Joel Berenson flipped through the report sent by his subordinates, and he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh to his companion sitting across from him: "Dirk, the situation is not good!"

Dexter Smith sighed, worried about the current state of the company. I think how relaxed the two of them were when they first left PangeaSystems, a biotechnology company they founded, because they were busy with research for a long time, and they took a long vacation to relax, so they packaged and sold PangeaSystems to someone else, and then they each came to Miami Beach with a multi-million dollar check, and enjoyed the wine, sun, sand and passionate Miami girls for a long time.

If it weren't for Joel Berenson's whim on a visit to the famous South Beach, perhaps neither would have come back without spending their last dollar. Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith were strolling on the beach with their respective female companions in their arms, and they stumbled upon a perfume shop not far from the beach, and the fragrance wafting from the shop was mixed with the unique smell of sea water and sun oil in South Beach, coupled with the aroma of food in the beach cafeteria, so that both of them couldn't help but stop for a long time, in order to feel the unique olfactory experience.

Suddenly, Joel Berenson shouted at Dexter Smith as if he had thought of something: "Dirk, I have a great idea!"

"Hmm......" Dexter Smith pulled away from his girlfriend's passionate lips and turned his head to ask, "Joe, what's a good idea?"

Joel Berenson smiled mysteriously and said, "Let's find a place to have two drinks." ”

Dexter Smith nodded knowingly, took out two bills and stuffed them into the bikinis of the two female companions, then patted their smooth shoulders, and said enthusiastically: "Girls, you go to the beach first, and Joe and I will come to you later." ”

Sending the two women away, Dexter Smith pointed to a secluded beach food bar next to him, and said, "This place looks good, let's go sit there." ”

Joel Berenson nodded, and the two of them went to the beach food bar together, asked for a few skewers of barbecue and a few cans of beer, and chatted while eating and drinking.

"Joe, what exactly was your good idea?" asked Dexter Smith after taking a sip of beer.

Joel Berenson put the beer on the table with a "pop" and said excitedly: "Smell!

"The smell of digitalization?" Dexter Smith muttered as if he understood something, "Did you just think of it when you smelled the mixed scent of a perfume shop and the beach on the beach?"

"Yes, I also had a flash of inspiration, and this thought popped into my head. Joel Berenson drank the beer in his hand in one gulp, put down the empty beer can, and continued: "If you can design a machine that can reproduce the common smells in daily life according to the instructions on the computer and TV, such as the Texas veal roll on the screen, the machine will release a fragrance similar to the Texas veal roll, it will definitely feel better than just looking at the picture." And nowadays, when selling perfumes online, customers can't try them in person as if they were in a physical store, and if there is a smell machine, then this problem will be solved. ”

"Yes, if you can still smell the french fries when you see a McDonald's commercial on TV, many people will definitely be tempted to buy some to eat right away. Dexter Smith's thinking was immediately inspired, and he even thought further: "And computer games, if the war game is accompanied by a little smoke of the battlefield, a little bit of Lara's scent in Tomb Raider, and a little dirt fragrance when Might & Magic travels through the field, maybe the game will be more attractive to players." ”

"Why don't we do it, let's invent this scent machine!" Joel Berenson held out his hand.

"Okay, Joe, I've got your back!" Dexter Smith also reached out and held Joel Berenson's hand tightly......

It was this grip that led to the creation of DigiScent. Four months after the meeting on Miami Beach, in February 1999, Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith jointly invested $250,000 to set up Digital Scent, and soon after that, they received $10 million in financing from private investors, and the research team, marketing team, and administrative team were also established. By December '99, the company had grown from two people to 27 people, and Joel Berenson's scent machine had a prototype, which was eventually given the trendy name "iSmell".

The prototype is still relatively large, after a period of optimization design, "iSmell" has completed the final finished product design, the whole volume has been greatly reduced, from the appearance of a small disc inserted into a shark fin thing, a bit like an alternative computer speaker, with one hand can be carried around. The small disc is a palette-like seasoning dish filled with basic scented oils that can be combined to create tens of thousands of different scents in a shark fin-like mixing zone. The control command can be issued through the USB interface or serial port of "iSmell", and it is very simple for users to use it, just connect "iSmell" to the personal computer, so when the website or application calls the fragrance command, the user can smell the corresponding smell.

At that time, Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith could be said to be in high spirits, and they planned to launch "iSmell" in the United States in the spring of 2000, with each unit priced within $200 (and the sesame oil pan needs to be replaced every few months, about $40 per set), mainly targeting game software, beauty products and food, etc., according to the two estimates, they think that by the end of the year, they will be able to sell more than 500,000 copies of "iSmell", after all, the scent experience is very gimmicky.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the gap between people's ideas and reality is often very large, and now Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith have a deep understanding of this, and they are still full of ambition when the "iSmell" prototype comes out, and the investor Nelson is also very happy, and he even opened champagne to celebrate. Even two months ago, they felt that the future of "iSmell" was full of hope, when they had just officially exhibited their "iSmell" product, most of the newspapers in the market praised the "iSmell" whimsy, Macromedia founder Mark Kantor praised DigiScent's scent digitization as a lucrative business, and the famous Procter & Gamble company was also considering "iSmell" Introducing the newly established perfume customization website, they and their team are even struggling with whether Ponotelin or Goldman Sachs will be the IPO underwriter.

