创业公司：知晓你的出路在何方

    虽然如此，25-30%的典型并购溢价对我们或者董事会来说都是远远不够的。我们逃出生天，艰苦奋战，苦熬时日，建设了这样伟大的公司，并不只是为了卖个10美元的贱价。我们下定决心：只有出价远高于我们作为独立运营公司所能达到的价值，我们才考虑出售。

    Here's the recommendation from our February 2007 board update:

    下面就是来自2007年2月董事会更新演示的推荐：

    That said, selling for a typical enterprise M&A premium of 25-30% didn't feel compelling to us or the board. We hadn't escaped the jaws of death and worked this hard, for this long, to build a great company, only to sell it for 10 bucks a share. We were resolved: The only way we'd consider selling was for a price much higher than what we felt we could achieve in the standalone case.

    Here's the recommendation from our February 2007 board update:

    接下来我们和众多追求者进行了长达三个月的戏剧性周旋，考验了我们的谈判和商务技巧以及我们的决心。

    待续：大戏上演

    约翰•奥法雷尔是风投基金安德森霍洛维茨（Andreessen Horowitz）的普通合伙人，他的博客地址为http://john.a16z.com/。他指导公司对Facebook, Twitter和团购网站Groupon的投资，并帮助投资组合公司进行商业合作、战略交易及全球扩张。在加入安德森霍洛维茨之前，奥法雷尔曾担任过Silver Spring Networks, Opsware及Excite@Home的执行副总裁。在其早期职业生涯中，奥法雷尔曾在美国和欧洲供职于美国西部电信（US WEST）、博思艾伦（Booz Allen）、爱尔兰电信（Telecom Ireland）、欧盟委员会（the EU Commission）、数字设备公司（DEC）和西门子（Siemens）。奥法雷尔拥有斯坦福大学商学院MBA学位和都柏林大学电子工程学士学位， 精通英、德、法、葡四国语言。

    That led us into a dramatic three-month dance with a series of suitors that would test our negotiating and business skills, as well as our resolve.

    Next up: The Dance Begins

    John O'Farrell is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and his blog can be read athttp://john.a16z.com/. John led the firm's investments in Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, and works with portfolio companies on partnering, strategic transactions and global expansion. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, John held Executive Vice President positions at Silver Spring Networks, Opsware and Excite@Home. Earlier in his career, John worked in the United States and Europe with US WEST, Booz Allen, Telecom Ireland, the EU Commission, Digital Equipment and Siemens. John has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin. He speaks English, German, French and Portuguese.