Apple's listing shocked the world like the success of a nuclear explosion. Venture capitalists who bet on Apple earlier returned home with a full load, investing $65,438 +0, with a return of $243. Rocco, a famous venture capitalist, once bought 640,000 shares at a price of 9 cents per share. In less than three years, the $57,600 he invested miraculously became $654.38 million+$4,000.
Apple earlier predicted unusual venture capital and its great success. Among them, people can clearly see the whole picture of venture capital cycle. First of all, through careful and keen search or selection, find the ideal investment object. Then enter the first stage of the cycle, and venture capital enters the venture enterprise. There are many ways to enter, which can be a new company or an investment in an existing enterprise. Apple belongs to the former. By helping venture enterprises grow and develop, the ultimate goal of venture capital is to realize its cycle: to quit venture enterprises. The exit methods include transfer and listing, and listing is the highest realm of exit. Apple's listing has brought huge profits to investors, which is a perfect example of venture capital operation.
Wozniak was an out-and-out computer geek, and Jobs often visited the place where Wozniak made computers. On one occasion, Jobs thought that this kind of computer could enter the market. It was this casual idea that made two universities drop out of school and become the giants of the world computer industry.
Apple computer originated from Jobs' garage in Los Gatos, California. At that time, because Jobs and his partner Wozniak didn't have the money to buy Yaltai computers, they made one themselves. This is the prototype of Apple computer. The legend of Apple Computer can be said to be a standard example of successful entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.
Jobs and Woznik are real children in Silicon Valley. They grew up in a highly electronic environment, imperceptibly, and naturally went to the electronic business. Jobs and Wozniak met in a friend's garage when they were still in elementary school. From their later deeds, it is not difficult to see that the garage played an important role in their lives. At that time, Wozniak's homemade computer had just won the first prize in the Bay Area Science Fair, so Jobs was deeply impressed by him. Wozniak was interested in computers since he was a child. His father is an electronic engineer of Lockheed Missile and Space Company. When Wozniak was young, his father helped him design logic circuits, which aroused his interest in computers. In his primary and secondary school days, Wozniak was very absorbed in his research. Often when others talk to him, he doesn't look up to see who is talking to him. His mother had to pat him on the head to get his attention. Wozniak's talent was revealed very early, and it can be seen in many ways that he will become a technical wizard. In high school, he was the cleverest student, with a perfect score of 800 in mathematics in the college entrance examination. His classmates remember him as conservative, but smart. In a word, he is a typical computer genius.
In the microcomputer era of the computer industry, the miracle of Apple has been talked about by people, and the miracle of Apple cannot be separated from the creativity of Jobs and Wozniak. Jobs was a loner at school. For a time, he didn't want to go to the original junior high school, so his parents had to move. In high school, Jobs was fascinated by high technology. After school, he often goes to Hewlett-Packard Company to audit reports. One day, he boldly asked william hewlett, the chairman of the company, for some parts of his own computer. Hugh Park Jung-soo was moved by him, gave him the parts he needed and arranged a summer job for him.
After graduating from high school, Jobs entered Reed University in Oregon, but dropped out within a year. Jobs thought that college was not for him. Later, he got a job in Yateli, a small electronic company with only two years' history. Soon he left Yataili Company and went to india tourism with a little money he had saved, intending to start his own entrepreneurial career in India.
Wozniak is a real computer geek. He originally studied at the University of Colorado, where he studied software design for a year, then transferred to De Anza College and finally entered the University of California at Berkeley. But he was unhappy in these schools, so he dropped out of Berkeley University on 1972 and went to work for Hewlett-Packard Company. At the same time, Jobs came back from India and entered Atlee Video Games Company, so Jobs and Wozniak returned to Silicon Valley and met again.
Every new company may be a brainwave-it may be an innovative product or an unprecedented service project. Jobs and Woznick founded Apple in order to own a microcomputer, but they couldn't afford it.
The miraculous birth of Apple computer illustrates many similarities of high-tech enterprises in Silicon Valley. A man met a problem that made him deeply depressed. He decided to start a research and create a very popular product in the process. The success at first was amazing, so the entrepreneur set up a new company. After overcoming many difficulties, he may have gained great wealth. This is a very special dream, and the happiness of sudden success is easily carried away by entrepreneurs who are eager for quick success, which is no different from the sudden fame of professional athletes, movie stars and rock stars.
In order to make the Apple-I model, Wozniak and Jobs "liberated" some electronic parts from the companies they worked for-Hewlett-Packard and Atletico. Wozniak was really cutting costs when he designed the Apple-I model. He didn't use the most popular Intel 8080 as the heart of the computer at that time, because its unit price was as high as $270, and it was not available, because the dealer told Wozniak that only companies with registered accounts could buy it. "Later, Chudk Peddle announced that 6502 (a microprocessor) would be sold at the counter of WESCON (the annual large-scale computer exhibition held in the West Bank), so some of my friends visited WESCON and paid 20 yuan to the counter, and the microprocessor was bought," Woznick said. "As long as 20 yuan, you can buy a microprocessor, which made me step into this business.
