American History 1988
Chapter 197 - 191 Unexpected

Chapter 197: Chapter 191 Unexpected

"Yes, Mr. Fregg. I am utterly certain that Teams will take the teaching efficiency of Berkeley’s professors to the next level!"

"I do like the convenience of Teams for transferring electronic documents, but I’m not sure if the professors will get used to it."

"Mr. Fregg, I think you need to organize the professors to come to Stanford for a brief teaching exchange.

I guarantee that there, you will see an unparalleled exemplary use of Teams software.

Professor Donald Knuth will arrange everything for you, and Stanford is always ready to welcome Berkeley’s visit!"

Fregg, with his receding hairline, immediately nodded in agreement upon hearing the name of Donald Knuth.

"OK, Professor Knuth has given public lectures at Berkeley. I’ll contact him."

"Byte Company will install the trial version of Teams at Berkeley within one week."

After shaking hands with Fregg, the financial operation officer from California Berkeley, Dean enthusiastically saw him out of Byte Company’s booth.

This was already the third vice-chancellor-level person from a university institution that he had received.

Honestly, Dean had never expected that Byte Company’s booth would attract so many school procurement representatives today.

Dean was receiving those from the more renowned academic institutions while Jimmy and the others were handling the lesser-known schools.

"Joe, can you tell me what’s going on? Why has Teams suddenly become so popular in schools?"

"I think it has to do with our magazine marketing strategy from before," posited Joe Scarnici, the Chief Administration Officer.

"Magazine marketing?" Dean was somewhat surprised by the answer; Byte had seemingly stopped that kind of advertising.

"At the time, in a rush, we also gave some floppy disks to educational magazines. So..."

Joe shrugged, "I guess they are here today to experience the latest version of Teams in person, especially since we advertised a free upgrade for subscription users."

"Oh~" Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Joe, it seems we’ve neglected an important market?"

"Yeah, I think we need to consider adjusting our sales strategy, Boss."

Joe Scarnici had also recently realized the customer base for Teams software orders was changing.

"Later, I need to talk to Jimmy, no, we should have a senior-level meeting."

Dean realized he too had fallen into a misconception; Teams software wasn’t just suitable for corporate users.

Institutions like schools were also perfect targets for promotion, and to cater to them, Teams could be modified somewhat.

For instance, adding a class schedule feature for teachers and setting up reminders based on it.

It wouldn’t be too much of a burden for Byte Company, but sometimes these little features could unexpectedly endear Teams to the teachers.

Dean had already thought it through, after this, Byte Company could cultivate a sales team dedicated to schools.

Its members would ideally come from educational institutions, like government corresponding administrative departments, or management personnel from prestigious universities.

With their networks, they could gradually introduce Teams software into the education market.

Dean believed that once they secured orders from this segment of the market, it would be incredibly stable.

"Boss, Mr. Metcalfe from 3Com is inviting you over."

As Dean contemplated expanding into the education market, Chief Operating Officer Jimmy came over to remind him that it was almost time.

"OK, I’ll head over now." Dean turned to look for Jennifer Connolly, "By the way, Jimmy, let’s talk about another part of Teams’ market when we get back."

After giving instructions, Dean walked with Jennifer Connolly towards the 3Com booth.

The West Coast Computer Festival was truly aimed at product distributors from all over the world; they were the targets of aggressive marketing by major manufacturers.

Byte Company’s booth had just attracted a software distributor from Canada, who were close enough to the US mainland.

Cleveland was just across Lake Erie from Canada, making customer support from Byte Company not too troublesome.

Therefore, Byte welcomed these orders.

Moreover, Dean had plans to enter the international market, which was also a reason for their participation in the West Coast Computer Festival.

But aside from these distributors, the most numerous attendees in the venue were tech enthusiasts and the general public.

For such festivities, Europeans and Americans also loved to join in.

3Com was seizing this opportunity to release their new product during the festival.

"Come on, Dean, we’ve been waiting for you." Metcalfe, with his thick red beard, warmly gave him a bear hug.

Of course, he did not overlook Jennifer Connolly at Dean’s side; Metcalfe was as hearty and enthusiastic as a Viking.

"I didn’t expect you to bring a Hollywood star to support the sound card of 3Com."

While Jennifer was greeting those around her, Metcalfe whispered quietly to Dean.

"Good job, Dean, today’s release is going to be spectacular!"

Worried that Metcalfe’s enthusiasm might be too much, Dean quickly pulled him back as he appeared eager, "Don’t scare Jenny; she’s been in a bad mood lately."

"Don’t worry, no one dares to mess with your little girlfriend," Metcalfe winked at him. "I just want her to take a picture holding a 3Com sound card."

With Jennifer Connolly, the only Hollywood star in the exhibition hall, Metcalfe was even willing to drop the idea of using Dean for promotion.

