West coast

Adam, CEO of the company, was playing golf on Sunday.With one swing, he hit the ball 6 inches from the hole, and made a birdie of 1 under par.Suddenly I heard someone behind me applauding.He turned around and found Matt was also on the course.

Matt put the cue across his shoulder, and walked over casually to say hello to Adam: "What a coincidence, I can meet you here."

Adam glanced at him and teased, "Is there really such a coincidence in the world? The last time I saw you, you hacked into our company's system and caused us to be down for a whole day. After that, you found I self-recommended to be the supervisor of the network security department." He smiled and continued, "If you have nothing to do, you are probably a bad person today, so tell me, what system did you break again? "

Matt laughed and said, "This time I'm going to screw up our entire company."

Adam let out a hearty laugh: "Hahahahaha, is it? Interesting, let's hear it?"

Matt: "You don't want to sell your company to a big factory, do you?"

Adam nodded: "Well, I already said it when I held the meeting."

"What about your co-founder, Jake?" Matt asked.

Adam's eyes dimmed instantly: "He... I'm sorry, but I have nothing to say."

Matt rubbed his chin: "Well, then I will venture to guess. I will assume that you have worked hard to start a company, and unicorns are like children to you, and you don't want to sell anything. But the first The second founder, Jake, is just the opposite. He is just a businessman who only wants to make money, so he joined forces with the board of directors to put pressure on you to sell it to a big factory. Do you think my assumption is correct?"

Adam's hand that was still playing ball stopped, he put away the club, and explained: "Jake is not a person who only cares about money, he just...has been on the road of entrepreneurship for too long, and he wants a little return. He looked up at Matt and said, "Then assume your assumption is correct, please continue."

Matt: "Did you know that he has been inflating the number of daily active users of the software all the time? And recently he used fake user growth figures to inflate the acquisition price of big companies."

Adam: "What?! That's impossible." He asked suspiciously, "How do you know?"

Matt pursed his lips and said, "Don't forget what I did before. The hackers who are more powerful than me in the world can be counted on ten fingers." Matt said proudly: "We can expose Jake's use of fake data, In this way, once the big factories are tracked down, data fraud can easily surface, and their managers must be afraid of taking responsibility, so they withdrew from the acquisition transaction.”

Adam was surprised after hearing this, and he questioned: "This is undoubtedly suicide..."

Matt: "If you want to hurt the enemy a thousand, you must hurt yourself eight hundred. If you want to achieve your goal, there must be a price. But if the price must be paid, then it's better for us to seize the initiative and preemptive strikes."

Adam didn't want to be persuaded, and asked struggling: "Jake and I founded the unicorn together, why do you think I would do such a thing to hurt him?"

Matt: "In nature, a snake with two heads can't live long. I think you understand this truth better than anyone else. Jake wants to sell the company. If he doesn't squeeze him out, he will find out sooner or later. Second, third, fourth buyer."

Adam: "You took the risk to say such bold assumptions and schemes in front of me. What is the purpose?"

Matt: "I have only one condition, let Emily and her marketing department, which is as large as an army, disappear from my eyes!"

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A week later, the news that unicorns forged the number of daily active users of the software spread like wildfire. A short-selling agency on Wall Street took advantage of this news to make a big fuss and wrote an 80-page short-selling report, taking this opportunity to make a fortune. .

At the same time when the short-selling report was published, the major media also made a special report on this matter as if they had made an appointment.For a while, public opinion boiled.

The valuation of unicorns plummeted immediately, and it was not surprising that the major manufacturers immediately withdrew from the acquisition plan.

The early venture capitalists originally thought that after the unicorn was sold to a big factory, they would be able to exit smoothly and make a lot of money. Who knew that something like this would happen when the good thing was approaching.They came to the door one after another.

Jake, who is in charge of the company's public relations, has been suffering from a splitting headache these days. He is struggling to deal with the venture capitalists. He patted his chest with a smile on his face and assured them that even if the big manufacturers withdraw, the unicorns are not without retreat. After all They can continue to find other buyers, or restart the original listing plan no matter how bad it is, anyway, the venture capitalists will not lose their money.Seeing that he was so confident and plausible, the venture capital representatives left angrily.

