American History 1988
Chapter 144 - 138 Let’s Do It Ourselves

Chapter 144: Chapter 138 Let’s Do It Ourselves

By the 80s, the market value of American Union Network was only around 20 million US dollars. At that time, Block Corporation outright acquired it as a subsidiary for a premium of 25 million dollars.

It was also during that year that American Union Network initiated its online content service provision, though it only had about a thousand users.

Later, with continuous capital injection and cooperation with local telephone companies in Ohio, American Union Network had managed to achieve its current scale after a decade of development.

Its market value had risen from 20 million dollars to 300 million dollars today. An increase by more than tenfold, and now Dean had become one of its major shareholders.

That’s right, as an individual shareholder, a 1.3% stake was already enough to make it onto the list of shareholder representatives.

"Robert, and Mr. Wilkins." Having signed the contract, Dean also began preparing to implement his own plan.

"Next, I’ll add Compuserve to the network interconnection list, and I’ll take care of the communication protocols and interaction protocols."

"Great~" The silver-haired Wilkins was very satisfied with Dean’s initiative.

"However, this is just the beginning. To participate in the vast future market for network communications, this alone is not enough." Dean had more tricks up his sleeve.

Wilkins and Robert exchanged glances, "This doesn’t seem to be part of our agreed plan."

"Plan? What plan?" Dean spread his hands innocently, "Doesn’t Compuserve want more, or shall we not first hear my ideas?"

Robert glanced at Wilkins, who hesitated before nodding, "OK~ Maybe I can listen first."

"A wise choice." Dean smiled and snapped his fingers, then took out the documents he had prepared in advance.

"Getting the National Science Foundation to recognize Compuserve is only the first step, we also need to make our own voice heard."

Dean pointed at the business plan in his hand, "This is the proposal I once put forward for establishing the network interaction center, aimed at uniting all private network service providers."

"Oh~" Wilkins and Robert were astonished by the idea, "So..."

"So American Union Network must be the first to shout out this slogan!" Dean leaned forward slightly, "We need to attract media attention, the bigger the noise, the better!"

"If the National Science Foundation doesn’t respond to our approach..."

"Whether the National Science Foundation acknowledges us or not is not important, Mr. Wilkins~" Dean pulled out a newspaper publishing IBM’s declaration of the ANS department formation, "If the NSFnet remains silent, then we’ll just do it ourselves!"

Wilkins was stunned by Dean’s idea, "Dean, are you suggesting that private service providers should establish their own internet?!"

"Why not?" Dean looked puzzled, "Isn’t that exactly what Compuserve is currently doing? The only difference is that everyone joins together."

"The government’s regulations..."

"The government’s regulations are for NSFnet, and you should be clearer about this than I am, Mr. Wilkins."

Dean’s idea was simple, as long as they got approval from the National Science Foundation. Then they would unite with other network service providers and realize network intercommunication first.

No need to worry about IBM, nor NSFnet, they cannot control the private network.

The data exchange center would grow stronger with the addition of more operators.

No longer always led by the nose by IBM, uniting most people together to form a unified front, Grandfather Mao had taught us this principle long ago.

The private network is not restricted by commercial prohibitions, and once their user size reaches a certain level, it gains commercial value.

Dean believed that government agencies like the National Science Foundation were too slow, and he wanted to speed up the privatization of the Internet.

To be honest, the conservatively business-minded Wilkins was almost convinced by Dean, as this sounded indeed very tempting.

"Dean, this might offend both the office of the National Science Foundation and IBM at the same time, and if we fail, we will be in a passive position."

"OK~" Dean shrugged helplessly, "Then let’s step back a bit, we’ll first launch this initiative in the newspapers, and then see how the public reacts."

Having whispered a few words with Robert by his side, Wilkins nodded in agreement to this approach.

"We have a good relationship with the Associated Press, The New York Times and Chicago News can assist in conducting such a survey."

"Great, I think the public will provide an answer." Although American Union Network only agreed to launch such an initiative, Dean had achieved half of his goal.

As soon as these two newspapers published the news, then the stock of American Union Network could continue to rise.

After all, it was the only listed company among the numerous network service providers.

However, ultimately being accustomed to laying low in the Midwest, American Union Network’s way of doing things was still too conservative, and Dean decided to make some adjustments to his plan.

"Dean," as he pondered his next moves, Wilkins’ voice rang out beside him. "I’m curious, if it was just for the stock market, would you write such a detailed business plan?"

Although Wilkins’ style was somewhat conservative, it didn’t mean he lacked insight, and it was clear that the business plan in hand was well-thought-out.

"Of course not," Dean naturally continued the topic, "I indeed have something that I need Mr. Wilkins’ help with."

"Please do tell~" Hearing that Dean had additional requests, Wilkins felt that everything made sense.

