Chapter 2269: James's Trouble

Even Zhao Fusheng himself hadn't expected that James would appear before him the moment he arrived in New York.

Moreover, he would bring up the issue of deeper cooperation.

After all, anyone with even a basic understanding of finance knows what Sequoia Capital represents.

Sequoia Capital was founded in the 1970s, manages nearly thirty funds, and has total assets under management of nearly ten billion US dollars.

Like most venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital primarily invests in companies at the seed stage, early growth stage, and growth stage.

For the seed stage, investments typically range from one hundred thousand to one million US dollars.

For the early growth stage, investments range from one million to ten million US dollars.

For the growth stage, investments range from ten million to fifty million US dollars.

They focus on four key areas: technology and media, consumer goods and modern services, healthcare, and energy and environmental protection.

Many world-class companies, including Google and Apple, received investments from Sequoia Capital during their startup phases, and Sequoia Capital, through these moves, became one of the world's most renowned venture capital firms.

Correspondingly, there is Masayoshi Son's SoftBank.

Zhao Fusheng's previous cooperation with Sequoia Capital had been fairly good; Sequoia Capital had played a role in his several successful attempts to outmaneuver Ono Masao of SoftBank Asia.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng also knew that Sequoia Capital was no saint.

At any time, capital's goal is to pursue profit, and venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital are even more so.

Despite their seemingly harmless appearance, in reality, Sequoia Capital has forced out so many company founders over the years that you can't even count them.

"Mr. James, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Zhao Fusheng looked at James, smiled, but shook his head and said, "Our cooperation has always been very pleasant."

From a certain perspective, this statement was not wrong.

After all, from the beginning to now, the cooperation between Sequoia Capital and Future Investment had been relatively successful.

Whether in the investment in Alibaba or in Facebook, Zhao Fusheng had never truly fallen out with Sequoia Capital.

Of course, this was also related to Zhao Fusheng's personal habits.

Without full confidence, he wouldn't casually break ties with others.

Besides, the goal of a businessman is to make money.

Isn't it good to make money happily?

Why must everyone be at each other's throats, wanting to destroy the other?

There's simply no need.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, James smiled helplessly.

He truly admired this Chinese super-rich man.

They had met and started dealing with each other back when Zhao Fusheng didn't have his current wealth.

A few years had passed, and Zhao Fusheng's wealth had grown every year, now reaching a level that commanded respect.

According to internal estimates at Sequoia Capital, this young Chinese man, though just thirty years old—what the Chinese call the age of independence—already controlled wealth exceeding thirty billion US dollars.

And his personal wealth could even reach hundreds of billions of US dollars after Facebook goes public.

This was no joke; it was truly possible!

The reason was simple: Facebook!

To this day, no one knows exactly how many Facebook shares Zhao Fusheng holds, because he has some kind of agreement with Mark Zuckerberg.

This was information recently confirmed by Sequoia Capital: Zhao Fusheng privately has an agreement with Mark Zuckerberg regarding company shares.

The specific content is unknown.

"Zhao, I think we should be more candid."

James looked at Zhao Fusheng and said.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Mr. James, I just arrived in New York today. Shouldn't you give me some time?"

No matter how eloquently the other party spoke, it didn't matter to him.

At this moment, even if James could talk a blue streak, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't agree to any substantive negotiations.

Zhao Fusheng knew too well what kind of company Sequoia Capital was. James's proactive visit must be because something unimaginable had happened in the US.

Otherwise, why would he take the initiative to show goodwill?

James was almost in tears!

This guy was too shrewd; no matter what he said, he remained impervious.

Sighing, James said bitterly, "In that case, I hope we still have a chance to cooperate again."

"Hmm?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback; he finally caught something.

This James didn't seem to be here for company matters.

"Mr. James, we Chinese have a saying: treat each other with sincerity. I hope you can tell me, did you come to see me this time for yourself or for Sequoia Capital?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at James and asked slowly.

This question was crucial, or rather, very important.

If James was here for Sequoia Capital, then sorry, Zhao Fusheng had no intention of continuing the conversation.

But if James was here for himself, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't mind having a good chat with him.

After all, James was a very capable person.

"For myself."

Meeting Zhao Fusheng's gaze, James had no choice but to steel himself and say, "In fact, before meeting you, I had already met with at least seven investors."

That many?

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised. James was a senior partner at Sequoia Capital; logically, he shouldn't be in such a situation.

But clearly, this partner looked like he was at his wit's end.

No, he wasn't at his wit's end; he was very frustrated.

After carefully observing James's expression, Zhao Fusheng came to this conclusion.

Smiling, Zhao Fusheng said, "How about this: let's grab something to eat first, and talk while we eat, okay?"

At this point, he made no mention of his earlier suggestion that James leave.

James's eyes lit up!

He was a genuine China hand, well-versed in the art of Chinese communication.

Unlike Americans who prefer to discuss business in the office, Chinese people love to negotiate over meals; many big deals are made at the dinner table.

Even he, when in China, had followed local customs and closed several deals over meals.

Thinking of this, James nodded eagerly: "No problem, my treat."

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily. To be honest, he didn't really care about what they ate; he was more curious about what business James wanted to discuss with him.