Chapter 683: Secret Meeting with Eric

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Guo Shouyun nodded, "If you were asked to be the CEO of Ruby Company, how would you handle today's situation?"

"You're referring to the issue of the Ruby Mall operating independently?"

"That's the heart of all the issues, isn't it?"

Eric Schmidt nodded and thought for a moment, "If it were me, I would let the Ruby Mall run independently." ”

"Why?"

"First, the business of Ruby Mall is indeed not closely related to the rest of the subsidiaries, and there are conditions for independent operation. Second, I don't want one of my partners to be at odds with me in terms of business ideas. Unless he can prove that his methods are right. ”

"Then do you think John's business method is right or wrong for Ruby Mall?" Guo Shouyun continued.

"I agree with his strategy for Ruby Mall, logistics is really critical to the trading of commodities. However, if I were to change it, I would probably keep the company breaking even and indebted, but I would not let the company's debt level exceed 70%, which would seriously jeopardize the company's financial balance and reduce the company's ability to cope with danger. I'd rather let the company grow a little slower than the risk of going out of business. ”

This answer was as Guo Shouyun expected. Eric Schmidt is not a young entrepreneur who has just left college and is not afraid of the sky, he has a career of more than 20 years, and has served as the CEO of Sun Microsystems and Knoeller.

Sun Microsystems was once brilliant in the eighties and nineties of the last century, and was the most powerful technology company in Silicon Valley, kicking Intel and punching Microsoft, and even IBM was crushed by Sun Micro at its peak, and almost bought Apple.

Unfortunately, the founder McNeely only cared about the enterprise operating system and hardware market, ignoring personal computers, and as a result, Microsoft and Intel turned over. After the Nasdaq crisis dealt its fatal blow, the once-$200 billion tech giant has declined. If all remains the same, it will be acquired by Oracle in '09 for $7.4 billion.

Knoeller also has similarities with Sun Micro. It was the first company to get involved in network operating systems. In the 80s and 90s, it grew very rapidly and almost monopolized the entire Internet market, but after Microsoft added networking capabilities to its Windows software, Knoller's business was affected and was on the verge of bankruptcy during the NASDAQ crisis.

But even so, Knoeller offers the first and only technology company to receive the National Computer Center's C2 certification for its network architecture.

In 1991, the National Computer Center set seven security levels for database systems. They are D, C1, C2, B1, B2, B3 and A1, respectively, and they are increased in turn. D stands for minimal protection, C1 stands for autonomous security, C2 stands for controlled security, B1 marks security, B2 stands for structured protection, B3 stands for security domain, and A1 stands for verification design.

The D level is the lowest level, and the early personal operating systems and databases are basically at this level. It only has basic operating system functions, such as file system and process scheduling, and does not have a special security mechanism.

C1 provides a very rudimentary level of autonomous security, enabling the separation of data and users. Some commercial systems are at this level.

At the C2 level, although the protection level is still not high, it can be used for the government itself and some medium-sized enterprises. For individuals, this is sufficient, if not far exceeded.

However, for a company, whether the goods it provides can be recognized by the market, its technological advancement is often not the decisive factor, in line with the needs of the market, enough humanization is the king. The most famous examples are the Iridium and Concorde. Satellite phone signal transmission is not limited by geography, and the call quality is far higher than that of terrestrial base stations. But the high cost, as well as the excessive size, make it simply unable to meet the needs of ordinary people.

As a supersonic aircraft, the Concorde is far faster and more time-saving than today's wide-body airliners. But it is too noisy, and the passenger capacity is too small, and the economy is too poor, so it will naturally not be popular.

Noeller had the same problem. But the good thing is that the field of technology companies is very wide, not a one-shot deal like the Concorde. Therefore, even if it misses the correct direction of the operating system, if it is only doing software research and development, Noller's excellent scientific research ability still allows it to live comfortably. It's just that it doesn't have the dominant position in the field of network operating systems.

After experiencing the training of these two companies, Eric Schmidt's business style tends to be steady and orderly, just like Facebook, with the support of other Ruby companies, although it has grown rapidly, but it has a solid foundation, and although it is not profitable until now, it has not incurred too much debt.

It can be seen that John Roberts's radical style of management is clearly not to his liking.

"Erik, you should know that John is running the Ruby Mall as I have asked him to be. ”

He nodded, "Although I may win your favor if I say yes, I want to make my point clearer." ”

"Then why do you think Tim repeatedly blocked John's investment application when he knew my business strategy for Ruby Mall?" Guo Shouyun nodded and said.

At this time, Eric Schmidt had a hint of hesitation on his face.

"It's just the two of us, so there's no need to be taboo. ”

"No, I'm not taboo. I just don't know how to speak. ”

"Oh, why?"

"You'll understand when I'm done. After a pause, Eric Schmidt continued: "Mr. George, as the longest-following business manager, has taken a stake in LinkedIn, but as the CEO of Ruby, he has never gotten a stake in it. As a subsidiary, Ruby Mall is the company with the most assets, the highest level of revenue, and a valuation comparable to LinkedIn among the nine subsidiaries of Ruby Company, with a bright future. ”

"If such a company operates independently. With your stake in Ruby, it will most likely have nothing to do with Ruby again. This is tantamount to weakening the assets of Ruby and reducing the future market value of Ruby Company. As the CEO of Ruby, Mr. George, who will definitely get the company's equity in the future, is the last thing he wants to see. Because... This could cost him tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, in revenue. ”

After a pause, Eric Schmidt shrugged, "In my place with Mr. George, I don't want to do that." However, when it comes time to make a choice, I will definitely let the Ruby Mall run independently. ”

"Why?"

"Forcing a company that has already made up its mind will cause internal conflicts in the company. Internal instability will undoubtedly divide the company's upper echelons. And how can a split management cultivate a successful company?! Therefore, making Ruby Mall independent will cost me a lot of assets that I may get in the future. But I believe that a company that eliminates instability and is united internally can achieve more. When the time comes, my earnings will definitely be even higher. ”