Chapter 1163： 13 billion

In the office, Lyman was talking to Perlman about it.

Although Amber Video’s current spending speed is not fast, but after the content price increase and TV station blockade deepened, Black and others have not started the real money-burning mode in order to attract more user traffic——

Directly negotiating a contract in one region and one region, 10 to 2 billion is gone in minutes.

In 2014, Netflix spent 1.2 billion to promote and buy exclusive content in the French region. This is just to ensure that the French business can expand to the point where it can crush local streaming sites to form a film library and maintain stock competition.

Furthermore, Lehman does not want his own streaming media platform to rely on blood transfusion only from the group’s production business, which would be troublesome for the flow of funds; secondly, the channel sector is prone to withholding funds, which is not a good choice. Appropriately absorb capital. , to win over strong aid, in order to better **** Amber.

Of course, the A round of financing needs to choose a good time, and after communicating with everyone, the initial choice is one or two months after the launch of "Game of Thrones".

In Lehman's vision, it just happened to make a big achievement, and more chips in hand can be exchanged for more capital favor, but the problem is that generally, the period between the announcement of the news and the end of the financing negotiation will be very long.

The capital money is not blown by the wind. Their valuation of each step of the project and their judgment in each direction will change at any time. In addition, the products of the Internet have their own randomness, so they are clearly determined. Pay attention to financing next year, but you must first deal with various capitals in the time period near the end of the year.

According to Perlman, "If you want to take advantage of the positives to raise the valuation, it will be too late when "Game of Thrones" is launched. It's just to determine the intention to determine the conditions for the equity exchange, not to discuss even the basic demands after several rounds. I don’t understand it, and it will take time to review contracts and raise funds. In addition, as you said, boss, I want to rely on the increase in users brought by “Game of Thrones” to enter the UK and France. To be able to form a linkage with the product also requires a sufficient amount of preparation, otherwise the time will be too late.”

In other words, after listening carefully to Lehman's thoughts on Amber's next operation node, Perlman definitely pointed out that the capital must be aware of and keep an eye on the project before it goes live, and then wait for "Game of Thrones" "Really achieved ideal results and became popular. When it comes to exclusive drainage, the investor for the last step was quickly determined and the resources were negotiated. In this way, wherever the copyright of "Game of Thrones" is placed, there will be enough capital. Let it blossom everywhere in the streaming space.

"You still understand." Lyman praised.

"Boss, you are the one who maintains the production capacity of our label. If there is no content, how can our other businesses move forward." Perlman also laughed and sent a flattery.

"You said it very well just now, um... I still have an idea." Lehman continued: "I only melted about 10 to 15 percent of Amber's A round. Otherwise, I am going to take it. 10% will be given as an option reward for part of the staff, but then there will be management cash out and priority platform repurchase, and you and Joseph will come up with a charter.”

"Yes."

"Also, you get 2 percent in this part."

"I've already paid dividends for the development of film and television copyrights." Perlman said immediately.

"One yard for one yard, let's do it like this."

...

One p.m.

Ron called and said that he had an appointment with the fund partner of Red Shirt and would come to Amber's headquarters to chat at around 2 o'clock.

It has to be said that as a veteran VC (red shirt is a trust system, it is divided into three levels, the highest level is a partner, the middle level is an investment director, and the lowest level is an investment manager and analyst, which is characterized by limited partnership and assumes the corresponding trustee Responsibility), their sense of smell has always been sensitive, and their attention to the streaming media industry has begun a long time ago.

In addition, Lehmann also likes the way the red shirts operate - they always make equity investments in promising non-listed companies in the early and middle stages, and provide corresponding management and value-added services to help companies grow, and ultimately through io or other exit and realize capital appreciation.

You can simply understand that this kind of institution is chasing investment yield, and it is also a disguised financial management tool, but the threshold for initial investment is higher, and the cycle is longer than that of the stock market, but the investment risk is also smaller and more Suitable for large-scale capital operations.

So they don't care about the management and operation after the listing, that's not their focus, they are only responsible for the funds raised - such VCs are generally close to the rich, investment funds and banks.

Also, they generally like to lead rounds, which fits perfectly with Lehman's funding options.

After receiving the call, sitting in the office for a while, and feeling that it was almost time, Lyman went to Amber.

Today is Tuesday. After arriving at the company, Ron has arranged everything, and some decorations have been placed in the vacated reception room.

