American History 1988
Chapter 309 - 299: Check at Every Level

Chapter 309: Chapter 299: Check at Every Level

Due to Spielberg’s visit, Dean stayed in New York for a few more days.

Honestly, Dean was somewhat surprised that the Hollywood director had sought him out.

After all, Silicon Valley and Hollywood didn’t intersect much most of the time, with parties being the main venue for their interactions.

But considering he didn’t have significant influence in the media industry, Dean gladly accepted Spielberg.

He was already well-known in the tech world and Silicon Valley; he even wielded considerable influence in politics.

However, his presence was weaker in the media industry, and as one of Forbes’s top 400 billionaires, Dean saw it necessary to cultivate relationships in this area.

Still, he had not anticipated that Spielberg sought him out for business.

Are all Jewish people so savvy? And it was even a software-related business.

In Dean’s perception, few in Hollywood understood what software was, let alone had a deep consideration for it.

Yet, Dean didn’t hold much expectation for Spielberg’s movie game idea.

Because its audience wasn’t as wide as that of ordinary games due to thematic restrictions, making the game a bit more hardcore.

Despite this, Dean still planned to invest in this idea, considering it an opportunity for mutual cooperation.

With Spielberg’s connections, it would also make it easier for Dean to slowly break into the media industry.

Moreover, with Dean’s judgement, the movie game, although with a limited audience, would likely not incur a loss.

He also wanted to help Jennifer Aniston make some connections in Hollywood; she had been with Dean for so long and had barely gained anything substantial.

Now, with Spielberg and a role in the movie game, she should quickly find resources in Hollywood.

Of course, if her performance is good later on, Dean wouldn’t let her go unrewarded.

"Jenny, we’ll fly to Washington first, I’ve got something to do there, and then you can take my plane to the West Coast."

Having a private jet really is different; Dean could go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

"Of course, darling, I’ll follow your lead," Jennifer Aniston said obediently.

A casual word from Dean could bring about what many people dream of.

Especially thinking about having the private jet all to herself later on made her even more excited.

This was a private jet worth 30 million dollars, and she had already decided she’d definitely have a tantrum on it later.

"Oh, darling, it’s Mr. Spielberg." Jennifer turned her head and saw the new neighbor standing outside the gate.

"Hey, Steven." Dean handed his luggage to Caitlin and went over to greet the other man.

"I heard you were leaving today, so I came to see you off," Spielberg said with a smile, spreading his hands.

"Yes," Dean embraced him briefly, "As you know, people like us are always busy."

"Of course, I’m flying to France this afternoon."

"See, I knew it." Dean looked back at the quiet residential area.

The owners of these houses don’t live here for more than a few days a year.

"About Knowledge Exploration Company, call me if you go back to Los Angeles."

"I will." Spielberg valued the project more than anyone.

"OK, then I should get going."

"Safe travels."

Dean patted his shoulder and then got into the black Lincoln with Jennifer.

As he watched their disappearing figures, Spielberg shrugged his shoulders.

Alright, he had originally thought the Jennifer with Dean was the other one.

Jennifer Connelly, to Spielberg’s knowledge, the latter’s mother was also Jewish.

Moreover, it was widely known in Hollywood that Jennifer Connelly had given birth to Dean’s son.

He had thought that based on this relationship, their alliance would be even tighter.

Who knew Dean was too fickle; girls were never absent from his side.

It turns out the rumors weren’t wrong after all, Dean did have a liking for Hollywood starlets.

Spielberg pondered while stroking his chin, maybe he could introduce some friends from the circle to him.

...

"Look at this, how much he resembles me with his eyebrows and eyes," Dean boasted to Caitlin, holding little Roy.

The latter, who always had an impassive and stern face, couldn’t help but show a smile now.

In the face of the child, even someone with a military background like Caitlin couldn’t resist that gentleness.

Four to five months old little Roy was staring with light blue eyes, gazing blankly at Dean.

"Be careful~" Miranda was very worried about the inexperienced Dean.

"Don’t underestimate me." Dean muttered discontentedly, but soon he sensed something was wrong.

Hm? Why is there a warm feeling at the crook of his arm?

He checked little Roy’s bottom, "Crap! The kid has pooped!"

Without needing Miranda’s prompting, Dean quickly handed the baby over to her.

"Hey, you’re his father," Miranda complained while taking the child.

"This kind of thing is more in a mother’s wheelhouse." Dean, unashamed, stepped back with his hands raised.

