Chapter 1097 Investing in NeXT


Su Cheng's words surprised Jobs.

He didn’t expect that Su Cheng trusted him so much and dared to invest in him.

Originally, his plane ticket was due to take off in two hours.

However, his idea at this time was to choose another time to leave Japan.

Because another sentence from Su Cheng, "and to provide some of my more in-depth personal opinions," moved him very much.

Although he said he had certain ideas about the future, he was actually quite confused and not very confident.

Leaving Apple is already a doomed thing.

Jobs was a perfect genius in terms of creation, but he could never perfectly manage a company.

He can be a great thinker but is a complete jerk when it comes to dealing with people.

These cannot be changed overnight.

Returning to Apple is his future ambition.

If you want to untie this knot, you must start a successful business!

Let Apple personally invite him back!

This can completely remove the knot in his heart.

And this entrepreneurial success is not just a small success, but a sensational success.

So Su City is very, very confused about the future.

Everyone knows Su Cheng’s ability.

Since Sioux City is willing to invest and provide some more in-depth personal opinions, it is great news for Steve Jobs.

"Mr. Su, why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, I would have agreed earlier." Jobs said with a wry smile.

Nowadays, there are not many businessmen in the world who can be admired and respected by Steve Jobs. Su Cheng is definitely one of them, and he is the one he admires the most!

"It's not too late!" Su Cheng said with a smile.

“Same!” After Jobs finished speaking, he put back the psychology he had pulled out.

The two returned to the living room again.

“What are Steve Jobs’ next plans?” Su Cheng asked with a smile.

“My initial plan is to resign from Apple directly after returning to California. For me, it makes no sense to serve as a chairman with no real power at all.

Since they want to fight for rights and think that all the fault lies with me, let them fight for it, and hope that Apple will be better without me.

Even if I leave Apple, I will still be one of Apple’s major shareholders, right?

Apple was founded by me, and it is destined to always be connected with me. I hope that in the future, I will return to the company I founded in the best possible condition!

After resigning, I plan to set up a private company. I have already thought of a name, and it will be called NeXT Company.

I believe that computers will become an indispensable part of human beings in the future. Although the current share is very low, not many people have access to computers.

But one day in the future, I believe computers will enter thousands of households, so I plan to focus on developing computer system products! "Jobs told Su Cheng what he had been thinking about for the past few days.

Su Cheng was deeply surprised when he heard this.

Unexpectedly, Jobs already had an idea. .

This is indeed what he will do next

In another world, Steve Jobs, a legend in the technology world, experienced a fierce conflict with Apple. After he finally resigned, he did not choose to sink or give up.

On the contrary, he stood up again with an almost stubborn attitude, determined to show the world his talent and vision.

This time, he was no longer limited to the field of personal computers, but set his sights on a broader world of technology, and set out to create NeXT, a new force that aimed to redefine workstation computers and operating systems. .

The birth of NeXT was Jobs's "betrayal" of Apple and his persistence in his personal ideals.

When Steve Jobs left Apple, he was filled with unwillingness and anger.

Apple has achieved many brilliant achievements under his leadership, but the power struggles and philosophical differences within the company have left him feeling mentally and physically exhausted.

So, he decided to start from scratch and build a new technology empire that was entirely his own.

The purpose is to be able to return to Apple with honor in the future.

In 1988, NeXT launched its first workstation computer, the NeXT Computer.

This computer quickly attracted the attention of the industry with its unique design concept and advanced hardware configuration.

NeXTComputer not only has powerful processing capabilities, but is also equipped with an innovative user interface and operating system, bringing users an unprecedented user experience.

However, despite NeXT Computer's many technological breakthroughs, sales were not ideal due to its high price and relatively niche market positioning.

Faced with the cold reception from the market, Jobs was not discouraged.

He firmly believes that the value of NeXT lies not only in the hardware product itself, but also in the operating system and development environment behind it.

As a result, NeXT launched the smaller and more affordable NeXTStation in 1990, trying to further expand the market through this product.

However, despite improvements in design and performance, NeXTStation still failed to meet expectations.

Despite this, NeXT's innovative spirit and persistent pursuit of technology have won widespread praise from the industry.

In particular, its object-oriented operating system NEXTSTEP and its supporting development environment had a profound impact on the subsequent computer industry.

NEXTSTEP not only has a high degree of stability and reliability, but also provides a wealth of development tools and API interfaces, making it easier for developers to create a variety of innovative application software.

In order to promote the popularity and development of NEXTSTEP, NeXT soon disclosed the API interface used in the system and named it OPENSTEP.

This move not only enhanced NeXT's competitiveness in the operating system field, but also provided a more open and flexible platform for subsequent software development.

As OPENSTEP gradually matures and improves, more and more developers begin to apply it to various projects, further promoting the development of the computer industry.

However, just when NeXT was about to usher in new development opportunities, funding problems became a bottleneck restricting its development.

Due to poor sales of hardware products, NeXT's capital chain began to become tight.

In order to maintain the company's operations and development, Jobs had to reluctantly part ways, suspended the hardware business, and instead focused on OPENSTEP's software market development.

Although this decision caused NeXT to lose its source of revenue from hardware products, it laid a solid foundation for its development in the software field.

While focusing on software development, NeXT also developed a network programming framework called WebObjects.

This framework is designed to help developers create dynamic web pages and web applications more efficiently.

However, due to the fact that the Internet was not yet popular at the time and the price of WebObjects was too high (over $50,000), it was not widely popular.

Despite this, WebObjects still set a good example for dynamic web page programming and provided valuable experience and inspiration for subsequent Web development.

