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AshwiniAnburajan_2018S-_加密货币如何帮助初创企业赢得投资_
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| 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. |
当我为我新公司融资的时候, 一位风险投资人对我说, “阿什维尼,我想你会融到几百万美元的资金。 |
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investment:n.投资;投入;封锁; venture:v.敢于;冒险;投机;n.企业;风险;冒险; capitalist:n.资本家;资本主义者;adj.资本主义的;资本家的;
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| And your company -- it's going to sell for 50 to 70 million. |
而你的公司——将会卖到五千到七千万美金。 |
| You're going to be really excited. |
你会非常兴奋。 |
| Your early investors are going to be really excited. |
你的早期投资者也会非常兴奋。 |
| And I'm going to be really upset . |
但我将会很恼火。 |
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upset:adj.沮丧; v.打乱; n.苦恼; (意外的)混乱;
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| So I'm not going to invest in this deal." |
所以这一单我不会投资。” |
| I remember just being dumbstruck . |
我记得我当时是目瞪口呆。 |
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dumbstruck:adj.吓得发懵的;被吓得目瞪口呆的;
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| Who would be unhappy with putting four or five million dollars into a company and having it sell for 50 to 70 million? |
谁会对于投入四、五百万美元的公司 之后能以高达五千甚至七千万美金 卖出而感到不开心呢？ |
| I was a first-time founder . |
我当时是第一次创业。 |
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first-time:adj.初次的,第一次的; founder:vi.失败;沉没;倒塌;变跛;vt.破坏;使摔倒;垮掉;n.创始人;建立者;翻沙工;
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| 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. |
也没有能为我投资的高端人脉圈, 因此我去找了风险投资人, 这是科技公司中最常见投资者。 |
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individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); capitalists:n.资本家(capitalist的复数); investor:n.投资者; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
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| But I'd never taken the time to understand what was motivating that VC to invest. |
但是我未花时间去了解 怎样才能激起风险投资人的投资兴趣。 |
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motivating:v.激励;刺激;调动…的积极性(motivate的ing形式);
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| I believe we're living in a golden era of entrepreneurship . |
我相信我们生逢 一个企业家精神的黄金时代。 |
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era:n.新时期;纪元;年代;新时代; entrepreneurship:n.企业家精神;
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| There is more opportunity to build companies than ever before. |
拥有比之前更多的机会来创立公司。 |
| But the financial systems designed to fund that innovation , venture capital , they haven't evolved in the past 20 to 30 years. |
但是为了支持创新所设计的金融系统, 即风险投资, 在过去的二、三十年都没有进化。 |
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financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; fund:n.基金;资金;存款;v.投资;资助; innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; venture capital:风险投资; evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
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| Venture capital was designed to pour large sums of money into a small number of companies that can sell for over a billion dollars. |
风险投资是为了将大量的资金注入到 一小部分估值能超过 十亿美金的公司而设计的。 |
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pour:v.倒; n.流出; (已熔金属的)一次浇注量; sums:n.算术题;总数;全部;v.归纳;总计;(sum的第三人称单数和复数)
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| It was not designed to sprinkle capital across many companies that have the potential to succeed but for less, like my own. |
它不是为了将资金撒向更多有成功潜力 但是估值低的公司而设计, 比如说我的公司。 |
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sprinkle:v.撒;洒;把…撒(或洒)在…上;用…点缀;下小雨;n.小雨; potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
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| 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. |
这也就限制了能够获得资金的项目数量, 限制了那些已经创立的并能够获取资金 来发展的公司数量。 |
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funded:adj.提供资金的;v.提供资金;积存;提供资金偿付的本息;(fund的过去式); funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词)
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| And I think it inspires a tough question: |
我想这就引出了一个难题: |
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inspires:激励;赋予灵感(inspire的第三人称单数);
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| What's our goal with entrepreneurship? |
我们的企业家精神的目标是什么？ |
| If our goal is to create a tiny number of billion-dollar companies, let's stick with venture capital, it's working. |
如果我们的目标只是创立少量十亿美元级别的公司, 那我们就把风险投资持续下去,因为它有效。 |
| 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. |
但如果我们的目标是激励创新 并赋能更多的人去创立不同规模的公司, 那我们需要一个新的方式来注资这些想法。 |
