Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

Early morning~

Manhattan, 42th Street.

In front of the Wildfire Bar, Old Hawk pushed a "fully loaded" garbage truck and smiled at the steel-toothed dog Mengo who came out for air.

"Happy New Year!"

"Hahaha~ You too!"

"We just had breakfast, would you like to come in and have a cup of coffee?"

"Oh~ no, thank you."

Old Hawk pointed to the garbage-strewn street and said with a smile: "I want to clean this place up before everyone gets up."

"ok~"

The steel-toothed dog Menge shrugged, motioned for Old Hawk to wait, returned to the bar, asked Erica for a brand new Franklin, handed it to him, and said with a smile.

"This is a New Year's gift for Little Hawke... Don't refuse!"

"...Okay~Thank you!" Old Hawke took off his gloves, covered his pockets with his hands, and thanked him seriously.

"Hahaha~" Menge, the steel-toothed dog, likes this feeling very much!

----

Manhattan.

The intersection of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, 660 Eighth Avenue.

Osevia Art Store, third floor.

Here, Zina has simply decorated it as a "new home".

Most of the furniture from her house on 53rd Street was also moved here.

Yesterday afternoon and evening.

Zina went to attend two New Year's social receptions as usual~

However, at the midnight cocktail party, the newly elected Mayor of New York, Frant Hardman, changed his low-key attitude in previous years and became another "star" in the venue in a very "dazzling" manner. Attracted the slightly surprised attention of many people ~

The venue for this New Year's Eve reception happened to be the Plaza Hotel. .

. . .

Osevia Art Store, in the living room on the third floor.

Zina rubbed her forehead and woke up from her sleep~

The continuous "internal emergency" alarm signals made her ignore everything and trotted directly into the bathroom.

ten minutes later.

Zina wiped the water droplets on her face with a towel, returned to the living room, looked at the clutter scattered on the floor and a few empty wine bottles on the table, and smiled helplessly.

She walked to her best friends Gila Cox and Jane Fonda, commented a few words in her mind on the sleeping posture of the two "drunk cats", and covered them with the fallen blanket again.

Zina is the person who knows best why Gila Cox, a full professor in the Composition Department of Juilliard School, is still unmarried when she is nearly [-] years old. .

Without the affirmative action in previous years, Gila would have had no chance of gaining a place within Juilliard.

However, what made Zina feel a little bit dumbfounded. .After Gila met Aclade, her whole person changed~

She became more aware of her appearance and grooming, and cared more about the opinions and suggestions of people around her. She also developed a strong liking for Aclade and began to worry about gains and losses. .

As for Jane Fonda's situation, it is completely different from that of Gila, who has a strong heart.

In Xina's view, Jane Fonda simply has unrealistic illusions about the "species" of men. .

This stupid woman would actually go out to find a woman for him to take home in order to please her current husband. .

Then she hid out by herself, and when her husband was satisfied, he violently raped her many times. .

Zina was wrapped in a thin blanket and looked at Jane Fonda curled up sleeping on the sofa. In addition to lamenting her stupidity, she also thought of that bastard boy who she couldn't let go of and was always "concerned" about her.

"Hehe~"

Zina gently held Jane Fonda in her arms, smiled silently and self-deprecatingly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in a daze.

In dreams, you can have anything!

----

North-central United States, Minnesota.

The small town of Tracy is located in the southwest corner of the state.

Miranella Webster, sitting on the old sofa in the living room, put down the phone with a happy smile on her lips.

My mother, who was making breakfast in the kitchen, heard Miranla hang up the phone and stuck her head out and asked curiously.

"Are you talking to me on the phone? Why are you yelling...?"

"Haha~"

Miranla trotted to her mother's side, glanced at her sister who was standing by the stove frying eggs, and said with a smile: "It's the Madonna you have all seen!"

"She worked overtime at the bar last night and earned two thousand dollars!"

"She was so excited just now that she couldn't sleep at all, so she called me to share the good news."

"2000?"

"What does she do... to make money like this?"

"mom!"

"When you work as a waiter in a bar, of course you need tips!"

"What else can you do?"

"..Haha~"

"Okay~ I misunderstood..." Miranla's mother raised her eyebrows and replied with a curled lip to her eldest daughter standing by the stove.

"Hahaha~" Miranla's sister turned off the fire with a smile and asked her sister.

"How much do you usually earn as a waiter in a bar?"

"Well...that's not necessarily the case~"

“When there are a lot of people, it’s not uncommon to tip a dozen or dozens of dollars if you meet a generous customer~”

"Last time, Madonna met a customer and ordered the most expensive Black Island whiskey in the bar, and gave her a tip of several hundred dollars..."

"Wow~a tip of a few hundred dollars!?"

"The bartenders in town can only get a tip of about five dollars at most, right?"

"..." Miran shook her head "cutely" a few times and spread her hands.

