American History 1988
Chapter 116 - 110 Self-funded

Chapter 116: Chapter 110 Self-funded

"If you know that sentence, it means you truly are a devoted reader of ’Global Overview,’" Kevin hadn’t even joined the magazine at that time, "Dean, is it? You said you want to publish your software in the magazine?"

"Yes," Dean took the last issue of the 1986 ’Global Software Catalog’ from Kevin’s hands, "It has already been proven infeasible, even Doubleday Publishing has given up on this magazine."

The ’Global Software Catalog’ had been sold to Doubleday Publishing by Stuart Brand, the founder of ’Global Overview,’ for 1.4 million US Dollars. But it had not lasted two years before the publication fell out of favor.

Dean was here today to advertise his Teams software, and he understood that the current audience for Teams could only be enterprise users.

Because networking restrictions limited its use scenarios, ordinary consumers were temporarily not within Dean’s consideration, at least until NSFNet was privatized.

Since it targeted enterprise users, advertising methods such as television commercials and celebrity endorsements became meaningless, as the former relied more on propagation within the industry.

However, although common promotional methods were ineffective, industry-focused media channels had taken over this advertising role.

’Global Overview’ was a counter-culture product catalog, founded by Brand in 1968, listing the lifestyles favored by hippies along with articles on various topics.

Its content included categories such as social systems, housing and land, industrial arts, communications, communities, ethnic groups, and education. Under each category, there were introductions and reviews of related products.

In form, it resembled a comprehensive product catalog, or as Jobs later referred to it, a paper version of Google. It encompassed everything, yet was incredibly relevant to life.

Of course, being located in California’s Silicon Valley, ’Global Overview’ was inevitably influenced by its environment, and its content was more skewed towards the technical industry.

Reviewing all issues of ’Global Overview’ published so far, it had sold nearly thirty million copies and had a widespread influence.

The youth who grew up with it treated it as their bible, because of ’Global Overview,’ even a rural kid in Tennessee knew about the vastness of the starry sky.

Obviously, being its place of origin, almost everyone in California was familiar with ’Global Overview’. Especially the founders of enterprises in Silicon Valley, who nearly considered it as essential reading when they were younger.

Dean wanted to promote Teams, and rather than using television ads, newspaper ads, or door-to-door recommendations, he preferred to publish his software in ’Global Overview.’

As long as ’Global Overview’ was distributed, it would definitely appear on the desks of executives across various companies in Silicon Valley.

Dean considered such precise targeting even more effective than a Super Bowl opening commercial.

"But Dean, ’Global Overview’ is currently out of publication," Kevin shrugged and stuffed the magazine back into the display rack, "or would you be willing to wait for the next publication date?"

As an encyclopedic series, ’Global Overview’ had not been regularly published since ’74. It was only printed again when enough new material accumulated or when a disruptive product emerged.

This date was entirely unpredictable, and even Kevin himself did not know when the next issue of ’Global Overview’ would be published.

"Mr. Kelly, I know that aside from ’Global Overview’ there exist supplements. With Christmas just over a week away, haven’t you considered a theme like ’Global Overview: Christmas Special Issue’?"

Before coming here, Dean had done his homework. ’Global Overview’ had a range of derivative publications. Teams might not be impressive enough for the magazine to publish a regular issue, but a supplement could be worth a try.

Kevin looked at Dean with some surprise, "A supplement doesn’t have the impact of the main issue. You might find it disappointing."

"No matter, as long as the cover bears the four words ’Global Overview,’ it’ll do." Dean had done his research; the most recent issue of the ’Global Overview’ series had been published the previous year.

Over a year later, Dean believed that even a supplement would have an exceptional promotional effect.

Kevin hesitated slightly. The founder, Brand, was now focused on his creation, the "Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link" BBS forum. Apart from the main issues of ’Global Overview,’ he was largely uninvolved with the magazine’s operations.

As for publishing a supplement, Kevin, as the editor-in-chief, had the authority to do so. But...

"Kelly, I believe what I’ve brought is stunning enough. So..." Dean kicked the two briefcases by his feet, "how about we take a look at the software first?"

"Alright, I was going to say that even for a supplement, ’Global Overview’ would be very selective about products." Kevin had been largely idle in the magazine office due to the long hiatus.

As for ’Global Review’ magazine, after publishing the last issue of the year at the beginning of the month, the rest of the staff had already started their Christmas holidays.

Kevin thought that using his spare time to review a new software might also be a good use of his time.

Seeing his nod of approval, Dean immediately took out two portable computers from his briefcase. Equipment worth over twenty thousand US Dollars became his tool to showcase Teams.

