Silicon Valley 108: 150 Years of Silicon Valley Hero Epic

Author: David Caplan
Translator: Chen Jianwei, Chen Xindu
Country: United States
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: At first, the company's trademark was quite unimaginative, featuring a person sitting under an apple tree. Soon after, it was changed to a more approachable colorful apple, which had been bitten, and to this day, it remains one of the most famous trademarks in the computer industry. Jobs was not only skilled at marketing his products but also at promoting the company's image. (Some say the bite in the apple was to prevent people from mistaking it for a cherry.) HP was a company run by engineers, and their customers were also engineers. Intel did not deal directly with users. However, Apple Computers was different; their customers were the general public. Although Jobs' angry expression and gaunt figure did not seem to match, the passion he exuded was very attractive. He was a highly talented salesperson, knowing how to radiate his unique charm. At the computer forum in Anaheim, Jobs poured his heart into attracting the attention of all the attendees, but the organizers, who had no understanding of personal computers, were unwilling to view them as equally important as mainframe computers and refused to allow Apple to set up a booth in the main exhibition hall, instead placing them in the Disney Hotel conference room. Jobs then rented a theme park in Disneyland and invited all 900 attendees to visit. It takes a bold person like him to do such a thing. The company's sample product was the well-known Apple I computer, priced at $666.66, available in computer stores near Silicon Valley or through mail-order. The machine was assembled in Jobs' garage and sold 175 units, but the sales performance was not very good. To keep the business going, the two needed more funding. Although their respective companies—HP and Atari—tolerated their side ventures, they had no interest in investing in Apple Computer. They told Usznik and Jobs that Apple Computer was not practical and was not designed by "real" engineers, so it would not have a large market. HP's biggest blind spot was their lack of entrepreneurial spirit to start a new company, so they missed this opportunity. Intel also showed little interest in Apple Computer. When Jobs went to visit, Gordon Moore only regarded Apple Computer as one of the applications of microprocessors and did not take it seriously as a new venture. Even Norris, who was at the height of his fame in Silicon Valley at the time, also missed the opportunity to fund Apple Computer. His second wife, Ann Bowers (Ann Bowers), once heard about the company but dismissed it with a laugh. However, she later changed her mind, joined Apple as the vice president of human resources, and personally acquired a large number of Apple Computer stock options.
The concept of a relational database has been around for many years. In 1970, IBM published a white paper on a new way of managing data, where users did not need to know how the data was stored or how to search for it. They only needed to ask a few simple questions, and the database would retrieve the correct information, which would be presented in a table format and organized. This completely structured, infinite data table reflects a clever "relational" model. But it was just a model. IBM's report only described how to use the relational database system but did not establish a public demonstration of the system. A few years later, researchers at IBM in San Jose revisited the issue of database management and invented a new computer language. SQL, or Structured Query Language, allowed everyone to use it. In 1976, IBM published the specifications for SQL in many technology journals, allowing many programmers to first understand how relational databases worked.
The arrival of the new economy does not mean we will be better off, but new policies will be pushed forward by people like. His TechNet successfully lobbied Washington on computer security and software coding. He shouted to the "Digital Citizens" of tomorrow, "Forward, all of you!" He also pointed out who were the liberals, who would vote, and who were optimistic about the future. First came the personal computer boom, then computer software, and now the internet and the global network built upon it. The digital world has just begun, like a "big bang" (a cosmological theory that suggests the current universe originated from a massive explosion) that had only been 0.01 seconds ago. Our descendants will see today's early media systems, such as computers, phones, and cables, just as we see the typewriter before it. (Although influenced changes in national policy, he regretted that he couldn't have his own town in the suburbs to prove his argument in 1998. To raise $10 million for the suburban elementary school, spent a lot of time calling and emailing his neighbors, even asking the school to vote for it. He had only one child attending this school, and Larry Ellison also had a son there. A month later at the charity auction, Ellison donated $439,000. argued that the school needed more funding for improvements, but most people did not like the pressure he brought.)
