Rebirth of the Tech Madman

Can there be such a perfect solution? Benjamin Rosen's eyes lit up. He has worked on Wall Street for 20 years, and he has a good understanding of the harsh conditions required for speculation. Could it be that there is really a perfect solution in front of him? Opportunity.

Of course. Rod Kenyon replied firmly, And there is an additional advantage of doing this, that is, until now, the platform still does not have a compatible machine, but various products of the Fangyuan computer standard are already on the market. It’s booming and blooming everywhere. After we became the first compatible machine manufacturer, IBM’s attitude is likely to be more relaxed.”

It makes sense. Benjamin Rosen asked eagerly, Then what are your plans for specific products?

The strategy is very simple, still be the number one platform. Now portable personal computers are very popular. First, 1 created a precedent, and then a competitor jumped out. Even Fangyuan Computer launched such products. We designed And manufacture standard portable personal computers. Rod Kenyon introduced, while taking out a report and handing it to the bright-eyed Benjamin Rosen.

Compaq, a small entrepreneurial team, has rich experience in the workplace. They are strict in doing things and have traces to follow. They are not comparable to Jobs who solicited investment for Apple without even knowing what the plan was.

After reading the document, Benjamin Rosen pondered for a moment, Now that Fangyuan Computer is leading almost everywhere, what do you think of the platform's prospects?

Rod Kenyon seemed to have considered this question long ago, and answered without thinking. Based on IBM's strength, even if it is at a disadvantage in the market, it will not be defeated soon, and there is no problem at all for a few years.

Having said that, Rod Kenyon looked around at the crowd. With a playful smile, ibm has always had a problem, that is, the cost of doing things is high, and the turnaround is slow. The portable products that have not been seen for a long time are a proof. We just need to be ahead of ibm, and the launch cost and performance have advantages over it Compatible products are fine. As for other issues, the sky is falling and there will be a tall man to take care of them.”

The others laughed knowingly. They all interjected: As long as we take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime gap to develop, even if we embrace the Fangyuan computer standard platform in the future, we will have the capital to bargain, at least the licensing fee can be negotiated.

Benjamin Rosen picked up the document in front of him and quickly browsed through it, deliberating on several important links. Then he said: Since you have made clear your goals, let's go. By the way, do you need any help from me?

We need a senior intellectual property lawyer. Rod Kenyon made a request. We will use a black box method to imitate all the functions. Every time we complete a step, we have to ask the lawyer to confirm it.

no problem.

Benjamin Rosen readily agreed, I will specifically raise targeted funds to deal with possible intellectual property disputes with IBM.

It can be seen from this statement. Benjamin Rosen has spared no effort in supporting the Compaq entrepreneurial team.

How long will it take for you to come up with a prototype? Benjamin Rosen asked again.

We have made sufficient technical preparations and intend to make Compaq portable personal computers catch up with dex at the end of November. Meet with users. Rod Kenyon's tone was full of confidence.

I'm looking forward to Compaq's wonderful performance. Benjamin Rosen was very satisfied, Let's do this first, I have something to do, so I won't stay any longer.

...

As a venture capitalist, Benjamin Rosen has more than one project to look at, and his next stop is Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Follow the address. Benjamin Rosen managed to find the inconspicuous office with the rp sign, before entering the door. He also deliberately bent down and wiped the dust on the leather shoes with a paper towel.

However, Benjamin Rosen soon found out. I don't need to be so particular about it. Although there are only two people in the office, it is a mess, completely looking like an engineer.

The two people sitting in front of each other: Mitchell Kapoor and Jonathan Saatchi are the founders of this Lotus software company. Like Compaq, they were only established this year.

The leader of Compaq Computer's entrepreneurial team was Rod Kenyon born in 1945, and the leader of Lotus Software was Mitchell Kapoor in 1950.

Mitchell Kapoor has a good family background. His father is a small business owner. He was admitted to Yale University in 1967, specializing in psychology, linguistics and computer science.

Like his peers at that time, Mitchell Kapoor belonged to the typical Beat Generation, and he didn't fall behind any tricks that should be tried.

After graduating from Yale University in 1971, Mitchell Kapoor worked as a radio music host and a comedian. It can be said that his work was adrift and his life was aimless.

Mitchell Kapoor at this stage was very interested in nothingness, so after wandering for four years, he always felt that there was something missing in him, so he went to Switzerland to participate in a training called Transcendental Meditation.

The course includes 14 hours a day of sitting meditation and learning the ability to levitate a person into the air. Of course, this supernatural ability was not successfully cultivated in the end.

After returning to the United States, Mitchell Kapoor wanted to find out who he really was, so he was admitted to the university to study for a master's degree in psychology, and graduated in 1978 with a degree.

Next, Mitchell Kapoor went to work as a waiter in a psychiatric institution, a job that was the mental equivalent of potty potting.

