As a faculty member of the university, Leonardo Bossak did feel aggrieved. After obtaining a master's degree in computer science last year, he successfully stayed at the university, but one of the achievements made during his master's degree, the multi-protocol router, was banned from being sold by the university on the grounds that Stanford is a non-profit organization and the school cannot make money with goods and objects.

"The same cannot be said about the school administrators, they also have their own reasons, our router was invented using the school's computer, so naturally we have to obey the school's arrangement."

Although the words of the handsome young man in front of him won Bossak's heart, he was not an acquaintance, so he maintained his previous statement of complaining and complaining, and did not slander the brainlessness of the school.

"I heard about it from my teammates, and the first time I learned about it, I was blown away by your spirit. Personally, I also like computers very much, which is an artifact that makes human efficiency ten million times more efficient, and any progress that is beneficial to the development of computers and related equipment should not be interrupted by the world. I heard that you came up with this idea in the process of communicating with your wife, which is even more touching, and only sincere emotions are the source of technological progress. ”

Bossack waved his hand, trying to say something but couldn't.

His own salary is not very high, and he always wants to use multi-protocol routers to earn some money to subsidize his family, but the unsympathetic school directly rejected this win-win request.

"Alas, in the world there will be tribulation." Bosak sighed, "Class is coming soon, if your classmates are interested, we'll talk after class." ”

Bill's expression was solemn, but his heart blossomed.

It's almost certain that this person is one of the two unlucky founders of Cisco. The company was founded in the 80s, and its market capitalization exceeded 100 million when it first went public in the 90s, and then soared all the way to the peak in 2020.

It really made Bill catch up with the good time, and said that he would persuade the young professor to go out and start a business, and at the same time accept an angel round of investment from Mr. Ferrari.

In the next lesson, Bosak introduced the Apple II and the IBM-PC running the DOS system as planned.

Although the former has been on the market for nearly five years, and the latter has a sales history of more than two years, they are still the two most influential computers.

After class, Bill asked Martin Kent to leave first, and he wanted to have an in-depth conversation with Bossak.

"Why don't you go to the bar and have a drink?"

Mr. Ferrari proposed.

It was just over nine o'clock, and it was not too late, and the depressed Bosack nodded in agreement, and the two of them took the assistant professor's car to a nearby bar.

"The blue box, as I call the workstation we designed, developed the motherboard by me and the software by our classmate, William Igger...... Dr. Andy Bertolsheim was also involved in our work and, in fact, he was the main designer of the workstations. ”

Finally, there was someone who listened to him, a popular player on the varsity football team, and after two glasses of wine, Bosak began to tell the story from beginning to end.

"Why don't you leave school and start your own company? I still have a certain understanding of the hardware industry, your router market is vast, belongs to the blue ocean industry, as long as you enter early, you can occupy a large market share......"

While echoing Bossak, Bill is also instilling in them the idea of going out and starting a business.

"You say light, how do we support our family? My wife and I have only been married for two years, and without my salary, we can't even pay the interest on our student loans. ”

Bossak's hairline was so high that his head couldn't shine even in the dim light of the bar.

"How can a genius be bothered by such mundane things? Can just a small student loan stop human progress? Bill pretended to be distressed, and then proposed, "I have some money in hand, I will invest in your company, although it is only a few million dollars, far from enough to support a startup to go public, but it is enough to survive the second or third round of investment." ”

When he was away from home, he gave his own face, and Bill slightly exaggerated the amount of his assets.

Bossak turned his head to look at Bill, who had just met, his eyes lit up for a moment and then dimmed again, it wasn't that he didn't want to get rid of his current life, but the words he heard seemed too good, and he had to choose a good sleeping position and a good pillow to dream of such conditions.

"Although entrepreneurship is one of my backup options, the situation is still unclear, and although the university prohibits us from selling the blue box, Dr. Andy is also working hard to apply, and commercializing the blue box with the help of the school's resources is the first choice."

Bossak politely declined Bill's offer.

"It seems that you have not been defeated by the dark society, and you still have illusions in rotten institutions. It's a part of what everyone who lives in an ivory tower for a long time must go through, and you may not think about the good thing about me as a friend until you're maddened by the same antiques. ”

Although Bossak nominally has more knowledge and experience than Mr. Ferrari, Bill puts on the appearance of a man who has come to guide the country.

"Again, I always support you and your wife's dream of pursuing new technologies, as long as you figure it out and want to start a business but don't have the money to start a business, you can come to the school's football stadium to find me, or call Coach Yevgeny directly, and he will help me write down your message."

He told me in the heart.

Bosak sighed, "If it really came to that point, I would consider this option, sir, thank you very much." ”

Football players are big cash flow cows, and if an NFL professional player is willing to invest in a small startup, it can indeed make the startup survive until two or three rounds of investment or make a direct profit. Although the current bill is not, it is only a year or two.

Posack decided to take it one step at a time, wait until the school completely banned him from commercializing the UNIX-based network workstation and then find someone to invest in and start a company.

……

Before waiting for the news of Bossak's startup, another person found Bill through Bossak's introduction.

"Hi, Mr. Eighty-Eight, I heard Leonardo say that you are going to invest in several companies, and a few of our classmates want to start a small business that sells graphics workstations, are you interested in hearing our story?"

In Yevgeny's office, a man who identified himself as Andy Bertolsheim sent Bill an investment offer by phone.

Mr. Ferrari had heard of Andy in Bossak's mouth, a Ph.D. student who would soon graduate in May or June, and looked ready to do a great job after graduation.

Although he had never heard of this person in his previous life, this project was worth watching. If it can coincide with some of the things in his memory, it is not impossible to invest a sum of money.

"Of course you're interested, why don't we make an appointment to talk?"

PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket and ask for a monthly pass.

(End of chapter)