World's Richest Man: I Leaped Across Time

Chapter 101: Ideas

"It's great to meet you, Mr. Somnus," Sergey added, shaking my hand as well. His smile was genuine and welcoming. He then turned to Danny. "And you must be Mr. Lewandowski." He greeted Danny with the same friendly smile.

"Thank you," I replied. "I've been really looking forward to this meeting."

Larry gestured to the white chairs on one side of the table. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

I took a quick look around the room, then confidently pulled out a chair and sat down.

I placed the pack of doughnuts on the table in front of us.

"Those doughnuts outside your building were pretty hard to resist," I said, grinning.

Larry and Sergey both laughed. "Yeah, those are a hit around here, I had some myself this morning." Sergey said, nodding.

We all settled into our chairs, and I looked at them both.

With a confident smile and a spark in my eyes, I leaned forward. "Let me start with this," I said, my tone steady but full of passion. "When I first saw Google, I saw a spark, a hint of something that could be much, much bigger. I knew I had to do whatever it took to reach out to you..."

Sergey and Larry exchanged a glance.

"I don't just believe in it," I continued. "I know that Google is going to become something that will fundamentally change how people see the internet."

Larry leaned back in his chair, seemingly reflecting on something. "You know, when we first read your email, it really caught our attention," he began. "We were interested, of course, but to be honest, we were also a little… well, let's just say it made us pause."

Larry glanced at Sergey, clearly hoping he would continue, but Sergey just nodded along, "Yhym, yes." he was completely missing the cue, giving Larry a look as if to say, 'Go on, you're doing great.'

Larry hesitated for a split second, then, realizing Sergey wasn't going to continue, carried on with a slight smile. "Mr. Somnus, what you wrote about—the idea of an advertising network using analytics—is something we were actually thinking about already. The truth is, it's not a completely new concept. It's been circulating in some pretty tight-knit circles. But it's still very early days..."

"How did you come to this idea?" Sergey finally jumped into the conversation. "Is this something you researched yourself, or do you have a team at Johnson Trading that's been looking into this?"

They both looked at me, clearly interested in how I had come up with something so closely aligned with their own plans.

I smiled at them both, feeling confident. "Do you know DoubleClick?"

"Yes!" Sergey bombed in.

I nodded. "Well, I've been doing all the research myself. I want you to listen to me for a second. What if someone could pay 10 times less for 10 times more exposure to their product? Would they still choose traditional ads like TV spots or an ad by the road? Especially if they could monitor and track the performance of their online ads?"

Larry and Sergey looked at each other with interest as I went on.

"Right now, there are about 600 million people using the internet worldwide. More people are coming online every day. I'm confident that soon, nearly all entertainment, media, communication, and shopping will move online." I pitched.

"I know it sounds ambitious." I continued. "But you need to be ready to think about how Google can be the main choice in every browser, on every computer, on every phone, in every country, and be part of everyone's daily life—about how Google can control a major slice of advertising across the entire internet."

"You're sitting on something incredible here." I concluded. "But you need to act fast. You need someone who can help you act fast. Let me be that help. Let me invest in Google, and let's build something that people will remember for centuries."

I finished speaking, and for a moment, Larry and Sergey just looked at me, absorbing everything I had said.

"It's great to see someone who understands that we're building something that will be massive." Larry finally broke the silence. "But the truth is, we've already secured significant financing for our current round. We should be able to grow quickly enough. In fact, we're planning a public offering in a year or so to raise even more funds. We believe we can continue to grow without additional help."

Just then, Danny, who had been quietly listening, spoke up. "I understand that you don't want to dilute your equity," he said, addressing Larry and Sergey. "But what if we could find a way to work together that doesn't involve traditional investment terms?"

Larry and Sergey looked confused.

"What do you mean by "non-traditional investment terms."?"

"Well..." Danny nodded at me. "The person sitting in front of you is extremely confident in your growth."

Before Danny could go further, I cut in, "Larry, Sergey, what is the current valuation of Google?"

Larry and Sergey exchanged a glance before Larry responded, "As of now, Google is valued at around $2 billion."

I looked at Larry and Sergey with a determined smile. "A billion dollars is impressive," I said, "but you know what's even cooler? A trillion dollars. That's the kind of gold mine you're sitting on."

Larry and Sergey's eyes widened slightly.

"To show you how confident we are in Google's vision," I continued, "we want to make you a special offer."

Danny, catching on to the momentum, stepped in. "Not only are we prepared to take a smaller share than what was offered in Series B. We're also ready to formalize an agreement where our shares remain locked until Google's market capitalization reaches 1 trillion dollars."

I watched Larry and Sergey as they absorbed the offer. Their expressions didn't change much, but I could see a flicker of increased interest in their eyes.

I had come up with this proposal in the last few days as a strategic move.

I knew the situation was delicate. Google already had substantial cash reserves, and the founders were wary of giving away too much equity.

The reality was that while Google was flush with funds, the founders felt that equity was being taken from them without much gain. I needed to do everything I could to make them see the value in what I was offering.

I was aware that this move would likely displease the Series B investors. We would need to have another conversation with them to explain the benefits.

But if successful, this would secure me around 10% equity in Google for my $100 million investment. That would be around 25,000,000 shares.

When Google goes public in just over a year, its valuation will quickly soar to over 20 billion dollars and it's stock price will be over 100 dollars per share.

My 10% stake would be worth $2 billion.

If I didn't manage to convince them, I would be forced to buy shares from the public offering, which will include only around 8% of the outstanding shares.

I would also need to pay 2000% more per share.

This would be a disaster I wanted to stay away from, even if it meant lowering my hopes for the equity share I would get.

"There's one more thing I'd like to suggest," I said, leaning forward slightly. "Have you considered acquiring DoubleClick?"

Larry and Sergey looked at each other. "Why do you think we should do that? " Larry prompted me to continue.

"DoubleClick already has a robust analytics advertising platform and an established network," I explained. "Buying them out and building on top of it could save you time. This way, Google could become a pioneer in the space."

Sergey raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting," he said. "But isn't DoubleClick dealing with a bunch of lawsuits about personal data?"

"Sure, they've got legal problems." I said. "But you could deal with the legal stuff while using their technology to get ahead."

Larry smiled. "By the way, would you like a tour around the company? We'd be happy to show you around."

I looked at him and grinned. "Absolutely, I'd love that. It's partially why I wanted to have this meeting here, at your office."

Larry stood up, and Sergey followed suit. "Let's get started. We'll show you how we're working here at Google."

They gave us a tour of the company that lasted about 30 minutes.

It was a positive sign—they were clearly willing to invest more of their time.

When we came back to the small meeting room, there were cups of coffee waiting for us.

Again, another sign that they were taking the offer seriously.

Sergey even took one of the doughnuts that I had bought. I laughed at that but gave him the go-ahead.

We continued chatting, but I could tell they were still a bit skeptical.

"I know you're hesitant about giving away more equity," I said, looking directly at them. "But you need to decide if you're ready to change the world."

"I've got way more ideas than what I've shared with you." I said. "Imagine capturing the minds of all people around the world. with your brand, I want every single person to know what Google is. I want every person to turn to Uncle Google whenever they have a question, and I want those answers to be right there."

"We can create a brand that kids will grow up with." I told them with conviction.

I then straightened up in my chair, looking at Larry and Sergey, ready to say my final words.

"This might sound a bit bold," I began, my voice firm and clear, "but just a little over a year ago, I had a mere $250 to my name... and today, my net worth is in the nine figures. If there's anyone who can turn your company into not just one of the biggest, but the biggest, that would be me."