An hour later...

Wearing headphones, Kevin looked at the Teams interface before him in silence; the software was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"Dean, did you develop this software?"

"Surprised, aren’t you?" Dean said, nodding proudly with his arms crossed.

"It’s cool! Totally hipster~" Kevin thought to himself that he might have witnessed the birth of a great software.

"So, is it good enough to be featured in ’Global Overview’?" That was Dean’s ultimate purpose for being here.

"Maybe, but..." Kevin pulled out a magazine from the desk and handed it to Dean, "Every issue of a magazine like this has to be carefully curated because the publisher needs to ensure its sales.

"However, Dean, you’ve come so suddenly. Even if we wanted to choose Teams as ’Global Overview’s’ latest product, we don’t have enough other content to fill the entire supplement. So as you know, there’s a certain risk involved."

Dean flipped through the magazine in his hands. It had about twenty pages, with the front and back in color. "How much does it cost to print one of these magazines?"

"What?" Kevin was puzzled by Dean’s concern with this issue, but soon he had an idea, "$1.93 per copy."

$1.93, Dean calculated quietly with his head down. "Kelly, I will sponsor the publisher $10,000 to print 5,000 copies of the ’Global Overview’ Christmas special edition."

"Oh~OMG" Although he had suspected it, Kevin was still stunned by Dean’s bold move. If he remembered correctly, Dean seemed to be still a Stanford student.

"However, I have one condition," Dean said, patting the magazine, "these 5,000 copies would be distributed in California only, especially Silicon Valley as the first stop. Whether to distribute more copies elsewhere is up to you."

Exchanging $10,000 for the naming rights to ’Global Overview’ seemed worth it to Dean. The 5,000 copies would already cover the entire Silicon Valley, with other parts of California being just an add-on.

After hearing Dean’s request, Kevin roughly understood his idea, which was equivalent to self-funded publication.

After a moment’s thought, Kevin nodded in agreement, "I believe Teams will indeed make a name for itself in the history of software."

First, Kevin thought Teams was excellent and innovative enough. Featuring it as a special product in the new issue of ’Global Overview’ was definitely worthy.

Secondly, the magazine wouldn’t have to take any additional distribution risks. Every sold copy would be pure profit for the magazine. Dean’s recent $10,000 didn’t come with any demands for a revenue share, which equated to advertising fees.

If this issue sells well, then all the better. Kevin would not hesitate to print more issues and sell them to other states.

Why wouldn’t he agree to a profitable deal? As for the other filler content for the supplement, Kevin had plenty of ways to handle it.

"Mr. Kelly, if Byte software truly makes a mark in the history of software, ’Global Overview’ will surely be a major contributor."

Although half of the $20,000 deposit from Silicon Graphics vanished in an instant, Dean still felt the money was well spent. This was a read regarded as gospel by countless founders in the tech industry.

"To give the magazine a better understanding of Teams, we’ll personally install a set of Teams on every computer here." Dean had already noted on his way in - just five computers, a trivial matter.

"Thank you for your generosity," Kevin found no reason to refuse such a good deal, "By the way, I have a question. Based on your introduction, Teams can establish communication within a local network. Does it work the same over the NSFnet?"

"Of course," Dean nodded affirmatively, "as long as there’s a connecting line, they can communicate with each other."

"Any number of computers making up a local network can do this?"

"Mmhmm~"

"What about when the line is a telephone line?" Kevin was getting closer to the core of the issue. As the chief editor of an encyclopedic magazine, he knew a bit about technology.

Dean looked at Kevin with a meaningful gaze, "Theoretically, as long as that line has a network signal, that kind of communication is possible. But I wouldn’t recommend doing that, because there’s a certain risk."

"OK, I understand," Kevin nodded knowingly.

Damn! Dean suddenly realized that the Teams user manual was missing an important disclaimer: Using Teams on non-public networks is prohibited, and Byte software is not responsible for any legal risks incurred as a result!

He had underestimated people’s ingenuity; there would always be some who found unexpected loopholes. These loopholes might not be directed at Teams itself, but they could still cause trouble.

Now that the advertising matter was settled, Dean packed up and prepared to go back and supplement the Teams user manual. No, more importantly, he needed to find a lawyer to comprehensively review all the written material for Teams.

Fortunately, the software hadn’t been officially released yet, and there was still time to add to it.

"Dean, would you like to hear some personal sales advice for Teams?" Kevin suddenly changed the topic to sales strategy for the software just as Dean was about to leave.

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