It was obvious that the former was much more popular than the latter, and a picture of Jennifer Connolly with a 3Com product would suffice.

Metcalfe was sure that the photo would be featured in all the tech news sections tomorrow.

Look, what could be more effective than an advertisement like this?

An impatient Metcalfe, filled with passion, grabbed the microphone and began to take the stage to present 3Com’s various new products.

"Our 3+Sound series sound cards, developed in collaboration with Byte Company, a pioneer in digital audio within the industry.

They feature an excellent vocal restoration system; we no longer have to put up with soulless machine sounds!"

Metcalfe, holding a grey circuit board, endlessly introduced its extraordinary features to the audience below.

Whenever he mentioned some remarkable technical specification, the tech enthusiasts in the crowd let out a cheer.

Of course, Dean and Jennifer Connelly also took the stage to say a few words in support of 3Com’s products.

That was part of Byte Company’s business, and it was only right for Dean to make an appearance in support of it.

However, the climax of the event was when Metcalfe announced the price, at $75, which was cheaper than most sound cards on the market.

The price was affordable enough, and the cheers from the tech enthusiasts were the best evidence of that.

"Dean, I can already sense it—3Com is about to welcome its most popular product!"

Metcalfe, coming down from the stage, was still caught up in the excitement of the moment, anticipating that 3Com’s stock price would give him a pleasant surprise tomorrow.

"Congratulations, Metcalfe," Dean and Jennifer Connelly applauded softly, as they prepared to leave.

"Thank you," Metcalfe said with a smile, glancing at the ever-youthful Jennifer, who quickly took the hint and excused herself to leave.

"Dean, I’ve heard that you commissioned Cisco to develop a customized router and gateway device?"

Ah, news travels fast.

Dean smiled and shrugged, "That was the decision of the Commercial Internet Exchange."

"But you could have recommended us," Metcalfe sounded a bit dissatisfied, "We were making routers before Cisco was even established."

"Metcalfe, I’m just a small player in the Commercial Internet Exchange; I don’t make the decisions."

"All right, I apologize for my impulsiveness just now," Metcalfe awkwardly stroked his thick beard, "I heard Byte Company is preparing for an IPO?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded, "It’s starting in the first half of next year. The Teams software is selling well."

"Dean," Metcalfe glanced around at the crowd, "do I still have a chance?"

"What?"

"I mean, do I still have a chance to get in?"

An IPO is a grand event that nobody wants to miss, especially someone like Metcalfe who has been through one before.

"Sorry Metcalfe, I can’t make any promises. You know, all this is handled by a dedicated team."

Lately, Dean had already received many similar requests privately, but he had declined each one without exception.

With Byte Company’s listing at stake, he preferred not to get involved and left it to a professional team.

"Listen, Dean, if you agree to let me in, I could trade 3Com’s stocks for it," Metcalfe said.

Earning money was not something to be ashamed of, and Metcalfe thought of all the methods he could use.

To his proposal, Dean was quite surprised; after all, 3Com was already a public company.

In doing so, Metcalfe was essentially helping Dean liquidate shares of Byte Company before they were issued.

"I’ll consider it," Dean said without committing, but his attitude was clearly more serious than before.

The allure of Byte Company’s IPO seemed to far exceed Dean’s expectations.

First Bill Gates, and now Metcalfe; Dean had encountered similar requests twice in just half a day.

As someone involved, Dean was just curious why everyone was in such a hurry when Byte Company hadn’t even announced its IPO plan yet?

The fact was, he had underestimated the allure of the IPO of a software company with annual sales exceeding one hundred million US dollars.

Before their IPOs, neither Microsoft nor Apple had reached this scale, not even Oracle or Lotus Software.

Byte Company had only been established for a year, and the pace was so rapid that even Silicon Valley couldn’t find a similar precedent.

...

The three-day West Coast Computer Faire passed quickly, and it was already the end of November.

Byte Company had gathered a large number of tentative orders for Teams 3.0, and Jimmy and the team were sorting through this information.

As its founder, Dean managed to find time to visit Durell once again.

"Axel, the most boring venture capital firm in Silicon Valley."

Durell handed Dean a business card, "The people in this company, each and every one of them, have heads like blocks of wood."

"I’m surprised you talk about your colleagues in the industry like that," Dean said, taking the business card and looking over the information with curiosity.

"They have a slogan, ’Be a prepared mind.’

Basically, it means dissecting you on an operating table before starting to invest, slicing you bit by bit until they’ve comprehensively studied each of your veins."

"Wow," Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I’m guessing they have their own specialist technical teams?"

"You’re right," Durell snapped his fingers, "Nobody can swindle money from Axel."

While saying this, Durell conveyed both disdain and admiration.