sbdcsierra Chapter 82 The Future Bought at Taco Store
Chapter 82 The Future Bought at Taco Store
(Thanks to "Ship Defense System Terminal" for the expert certification! Thanks to "Bai Zhiyong who likes silver rods" for the expert certification! Bonus chapter~)
The California afternoon sun was quite intense.
The red Cadillac convertible was parked in front of a Mexican fast food restaurant at the end of Charleston Road.
"Taco Bell".
The huge purple signboard distorted slightly in the heat. The asphalt road in front of the store was covered in grease, and several Mexican workers in overalls were squatting by the roadside, chewing on burritos.
Sandy Lerner pushed open the somewhat greasy glass door, and the wind chimes made a dull sound.
"Come in."
She glanced back at the two incongruous Asian girls behind her.
"The coffee here is terrible, but the tacos are filling."
Satsuki stood at the door.
Her elegant white sleeveless dress seemed a little too conspicuous in the environment filled with the smell of nachos. She raised her hand, adjusted her wide-brimmed hat, and glanced at the cheap plastic tables and chairs and the Coke stain on the floor.
"It has a very... down-to-earth feel."
She made a casual comment without showing any disgust, and instead stepped inside.
Fujita immediately stepped forward, took out a clean white handkerchief, and vigorously wiped a red plastic table by the window three times until he was sure there was no oil residue left. Only then did he respectfully pull out a chair.
"Young Miss, please."
This series of actions, befitting a five-star hotel, caused several truck drivers who were eating in the restaurant to stop and stare at them with their mouths agape.
Bosak scratched his messy hair, plopped down opposite him, and the chair creaked loudly.
"I'd like three beef tacos, extra hot sauce, and a large Coke."
He shouted at the counter, completely absorbed in the technical train of thought that had just been interrupted by the Japanese girl, his fingers still unconsciously tapping out the rhythm of code on the table.
“Me too.” Sandy sat down, crossed her arms, and looked at Satsuki with a scrutinizing gaze. “Alright, Ms. Saionji. This place is quiet enough. Tell me, how do you want to help us?”
Satsuki didn't rush to answer.
She gestured for Amy to sit down.
Amy sat somewhat awkwardly next to Satsuki, clutching the circuit diagram she had drawn in the garage tightly in her hand, fine beads of sweat appearing on her nose.
"Before we talk business, I want to clarify one thing."
Satsuki took off her sunglasses and placed them on the table.
"Amy."
"Yes, yes!" Amy straightened her back.
"Tell Ms. Sandy and Mr. Bosak, what exactly is that ugly box in the garage in your eyes?"
This question finally made Bosak raise his head.
Sandy frowned and looked at the girl who looked like a high school student.
Amy took a deep breath.
She laid the sketch out on the scratched plastic tabletop and picked up a few pepper bottles and ketchup packets from the table.
"Current computer networks..."
Amy picked up a packet of ketchup and placed it on the left side of the table.
"This is an IBM system, and it speaks the SNA language."
She picked up another pepper shaker and placed it on her right.
"This is a DEC system, and it speaks the DECnet language."
"And there's AppleTalk, and UNIX in universities..."
She had a bunch of random condiment bottles on the table.
"They are like isolated islands in the Pacific Ocean. Although the people on each island are very intelligent, they cannot understand each other. IBM's emails cannot be sent to DEC's computers, and Stanford's data cannot be transmitted to Berkeley."
Amy looked up, her eyes sparkling.
She reached out and pointed to the blank space in the middle of the table.
"That box is the bridge."
"And it's not just any bridge. It's a translator fluent in all languages."
"It takes IBM's dialect, disassembles it, repackages it into a TCP/IP common language that everyone can understand, and then sends it to DEC."
"With this box, all the isolated islands can be connected into one continent."
Amy's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"This is more than just connectivity. This is... this is the nervous system that turns all the computers in the world into a supercomputer."
"As long as it's plugged in and connected to the internet, information can flow like water."
"That's the significance of that box."
Bosak listened intently.
He didn't even notice the water droplets condensing on his Coke cup dripping onto his pants.
"The nervous system..." Bosak murmured to himself, "Yes... that's the word. That's what I want to do. Let data flow freely, without walls, without barriers."
He looked at Amy, and for the first time, his eyes revealed a sense of recognition for one of his own kind.
"You understand me. Those Wall Street idiots only know how to ask me how much this thing can sell for and whether it can be patented. Only you have seen its soul."
Sandy's expression softened. Although she was more focused on business, she also knew how advanced and difficult to understand her husband's technology was.
"That's a brilliant explanation."
Satsuki clapped her hands lightly.
She took a glass of water she had brought from Fujita and took a sip.
"So, from a business perspective..."
"This is more than just a bridge."
"This is a tollbooth."
The air suddenly became quiet.
Bosak was stunned. Sandy's eyes, however, suddenly lit up, like a lioness smelling blood.
"Tollbooth?" Sandy repeated the word.
