American History 1988
Chapter 143 - 137 Transaction Completed

Chapter 143: Chapter 137 Transaction Completed

Satisfied, Dean looked at his handsome photograph in the newspaper a few times before folding it neatly and putting it back into his bag.

Don’t misunderstand, this newspaper wasn’t an advertisement for Byte Software, but rather a report on recent concrete events.

The collaboration between 3Com and Byte Software mainly benefited from the matchmaking efforts of Mayfield.

The latter had invested in both 3Com and Byte Software, making it a common investor in the two companies.

Robert Metcalfe, from 3Com, had noticed Teams software as soon as it was released and even purchased the software for 3Com.

Metcalfe was amazed by the innovation Teams brought to voice calling, but he also noticed the software’s limitations.

This couldn’t be considered a fault; the primary limitations came from the hardware side.

Metcalfe found that the current sound cards in computers were completely unable to exploit Teams’ advantages. The monophonic output made Teams’ audio sound monotonous and distorted.

Perhaps the public had grown accustomed to this sound quality, but Metcalfe was convinced that if he could develop a richer stereo sound card, it would surely be welcomed by the market.

Especially as Teams’ sales rose steadily, Metcalfe believed that the market was ripe for development.

Thus, after an introduction by the intermediary Mayfield, Metcalfe and Dean got in touch.

After communicating with the former, Dean was surprised to discover that the PC hardware market had already diversified quite a lot.

Take, for example, the sound card that 3Com wanted to develop, which could trace its origins back to the early ’80s. At that time, if a computer wanted to generate sound, it could only do so through a built-in speaker.

However, speakers lack data processing capabilities; they can only emit monotonous "beeps", which is the usual beeper sound mentioned.

It was later in ’84 that Texas Instruments designed the first audio chip, and that was when sound cards were truly born.

But it was the AdLib company in Canada that truly pushed sound cards to the consumer market, as their sound card released in ’87 allowed PCs to truly achieve a semblance of multimedia audio output.

Likewise, Roland Corporation, IBM, and SRT subsequently launched their own digital audio chips, but their market scale still fell short of AdLib.

It wasn’t until last year that the Sound Blaster card from Singapore became a formidable competitor against AdLib.

Sound Blaster was priced similarly to AdLib at 109 US Dollars. However, the former had several more timbres in its synthesizer and even supported the latter’s audio format.

Therefore, Sound Blaster became favored in the personal computing market, with sales climbing steadily and even exceeding the historical peak of sound cards at one point.

It was precisely because of this that Metcalfe set his sights on sound cards.

In the router and gateway market, Cisco was beating 3Com repeatedly. Especially with Cisco’s impending IPO, the pressure was mounting on 3Com, causing Metcalfe great anxiety.

The newspaper was right; at this time, 3Com’s announcement of a collaboration with Byte Software was likely an attempt to display confidence to the market.

If they couldn’t beat Cisco in routers and gateways, they’d create a new track to compete on.

Metcalfe had researched both AdLib and Sound Blaster. Their prices were generally high and their synthesizers had only 11 timbres.

There were more professional stereo sound cards too, like Roland Corporation’s MT-32, but it was priced at a steep 625 US Dollars.

Apart from professional musicians and recording studios, the average person simply couldn’t afford it.

If 3Com could develop a sound card with a richer variety of sounds at a cheaper price, then it might become another growth point for 3Com.

3Com needed a new breakthrough to offset Cisco’s aggression, and Metcalfe needed a breather.

However, the development of synthesizer timbres heavily relied on algorithms, which was not a strength of 3Com, a company that started with hardware, but there was someone who excelled at it.

Byte Software was a very suitable target; their handling of audio left a deep impression on Metcalfe.

After discussing with Dean, Metcalfe became even more convinced of his idea, and thus the collaboration reported in the newspaper came about.

For such a beneficial offer, Dean wouldn’t refuse.

Although 3Com was struggling, it was still a publicly traded company. For Byte Software to reach a collaboration with them was effectively gaining significant media exposure.

Besides, the algorithm provided to 3Com by Byte Software wasn’t free; 3Com would have to share a portion of every sound card sale with Byte Software.

3Com saved on algorithm development costs, while Byte Software received licensing fees, a win-win!

Even to support the development of 3Com’s sound card, Byte Software had specially established an audio algorithm department, focused on the development of digital audio.

This was also considered Byte Software’s second business venture apart from Teams.

Having only one product was too risky, Dean needed to add an insurance for himself.

Unfortunately, this was a flight to Ohio; besides the boarding pass, neither the pillows nor the magazines had Teams’ advertisements on them.

Good steel must be used on the blade’s edge, and Byte Software’s advertising collaboration with United Airlines was only concentrated on the densely traveled routes along the East and West Coast.

