Chapter 111 University Endowment Fund
The ice ball gradually melts in the wine, and the water dilutes the alcohol to evaporate a light molasses aroma.

Xie Jingxing managed the time just right. As he finished introducing himself, the glass of Genting whiskey that had been poured in advance also reached its best drinking period.

"My speech is over, please feel free to do as you please."

He raised his glass and took a sip of wine, then walked calmly back to the round table in the corner under the gaze of the whole audience. Song Anli followed him with a dignified posture, and looked more like the host than Divish Makan.

After sitting down at random, Jim Goetz smiled and praised him, "You arrogant young man, you should learn to be more low-key."

"Maybe, but not now."

Xie Jing Xing put his arms on the sofa, leaned back and looked around, meeting many ambiguous gazes, and continued calmly: "Jim, you brought me into Zuckerberg's base camp, I must defend myself."

"No, this is the home of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, not the personal toy of a certain billionaire." A sturdy, slightly fierce-looking, bald, middle-aged white man came over and whispered.

Although today's cocktail party was clearly organized by Zuckerberg's die-hard supporter Divish Macan, no one refuted the bald-headed guy's remarks, because this person is Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape who once threatened Microsoft's status in the mid-1990s.

In recent years, he got tired of starting a business and started doing venture capital. The venture capital firm under his name, 'a16z', is aggressive and has achieved remarkable results. This poor guy has qualifications and power in Silicon Valley.

Standing next to him was a skinny, sunken-eyed, middle-aged white man who was obviously an old drug addict. He lowered his head to avoid the dim light, found a place to sit down and complained, "We have to admit that Zuckerberg has successfully won over a lot of friends in Silicon Valley. If you want to enter here, there's nothing wrong with saying hello to him first."

There are many bigwigs in Silicon Valley, but Zuckerberg is the only one who dares to call himself the youngest among them, which means that he is more able to humble himself and form cliques than others, and there are enough vacant interests around him to win people's hearts.

As the second largest shareholder of Facebook, Breyer did not care about the ridicule of others. The skinny drug addict is called Mark Mellon, an illegitimate son of the Mellon family. His identity was recognized by the family only when he was middle-aged and he inherited a lot of wealth.

No one is a decent person, and it is very common to see people making sarcastic remarks to each other's faces. This can be said to be a good atmosphere in the emerging California financial circle.

When the traditional old-school bankers on Wall Street get together, the topic often focuses on the dirty things. You make fun of me for liking little boys, and I scold you for liking to be whipped by cat ladies...

"How about a game of Texas Hold'em?"

A few people were talking to each other, and Divish Makan took off his pirate costume and changed into a casual suit, and proposed in a very elite Indian style.

Mr. Stewed Egg Mark Anderson looked at everyone present and said, "Come on, bet as low as $10,000."

There was a slight colliding sound of chairs, and the people who were originally sitting around exchanged seats. In the end, Xie Jingxing, the two Jims, the two Marks, the Indian Asan Makan, and the beggar version of Little Leo with a determined face sat around the round table.

Choi Yun-soo, the red-haired mixed-race girl whom Song An-ri paid special attention to, moved her chair back dejectedly and sat next to her. Looking around, no woman was sitting at the card table. Even Zhou Kaixuan, who was worth tens of billions, kept an intellectual smile and watched from the back.

Silicon Valley is a man's hunting ground. This has nothing to do with sexism, it has to do with physiological structure.

Men are more likely to drink a large glass of cheap bourbon and then sit down at the card table to compete with each other; men are more likely to maintain their mental state while holding their shit and urine on the way to every project in the world all year round; men are more likely to survive like cattle and horses, like tigers, wolves and wild beasts.

There are very few women on the lists of the top 100 venture capitalists and the top 100 founders in the world. Venture capital has been introduced into China for more than 20 years, and Xu Xin is the only outstanding female investor.

Liu Qing has a family background that is more glorious than Xu Xin's. After more than a decade in the industry, he is just one of hundreds of MDs at Goldman Sachs.

"But the world's first venture capitalist was a woman, right? It was because Queen Isabella of Spain invested in Columbus that people discovered the New World." Choi Yun-soo said softly.

Song Anli's eyes fell on Xie Jingxing's shoulder: "That's right, the premise is that the person being invested is called Columbus."

"..."

Cui Yunxiu was speechless for a moment, and followed his gaze to look at Xie Jingxing's back, his brows slightly furrowed and hesitant.

“From what I’ve heard, China’s macroeconomics seems to be on a path that exceeds everyone’s expectations.”

