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When I was raising investment for my startup, a venture capitalist said to me,
当我在为我的初创企业募资时，一位创业投资者对我说：
"Ashwini, I think you're going to raise a few million dollars.
“阿什维尼，我想你能募到几百万美金。
And your company -- it's going to sell for 50 to 70 million.
而你的公司--将可以卖到五千到七千万美金。
You're going to be really excited. Your early investors are going to be really excited.
你会非常兴奋。你的初期投资者会非常兴奋。
And I'm going to be really upset. So I'm not going to invest in this deal."
而我会非常沮丧。所以我不打算投资这项交易。”
I remember just being dumbstruck.
我记得我当时只是呆住了。
Who would be unhappy with putting four or five million dollars into a company and having it sell for 50 to 70 million?
拿四、五百万美金投资一家公司，最后能卖到五千到七千万，怎么可能会不开心？
I was a first-time founder. I didn't have a wealthy network of individuals to turn to for investment,
那是我第一次成立公司。我没有富有的人际网络能寻求投资，
so I went to venture capitalists the most common form of investor in a technology company.
所以我去找创业投资者，他们是科技公司最常找的投资者类型。
But I'd never taken the time to understand what was motivating that VC to invest.
但我从来没有花时间去了解创业投资者的投资动机是什么。
I believe we're living in a golden era of entrepreneurship.
我相信我们所处的时代是企业家精神的黄金时代。
There is more opportunity to build companies than ever before.
现在成立公司的机会比以前更多。
But the financial systems designed to fund that innovation, venture capital, they haven't evolved in the past 20 to 30 years.
但设计来资助那种创新的财务体制，风险资本，它们在过去二十到三十年都没有进步。
Venture capital was designed to pour large sums of money into a small number of companies that can sell for over a billion dollars.
风险资本是设计来将大量的金钱总额投入可以卖超过十亿美金的少数公司用的。
It was not designed to sprinkle capital across many companies that have the potential to succeed but for less, like my own.
它设计的目的并不是要把资本分散到许多像我的公司这种有潜力成功但价值比较低的公司。
That limits the number of ideas that get funded,
于是就只有有限的想法能够得到资助，
the number of companies that are created and who can actually receive that funding to grow.
只有有限的公司能被创立，只有有限的人能得到资金来成长。
And I think it inspires a tough question: What's our goal with entrepreneurship?
我认为，这就带出了一个困难的问题：我们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.
如果我们的目标是要创立少数价值十亿美金的公司，那就继续用风险资本，那是行得通的。
But if our goal is to inspire innovation and empower more people to build companies of all sizes,
但如果我们的目标是要鼓励创新，让更多人有能力创立各种大小的公司，
we need a new way to fund those ideas.
我们就需要新方法来资助那些点子。
We need a more flexible system that doesn't squeeze entrepreneurs and investors into one rigid financial outcome.
我们需要更有弹性的体制，它不会把企业家和投资者都塞进一个死板的财务结果当中。
We need to democratize access to capital.
我们需要能很民主地取得资本。
In the summer of 2017, I went out to San Francisco, to join a tech accelerator with 30 other companies.
2017年夏天，我去旧金山和其他三十家公司一起加入一个创业加速育成计划。
The accelerator was supposed to teach us how to raise venture capital.
这个加速计划应该要教我们如何募集风险资本。
But when I got out there, the startup community was buzzing about ICOs, or Initial Coin Offerings.
但当我到那里去时，这个初创企业团体不停地谈论着首次代币发行（ICO）。
For the first time, ICOs had raised more money for young startups than venture capital had.
这是第一次ICO为年轻初创企业募到的钱比风险资本还高。
It was the first week of the program. Tequila Friday. And the founders couldn't stop talking.
那是计划的第一周。龙舌兰酒星期五。这些创办人讲个不停。
"I'm going to raise an ICO." "I'm going to raise an ICO."
“我要用ICO来募资。” “我要用ICO来募资。”
Until one guy goes, "How cool if we did this all together?
直到其中一个人说：“如果我们能一起进行有多好？
We should do an ICO that combines the value of all of our companies and raise money as a group."
