This is Yahoo.
In Li Feng's eyes, Yahoo was the biggest gold mine during the early days of the internet bubble. Netscape and Yahoo? They were practically piles of cash just waiting to be picked up.
Anyone who knew even a little about the internet—or simply paid attention to finance and the global economy—would have heard of Yahoo. It was the iconic company that symbolized the rise of the internet age.
Clicking around on the Yahoo site now, it didn't look like a full-fledged portal yet. More like a well-organized directory of websites.
Looking at it, Li Feng couldn't help but feel emotional. He wondered how far Yahoo had come at this point in time.
As for why he wasn't thinking about Netscape? That ship had already sailed. It went public in 1995—too late for him to get in early. Besides, in the long run, Netscape would be acquired. Yahoo had the real long-term potential. Even though it would stumble later, in the early days, Yahoo was absolutely one of the internet's crown jewels.
If memory served, Yahoo officially registered as a company in 1995. Its first major investment came from none other than Sequoia Capital—one of the most legendary VC deals of all time.
Yahoo made Sequoia Capital and Masayoshi Son household names in the world of investment. It earned them reputations as kings of venture capital.
Yahoo itself would go public in 1996, though Li Feng didn't remember the exact date. In his past life, he had worked as a network administrator, not a tech historian. How could he be expected to remember every little detail?
…
Every time he thought of this, Li Feng couldn't help but roll his eyes at those rebirth novels from his previous life.
The protagonists in those stories acted like they carried Baidu in their heads. They remembered every exact date and detail as if they had photographic memory. If they were that brilliant, how had they ended up broke before their rebirth?
Li Feng had been reborn for fifteen years now, and the only money he'd made came from betting on a few games in the World Cup. And even then, just a few matches.
As for the rest? He barely remembered anything. Who could recall which teams made it to the top 8 in the 1994 World Cup? Sure, Baggio became world-famous during that tournament, so he remembered him. But beyond that? Blank.
Yet those fictional protagonists could become billionaires just from a few World Cup bets. Li Feng couldn't help but grumble at the unfairness.
He vaguely remembered the yen's appreciation in the '80s and the Plaza Accord—but what good did that do him? He'd been a kid back then. Same with the British pound crisis in the '90s—he remembered hearing about it, but who really knew how to take advantage of it? He could only listen to the stories.
…
Back to the present.
If he remembered correctly, Yahoo was just starting to seek financial backing. He wasn't sure if they'd coined the term "portal" yet, but they had definitely laid the foundation.
After all, Yahoo was the first to introduce the idea of a web portal. Every web portal that followed was modeled after Yahoo's early concept.
But right now, the site wasn't even called Yahoo. It was still "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web."
The name "Yahoo" would only come when they officially registered the company in 1995. And even then, it came with an exclamation mark—"Yahoo!" Pretty quirky.
Li Feng was practically itching to fly to Silicon Valley, find Jerry Yang, and slam $500,000 on the table: "Take it. I want in."
He knew that Yahoo's peak market value in 1999 had reached nearly $100 billion.
Without hesitation, he closed the browser, turned to Uncle Yang, and asked him to pay the bill. He didn't even acknowledge Zach's complaints as he rushed out.
…
Back at the apartment, Li Feng pulled Zach into his room.
"Zach, I've figured it out. This is how we're going to get rich."
"What?"
"Zach, when you go online, what do you use to browse websites?"
"Uh… a site directory?"
"Exactly! A web directory. What do you think we should invest in?"
"Oh my God. But do you even know where the company is? And for all you know, they might already be talking to big-time investors."
"Come on, Zach. Why are you always shooting me down like this? How do you know if you don't try? Don't you trust me?"
Li Feng stared at him seriously.
"Believe me—this might be our only shot at getting rich in this lifetime. And look, it's not even that hard to contact them. Their website lists a phone number. I'm heading to Silicon Valley right now. I know that's where these kinds of startups are."
"From now on, Zach, you're officially hired. You're my private attorney. Book me a flight this afternoon—I want to be in Silicon Valley tonight. Tomorrow, I'm meeting the guys behind that website. I will invest."
He even waved his arms to emphasize his determination.
…
Maybe it was Li Feng's unwavering tone. Maybe it was the way he threw himself into action. Or maybe Zach's just a softie deep down.
Whatever the reason, Zach made a few calls to his law firm, asked for a week off, and finally packed his things. Together, they threw their bags into a beat-up pickup truck and headed to the airport.
Holiday or not, they were going.
Thankfully, airports in the U.S. were efficient. Even on New Year's Day, it took just over an hour to fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco—home of Silicon Valley.
Of course, that didn't stop Li Feng from muttering about American flight attendants. "Why are they all aunties?" he grumbled. "Back home, flight attendants are all super pretty…"
They landed around 3 p.m. and found a hotel with internet access. Li Feng also had the hotel staff arrange a rental car for the next day.
…
Once they settled into the room, Li Feng got online again and quickly found the contact number on the website.
"Zach, you call for me. Just say we're angel investors and want to schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning."
"Yes… yeah… got it… okay!"
Zach hung up the phone, jotted down the address, and nodded.
Li Feng shouted with excitement.
"Kid, calm down for a second. Listen—when I told them I was an angel investor, they sounded excited. So maybe they haven't gotten any funding yet. If you're serious about investing, you might actually have a shot. But I can't guarantee anything about the future."
"Zach," Li Feng said firmly, "as long as they're willing to talk, I'm sure I can convince them. This is it—we're about to strike gold."
"Well… hope you're right. You've got the guts, that's for sure."
Zach shrugged, unable to hide a smile at Li Feng's enthusiasm.
…
After hearing Zach's confirmation, Li Feng could no longer hear anything else. All he could think about was the name "Yahoo."
A future company worth nearly $100 billion.
Soon, he wouldn't have to worry about money ever again. He could finally say things like, "Money is just a number."
The next morning, Zach took the wheel while Li Feng—who'd been too excited to sleep—yawned his way into the passenger seat.
Together, they hit the road, driving toward Silicon Valley and chasing the dream of gold.