crocodiles. After all, if they did not join hands, they would only be swallowed up by the big companies.
Therefore, the two sides are still considered to be on the same side.
Of course, although Kyle also invested part of the funds in the A round of share expansion, his shares were still inevitably diluted.
35%!
This is Kyle's current shareholding.
Although his shares were diluted, Kyle still made huge profits!
The wealth has skyrocketed!
According to the estimated market value of US$200 million given by Morgan Investment Bank, Kyle's shares are now worth US$70 million!
Compared with the previous investment of less than 2 million US dollars, how could Kyle not make money in just half a year?
It has to be said that because of Kyle's intervention, the development of ICQ in this life is much better than in the previous life.
The Series A financing initiated by ICQ not only enabled the company to obtain US$60 million in development funds, but also attracted a group of powerful allies with strong influence around the world.
All of the above can put the development of the ICQ company into the fast lane!
As for those instant messaging companies that react and want to follow the trend, it is expected that they will only suffer the consequences in the future.
Visger, Wadi and other members of the founding team were very excited.
They began to plan future development strategies to allow ICQ to expand further.
As for Kyle, what he is thinking about now is to mortgage part of his shares and borrow money from the bank to create his own Internet company.
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