我们应该要以团体的形式，为我们全部公司需要的总额，一并通过ICO来募资。”
At that point, I had to ask the obvious question, "Guys, what's an ICO?"
那时，我得要问一个很明显的问题：“各位，ICO是什么？”
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是年轻公司募资的一种方法，做法是发行数字货币，它和公司的价值及提供的服务连结在一起。
The currency acts similar to shares in a company, like on the public stock market, increasing in value as it's traded online.
这种货币就类似公司的股份，就像在公开股票市场一样，在在线交易时会增加价值。
Most important, ICOs expanded the investor pool,
最重要的是，ICO让投资者的来源更广，
from a few hundred venture capital firms to millions of everyday people, excited to invest.
从少数几百家风险投资公司扩展到数百万名很兴奋想要投资的一般人。
This market represented more money. It represented more investors.
这个市场代表着更多的钱。它代表着更多的投资者。
Which meant a greater likelihood to get funded. I was sold.
这就意味着更有可能募集到需要的资金。我买账了。
The idea, though, of doing it together still seemed a little crazy.
不过，大家合作的想法仍然看起来有点疯狂。
Startups compete with each other for investment, it takes hundreds of meetings to get a check.
初创公司互相竞争，争夺投资，会需要开数百场会议才能拿到一张支票。
That I would spend my precious 15 minutes in front of an investor talking not just about my own company,
我得要把我在投资者面前珍贵的十五分钟拿来谈我自己的公司
but all the companies in the batch, was unprecedented. But the idea caught on.
以及这群合作公司，这是史无前例的。但这个想法很受大家青睐。
And we decided to cooperate, rather than compete.
我们决定要合作，不要竞争。
Every company put 10 percent of their equity into a communal pool
每家公司将10%的股权投入成为公共资金，
that we then split into tradable cryptocurrency that investors could buy and sell.
接着我们把这笔钱分成可交易的加密货币，供投资者买卖。
Six months and four law firms later -- in January 2018,
经过了六个月和四家法律事务所之后--2018年1月，
we launched the very first ICO that represented the value of nearly 30 companies and an entirely new way to raise capital.
我们推出了第一次的ICO募资活动，它代表的是近三十家公司的价值，以及一种全新的募资方式。
We got a lot of press. My favorite headline about us read, "VCs, read this and weep."
我们受到许多媒体关注。关于我们的报道中，我最喜欢的标题是：“创业投资者，读一下这篇文章然后哭泣吧。”
Our fund was naturally more diverse. Twenty percent of the founders were women.
我们的资金在本质上就比较多样化。20%的创立者是女性。
Fifty percent were international. The investors were more excited, too.
50%是国际人士。投资者也很兴奋。
They had a chance to get better returns, because we took out the middleman fees of venture capital.
他们有机会取得更好的报酬，因为我们剔除了风险投资的中介费。
And they could take their money and reinvest it, potentially funding more new ideas faster.
并且他们可以拿他们自己的钱再重新投资，有可能可以更快速投资更多新的点子。
I believe this creates a virtuous cycle of capital that allows many more entrepreneurs to succeed.
我相信，这创造了一种资本的良性循环，让更多的企业家能够成功。
Because access to capital is access to opportunity.
因为能取得资本就等于能取得机会。
And we have only just begun to imagine what democratizing access to capital will do.
我们才刚刚开始想象若能够民主地取得资本，会有多大的能耐。
I would have never thought that my own search for funding would lead me to this stage,
我从来没有想到原本只是我在寻找资金，却引领我站上这个舞台，
having helped nearly 30 companies get investment.
并已经协助了近三十家公司获得投资。
Imagine if other entrepreneurs tried to invent new ways to access capital rather than following the traditional route.
想象一下，如果其他企业家试图发明新方式来取得资本，不再遵循传统的方式。
It would change what gets built, who builds it and the long-term impact on the economy.
这将会改变“什么得以被建造”、“由谁来建造”，以及对于经济的长期影响。
And I believe that's way more exciting than just trying to invest in the next billion-dollar startup. Thank you.
我相信那远比只是试着投资下一家十亿美金初创企业要更让人兴奋。谢谢。
