American History 1988
Chapter 344 - 333: Killer Application

Chapter 344: Chapter 333: Killer Application

Explorer 2.0 version launched officially on just such an ordinary night.

Without advertisements, without marketing, it broke through one million downloads within just an hour merely through viral expansion.

Of course, the substantial user base accumulated by the 1.0 version was the foundation for the popularity of version 2.0.

After all, the Beta version had been previously tried for about a month, and its revolutionary improvements were already widely known.

So when the official Netscape website announced the launch time of version 2.0, countless people were eagerly waiting.

This didn’t need any promotion; Explorer was now the top trend on the internet.

So there was the scene just now, where even the alert system couldn’t keep up with the download numbers for Explorer 2.0.

"This is insane!" Durell seemed still immersed in the frenzy from moments ago, having witnessed the birth of an internet miracle.

"That’s the power of free!" Dean unbuttoned the top of his shirt. "Nobody can resist the current Explorer browser."

"I have a premonition this will be revolutionary software." Durell had never seen any company’s software be so popular upon its release.

"We call it the ’killer app’~" Dean smiled and then took out a bottle of ice-cold Coke from the office fridge.

"Want a bottle?" He shook the Coke bottle in his hand.

"Of course!" Durell’s forehead was still dotted with sweat, the earlier excitement had stimulated everyone.

After gulping down several mouthfuls of ice-cold Coke, they gradually calmed their excited emotions.

Without a doubt, Explorer 2.0 was bound to be a huge success.

"By the way, what do you mean by ’killer app’ that you mentioned just now?" Durell turned curiously.

Dean and Clark exchanged looks, and the latter explained with a smile, "A ’killer app’ is a product that causes a phenomenal level of spread, one that consumers can’t resist and are willing to pay for."

"Killer app..." Durell murmured the term, "What a clever phrase."

"The Explorer browser is, for internet users, an application software that’s impossible to refuse."

Dean gestured for Katelin to close the doors and windows of the office; it was too noisy outside, and they needed a quieter environment for the next part of their discussion.

"Alright, Durell, it’s time to talk about Netscape’s financing issues."

"That’s exactly why I’m here today!" Durell sat down impatiently on the sofa.

The moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived; KeyPoint Ventures had been coveting Netscape for a long time.

Especially after witnessing the grand scene of the new Explorer’s launch, Durell had no more doubts about this business.

"Come on, buddy, tell me. How much does KeyPoint Ventures need to pay to get a one-third share of Netscape?"

"You’re too greedy, Durell. Netscape isn’t looking for angel investment now, but the last round of financing before going public."

"Wait a minute!" Durell was shocked by Dean’s words.

"The last round of financing before going public? Dean, I didn’t hear you wrong, did I?"

"Of course not," Dean faced him with a calm look, "Netscape’s scale is sufficient now.

Its browser has millions of users, and after today, that number will continue to grow.

Durell, you should know better than I do. In Silicon Valley, Netscape’s business has already exceeded that of most software companies."

"But you haven’t even turned a profit?" Durell countered instinctively.

"So what?" Dean laughed lightly, unconcerned. "Investments are about the future.

With millions of users, and already dominating the browser software market.

I think nobody would doubt Netscape’s future profitability, and the truth is, it has already started."

Under Dean’s meaningful gaze, Clark immediately handed over the materials they had prepared earlier.

"Look, this data will give you the answer." Dean pushed it towards Durell.

Curious about what he was being shown, Durell perused the material in front of him.

He had been following Netscape for a long time and hadn’t heard about it generating any business revenue currently.

The paid version of Explorer 2.0 had just been released an hour ago, and whether there were any corporate orders was still uncertain.

With these doubts, Durell put down his Coke and started flipping through the documents on the table.

"JavaScript licenses, SSL protocol licenses, HTTP protocol certificates..."

Just a glance made Durell’s head spin, as these technical terms were too obscure for him.

But the numbers following these terms, he very much understood their meaning.

For instance, SSL protocol licenses listed at the entry-level for $198/year, the enterprise-level for $1298/year, and the enterprise enhanced level for $3898/year.

"Is this also Netscape’s business?" Durell looked up in surprise.

"Mmm-hmm~" Dean nodded with a smile, "We never said that only the Explorer browser is Netscape’s value-added business."

"Wow," Durell raised an eyebrow, "this is really unexpected, so this business has already started, right?"

"Of course," Dean shrugged, "Network licenses and browsers are two different businesses.

The former helps businesses build websites, while the latter is just a tool for accessing these sites.

Although they work in tandem, they are not intrinsically bound to each other.

