Chapter 354: The Draper Family and the Business That Extremely Tests and Tempers Human Nature

The purpose of Li Xiaofan's trip was to visit Tim Draper, the founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Jerry Yang's senior at Stanford University.

"Mr. Li, and two beautiful ladies, welcome to our Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Li, you seem to be more handsome and energetic than on TV!"

Tim Draper, with unusually thick eyebrows, warmly invited Li Xiaofan and his party to their company's conference room for communication.

This was the first time Li Xiaofan met Tim Draper face to face.

In his previous life, Tim Draper's name was well-known in the global financial and venture capital circles.

The industry's stereotype of him is very interesting: eccentric genius + billionaire + philanthropist.

Tim Draper was born in the Draper family and is the third generation of the family. The Draper family's reputation is resounding throughout Silicon Valley, and the history of the Draper family is also intertwined with the history of the entire Silicon Valley.

His grandfather William Henry Draper founded Gaither and Anderson in 195r, which is regarded as the first venture capital company on the West Coast of the United States; his father founded Sutter Hill Ventures; and Tim Draper himself founded the famous Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

After the greetings, Li Xiaofan got straight to the point and said:

"Mr. Tim, I want to invest in the Hotmail project, do you agree?"

Tim Draper was surprised by the topic that Li Xiaofan suddenly raised.

When Sabir Badia and Jack Smith, the two founders of Hotmail, came to recommend the webmail project, Tim Draper was very optimistic about the project and invested $300,000 in it.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiaofan actually took a fancy to this project now.

"Li, why do you also think highly of the Hotmail project?" he asked curiously.

Li Xiaofan smiled and quoted an English proverb: "Great minds think alike!" It means that great minds think alike.

Seeing that Li Xiaofan was so optimistic about this project, Tim Draper stopped hiding and asked, "Mr. Li, how do you plan to invest in this hotmail project?"

"My latest post-investment valuation for this project is $5 million. I will invest $1 million and require a 20% stake. This plan has been agreed by the two founders, Sabir Badia and Jack Smith. So, Mr. Tim, I came to visit you today mainly to listen to your opinions in person?"

Li Xiaofan's words shocked Tim Draper again. The young Chinese man from Singapore had actually communicated with the two founders of the hotmail project, and now the new valuation proposed by Li Xiaofan is 2.5 times higher than his own!

Previously, Tim Draper invested $300,000 in this project and held a 15% stake.

If Li Xiaofan's plan is implemented, after he invests $1 million, Li Xiaofan will hold a 20% stake, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson's 15% stake will shrink to %, and Tim Draper will become the smallest shareholder.

This result is something Tim Draper is very reluctant to see!

"Mr. Li, as the first angel investor of the Hotmail project, I welcome you to participate in this project. However, I do not support your investment plan. Because if you implement it according to your opportunity, our DFJ Ventures will become the smallest shareholder of the Hotmail project!"

Li Xiaofan smiled and said, "Mr. Tim, I came here today to listen to your opinion. If you do not support my investment plan. Do you have a better proposal?"

Tim Draper thought for a while and said, "Since Mr. Li is so optimistic about the Hotmail project, we at DFJ Ventures are willing to invest $1 million in this project with you, which means that we The two companies will invest another $2 million together!"

"No problem, Mr. Tim, I have no objection to your proposal. I just want to achieve the goal of investing in the hotmail project. Now the key is whether the two founders, Sabir Badia and Jack Smith, will support our investment plan?"

"Mr. Li, let me ask my secretary to contact the two founders, Sabir Badia and Jack Smith, later, and I will listen to their opinions first. How about we contact them tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

"No problem!"

Tim Draper didn't expect that the young Chinese man in front of him was so easy to talk to. He was ready to bargain.

And Li Xiaofan came to Tim Draper today for two purposes. The first purpose was of course to invest in the hotmail project, and the second purpose was to make friends with Tim Draper!

At present, for Li Xiaofan, a new investment upstart from the East, what he needs most is connections and making friends in the adventurer's paradise of the United States!

There are many cakes in this world. If you want to have every cake for yourself, you will be stuffed to death sooner or later, or suffocated to death by the people around you!

Venture capital is a business that tests and hones human nature.

It requires people to be humble, introspective, and constantly admit their mistakes, thereby making people more tolerant and peaceful; it requires people to be full of curiosity, no matter how old they are, so that their mentality will remain youthful forever; it requires people to recognize the shortcomings of reason and reason, and always It reminds people not to be arrogant and to respect uncertainty and the laws of nature.

People who lack emotional intelligence and IQ but are overflowing with greed are definitely not suitable to be venture capitalists. Not to mention the inheritance of hegemony and gene continuation!

As for Tim Draper's Draper, the reputation of the Draper family has always been resounding throughout the industry and is everlasting. It is said to be integrated with the history of the entire Silicon Valley and is a miracle created by several generations of their family.

His ancestor, General William H. Draper, was a man of great energy. After World War II, he was responsible for the economic aid for Japan and Germany in the Marshall Plan. He was the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Army and the U.S. Ambassador to NATO.

Tim Draper's father is a pioneer in global venture capital, investing in the first-ever software company Activision, the first floppy disk manufacturers Quantum and Priam, and the first agricultural DNA company Hy.

itech and other well-known projects.

1 Draper's father, William, was appointed chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States by then US President Ronald Reagan. In 1986, William became the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program, second only to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

"Li, many years ago, I followed my father to visit mainland China. I was deeply impressed!" After talking about the hotmail project, Tim Draper chatted with Li Xiaofan, Tang Xinyi and Wang Danrong about the time when he followed his father William A story about a business trip to Beijing.

As distinguished guests from the United Nations, the father and son were escorted into the only car along the way as soon as they arrived at Beijing Airport. They drove across the only asphalt road in Beijing and checked into the "Friendship Hotel", the only international hotel at the time.

"After I got off the plane, I felt so strange. Why were there no cars on the roads in Beijing? After my father went to the meeting, I slipped out of the Friendship Hotel to go shopping alone. I saw a flood of people riding bicycles on the streets of Beijing. I commute to get off work by bicycle, and buy vegetables at the vegetable market with a vegetable basket that looks like woven straw..."

Li Xiaofan was happy when he heard this, and explained with a smile: "That vegetable basket is not made of straw, but of bamboo."

"Later, I visited Hangzhou with my father. The West Lake in Hangzhou is really beautiful. This is the most impressive and beautiful place in my trip to the mainland!"

Hearing this, Tang Xinyi said happily: "Mr. Tim, you have been to Hangzhou too. I just came back from studying in Hangzhou!"