At the card table, Jim Brayer said casually while looking at the cards.

Xie Jingxing casually threw two chips onto the table: "So the venture capital market is very hot."

"The bubble will burst one day, do you want to follow suit?" Indian Asan Makan interrupted.

Before Xie Jingxing could reply, Mark Anderson interrupted, "You want ten clients, shouldn't your alma mater be included in your list... Ha, you're bluffing!"

At the end of the first round, Jim Breyer took all the chips and won everything.

Marc Anderson looked very excited. Xie Jingxing looked at him and smiled, "Of course, Columbia University trained me. I have already reserved a portion for Columbia University's endowment fund. I only need nine clients."

"What can you use to guarantee your final bet agreement?" asked the beggar version of Leo.

When the second round of dealing began, Xie Jingxing called without even looking at the cards: "Friend, I own 7% of WhatsApp, and it's worth $18 billion now."

"Wow, can WhatsApp go public in five years?" Indian Asan Makan asked again.

Mark Mellon agreed: "I heard that there is a party/group within Tencent Group, the major shareholder of WhatsApp. Have you had any contact with them?"

Xie Jingxing asked back: "I want to sell my WhatsApp shares now, $20 billion, does anyone want to buy it?"

Song Anli clenched his hands unconsciously. Bystanders could feel that he was gradually falling into the rhythm of being besieged. The questions asked by several people became more and more dangerous, and the card game on the table became more and more fierce.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that China has embarked on a path of 'credit-investment driven model'. It may seem that the venture capital industry is booming, but in reality the bubble can be sustainably weakened and may be punctured one day.

Several people at the table were questioning how Xie Jingxing could fulfill his boast and achieve a five-fold return rate in five years that would kill Buffett; and they didn't want to hear any explanations, they just wanted to use the final bet agreement as a guarantee.

The WhatsApp shares held by Grapefruit Capital (USA) are certainly sufficient, but for this young man who has just arrived and said something shocking, everyone tacitly wants to test his bottom line.

After more than half an hour, Xie Jingxing lost $300,000 in chips. He threw the remaining $200,000 on the table: "All-in."

"Your fund is part of Stanford, I won't follow it." Jim Breyer threw away his cards.

Immediately, several people at the card table looked at him at the same time. He spread his hands and shrugged: "Why are you looking at me? You guys continue."

"No, my luck is a bit bad today." Jim Gotz smiled and sighed.

Mark Mellon, who looked like a Loulan mummy, slammed the cards onto the table. "Fuck it, 20 million dollars. If you win this hand, I'll give you a share."

"Shit, you guys are really rich, you have 16 million in cash, Mark, why don't you invest in our az." Mark Anderson folded his cards and said angrily. He was a little crazy but not stupid. He dared not sign a five-fold return bet in five years. He was just trying to save face as the godfather of Silicon Valley by snatching customers in front of him. He couldn't play this game.

The cards on the table were cleared out, and there were two left besides Xie Jingxing. Indian Asan Makan took the initiative to look at the beggar version of Little Leo: "Do you want to follow? I'll challenge him one-on-one."

"I think you should fold." The beggar version of Leo threw away the cards in his hand and said in a nonchalant manner.

Makan glared at him, then raised his chin to signal to turn over the cards. Five playing cards of different suits, from 6 to 10, were connected in order, forming a straight.

This is the median in the order of Texas Hold'em card size, not as good as the best but better than the worst. According to probability, Xie Jingxing has a better chance of winning because the three public cards on the table are all spades. If the two cards in his hand are also spades, they can make a flush...

A flush just happens to be a straight.

But Xie Jingxing never looked at the cards in his hand from beginning to end, and Ma Kan wanted to take a gamble and try his luck.

"I win."

Xie Jingxing looked silent as he casually flipped open his bottom card, glanced at it, and threw it on the table. The two cards overlapped, the top one was the 7 of Spades, and the bottom one was the K of Spades.

"Shet!"

Makan shook his head in disbelief. The guy who had been betting on luck without looking at the cards and lost for half an hour actually won the most important hand by betting on luck.

Xie Jing Xing glanced at the spectators around him and explained cheerfully: "As I just said, I believe in miracles and I like to create miracles."

"Game over, that's all for today." Jim Goetz clapped his hands slightly.

Everyone agreed, and when the applause died down, Marc Andreessen said, "Thank you. Do you want to join our Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Home? We brothers and sisters can help each other and work together."

"Can anyone recommend a law firm for me? I'll pay for it."