Potential customers for network licenses are those companies with their own web pages, and the World Wide Web has been around for nearly four years.

So, we were already selling related network certificates when we were promoting the Beta version of Explorer 2.0."

Across the globe, there are already millions of websites included in the count, and this number is growing exponentially."

Durell looked down at the data again, even though the current revenue was only around seven hundred thousand US dollars.

But he saw a sustainable potential market that could be even bigger than browsers.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention," Dean pointed to the document, "Netscape’s email service has already surpassed 6 million registrations.

It’s sweeping the globe as the world’s first web-based email service.

Users can access it anytime and anywhere, no longer limited to any specific desktop client software."

Thanks to Netscape’s free policy, email addresses ending in @net.com are spreading across the world like a virus.

In the current era, whether it’s Lotus Notes or Microsoft’s Exchange,

or the client email services from ISPs like AOL and CompuServe, they all charge a fee.

Prices range from a few to a dozen US dollars per month, similar to the fixed fees for a landline phone plan, which is the basic minimum consumption.

In such a market environment, the free and flexible Netscape email service’s emergence obviously has a huge impact on internet users.

With hardly any promotion needed, just word of mouth among users, it rapidly began to take over the market.

Especially since Netscape’s email supports various colorful stationery templates, allowing users a degree of autonomy to design their own letter styles.

Thus, every time an email is sent, users would add a button at the bottom that reads,

"It is recommended to use Netscape Mail or Browser to view this page," followed by a link to register with Netscape.

This is because the colorful stationery formats can only be viewed through Netscape Browser or Netscape Mail.

Driven by these grassroots efforts and the killer feature of being free, Netscape’s email service registrations exceeded 6 million in just over a month.

Thanks to the support of advanced language environments like JSP and JavaScript, they make web pages more dazzling and varied.

Seeing the data on paper, Durell felt like he didn’t understand Netscape at all, even though he had been following it for so long.

"So, free email is also a business?"

With the lesson learned from browsers, he now doesn’t dare underestimate the word "free."

"The basic functionality of the email is free, but to balance the costs down the line, we might add some advertisements to the pages.

Besides that, we also offer a subscription service for advanced features.

It supports more customization options, higher security encryption, an ad-free interface, larger storage space, and more timely customer service support."

A completely free browser doesn’t work out, and neither does a completely free email service.

The purpose of a company is to make a profit, and Netscape is no exception.

Otherwise, just the server expenses for millions of users would be a significant cost.

Netscape has priced its advanced email service features quite affordably, at $6.90 per month for individual users.

It includes an ad-free interface and greater storage capacity.

Of course, if you don’t mind those, you can still use the free basic service.

It’s fair to say that Netscape pretty much has a grip on how to monetize free products.

But all this was quite unfamiliar to Durell, who had hardly ever invested in companies developing free products in his career.

"Alright, Dean," Durell shifted his gaze away from the dazzling numbers.

"Let’s hear it, how much do you plan to value Netscape?" He was no longer fixated on the issue of the proportion of equity, his intuition told him the valuation was the key point.

Upon hearing his straightforward question, Dean let out a sigh.

Alright, that pretty much wraps up the future profit model for Netscape.

Now it’s time to name a price, he raised his hand to signal a number to Durell.

"Sixty million US dollars?" Durell was taken aback.

"No, 600 million US dollars," Dean corrected his guess with a smile.

"What the f*ck?!" Durell exclaimed in a shrill voice, "600 million US dollars! God, did you just smoke something?

Netscape hasn’t made a penny in profit yet, and all that talk about business prospects was just speculation!"

"OK, OK~" Dean gestured to calm him down, "I know it seems like a high valuation, but it’s reasonable.

We have millions, possibly tens of millions of potential customers, and the Explorer browser has already proven this."

"But those are just potential users, and most of them are free to most people!" Durell still thought Dean and his team were crazy.

No company was ever valued in the hundreds of millions of US dollars before it turned a profit.

Venture capitalists might have money to spare, but that doesn’t mean they’re fools; on the contrary, they are among the smartest people manipulating capital.

Netscape might indeed reach that scale in the future, but not now.

Durell couldn’t accept such an offer unless he were crazy too.

"Durell, I know what you’re worried about, so let’s wait a bit," Dean appeared not to be in a hurry, confident in Netscape’s future.

"Wait a bit?" Durell was confused.

"Yes, wait a bit. Let’s talk again after seeing Netscape’s order volume in a month."

The valuation of 600 million US dollars indeed isn’t a small number, which is why Dean was willing to give both parties some time.