鑽石舞台

When I was raising investment for my startup, a venture capitalist said to me, "Ashwini, I think you're going to raise a few million dollars. And your company -- it's going to sell for 50 to 70 million. You're going to be really excited. Your early investors are going to be really excited. And I'm going to be really upset.

當我為我新公司融資的時候，一位風險投資人對我說，「阿什維尼，我想你會籌集到幾百萬美元的資金。而你的公司——將會賣到五千到七千萬美金。你會非常興奮。你的早期投資者也會非常興奮。但我將會很惱火。

So I'm not going to invest in this deal." I remember just being dumbstruck. Who would be unhappy with putting four or five million dollars into a company and having it sell for 50 to 70 million? I was a first-time founder. I didn't have a wealthy network of individuals to turn to for investment, so I went to venture capitalists the most common form of investor in a technology company. But I'd never taken the time to understand what was motivating that VC to invest.

所以這一單我不會投資。」我記得當時我目瞪口呆。誰會對於投入四、五百萬美元的公司之後能以高達五千甚至七千萬美金賣出而感到不開心呢？我當時是第一次創業。當時也沒有能為我投資的高端人脈圈，因此我去找了風險投資人，這是科技公司中最常見投資者。但是我未花時間去了解怎樣才能激起風險投資人的投資興趣。

I believe we're living in a golden era of entrepreneurship. There is more opportunity to build companies than ever before. But the financial systems designed to fund that innovation, venture capital, they haven't evolved in the past 20 to 30 years. Venture capital was designed to pour large sums of money into a small number of companies that can sell for over a billion dollars.

我相信我們正生活在一個企業家精神的黃金時代。擁有比之前更多的機會來創立公司。但是為了支持創新所設計的金融系統，即風險投資，在過去的二、三十年都沒有進化。風險投資是為了將大量的資金注入到一小部分估值能超過十億美金的公司而設計的。

It was not designed to sprinkle capital across many companies that have the potential to succeed but for less, like my own. That limits the number of ideas that get funded, the number of companies that are created and who can actually receive that funding to grow. And I think it inspires a tough question: What's our goal with entrepreneurship?

它不是為了將資金撒向更多有成功潛力但是估值低的公司而設計，比如說我的公司。這也就限制了能夠獲得資金的項目數量，限制了那些已經創立的並能夠獲取資金來發展的公司數量。我想這就引出了一個難題：我們的企業家精神的目標是什麼？

If our goal is to create a tiny number of billion-dollar companies, let's stick with venture capital, it's working.But if our goal is to inspire innovation and empower more people to build companies of all sizes, we need a new way to fund those ideas. We need a more flexible system that doesn't squeeze entrepreneurs and investors into one rigid financial outcome.

如果我們的目標只是創立少量十億美元級別的公司，那我們就把風險投資持續下去，因為它有效。但如果我們的目標是激勵創新並賦能更多的人去創立不同規模的公司，那我們需要一個新的方式來注資這些想法。我們需要一個更有彈性的系統而它不會用一個冷酷的財務結果來衡量企業家和投資者的決定。

We need to democratize access to capital. In the summer of 2017, I went out to San Francisco, to join a tech accelerator with 30 other companies. The accelerator was supposed to teach us how to raise venture capital. But when I got out there, the startup community was buzzing about ICOs, or Initial Coin Offerings.

我們需將獲取資金的方式民主化。2017年夏天，我與其他30多個公司到舊金山參加了一個科技加速項目。它本應教我們如何籌集風險投資。但是當我到那時，初創社區里都在談論ICO，或叫首次幣發行。

For the first time, ICOs had raised more money for young startups than venture capital had. It was the first week of the program. Tequila Friday. And the founders couldn't stop talking. "I'm going to raise an ICO." "I'm going to raise an ICO." Until one guy goes, "How cool if we did this all together?

有史以來第一次，ICO為新初創企業籌集到比風險投資更多的資金。在那個項目的第一周。周五的酒會上。所有的創始人都不停地在說。「我要發起一個ICO。」「我也要發起一個ICO。」直到一個人說：「如果我們一起來做，將是多酷的一件事？

We should do an ICO that combines the value of all of our companies and raise money as a group." At that point, I had to ask the obvious question, "Guys, what's an ICO?" ICOs were a way for young companies to raise money by issuing a digital currency tied to the value and services that the company provides. The currency acts similar to shares in a company, like on the public stock market, increasing in value as it's traded online.

