Chapter 149: Ten Reasons

rest involves meetings and some recreational activities.""Don't just sit there—eat something," Li Han pushed forward the fried dough twists from his pocket bag towards Liu Menghui.Liu Menghui nodded...Chapter 149: Ten Reasons

Just as it's difficult for the outside world to understand Mark Zuckerberg, who occasionally acts neurotically, has messy hair, and has a face full of freckles, yet owns a company worth six billion dollars that doesn't seem like someone in their twenties but rather fifteen or sixteen years old.

Similarly, Su Cun, who runs several fast-growing companies but behaves like an ordinary college student without any ambition in the competitive environment of Nan Da University, is also someone many people find hard to understand.

Although Su Cun advocates a leisurely lifestyle with no regrets, this does not conflict with his principle of balancing both career and academics. The carefree attitude from his previous life perfectly blends with his current philosophy of seizing every moment. It's like mixing a beggar's attire into the latest Dior fashion show—a seamless blend that represents a sophisticated integration of living wisdom.

Su Cun always insists that if he is to live this life again, it should not be one filled with fatigue and stress; thus, he pays great attention to simplifying complex business strategies in unique ways. The essence of modern management science lies in streamlining your company's structure so that you can achieve maximum efficiency through the simplest means possible.

This is the core goal served by all theories from large-scale organizational behavior studies, psychology and its applications, modern commercial management, and corporate framework rules.

For example, taking Blizzard Entertainment, with whom Su Cun has been interacting frequently recently—both are giants in single-player RPG games with equally sophisticated technical cores and production teams. Why does Blizzard enjoy far greater fame in the gaming industry compared to Black Isle Studios

"Fallout" is a great game; "Baldur's Gate" is a great game; so is "Icewind Dale." Yet, none can match "Diablo," which simplified gameplay to an unprecedented level where clicking with the left mouse button moves and attacks while the right clicks施展魔法，鍵盤12345吃紅藍瓶。這種前所未有的名聲讓其他遊戲相形見絀。因為暴雪工作室能夠在不犧牲遊戲性的前提下，將複雜的操作簡化為隻需鼠標就能控製整個遊戲的核心精髓。

Simple and effective" is always the ultimate principle of commercial operations.

To roommates, although Su Cun sometimes has a lot on his plate, he often stays up late reading paper emails and thick stacks of business charts and quarterly reports. Yet, despite eating just one bowl of instant noodles or relying solely on fruits brought by Tang Wu to get by, it seems he utilizes far less time compared to what would be expected for someone in his position.

Hence, Su Cun's leisurely lifestyle is truly enviable. And for roommates who always feel they don't have enough time, the fact that he manages to find time to review material for exams is utterly mind-boggling. Although he doesn't usually achieve spectacular grades, he at least passes every exam, which leaves other Nan Da students cramming all night before finals feeling quite unbalanced.

In reality, Su Cun has no secret techniques and isn’t exceptionally energetic; rather, when doing something, he can fully immerse himself in it. This is a talent from his previous life that allows him to plan time blocks efficiently and focus entirely on tasks at hand while maximizing efficiency during work hours and relaxing without any worries during leisure time.

He manages both aspects well, yet progresses rapidly through life.

"I genuinely envy you," said roommate Xiao Xu when he saw Tang Wu carrying a large plastic bag of food and fruit with her black ponytail, entering Su Cun's room directly via the fourth-generation dormitory system that was famous all over Nan Da University. …

When the venture capital group comprising Axel Springer and others was competing for Facebook's third round of funding, international financial institutions also weren't idle. Among them were Sequoia Capital in Silicon Valley.

Until then, Sequoia Capital had been seeking various ways to meet and engage with the young entrepreneur. In fact, Su Cun had already clashed with them a year ago. Currently in China, their partner is Jian Hua, who holds multiple titles such as the president of Anlixin Fund and one of the financial giants in the Yangtze River Delta region. Although Sequoia Capital has not officially entered China yet, the small amount of investment by Jian Hua domestically does not hinder his opportunity to become their future Asia-based executive partner.

