WhatsApp罕見(jiàn)交易會(huì)不會(huì)終結(jié)風(fēng)投抱團(tuán)投資
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????Facebook同意以190億美元的創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄高價(jià)收購(gòu)移動(dòng)聊天應(yīng)用WhatsApp后不久，我問(wèn)紅杉資本（Sequoia Capital）合伙人吉姆?戈茨，為什么只有紅杉這唯一一家風(fēng)投公司對(duì)WhatsApp進(jìn)行了投資。 ????吉姆的回答是，因?yàn)榧t杉希望獲得WhatsApp公司盡可能多的股權(quán)。 ????這話聽(tīng)起來(lái)似乎平淡無(wú)奇，但事實(shí)上，這在風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資界極為罕見(jiàn)。 ????絕大多數(shù)情況下，像WhatsApp這樣的公司，等到Facebook找上門(mén)時(shí)，應(yīng)該已經(jīng)有了好幾位投資者。以Facebook本身為例，它成立四年時(shí)，已經(jīng)有了八個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)投資者。Twitter也是如此。即便同樣是獲得紅杉資本支持的谷歌（Google），當(dāng)時(shí)也還有一個(gè)主要的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資者——?jiǎng)P鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins）。 ????有時(shí)出現(xiàn)多個(gè)投資者反映的是資金需求。不過(guò)，大多數(shù)情況下，出現(xiàn)多個(gè)投資者的根源在于尋求社會(huì)認(rèn)同——能使風(fēng)險(xiǎn)看起來(lái)不那么冒險(xiǎn)的驗(yàn)證協(xié)議。畢竟，別人也愿意進(jìn)行的投資能有多糟糕？ ????比如，大家還記得嗎，風(fēng)投機(jī)構(gòu)Institutional Venture Partners曾經(jīng)在一篇新聞通稿中書(shū)面解釋過(guò)它去年投資SnapChat的一個(gè)理由？ ????追隨聰明人的投資步伐。Snapchat的早期投資者包括基準(zhǔn)資本（Benchmark Capital）和光速創(chuàng)投（Lightspeed Venture Partners），兩者都是硅谷的頂級(jí)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司。我們與兩家公司都有過(guò)合作，對(duì)他們兩家都?xì)J佩不已。Institutional Venture Partners公司2009年二月與基準(zhǔn)資本一道投資了Twitter。這筆投資被證明是我們公司有史以來(lái)最成功的投資之一。我們還與基準(zhǔn)資本一起投資了MySQL，后者于2008年被太陽(yáng)計(jì)算機(jī)系統(tǒng)公司（Sun Microsystems）出資10億美元收購(gòu)。 ????所謂社會(huì)認(rèn)同會(huì)在新創(chuàng)企業(yè)融資的各個(gè)階段浮出水面，有時(shí)是在種子階段，尤其是在AngelList這類(lèi)融資平臺(tái)上，情況尤為突出；有時(shí)是在早期融資階段，要么是數(shù)家機(jī)構(gòu)聯(lián)合領(lǐng)投，要么是一家牽頭，其余跟投。不過(guò)，最容易看出社會(huì)認(rèn)同的還是在B輪或是C輪等后續(xù)融資階段。下面是風(fēng)投機(jī)構(gòu)Rob Go最近發(fā)布的一條聲明： ????絕大部分風(fēng)投會(huì)在相對(duì)早期階段就購(gòu)入所投公司的股權(quán)。他們會(huì)在多輪競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中不斷擴(kuò)大持股比例。不過(guò)，他們也不介意引入新的投資者以證明自己的投資是明智之舉。通常，另一家風(fēng)投會(huì)以更高的估值來(lái)投資，這就證明了早期投資者的眼光，而且在賬面上他也大賺了一筆。而對(duì)于各家風(fēng)投的有限合伙人而言，他們想必會(huì)頗為滿意，而參與交易的主要合伙人更是面上有光。 ????不過(guò)紅杉資本在投資WhatsApp時(shí)沒(méi)有掉入這個(gè)陷阱。他們看到了WhatsApp的美好前景，因而將其它人拒之門(mén)外?，F(xiàn)在，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資史上最賺錢(qián)的一筆交易即將發(fā)生，紅杉資本到了獨(dú)享成果的時(shí)候。其它風(fēng)投肯定會(huì)注意到吧？ ????當(dāng)然，我并非是第一個(gè)指出風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資的社會(huì)認(rèn)同難以為繼的人。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資家亨特?沃克在大約兩年前就發(fā)表過(guò)類(lèi)似言論。但是，作為投資策略拿出來(lái)點(diǎn)評(píng)一下是一回事，正式發(fā)表以強(qiáng)調(diào)這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)又是另外一回事了。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)） ????譯者：項(xiàng)航 ???? |
????Shortly after Facebook (FB) agreed to acquire mobile messaging company WhatsApp for a record $19 billion, I spoke to Sequoia Capital partner Jim Goetz about why Sequoia was the only venture capital firm to have ever invested in WhatsApp. ????To paraphrase Jim's answer: Because Sequoia wanted as much equity in the company as it could get. ????This may sound obvious, but it really is the exception in venture capital circles. ????In almost every other case, a company like WhatsApp would have had multiple investors by the time Facebook came calling. For example, Facebook itself had eight institutional investors by the time it turned four-years-old. Same with Twitter (TWTR). Even Sequoia-backed Google (GOOG) had another major VC backer in Kleiner Perkins. ????Sometimes the multiple investors are a reflection of capital requirements. But, most often, it's rooted in the concept of social proof -- a validation protocol that has the effect of making risk look...well, less risky. After all, how bad could an investment be if someone else is willing to do it too? ????For example, remember what Institutional Venture Partners wrote about one of its reasons to invest in SnapChat last year? ????Follow the Smart Money – Snapchat's early investors include Benchmark Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, two of the top venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. We've worked with both firms previously and can't find enough good things to say about each. IVP co-invested in Twitter along side Benchmark in February 2009. That investment has proven to be one of the most successful in the history of our firm. We also co-invested with Benchmark in MySQL, which Sun Microsystems acquired in 2008 for $1 billion. ????Sometimes social proof manifests itself in seed-stage rounds, particularly via online platforms like AngelList. Sometimes it's in early-stage deals, either with co-lead investors or a single lead who brings in other institutions for smaller stakes. But, most often, it's in follow-on rounds like Series B or Series C. Here is how venture capitalist Rob Go recently explained it: ????Most VC's buy their ownership in a company relatively early. They would like to increase it over time in their winners, but they also like getting external validation that they have made a good investment by getting another firm to mark-up their investment. Basically, this means that another VC invests at a higher valuation, making the early VC seem really smart and able to show unrealized gains. This tends to make LPs happy and make the lead partner look good among his or her colleagues. ????But Sequoia didn't fall into this trap on WhatsApp. It saw something great, kept everyone else away and is now reveling in the largest-ever sale of a VC-backed company. This has got to cause other VC firms to take notice. Right? ????To be sure, I'm not the first person to suggest that social proof deserves to be on the run. Venture capitalist Hunter Walk wrote that very thing in this space nearly two years ago. But it's one thing to make investment strategy arguments, and quite another to keep reading about the courage of someone else's convictions. |
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