Nest打動原始投資人的關鍵一句話
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????智能家居公司Nest Labs最近成了硅谷最新的成功樣板。本周早些時候，Nest Labs同意接受谷歌（Google）32億美元的收購。然而，Nest當初也并不是那種顯而易見的大贏家。 ????早在2010年，Nest公司的創辦團隊就來到投資公司凱鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers）推銷自己。他們見到的兩名投資人，蘭迪?科米薩和特雷?瓦薩洛，顯然已經被Nest共同創始人的智慧及其蘋果公司（Apple）的血統所打動。他們也對“智能”恒溫器的概念產生了興趣，尤其是因為這個概念觸及到了物聯網這個投資理論，而科米薩和瓦薩洛此前已經開始涉足這個領域。 ????當時，唯一的問題在于，那是一款恒溫器——而Nest公司的創辦人當初得到認可是因為開發了iPod。他們對恒溫器真的有足夠的雄心嗎？另外，對于科米薩和瓦薩洛來說，他們能否說服那些總是帶著懷疑眼光的合作伙伴？ ????最后一錘定音的是Nest演示文稿中的最后一句話： ????緊隨恒溫器之后，我們將對每一個不受人喜愛的日用品進行重新構思。
????“我一看到這句話，立馬就環視了一下我的辦公室——房間里全是米黃色的塑料設備，它們充斥著我的生活，但是全都丑陋不堪，看上去十分廉價，好像在努力躲開人們的視線，”科米薩回憶道。“那一刻，我被打動了，而特雷也表示贊同。” ????之后，科米薩和瓦薩洛又說服了合作伙伴，將夏斯塔創投（Shasta Ventures）拉入了Nest的第一輪融資。據凱鵬華盈的一位投資者介紹，在谷歌對Nest的收購中，夏斯塔創投將獲得20倍的投資回報。（財富中文網） ????譯者：朱毓芬/汪皓 ???? |
????Nest Labs is Silicon Valley's most recent success story, agreeing earlier this weekto be acquired by Google (GOOG) for $3.2 billion. But it wasn't always such an obvious winner. ????Back in 2010, Nest's founding team went to pitch itself to venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The two investors with whom they met, Randy Komisar and Trae Vassallo, were obviously impressed by the co-founders' intelligence and Apple (AAPL) pedigree. And they also were intrigued by the idea for a "smart" thermostat, particularly because it tied into an Internet-of-things investment thesis that Komisar and Vassallo already were beginning to develop. ????The only problem was that... well, it was a thermostat. These were the guys who were credited with developing the iPod. Was this really ambitious enough? And could Komisar and Vassallo sell it to their skeptical partners? ????The key was a single line at the end of Nest's presentation: ????After the thermostat, we're going to reimagine every unloved product in people's lives. ????"When I saw that, I looked around my office at all of the beige plastic devices that had populated my life and were trying to hide from view because they were so ugly and cheap," Komisar recalls. "At that point I had to be in, and Trae agreed." ????Komisar and Vassallo then won over their partners, joining Shasta Ventures on Nest's first round of funding. According to a Kleiner Perkins investor, the firm will recognize around a 20x return on that investment, via the sale to Google. |
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