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empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够;
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| We need a more flexible system that doesn't squeeze entrepreneurs and investors into one rigid financial outcome . |
我们需要一个更有弹性的系统 而它不会用一个冷酷的财务结果 来衡量企业家和投资者的决定。 |
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flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的; squeeze:v.挤;紧握;勒索;压榨;n.压榨;紧握;拥挤;佣金; rigid:adj.严格的;僵硬的,死板的;坚硬的;精确的; outcome:n.结果,结局;成果;
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| We need to democratize access to capital. |
我们需将获取资金的方式民主化。 |
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democratize:vt.使民主化;使大众化;vi.民主化;大众化;
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| In the summer of 2017, I went out to San Francisco, to join a tech accelerator with 30 other companies. |
2017年夏天, 我与其他30多个公司到旧金山 参加了一个科技加速项目。 |
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accelerator:n.油门;催化剂;[机]加速装置;
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| The accelerator was supposed to teach us how to raise venture capital. |
它本应教我们如何筹集风险投资。 |
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supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
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| But when I got out there, the startup community was buzzing about ICOs, or Initial Coin Offerings . |
但是当我到那时, 初创社区里都在谈论ICO,或叫首次币发行。 |
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community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体; buzzing:v.发出嗡嗡声;发出蜂鸣声;充满兴奋(或活动等);(buzz的现在分词) Initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于; Offerings:n.供品,供奉祖先神佛的菜等;奉献(物);样片;提供之物(offering的复数形式);
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| For the first time, ICOs had raised more money for young startups than venture capital had. |
有史以来第一次,ICO为新初创企业 筹集到比风险投资更多的资金。 |
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startups:n.创业(startup的复数);开办;
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| It was the first week of the program. |
在那个项目的第一周。 |
| Tequila Friday. |
周五的酒会上。 |
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Tequila:n.龙舌兰酒;蒸馏酒;
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| And the founders couldn't stop talking. |
所有的创始人都不停地在说。 |
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founders:n.创办人;造物者(founder的复数);
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| '"I'm going to raise an ICO." |
“我要发起一个ICO。” |
| '"I'm going to raise an ICO." |
“我也要发起一个ICO。” |
| Until one guy goes, "How cool if we did this all together? |
直到一个人说: “如果我们一起来做, 将是多酷的一件事？ |
| We should do an ICO that combines the value of all of our companies and raise money as a group." |
我们应当将所有公司的 估值合在一起去发起 一个ICO,并且抱团来筹集资金。” |
| At that point, I had to ask the obvious question, "Guys, what's an ICO?" |
那个时候,我不得不问一个显而易见的问题: “各位,到底什么是ICO？” |
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obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
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| 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. |
ICO就是初创企业通过发行一种 跟它们的价值和提供的 服务绑定在一起的 一种数字货币来筹集资金的方式。 |
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issuing:n.发行物;争论点;期刊号;v.发行(issue的ing形式);分配;流出; digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; currency:n.货币;通货;
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| The currency acts similar to shares in a company, like on the public stock market , increasing in value as it's traded online. |
这种货币扮演着类似公司的股份, 就像在公开股市中一样, 通过在线交易来升值。 |
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stock market:股票市场;证券市场;股票交易;
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| Most important, ICOs expanded the investor pool, from a few hundred venture capital firms to millions of everyday people, excited to invest. |
最重要的是,ICO可以扩大投资者的范围, 从几百家的风险投资公司 到数百万的对投资感兴趣的普通民众。 |
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expanded:adj.扩充的;展开的;vt.扩大(expand的过去式);
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| This market represented more money. |
这个市场代表着更多的资金。 |
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represented:v.代表; (represent的过去式和过去分词)
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| It represented more investors. |
它也代表着更多的投资者。 |
| Which meant a greater likelihood to get funded. |
也就意味着更容易得到投资。 |
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likelihood:n.可能性,可能;
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| I was sold. |
我被它折服了。 |
| The idea, though, of doing it together still seemed a little crazy. |