"Sorry, I've never worked in a bar in town..."

"..." Miranla's sister rolled her eyes at her, put the omelette plate in her hand on the dining table, and asked with her lips curled up.

"Then are you tempted again... and want to go back to New York?"

"...Yes!" Mirilla saw a trace of reluctance flashing in her mother's eyes, and comforted with a smile.

"It's safe for me to work in the bar, and everyone takes great care of me."

"You don't have to worry about me!"

"Hey~ okay..."

"After breakfast, ask your father to drive you to New York." Miranla's mother had already guessed that this day would come due to her daughter's "unconscious" state after returning these days. .

Little Miranla, who was once very obedient, has grown up!

She knew that the money her daughter earned from working in the bar every month was much more than all the family's income combined. .

Therefore, she did not say anything to prevent her daughter from leaving home early.

Because Miranla received a scholarship from Columbia University plus part-time job income, in addition to covering her tuition and living expenses in New York, it can also add extra income to her family. .

With this money, Miranla's sister can successfully enter college and gain another chance to choose her own life. .

. . .

On the table.

Miranla's happy laughter made everyone in the family feel a little depressed.

Miranla's father, Old Webster, slowly put down the tableware, glanced across the faces of his daughters, and finally landed on Milanla's smiling face, and whispered.

"Let's go to New York together to see Miranla off."

"Okay!"

Miranella smiled even more happily: "Zina also has a vacant house, not far from the bar."

"Everyone can stay there temporarily and have a good time in New York!"

"Sister, haven't you always wanted to see that... huge Christmas tree?"

"Let's go together!"

"...Okay!" Miranla's sister secretly glanced at the couple's expressions and nodded lightly.

"Hahaha~"

"Then let's finish eating quickly and then set off?!"

"..Um!"

. . .

After breakfast.

Miran returned to her small room and took out an old iron box with green patterns from under the bed.

She sat on the edge of the bed, touching the pattern on the old iron box, and bit her lip.

----

On the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu.

After the New Year's party on the beach in the early morning, the entire hotel seemed particularly quiet on this sunny morning.

In the lawn restaurant.

David got up uncharacteristically early, made breakfast, held a newspaper in his hand, and read it carefully.

The first floor lobby of the hotel.

The little Zach had a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and kicked his brother, the big Zach, hard with his foot. .Calf, cursed in a low voice.

"What do you do as a bodyguard? Huh?"

"The boss gets up earlier than you and works harder than you!"

"Do you still want to do it?!"

"..." The big man Zach, who was still in a "sleepwalking" state, smacked his lips a few times and muttered with his eyes half-opened.

"I'm hungry.."

"Hungry ass!"

The little Zach felt like he was about to explode, so he kicked him a few more times and said viciously.

"Look down at your own big belly!"

"I just lost weight a few days ago, and you've gained it back these days."

"Why are you so hungry?"

"Hold on!"

"Oh..." The big man Zach blinked with a hint of grievance in his voice, and saw David from a distance with his back to the two of them.

. . .

"Hi~ boss, good morning!"

"Oh... Zach!"

"It's early for you two, haha~"

"Have you had breakfast? Come sit down and have some together!"

"Uh... ok!"

The little Zach glared at his "resurrected" brother, walked to David's side, pulled out a chair and sat down, and asked.

"Boss, do you have any plans today?"

"Well... not yet."

"We'll wait until everyone gets up before we decide."

"Okay, then we'll have breakfast later and go to the lobby to help you first."

"Need not."

David looked to his left at his brother, the little Zach, then turned to look at his right brother, his brother, the big Zach, and smiled.

"We are here for vacation, you don't have to be so nervous, just relax, it will be fine..."

"Okay!" The little Zach made a gesture, waved to the waiter, and said with a smile.

"Actually, when we are in the bar every day, it feels like we are on vacation~"

"Erica and Jin Ji did most of the work..."

"We are only responsible for keeping an eye on the guys who are not fighting or causing trouble..."

"Stop!"

David glanced at the newspaper in his hand, raised his eyebrows at the little Zach and said with a smile: "Have you forgotten that I am a bartender?"

"...I haven't forgotten, of course I haven't!"

"Hehe~"

"The normal and orderly operation of the bar is inseparable from your efforts~"

"You and Erica, Jin Ji, and the others just have different divisions of labor. There is no saying that anyone has an easier job."

"Suppose one day, something unexpected happens in the bar that no one wants to see..."

"When the time comes, you will still need to come forward to solve it!"

"Understood!" The little Zach secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Just when he was about to say something more, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the housekeeper Acklade and the maid Chasida walking quickly towards him.

"Um...Boss, your butler is here~"

"Shall we...just go to the table next to us first?"

"Oh? Okay." David glanced sideways, nodded, thought for a while, and said.

