Oculus掌門人詳解Facebook收購內(nèi)幕

????馬克?扎克伯格的收購都有一個(gè)固定的套路：他們從來不會(huì)泄密，因?yàn)樗麄兡軌蜓杆龠_(dá)成一致。例如，F(xiàn)acebook以190億美元收購WhatsApp的交易，在情人節(jié)當(dāng)天吃著巧克力草莓就敲定了細(xì)節(jié)。四天后，交易對(duì)外公布。一個(gè)月以后，F(xiàn)acebook斥資20億美元收購虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)游戲公司Oculus VR，雙方在扎克伯格家里用餐的時(shí)候確定了該筆交易。一周內(nèi)交易完成。

????收購Oculus的過程從2月份開始。當(dāng)時(shí)，馬克?扎克伯格邀請(qǐng)Oculus的CEO布蘭登?艾利布聊了十分鐘。扎克伯格詢問艾利布，Oculus頭戴設(shè)備的“殺手級(jí)應(yīng)用”是什么，艾利布回答說是游戲，但他暗示虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)也可以用于通信。他邀請(qǐng)?jiān)瞬裨囉昧艘豢铑^戴設(shè)備和游戲演示，最后他又飛往Facebook總部，向扎克伯格、Facebook產(chǎn)品副總裁克里斯?考克斯和首席技術(shù)官邁克?斯科洛普夫展示了Oculus Crystal Cove原型機(jī)。

????一個(gè)月后，艾利布邀請(qǐng)?jiān)瞬袂巴又轄枮呈械腛culus辦公室，向他展示了公司最新開發(fā)的面向消費(fèi)者的原型機(jī)。Oculus對(duì)于這款設(shè)備非常自豪，因?yàn)橛眠^該設(shè)備的用戶，很少出現(xiàn)迷失方向的情況（早期虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)頭戴設(shè)備普遍存在這個(gè)問題）。

????艾利布在上周的紐約F.ounders 大會(huì)上說：“這款設(shè)備已經(jīng)非常接近人們對(duì)于虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)的想象。親身體驗(yàn)之后，你會(huì)對(duì)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的廣闊前景充滿信心。”正如游戲行業(yè)傳奇人物、Oculus首席技術(shù)官約翰?卡馬克所說：“等你親眼看到它時(shí)，你就會(huì)相信它有多強(qiáng)大。”

????扎克伯格確實(shí)有這樣的體會(huì)。據(jù)艾利布回憶，試用了Oculus的頭戴設(shè)備之后，扎克伯格說：“這是我見過的最酷的東西，或許以后也不會(huì)有比它更酷的東西出現(xiàn)了。”之后，他問道：“我能提供什么幫助？”

????艾利布說，他不確定Facebook應(yīng)用的浮動(dòng)窗口在虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)中是否會(huì)受到歡迎。

????扎克伯格說：“我不是這個(gè)意思。我們希望幫助你。你還有哪些比較大的問題？”

????艾利布解釋說，Oculus需要打造一個(gè)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，同時(shí)還需要建立基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施為產(chǎn)品提供支持。扎克伯格回應(yīng)說，F(xiàn)acebook對(duì)平臺(tái)和用戶“略知一二”。

????艾利布還解釋或，Oculus需要大規(guī)模融資，完善硬件。Oculus最初出名的原因是它使用手機(jī)零件制造出了整臺(tái)設(shè)備。很明顯，如果配備訂制屏幕、光學(xué)器件和傳感器，產(chǎn)品會(huì)變得更好。但這些都需要巨額投資。這家公司計(jì)劃融資5至10億美元，艾利布戲稱“這超出了我的工資水平。”扎克伯格告訴他，F(xiàn)acebook也可以幫忙解決這個(gè)問題，因?yàn)镕acebook“可以賺很多錢。”

????艾利布表示，兩位CEO對(duì)許多事情產(chǎn)生了一致的看法，但“并未談到具體數(shù)字”（指價(jià)格），所以，Oculus決定保持獨(dú)立。他說：“Facebook沒有正式出價(jià)，但我們心中對(duì)自己這家成立20個(gè)月的公司已經(jīng)有一個(gè)極高的價(jià)格。”

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????Zuckerberg won over Oculus with his vision for virtual reality as the next big platform.

????Mark Zuckerberg's acquisitions have a formula: They never, ever leak because they come together quickly. Facebook's (FB) $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, for example, was reportedly sealed over chocolate-covered strawberries on Valentines Day, and the deal announced four days later. One month after that, Facebook's $2 billion deal for Oculus VR was solidified over dinner at Zuckerberg's home. Within the week, the deal was done.

????The wooing process for Oculus started last February when Mark Zuckerberg called CEO Brendan Iribe for a 10-minute chat. Zuckerberg asked Iribe what the "killer app" for the Oculus headset would be; Iribe told him it was gaming, but hinted that there would also be an opportunity to use virtual reality for communication. He pushed Zuckerberg to get a headset and demo, eventually flying up to Facebook's headquarters to show off Oculus' Crystal Cove prototype to Zuckerberg, Chris Cox, Facebook's vice president of product, and CTO Mike Schroepfer.

????A month later, Iribe invited Zuckerberg down to Oculus' offices in Irvine, Calif., to show off the company's latest consumer-facing prototype. Oculus is particularly proud of this prototype because very few people who use it experience disorientation (a common problem with earlier versions of the headset).

????It's "very close to the vision everyone's had for VR," said Iribe, who was speaking at theF.ounders conference in New York last week. "When you see it, you start to believe how big this could really be." As John Carmack, Oculus' CTO and a legend in the gaming industry, likes to say: "You get religion on contact."

????That definitely happened for Zuckerberg. According to Iribe, after trying the headset, Zuckerberg said, "So that was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life, and maybe ever will see." He followed that declaration with a question: "How can I help?"

????Iribe said he wasn't sure that a floating window of a Facebook app would be very popular in virtual reality.

????"That's not what I'm talking about," Zuckerberg said. "We'd like to help you. What other big problems do you have?"

????Iribe explained that Oculus needed to create an ecosystem and support it with an infrastructure. Zuckerberg responded that Facebook knows a thing or two about platforms and users.

????Iribe also explained that Oculus was going to have to raise a lot more money to get its hardware right. Oculus' early claim to fame was that the entire device was built out of cell phone parts. But it became apparent that the product would be much better if it had custom screens, optics and sensors. That requires an enormous investment. The company was going to have to raise half a billion to a billion dollars, which was, Iribe joked, "above my paygrade." Zuckerberg told him Facebook could help with that problem, too, as the company "tends to make a lot of money."

????Iribe said the two CEOs started to see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but "the number wasn't quite there," (meaning the price), so Oculus decided to stay independent. "They never made a formal offer, but we did have a pretty big number in mind for a 20-month-old company," he said.