Chapter 99: Double Act

Entrepreneurship is always tough, especially for a young man like Su Mu with no connections and insufficient funds—it makes things even harder. On top of that, both Su Mu and Li Ping'an look Asian, so they've been turned away by three companies in a row with no success. They grabbed a quick bite at a fast-food place for lunch and planned to rest before trying again.

Su Mu managed to land the order from Menlo Park Private High School thanks to Daniel's father's help. He'd known it would be difficult to sell, but he never expected it to be this rough. He visited two securities firms and a small bank. Normally, their staff used personal computers at work, but after discussing it with the managers, they all refused without the slightest interest in buying any.

At that moment, Su Mu realized where the problem lay. These companies all had parent firms that dealt directly with suppliers for their needs. Beyond just computers, they'd require配套 software, data processors, and more. He was only a small-time computer salesman, so no wonder they showed no interest.

The New York Stock Exchange had been using real-time electronic quotation systems since 1971. Today, major banks are adopting computer-based office work, and Citibank—originally known as City Bank—triggered a minor layoff wave because of it, which Su Mu had seen in the newspaper. This proved there was indeed a market, but Su Mu's approach was flawed. He needed to sell a complete, polished service rather than limiting it to computers alone.

He pondered this for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and muttered to himself, "I know nothing, I don't have the strength. It looks like the company James worked for before might actually grow quite well in the future..."

Where there's demand, there's a market. The only enterprise software company Su Mu had heard of so far was Oracle, the firm James had joined.

His current line of thinking was built on the assumption that the IT sector would boom in the future, allowing him to reverse-engineer profitable industries. Like someone who knows electric vehicles will become the mainstream and naturally sees the potential in companies that manufacture them, which could turn a profit later.

Since the outcome was already fated, no matter how the process curved along the way, it would inevitably lead to that result.

For Su Mu, the tidbits he'd overheard on the radio during summer vacation gave him an edge in his "race" against others. Previously, compared to his peers, he lagged behind, but now he was pulling ahead by a wide margin.

If Su Dingcai had been a super-rich man, Silicon Valley might have been named after the "Su" family. Unfortunately, they lacked the capital, so Su Mu could only work hard to build up his fortune from scratch...

Today was Saturday. Many companies were closed, and the school was nearly empty—not an ideal time to sell products. By over one o'clock, Su Mu took Li Ping'an to the street where he taught programming, near Stanford University. Cycling there left them both drenched in sweat. To save on taxi fares, they alternated carrying each other on the bikes.

Standing outside the building of the training class called Beyond Dreams, Li Ping'an wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked curiously, "Would anyone buy computers here?"

Su Mu shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure either, but our sales pitch earlier was all wrong. We need a different approach. Normally, I teach here. After we go in, you say exactly what I taught you."

"What exactly?"

"Just tell him..."

Over these years, the global market for programmers has been severely short-staffed. To attract top talent, companies have been raising salaries even higher. Many bright people who learned programming early gave up their jobs to start training classes. As long as the technology and environment weren't too poor, they usually managed to enroll quite a few students.

Normally there were over thirty students in the class. Among those learning programming with Su Mu, he was the youngest. The teacher could take a short break to instruct for two hours and still collect over $5,000 in tuition.

On weekends, enrollment was at its peak. By morning, four young men had already signed up. Gary, the boss of this training class, was energetically counting the money with great enthusiasm.

He had opened three training centers in the Silicon Valley area. He no longer taught the students himself. Altogether, more than five hundred people had studied at his centers, and there were even larger ones than Beyond Dreams.

Just then, a voluptuous white secretary walked in and told him, "Another student is signing up. It's someone from our old class. Boss, do you have time?"

"They're bringing me money. Of course I have time. Quickly invite them in!" Gary placed the cash in his drawer, adjusted his tie, and spoke with a smile as radiant as could be. In the early 1980s, Silicon Valley was brimming with opportunities, and he was one of the lucky ones who had struck it rich because of it.

The female secretary nodded, opened the door, and called out, "Please come in. Tea or coffee?"

"Red tea, thank you."

After Su Mu entered the office, he smiled and said to Gary, "This is my childhood friend. He also wants to learn programming. Today I brought him to take a look."

"We're very welcome. Our place is quite nice, isn't it? No one is willing to rent an office in such a desirable location. My standards for hygiene are always very high... Hello, call me Gary."

He stood up, walked around the desk, shook hands with Su Mu and his friend, and then invited them to sit down.

Gary knew service attitude was crucial. He smiled warmly at Li Ping'an and asked, "Since your friend is studying here, you probably know the general situation. Have you taken any programming courses before?"

"I've had some exposure, but I don't really understand it."

"That's fine. No worries. In just ten lessons, you'll become a qualified programmer. The teachers here are mostly professors from Stanford University; they have rich experience."

Li Ping'an nodded. "May I take a look around? I saw someone in class just now. Sorry, I don't know which training center to choose yet."

"Haha! When in doubt, choose us. It's definitely the right decision." Gary laughed heartily. "You can pick any classroom or come at a convenient time to sit in on a free lesson. I'll have the teachers simplify the material so everyone can learn it!"

Su Mu chimed in, "Okay, then I'll take my friend to listen first, and come back later?"

"Perfect. My door is always open to you. There's a special promotion for new enrollments right now—ten lessons for one free, which means a ten percent discount on the tuition..."

More than ten minutes later, Su Mu appeared back in the office. Gary glanced back and asked, "Where's your friend? Still listening to the lesson?"

"No, he left. He seems to plan to study somewhere else."

Su Mu's face showed helplessness as he shrugged. "Because he thinks the computers here are too outdated. My friend really likes the way the teachers teach here, but the computers in other training classes are newer."

"Mr. Gavin, recently I've heard classmates discussing that the computers here are too old, many of them previous-generation models. Perhaps I'll also go with him to study elsewhere..."