Jake bit the bullet and dealt with the last visitor before he was finally free to sit down and turn on the computer. Among the countless unread emails, he saw a bonus letter titled "Equity Recovery Agreement" from CEO Adam at a glance. Thick asterisk mail.

He couldn't believe his eyes and thought to himself: What?I'm here pretending to be a grandson, doing crisis public relations day and night, and Adam wants to take the opportunity to squeeze me away? ! ! !

Without saying a word, Jake walked into CEO Adam's office aggressively, closed the door, and drew down the blinds.

He yelled: "What do you mean by sending me this equity recovery agreement?! You want to force me away?!"

Adam was clearly prepared for this moment, and replied calmly: "The company's valuation plummeted because the number of daily active users was fabricated, and who fabricated this number. You and I know very well."

Jake said angrily: "If I don't do this, we can raise so much money? Don't forget, without me dealing with these VCs outside every day, can you sit on the throne of CEO and sit back and relax?"

Adam replied sincerely: "I never deny your credit, Jake, but this is the end of the matter, we need to have an account with the board of directors."

Jake smiled contemptuously: "Don't scare me with the old men on the board of directors. This company was founded by you and me, they just sit there and pretend."

Adam: "They all have voting rights in their hands. Now they unanimously ask you to sell your equity, resign from the board of directors, and remove your appointment. There are all of them's signatures on the last page of this equity recovery agreement. You can open it and have a look. .”

Gritting his teeth, Jake asked, "What if I don't sell it?"

Adam was silent, his heart was full of struggles at the moment, and after thinking for a long time, he could only answer: "The secret agreement between you and Dachang will be exposed."

Jake couldn't believe it: "Wait? You even know this?" He was so angry that he almost lost his mind: "You fucking hacked into my computer? It wouldn't be you who revealed the fake daily active users For short-selling institutions?!"

Adam gritted his teeth, unwilling to say anything more.

Jake's face became ferocious: "You are so vicious, in order to squeeze me away, you actually resorted to such indecent tricks and made things to this extent?"

Adam said with guilt: "When you sign this agreement, I will give you a large amount of compensation and shares. You also know the company's operating conditions. After we go public, the value of these shares will increase exponentially in the future." .”

Jake: "Don't be hypocritical, let me guess, the pile of shares you gave me are all ordinary shares without voting rights, and then you will continue to issue more shares to dilute my proportion, and finally let me become the right to this No one worth mentioning for this company. Am I right? You sinister villain, stop pretending to be a good person for me here."

Adam: "But you're going to be rich, isn't that all you want?"

After finishing speaking, he stood up and said emotionally: "You know, sometimes I wish this company hadn't become a unicorn, and I even hope that we can go back to five years ago, when we had nothing, you and I’m just two close friends who stay up late to write code together, support each other, encourage each other, and vow to build a great company together. Look at us now, so strange, against each other, and resent each other. What is it from? When did we start to have a bad feeling between us?"

Memories of those scenes began to emerge in Jake's mind. The two people who were close back then, for some reason, came to the point where they were about to break up.He sat down on the chair dejectedly, and finally lowered the volume: "Stop talking, people change, and no relationship remains the same. We just need each other for a period of time. You know that some things come back Not going."

Adam's eyes were filled with tears at the moment: "I gave you what you want. Can't you fulfill me? I just want to make the company grow. We can still be friends."

Jake turned his back, stopped looking at him, and replied with a wry smile: "They all said not to start a business with your best friends. I always thought that we would be an exception. It seems that we have not escaped the curse. In When you make up your mind to declare war on me, you should understand that even if you put them together, broken mirrors cannot be reunited. Once there is a gap between people, it will never go back. Adam, I wish you success. We are here Don't live, there will be no time later!"

The author says:

Sharing adversity is easy, sharing wealth is difficult.Capitalist brotherhood.