Chapter 14: Building Momentum
On the way to meet Hou Mo, Song Yang saw that the entire Netscape was busy. Just by looking at the mental state of the Netscape members at the moment, he could understand why Netscape is now called an Internet giant.
All Netscape members, whether management or ordinary employees, are working hard to get Netscape listed, hoping that after the listing, they can also become millionaires or even billionaires.
When passing by a conference room, Song Yang heard a scream and roar. Through the gap in the glass window, Song Yang saw a man about 1.8 meters tall with some gray hair roaring in the conference room. Song Yang felt that this person looked familiar, but after a quick glance, Song Yang was taken to another office.
After waiting for more than half an hour, the office door was finally pushed open. When Mike Homer saw Song Yang, he was stunned for a moment, "Sorry,..."
Looking at Song Yang's young face, Hou Mo really wondered if he had met the wrong person. "I thought someone from Wired magazine was coming!"
Song Yang placed a document in front of Hou Mo, "In fact, DoubleClick Advertising Company is cooperating with Wired Magazine a project. I came here today in the hope that Netscape can also join this project!"
Looking at the serious Song Yang, Hou Mo chuckled, "Sorry, I don't mean anything else, but I feel that you may have a much better chance in Hollywood than here!"
Hou Mo shook his head. These days, there were many companies that came to Netscape and wanted to cooperate with it. There were also a large number of people who claimed to be geniuses, who came with all kinds of strange plans and wanted Netscape to invest.
There are geniuses in this world, Homer does not deny it, just like the two founders of Netscape, Jim and Anderson, who are both geniuses, but how many Jims and Andersons are there in the world?
As for Song Yang in front of him, Hou Mo really felt that if Song Yang went to Hollywood, he might be able to knock on the door of a film company directly, instead of hanging around in the Internet industry, where people would not do things based on his attitude.
"I can take this as a compliment from President Hou Mo," Song Yang waved his hand and said, "but I still hope that President Hou Mo can agree to let Netscape join this plan!"
Hou Mo looked at the "Internet Digital Advertising Plan" book in his hand, flipped through a few pages, and his face became a little strange, with a funny and absurd expression, "Do you want Netscape to give up user experience and become a company that sells advertising?"
Netscape's main way of making money now is to sell browsers. The Netscape browser is not free to try . Netscape charges users a usage fee of 49 US dollars every year!
Hearing that Song Yang actually wanted Netscape to change its profit model, Hou Mo was naturally very dissatisfied. He felt that Song Yang was completely ignorant of the immensity of the world. An unknown person in the Internet industry who had no reputation at all actually wanted to point fingers at Netscape.
Song Yang said quickly, "I don't mean to change Netscape , but I talked to Kevin, the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, and he agrees that in the future of the Internet industry, digital advertising will become one of the main sources of revenue!"
"Netscape will definitely have rivals in the future. These rivals may use various means to compete with Netscape for the market. Opening the browser to users for free may become the main means of competing with Netscape. Introducing advertising revenue and providing browsers to users for free can hit rivals!"
Hearing Song Yang mention Kevin Kelly and the following words, Hou Mo couldn't help but be silent for a moment. However, he was just a vice president of publicity and had just taken office this year. Netscape invited him to promote its IPO, but they didn't want him to change Netscape's profit model.
"I believe that users will make the right choice. Netscape has the best browser technology in the world!" Hou Mo glanced at Song Yang and prepared to close the document in his hand.
Hou Mo still believes that users will definitely choose browsers with better technology. As for whether they will choose paid browsers with better technology or free garbage browsers every year, he believes that users will make the choice.
Most importantly, Hou Mo didn't believe that any mentally ill person would choose to make the browser free just to compete with Netscape. How foolish would one have to be to make such an immoral decision, killing one thousand enemies and injuring eight hundred of one's own. Wouldn't it be nice to make money lying down? Why must one earn the advertising fees from those crappy people? !
"Please tell Editor-in-Chief Kevin that I regret that we were unable to cooperate, but the cooperation between Netscape and Wired magazine will not change..." Hou Mo glanced at the time. After talking with Song Yang for such a long time, he felt that he had given Kevin enough face.
Seeing Kevin about to send him away, Song Yang spoke again, "I would like to ask President Hou Mo to convey this plan to Director Jim. The introduction of digital advertising may not increase Netscape's revenue too much immediately, but if investors on Wall Street and Silicon Valley knew that Netscape has added a new profit model, they might have new expectations for Netscape!"