When the Apple-I model was exhibited in the home computer club, it immediately caused a sensation, and friends of Jobs and Woznick rushed to buy one. "So we spend all our time helping them make their own computers, which takes up our weekends and evenings. I sold my car and Wozniak sold my computer. We got a total of $65,438+0,300 and hired a friend of mine to design the printed circuit board of this computer ... We estimate that we can make 65,438+000 vehicles at a price of $50 each, so that we can earn $2,500, which is enough for us to redeem the golden turtle car and the computer. " Jobs said. Wozniak and Jobs spent 60 hours assembling the first "Apple". Wozniak and Jobs started the microcomputer business in order to meet the needs of consumers.
In order to further understand the role of venture capital in starting a new company, let's first look at the process of Apple, a typical Silicon Valley company.
1976 From March to June, Jobs and Woznick have been selling widgets. In order to expand production, they must have enough money to buy assembly parts. They sought electrical suppliers as guarantees, and they even tried to get guarantees from Yateli and Hewlett-Packard, but both failed. Soon, the orders for their products exceeded their production capacity. In summer, they designed a more advanced personal computer-Apple-II. By the end of 1976, the sales of Apple-II reached $200,000, of which the profit was 20%. At the end of 1976 and the beginning of 1977, Jobs and Wozniak took several effective measures to expand their business. They published a scientific article in a well-known business magazine, which made the company's products more famous and signed sales contracts with other computer retailers. They also persuaded a lawyer to make a deferred payment plan through legal guarantee. But in order to occupy the seemingly unlimited market, they still need a lot of money, and they urgently need market experts.
When Jobs and Woznick realized that Apple was a product that people wanted to buy and had potential, they went to their bosses in Yateli and Hewlett-Packard. Bushnell is the founder of Atletico and the first inventor of video games. Jobs wanted him to believe that microcomputers have a bright future. Unfortunately, Atletico didn't produce computers, and Jobs's idea only earned bushnell's ridicule.
1983, when bushnell recalled this incident at an engineer's banquet in Sunnyvale, California, he said, "For example, if you work in a big company, go to your manager and say,' I have a product, and it will have a market of 10 million dollars.' The manager said,' Aha, a $10 million market? ! The capital of our company is only 10 million dollars. You said,' Ten million dollars is not difficult for me.' ..... This new product is a personal computer! As we all know, in 1975, when large computers and small computers were still in the world, new microcomputers could only survive in the cracks, but it didn't take long for them to develop rapidly and keep pace with their predecessors. Now it seems that Atlee turned down a10 million dollar business for no reason. Look, I never said we were perfect. "1982 microcomputer sales have jumped to $5.4 billion.
Then, Wozniak went to see his supervisor at HP and proposed to produce Apple computers at HP. He mentioned it three times at different opportunities, but HP executives thought he didn't have a college degree or a formal certificate in computer design.
Later development made Jobs and Wozniak proud. Today, after waiting and waiting, Atletico and Hewlett-Packard have joined the battle of microcomputer fiercely, trying to catch up with Apple, the leader in this industry.
Soon, Magula drove his brand-name car to the "Apple" computer company in the garage. Magula, only 38 years old, is already a millionaire and retired from Intel. Magula asked to see their business plan, but Jobs and Woznik were kept in the dark. They never know what a business plan is. Magula explained to them that in order to raise venture capital, a detailed company establishment plan must be prepared.
So he sat down with Jobs and Woznick and spent two weeks working out a business plan for Apple Computer. After reading the plan, Magula realized that the entrepreneurial plan had unlimited potential, and it was his unique vision that made Apple get enough venture capital. Magula not only contributed $90,000 by himself, but also personally organized and won a credit loan of $200,000 from the Bank of America. The three of them took the business plan of "Apple" to visit other venture capitalists Magula knew, and as a result, they raised another $600,000. One of the investors is Roque, who made a venture capital investment in Intel. Magula also helped Jobs reach a loan agreement with Bank of America. Thanks to their efforts, Apple began to attract people's attention and attracted some important financial investors, including Winrock (Rockefeller family). At this point, * * * has raised $3 million and has the ability to start mass production.
After Magula joined Apple, the assets of Jobs and Wozniak were valued at 2/3 of the company's shares, and he paid $90,000 to buy13 of Apple's shares. 1977, Apple-II computer was a great success at the first West Coast Computer Exhibition in the United States. Five years later, Apple's revenue jumped to $654.38+0 billion, and it was successfully listed. Magula invested $90,000 to become a billionaire.
1In March, 977, Apple was officially registered, and the company developed from garage production to factory production. The Apple II computer was launched at a trade fair, and it was a quick success. Apple-Ⅱ is a fully programmed personal computer, which is specially designed for families and also suitable for professional programmers. Apple chose "Apple" as the name of its product, because at that time, some people thought that computers would do harm to foreign enterprises. Taking the name Apple gives people a cordial and ordinary impression and is easily accepted by the public.
