Chapter 603: Losing the Wife and Losing the Soldiers

Although Wang Lie had already started cursing in his heart, he still said calmly: "Ten million for 6% is not a reasonable price, but to express our sincerity in cooperation, we can also pay a premium.

And Mr. Bosack, you should know that we have just won a big order from the Air Force, so the development prospects of cooperating with us cannot be measured by money alone."

Bosack pondered without speaking, but his wife asked bluntly: "Since you are willing to pay a premium, how much can you offer?"

【Am I here to raise the price for you two?】

Jeff offered ten million. What, are you asking me to offer twelve million now, and then go ask Jeff how much he offers?

Since taking over the company, Wang Lie had hated these science and engineering people very much; they didn't beat around the bush when they spoke, and they went straight to the point to choke people.

However, before Wang Lie could figure out how to answer, he heard Li Ye speak.

"Before Mr. Wang makes an offer, for the sake of the shareholders' interests and the company's development prospects, we would like to ask a question: can you guarantee that you will not use Cisco to engage in unfair competition in the market?"

"After all, the original intention of the multi-protocol router was to connect all incompatible computers. We don't want to see a bad phenomenon where all computers can connect to each other, but IBM is left outside."

"..."

"This gentleman, may I ask who you are..."

Wang Lie frowned and was about to ask who Li Ye was, but halfway through, he remembered that when he was at his company, he had already asked this question.

This young man was an "intern" at the Hong Kong Fengyu Company.

But now, seeing him for the second time, Wang Lie finally realized that Li Ye didn't look like an intern.

Have you ever seen an intern at any company speak freely in front of the boss? Have you ever seen an intern whom the boss listens to seriously when speaking?

【Could it be that he is the same kind of person as me?】

Wang Lie frowned slightly and pondered.

Although Chambers blew Cisco's "Internet" to the skies, Wang Lie didn't think much of it. He just came with the idea of using Cisco to "make things difficult" for IBM.

And seeing Wang Lie silent, Bosack stood up immediately and said: "I'm sorry, I don't think cooperating with your Wang Laboratories is a good idea. Please go back!"

"..."

Wang Lie wanted to say something else, but the Bosack couple had already stood up and left.

Wang Lie was stunned. He was now convinced that this Bosack had the same stinky problem as the technical staff in his company.

Usually, they couldn't squeeze out a fart even if you kicked them eight times, and they looked like softies, but once they had an opinion about you, it was a complete goodbye, and even eight cows couldn't pull them back.

An attendant beside Wang Lie couldn't help but say: "It's really disappointing. Did they even ignore basic politeness?"

But just after he finished speaking, he heard a faint voice rise.

"How can you say there's no politeness? At least they didn't arrive half an hour late, right?"

"..."

Wang Lie finally managed to keep his expression calm, but his heart was both annoyed and angry.

At that time, he had left Pei Wencong and Li Ye and others waiting for half an hour, but he was a big company and the other party was a small company. Wasn't that normal?

Cisco now could at most be considered a "company." What qualifications did it have to be impolite to him?

"Chambers, I don't care what method you use, you must handle that Bosack. In addition, find out what's going on with that Pei Wencong. The business of the Americans doesn't allow a Hong Kong person to obstruct it."

Wang Lie arrived in San Francisco in the morning and bought a ticket back to Boston in the afternoon, but before leaving, he left John Chambers behind.

He was about to go crazy with anger.

He flew from the East Coast to the West Coast with sincerity, never expecting to be treated so embarrassingly.

Chambers hesitated and advised Wang Lie: "Mr. Wang, actually I don't think it's necessary to involve Cisco in industry competition,

because it is originally a brand-new industry. I think Cisco's prospects may not be weaker than our own company..."

Wang Lie said with a gloomy face: "Then you mean I should offer one hundred million dollars, buy the stock held by the GF company directly, and then wait for it to grow into a behemoth like our Wang Laboratories?"

"Don't you know about IBM's suppression of us over the years? If we don't compete with them, are we waiting to be hit into bankruptcy by them?"

"..."

Chambers sighed and didn't say anything more.

Once a huge company forms a business philosophy, it won't be easy to change, especially under the premise that previous philosophies have achieved brilliant success.

But now IBM has changed. They have started to be compatible with other small and medium-sized companies. If Wang Laboratories doesn't change, what will the final result be?

Chambers returned to the hotel full of worry, racking his brains to figure out how to complete the task Wang Lie had entrusted to him.

But just after arriving at the hotel, he received a call from Jeff.

"Hello, Mr. Chambers, are you interested in having a private chat?"

Half an hour later, Chambers saw Jeff, Pei Wencong, and those two "interns" who were young beyond belief again.

After simple pleasantries, Li Ye asked Chambers bluntly: "Mr. Chambers, how did you notice Cisco? After all, it's still a small company now."