But now everything is different, and the words of praise have long since disappeared, replaced by doubts about "iSmell" and digital scent technology, as quoted by USWeb/CKS President Mike Van May...... DigiScents is primarily targeting the gaming and beauty markets and may not be able to capture the attention of mainstream customers...... In addition, 'iSmell' charges $200, and I doubt how many customers are willing to pay ...... to criticize the usefulness of 'iSmell'.

Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs investment managers, who used to call almost every day, have never heard from each other, and even Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith have only heard a few polite words on the phone, and it is clear that there is no need to think about an IPO or something. Of course, this can only be blamed on DigiScent, which was born at the wrong time, and finally came up with something to make some money in the IPO circle, but it happened to meet the "good days" when the Nasdaq index plummeted, so that the news that Dexter Smith intended to release to enter China did not even turn a blister, if it could be three or five months in the morning, it would be good, then it would be the golden period of IPO, and some people even joked that even if it is a beggar, as long as a ".com" is added can get tens of millions of dollars from investors, and if you add an "E" sign in front of it, you can directly list on the NASDAQ.

Hopes of taking money from the stock market have been dashed, and DigiScent investor Nelson has obviously lost his patience, but the "iSmell" digital scent generator has not sold even one so far, which makes Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith very embarrassed.

Dexter Smith still remembers the cruel words made by investor Nelson two days ago: "Dirk, I don't care what you think, even if it is to Africa, you have to sell a few 'iSmell', otherwise you don't have to think about the follow-up investment or something......

For Nelson's words, Dexter Smith can still quite understand, after all, the $10 million has been spent, except for the research funds, the rest has basically become almost 20,000 "iSmell" finished products, but unfortunately so far except for the few samples for the magazine, none of them have been sold, all piled up in the warehouse. If this situation continues, the company's remaining cash will basically last for three or four months, and if it really drags on until then, I am afraid that there is only one way left to close down.

In fact, Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith have worked very hard, and at the same time as contacting the perfume website, they also contacted many well-known game companies, such as Nintendo, Sega's North American companies, and local companies such as Mindscape and Acclaim. Joel Berenson thinks that these game companies don't understand what digital smell is, but what can be done, people are the ones who pay for it.

Later, the two set their sights on the legendary magical land of China, which, according to many people who have been there, is almost everywhere with gold, and there is also a saying that "people are stupid and have a lot of money", but after Dexter Smith hurriedly led a team to China, he found that sometimes legends are often just legends. The gold everywhere was not caught, and the stupid and wealthy Kaizi were not caught, but they paid for two "iSmell" scent generators as samples, but in exchange for a simple report in a magazine smaller than a tofu block.

In the end, Joel Berenson and Dexter Smith have nothing to do, and they are even planning to abdicate and give up the position of president of the company to someone more capable, in order to help DigiScent get out of the current predicament, but unfortunately they can't afford to be able to afford it, and they can't afford to look at it, so they can only hang it without embarrassment for the time being, fantasizing about a miracle.

The phone on the desk rang suddenly, and at the same time, the red indicator light representing the internal line also lit up, Joel Berenson picked up the phone and asked weakly, "What's the matter?"

Jennifer's voice came from the front desk on the phone: "Boss, someone claiming to be the investment manager of Orient International Investment Bank has called you and wants to help you transfer in?"

Orient International Investment Bank...... Investment Bank!" Joel Berenson repeated unconsciously, his eyes suddenly lit up, could it be that this is the legendary Kaizi who is stupid and has a lot of money, he hurriedly said: "Turn in, turn in, turn in immediately!"

Dexter Smith looked at Joel Berenson's strange expression with an inexplicable expression, but fortunately, Joel Berenson took advantage of the time between the phone transfer to briefly explain a few sentences, and he realized that it was someone from Orient International Investment Bank who came to contact, and he couldn't help but hope rose in his heart.

A gentle and elegant female voice came from the phone: "Hello, I am Qin Yue, investment manager of Orient International Investment Bank North America, you can also call me Katherine, I hope to make an appointment with you for an interview......"

Of course, Joel Berenson will not have any objections to this, and even he hopes that the other party will come over immediately, of course, from the perspective of business talks, this idea is still too urgent, and it is easy to put himself in a disadvantageous position, so he did not show it on the phone, but said lightly: "No problem, Catherine." Just today at three o'clock in the afternoon, in our company. ”

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Berenson, I'll be on time. ”

After finishing the conversation and hanging up the phone, Joel Berenson made a triumphant gesture to his partner Dexter Smith, although he still didn't know what Catherine was coming to talk about, but as an investment manager at an investment bank, it was clear that the other party would not come over to gossip with him, and always had a crush on something from DigiScent. To be honest, Joel Berenson is a little unable to hold on, and now there is a random cat and dog, as long as he is willing to pay, he is willing to sell anything.

