American History 1988
Chapter 174 - 168: The Middleman

Chapter 174: Chapter 168: The Middleman

Drip, drip, drip—the Motorola on the passenger seat timely drew Dean’s attention.

"Dean, look at the second floor, on the left," Durell’s voice came through right after the call connected.

Rolling down the window, Durell, wearing a white loose-fitting shirt, was waving at him.

Well, the villa here was even bigger than Dean had imagined.

He parked the car by the lawn and before Dean could approach, the gate not far away opened automatically.

Wow, fully automated facilities. Dean looked up to see Durell on the balcony, holding a remote control and smiling at him.

With a shrug, Dean was soon led by the servant into the massive villa that undulated with the terrain.

Just like its name, Pacific Heights sat atop an east-west oriented ridge.

The community’s average elevation was around one hundred meters, ensuring that the villa owners could enjoy a broad and unobstructed view.

Passing by the winding garden and spacious garage, Dean saw expensive Persian tapestries and various vintage cars.

It wasn’t until he reached the balcony where Durell stood that Dean’s view broadened dramatically.

Gusts of sea breeze swept away the summer heat, and in view was the endless ocean, with the skyscrapers of San Francisco right beneath his feet.

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz Island, the Royal Fortress—well, almost all the Bay Area’s beauties were captured in one net.

"How about it, Dean, want to consider buying a property here?" Durell put on his gloves, and the servant by his side timely handed over a golf club.

"I don’t have that much money, and I already bought a house in Silicon Valley." It was only then that Dean noticed that half a golf course was also planned on the balcony beneath his feet.

Why only half? Because there was only the teeing ground, no hole to putt into.

Yet Durell soon answered this question for him, with positioning, estimating the distance, and then swinging!

Bang! The white golf ball arced through the air and then accurately landed in the ornamental chimney of the villa ahead.

"Good!" Dean had nothing to do but applaud and marvel at the whims of the top-tier wealthy.

"Want to give it a try?" Durell cocked his head at Dean.

Before Dean could answer, the servant beside him had already prepared the golf club.

"But..." Dean looked down at his feet, then at the villa ahead, "Isn’t this a bit offensive?"

Maybe there was another wealthy person living there too. Wasn’t it too disrespectful to be so blatantly golfing on someone else’s rooftop?

"Haha, don’t worry about it!" Durell patted Dean on the shoulder and then pointed at the villa ahead, "That’s my house too."

"What?" Dean was stunned.

"The first property I bought is this one we’re standing on, but later I found out the one in front blocked the view from here, so I bought it too."

Durell gestured at the shorter villa in front, "I got rid of the obtrusive balcony, installed a chimney, and now I can stand here and play golf."

He said so much, but Dean only heard one term, outrageous!

"Durell, you’re always so unpredictable. Is this why you bought shares from Mayfield at a premium?"

With that, Dean swung fiercely, and the white golf ball whizzed towards the chimney in front with a whoosh.

Bang! On target, but it didn’t go in.

"Dean, you haven’t lost anything," Durell shrugged, "This also undoubtedly proves KeyPoint Ventures’ confidence in Byte Company."

"But you should have at least called for a board meeting." Dean indeed hadn’t lost anything, but as the largest shareholder of Byte, he needed to assert his authority.

"OK, this time it was my oversight, and I apologize to you," Durell said. Obtaining what he wanted, he wouldn’t suffer any loss by conceding this point.

Dean handed over his golf club to a Filipino maid beside him, "Durell, we are partners, and our goal is to bring Byte successfully to Nasdaq.

So, I hope we can keep the communication open and the actions consistent between us, especially during this critical period."

"Of course, that’s exactly what KeyPoint Ventures is doing now," Durell glanced at his wristwatch, "We have another guest who should be arriving soon."

"Guest?" Dean seemed to recall something, he vaguely remembered Durell mentioning it.

As they spoke, another car arrived at the lawn below, and soon, a tall figure got out and casually waved towards them.

"Come on, Dave, we were just waiting for you," Durell loudly beckoned the person below to hurry up.

"Dave Goedel, Vice President of MCI." Durell had already revealed the visitor’s background to Dean before the other party came upstairs.

Dean’s expression shifted; Durell had mentioned the voice coding technology of Teams software, hinting at a potential collaborator.

They might just land here, considering KeyPoint Ventures’ premium-purchased shares.

Excellent, the guesses in Dean’s mind became clearer; KeyPoint Ventures indeed didn’t shoot haphazardly.

The facts weren’t far from Dean’s guess; Durell waited until he had secured enough shares of Byte before arranging this meeting between the two parties.