Xie Jingxing agreed without hesitation, paused and continued: "I also want to issue a long-term request. I personally hope to acquire shares of a professional sports club. Friends with relevant channels can contact me. I will pay for it."

"Welcome aboard." Mark Anderson stood up and hugged him.

Xie Jingxing was almost blinded by his stupid head. The purpose of tonight was basically achieved. He waved goodbye like a star and took Song Anli to the office hidden on the second floor of the club to go through the membership procedures.

The so-called Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist House is a very loose private club organization. From the industry leaders present today to rookie interns who have just been certified by LinkedIn and have been in the industry for two months, everyone can register to join. The membership fee is one thousand US dollars per year.

There are thousands of registered members throughout Silicon Valley, and I don’t know if there are thousands of front-line venture capital practitioners working in the United States.

Xie Jingxing was speechless. This was probably the most makeshift private club he had ever joined, so he asked Song Anli to register as well.

After the two filled out the form, the staff handed out two brooches and a webpage address on the spot. The webpage contained a large amount of professional financial analysis and data information shared by members.

"This is my business card. If you can guarantee that your promise is not a lie, you can contact me at any time."

Just as Xie Jingxing and Song Anli finished filling out the form and were about to leave, Mark Mellon pushed the door open, barged in, threw down a business card, and walked away.

He held the business card in his hand for a few seconds, then said thoughtfully in Mandarin: "This guy is in the virtual currency business."

Mark Mellon was one of the first big players in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Coupled with his notorious reputation for taking drugs, having promiscuous relationships and fathering illegitimate children, his public image is extremely detestable.

However, many years later, Bank of New York Mellon became the first traditional bank to support encrypted digital currency transactions. At that time, Mark Anderson also switched careers and started playing with blockchain virtual currency. No wonder these two Marks are now together.

“My contact information. I have a client who may want to buy your fund product. I will email you later.”

Another person broke into the office, threw down a business card and left. It was the beggar version of Leo. The name on the business card was Peter Fenton.

This person is one of the few investors who can enter the list of top ten investors in the world without relying on the wealth-making machine Facebook. His past track record includes a number of small and medium-sized start-ups, the two biggest of which are Twitter and yepl (review website). He is definitely a hardworking and winning type of player.

That’s not all. After Peter Fenton left, everyone lined up and walked into the office one by one to exchange business cards as if they had made an appointment. No matter if they had investment intentions or just wanted to make friends and help introduce law firms, they all chatted for a few minutes.

"Brayer, what is the background of this kid?"

In the lobby on the first floor of the club, Indian Asan Makan asked with his hands folded in front of his chest and his head raised. At this moment, the people coming in and out of the office door on the second floor seemed to be stepping on his face.

Jim Breyer glanced at Goetz: "You should ask him."

"Come on, you actually used Stanford's money to invest in him. Is there anyone here who knows him better than you?" Makan didn't believe his nonsense.

A large part of the financial income of the top private universities in the United States comes from "endowment funds" established by accumulated donations from alumni over the past century. The operation methods of these "endowment funds" are no different from the common financial investment funds on the market, and they are even larger in size.

For example, the endowment funds of Harvard University and Yale University are both worth tens of billions of dollars, and the "endowment funds" of Columbia University and Stanford University are also close to tens of billions of dollars.

Their investment portfolios tend to be more stable and conservative, and they are more inclined to invest in FOF-type currencies, futures, and securities funds. Venture capital products are very rare.

When Zhang Lei founded Hillhouse Capital, he went back to his alma mater, Yale, to solicit investment for its endowment fund, and ultimately borrowed an investment in the form of a loan.

As a result, Breyer, now the chairman of the Stanford Endowment Fund, said he would invest 20 million in a venture capital firm, of course, with a five-fold bet agreement.

But this still breaks the investment convention of university endowment funds. If the young madman from China in the office upstairs gets an investment from the endowment fund of his alma mater, Columbia University, the whole thing will become very "meaningful."

Makan used Zuckerberg's brand endorsement to attract investment. He could easily guess how Xie Jingxing would use the names of the two top university endowment funds to promote marketing.

"I don't really know him that well, I just think...why not make money?"

Jim Breyer finished the last bit of wine in his glass, but had something in his mind that he didn't say out loud. Just because Buffett couldn't do it doesn't mean Xie Jingxing couldn't do it, as he was a personal experiencer of WhatsApp.

The same goes for Jim Goetz, otherwise he wouldn't have been brought into the group.

An excellent venture capitalist should not only invest in companies, but also invest in people.

Xie Jingxing is someone worth investing in, just a small bet.

(End of this chapter)