"While you're having breakfast, help me watch over Ludy and Mr. Gardener. I'll see them if I need anything."

"Okay!" The little Zach agreed very simply, tilted his head towards his brother whose eyes were a little straight, and walked to the table next to him.

"Good morning! Sir!" Butler Aclade, wearing a snow-white shirt + brown tie + suit trousers + shiny leather shoes, stopped beside David and said with a smile.

"What...is this?" David felt funny and pointed at his clothes and asked.

"Oh~ I'm used to dressing like this."

"But last night...you were obviously wearing a floral shirt + big shorts + slippers, and you were shouting on the beach..."

"Haha~ That's just a way to relax occasionally."

"...Okay~"

David felt that he was "defeated" by him. He turned to look at the maid Chasida, who was also wearing long clothes and trousers, and asked.

"What's going on with you?"

"I...I'm...used to it..."

"...Okay, wait until I don't ask."

"You guys should have breakfast first, and let me finish reading this newspaper too~"

"Ok."

. . .

A breeze carrying the smell of the sea swept across the lawn.

David slowly put down the newspaper in his hand, raised his eyes to look at the blue sea in the distance, and fell into thinking.

The newspaper he just read was the Los Angeles Times on the 7th of last month.

December 1978, 12, is the 7th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The "Los Angeles Times" published multiple reports related to the anniversary on the second page of the newspaper on this day, and also deliberately placed several photos full of war years in a very conspicuous position.

Pearl Harbor is located just west of Honolulu Airport.

Would you like to find some time to go over and visit?

. . .

"Morning, Mr. Coleman!"

A greeting interrupted David's thinking.

He turned to look at the smiling middle-aged man, nodded with a smile and said, "Good morning to you too."

"My name is Donald D. Klein, and the vacation home you went to see yesterday is the one I have for sale."

"...Oh!" David showed a surprised look and smiled.

"The agent said..."

"I didn't expect you to be on the island!"

"Please sit down!"

"Hehe~"

Donald D. Klein placed a copy of the Los Angeles Times in front of David and smiled.

"This is the latest morning report that came with the flight from Los Angeles this morning."

"...Thank you!" David glanced at the date on the newspaper, looked at Klein, and asked.

"You were also here at Waikiki Beach last night, participating..."

"Yes~"

Klein crossed his legs and said, "I met that Mr. Gardener last night."

"Ok!"

"Then are you satisfied with our quotation?"

"very satisfied."

Klein shrugged, pointed in the direction of the vacation homes at the foot of the mountain, and said with a smile: "I have nine vacation homes for sale in the area closest to the top of the mountain."

"If you want to buy them all, I can give you a discount!"

"nine..?"

"How much are you going to charge?"

"200 million!"

"..too expensive!"

"Hehe~"

"The vacation house you went to see yesterday ranked at the bottom of the nine vacation houses in terms of floor space."

"Many of them are carefully designed by specially invited designers..."

David listened to Mr. Klein's "self-promotion" with a smile on his face, pondered for a while, and asked with a smile.

“Those vacation homes obviously still have a lot of room for appreciation~”

"Can I ask...the reason why you want to package it up and sell it?"

"Hehe~"

Klein crossed his fingers, rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair, and asked, "Have you ever heard of... venture capital?"

"VC? Venture capital?"

"Yes, some people also like to call it that."

David felt very strange and imitated Klein's actions just now, shrugged and said with a smile: "I have a partnership venture capital firm on Wall Street."

"Wow~" Klein looked very surprised.

He looked at David seriously again, and asked with a trace of doubt in his eyes: "Have you... already invested in those companies?"

"Of course~"

"We have invested in a venture capital project R&D center in New York."

"After the establishment of this R&D center, we successively invested in projects such as disposable lighters and car anti-theft alarms."

"In addition, I personally invested in a software company here in Silicon Valley called Oracle."

"Oracle bones?"

"Never heard of it..." Klein repeated in a low voice, frowning as he recalled.

David smiled and shook his head, explaining: "Oracle right now can only be regarded as a start-up company."

"The whole company only has a few people + a few desks..."

"So, you understand...right?"

"understand!"

Clyde nodded excitedly and said with a sigh: "I have met the youngest person in charge of a venture capital company on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, and they are all middle-aged people over 35 years old. It’s over~”

"You actually saw its development potential at such a young age?"

"Are you a Harvard Business School graduate?"

"No! I'm just a high school graduate."

"..." Klein was speechless.

David looked at his speechless look, smiled, puffed up his chest, and said confidently: "Do you have any good projects...can you share them with me?"

"Well... the project does exist."

"But... do you still want to buy my house?"

"Hahahaha~ Of course I will buy it!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Klein."

“My fiancée and I like it here very much~”

"We plan to fly here with our families to stay for a while and relax whenever we have time."

"So you don't have to worry about funding to buy a home and invest."