After a while, Ellen Deve, one of the partners of the red shirt, came with the team.

This is a white man in his forties with rimless glasses, who greets Lehmann warmly when he sees him.

"I've heard of Mr. Ryman's name for a long time, but I haven't had the chance to meet."

"Please sit down."

After some courtesies, the other party brought 2 people, and Layman only brought Ron and some materials.

After getting to know each other, Ellen has the characteristics of an investment institution and is very efficient. He goes straight to the point without waiting for the coffee to finish.

No way, Red Shirt has long had the idea of ​​investing in the streaming media field, especially seeing that the cake of Netflix was made first by Goldman Sachs, ****, Dadi Capital and other peers, and the environment is hot, of course, I want to find a Good location for entry.

And Amber, which is held by Mann Media, is the one they think is the most suitable.

In terms of market share, Amber and hulu are on a par with each other, only slightly worse than Netflix and Amazon+, which has suddenly increased its resource tilt;

In terms of business prospects, it has the absolute support of the two production brands Firefly and Marvel. It is very good in exclusive content, and the user retention rate is not low. In addition, hulu has not yet revealed the idea of ​​financing, and has been relying on it. Selling advertising space and old dramas are slowly developing. How to look at it, only this one is the best in the head competition of streaming media.

"We have talked about you before and are interested in this direction. I heard that you are already considering the A round of financing, and we will rush over immediately. What is your idea in this regard? Can you talk a little more about…”

"No hurry, let me know what you think of the streaming media industry first?"

If you can't take the initiative, you can take the initiative in the initiative. Aren't you optimistic about streaming media? How optimistic are you?

The other party smiled. It was also through some investment in the Internet and other products. After chatting and chatting, Lehman was suddenly curious about his operation of the last TV station, and asked him that the purchase cost of old dramas had increased significantly. How will it affect the development of streaming media?

"Actually, there are not so many problems. Streaming media is a new thing, and the existence of new things is bound to undergo a process of transformation. I feel that the price of content purchased by Netflix was not quantified enough. In the future, the two parties will gradually reach a consensus. For example, how much does it cost and how much is the audience rating for a year? You are producing content. You should have more confidence than me in this area. No matter what, those small factories hope that streaming media will become a fixed source of revenue to alleviate the problem. The pressure they make."

"Okay, it's you who's testing me." Ellen listened to Lehman so much, and was also curious about his competitive positioning for Amber, "But Netflix has experienced that blow, and now it's slowing down again, and the number of users It doesn’t hurt itself. With this foundation, it is certain that the stock price will recover, so do you think Amber can reach a desired height under its pressure?”

"The streaming media market is so large and has been expanding, and it can tolerate competition. My earlier view on this business was to supplement the profit points outside the original copyright production structure, and I felt that it would be more cost-effective to authorize it to Netflix than to do it myself. Now, the total number of paying users at home and abroad is 5.8 million, which has also accumulated a considerable volume.”

Lehman handed over the report of last week's visits, active data and user viewing time compiled by Amber, "These are all solid data to support. Of course, it has been streaming media for a while, and I believe you all know that its problems are incomplete. In terms of user selection and competition for viewing media on the traditional TV side, it is how to cultivate the habit of users to show content through streaming media platforms. Although Netflix has nearly 25 million users, the activity of the segment can often be maintained at around one million. , but limited by the replacement of content and the influence of TV stations, the whole industry is beating very frequently. It often happens that Amber is renewed this month, and Netflix is ​​renewed next month, waiting for the new accumulated by Netflix. After reading the content, maybe it will go to other platforms. In short, the content revolves around the content, not around the product. The reason why Amber has the current stock, you all know that it is the exclusive content of Firefly and Marvel. I am very busy, so I can naturally understand that its next development is to transplant more tag groups to the platform itself, such as those who like to watch sci-fi, those who like to watch Japanese comics, those who like to watch horror movies, or audience groups in other regions. ."

Ellen was not surprised, "This is the reason why we are here, Amber has reached a bottleneck now, and I think you all seem to pay attention to overseas users, do you feel that you can't compete with Netflix in terms of localization, or that the cost of competition is too high? "

"It's all users, there's no need to fight for it." Lehmann neither affirmed nor denied the statement of competition cost, "The larger the traffic, the larger the radiation area, and we don't rely entirely on the enthusiasm and continuity of users' payment. Advertising The business segment can now bring us millions of income a month, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the future.”