For flights in the Midwest like this, the boarding pass was the only proof of Teams’ existence.

An average of 50,000 US Dollars in advertising fees per route, counting magazines and boarding passes, this time Byte Software had sunk in over 600,000 US Dollars.

If the subsequent advertising effects were good, they might continue the following month.

Well, ever since raising capital, Dean hadn’t planned on Byte Software being profitable.

They won’t halt their expansionary pace before going public. Only a rapidly growing market can give confidence to capital investors, and Nasdaq would open its doors to them.

In a haze, Dean spent the morning alone on the airplane.

As he emerged from the Columbus airport, he subconsciously shivered.

Damn it! April in Columbus is just like January in California; the Ohio sun is way too shy compared to California.

"I thought you were coming back to see me until you told me over the phone to prepare enough money."

With her arms crossed, Susie slightly lowered her sunglasses, "So why do you suddenly need so much capital? Did you accidentally set off a spark?"

"Come on, my gun only fires with you." Dean pinched her smooth chin, seemingly unable to resist her red lips.

"The funds are ready; they’re all in the previous account." Susie pushed against his chest, hinting that they were in the middle of the street.

"OK, I can’t stay too long this time. There’s a lot of business waiting for me back in California." Dean climbed into the Cadillac, planning to catch up with Susie later.

"So what’s it all about, after all?" After starting the car, Susie didn’t leave immediately.

"Don’t worry, it’s a money-making business." Sitting in the passenger seat, Dean smiled, "I don’t have any bad habits, you know."

Relieved by his words, Susie finally felt at ease, "So, is this business deal in Ohio?"

"Right beneath our feet." Dean took a Coke out of the glove compartment and took a big gulp.

However, as he looked down, he saw something unexpected, "What’s this...?" Dean pulled out the black, brick-shaped object from the storage box.

"They call it a cellular phone~" Susie glanced at it and continued driving, "It’s very convenient. With it, I can make calls anywhere, anytime."

"Wow~" Dean flipped open the black cover; the Motorola 9800X, even with a screen.

This was the very "brick phone" from his past memories, now stepping into reality for the first time.

"Do you like it?" Seeing Dean playing with the portable phone non-stop, Susie asked teasingly with a smile.

"Yeah~" Dean weighed it in his hand; it felt like it was over a pound.

"This is a new model that just came out at the end of last year, but it has only recently started being sold in Columbus. $3,355, totally worth the price."

So it was a new model, no wonder Dean hadn’t seen much of it in California.

But at that price, not just ordinary people, even regular rich folks might not be willing to swallow the cost.

This phone already cost more than an economy Ford car.

Of course, that wasn’t a problem for Susie, "Do you need to take one back to California?"

"I’ll check them out back in California; you know, they usually sell them bundled with local carrier services."

Even if Dean bought one in Columbus, it might not work in California. Or if it did, the costs would be frightfully high.

"OK~ don’t forget to give me your number when you get one."

"Of course," Dean looked out the car window; they had arrived in the Upper Arlington district.

"By the way, if you have some spare cash, you might want to pick up some Compuserve stock while it’s hot. Not too much, just consider it a small investment."

"Wow~ since when are you so knowledgeable about the stock market?" Susie looked at him, surprised, as Dean didn’t usually handle finances personally.

"It’s related to the transaction I’m here for~" Dean winked at her mysteriously, "I’ll tell you about it tonight."

...

"Robert, it’s great to see you again."

"You got your wish, Dean."

At the Compuserve headquarters, Dean was conveying his cordial and friendly greetings to Robert.

"This is Mr. Wilkins, the chairman of the board of Compuserve." Introduced by Robert, Dean shook hands with the sixty-something-year-old Wilkins.

"Since Compuserve was founded, I served as its first president. I hope my decision this time will bring positive changes to Compuserve."

In response to the old man’s meaningful words, Dean nodded calmly. "Mr. Wilkins, you’ll feel fortunate about today’s transaction."

"I hope so." After both parties sat down, they were ready to officially start signing the contract.

As agreed, Dean would buy a 1.3% share of Compuserve for 3.9 million dollars.

Of course, that was just on paper. The real amount Dean wired into the Compuserve account was 3 million dollars.

The accounting department would handle the 900,000-dollar discrepancy.

The transaction would be carried out in batches, as collecting the floating stocks also required some time.

Only after Dean fulfilled his promise would the final 0.3% of the shares be fully accounted for.

Furthermore, to restrict Dean from exercising his shareholder’s rights, once the NSF network officially started its privatization transition,

Dean had to sell a portion of his shares within six months and then completely liquidate these floating stocks after a year.

It had to be said that Compuserve guarded against him like against a thief, but Dean didn’t mind at all.

He had only planned to make a quick profit from the stock market; Compuserve’s assets weren’t really of interest to him.

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