"That's right."
Satsuki stretched out her slender fingers and drew a line between those "isolated islands".
"What if all the computers in the world had to communicate through this box? What if every company, every university, and even every family in the future needed this kind of connection?"
"So, whoever controls this box controls the lifeline of the internet."
"One gold coin must be left behind for each data packet that passes through."
"This isn't selling hardware. This is selling road rights."
Satsuki looked at Sandy, a graceful and confident smile playing on her lips.
"Ms. Sandy, do you think those people at Sequoia Capital really understood the value of this 'tollbooth'?"
"If they understood this, they wouldn't be in such a rush to remove you from management and replace you with a compliant professional manager to sell the boxes, all for a mere few million dollars in funding."
"They only saw the copper coins in front of them, but they didn't see the gold mine."
This statement hit Sandy's sore spot perfectly.
She's currently struggling with the aggressive tactics of Sequoia Capital. These investors are only interested in getting the company to an IPO and cash out quickly, completely disregarding Bosack's technological vision and even implying that the founding couple is an obstacle to the company's growth.
"And what about you?"
Sandy leaned forward, staring at Satsuki.
"You're an investor too. You want this tollbooth too. What's the difference between you and them?"
"The difference is, I'm not in a hurry."
Satsuki leaned back in her chair, her posture relaxed.
"The Saionji family has plenty of patience. We don't need you to go public next year, nor do we need you to be profitable the year after."
"I can give you plenty of time to make this bridge wider and this tollbooth more robust."
"and……"
Satsuki turned her head and glanced at the red Cadillac outside the window.
"I heard you've been having trouble with chip procurement lately? Because of the small production volume, you're even being charged higher prices by suppliers?"
Bosak nodded painfully: "Those damn chip manufacturers look down on small orders like ours. The delivery time is three months behind schedule."
"I can solve this problem."
"The Saionji family has...good personal relationships with high-ranking officials at Toshiba and NEC."
"If you're willing, starting next month, the best Japanese memory chips and processors will be delivered to your garage door at the best price and the fastest speed."
"I can even help you open up the Japanese market. NTT (Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) is laying out a new data network, and I think they will need this kind of router."
That was the decisive blow.
Funding. Supply chain. Market.
And most importantly—respect.
Sandy Lerner remained silent for a long time.
She looked at the excessively young Japanese girl in front of her.
Even though it was in a cheap fast food restaurant, and the surroundings were full of cooking fumes, the girl's confidence and composure gave her a strange sense of trust.
This isn't the kind of greedy capital that wants to devour you.
This is an ally who wants to hunt with you.
"What do we have to give up?" Sandy asked the last question.
"I will not interfere with management rights."
Satsuki raised one finger.
"As long as you continue to work on this 'nervous system,' I will always stand by your side. Even if Sequoia Capital wants to kick you out in the future, I will still vote for you."
"All I want is 30% of the shares, and... exclusive distribution rights for the Japanese market in the future."
Sandy turned to look at her husband.
Bosak was eating the now-cold taco with his head down, forgetting to wipe the sauce from his mouth.
"Ryan?"
"Huh?" Bosak looked up, somewhat bewildered. "Finished the discussion? I think it's good. That Japanese girl understands technology, that's enough. And... if I had Japanese chips, I could double the processing speed."
Sandy sighed, then smiled.
She stretched out a hand, which still had bits of cornflakes stuck to it.
"Deal, Ms. Saionji."
Satsuki didn't mind.
She extended her hand, clad in an expensive sheepskin glove, and firmly grasped Sandy's hand.
"It's a pleasure working with you, Sandy."
……
Half an hour later.
The red Cadillac drove away from the fast food restaurant.
Inside the carriage, Amy was still in a dazed state.
She looked at Satsuki with eyes full of admiration and a hint of confusion.
"Saionji-kun..."
"Um?"
"That box...is it really worth that much money? The check you just gave them..."
Although she didn't see the specific figures, Amy knew it must be an unimaginable sum of money.
Satsuki took off her hat, letting the wind tousle her hair.
"Amy."
She watched the scenery rushing past on the roadside.
"Remember this. In this world, the most precious thing is not gold, but 'connection'."
"Railways connected cities and created powerful nations in the nineteenth century. Telephones connected voices and created giants like AT&T."
"And that box is connected to the human brain."
"We are securing the future ahead of time."
Satsuki watched the scenery rushing past on the roadside, her voice calm.
"And this happened before anyone else could react."
She turned around and looked at Amy.
"As for that 'Cisco Systems' thing..."
Satsuki smiled, and at that moment, her pupils seemed to reflect the entire California sunset, so deep that they were unfathomable.
"Soon, this name will become even more famous than Coca-Cola."
"And we were its earliest shareholders."
Amy looked at Satsuki and nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
She lowered her head, opened her notebook, and solemnly wrote a line next to the hastily drawn circuit diagram:
[April 1988. San Jose. We bought the world's nervous system in a taco store.]