Naturally, this period was boring, but fortunately, my interest in computers helped Mitchell Kapoor pass most of the time. And his programming technology has made great progress, and then he entered the rp job.

Following Tang Huan's success track, Don Estridge created the Troika commercial software for spreadsheet word processing databases, among which the spreadsheet software of rp company was chosen for the spreadsheet.

IBM and rp reached an agreement, just like Tang Huan's pre-installed on the phone. Dan Bricklin's got preloaded on .

Obviously, rp, like Microsoft, embraced the thigh of Big Blue, and the company's performance has improved significantly.

Mitchell Kapoor, who has figured out the philosophical question of Who am I? worked very well in RP.

He compiled two sets of software and d, which were very popular. According to the agreement, you can get a 33% commission from the sales.

But rp wanted to change this contract and decided to buy all the copyrights of these two sets of software.

After negotiation, Mitchell Kapoor received a $1.2 million buyout fee. And left rp, planning to start his own company as the boss.

As an investor in rp, Benjamin Rosen naturally noticed this dynamic, and Mitchell Kapoor also needed external help, so the two sides hit it off.

In fact, Benjamin Rosen's vision is indeed correct. Mitchell Kapoor belongs to Jobs's type of talent, although he has been a fool for so many years. But it didn't really break, and was starting to make a name for itself in the PC world.

Now, Benjamin Rosen is on Mitchell Kapoor's stage. Seeing the result he expected, a brand-new spreadsheet software, in addition to the general electronic trial calculation design, can also display the data graphically through charts and support the function of the database.

Because this software integrates the three functions of the electronic trial calculation and drawing database, I named it. Mitchell Kapoor introduced with pride.

Due to previous years of experience. Mitchell Kapoor, who is still obsessed with nothingness, puts the lotus flower, which has a special meaning in religion. Used as the name of the company and product.

Such a design is considered original. Benjamin Rosen asked enthusiastically.

Not exactly. A look of embarrassment flashed across Mitchell Kapoor's face. However, I chose to tell the truth, Zheru's software has already had these functions, but only those big customers who can afford the price will buy this kind of software, which is rare on ordinary personal computers. When I was working in rp, when I went to sell products to customers, I accidentally saw it and was inspired.

Is that so, isn't it that it will lose a big selling point in the market in the future. Benjamin Rosen was slightly disappointed.

Of course not. Mitchell Kapoor resolutely corrected, Although there are a lot of spreadsheet software on the platform, none of them can achieve such a function. As for the Zheru platform version, it is just a It’s just a sign to declare its existence, and its function can’t be compared with the Fangyuan computer platform version.”

Speaking of this, Mitchell Kapoor emphasized his tone, So, on this platform, being the first software with such a collection of functions is definitely a big selling point.

No. 1 on the platform again... Thinking of Compaq's Benjamin Rosen, he couldn't help but smile.

Today's software companies, such as Gary Kildare's Digital Research Corporation, Bill Gates' Microsoft Corporation, Dan Bricklin's RP Corporation, Seymour Rubinstein's Al Corporation, etc., are doing everything they can Supporting as many hardware platforms as possible, even the leftovers left over from Zheru's computer platform on the Fangyuan computer platform, will become their goal.

Mitchell Kapoor is not like Rod Kenyon of Compaq Computer's entrepreneurial team, who provided Benjamin Rosen with various documents including business plans. He only has a three-inch tongue.

But my Lotus software has to do the opposite, and only support the platform wholeheartedly.

Without waiting for Benjamin Rosen to ask the reason for such a choice, Mitchell Kapoor continued to explain, The most direct benefit of this is that the program code does not need to consider too many cross-hardware platform compatibility factors, and one after another adopts C language and other high-level programming languages. It is compiled in assembly language, and even if it contains many complex functions, its operating efficiency far exceeds that of similar products on the platform.”

Mitchell Kapoor snapped his fingers triumphantly, More importantly, I noticed that the memory capacity of a general trend in the development of personal computer hardware specifications is constantly increasing, and the memory capacity of commercial microcomputers reaches 256kb, or more. High, it's not surprising.

Speaking of this, Mitchell Kapoor seemed to think of something about Coke and laughed, But many software companies don't seem to notice this, and they haven't optimized the program code. The support platform The three major spreadsheet software: That’s it. The funniest thing is that Microsoft’s has taken the initiative to limit the program’s running memory to a maximum of 256kb. I really don’t understand what’s going on in Bill Gates’ head.”

In this way, compared with other similar products on the platform, it is not only powerful and fast, but also performs better on a personal computer with a large memory of 256kb. Benjamin Rosen confirmed these attractive features with great interest. product characteristics.

That's it. It can be said that I have all the functions in one body, but the running speed is not as fast as mine. How can I compete with me? Mitchell Kapoor made a heroic gesture. to be continued

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