"But streaming media should always focus on the user itself, right? I don't think you can continue to sacrifice the user's viewing environment and cover the homepage with ads."

"Of course not, just maintain the current placement position."

"Oh, it seems that you have a good plan." Ellen smiled slightly, "Therefore, there should be no unnecessary investigation between us. I am more optimistic about the future of streaming media, and everyone can see the charm of smart mobile terminals. , and you should also have some understanding of us, Red Shirt has always been willing to help platforms like Amber expand and add value."

"Can I hear your offer?"

"Three months ago, a colleague of mine quoted 60 million, with a valuation of 540 million. Now we offer 200 million, take 4%, and the valuation is 4.8 billion. If you have any service needs, we are very willing to help, such as Screening investors.”

"Lower."

"Lower?"

Ellen Deve didn't expect Lehmann to speak bluntly without even thinking about it.

"Yes, it is far from the ideal valuation of our team."

"What does this refer to by far?"

"Neither the amount nor the equity price is appropriate."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"For the red shirt, if 200 million comes in, you can only get 1.53%, and you have to help us solve the problem of traffic promotion, and get any follow-up investment from Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and other groups, I believe you have this capacity and credibility.”

"Hehe, are you kidding me? 200 million is only diluted by 1.53%, and the pre-investment valuation is 13 billion? If you have millions of subscribers now, and you are still local, I can accept it. As for assisting other investors in the follow-up investment, if This transaction is successful, and I can help introduce it."

Ellen's face was a little dark. He thought he was sincere enough. He collected so much information in advance and gave a fairly good price. As a result, listening to Amber's conditions, he always felt that they were too confident or that he was wrong. Otherwise, the valuation is too far off.

It’s not about money that the red shirt cares about. Netflix’s market value is now around 100 billion, and at its peak it was nearly 190 billion, which shows that this field is indeed favored by many investors (there are no retail investors in the US stock market, and the last time it was fundraising) , they are also willing to throw money, but it is too much to treat them as fools.

What kind of standard to absorb what kind of quota is what he should do in this line of business, not to mention the risk of investment, even if they think Amber can get a piece of cake in the streaming media market, but there is also the possibility of being squeezed out by other peers , everything is not absolute.

From the data point of view, Mann Media has successively burned less than 800 million yuan, including exclusive content-if it is not for the priority of exclusive content, and the online drainage performance of "Thor 2" exceeds the expectations of the red shirt, he Neither will be valued at 4.8 billion.

This amount of money, he thinks, is already very high, even if Internet products always stage the myth of soaring market value - Facebook has refreshed the madness of this industry many times in just 3 years But this is not amber The reason for such a price increase.

"Because Amber has a bit of an advantage that Netflix doesn't have, which is also the key to our different judgments. To be honest, I think the valuation of 13 billion is too low, but before I get the feedback I should have, I am willing to bear it lower. said loss."

Seeing Lehmann's confident appearance, Ellen was also quickly reviewing the points he didn't pay attention to, but he couldn't speculate that there would be any special large-scale increase other than burning money to expand the film library and actively investing in public relations brands. method.

"Can you be specific?"

"Homemade dramas. Use the delivery of new drama clients to attract a large number of viewers who want to watch the content." Lehman revealed a little bit of content: "You should know that our TV drama department is working on several new projects, I will give them first-hand The screening channel has moved to streaming media.”

"Sorry, I don't know the episodes, so I can't judge what kind of value it can produce." Ellen still shook his head, "I've heard of "Game of Thrones", which claims to have millions in a single episode, but it hasn't come out yet, hasn't it? "

"It's coming soon. The episodes will be filmed and edited, and they will be broadcast in the spring of next year."

"Then it seems that today's transaction intention cannot be achieved." Ellen said politely: "You actually just want to remind me about this, right? You think "Game of Thrones" will make Amber to a higher level."

"There are reasons for this, but I am serious about the offer of 13 billion. If you are willing to accept this condition, we can sign it immediately."

"No." Ellen stood up and shook hands with Lehman to say goodbye, "This is a big deal, and it exceeds my personal judgment. I want to go back and discuss it. We can talk again when we have a chance."

"Please make this trip."

Lyman shook his hand.

"No trouble……"