America's Road to Fame

Chapter 71 HOLA
"I don't think so, Mr. Cheyer. Yes, I admit that now it seems that Apple is like a towering tree, and standing in front of it, I am just a small human being. "

William Chen pointed out the gap between them, and continued: "Let's not talk about whether your company will definitely sell, after all, the decision on this matter is in your hands. Let's talk about whether Apple is a better choice for you. ,May I?"

In the eyes of the three, William Chen and Apple's Jobs, even if it is to sell the company, which one is a better choice, I am afraid they can know it casually, but what he said made them feel a little better. I don't know where the other party's self-confidence comes from. Do you think he is more competitive than Jobs?

"I don't know what your goal is to start this company? To change the world?"

"It's wonderful to change the world. Many people claim to have this goal, but most of them find it difficult to change their own lives. But the difference is that I do see the possibility of changing the world on Siri."

"Gentlemen, seeing your expressions, it seems that you don't agree with my words. Maybe you just think that I am complimenting you. No, that's not the case."

"It is true that Apple is a great company. He started the era of smartphones. With the development of the mobile Internet, I think the Internet of Everything will be realized soon. When I saw Siri, I imagined that one by one. Scene, I’m at home, I can ask Siri to turn on the TV, adjust the air conditioner, even ask him about the weather today and any other questions, and I can get feedback and answers immediately.”

"But when I'm in the car, I can ask Siri to navigate me somewhere, or play a song I like. Even when I take out my phone and take a photo, I can ask Siri to help me I tweeted it out."

"What does Siri mean in my imagination? He will be my portal to the ubiquitous Internet connection. At this time, it means everything."

"Yes, it is undeniable that if Siri is acquired by Apple, then he will soon be able to appear in front of the public with Apple's many products, well-known, develop rapidly, and have more users than now. But that's all, Siri won’t be everything after that, it’ll just be Apple’s Siri.”

"As we all know, Apple is very powerful and has many products, but it is also relatively closed. After Siri belongs to Apple, it will only become one of the many feathers that adorn it, and will never be the key that opens the door."

Initially, from the faces of the three founders, William Chen could feel their disapproval attitude towards William Chen's acquisition proposal.

But when William Chen described his vision for the future development of Siri, he could already see some longing and recognition on their faces.

Finally, when he mentioned that Siri would only become Apple's Siri after being acquired by Apple, and would not have a broader development, the three people opposite him finally had more reactions, their brows were slightly frowned, as if they had something to say. think.

"Apple is a towering tree, but grafting Siri on it will only become one of its branches, and Apple has too many such branches."

“You may know that I bought Twitter, I invested in Netflix and Tesla not long ago, and I will have more investments in the future. There is room for Siri in these different fields, and they can all be Siri’s Nutrients, so that Siri can grow into a towering tree, not just another tree's attachment."

At this point, William Chen could clearly feel that the attitudes of the three people facing him had changed. Afterwards, they had some discussions on the development and application of Siri.

In the end, Adam Cheyer said to William Chen: "Thank you very much Mr. William for the conversation with us today. It was very exciting. Regarding your acquisition intention, we will seriously consider it. I can guarantee that no matter what the choice is, we will I will give you an answer as soon as possible."

At this time, William Chen had already said all he could say, so all he had left was to wait.

I hope that even if I can't reach an acquisition, I won't lose too badly. At least I can invest and get a part of the shares.

What William Chen said today still retains a little bit, and that is the part of Apple.

Perhaps at the beginning, Jobs really saw the possibility of subversion in Siri, but in William Chen’s previous life, Siri did not become the killer application of Apple, but was used by many smart voice companies in Huaguo. Applications have overtaken, such as voice assistants such as Xiaodu and Xiaoai.Compared with them, Siri, which was born earlier, has no advantage at all.

The biggest reason is that, shortly after, Jobs passed away due to illness. After Apple changed its head, it paid more attention to the company's performance, and lost its proud creativity. The product appears.

Yes, Apple's market value is getting higher and higher, and its market share is firmly at the top, but it has changed from its original role as a subversive in the mobile phone industry to a giant obsessed with deepening its defense.

When Chen William left the Siri company, he saw Nelson waiting for him outside.Paying attention to William Chen's expression, Nelson asked:
"Boss, what's the matter?"

"They still need to think about it. Let's wait for now. Keep an eye on them during this time. I doubt that Apple will let it go. They will take the initiative to contact them."

In this case, William Chen will not just wait. Twitter CEO Williams has found some people for him, including a young man named David Jones, who is said to be very skilled.

At the beginning, Williams even considered letting him join Twitter directly, but the other party was not very interested in Twitter, but rather interested in the chat app Williams mentioned, so Williams finally reluctantly recommended him to Twitter. Chen William.

At present, the number of people recommended by Williams has reached 7 people. William Chen just used this time to talk with each of them individually, and he is quite satisfied with Williams' recommendation this time.

These people are all technical talents with their own areas of expertise.And after the conversation, William Chen's team added three more people, reaching exactly ten people—these three were friends with good skills recommended by members of the team.

The office space is ready. There are many such ready-made office buildings in Silicon Valley, with uniform specifications, and you can move in and start working directly.

William Chen named this chat app HOLA, which is pronounced "Ou La", which means "Hello" in Spanish, and it is easy to read.

He registered HOLA technology company and injected 100 million US dollars. In addition to the 10 members of the technical team, Nelson also sent people in charge of finance and administration.

In this way, Chen William chose David Jones as the head of the technical team, and officially started the production of HOLA APP.

William Chen requested that the initial version of the HOLA APP should have functions such as mobile phone number registration, address book matching, text chat, and encrypted upload of chat content to ensure user privacy.

In other words, only the two people who are chatting can see their chat records, and on the server side, the chat content is encrypted.Even within their company, they cannot see the chat content between users.

In Chen William's plan, the subsequent versions will add functions such as voice intercom, voice call, and video chat.

The reason why the first version only introduces the text chat function is to launch the APP as soon as possible and seize users.

After conveying his requirements to the technical team, William Chen himself didn't know too much about the technical aspects, so now he just waited to see the results of the team's completion.

To put it bluntly, William Chen is more like a product manager. He used his experience in using those chat apps in his previous life to point out the direction for the production of HOLA APP. As for whether the final product can be accepted by users in the United States, we have to wait for the APP Feedback after launch.

Three days after Chen's last visit to Siri, Chen got word from Nielsen that the three founders of Siri had agreed that they could begin negotiations for an acquisition.

(End of this chapter)