American History 1988
Chapter 134 - 128: Successive Visits

Chapter 134: Chapter 128: Successive Visits

Although Miller had settled on a general funding arrangement for Byte Software with Morgan Tailer, there was still a process before Dean could actually get the money.

Morgan Tailer needed to prepare the contract and gather the funds, and Dean needed to get in touch again with other individuals or groups interested in Byte Software.

But before that, there was one more thing he had to do: turn in his homework.

He had promised Professor Knuth to submit the network interaction protocol by the end of the month, and now there was less than a week left, so Dean decided not to delay any longer.

"Professor Knuth, according to the list you gave me last time, I’ve included all of them in the scope of the protocol."

"Good," Knuth said, nodding in satisfaction as he took the floppy disk from Dean, "After the technical verification in March, I can ask around about the Compuserve company for you."

"That would be a huge help," Dean thought about the sum of money lying in his account. It was time to stir it up a bit.

"By the way, the photo in the paper was nice. Mr. Campus Millionaire?" Suddenly, Knuth teased him with a playful wink.

"What?" Dean couldn’t keep up with the sudden jump in Knuth’s thoughts; they had just been talking about technical matters a moment ago.

"Here, take a look at this." Knuth handed him a newspaper from his desk.

Stanford Review? Seeing the title, Dean suddenly came to a realization. Just yesterday, before negotiating with Morgan Tailer, he had done an interview with Peter Thiel.

So the campus newspaper had finally been published? He flipped through the previously read newspaper and turned it back to the first page. Without need for any prompting, Dean’s gaze was drawn to the large color photograph of the three founders of Byte Software.

In their blue, stand-collar polo shirts, several people crossed arms in front of the camera, displaying confident smiles. Hm, the photo came out nicely, and Dean was quite pleased with his own looks, and the white Teams logo on his chest was particularly eye-catching.

But when he read the headline, his expression twisted. "Playboy? Genius? Millionaire? Which one is he?—Dean Price, the new entrepreneurial star from Stanford University!"

"Wow~ This headline is too sensational!" Holding the Stanford Review, Dean felt like he was holding a best-selling self-help success book.

"This is America," Knuth shrugged nonchalantly, "Whoever creates wealth is the darling of the media~"

"But that’s not the truth..."

"It doesn’t matter. What is important is that people like to read these rags-to-riches stories," Knuth patted his shoulder, "Go~ Go enjoy the wonders of achieving the American Dream~!"

Leaving Knuth’s office, and looking at the newspaper in his hands, well, Dean had come to accept this reality.

"Hi~ you’re...Dean? Dean Price?" Just as he was about to put the newspaper away, a blonde bombshell looked at him in surprise, then at the newspaper in his hand.

"Hello, beauty, what can I do for you?" Dean folded the newspaper neatly, then casually stuffed it into his back pocket.

"OMG~" The blonde student covered her mouth, unable to contain herself, "So, is it true? Have you become the richest student at Stanford?"

The blonde girl was pointing to the newspaper Dean had just slipped into his pocket. She had seen it, and she seized the opportunity.

"Actually, that’s a bit exaggerated. I’m not..."

"Ah~!" The girl’s shriek cut Dean off mid-sentence, "Come on, are you lacking a girlfriend? I can do anything for you!"

"What?!" Dean was uncomfortable with such a blunt proposition.

"It doesn’t matter if you have a girlfriend. I can give you something exciting when you want a change," the blonde girl licked her lips seductively.

"No, thanks~" Dean climbed onto his bike and pedaled off hard. He felt it was best to make a quick exit~

Was it really that exaggerated? He had no idea the Stanford Review would have this effect.

In fact, even more exaggerated scenes were yet to come. Dean hadn’t even left the campus on his bike when he was ambushed a second time.

"Hi~ Dean, remember us?" This time two girls were acting in tandem.

Looking at the two overly enthusiastic figures ahead, Dean vaguely felt a sense of familiarity, "You are...?"

"Yeah~ I’m Elisa," "I’m Kelly~"

"Remember? We had a wonderful memory on the first day of the semester." That time with Dean, Elisa, and Kelly had been quite an enjoyable threesome.

Normally, they would have had no further interaction, but now that Dean had made the school paper, crowned a millionaire, that changed everything.

Seeing that Dean seemed to recall something, Elisa and Kelly gave him a flirty wink, "We heard you’re still single. We don’t mind sharing..."

"Uh...sorry, I have some stuff to take care of over there," Dean pointed in the direction outside campus towards Byte Software, "So, ladies~ see you~!"

This time Dean pedaled even harder, dashing away. To hell with it, could it really be that exaggerated?

The truth was he had underestimated the power of a million dollars. In the Bay Area, close to the coastline, a 5,000 square foot mansion’s total value was less than half a million dollars.