Hou Mo's movements paused, and he looked into Song Yang's eyes. He felt as if Song Yang had grasped his vital point.
Seeing Hou Mo's actions, Song Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been talking to Hou Mo for a long time, but in the end, not a single word could help increase Netscape's stock price.
Netscape is now preparing to go public, and the most worrying and controversial issue among Silicon Valley investors and Wall Street institutions is Netscape's profitability. Unlike traditional companies, Netscape is still losing money.
If the news came out that Netscape had added a new profit model, even if it was just a bluff, it would probably stimulate the stock price. This would greatly increase the net worth of Netscape's major shareholders, including Jim and Anderson!
Song Yang made a gesture of invitation to Hou Mo. Hou Mo glanced at Song Yang, then stood up and walked towards Jim Clark's office.
When Homer went in, Jim was discussing the listing with Anderson and several Wall Street investors. Jim was the one that Song Yang had seen roaring in the conference room just now.
Jim Clark, who is over 50 years old, can be said to be the spiritual leader of Silicon Valley today. The founder of SGI, which has a market value of over 1 billion US dollars, is Jim. Jim Clark, who left the palace due to palace fighting, did not sink, but made a comeback. In just over a year, he rebuilt Netscape, which has not yet gone public but has a valuation of 1 billion US dollars.
Jim is now at the peak of his career, and the blond fat man sitting next to him, surrounded by several investors, is also in high spirits. He is none other than Mark Anderson, the Silicon Valley genius who is now being wildly touted by the media.
Marc Andreessen naturally has a lot of capital and ambition. At the age of 24, he is already the founder of a company valued at US$1 billion. His net worth is likely to exceed US$100 million. He has become a new generation of technology hero in Silicon Valley and is crazily sought after by countless people.
Most young Americans of this age are still in school, but he has already realized the American dream!
Homer came to Jim, handed him the plan, and said a few words in Jim's ear. Although it is Marc Andreessen who is promoting Netscape externally, it is Jim who is actually at the helm of Netscape.
Listening to Homer's words, Jim flipped through a few pages of information. When he saw DoubleClick Advertising, he couldn't help but say, "Texas company?"
Jim, who was also born in Texas, didn't have the idea of meeting fellow countrymen, but when he came across a company that emerged from Texas in Silicon Valley, he still became interested.
It was in this small office of Homer that Song Yang first met Jim Clark and Mark Anderson.
There is no doubt that Jim has the style of a big boss. Jim Clark is no longer just a technician. He is a top billionaire worth hundreds of millions of US dollars and a powerful figure in Silicon Valley. He has close relations with many congressmen in Washington and can even influence some policies in the technology industry.
Anderson, the blond fat boy following behind Jim, looked at Song Yang curiously. He wondered who could make Jim put down his relationship with the Wall Street institutions and come to meet him.
"Song?!" Jim looked at Song Yang with interest, "You want to cooperate with Netscape?"
Facing Jim, Song Yang did not dare to be careless. Netscape was one of Song Yang's most important targets this time. With Netscape as a tiger skin, Song Yang's future things would be much easier. Otherwise, it would probably be a lot more troublesome.
Song Yang repeated to Jim and Anderson what he had just said to Hou Mo. Unlike Hou Mo, Jim and Anderson, who came from a technical background, asked Song Yang about many key technologies.
"So, Internet digital advertising is no longer a technical problem?" Mark Anderson is more concerned about technical issues.
"Double Click Advertising's DART advertising delivery system can automatically process and deliver advertising orders. It can reduce the cost of traditional media by one-third or even half!" Song Yang said without blushing, praising the DART system that was still under development.
After Mark Anderson asked Song Yang several more questions, Jim finally spoke up, "Song, why do you think there will be an Internet company in the future that dares to compete with Netscape for the browser market? Who do you think it will be?"
After the words fell, Anderson and Mark looked towards Song Yang. Seeing Jim's aggressive and oppressive gaze, Song Yang paused before saying, "Once Netscape goes public, there will definitely be followers. There will not be only one company in any industry. IBM was once the same!"
As the former leader in the computer industry, it has now been defeated by various latecomers in the industry and has suffered huge losses in recent years. If it had not been lucky enough to invite Lou Gerstner to help it out, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Jim was not satisfied with the answer, but he did not say anything more. After taking a few glances at the Internet digital advertising plan, he also felt that advertising would not become mainstream. However, Netscape was now facing an IPO, and with the gimmick of digital advertising, Netscape might be able to increase its visibility again.
"Netscape can participate in the plan, but Netscape must be the center of this plan!"
