American History 1988
Chapter 205 - 199: Your Name Is Added to My List of Favors

Chapter 205: Chapter 199: Your Name Is Added to My List of Favors

Arthur Lock, as one of Silicon Valley’s first generation venture capitalists, once formed the Davis-Lock venture capital fund with Tommy Davis.

This renowned fund was the angel investor for companies like Fairchild and Intel, where they invested a total of 3 million dollars over seven years and earned back one hundred million US Dollars for their backers.

Despite the fund’s success and a steady stream of financiers knocking at their door, it was disbanded as early as 1968.

The reason was that Lock was difficult to get along with, and new partners were unwilling to work with him.

Even his old partner Tommy Davis declined Arthur Lock’s request to cooperate again after the fund was liquidated.

He was too arrogant, sometimes so unreasonable that he could not tolerate others’ questioning.

After parting ways with him, Tommy Davis established the Mayfield venture capital firm.

Yes, that’s the same Mayfield that jumped ship during Byte Company’s lawsuit.

But that’s a story for later. Because Arthur Lock was not liked by other partners, he had to look for suitable partners among the younger generation.

Dick Kramlich was his new partner, and the two had founded the Lock-Kramlich Venture Capital Firm.

They invested in some startups and saw some decent returns. But as the fund expired, the company naturally disbanded.

Throughout their partnership, Dick Kramlich always had complaints about Lock’s domineering style.

However, his experience paled in comparison to Lock’s, whose connections were far beyond his reach.

Arthur Lock, with his many years of investment experience, was not only an authoritative figure in Silicon Valley but also had relationships with many significant figures on the East Coast.

Especially his investment in Apple, which made his reputation soar both in Silicon Valley and on the East Coast.

He had the status and the money as a backup, and it was taken for granted that he should always be the authority in the industry.

He should have been in a dominant position and should have been the one to write every crucial check.

But status and money aren’t the only important factors for success; facing emerging technologies and new industries, venture capitalists also need higher capabilities.

Apple was the last grand slam in Arthur Lock’s investment career, and even that was achieved through his connections.

Initially, Arthur Lock was not optimistic about Apple and only hurried to buy in after everyone else was on board.

As it turned out, this was his last stroke of luck; after Apple, Arthur Lock’s investments were mostly unsuccessful.

Thus, sensing his aura as the "Father of Venture Capital" was fading, the shrewd Lock wisely announced his retirement.

He was just over sixty years old, a year or two older than David Morgentaler.

Retiring at this time was not only sensible but also allowed him to retain his dazzling halo.

Vacationing in Florida, he should have been peacefully enjoying the gentle sun.

But significant figures on the East Coast kept calling him, one from Morgan Stanley, another from the Rockefeller Family.

They were all inquiring about Byte Company, as the word had spread from the West Coast to the East Coast.

It was then that Arthur Lock realized that a new trendsetter had emerged in Silicon Valley, and he had been away from the West Coast for too long.

Yet, the bigwigs on the East Coast still believed in Arthur Lock’s authority; they wanted to hear his opinion.

Therefore, Arthur Lock cut short his vacation, flying back to Silicon Valley the next day.

He had his network to maintain, and he was very interested in the rapidly rising Byte Company.

Back in Silicon Valley, Lock’s first task was to gather all the information on Byte Company.

He collected many newspapers and magazines, but of course, the most effective way was to directly inquire among his peers.

So he called Valentine, who, after him, was one of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.

The news he got from Valentine was mixed; he was pleased that Byte Company had astonishing potential, which reminded him of Apple.

But his concern was that because Byte Company was so promising, it was very popular in Silicon Valley, with countless people trying to build connections with them.

Just from Valentine’s words, Lock heard several names of significant figures he couldn’t afford to offend.

Lock realized his experience might no longer hold the same allure, as Silicon Valley seemed to have moved on from an era during his absence.

Although he had already scheduled a meeting with Dean from Byte Company, Lock did not have high hopes, as he had never even met Dean before.

The two had no prior relationship, no foundation of mutual interest, and a smart person wouldn’t easily hand over their chips to someone irrelevant.

So Arthur Lock was prepared to take a more indirect approach, as he still had other connections in Silicon Valley.

For instance, there was Dick Kramlich from En Yi Investment, with whom he had been "close" partners.

Today, Arthur Lock found his way to Dick’s office, which was once the old location of the Lock-Kramlich Venture Capital Firm.

After Lock left Silicon Valley, Dick continued to choose it as the office for En Yi Investment.

"Dick, I heard you acquired a sizeable share of Byte Company’s stock?" Arthur Lock cut straight to the chase.