虽然我们一起来做这件事看起来有点疯狂。 |
| Startups compete with each other for investment, it takes hundreds of meetings to get a check. |
初创公司们在融资上是竞争关系, 为了拿到一张支票可能 要参加上百个会议。 |
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compete:v.竞争;对抗;参加比赛(或竞赛);
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| 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 . |
让我愿意在一个投资者面前 用宝贵的15分钟 不仅介绍我的公司, 还有这一批所有的公司 这是史无前例的。 |
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precious:adj.宝贵的;珍贵的;矫揉造作的; batch:n.一批;一炉;一次所制之量;v.分批处理; unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的;
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| But the idea caught on. |
但这个主意实在太棒了。 |
| And we decided to cooperate , rather than compete. |
我们决定一起合作而不是相互竞争。 |
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cooperate:v.合作;配合;协作;结合;
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| 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. |
每个公司拿出10%的股份 投入到一个资金池 然后我们将它们分成 可供投资者交易的加密货币。 |
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equity:n.公平,公正;衡平法;普通股;抵押资产的净值; communal:adj.公共的;公社的; split:v.分离;使分离;劈开;离开;分解;n.劈开;裂缝;adj.劈开的; tradable:adj.可贸易的;可买卖的;
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| Six months and four law firms later -- |
历时六个月,四个律师事务所后 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| 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. |
我们终于在2018年元月发行了首个ICO 它代表着将近30个公司的价值 和一个全新的融资方式。 |
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launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词)
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| We got a lot of press. |
我们受到许多媒体的关注。 |
| My favorite headline about us read, "VCs, read this and weep ." |
我最喜欢的一个报道标题是: “风险投资者们, 读完这篇报道你们将哭泣。” |
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weep:n.哭泣;落泪;v.流泪;流出;
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| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| Our fund was naturally more diverse . |
我们的基金组成更加多元化。 |
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naturally:adv.自然地;自然而然地;轻而易举;天生地;大方地; diverse:adj.不同的;多种多样的;变化多的;
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| Twenty percent of the founders were women. |
20%的创始人是女性。 |
| Fifty percent were international. |
50%的创始人来自其它国家。 |
| The investors were more excited, too. |
而投资者也更加兴奋。 |
| They had a chance to get better returns, because we took out the middleman fees of venture capital. |
他们有机会获得更高的回报, 因为我们去掉了风投中间人的中介费。 |
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middleman:n.中间人;经纪人;调解人;
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| And they could take their money and reinvest it, potentially funding more new ideas faster. |
而他们又可以拿自己的钱再重新投资, 并能更快地投资更多的新项目。 |
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reinvest:vt.再投资于;再授给;vi.再投资; potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地;
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| I believe this creates a virtuous cycle of capital that allows many more entrepreneurs to succeed. |
我相信这创造了一个良性的资本循环 可以帮助更多的企业家获得成功。 |
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virtuous:adj.善良的;有道德的;贞洁的;正直的;有效力的;
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| Because access to capital is access to opportunity. |
因为获得资金也意味着获得机会。 |
| And we have only just begun to imagine what democratizing access to capital will do. |
而我们只是才刚开始想象 融资方式的民主化可以带来什么。 |
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democratizing:民主化;
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| I would have never thought that my own search for funding would lead me to this stage, having helped nearly 30 companies get investment. |
我从没想过自己寻找资金的过程 会将我带到这个舞台, 并帮助将近30家公司获得投资。 |
| Imagine if other entrepreneurs tried to invent new ways to access capital rather than following the traditional route . |
想象如果其他的企业家 也都尝试一种新的 融资方法而不是走老路,那将会是怎样。 |
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traditional:传统的,惯例的, route:n.路线;路途;固定线路;途径;v.按某路线发送;
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| It would change what gets built, who builds it and the long-term impact on the economy . |
它将会改变建造的结果,谁来建造 并且对我们的经济有着长远的影响。 |
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long-term:adj.长期的;从长远来看; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响; economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
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| And I believe that's way more exciting than just trying to invest in the next billion-dollar startup. |
我相信这比起只是去投资 下一个十亿美元级企业会更令人兴奋。 |
| Thank you. |
谢谢。 |
| (Applause) |
（掌声） |