My Age of Investment

Because there is a prototype car, there is a real thing, but also a driving experience.

Tesla’s Series B financing went very smoothly, with a number of VCs throwing olive branches.

Even Eberhard lamented that this time the venture capitalists finally stopped treating Tesla as a liar.

Before, he took a few car model drawings and PPT, hit the wall countless times, and suffered countless scorns and cold receptions.

Compared with the warm reception received now, it is a world of difference.

Of all the venture capital firms, the best offer is the "value equity partner" capital.

Eberhard invited Antonio Gracias, the founding partner of the investment agency, to Tesla, and started negotiations with Xia Jingxing, SDL, and Compass shareholders.

Value Equity Partners has a small capital scale and is located in Chicago. Its founding partner Antonio is also very young, only in his thirties.

Antonio shook hands with everyone, and after a few words of greeting, he sat on his seat and slowly said:

"The value equity partner has been paying attention to the field of new energy entrepreneurship. When I learned that Tesla is building an electric sports car, I immediately became interested. In my opinion, this is a very cool business..."

Xia Jingxing smiled, the other party's eloquence was very good, and he didn't put on the air of an investor. His words and attitudes were very measured, and it was easy to make people feel good.

As the CEO of Tesla, Eberhard was the first to respond to the other party: "Mr. Gracias, the current situation of Tesla, I have already introduced it to you before, so I won't repeat it.

We have already conquered a number of core technologies including batteries and motors. The next plan is to mass-produce electric vehicles.

To support this program, we need to raise $13 million. "

Antonio nodded, then looked at Xia Jingxing, smiled and said, "If Darren leads the investment of 10 million US dollars, Equity Value Partner Capital can follow the investment of 3 million US dollars."

Xia Jingxing nodded and had no opinion.

In fact, the 13 million US dollars were all paid out by him alone, and there was no problem.

It's just that the two original founders of Tesla hope to introduce more diversified shareholders and expand the company's network.

He didn't object either. After all the meat was eaten, he had to drink soup for others.

Tesla still has a long way to go in the future, and there are many things that need peace.

He has limited ability by himself, and it is impossible to hold all the equity tightly. It is too much to keep the position of the major shareholder.

Eberhard smiled, "Okay, that's it."

"and many more."

Antonio interrupted.

He looked at the people with surprised eyes and said with a smile, "I have a little doubt."

Eberhard thought that the other party was dissatisfied with the valuation, and said lightly: "The pre-money valuation of $50 million is not high.

In fact, in addition to equity value capital, there are many investment institutions that are interested in Tesla. "

Antonio smiled and waved his hand, "You misunderstood me, I have no problem with this valuation."

"Then who are you?" Eberhard asked.

Antonio laughed: "I think only $13 million may not be enough to support Tesla's mass production."

The reason why Eberhard did not raise enough money at one time was actually on purpose.

At present, Tesla has come out of the quagmire and does not need to raise large-scale financing and sell too much equity.

At the same time, there is Xia Jingxing, the major shareholder, who has the bottom line. According to the development rhythm, each time a goal is achieved, a round of small-scale financing is the best choice.

Eberhard pretended to be confused and said: "In fact, 13 million US dollars is enough, and we plan to use all this money for research and development.

And our sales method is to take the form of "reservation", the customer pays first, and then picks up the car.

We take the customer's advance payment, then place an order with the factory, procure the parts, and Tesla does the final assembly.

The most ideal state is that after the mass production of the car, it will quickly reach the break-even, and then we will obtain more pre-orders through the "reservation" sales model, expand production and sales, and Tesla will reach a profitable state.

Of course, it is also possible that the car will be mass-produced, but because the sales volume has not increased, it has not been able to break through the break-even point.

At this time, we can carry out another round of financing to supplement the cash flow.

But that is already another stage of development.

The current $13 million is just used for pre-production. "

Antonio chuckled, how could he fool Eberhard with just a few words.

The current $13 million financing, combined with Tesla’s previous investment, will be more than $20 million at most.

With this little money, you can produce an electric sports car? Still making a profit?

He is still relatively optimistic about Tesla, so he did not point out Eberhard, and said with a smile: "I just have a request, when Tesla starts financing again, I hope that equity value partner capital will lead the investment, give We give priority to the lead.”

This is Antonio's real idea. When Tesla is actually mass-produced, the business prospects will undoubtedly be brighter.

If their company makes additional investment at this time, it can be regarded as maximizing its benefits.

At present, he has only built a prototype car, and he is too lazy to compete with the Asian chairman for the lead.

After all, investing now is still very risky, and it will be over if it cannot be mass-produced.

Mass production is a threshold. If you can't cross it, you will die. If you cross it, it will be a new world.

Of course, the real mass production, Tesla's valuation is not only the current tens of millions of dollars.

The risk is low and the reward is relatively low.

But now they have participated in the investment of 3 million US dollars, and Tesla has really taken off in the later stage, and their investment in the early stage will still have a considerable return.

This is the way of doing venture capital. It is necessary to control risks and seize good projects, increase investment along the way, and maximize profits.

Eberhard could not be the master, so he turned his attention to Xia Jingxing.

"Can."

Xia Jingxing smiled brightly and readily agreed.

He is very clear about how big Tesla's next financial black hole is, and he is afraid that the other party will not dare to get in the car at that time.

What Antonio proposed is the "leadership priority", not to say that he must lead the investment in Tesla's next round of financing, but to have this priority.

Generally, depending on the development of the target company, it will choose to exercise the right to lead the investment, or not exercise it.

Xia Jingxing has no objection, Eberhard and Tarpenning, and the other two shareholders naturally have no objection, anyway, everyone's money is money, and Tesla has not yet reached the stage where it is qualified to pick and choose.

Antonio saw that his request was granted, and he did not make any other requests.

Then, he chatted with several Tesla shareholders and founders about some general framework agreements.

After basically negotiating, several parties signed the investment intention agreement. After the due diligence was completed, they signed a formal investment agreement and made money.

Xia Jingxing roughly calculated in his mind that if this round of financing is successfully completed, his shareholding in Tesla will increase from 42% to 49.21%, which is close to half.

This shareholding ratio is quite high. Even if he gives up several rounds of follow-up investment later, he should be able to maintain the position of the largest shareholder.

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