Once the blue waves said "some of the title party" Black The whole venture circle

Absrtact: The guide had not thought that the ocean pier he founded had just received 100 million dollars of investment from the race fund, and his letter to the staff was made public, and he was thought to have hacked the entire venture circle. This reporter Pan Shanghai reported that the blue waves, this graduated from Shanghai

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Once the blue sea did not think that he founded the "Ocean Pier" just after the fund received 100 million dollars of investment, his letter to the staff of the public, he was considered "black the whole circle of investment."

Newspaper reporter Pan Shanghai Report

Once blue waves, the graduate of Shanghai Jiaotong University class, has been the backbone of the ebay network of entrepreneurs, 2009, the founder of the Overseas shopping website "Ocean Terminal", positioned to connect overseas retailers and local consumers in China overseas network shopping platform. According to media reports, the 2014-year turnover of the Ocean terminal is 660 million yuan.

After the completion of the B-round of investment in the Ocean pier, has blue waves to all employees wrote an open letter, which involves the evaluation of a number of VC agencies, and this letter has spread to the creation circle, and triggered hot debate.

Just three months ago, just got the C round of 350 million dollar financing pocket shopping also because of a report, and plunged into the public opinion whirlpool, and triggered a cast circle on the Sequoia capital of the denunciation.

Many 1999 years after the establishment of well-known companies, have received the investment of PE institutions, the latter and the enterprise dispute also occurs repeatedly, but in the past to the front, more is the PE institution as an external shareholder of a company, and entrepreneur dispute, that is, "after the dispute", which can be summed up as a company's governance structure problem.

But the recent two "incidents" have put "disputes" before them. Many PE investors, like the entrepreneur and the relationship between investors, likened to "marital relationship", because a PE institution in the investment of a business, often accompany the company walk 35 years or even longer. and "Chuang" and "cast", both the interests of the community, and there is a conflict of interests side.

Past disputes, as if men and women married after the "bedfellows", the last two disputes, but more like the relationship between men and women after the failure to build a war of words. Behind this is a looming investor-entrepreneur game.

Once blue waves: the intention is to motivate the team

In the open letter to employees, the name mentioned Morning Hing Capital, Jingwei Venture, Alibaba Strategic Investment department, the Northern Lights, the lines looming "shooting" PE agency words.

"In May 2012, when we laid off the staff, I wrote the famous" Dark before dawn "mail to the company's only 30 people. Signed a sentence is: ' To the resurrection of the blood when we can and these forward-looking VC children's shoes loudly shouted:" Sorry, pro, we have increased prices! " 2013 our annual profit full blood resurrection, to now, yes, we have increased prices, and a lot of prices, a lot of that kind of, up to today I can not understand ...

On the night of January 29, the blue waves said to reporters on the phone: "My letter was originally written to employees, the first half of the letter to talk about the history of financing, more to say entrepreneurship and financing hardships, today Hard-won; I mainly want to say that the latter part of the letter is to motivate the team to go forward, do not take the money floated up, The last side I said the Ocean pier is rotten, to continue to work hard. Liu (Morningside Capital partner) was going to vote for us, and I apologized to the others for not agreeing with him, and I had a good relationship with Shao Yipo, the managing partner, and I communicated with him after that, and he understood that. But the letter after the public, turned a lot, some of the title party, said I black the whole venture circle, I quite collapsed. In fact, entrepreneurs and investors are the relationship between fish and water, who can not be separated from. ”

In 2010, the Ocean Pier won the angel's 5 million Yuan Angel investment, in December 2013 won the fund million dollar a round of investment, and recently announced that the fund 100 million U.S. dollar B-round investment. For a company in the field of TMT, from the Angel round financing to a round of financing, the interval of more than three years, and from the content of the letter, had Blue Wave 2010, 2011 contacted a lot of VC agencies, side can also know: once the blue waves to get a round of financing is indeed quite bumpy.

The waves said that in the second round of financing in the Ocean terminal, they have seen more than 20 institutions, "it is difficult to explain to investors how to compete with the cat International." "The B-round financing of the Ocean terminal is still not easy. Before and after two rounds of hard financing, once blue waves that: "VC do not invest in you are normal, or you are not enough strength, or investment agencies do not cover this area." ”

And Wang's peers, privately told reporters, Wang interviewed, that is, the casual complaining a few words, did not expect himself will be playing "challenged Sequoia" label. This reporter interviewed Wang, as of press, Wang did not have any response to this statement.

Investor says: A round of investment dispute is bigger

Since 2014, the Beijing-east, Alibaba has listed, the mobile internet will be the outbreak of the trend established, countless funds flocked to TMT investment, these new funds in the Angel Wheel and a round, however, the angel and a round, cast and not cast, what kind of valuation criteria to invest? is a problem. The most contentious aspect of this is the "Investment Framework Agreement" (Term Sheet).

Investment institutions and financing enterprises in the early communication, have the intention to invest in the enterprise, you can sign an "investment framework agreement" and start to conduct due diligence on the enterprise. After a half-month to a few months of due diligence, the investment agency determines what price to invest in and not to vote on. and "Investment Framework agreement" often comes with exclusivity, that is, investment institutions will require financing enterprises, in a certain period, can not contact with other investment institutions.