Chambers said frankly: "Wang Laboratories has always had military orders, and the military's information network has been around for several years. If it can be popularized in the civilian sector, I think it's an opportunity."

Li Ye asked with a smile: "What kind of opportunity do you think it is? An opportunity to change the world?"

"..."

Chambers was stunned.

For the past few days, he had been telling Wang Lie that Cisco's innovation was epoch-making, but Wang Lie didn't believe it at all.

But now, he actually heard the words he most wanted to hear from the mouth of an "intern."

Chambers hesitated for a while, nodded and said: "Yes, I am very optimistic."

Li Ye smiled, tilted his head slightly, and gave Jeff a wink.

So Jeff smiled and said to Chambers: "Mr. Chambers, are you interested in serving as a manager at Cisco?"

"..."

Chambers was stunned again, and then asked: "Isn't the current manager Mr. Bosack? Why change people again?"

【Of course, it's because someone recommended you!】

Jeff explained with a smile: "Bosack is good at technology but not good at managing enterprises, so when we injected capital, we had an agreement to send an enterprise manager."

Chambers nodded slowly and fell into silence.

Silicon Valley is different from the mainland. In the mainland, the founder of an enterprise will definitely hold the power of management and will never let go even if they die.

But in Silicon Valley, it is very normal for founders and managers to coexist within an enterprise.

Because founders like to innovate and are willing to take risks to a certain extent for this,

while managers are just the opposite. They are good at managing and coordinating an enterprise, and in most cases, they are unwilling and will not take too great a risk.

Although there are situations where one person is both an entrepreneur and a manager—for example, the two founders of HP were very good managers—

in most cases, it is not easy for a person's quality to be suitable for both an entrepreneur and a manager. A very good entrepreneur might be a very terrible manager. This is also one of the reasons why the founders of startup companies are often fired by shareholders later.

And the Bosack couple was exactly this situation.

So Jeff had determined when investing that the Bosack couple were the major shareholders, but the GF venture capital company had to choose another manager.

Chambers' silence made Li Ye a bit worried.

He didn't know if Cisco would still reach the brilliance that once surpassed Microsoft as in the original historical trajectory if it didn't have Chambers.

And the current Cisco was not the Cisco that Chambers joined a few years later; the Cisco company at that time had already developed quite well.

So would Chambers take a fancy to this "small company"?

Facts proved that Li Ye's worry was superfluous.

Because although the current Cisco was not the Cisco of a few years later, the current Chambers was not the Chambers of a few years later either. Chambers at this moment was also a small person.

After Chambers was silent, he asked seriously: "I want to ask, how do you treat Cisco? Is it to sell it after it appreciates?"

Jeff and Pei Wencong shook their heads in unison but didn't speak.

Chambers subconsciously looked at Li Ye, because this "intern" left too deep an impression on him.

Sure enough, Li Ye said calmly: "We want to make Cisco the number one in the whole industry, not the number one in the Lighthouse, but the number one in the world. If we can't do it, we cooperate; if we don't cooperate, we acquire."

"..."

Chambers looked at Li Ye in a daze, completely not understanding why this intern would say words that hit his heart.

Chambers didn't understand technology, but he was able to lead Cisco, a large-scale technology enterprise, to brilliance later. One was relying on a keen business mind and superb management skills, and the second was a simple and crude strategy.

His strategy was exactly what Li Ye said—if you can't do it, cooperate; if you don't cooperate, kill them.

After Chambers was silent for a moment, he smiled comfortably, and the depression that had been stifled in his heart these days vanished.

"Then, can we talk about my annual salary?"

Jeff and the others all laughed.

As long as you are willing to talk about money, it's easy to handle.

Chambers didn't return to his room until the evening. After returning to the room, he started calling his colleagues.

"Tom, do you know Cisco?... Are you interested in learning about it?"

"Jerry, you told me a few days ago that you wanted to resign, right? Are you interested in developing in Silicon Valley..."

Since he wanted to jump ship, of course it was best to bring a team with him. Chambers was not soft-hearted when digging his own company's wall.

And because of the change of old and new CEOs at Wang Laboratories, Chambers gained a lot after an hour of continuous calls.

Chambers remembered a Chinese proverb—losing the wife and losing the soldiers. He didn't know if Wang Lie would regret his "disdain" for him over the years when he tricked a bunch of colleagues away.

However, just as Chambers was about to fall asleep, Wang Lie, who had just returned to Boston, called.

"John, I thought about it on the plane. Maybe your idea is a good idea. Tomorrow you go talk to the Bosack couple or that Jeff again..."

"..."

Chambers was silent for a moment, and his tone was calm: "I'm already talking to them, and it's going well."

Although Wang Lie changed his mind, Chambers still knew the difference between being the boss and being a subordinate.

Although Jeff offered Chambers a price that Wang Lie could never offer, Chambers felt that some things were more important than money. ===== CHAPTER 604 =====