"You’re just a jerk, Dean~"

"I’m glad you have once again uncovered the truth."

As they bantered, Caitlin approached with the phone in hand.

"Boss, it’s Mr. Case."

"OK," Dean took the phone and stepped out.

"Steve? ... Alright, I got it, I’ll be there in a bit."

After hanging up, Dean called into the house, "Miranda, I’m heading to Arlington."

"I don’t want to talk to you right now," came Miranda’s busy voice from inside.

Dean acted as if he hadn’t heard her, shrugged his shoulders, and got into the car with Caitlin and the others.

"Boss," after starting the car, Caitlin handed him a report.

Dean flipped open the yellow cover, glanced at it for a moment, and nodded.

"Miranda doesn’t know, does she?"

"Yes, I personally sent them for testing."

"Good, do the same with Jenny’s situation," Dean instructed.

"Got it, Boss."

Dean put away the test report and began to rest with his eyes closed.

What he had just held in his hands was a paternity test, and it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Miranda.

But being in America, where inheritance issues are involved, he had to make sure there were no surprises.

His net worth did not allow for any carelessness, after all, wealth was enticing.

Besides Miranda, if he had any other children in the future, the process would be the same.

As he rested with his eyes closed, the car quickly arrived at AOL’s new headquarters.

It was still located in Arlington, only a dozen miles from Washington.

Compared to the old, modest building, the current office block was undeniably more impressive.

After all, it’s befitting for a unicorn company with a market value of 1.4 billion US dollars to have a respectable facade.

AOL had leased several middle floors of this building for office space; when Dean arrived by elevator, Steve Case was waiting at the entrance for him.

"Hey, buddy," they hugged warmly.

"Wow~" Dean turned and looked at the newly refurbished office area, "This looks really nice."

"Of course," pride filled Steve’s face, "After a year of growth, our market value has increased by 40%!"

This was an outstanding achievement among newly listed companies.

"Well done, Steve!" Dean patted his shoulder as they walked.

He was a competent CEO, and under his leadership, AOL had seen significant growth over the past two years.

When they first went public last year, Wall Street wasn’t very optimistic about the stock.

That was because not many people knew about the internet then, let alone the general public.

But just after a year, especially since Clinton took office, the enactment of various information technology laws.

Finally started bringing the network into the limelight, and although the tide hadn’t fully started, some had already taken notice.

AOL’s stock slowly began to attract investors due to positive news about the High-Performance Computing Act and the National Information Infrastructure initiative.

Of course, the most fundamental factor was AOL’s business growth over the year.

In the bright conference room, as soon as Dean and the others sat down, Steve Case eagerly began to share the good news.

"AOL now has over 600,000 users, and we’re just a step away from 700,000."

On the eve of going public, this number was 430,000, meaning they had gained over 250,000 users in one year.

Steve had hardly dared to imagine such a feat because it had taken AOL over three years to accumulate from zero to four hundred thousand.

Now the rapid growth was exhilarating, but it also brought with it a certain unease.

"Steve, the proliferation of the internet will only get faster, and we’re just getting started," Dean reassured him.

The explosive growth of the internet era hadn’t even appeared yet.

"Okay, can I see AOL’s previous marketing strategies?" Dean was ready to double-check for him.

"Certainly," Steve Case willingly agreed, aware of Dean’s expertise in this area.

AOL owed part of its current success to Dean’s help.

With the explanation from Jane Brandt, AOL’s operations director, Dean roughly understood their sales policy.

It was still the same old routine of TV commercials and magazine ads, nothing dazzling, but nothing inappropriate either.

"Steve, AOL can be more aggressive," Dean said after reviewing the materials and immediately offered his advice.

"What?" Steve and Brandt looked at each other, thinking AOL’s steps were already bold enough.

After all, among all internet service providers, only AOL dared to place ads on television.

"AOL’s main customers are ordinary American households, right?" Dean began guiding gently.

"Yes, over 80% are," Steve Case excelled in the consumer market.

"So we take a step further, AOL’s target users are from American households that own computers."

Dean’s analysis was as he had previously determined, as you needed to own a computer to have the need for internet connectivity.

You can’t convince a family without a computer to buy one and then subscribe to AOL’s service.

"Theoretically yes, and our advertising efforts are focused on this group," Steve confirmed.

"Not enough," Dean shook his head, "For consumer groups, our marketing must be done through saturation."

"Saturation?" Steve and his colleagues were puzzled, "So what exactly should we do?"

"Carpet bombing!" Dean’s smile curled at the corner of his mouth.