A graduate from Stanford University had a normal annual salary of around fifty thousand dollars. Cadillacs, Lincolns, Corvettes... the price tags on these luxury cars were generally below one hundred thousand dollars, and even Marcus’s Ferrari was just over forty thousand dollars.

A million dollars was a lot. It was a fortune that a Stanford graduate might not earn in ten or twenty years.

So when the "Stanford Review" splashed the title of millionaire across its headline, Dean absolutely became the most ideal catch in the girls’ hearts, especially since he also had a handsome face.

Dean, who hadn’t yet adjusted to the change in status, was told upon returning to Byte Software that his mailbox was bursting with job applications.

"Dean, we need a new office, how come there’s still no news from Kevin." Marcus was getting somewhat impatient, he had even given up his own office space to make room for new employees.

"The place has already been found, right on Menlo Park Central Street." Dean pulled out the address Kevin had given him last time and handed it to Marcus, "Three floors, almost ten thousand square feet, enough to last us a very long time."

"Good, I’ll organize the setup of the new office tomorrow, and we’ll move in within a week." Marcus was fully capable of handling these tasks, it was his area of expertise.

"OK, as long as you’ve decided." Dean lacked the energy to focus on these matters, he had more important things to do.

After instructing Anna on which candidates to choose, Dean was ready to call an old friend.

However, before he could reach for the landline, it rang first.

"Hello, this is Byte Software."

"Dean, it’s me, Clark."

"Oh, Mr. Clark, I was just about to call you." It seemed that the other party had made up his mind regarding an offer for Byte Software.

"Dean, to be honest, the sales of Teams took me by surprise. But precisely because of that, I can’t miss out. So..."

"Mr. Clark, please excuse my interruption. Before you make an offer, let me talk about Morgan Tailer’s valuation of us."

"Morgan Tailer?" Clark was momentarily stunned, then the information about the company popped into his mind; he recalled some details.

"Yes, they initially provided Byte Software with a lot of help on the legal side."

"OK, Dean, I’m listening." Clark was not overly surprised by this outcome. He was well aware that he was one of the minor individual investors among the co-investors.

"Morgan Tailer’s valuation of us is 20 million US dollars, and in this financing round Byte Software is releasing 15% equity, they took 10%, now there’s still 5% left."

When a startup is in a seller’s market, the higher bid from an investment company usually prevails.

If Clark couldn’t accept this price, then Dean could only regretfully say that business is business.

"5%..." Clark was doing quick calculations in his head, this meant that if he wanted this share of the equity, he would need to fork out one million US dollars.

Clark was the founder of Silicon Graphics, which had already gone public. One million US dollars is a lot for the average person, but for Clark, it was not a problem.

"OK, Dean, I accept this offer." Clark didn’t hesitate; he knew this was his last chance to get on board.

Byte Software was definitely going to go public, Clark believed this without a doubt. When the second and even larger third rounds of funding came, he wouldn’t have the standing to participate anymore.

"The 5% is yours, Mr. Clark." Dean kept his promise; he needed to maintain the network he had just begun to cultivate.

"Dean, we are definitely going public! Go Public!" Clark exclaimed excitedly into the phone.

"Go Public!" Dean responded with a smile.

Going public, a step that so many startups dream of.

Dean had just hung up the phone and hadn’t had the chance to deal with other matters at hand when the phone rang again.

"Hello~"

"Is this Mr. Price? I’m Glenn Miller from Mayfield, I heard you’re seeking initial funding?"

"I appreciate your call, but Mr. Miller, Byte Software has already received plenty of offers. We’ve also raised the expected funds, so..."

"Trust me, Mayfield has extensive experience in supporting startups. Silicon Graphics, 3Com... they all went public with the help of Mayfield!"

"Sorry, Mr. Miller, we’ve already reached an agreement."

"OK, then can you tell me who has invested in you?" Glenn Miller asked, seeking an alternative, he needed to reassess this investment activity.

"I’m afraid not, as you know Mr. Miller. We have to keep it confidential until the financing is completed."

"But surely you can tell me Byte Software’s valuation? Maybe Mayfield can make you a higher offer." The highest bidder wins, Glenn Miller knew the rules of the capital game well.

"20 million US dollars, we’re only releasing 15% in the first round, that’s the only information I can give you." The other party was right; it was just an offer. Dean didn’t mind hearing the terms of other investment institutions.

As a company that was fundraising, the best thing for Dean to do was to send Byte Software’s information across the Valley to the mailboxes of all the investment firms.

They would bid against each other, until Dean picked out the price that satisfied him the most.

"OK, I’ve got it." Glenn Miller hung up the phone, he already knew where to go to gather more information.