It can be seen that Jobs is really talented in innovation.

It is a blessing to have Steve Jobs in the technology world. However, NeXT was not the most profitable project after Jobs left Apple.

What really made Jobs rich was another project - the animation industry.

When Jobs founded NeXT, Jobs was also looking for new opportunities and challenges.

He knows that relying solely on the development of NeXT is not enough.

As a result, he began to turn his attention to the new field of animation industry.

Introduced by friend and former Apple employee Alan Kay, Jobs met Ed Catmull, head of the computer department at Lucasfilm Studios.

Ed happens to be the founder of a computer animation effects studio.

Due to financial difficulties, Ed had to look for a buyer to save the fate of the studio.

Jobs’ interest in Pixar was not a passing interest.

He naturally knows that with the continuous development of computer technology, the animation industry will usher in unprecedented development opportunities.

As the leading computer animation studio at the time, Pixar undoubtedly had great potential and value.

So, Jobs decided to acquire Pixar.

In the summer of 1986, Jobs and Ed had an in-depth conversation in a cabin next to the Lucas Skywalker Ranch.

In this conversation, Jobs fully demonstrated his decisiveness, confidence and vision.

He explained his views and vision for the animation industry to Ed, and expressed his strong desire to acquire Pixar.

Although Ed was somewhat dissatisfied and worried about Jobs, with Jobs's persistence and persuasion, he finally agreed to the proposal to sell Pixar.

In 1986, Jobs bought Pixar from Lucasfilm for $10 million.

In order to support the development of Pixar, he invested tens of millions of dollars as the company's operating capital.

Under the leadership of Jobs, Pixar quickly grew into a leading computer animation company.

Not only has it made many breakthroughs and innovations in technology, it has also launched a number of highly acclaimed animated films and short films.

Among them, "Toy Story", the world's first fully 3D animated film launched in 1995, has become one of Pixar's masterpieces.

This film not only allowed the audience to appreciate the charm and potential of 3D animation, but also won Pixar huge commercial success and reputation.

With the successful release of "Toy Story", Pixar's stock price has soared, bringing huge returns to Jobs.

In addition to animated films, Pixar is also involved in development in other fields.

For example, it has developed a set of rendering software called RenderMan, which provides powerful technical support for film production and animation production.

In addition, Pixar has also established partnerships with major companies such as Disney to jointly launch a number of high-profile animated films and short films.

However, just as Pixar's career was booming, Jobs faced another important choice.

In 2006, Disney proposed to Steve Jobs to acquire Pixar.

For Steve Jobs, this was a difficult choice.

On the one hand, he naturally knows the value and potential of Pixar; on the other hand, he also sees Disney’s leading position and brand influence in the animation industry.

After careful consideration, Jobs finally agreed to Disney's acquisition proposal.

Eventually, Pixar was acquired by Disney for $7.4 billion and became part of the Walt Disney Company.

7.4 billion US dollars, this is a very scary number!

This acquisition not only gave Jobs a huge return on wealth, but also made him the largest individual shareholder of Disney.

More importantly, this acquisition brings broader development space and cooperation opportunities to Pixar and Disney.

With the support of Disney, Pixar continues to maintain its leading position and innovative spirit in the animation industry.

At the same time, Disney has also used Pixar's technology and talent advantages to launch a number of highly acclaimed animated films and short films.

Looking back at Steve Jobs's life, he is undoubtedly a legendary figure.

From the founder of Apple to the founder of NeXT to the founder and CEO of Pixar, he has always maintained his love for technology and his pursuit of innovation.

Every choice and decision he made was full of courage and wisdom.

Although he also experienced many setbacks and failures in his career, he never gave up on his dreams and beliefs.

Ultimately, he became one of the giants in the technology and entertainment circles with his talent and hard work.

As important chapters in Jobs’ career, NeXT and Pixar also witnessed his outstanding contributions and extraordinary achievements in the technology industry and animation industry.

These two companies not only brought great business success and reputation to Jobs, but also brought far-reaching influence and inspiration to the entire technology industry and animation industry.

They allow us to see the power and possibility of innovation, and also make us look forward to the development and changes of the future technology industry and animation industry.

……

Sioux City knew very well how Jobs behaved in another world.

He had no intention of changing Jobs' direction.

However, it is still possible to guide Steve Jobs into these industries a little bit.

The two just started chatting.

Su Cheng briefly talked about his views on the future in the animation industry, computer products and other directions, which made Jobs more optimistic about the development of these two aspects.

Listening carefully to Su Cheng's remarks, Jobs was surprised to find that many of Su Cheng's remarks coincided with his own.

If Su Cheng knew what Jobs was thinking, he would definitely want to laugh. After all, these are what Jobs did later, and he just dictated them.

This is the advantage of the prophet, it has a feeling of God's perspective.

Listening to Su Cheng's remarks, Jobs was even more impressed.

He is indeed the man who can become the richest man in the world!

At the end of the conversation, the two talked about investing.

What Jobs admired most about Sioux City was that even if he invested, he would not interfere in the company in any way, as Apple has proven over the years.

Therefore, Jobs very much welcomed Sioux City's investment and was not afraid that Sioux City would seize power.

After all, Sioux City has many industries under its own umbrella and is not afraid of such a small enterprise.

What's more, Jobs was not very confident whether it could develop.

In the end, the two came to the conclusion that they each invested US$5 million, with Jobs holding 50.1% of the shares and Sioux City holding 49.9% of the shares. Both parties jointly funded the establishment of NeXT. (End of this chapter)

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