Chapter 498: The Investor Who Is Not a Good Person and Thor Games
The previous chapter (temporarily blocked, application to be unblocked) introduces that after Li Xiaofan returned to Singapore, he moved to a new independent villa, and the company helped him hire a bodyguard Guli from the Gurkha tribe in Nepal.
In the evening, when Li Xiaofan was chatting with Gu Li in the living room, Li Xiaofan's cell phone rang. The call was from Jack Smith, the founder of Hotmail.
"Director Li, there is something I need to discuss with you. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, found us and wants to acquire Hotmail as a whole..."
Hotmail started providing free online email services on the Internet last July. Hotmail has developed rapidly after receiving investment from Li Xiaofan and DFJ Defengjie. By January this year, the number of Internet users registered to use Hotmail had easily exceeded one million, which attracted great attention from Microsoft. Because at that time, Microsoft's MSN Mail was already quite difficult to operate millions of mailboxes and took up a lot of storage space. However, a little-known hotmail free mailbox service website developed so fast that Bill Gates was very surprised.
"Jack, this is great news. Let me first ask, what is the attitude of the other investor, Tim Draper of DFJ?"
Jack Smith said noncommittally: "Director Li, I want to hear your opinion first. Tim Draper seems to be doing something unreliable..."
"Ah, it was Mr. Tim Draper who was the first to invest in your project with his discerning eye. How could he be so unreliable?" Li Xiaofan asked in surprise.
Next, on the phone, Jack Smith told Li Xiaofan something.
Previously, DFJ invested in Rocketmail, another company that provides email services. This company provides a service that allows users to share email addresses.
DFJ then introduced it to Hotmail, and the two complementary companies immediately started close cooperation. However, this cooperation soon ran into problems, because all new Hotmail users were required to register their email addresses with Rocketmail. This allowed Rocketmail to discover how popular Hotmail is among Internet users around the world.
Out of jealousy, Rocketmail actually launched its own Webmail free email service last month.
As a result, close comrades immediately turned into enemies and competitors in the blink of an eye!
And caught in the middle, DFJ, which invested in both companies, became a different person inside and outside.
After listening to Jack Smith’s introduction on the phone, Li Xiaofan comforted him:
"Jack, DFJ may have done something bad with good intentions. Your company currently has a first-mover advantage, so don't worry too much about competition with Rocketmail. Microsoft is currently at its peak and has abundant resources. If Mr. Bill Gates is willing to offer a good price, I agree to sell Hotmail as a whole to Microsoft..."
Then, Li Xiaofan changed the subject and said:
"Jack, but as far as I know, Yahoo may also be interested in your free email project. While you are maintaining contact and negotiating with Microsoft, you might as well talk to Yahoo at the same time to see who offers a higher price. high?"
In a previous life, in October 1997, Yahoo acquired the online communications company Four11 for US$92 million. Four11's email service was RocketMail, which later became Yahoo Mail.
Microsoft acquired Hotmail for $450 million.
Li Xiaofan's purpose in encouraging Jack Smith to contact Yahoo was to maximize Microsoft's bid.
Li Xiaofan currently holds 20% of Hotmail's shares. If Hotmail can be acquired by Microsoft for US$450 million, he can cash out US$90 million.
…
After finishing the phone call with Jack Smith, Li Xiaofan picked up the TV remote control and flipped through the TV. They were all boring programs. There were too few TV channels in Singapore.
He called Guli, who was on duty at the door, into the living room and said, "Guli, do you know how to play video games? Come in and play video games with me for a while?
The shy Gu Li shook his head and replied: "Mr. Li, I have seen other rich people play in my hometown before, but I am not very good at it..."
"Come on, come in, Guli, I will teach you. This game is not complicated, and the content of the shooting game is related to your previous experience as a mercenary. I believe you can do it!"
Li Xiaofan taught Gu Li to play the most popular 3D game "Quake", which is known as the world's first truly three-dimensional FPS shooting game.
The global home game console market began its biggest change in 1994, shifting from 2D screen competition to 3D performance competition. The basis of this change is that all home game consoles have entered 32-bit.
"Quake 1" is a shooting computer client game developed by ID Software. The player plays a soldier in the game to stop the enemy's attack.
This 3D game became an instant hit after its launch last summer.
Li Xiaofan introduced Guli:
"The background of this game is Nordic mythology. In the ancient times of Northern Europe, there was a god named Thor. He often drove a chariot pulled by two goats across the sky. He held a huge hammer in his hand. , when it is waved, it will produce lightning and thunder, and then it will rain from the sky. With the rain, the corn in the fields will take root and sprout. So the farmers respected Sol as the god of thunder in charge of fertility and abundance..."
"In the game, our player is a soldier who is sent by the government to a portal to stop an enemy named Quake. This portal uses the government's new technology to transport various terrifying devils. The portal can transport various items instantly. Once passed through This portal, you must fight against hordes of demons and stop them..."
After Li Xiaofan turned on his computer and entered the game "Quake 1", Guli was immediately attracted by the magnificent and exquisite 3D scenes in the game. Previously, in his hometown in Nepal, he saw that the rich second generation in the village were playing some outdated 2D game consoles.
"Guli, come on, let me teach you. After entering the game, we use the computer mouse to view, aim, and orient, and use the keyboard to move forward, backward, and sideways... We must stay very alert when playing the game, and we must be careful about dodging and The accuracy of marksmanship is very high. This game also supports multiplayer online mode..."
Guli, who was a mercenary, was quickly fascinated by this shooting game and got started very quickly.
After he got started, Li Xiaofan taught him some secrets:
"Guli, press '~' to enter the console, enter CROSSHAIR 1 to turn on the crosshair; NOCLIP wall penetration mode; Give r 9999999999 unlimited rockets; Give nc 9999999999: unlimited plasma; GIVE 3 double-barreled shotgun; GIVE 6 grenade launcher ;GIVE 7 Rocket Launcher;GIVE 8 Thor Cannon..."
"Wow, that's cool!"
Unconsciously, the two of them played until one o'clock in the morning...
After taking a hurried shower and going to bed, Li Xiaofan, who was lying on the bed, suddenly found that computer games were too tempting.
He suddenly had an idea: Why don't he invest in or acquire this ID Software company?