I’m in Hollywood

Richmond, California, Eric has been here for three days. In these days, he hired a professional team in Silicon Valley to conduct a detailed investigation and evaluation of Pixar's assets.

Jobs was eager to complete the transaction, and expressed dissatisfaction with Eric's superfluous behavior, but there was nothing he could do. Eric didn't have the heart to worry about Jobs' feelings.

Although Jobs' talent is undeniable, his character is really uncomplimentable. This is the master who can publicly declare himself to be incompetent in order to deny the alimony of the illegitimate daughter. Therefore, it is impossible for Eric to complete the transaction hastily without a detailed evaluation of Pixar.

Three days later, in Pixar's single-story office building in Richmond, Eric put a thick dozen evaluation documents on the conference table, tapped his fingers on the table, and said to Jobs, who was sitting opposite: His Tiff, I originally bought Pixar with sincerity, but unfortunately, I didn't see your sincerity.

Jobs was not affected by Eric's tone at all, with the helplessness of an insider looking at an outsider on his face: Eric, if you have any doubts, you can say it, and I will answer it for you seriously. Directly accuse me There's no sincerity, it's too serious.

Eric sighed at Jobs' psychological quality. No matter what his inner activities were, he didn't show any timidity on the surface. This composure is difficult for even a man who has lived his entire life to achieve.

He was not in the mood to play psychological warfare with Jobs, and said straight to the point: Okay, Steve, I said it directly. The reason why I bought Pixar is that I value Pixar's 3D animation technology, so you have sold the hardware department, I don't mind that.

Eric said, opened the information in his hand and glanced at it, and then continued: However, the information I have collected shows that in the graphics rendering software package developed by Pixar, the ownership of three core software was placed in the ownership of the three core software some time ago. Your NeXT computer company, and the most important animation production system, although the core software is still there, but the ownership of a coloring software has also been transferred. The reason why Pixar was able to receive the outsourcing project of Disney’s 2D animation is that This software can greatly reduce coloring time. Do you need to give me an explanation for this?

Jobs is indeed not an honest person. The reason why he did this is to fool Eric, a layman, by chance. Once successful, those few software can sell for millions. Some people may wonder how much software can be worth. If this doubt arises, think about Microsoft.

But what Jobs didn't expect was that Eric was indeed a layman, but he knew that he would leave things to the insiders, so he specially invited a professional evaluation team in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is a place where tech crazy people gather, and it is also very intriguing. In the area, those people quickly noticed Jobs' small gestures.

In fact, after Eric made this move, Jobs didn't have much luck in his heart. But with his face, even if he was pierced in person, he would definitely not be so easy to submit.

Eric, in the four years I took over Pixar, I invested at least $50 million in Pixar, and the hardware department only sold 16 million. And your asking price is only 20 million, which is only enough to buy what I left at Pixar. .

Eric smiled mockingly, closed the folder, put his hands on the conference table, stared at Jobs and said, Steve, it seems that you still don't want to admit your failure lightly. Well, let me be clear. , the acquisition of Pixar from Lucas, you failed again, the loser must have the consciousness of the loser, the loss is inevitable. In order to save your NeXT computer company, you must complete the Pixar The Pixar software division sold it to me for a low price.

So, get those software back, and we can move on to other things.

Jobs' complexion changed between blue and white a few times. As an extremely proud and conceited person, he was always the only one who pointed at others and scolded others. Now, he was reprimanded as a loser by a teenager who was more than ten years younger than himself. , even with his extraordinary psychological quality, it is difficult to keep his face unchanged.

On the other hand, John Lasseter and the others, who pretended to be busy working in the workshop outside, actually pricked up their ears to listen to the conversation between the two of them, felt a great relief in their hearts.

Jobs was never an amiable boss. Every time he came to Pixar, he would catch all the main creators, criticize their labor results as useless, and then drop a check like a charity on the condition of taking back some of the management's equity.

Over the years, with these means, Pixar has completely become Jobs' personal property, and all the shares in the management's hands have been taken away by him.

Now I finally see Jobs being scolded by others. Based on this alone, the awkward feeling that I had to work under a young man disappeared immediately.

In the conference room, Jobs said with a sullen face: Mr. Williams, you acquired Pixar, should you use it to make animated films? You have achieved great success in several consecutive films now, and I believe many people will notice you. Every move, if I reveal the news that you are optimistic about Pixar, there may be many people who are interested and offer higher prices, what do you think?

Eric's right ring finger trembled slightly, but fortunately this detail was not noticed by Jobs.

Forced to shake off this layer of worry in his heart, Eric sneered without hesitation and said, Mr. Jobs, your words are worth 1 million. I don't like others to pinch me, so I decided to compress the asking price to 19 million. Pixar is actually like a camera. Under my command, it can shoot Home Alone and Pretty Woman, but in the hands of other directors, it is difficult to say what it will shoot. So, 1900 $10,000, full Pixar software division. Call me before I leave Richmond if you want.

After Eric finished speaking, he packed up his personal belongings and walked out of the Pixar office. The personal lawyer Edward also hurriedly followed. After a long time, Jobs walked out of the conference room, glanced coldly at the employees who were working or pretending to work, unusually did not get angry, and left the Pixar headquarters in silence.

The next morning, Eric and Jobs sat in the conference room again.

A lot of business negotiations are like this, always going through several rounds of confrontation. Even if there was a quarrel last time, you almost had to fight with your arms, and there was a slap in the face, but at the beginning of the next round, everyone still needs to pack up and continue to sit together, and then play the game.

Today, Jobs was clearly wearing a faint black eye: Eric, what I did before is not wrong, everyone will do their best for their own interests. But I agree to return those software, but the price still has to be maintained. The $20 million doesn't change. We're all sensible adults, and we can't squeeze a million dollars just because of one sentence, that's what kids do.

Eric didn't want to force Jobs too hard. In case the game collapsed, he could spend money to set up another animation studio, but developing the corresponding software and accumulating enough technology would not only require a lot of money, but also a long time. time of year. Although Eric is not short of money, he does not have enough time to accumulate technology.

Everyone in the previous life knew that 3D animation movies and their peripherals could bring huge profits, but there are always a few well-known animation studios in Hollywood, because these studios are far ahead of other peers in technology and occupy the market at the same time.

It is very difficult for other people to catch up. You have been working for a few years, and you have finally reached a certain level, but other people's skills have accumulated more than you for several years. Under such circumstances, the latecomers will never be able to keep up with the footsteps of the predecessors.

In the conference room, the two fought each other for half an hour. It was impossible for Eric to swallow all the words he said yesterday. In the end, both sides made a small concession and reached a price of 19.5 million US dollars.

After taking back the ownership of the software, Eric signed the contract after having it confirmed again. Jobs collected the check and glanced at the employees who had worked under him for several years. He felt that he had nothing to say, so he nodded, turned and left the Pixar headquarters.