American History 1988
Chapter 341 - 330 The Favorite

Chapter 341: Chapter 330 The Favorite

Draper was not very familiar with Yahoo, so he asked the two founders to give him a brief introduction of what it could be used for.

Having been reminded by Dean, David and his partner were no longer surprised by investors approaching them.

No matter whether the conversation involved investment topics or not, they were happy to introduce Yahoo to others.

To demonstrate Yahoo more vividly, David asked Draper to come up with a question he wanted to search for.

Serving as a director at Yale at the time, Draper inquired about the tuition cost at Yale University.

David sat down at the keyboard and entered the keyword into his computer nicknamed "Konishiki."

Suddenly, images of several thick books appeared on the screen, representing Yale’s newly built homepage.

David typed a few more keys, and the answer appeared.

The tuition for Yale University was 21,000 US dollars per year.

Draper was astonished. From the moment he asked the question to when the answer appeared, the whole process hadn’t even taken a minute.

And all of this was accomplished through a computer and the internet, without any additional actions.

Imagine if an ordinary person wanted to know this information.

They would most likely call Yale University directly, and who knows if someone would answer the phone or be able to address the question.

The devil knows! At least Draper didn’t expect they would.

This was Yahoo—it could help you find anything on the web.

To Draper, this felt like digital magic—cool beyond words.

Draper decided to go back and encourage his son, Tim Draper, who managed the Draper family office, to invest in Yahoo.

The Draper family could be considered nobility in Silicon Valley, having been involved in the venture capital industry since the sixties.

In Tim Draper’s memory, when the famous Sand Hill Road was still a dirt track,

he had already been flying around in a helicopter. Sasson Venture Capital might not have been as famous as Sequoia Capital or KeyPoint Ventures,

but in some ways, the former’s venture capital rules had now become industry standards in Silicon Valley.

Of course, Tim Draper’s visit would happen later. For now, just a short while after Draper had left the Stanford trailer,

a neatly dressed man wearing glasses also paid a visit to the startup team in the trailer.

This is Silicon Valley—once your idea shows extraordinary business potential,

you don’t need to reach out; they will find you.

This impeccably dressed visitor was an up-and-coming venture capitalist.

His name was Michael Moritz, from Wales, England.

He had come to America for his graduate studies and began writing about Silicon Valley for Time magazine.

He used his job at Time magazine as a business card, using it to meet celebrities in the tech world.

In the mid-eighties, Moritz had even started his own venture capital firm.

The company provided tech-related information and organized relevant conferences.

Then unexpectedly, in ’86, he switched jobs and joined Sequoia Capital.

Over the years, as Valentine aged and began the countdown to retirement,

Moritz started taking over more and more of Sequoia Capital’s work.

Today, just like Draper, he too stepped into the trailer.

However, as soon as he entered, the heat emanating from the computer equipment made him step back.

The floor was strewn with unwashed clothes and pizza boxes, and golf clubs leaned against the wall.

The curtains were drawn to prevent strong light from hitting the screens.

The state of the trailer was enough to make visitors flee back to the main road immediately.

But just like Gooding and Draper, Moritz understood that Yahoo was an attractive investment target.

The website had already spread among millions of users—Yahoo could become the internet version of a TV guide,

a new medium to guide consumers to the information they wanted.

So Moritz endured the apocalyptic scene in the trailer, repeatedly hypnotizing himself to sit down on the plastic crate serving as a chair.

He succeeded and grew accustomed to the lighting, then he could finally see the person sitting across from him clearly.

"David?!" Moritz was stunned; he suspected the trailer was causing hallucinations.

"How come you’re here?" He still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

"Hi, Michael~" David gave him a smile.

"Geez, I heard you went back to Stanford to become an assistant professor. But now..."

Moritz glanced around the room—David, one of the co-founders of Byte and worth over 800 million dollars, in this place as a teaching assistant?

Yes, Moritz knew David.

Don’t forget, Sequoia Capital was once the lead investor in Byte, with Valentine as one of its board members.

In their collaboration, Moritz and David had worked together.

While their relationship wasn’t close, they were at least acquaintances.

The now wealthy Silicon Valley figure, David, appearing in a rundown trailer baffled Moritz.

"So, this Yahoo, is it your idea?" Moritz put aside his confusion and returned to the purpose of today’s visit.

"To be precise, it’s a joint idea between Jerry and me." Honest David didn’t want to overshadow his partner.