"Oh..." Klein looked at David carefully for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

"Ok!"

"I'll give you a base price... 180 million yuan!"

"If you agree, all nine vacation homes will be yours!"

"180.."

"Can I first have my lawyer... take a look at the title documents for these vacation homes?"

"Of course!"

"They're in a safe at a local bank and you can look at them anytime."

"ok~"

"Then I can only... ask my lawyer to take my family here for vacation in advance~"

"family?"

Klein asked a little confused: "What are you...?"

"Yes."

"I'm just giving him New Year's benefits~"

"Tsk~ You are so generous!"

"Haha~ As long as he works hard and is generous...he deserves it! Right?"

"...That's right!"

"Hahaha~" David and Klein looked at each other and smiled~

. . .

After closing the deal on the vacation home.

The two of them relaxed and chatted casually about anecdotes in the venture capital industry over the years.

David felt from Klein's conversation that he was obviously an industry insider who was familiar with many people in the venture capital industry.

Therefore, he asked Klein many of the questions he had accumulated in venture capital.

After hearing these questions, Klein shook his head with a smile and said, "These questions of yours...are all asked to the wrong person!"

"Do you know why I just asked you whether you are a Harvard Business School student?"

"Uh... I don't know~"

"Hehe~"

Klein picked up the coconut water that the waiter had just brought, took a sip, paused for a short while, and said.

"Professor Georges Doriot of Harvard Business School sets up a course called Manufacturing every year in the business school."

“However, the content of this course has nothing to do with manufacturing~”

“Professor Doriot’s very popular elective course is all about startups and the latest technological developments.”

“He would often invite successful entrepreneurs into the classroom as guests to tell students how to create a company of their own, how to establish their own board of directors, and how to find people within their own abilities who can hit the mark with one hit. Business opportunities are waiting~”

“Moreover, he taught students in class: how to dress decently in various social situations; how to show one’s strengths and hide one’s shortcomings at cocktail parties; how to properly handle the relationship between partners, executives and major shareholders within the company. The contradictions and relationships between: How to use 4 minutes to find the news you are most interested in from the New York Times, etc."

"For example: the first thing you do when reading a newspaper is to turn to the obituary page~"

"It can make readers realize how valuable time and life are!"

"You can also learn about some of the legendary experiences of these deceased figures, find your ideal life goals from them, and build your own unique lifestyle."

"So, we can definitely say that the knowledge he taught his students is all his life experience and philosophy of life accumulated over many years~"

"If you have time and opportunity, you might as well go to Harvard University and ask Professor Doriot about the problems you encounter."

"I think he should be able to give you a satisfactory answer."

"Okay! I will definitely go."

"No matter in any era, people like Professor Doriot who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with students deserve our respect and gratitude."

"Of course! There will still be you..."

"Thank you, Mr. Klein!" David sat up straight and nodded to Klein sincerely.

"Haha~ You're welcome!" Klein waved his hand with a gentle smile, and looked at David with more appreciation in his eyes.

Ps:

In 2009, before the second wave of the Internet completely broke out.

A book was published in China called: "The Perfect Competition".

But when I was writing this chapter tonight, I went to search for this book on a whim.

The result. .

"The Perfect Race", which was priced at 49 yuan when it was published, is now priced at 8 yuan+. .

Moreover, what you can buy for 180 yuan is [-]% new and second-hand. .

The almost new "Perfect Race" costs at least 240 yuan +. .

Later, I stood on the balcony and smoked a cigarette, calmly and carefully analyzed all the information I could find, and summarized some personal opinions.

The author of "The Perfect Race" is Spencer Ant, not Georges Doriot, the father of venture capital!

The author is not the father of venture capital - Georges Doriot!

Important things must be said twice!

This Georges Doriot was a soldier who participated in World War II.

Later, he first taught at MIT and then at Harvard Business School.

For our domestic entrepreneurs, "The Perfect Competition" can be regarded as a good "recharging" book!

The author, Spencer Ant, focuses on the rise and fall of the American Research and Development Corporation founded by Georges Doriot in the book, and looks at the development process of the American venture capital industry.

At the same time, readers can also learn about Doriot, the legendary figure's ups and downs life experience from this book, revealing his little-known love life.

Therefore, it is somewhat like a combined version of a biographical novel of a historical figure + a compiled novel of a true historical story~

another:

Starting a business has become quite common for people nowadays~

But people are accustomed to focusing on successful entrepreneurial cases, but selectively ignore those cases of entrepreneurial failure, and praise the high and underestimate the low. .

So, I would like to remind everyone again!

Starting a business is risky, so be cautious when investing!

Only by learning from history + independent thinking + adequate preparation + good attitude + good health can the success rate of all brave entrepreneurs be improved!

Even if you encounter temporary difficulties, please never be discouraged or lie down ~

There are always more solutions than difficulties!