[Portal Site ‘Yahoo!’ Goes Public... Soars from $13 to $44] [IPO Financial Network: “A runaway train on a short track.” Critics claim the company’s valuation—800 times this year’s revenue—is excessive] [Yahoo Hits Intraday High of $44, Closes at $33. 15 Million Shares Traded... Far Exceeds Expectations] As I smiled brightly while reading the newspaper, Seo Ji-yeon looked at me curiously and asked: “Umm, Miss. But didn’t Alpha Fund barely invest in this? Why is that?” “The biggest reason is that Yahoo is still small. And, Ji-yeon, I’ll tell you one more thing you didn’t mention when answering earlier. I forgot to say—I own a venture capital firm.” “Uh... ah! Right! You could’ve made money even before the IPO? You just didn’t get involved in the public offering...” Normally, venture capitalists invest in startups before they go public. After all, the whole point of a VC is to fund ventures that need capital and then recover the investment later through an IPO or M&A. It’s your typical high-risk, high-return model. “High risk, high return. Those are my favorite words.” “Then why did you just now start a venture capital firm? If Yahoo is your first investment, you could’ve made even more earlier considering Alpha Fund has already invested in several IT companies.” “Well, obviously, hedge funds yield bigger returns.” I shook the newspaper and showed Seo Ji-yeon a small article tucked in the corner. [Aqua Capital Invests $1M in Yahoo Before IPO... Mythic Success for New VC Firm] Aqua Capital was a company I acquired after working closely with Ha Yeong-il. Even in the middle of this massive boom, there were always failing VCs. I paid just enough to silence them and turned it into my own firm. With the Yahoo investment, I managed to recover around $50 million—peanuts for me at this point. Granted, a 50x return is never actually a small multiplier. “Didn’t you throw a tantrum last time because you lost $5 million in a trading mistake...?” “...Fine. Maybe $50 million isn’t ‘peanuts.’ But considering the effort I put into acquiring and quietly funding that company, it’s not that much. Without Alpha Fund’s connections, I couldn’t have pulled it off either.” If you think of it like a game, this was like spinning up an alt account. The accounts are forcibly separated, so I had to start from scratch, and what’s a small sum for me now is a massive fortune for Aqua Capital. The trick to keeping your capital flows hidden is simple: just earn money from scratch. Nobody questions that. “Yahoo’s investment is just the beginning. While Alpha Fund rides the bubble and enjoys the shower of money, the VC’s job is to stir the pot from below.” Seo Ji-yeon’s eyes lit up as she recalled what I’d said before about creating the bubble. “Oh! So the company that builds the bubble and the one that profits off it aren’t the same?” “Well, of course not. Deliberately inflating a bubble is illegal. Aqua Capital just needs to go around investing actively, poking into every hot startup like it doesn’t even imagine things might crash later.” And when the bubble finally bursts... well, that’s not my problem, is it? By then, I’ll have made a fortune with Alpha Fund, and no one cares when a run-of-the-mill VC collapses during a crash. “W-Wait, isn’t that bad? If the owner doesn’t act in the company’s interest, that’s a breach of fiduciary duty...” I smiled sweetly and pointed out her mistake. “Aha, that’s exactly why I set up a separate company instead of using Alpha Fund.” Like most VCs, Aqua Capital is unlisted. And I own over 70% of it. No public disclosure requirements. Even if I fudge the books a little, no one will notice. The media didn’t care about Aqua until I invested in Yahoo—and I can run the firm however I want. Drown in the ideals of the dotcom bubble, Aqua. In a building in Silicon Valley— Michael Morris, a partner at Sequoia Capital, was snacking and typing at his keyboard when he came across a strange piece of information. It was an email from Yahoo. Sent before the IPO, it stated that another VC had invested in them, and equity had been granted in return. That alone wouldn’t have been surprising. It was typical in Silicon Valley—companies were dev-led and VCs rarely exercised control. Especially since the investment agreement specified that the VC wouldn’t claim managerial authority. “Aqua Capital...? They invested?” But Michael Morris frowned. He had never heard of the company. In Silicon Valley’s VC world—where connections, reputation, and competence are everything—any VC he didn’t know had to be brand new. ‘I’d better look into this.’ Alarmed by the sudden appearance of an unknown player, he began looking up news articles about Yahoo. “Hm... I stepped away for a bit, and this happens. Tch. What were the junior guys doing? Not even reporting this?” He took a moment to skim a Time article and found a few pieces. They mentioned that Yahoo had received sudden investment interest while contemplating an IPO, which had helped them go public sooner. It was a positive spin. Sequoia had secured 25% of Yahoo’s total equity and became a key investor for just $2 million, while Aqua only put in $1 million and got a small slice. If that helped Yahoo grow, it was a fair trade. Now that Yahoo’s valuation had easily passed $1 billion, Sequoia’s return was staggering. And the investment Morris spearheaded would become a legendary success, practically guaranteeing him the managing partner position. “Don! I’m heading out to meet someone. Cool with you?” Don Valentine, Sequoia’s founder and a titan of Silicon Valley investing, smiled broadly and nodded. “Haha, go ahead. You pulled off something huge—of course I don’t mind! Hahaha!” The elderly investor with silver hair beamed like a child as he waved Morris off. After all, Morris had just secured an investment promising hundreds—possibly thousands—of times in returns. That’s what Yahoo’s IPO meant. Sometime in the latter half of 1995, as I was preparing to make a follow-up investment through Aqua Capital— [This is Michael Morris from Sequoia. I’d like to meet the managing partner of Aqua Capital. Would a meeting be possible?] I paused when I read the email. ‘Michael Morris? Sequoia?’ Is it really that guy? The one who clashed with Steve Jobs over personal criticism during a Time magazine profile? Got blacklisted? I knew Sequoia, but I didn’t realize he was already active at this point. I had read the “Machine of the Year” feature back then. A guy of that caliber... it’s not strange for him to ask to meet a managing partner. “Miss, what’s wrong?” Seo Ji-yeon tilted her head, sensing my discomfort. Still mooching off my food, she was asking questions about everything I did. “This... isn’t something I can handle myself.” Usually, I’d have someone pose as the face of the company. That might work on some college kid from Silicon Valley—but not with a heavyweight like Morris. And my identity was already known. Disguises wouldn’t work. No matter how much I try to hide, someone as beautiful as me will always shine through. I looked her up and down. She still looked like a cute young girl, but to someone unfamiliar with her past, she might come across as a young, stylish woman. “Uh... w-why are you looking at me like that?” “Ji-yeon, you’ll do it. Be Aqua Capital’s partner.” “M-Me? You’re suddenly making me an executive?!” “Why not? Isn’t this what you wanted?” “N-No, I mean... I’m not sure I’m capable. And besides, my appearance is... a little off for the role.” “Being East Asian isn’t an issue. One of Yahoo’s founders is Taiwanese-American, so you appearing as an investor adds credibility.” To the white establishment, Koreans, Taiwanese, and Japanese all look the same. Back then, Japan still had prestige, so people would probably assume she was Japanese. “And you’re not even taking an executive position. Remember, most of Silicon Valley’s developers are just a few years older than you. With a bit of styling, they’ll probably think you’re some young Japanese aristocrat.” She couldn’t pose as a founder, of course, but acting as a partner who led the Yahoo investment? That was fine. Morris wasn’t coming just to see the managing partner—he was curious about the Yahoo deal and probably looking to network. Younger people tend to make bold bets, so her aggressive investment would seem plausible for her apparent age. “...Okay. I’ll do it.” Ji-yeon nodded with a resolute look. Her clenched fists were damp with sweat. “Don’t stress too much. I’ll write out all your key lines. Remember how we filmed that movie together at school?” Even if she’s clumsy, that’s fine. Young people are expected to make mistakes. Still... I’m honestly pleased. A partner °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° from Sequoia personally requested a meeting. There really are so many incredible people in this world.