"I know you have good relations with the state legislature, and I have some business in Ohio that I... well..." Dean spread his hands.

"I’ll introduce a few people for you to meet, but my political leanings are toward the Republican Party, for the Democratic Party I can only provide a list."

With a 3 million dollar deal in place, Dean’s capabilities had already been acknowledged by Wilkins.

So he didn’t mind bringing the other party into a higher layer of his inner circle, which for Wilkins himself might also be a valuable network resource in the future.

"OK, I understand." Though Ohio is nominally a swing state, the Republican Party holds the majority of seats in both the Senate and the House

It makes sense when you think about it, just by advocating for low tax rates, they are bound to get the support of most of the wealthy people here.

Through Welskin’s introduction, Dean met with some key Republican members in Columbus, including Nancy Holister, Mike DeWine, Bob Taft, among others.

Banquets and parties were inevitable, and once they learned Dean was in the software industry, they were all curiously inquiring about how exactly this industry operated.

They’d heard of IBM, and of Silicon Valley, but that was about the extent of it.

If Dean could inspire them, perhaps they would have new talking points in this year’s state elections.

Especially the woman right in front of him, Nancy Holister—the only female member with real power within the Republican Party.

"Dean, your talent and youth are simply incredible."

The crystal-clear glass, the rose-colored liquor, the glossy and rounded white pearls against her neck—all of these lent the female mayor an air of intellectual sophistication with a touch of nobility.

"Your achievements set the best example for the advancement of women’s causes." Dean gently clinked his glass against hers.

Honestly, this Nancy bore a resemblance to another old witch called Nancy, though the one before him was younger.

"Dean, could you spare some time to talk to me about software? I have a great interest in it, and a diverse city like Columbus is just the right place for the development of the software industry."

"Of course, I would be delighted to do so." The naive Dean agreed without a second thought.

"Oh~ you are such a young and charming gentleman." The mayor, taking advantage of the toast, let her fingers inadvertently brush against Dean’s palm.

Wait a minute, something was not quite right. But before he could say anything, Mayor Nancy had turned with her glass to join the conversation with others.

Was it just his imagination? Dean blinked.

As he was also about to turn and leave, a cold-faced female assistant in an OL suit came forward and handed Dean a card.

This was... this was a room card?

It was not until then that Dean realized. The invitation to talk about software was not so simple.

...

Looking out the window, it was still early, the sky just beginning to light up.

But Dean felt little desire to sleep, silently swinging his legs onto the floor.

Creak~ A sharp pain shot through the sole of his foot.

Trying to breathe quietly, Dean lifted his foot to look, and found a string of white pearls lying on the floor.

Well, last night had been too intense. The white pearls, which had been dazzling at the party, now tragically under the assault of Dean’s foot.

"Oh~ sweetheart," a pair of arms wrapped around Dean’s waist, heading straight for his soft spot.

"Nancy, you said you have state council meetings to attend today." Before the fray commenced, Dean couldn’t help but remind her of the time.

The hands played roughly for a few moments before they withdrew reluctantly.

"It’s quite a hit with the ladies, isn’t it?" A rustling noise came from behind.

"Your compliment satisfies a man’s vanity," said Dean as he dressed and went into the bathroom to wash up.

He had a trip to Cleveland scheduled for today, where he was to meet another important Republican member, and incidentally loosen the soil for Miranda in the process.

Dean admitted that last night had been a complete accident, and seeing that the female mayor was barely still ’within date,’ he had begrudgingly fulfilled a duty for her husband.

Five minutes later, when he emerged from the bathroom, the mayor had already regained her poised and intellectual demeanor.

"Lorena will tell you how to conduct the donation. I will keep an eye on your company, and I look forward to our pleasant cooperation," she said.

The tapping of high heels faded away, lacking the reluctance of before.

"Oh, and by the way, you should come back to Columbus more often to talk to me about software, I still don’t know enough about it."

Creak~ A door closed, and the tapping sound also gradually disappeared.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. Alright, everything was a transaction.

Columbus was Dean’s first stop; in Cleveland, he also met Mayor George Voinovich.

According to Welskin, the latter was a strong candidate for the next governor.

The Cleveland mayor was also a native, and coincidentally, Dean had a strong connection to Cleveland as well.

Thus, their meeting went smoother than expected; George Voinovich liked Dean’s insights on technology and encouraged him to start operations in Ohio.

After promising that Byte Software would establish a Midwest branch there, they stood together for a photo with the press, in close company.

After taking care of business in Ohio, Dean did not stop. He planned to go to Virginia next, with America Online (AOL) as his next target.

But while Dean’s flight was heading towards the East Coast, William Kennard, who had once met Dean, was flying back to the San Francisco AT&T branch.