Otherwise, the mere 5% stake previously held by KeyPoint Ventures would not have been sufficient for Durell to utilize his important connections.

Now with the addition of Mayfield’s 4%, KeyPoint Ventures owned 9% of Byte’s stock.

Therefore, acting as the broker between Byte Company and MCI became a matter of course.

Oh right, the insider tip that Glenn Miller received was delivered by Durell through the mouth of Dave Goedel to the former.

The first to know about the relationship between AT&T and the Northern District Court Judge Swase was always Durell.

It was just that Durell had a calm temperament and his style of doing things was always rather bold.

He casually tossed a pebble into the pond, and Mayfield, already paranoid, couldn’t wait to jump ashore.

Look, impromptu investors are not only impulsive and emotional, they are also very bold.

If you underestimate them, maybe you will be the one scared off.

"Hey~ Dave, stay on the West Coast a few more days this time. Look, the place has been reserved for you."

Durell warmly beckoned this MCI Vice President, pointing at the villa ahead, whose chimney still held the golf balls they had just driven in.

"This is Dean Price, the computer genius I’ve mentioned to you."

"Hello, Dean, just call me Dave." This Vice President of MCI must have Italian ancestry; that high nose bridge was too distinctive.

"Hello Dave," Dean said with a smile as he shook hands with him.

"Fellows, maybe we should grab a drink by the side." Durell tossed his golf club and headed for the separate bar area on the other side of the balcony.

"Good, I’ve been missing the wine from last time. Don’t think about hiding it, John, I’ve already caught its scent!" Dave took off his jacket, his face beaming with impatience.

"Haha, my wine cellar is enough for us to drink freely for ten years. I would appreciate it if you could make some room for it."

At Durell’s invitation, the three of them took their seats one after another by the open-air bar.

There were sun umbrellas, deck chairs, hardly any different from a holiday resort.

Once they were seated, the servants had already brought up the awakened red wine.

Clink~, they clinked glasses first before getting down to business.

"Dave, have you used Teams software?" Durell, the host, was the first to broach the subject.

"Of course," Dave said with a smile as he took a glance at Dean and slowly swirled the wine glass in his hand.

"And how do you find it?" Durell pursued confidently.

"Genius idea," Dave nodded affirmatively, "Even without voice calls, it would still be a successful software."

Dean looked at him surprised, "That’s the best assessment I’ve heard of Teams, thank you, Dave."

Perhaps because of the lawsuit, now when people talk about Teams, voice calls come to mind first.

But in terms of usage frequency, it’s the first two features that are the main reasons people use the software.

Dave’s evaluation undoubtedly affirmed the design advantages of Teams, giving Dean a feeling of finding a kindred spirit.

"So?" Durell opened his hands, "Can MCI and Byte Software partner on voice technology?"

Dean sat up straight subconsciously; he didn’t expect Durell to dive so directly into the subject.

But that was Durell, the epitome of an impromptu investor.

"Of course, that’s why I’m here today." Like Durell, Dave was direct. They did not even give Dean time to react.

"Wait, both of you..." Dean looked at them blankly, "Is that it?"

If they knew that the voice encoding technology could be dealt with so simply, why even bother with a cunning battle with Bell? Just going directly to MCI would solve all problems.

"Of course not, this is just the beginning." Dave smiled, extending his glass, "But as for causing trouble for AT&T, MCI has always been very interested."

What? Dean thought he had misheard.

Causing trouble? MCI and AT&T?

Dean admitted he was not familiar with the grudges between the two telecommunications giants, so he could only look at Durell, seeking help.

"Dean, when we choose friends, we also choose enemies.

But conversely, when we choose enemies, potential allies also emerge."

Durell gently swirled his glass of red wine, speaking with an indescribable ease, "MCI is our ally."

AT&T is the largest telephone company in America, there is no doubt about that, even though it had faced a breakup due to antitrust.

Besides this giant, the second and third spots go to MCI and Sprint. Their sizes are similar, and their rankings sometimes interchange.

Following them are GTE (General Telephone) and WorldCom among other long-distance telephone companies. In terms of operational brands, America has over 100 telephone companies.

But the reason these telephone companies can survive is inextricably linked to AT&T’s prior disintegration.

Before antitrust, companies like MCI, ranked second, were no different from the unknown companies ranked 100th.

They had limited market shares, only scraping up the leftovers, which posed almost no threat to AT&T.

So the crux of everything was that antitrust lawsuit, and the main culprit for AT&T’s dismantling was MCI, right there, sitting across from Dean.