1977 Apple's extraordinary development has caused problems in the company's organizational structure. Now the company leaders need a general manager and an executive chairman to regularize. Both Jobs and Wozniak felt that they were not qualified for daily operation and management. They appointed Magula as the executive chairman and hired michael scott, the general manager from National Semiconductor Corporation. Scott saw the prospect of development at Apple and would rather sacrifice half his salary to work at Apple. Jobs served as vice chairman and Wozniak as deputy general manager. Three years after the company was founded, Jobs and his colleagues became millionaires.
The invasion of IBM still brought some shadows to the company. Apple's main threat is the bombing of the products of Atlee and Tom, IBM, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard and other companies.
1983, Apple introduced a new product-"Lisa", which the company hoped to attract more new customers. At the end of 1983, the company launched Mason Tosh for the family and professional markets. Although IBM's efforts have put pressure on the above new products, in any case, Apple's success from 1977 to 1982 is still huge. Apple's success is mainly due to the fact that the Apple-II model almost meets all aspects of the market demand. For the first time, end users can buy personal computers that are cheaper, easier to use and have higher performance than ordinary microcomputers. Because companies provide their own programs for users, software is no longer a problem. In addition, many companies have begun to develop software systems that match the Apple-II system. MAC's name and trademark make people feel friendly and have no fear. The whole fuselage is small, compact, light and easy to transport. In addition, the keyboard and screen are replaced by light plastic, and the screen is smaller than the TV screen, but it does not affect the clarity of the font. The overall color of the Mac is attractive tones, not the frightening black and silver like Tondi machines. The company's operation manual makes it easy for customers to master the whole system software, which is a factor of initial success. In a word, the overall impression given by the above characteristics is that the Mac is a high-quality, low-cost and friendly computer in operation.
In order to obtain a large amount of funds needed for growth, Apple made its initial public offering in 1980 12 12. This is an unprecedented special situation on Wall Street. 4.6 million shares at $22 each, a total of * * * absorbed1.01.20 million dollars, and also created several nouveau riche, including Jobs 1.65 million dollars, Magula 1.54 million dollars and Woznik's $88 million. Locke, a famous venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, once again became the winner of gambling. In 1978, he bought 640,000 shares at 9 cents per share. In less than three years, he recovered140,000 USD with an investment of 57,600 USD. Rocco already has a reputation of turning stone into gold, which is another windfall for him.
After the start-up stage, if the new company is thriving, venture capitalists will help the new company "go public". The long-awaited harvest is about to come true, which is the most exciting moment for venture capitalists. On this day, the new company has determined its market value, and entrepreneurs may become explosive millionaires.
At this time, venture capitalists often pick up a full wallet and go home, and then choose a venture company to invest. If a venture capitalist only cares about this income and no longer cares about the startup company, then such a venture capitalist can also be called a venture capitalist. Generally speaking, most venture capitalists expect a bumper harvest of 10 times in five years. Of course, these expectations may not all be realized. If the new company fails, they may get nothing and suffer heavy losses. Generally, about 20 ~ 30% of new companies will close down soon, and the remaining 60 ~ 70% of new companies will be mediocre, and only 5% of companies like Apple and Rolm will become a climate. Venture capitalists say that there are few opportunities for high recycling except for high technologies such as microelectronics. So, if you have a business plan to make a better mousetrap, you don't have to bother these venture capitalists, unless it is an electronic mousetrap.
Venture capitalists are not only consultants to entrepreneurs, but also give advice on personnel, technology, enterprises and financial management. Venture capitalists are different from bankers and stock investors. They are closely related to startups. As Johnson said, "We not only roll the dice, but also blow hard. It's really hard. "
It is not difficult to find that entrepreneurs supported by venture capital can sum up some common characteristics: sincerity, courage to admit mistakes, improvisation, strong enterprising spirit, desire for success and excellent management and technical background. A venture capitalist once said: "For the real estate industry, the most important thing is location, location, and in venture capital, the most important thing is talent, talent and talent." Johnson, on the other hand, regards determination and enthusiasm as indicators to measure the success of an entrepreneur. He said, "I must see him resolutely walk to the edge of the cliff." Fan Luntai of Menlo Park Fund Management Service Company has the same view: "Even if you bring those self-righteous lunatics with IQ 140 to me, I will accept them all." Valentine has an eye for heroes. In the past 65,438+00 years, he invested 70 million US dollars and co-founded 40 companies, including Apple, Astri and Altos-Computer.
Venture capitalists claim to be gentle and knowledgeable businessmen, however, entrepreneurs simply think that they are narrow-minded and smelly. Venture capitalists are nicknamed "risk speculators" in Silicon Valley, and are portrayed as greedy and despicable vultures who love carrion, parasitic on the efforts of entrepreneurial engineers. Their purpose is to seize control of the company, even if they want to abandon the founder of the company. