Redmond, Seattle, is only a ten-minute drive away from the House of the Future.
Before Lu Fei arrived, Bill Gates made a special trip to Building 37, where he lived before his retirement, to meet with Ballmer.
"Steve, what do you think?"
"It has better sound quality than the iPod, is lighter, and is cheaper, but I don't think this kind of assembled gadget has any future. You know, the iPod doesn't have very good sales."
Ballmer played with lmusic for a few times, like a child who has lost interest in a new toy.
"Apple used to make excuses saying that MacOS was too niche, but now that the second-generation Windows version has been launched, it has only sold 10,000 more units than in the first half of the year."
[PS: The sales volume in the first half of 2002 was less than 120,000. In June, it became compatible with Windows, and the sales volume increased to 240,000]
Bill Gates shook his head: "The important thing is not sales volume. Microsoft does not have a product that can compete with iPod. The market cannot be easily occupied by Apple. Supporting lMusic will create trouble for Steve Jobs."
Ballmer was skeptical: "Can it cause trouble for Apple?"
"It's not the equipment that can cause trouble, it's the people behind the equipment, Huaxia Continent."
Bill Gates spoke with admiration.
Ballmer couldn't help but be surprised. It's rare for an old friend to speak so highly of a person.
He weighed the lmusic in his hand and said, "Gates, why don't we do it ourselves? This hardware gadget has no technical content."
Bill Gates spread his hands and said, "No, focus. Microsoft is a software company, and nothing is more important than Windows."
Two people, you say something, I say something, and they discuss the logical rewards, which are upper, middle, and lower.
Support cannot be free, and work cannot be done in vain.
Bill Gates looked at his watch and said, "It's almost time and he's coming soon. Who are you arranging to greet him?"
Ballmer said: "Of course it's their own Asians, Kai-FuLee and Daichi."
Bill Gates' eyes were full of joking: "Steve, why don't we make a bet? Can you drive a bus?"
…………
Microsoft headquarters looks like a small town in the forest.
The buildings are not high, usually three or four stories. The exterior of the building is mostly white walls with green glass windows. There are towering green trees and green grass everywhere, blending in with the surrounding environment.
Li Kaifu led his secretary to wait. He was still smiling 5 minutes ago, but now he collapsed. It was not that Lu Fei was late, but that Kurokawa Oike was late and looked like he had a clear conscience.
"Dachi, you're late."
"Sorry, I have to deal with other official matters temporarily." Kurokawa Daichi smiled widely and his eyes wandered.
"There is nothing more important than Lu Fei. Do you know who he is?"
Li Kaifu was particularly dissatisfied. His dignified vice president had to be 5 minutes early, but you, a senior marketing manager, dared to neglect him.
"I know, I know, best-selling author, China's Bill Gates."
Kurokawa Oike looked disdainful, "If he were the real Bill Gates, I would have arrived half an hour early. Unfortunately, he is China's Bill Gates. It would be fine if I could come on time."
Li Kaifu couldn't help but look gloomy. After a few minutes, he saw the three figures appear in his sight and greeted them with smiling faces.
"Kou, you are awesome." Kurokawa Oike smiled without a smile and didn't even bend down.
"You are a neon man who has a good life in your childhood?" Lu Fei raised his eyebrows.
Li Kaifu nodded and spoke politely to each other.
Lu Fei said seriously: "Microsoft's overall layout inspired me. I can refer to several companies in China."
"Microsoft has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in such a layout." Kurokawa Oike raised his chin, as if mocking in his eyes, can you afford it? ???..Com
Lu Fei narrowed his eyes, you little neon, where do you get this mysterious superiority?
"Microsoft has accumulated more than 20 years of experience before it can make such a large investment."
Li Kaifu was busy trying to smooth things over, winking at his secretary and asking him to lead the way, and the group moved forward.
Zhang Tianmei frowned: "Just walk there?"
"We have buses that connect."
Kurokawa Oike pointed out a row of green and white buses parked in a parking space not far away.
Lu Fei frowned and glanced at the self-driving cars driving on the road out of the corner of his eye. He stared at Li Kaifu with a straight face, waiting for his explanation.
At this moment, a shuttle bus honked its horn, and the "didi" horn echoed in the air, making it endlessly noisy.
Immediately afterwards, the bus slowly drove in front of them.
Li Kaifu smiled awkwardly and saw the car door open naturally, and suddenly a familiar face appeared.
"Hey Lu, superise!"
In an instant, Kurokawa Oike and other Microsoft employees were all dumbfounded, and their hearts trembled. Bill Gates actually came to pick them up in person!
Lu Fei didn't feel flattered, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
But he saw the driver's seat window rolled down, revealing a shiny forehead, and it was Ballmer.
He said gruffly: "Hi, Huaxia Lu, get in the car."
Except for Lu Fei and Wang Ben, everyone else felt as if they were struck by lightning, their heads were blank. Bill Gates was the conductor, and Ballmer was the driver. What the hell kind of welcome combination is this!
Before Lu Fei got into the car, he glanced at Kurokawa Oike and others, "They don't need to come up."
"Of course, we are here specifically to pick you up."
Ballmer waved his arms, as if driving his hound back to its den, "Li, Dachi, your welcome is complete, go back to work."
Watching the bus slowly drive away from his sight, Li Kaifu regained his composure and looked left and right, everyone froze in place.
The shock of the scene just now was obviously not digested, especially Kurokawa Oike——
His shoulders were shaking slightly, and the shaking was visibly intensifying, as if he was suffering from epilepsy, and his face was getting paler.
"Masaka, Alilana, Red Bean Alilana (impossible, absolutely impossible)!"
Li Kaifu almost laughed out loud and couldn't help but be curious.
Even the president may not have this standard, so why should he?
…………
It was buzzing, tires were grinding against the ground, shuttle buses were driving on the road, and employees of different skin colors were walking and talking.
"When we came to pick you up, we made a bet on whether you would be surprised by this surprise."
Bill Gates winked at Lu Fei, "I won!"
Ballmer's face was full of reluctance. He controlled the steering wheel with one hand and took out a hundred-dollar Franklin note from his pocket.
"Lu, this is yours."
Bill Gates handed over the knife, "Steve and I often make bets like this, I hope you don't mind."
Lu Fei pinched the two corners of the green note and unfolded it, "This is Ballmer's US dollar bill. It's not just worth the face value. Can you sign it?"
When Ballmer heard the compliment, his depression immediately disappeared, and he smiled and said: "No problem, no problem."
Lu Fei looked at the head of Microsoft calmly, a man who had mixed success and failure, and was conservative and content with the status quo.
In his hands, the Windows system achieved monopoly rule in the PC era, but it also almost defeated the entire Internet era.
The few search engines, smartphones, and mobile operating systems that have been trampled on are either failing or on the road to failure.
The most embarrassing thing is that when he announced his retirement, Microsoft's stock price rose instead of falling, and everyone on Wall Street celebrated.
While observing and chatting, the car quickly drove to the outdoor office area, where three tree houses were suspended in the forest.
Lu Fei climbed up the wooden ramp, and a group of people entered Tree House No. 1.
The top is tapered and supported by wooden beams. Looking up at the sky, you can see the blue sky with floating clouds outside the glass inlaid in the skylight.
"Lu, Steve, the quiet environment here is best for discussing cooperation, so let's get started."
Bill Gates clapped his hands and invited the people on both sides to his left and right sides. He sat in the main seat in the middle.
Ballmer took out lMusic and said, "Lu, although you and Gates are friends, it's hard for Microsoft to recognize the strength of Logic. Your business is MP3, and even the products made by Sony and Apple are not popular."
Lu Fei shrugged, "That's because logic didn't apply. Now we are here."
"Rierli?"
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Ballmer asked, giving me a perfect explanation.
"Because the future trend must be 'Internet + music'."
Lu Fei is full of confidence, "Just like Walkman adapted to the tape media, MP3 is the answer to the digital music trend. Steve Jobs is trying. Is Microsoft just sitting back and waiting for Apple to find the right answer?"
"No, Microsoft has plans for its own hardware. We are developing MP3 players that can compete with iPods."
Ballmer paused for a few seconds, "emm, it's called 'Zune', but it will take time. During this window period, Microsoft needs to fill in a product that can compete with iPod."
"So, you agree to cooperate?"
"Yeah, I agree."
"Wise move." Lu Fei praised.
"Lu, Microsoft is willing to provide all-round support and can help distribute logic products across the United States. They are even willing to order 50,000 units of lmusic and 100,000 units of fantasy first, and Microsoft will distribute them."
Bill Gates offered a bait with extraordinary conditions, but Lu Fei was unmoved and said with a smile: "What are the conditions?"
"All Logic's products are branded with Microsoft's trademark, which is Zuneone."
Ballmer is tall and intimidating.
"It's tempting, but I refuse!"
Lu Fei insisted on using his own trademark, "Logic is China's first-class MP3 manufacturer. We do not do OEM business."
"But this is America, and your brand has zero market appeal."
Ballmer raised his voice to make himself appear more powerful, and his expression did not seem to be hypocritical. It was both arrogant and confused.
Can China make a product that even the top companies in the United States and Japan cannot make a hit? Is it true? I don’t believe it!
Lu Fei looked calm and repeated the "10 wins and 10 losses" theory, "Back then Akio Morita built Sony's brand with transistor radios. I am logically using NADA flash MP3 to make a name for myself. It's not a problem!"
Ballmer shook his head and refused: "Lu, I appreciate your confidence, but it's hard to impress me with this alone, because I see this kind of confidence every day."
"I am confident because we have won. As of now, the combined sales volume of Logic's two products has exceeded 250,000."
Lu Fei crossed his hands and clasped his fingers, "It has surpassed Sony, surpassed Apple, and accounted for one-third of the global market share. This has only entered the Chinese market."
"What!?"
Ballmer was shocked, and the aura he had been watching with eagerness was instantly gone. Why didn't he tell such important information?
Bill Gates adjusted his glasses and communicated with his eyes. If you ask me, who should I ask? This Chinese man is too weak to explode.
Ballmer's face was full of resentment. The OEM strategy was not expected to work. It was purely to set a strong tone for Microsoft.
After taking the initiative in cooperation, we can ask for more chips in the future, such as the logic of investing in shares, such as assisting Microsoft's other businesses to enter China...
This time, the situation was reversed.
The logic is not to ask Microsoft to cooperate. I am very agile and can't kneel down. I love cooperation and cooperation. If I don't cooperate, I will be defeated!
"As for sales channels, it would be great if Microsoft could assist. It would be fine if it didn't. At least for online channels, the logic can be solved by itself."
Lu Fei said in an understatement that he was a minority shareholder of Amazon, so that it would not be a problem for Logic products to be sold on Amazon.
"Lu, you don't want this, you don't want that, what do you want?"
Bill Gates frowned, unable to guess or see through.
Lu Fei smiled and said: "This time Logic's overseas products are not only lmusic and fantasy, but also a software, Spotify."
"You want Microsoft to support Spotify?"
Bill Gates immediately understood and explained to the confused Ballmer that it was a music player similar to iTunes.
"Yeah, MP3 listens to digital music, which requires users to download it from their computer. iTunes is not compatible with Microsoft. Our Spotify supports Microsoft and allows users to download music."
Lu Fei introduced the functions, hoping to become a key support and use Microsoft's monopoly on PCs to grow.
Ballmer saw the trick immediately: "We already have audio players."
"You do have it, but it is not an Internet music product and cannot stop iTunes. Instead, when Apple launches a compatible Windows version, it will soon be able to use your hands to destroy your multimedia players."
Lu Fei directly pointed out, "Instead of supporting the enemy, why not support the agent?"
Ballmer fell silent and Bill Gates was thoughtful.
"With Microsoft's help, Logic's lmusic+Spotify can completely defeat Apple's iPod+itunes."
Lu Fei struck while the iron was hot, "You know, Spotify has quite a market, with more than 300,000 users in China alone, 100,000 more than iTunes."
Bill Gates and Ballmer looked at each other. It made sense, but I was speechless.
The entire tree house fell into a brief silence, the birds outside were chirping, and a ray of sunlight shot straight in from the skylight and fell on the table where everyone was sitting.
"Can."
Ballmer spoke up to break the silence, "The help just now remains unchanged. We also agreed to support Spotify, but there is one condition. Microsoft wants to invest in Logic, not as a lead investor, but as a sole investor!"
"At least 10%." Bill Gates added.
"Sauri, Logic has no financing plan at the moment."
Lu Fei declined, but offered plan B.
"But Microsoft is very welcome to join Spotify. I originally planned to introduce several venture capital firms such as IDG and Goldman Sachs, but now I have changed my mind. I am willing to take out 15% of the equity."
"Gates, what do you think?"
Ballmer was disappointed, but not completely disappointed.
Even if the hardware sold 250,000 units, he still looked down on gadgets like MP3 and fell in love with the bundled Spotify.
It's a pity that the anti-monopoly stick still has the remaining power, otherwise Microsoft would have to personally copy one!
"Microsoft is your boss, Steve." Bill Gates reminded again that nothing is more important than windows.
Ballmer understood instantly, and his old friend also agreed.
After all, only magic can defeat magic, and Spotify is a powerful tool that adds to the Windows system and competes with iTunes of MacOS.
He pretended: "15% is too little."
"This is the amount we have raised so far. If Microsoft is willing, it can also get the priority investment rights in Series A. How about that?"
Lu Fei had no choice but to let Microsoft take a stake, because in the PC era, Microsoft monopolized the operating system, which was equivalent to firmly controlling the upstream of the software ecological chain, and all software depended on it.
Dare not to be attached, so many software engineers at Microsoft are freeloaders! Does it look like a goose factory to build a similar software in minutes?
Microsoft did this kind of thing a lot in the 1980s and 1990s.
Investing in shares is both a resource and a protection fee, but he secretly hid it. The email address he used to register his account was Penguin's Foxmail, not Microsoft.
Ballmer asked again, "Per-A round, how much do you want to raise?"
"Don't worry, we still have technical conditions."
Lu Fei waved his hand, "Spotify will be headquartered in the United States and needs Microsoft programmers to provide technical assistance, including licensing, technical services and transfers, and software talent training..."
"Wait, wait."
Ballmer quickly stopped: "Microsoft wants to pay?"
"right."
"Does Microsoft still want to develop technology and talent?"
"Yes." Lu Fei nodded.
The more Ballmer thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Why did he look like a gangster kneeling down to beg for food?
"These can be reserved for later discussion. The key is one major premise, which is copyright."
Bill Gates suddenly interjected, "Spotify cannot be the next Napster. How do you convince Warner, Universal, and Sony to license it?"
Lu Fei smiled and said: "This is what I am going to say next. I hope Microsoft will provide a logical platform and send senior executives to assist us in negotiations."
Bill Gates hesitated: "Lu, this is difficult, very difficult. It took Jobs a long time to negotiate, and the president of Universal is still his best friend."
"In China, there is a saying that whether you are a brother or a close friend, you need more money. There is nothing that cannot be solved with more money. If there is, then it is not enough money."
The corners of Lu Fei's mouth raised slightly, "I will give them an offer they can't refuse."