Sequoia’s senior executives have a close relationship with Jian Hua, and one key point is building a fund team suitable for the Asia-Pacific region. According to discussions at Sequoia's partnership roundtable meetings, Jian Hua is deemed the most suitable person to lead the upcoming Sequoia China Fund.

As the world’s leading venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital in Silicon Valley has always been known for its military-like rigor and ruthlessness in achieving goals. During Axel's recent investment round, Sequoia’s senior executives also noted the rapidly rising Facebook.

Their American Investment Committee partners had intense discussions about whether to invest in Facebook. With their cautious nature coupled with an inherent arrogance, some of Sequoia Capital's partners were particularly wary of Facebook and even questioned its worthiness for Sequoia’s investment. Ultimately, Jian Hua proposed at the meeting that he would lead the initiative, inviting several partners to listen as they arrange a pitch session with Facebook.

This particular arrangement is scheduled during Mark Zuckerberg’s upcoming visit to China.

Despite having already received combined investments from Axel and other venture capital groups, Sequoia Capital still wants to insert itself in the process as the world's top venture capital firm. Given that Zuckerberg's trip was imminent, Jian Hua together with a few Sequoia partners issued an invitation to Zuckerberg, hoping he would give a private pitch for Facebook during his journey to China.

This offer is significant and seemingly very attractive, despite Facebook not being short on funds after the Axel investment round. …

In a government compound in Beijing's Pingan Street – an unmarked building complex that exudes solemnity and pressure from its "Military Control" sign and well-guarded entrance by uniformed security personnel.

Commoners passing by could guess it to be an important department of the state, but what lay behind those walls always left people wondering. The discreet yet grand official cars entering and exiting, along with a 300-year-old locust tree at the gate, hinted at something beyond ordinary comprehension.

In this compound now, under the cold weather, Jian Hua in his overcoat was walking alongside a distinguished-looking man among the fallen leaves under a paulownia tree.

The broad-shouldered and composed man looked at several official cars that entered after security saluted them, frowned, and said, “That person is his American partner. Don’t you think it’s risky If he doesn’t show up for this report session, wouldn’t it be a loss of face I heard you had plans to enter Facebook when you were in California last year but failed.”

Jian Hua was taken aback; his relationship with the man before him went beyond business cooperation. Most importantly, Jian Hua’s current status was closely linked to a top leader from the Gao family. He knew why this vice-state-level bigwig had once favored him, as evidenced by how he repeatedly mentioned mutual support among the three senior members of the Gao family when they met face-to-face. The Gao family sometimes called him their brother, but Jian Hua was not entirely comfortable with it; however, such feelings quickly dissipated.

"In our financial circles, there's a saying that all seemingly close partners are separated by a dollar’s distance. This is similar to the idea that countries don't have eternal enemies or everlasting friends." Jian Hua paused and continued, “Through my past experiences, I've seen too many different outcomes of corporate political struggles. Individuals can become friends, but when it comes to an interest-based entity, personal feelings no longer come into play.

This is why many companies' joint founders eventually end up being ousted or sidelined, living out their twilight years without involvement in business affairs. In extreme cases like the Disney family coup, even close relatives may betray each other due to massive interests at stake; and it’s just because of a sudden whim that they initially decided to team up”

“So you’re confident about this” Gao Heng smiled.

"Mark Zuckerberg has already responded on the 11th, promising to attend a promotional seminar for XXX organized by Sequoia Capital during his China trip on the 14th in Shanghai."

Zhan Hua took out a cigarette and said with a hint of humility, "It's obvious that this is merely business. What it brings might be exactly what XXX dreams of: higher valuation and more abundant funding, which we can provide. Why wouldn't Zuckerberg be happy about this Facebook currently has two co-presidents; oh, such a laughable title for co-president, only these young men could come up with such an idea. But in the end, Facebook will have just one president like all rapidly growing companies."