我們應當將所有公司的估值合在一起去發起一個ICO，並且抱團來籌集資金。」那個時候，我不得不問一個顯而易見的問題：「各位，到底什麼是ICO？」ICO就是初創企業通過發行一種跟它們的價值和提供的服務綁定在一起的一種數字貨幣來籌集資金的方式。這種貨幣扮演着類似公司的股份，就像在公開股市中一樣，通過在線交易來升值。

Most important, ICOs expanded the investor pool,from a few hundred venture capital firms to millions of everyday people, excited to invest. This market represented more money. It represented more investors. Which meant a greater likelihood to get funded. I was sold. The idea, though, of doing it together still seemed a little crazy.

最重要的是，ICO可以擴大投資者的範圍，從幾百家的風險投資公司到數百萬的對投資感興趣的普通民眾。這個市場代表着更多的資金。它也代表着更多的投資者。也就意味着更容易得到投資。我被它折服了。雖然我們一起來做這件事看起來有點瘋狂。

Startups compete with each other for investment, it takes hundreds of meetings to get a check. That I would spend my precious 15 minutes in front of an investor talking not just about my own company, but all the companies in the batch, was unprecedented. But the idea caught on. And we decided to cooperate, rather than compete.

初創公司們在融資上是競爭關係，為了拿到一張支票可能要參加上百個會議。讓我願意在一個投資者面前用寶貴的15分鐘不僅介紹我的公司，還有這一批所有的公司，這是史無前例的。但這個主意實在太棒了。我們決定一起合作，而不是相互競爭。

Every company put 10 percent of their equity into a communal pool that we then split into tradable cryptocurrency that investors could buy and sell. Six months and four law firms later -- in January 2018, we launched the very first ICO that represented the value of nearly 30 companies and an entirely new way to raise capital. We got a lot of press.

每個公司拿出10%的股份投入到一個資金池，然後我們將它們分成可供投資者交易的加密貨幣。歷時六個月，四個律師事務所後，終於在2018年元月，我們發行了首個ICO，它代表着將近30個公司的價值和一個全新的融資方式。我們受到許多媒體的關注。

My favorite headline about us read, "VCs, read this and weep." Our fund was naturally more diverse. Twenty percent of the founders were women. Fifty percent were international. The investors were more excited, too. They had a chance to get better returns, because we took out the middleman fees of venture capital. And they could take their money and reinvest it, potentially funding more new ideas faster.

我最喜歡的一個報道標題是：「風險投資者們，讀完這篇報道你們將哭泣。」我們的基金組成更加多元化。20%的創始人是女性。50%的創始人來自其它國家。而投資者也更加興奮。他們有機會獲得更高的回報，因為我們去掉了風投中間人的中介費。而他們又可以拿自己的錢再重新投資，並能更快地投資更多的新項目。

I believe this creates a virtuous cycle of capital that allows many more entrepreneurs to succeed. Because access to capital is access to opportunity. And we have only just begun to imagine what democratizing access to capital will do. I would have never thought that my own search for funding would lead me to this stage,having helped nearly 30 companies get investment.

我相信這創造了一個良性的資本循環，可以幫助更多的企業家獲得成功。因為獲得資金也意味着獲得機會。而我們只是才剛開始想象融資方式的民主化可以帶來什麼。我從沒想過自己尋找資金的過程會將我帶到這個舞台，並幫助將近30家公司獲得投資。

Imagine if other entrepreneurs tried to invent new ways to access capital rather than following the traditional route. It would change what gets built, who builds it and the long-term impact on the economy. And I believe that's way more exciting than just trying to invest in the next billion-dollar startup. Thank you.

想象如果其他的企業家也都嘗試一種新的融資方法而不是走老路，那將會是什麼樣子。它將會改變建造的結果，誰來建造並且對我們的經濟有着長遠的影響。我相信這比起只是去投資下一個十億美元級企業會更令人興奮。謝謝。