"Hello, Mr. Moritz," Yang Zhiyuan took the initiative to greet Moritz.

"Hello, Yang, we’ve spoken on the phone." Moritz had called them before coming over.

And greeting guests was a task that the quiet David always disliked, so it was often handled by Yang Zhiyuan.

"Well, you might already know why I’m here today.

"But before we start, would it be convenient to briefly introduce Yahoo?"

Any venture capitalist would start with such an opening; it was akin to an interviewer asking a candidate to showcase their abilities.

David and Jerry Yang exchanged a glance; they were eager to tell him the truth.

However, since the other party had taken the initiative to knock on their door, neither of them minded going through the introduction once more.

The process that followed was similar to the one with Draper, as they demonstrated the incomparable convenience of Yahoo.

Moritz had guessed right; Yahoo indeed had the potential to become the internet version of a TV guide.

But the question remained: how could an online guide make money?

"So, how much do you plan to charge your users?"

David and Yang Zhiyuan exchanged a look, an unspoken understanding between them.

They thought to themselves, this guy really doesn’t grasp what they’re doing.

Dean wouldn’t have asked such a question; clearly, not everyone could resonate with them on a spiritual level.

"Michael, Yahoo is free," David had to repeat once again.

"Free?" Moritz was taken aback.

He found it somewhat incomprehensible; David had already been involved in the founding of Byte Company.

Logically, one would think that he should have confirmed its future commercial value before even starting the venture.

But now...

"This is just a hobby for us; we’re happy to share information on the web with people.

We never thought about making money off it, not from the very beginning."

Because of this attitude, the idea of Yahoo charging its users was at odds with their quirky spirit.

"But David, the reality is that Yahoo has become the internet choice for millions of people.

From any perspective, it holds great commercial value."

Although they told themselves Yahoo was free, Moritz hadn’t been scared off.

On the contrary, at this very moment, he was trying to understand their geek spirit.

He was even going further, convincing them to accept the commercialization of Yahoo.

When Moritz first came to Sequoia Capital, some of his colleagues doubted his ability to do the job.

He graduated with a history degree from Oxford, was a magazine journalist, and had written two books on commercialization.

Beyond that, he had no background in engineering or management.

"This guy doesn’t know anything!" a former Sequoia partner had said after interviewing Moritz.

But Valentine overruled these objections, seeing in Moritz the image of a versatile and eager learner.

He would rather hire an eager newbie than someone resting on their laurels.

Because of this trait, after digesting the information that Yahoo was free, Moritz started considering its future.

Although he had never heard of such a precedent: a company offering free products while raising funds from venture capitalists.

But a few seconds of lateral thinking told him that this approach might just work.

In the media industry where Moritz himself worked, many mature companies operated using the current model of Yahoo.

Radio stations and television networks broadcast news and programs for free and then earned profits by charging advertising fees.

What’s more, the folks in the media often used playful names to provide wildly imaginative storylines.

There was no conflict between being unconventional and generating revenue!

With this analogy, Moritz understood the model of Yahoo even more firmly than Draper.

He was now not only impressed with the product but also understood its future commercial model.

He had a hunch that this could be another home run.

Only David and Jerry were looking at Moritz’s increasingly excited eyes with faces full of bewilderment.

"Michael, actually, we are aware of the commercial value of Yahoo.

Dean has already talked to us, analyzing Yahoo’s various future business models.

For instance, commercial advertising, media information, channel resources, these kinds of things~"

"Wait, Dean? Which Dean?" Moritz immediately sat up straight.

David shrugged, "Of course, the Dean from Silicon Valley you know, Dean Price."

"God!" Moritz’s previously excited gaze suddenly lost much of its sparkle.

"So he..."

David and Yang Zhiyuan exchanged a glance, then spread their hands.

"Yahoo has a share in him; the search engine was his offering.

Oh, and by the way, the servers in the back, as well as the homepage of the new version of the Explorer browser..."

With every word David spoke, the flame in Moritz’s eyes dimmed further.

He knew that given his status, he had already lost his opportunity at Yahoo.

Everyone knew that this richest man in Silicon Valley had become the most powerful figure in the internet domain.

The Explorer browser, Price’s List, and now the addition of Yahoo.

Although he knew these businesses might make a lot of money in the future, no one dared to set their sights on them.

Unless... unless they were invited by him...

Moritz’s eyes lit up, "David, please let me make a phone call first."

Then, to the puzzled looks of the two men, Moritz hurried out of the trailer.