WhatsApp罕見交易會不會終結風投抱團投資
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????Facebook同意以190億美元的創紀錄高價收購移動聊天應用WhatsApp后不久，我問紅杉資本（Sequoia Capital）合伙人吉姆?戈茨，為什么只有紅杉這唯一一家風投公司對WhatsApp進行了投資。 ????吉姆的回答是，因為紅杉希望獲得WhatsApp公司盡可能多的股權。 ????這話聽起來似乎平淡無奇，但事實上，這在風險投資界極為罕見。 ????絕大多數情況下，像WhatsApp這樣的公司，等到Facebook找上門時，應該已經有了好幾位投資者。以Facebook本身為例，它成立四年時，已經有了八個機構投資者。Twitter也是如此。即便同樣是獲得紅杉資本支持的谷歌（Google），當時也還有一個主要的風險投資者——凱鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins）。 ????有時出現多個投資者反映的是資金需求。不過，大多數情況下，出現多個投資者的根源在于尋求社會認同——能使風險看起來不那么冒險的驗證協議。畢竟，別人也愿意進行的投資能有多糟糕？ ????比如，大家還記得嗎，風投機構Institutional Venture Partners曾經在一篇新聞通稿中書面解釋過它去年投資SnapChat的一個理由？ ????追隨聰明人的投資步伐。Snapchat的早期投資者包括基準資本（Benchmark Capital）和光速創投（Lightspeed Venture Partners），兩者都是硅谷的頂級風險投資公司。我們與兩家公司都有過合作，對他們兩家都欽佩不已。Institutional Venture Partners公司2009年二月與基準資本一道投資了Twitter。這筆投資被證明是我們公司有史以來最成功的投資之一。我們還與基準資本一起投資了MySQL，后者于2008年被太陽計算機系統公司（Sun Microsystems）出資10億美元收購。 ????所謂社會認同會在新創企業融資的各個階段浮出水面，有時是在種子階段，尤其是在AngelList這類融資平臺上，情況尤為突出；有時是在早期融資階段，要么是數家機構聯合領投，要么是一家牽頭，其余跟投。不過，最容易看出社會認同的還是在B輪或是C輪等后續融資階段。下面是風投機構Rob Go最近發布的一條聲明： ????絕大部分風投會在相對早期階段就購入所投公司的股權。他們會在多輪競爭中不斷擴大持股比例。不過，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，另一家風投會以更高的估值來投資，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。而對于各家風投的有限合伙人而言，他們想必會頗為滿意，而參與交易的主要合伙人更是面上有光。 ????不過紅杉資本在投資WhatsApp時沒有掉入這個陷阱。他們看到了WhatsApp的美好前景，因而將其它人拒之門外。現在，風險投資史上最賺錢的一筆交易即將發生，紅杉資本到了獨享成果的時候。其它風投肯定會注意到吧？ ????當然，我并非是第一個指出風險投資的社會認同難以為繼的人。風險投資家亨特?沃克在大約兩年前就發表過類似言論。但是，作為投資策略拿出來點評一下是一回事，正式發表以強調這個觀點又是另外一回事了。（財富中文網） ????譯者：項航 ???? |
????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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