"That’s right, Arthur, I have a special relationship with Byte Company!" Dick had been smug about this recently, as many people had approached him.

"How many shares of Byte Company do you hold?" Arthur Locke’s gaze flickered.

"4 million US Dollars!" Dick said with pride, spinning in his executive chair, "I’ve already spoken with Dean on the phone, they welcome Enyi Investment to join the fold."

Within Byte Company, the preliminary selection of names had been completed, except for the big shots who couldn’t be refused, other investment institutions were prioritized in Silicon Valley.

As a venture capital firm with a decent reputation and due to the relationship with Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Trebik, Enyi Investment managed to secure 1% of the shares.

In the ranks of a dozen or so investment firms, this was already considered towards the front, and Dick was quite proud of this fact.

Of course, Dean and his team were aware that with Byte Company’s release of 10% of its equity, these shares would ultimately be further divided among these investment institutions.

As for who ended up with these stock shares, Byte Company didn’t care— they had already maintained the relationships they needed to.

"4 million US Dollars, 1% of the equity..." Locke realized this was his last chance; he hadn’t expected Dick to obtain such a sizable portion.

He had inquired around, and others either kept silent or only mentioned they had secured several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of eligibility.

Locke scoffed at such insignificant investments; he wanted more.

"Dick, can I take a little bit?" Arthur Locke found his target.

"You’re in luck, Arthur, I still have a final 300 thousand dollars’ portion available."

Although Dick harbored significant resentment towards Locke, for old times’ sake, he was willing to give him a slice.

"Wait a second," Arthur Locke didn’t respond to him. Instead, he left the office to make a few phone calls outside.

Soon he returned to Dick’s office, "I have many favors to repay, and now your name is on that list."

"What do you mean?" Dick was taken aback, a bad feeling creeping up on him.

"I’m taking the entire 4 million dollars’ worth of shares; I owe you one, Dick," Arthur Locke said it as if it were an ordinary thing to do; he was used to doing so.

"F*ck you, Arthur!" Dick kicked away the chair beneath his feet in a rage, "This is Enyi Investment! This is Silicon Valley! Now I’m calling the shots!"

Dick felt humiliated and betrayed. Did Arthur still think this was his era of dominating Silicon Valley venture capital?

No! This time Dick was not prepared to comply with Arthur’s arrangements!

Faced with Dick’s fierce explosion, Arthur calmly named a few individuals and shook his Motorola phone in his hand, implying Dick could verify the information right there.

Staring at Arthur with wide eyes, Dick felt helpless against those names; they sapped his will to resist. Once again, he was at a loss before Arthur’s network of interpersonal relationships.

...

"Adam, who exactly is this legal genius you said you’d introduce to me? Mark is already doing his internship in Byte Company’s legal department now," Dean said.

Dean and Adam walked and talked within Stanford’s campus, preparing to meet some guests.

"Remember I told you about the PBK honor member?" Adam smiled mysteriously, "Every year, they return to Stanford to meet the new inductees."

Dean was now a junior, and according to PBK’s membership requirements, he had received his gold key pin in January.

That meant he’d gone from being an associate member to a full member, although Dean didn’t feel any significant difference.

He had been incredibly busy lately, spending the whole of February meeting people from all walks of life—there was no time to care about PBK matters.

"Sorry, Adam, I’ve even forgotten the by-laws of PBK," Dean shrugged innocently, "I’ve been too busy."

"Bullsh*t, even if you’re lying, you shouldn’t say it so plainly in front of a PBK trustee like me."

Adam was displeased with Dean’s perfunctory attitude, "Don’t act so flippant when we meet the guests later. It could affect their opinion of you."

"That important?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

Adam turned around and complained discontentedly, "Would I personally take you to meet someone if they were unimportant members?

Or do I look so idle that I’d waste time on these trifles? Pin your gold key badge on your chest now and follow me to the new members’ reception. I guarantee you won’t regret it."

"Alright~" Dean touched his gold key badge; it really seemed to be plated with a layer of gold.

"I thought that apart from Mark, I wouldn’t intersect with other PBK members again."

Initially, Dean had Mark from the law school draft Byte Company’s incorporation documents and patent applications.

After Mark graduated, as promised, Dean invited him to be an assistant legal advisor at Byte Company.

Mark had his own law practice, but that didn’t stop him from being affiliated with Byte Company.

"All PBK members are bookworms. Do you think everyone can hustle like you?"

Privately, Adam held a lot of respect for Dean—his grades might not be the best,

but in terms of business achievement, he’d become a representative figure for PBK in recent years.

"Alright, let me take you to meet some former PBK members from Stanford."

Stanford’s House of PBK was already hosting several guests waiting there.

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