Who is driving the formation of the new economy? They are most of the companies under KP, and they are exactly the special industries that predicted. KP invested over $1 billion in home networks (with each investment only $7.4 million), hoping that one day the entire nation could be connected through high-bandwidth cable networks. Health care reform is also very important, and this is exactly what Healtheon is for. Healtheon is the company that Jim Clark founded after leaving Netscape. As for e-commerce, this is where Amazon.com comes in (KP invested at least an additional $500 million in Amazon). This business model can only exist online because no single store can accommodate millions of products. happily suggested, "Buy Amazon!" It was a hot company in 1998. All the listeners were mesmerized. Many attendees tried to take notes, but's speech was too fast, making it very difficult. Many people kept repeating's words, as if they were attending a sermon. As soon as the speech ended, there was an overwhelming flood of business cards and business plans. Many people asked him about the ten-year dispute between Netscape and Reggie Jackson, as well as how he always managed to turn the tide. As a skeptic, knew how to drive the crowd. In some ways, he was like a priest, revered by the masses, probably only Steve Jobs could slightly counter him. continued to explain that although you may believe you have the foundation for success, the most important thing for KP is to "know what the risk is before taking the risk." He said this was Kleiner's law (perhaps it should be called his interpretation of Kleiner's law), "Every venture capitalist is looking for the same thing—a perfect technology, exceptional talent, and a large, rapidly growing market. But the first question we need to consider is whether we can afford a long-term management team, products, and other significant costs. Especially when everything is just an idea. Can we split atoms or fully decode human genes? This is a technological risk. Will dogs eat this dog food, or will fish jump out of this box? This is a market risk. True success is not in haggling during a transaction but in being able to thoroughly evaluate whether it's worth taking the risk beforehand."
Forgetting market risks comes at a great price, although KP prefers to slowly inject funds until the risks disappear and then reap huge profits when the new company dominates the market. said his concern was market risks because they are uncontrollable. You can invent the best electronic product in the world, but it doesn't mean everyone will buy it. On the other hand, technological factors are KP's strongest suit. All partners have a background in technology and engineering, so everyone is about the same in terms of technology. Other investment companies prefer to invest in new companies only after they have a product and management system in place, which reduces risk but requires more money to acquire shares in the company. said, "We prefer high-risk, high-reward, but generally, most people don't like that. It makes you go gray and anxious." A good description for a venture capitalist is "sleeping like a baby," crying for a couple of hours, then sleeping for another couple of hours, and crying again.'s hair was still a light golden color, clearly he didn't sleep that long.
Venture capital has a strange argument: although it can analyze investments thoroughly, decisions still rely on intuition. KP did not have economists or sophisticated analysts to calculate the profits from each transaction in detail. said, "I'm still searching among these aimless young men, and we give them a check, and then they work hard for a few months. Suddenly, you have a company worth $2 billion in the market," this is the competition with traditional concepts. Almost every Monday morning, each partner at KP gathers in the sunlit headquarters conference room at 2750 Sand Hill Road. The KP office is one of the best venture capital offices I've ever seen. Almost all the internal walls are made of transparent glass, making the office look like a huge aquarium, except without tropical fish swimming around. The office was renovated for $2 million a few years ago, adding a single-story atrium so that everyone could enjoy the sunlight. The office is mostly decorated with bright-colored, high-quality, and expensive wood. The sloping ceiling makes the space look like a chapel, or perhaps a more fitting description would be a church of capitalism. The space around the conference table can accommodate a small Cuban boat, and the seats rising around it represent the power of Silicon Valley. Every entrepreneur who has ever been in this conference room has a sense of threat, as if they must obey the opinions of the people around the table, which is also why this table was set up. At nine o'clock on Monday mornings, Jerry Caplan described it as "holy Sunday belongs to the church." This is the time when each KP member evaluates their existing investments and considers new transactions. This is why they can focus on working all week. If you can't come here in person, you can request funding from someone at KP through a video conference. There's a joke that every KP member might be called to the microphone before they die. During the 45-minute meeting, entrepreneurs are invited to present their plans, followed by intense questioning from each member, who needs them to sign a huge check. There is also some time for casual conversation, and by the end of the day, it will be decided whether to make the investment. If one member gets bored, they will show it: T.J. Rogers remembers that once when he was giving a speech on semiconductors, he noticed Tom Perkins drawing his sailboat. Perkins said, "I'm sure those entrepreneurs who come to give us speeches haven't recovered from the shock (although Rogers wasn't one of them). We all have work experience, and we can quickly get to the point of their plans. Many people gradually retreat under our attacks." Perkins remembers that once in San Francisco's office, an entrepreneur had a 5.0 earthquake during his speech. "You know, we all tried to hold the table to stay balanced, but this guy was so focused on his 45-minute presentation that he didn't notice what was happening. He even asked, 'Why are you all so quiet?'… Perkins' most comfortable meeting was the one with HP in California, where they all wanted to be free and unrestrained, and Perkins happily drove the sailboat he once sketched. However, he still maintained KP's tradition of completing the agenda within the allotted time and having a conclusion for each item.