According to the foregoing, if a VC organization eventually invests in a company, similar to the marriage between the two parties, then issue an investment framework agreement, the contacts between the two sides more like "love".

IDG Capital Partner Zhangsuyang said: "We have always told entrepreneurs that the company's situation to investors to tell the truth; if the investment framework Agreement is valid for three months, we will make the same results as the founders said, and the external environment has not recognized the big change, Then we typically invest in the valuations that are mentioned in the framework agreement, and if the results are more or less different from what the entrepreneur has said before, then there is no problem, and if you are optimistic about the entrepreneur and his direction, then a new price is a compromise. ”

So what is "recognized as a big change"? Zhangsuyang that both the entrepreneur and the investor have opinion, such as a financial crisis like the 2008, during due diligence, and Ali or Tencent suddenly launched a similar product with the company.

Looking for Steel Net founder and CEO Wang Dong told reporters: "Some organizations in order to rob projects, come up to the investment framework Agreement." "There is also the CEO of TMT, a privately expressed fear that some agencies will make a relatively high valuation when they give an investment framework agreement, deliberately finding fault during the adjustment and depressing valuations."

In this respect, GGV Capital Management partner Zhuo pointed out: "Some of the more intelligent entrepreneurs, not to see who is the price of high, choose who, but choose to do their own field is really understand, can provide help." A few years ago, some enterprises in the peak period of the industry to finance high valuations, the result of two years, the industry trough, the company did not listed, want to melt the next round, according to what kind of valuation? If valuations are higher than in the previous round, investors in the latter round are unwilling; if they are below the previous round of valuations, the former investors will freeze if they do not want to. ”

Zhuo told reporters that he once in a speech to IPO enterprises, talked about this phenomenon, after the speech, there are two enterprises to find him said, encounter similar problems, how to do? I propose: "To raise the valuation down to finance, but also to the previous round of the investors must be compensated." ”

Zhangsuyang and Zhuo both agree that the closer a business is to a rear-wheel financing, the nearer it is to a financial investment, or even a model that can be predicted; but the more early the investment, the investors are normal to vote or not, and what kind of valuation is often more controversial. Zhangsuyang so far because of 2000 and Alibaba missed and regret.

Advice to entrepreneurs: don't blindly see a lot of funds

Founded in 2012 to find steel nets, over the past three years has been a number of institutional investment: angel investors are the perilous peak of the fund, a round of investment institutions are Jingwei venture and the peak of huaxing, B-round investment institutions are the bull capital and Sequoia Capital; January 20, 2015, find Steel net announced, C round financing 100 million dollars, by IDG Capital and Huasheng Capital, prior to the shareholders to vote.

Its founder Wang Dong within three years of contact with many institutions, have encountered "some funds before said well, in the provisional signing of a sudden problem", which will let the enterprise unprepared. Wang Dong said, met the fund, one to the investment framework Agreement: "But to vote for our fund, I still admire, they do homework relatively deep, not easily to the intention of agreement, to the intention of the Agreement on the more understanding of you." ”

Wang and these funds have signed exclusive agreement: "The general exclusive agreement, we will control within one months, the shortest only 15 days." An exclusive agreement of more than three months is not possible, not two months. When we financed the C round, we had a sales of $9.5 billion in 2014, in our website transaction turnover of 68.8 billion yuan (including 9.5 billion), these to confirm more trouble, the fund does not adjust to more than one months, a round, b round of financing of the full adjustment will be a lot simpler, one months enough, the adjustment over too long time is not normal. Some entrepreneurs will be dragged by the fund for a long time, which is the biggest hole in financing. ”

Wang also suggested that entrepreneurs do not blindly see too many funds, "less than the best." Some funds have contacted you, even signed an investment framework agreement, eventually did not vote, some will be outside to say, or even if they do not say that the fund circle is very small, other fund people may know that they will study the previous fund why not vote, may have concerns. In addition, the entrepreneur should also have a knowledge of the fund, such as the fund to invest in you, is a partner to decide, or a few people together decision-making; For example, VC has a phase two phase three fund, to invest in your fund's survival period is still a few years. These will affect the Fund's investment or not, some of its decision-making after the investment. ”

The Shiji of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Real Travel Network is: "Some investors know and do not understand the industry." Understand that they tend to understand the big idea of the Internet; it's hard for entrepreneurs to communicate with them if they don't understand some of the details of the vertical market. For example, we do travel business-to-business, investors say that do air tickets will want to low commission, but do outbound travel products, do air tickets is an entrance, we do not rely on the air tickets, but rely on making products to make money. Also, the aviation market is growing by more than 20% a year, and earnings are growing fast. ”

But Shiji also confessed, some entrepreneurs themselves are impetuous: "In some of their public speeches, they may exaggerate their own number of users, exaggerate their own performance, or in the financing after the announcement of funding, I would like the company is not worth so much money, is not really a lot of money?" ”