……

Three p.m. in the DigiScent conference room

Joel Berenson looked at the woman across from him, and sure enough, like her name, Catherine, she looked like she was from high society, and her demeanor was beautiful and elegant. If it weren't for business negotiations, he would have to show his gentlemanly demeanor, but unfortunately the time was not right.

"Catherine, what are you here for?" asked Joel Berenson with a little seriousness.

"Mr. Berenson, I am here on behalf of Orient International Investment Bank to talk to you about our company. Qin Yue said with a kind smile.

"Our company?" Joel Berenson was confused for a moment, and muttered to himself: "What 'our company', what does your company have to do with me?"

"Mr. Berenson, you may not know that Mr. Nelson has already sold all of his shares to Orient International Investment Bank, so DigiScent is now 'our' company!" Qin Yue still smiled kindly.

"What!" Joel Berenson was shocked, he had thought that Orient International Investment Bank might be optimistic about digital scent technology and planned to invest some money for some shares, and he was ready to talk about it and try to exchange some more cash back. Now it's a good thing, people have quietly got the shares in Nelson's hands, which means that Orient International Investment Bank is already a major shareholder of DigiScent, so he has nothing to talk about.

After calming down a little, Joel Berenson said with some frustration: "Catherine, I don't know if we have anything else to talk about?"

"Of course, it is the future development plan of DigiScent, and whether we bought shares in Orient International Investment Bank is for charity, it is natural to hope that DigiScent can develop better in the future, otherwise we might as well use the money to buy some oil fields and mines. You say yes, Mr. Berenson. ”

Joel Berenson's heart was rekindled with hope, since Orient International Investment Bank still values this investment and considers the future development of DigiScent, then there is a chance for digital scent technology to continue to improve, and he feels that his dream has a chance to come true again.

"Catherine, we already have a set of plans for the future, and we want to promote 'iSmell' to all places where we can apply scent, including games, websites, television networks, etc., including games, websites, television networks, etc.......," Joel Berenson excitedly peddled his vision for the future, hoping to impress the representative of the major shareholder in front of him and strive for more financial support.

"We already know what you're talking about, and our investors want you to set your near-term goals on the game. Mr. Berenson, have you heard of the Dreambox128 console?"

Joel Berenson nodded: "I've heard that I have a nephew who is quite obsessed with the game console. ”

"Very good, our investors hope that you can first consider developing a special odor generator for the Dreambox128 game console, but there is a little requirement, the cost must be reduced, the type of smell can be slightly less, but the price should be controlled below 100 US dollars, and the future replenishment box should also be controlled within 20 US dollars, if necessary, we can also help you contact the production plant in the mainland, made in China can reduce a lot of costs." In terms of funding, we will borrow approximately $20 million from Standard Chartered Bank as a guarantee to fund DigiScent's future development. Qin Yue still maintained a kind smile on his face.

Qin Yue's previous words about reducing costs made Joel Berenson frown, he knew best about the design of "iSmell", it was difficult to reduce costs in a short period of time, unless the continuous working time of "iSmell" was sacrificed or the number of baseline scents was reduced, in that case, in his opinion, "iSmell" would not be perfect. But when he heard the money later, his face immediately improved, DigiScent's biggest difficulty now is the lack of funds, as long as there is money flowing in, he is confident that he will do a good job of "iSmell", anyway, isn't it just to produce special scent generators for game consoles, they originally had this kind of consideration.

"Catherine, no problem, but it will take some time to redesign the cost reduction, but you should also know the current situation of the company, and it is very necessary to replenish the working capital, otherwise it will ......"

"Mr. Berenson, rest assured that as long as we have no objections to DigiScent's future development, the funding will be available soon. In addition, I would like to tell you that if the cost of 'iSmell' can be kept down, it is possible to purchase no less than 1 million units or even tens of millions of units in the future. ”

"Ten million units?" Joel Berenson calculated a little in his mind, even if it only makes $5 per unit, that's $50 million, and every three months or so, the scent box has to be replenished, even if it only earns $1 each time, it will be almost $40 million a year, if this is the case, even if it can't make money when promoting "iSmell", after all, as long as players get used to it, the scent box replenishment is a long-term thing. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh God!"

Qin Yue looked at Joel Berenson, whose face was a little distorted because of excitement, and laughed secretly in his heart: "It's only 10 million units to be excited like this, if you tell the big boss's estimate of hundreds of millions of units, then this guy may not know what it will become." ”

Both sides have the purpose of developing DigiScent, and the subsequent talks have become very harmonious, especially Joel Berenson is even happier when he learns that there is a new president coming, he has long wanted to do research with peace of mind, and now someone can share the burden, he can't ask for it, I believe Dexter Smith thinks so.

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