Upon hearing this, Gao Heng smiled in understanding at Zhan Hua and looked up as leaves fell from the trees; he felt rather sentimental and said, "I admire those who dare to be pioneers. I appreciate these two people's wild ideas because they have created a billion-dollar enterprise with them. If I were born into an ordinary family instead of this one, what could I achieve The more I think about it, the less willing I am to delve deeper, as it makes me uncomfortable and somewhat tragic. Perhaps being able to create a billion-dollar business is already the dream of many. This often becomes the most ideal result, making people feel that everything will develop in the most ideal direction, including the initial goals set, attitudes adopted, and commitments made."

Two individuals with shared ideals founding a company seems typical for any startup; however, once this company acquires enormous market capitalization and profit chains, possesses the power to change countless lives, it often leads to estrangement between those who used to stay up all night working together and dreaming.

Zuckerberg's agreement to attend a meeting in Shanghai regarding Sequoia Capital’s investment promotion immediately stirred another round of commotion. Although Sequoia Capital has not yet entered China and does not have an executive partner, Zhan Hua’s Anilink Investment is closely associated with Sequoia, making him somewhat a representative of Sequoia in China.

And last year, this man named Zhan Hua attempted to influence Zuckerberg through Sean Parker, weakening Su Cun's influence and convincing Zuckerberg to choose an investor background related to himself and secure an important seat on Facebook’s board.

This year seems to be repeating history.

In connection with this event, Su Cun and even the Chinese version of Facebook have collectively remained silent.

The outside world has even delved deeper into this matter, suggesting that disagreements exist between the two co-presidents of Facebook. The silence of the founder of Facebook in China was interpreted by some foreign media as "a fierce internal conflict between the two founders of Facebook."

In such a backdrop, several high-ranking partners from Sequoia Capital touring Asia have successively met privately with Zhan Hua and others in Shanghai. Among them is Moritz, a master figure at Sequoia Capital, alongside partner Bortas, both holding significant positions within the company; also included are a number of serious analysts and senior executives related to the company.

On the 14th, Zuckerberg arrived in Shanghai. The meeting was scheduled for 9 am the next day at the Jin Mao Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The 15th.

Nine o'clock AM on that morning.

In a solemn conference room rented by Sequoia Capital's senior management at the Jin Mao Hyatt Regency, Zhan Hua called Zuckerberg.

"Where are you Are you almost here" His tone was calm and did not reproach Zuckerberg for missing their agreed-upon time of 9 am.

Elegant and perfectly appropriate.

Ten minutes later, a Bentley glided to the entrance of Jinmao Hyatt Hotel.

Marc Zuckerberg descended from the car wearing a T-shirt and robe. This man who had been the focus of countless people's attention at this moment looked as if he had just crawled out of bed without having time to change clothes or wash up.

He waved goodbye to the person inside the Bentley with Dustin, then turned around and walked into the Jinmao Hyatt Hotel lobby.

The partners and senior executives present from Sequoia Capital would never forget the appearance of Marc Zuckerberg that day.

A wide robe, a T-shirt stained yellow by alcohol from the previous night's revelry, short pants revealing leg hair, and messy, curly hair under winter sunlight. Then there was his expressionless, vacant look. If he had walked down the street at this moment, it would likely have caused many young girls to scream.

Jian Hua's heart skipped a beat upon seeing this scene. The Sequoia Capital executives around him erupted into a murmur of surprise and laughter.

Then Zuckerberg stepped onto the stage with bare legs in shorts, causing many elites who were accustomed to seeing high-heeled women at Shanghai bars to blink in disbelief.

Zuckerberg's presentation was ten slides with an American California-style talk show flair. Seeing this presentation made Jian Hua and all the Sequoia Capital senior executives' hearts tremble uncontrollably.

This was a bold disruption.

"Ten reasons why you shouldn't invest."

"Number ten, we haven't generated any profits."

"Number nine, our servers are under heavy load. A millisecond delay could cause system crashes and reduced throughput."

"Number eight, our membership has not reached 10 million." The subsequent reasons were equally frivolous.

"Third reason: I'm late for your meeting and wearing pajamas. Second reason: the person I dislike most in the company is a joint president and one of us."ess publications.Last night, Uncle Da called home and had quite a lengthy conversation with Dad and Mom; it was probably about this selection.The feeling of failing in the election is really unpleasan...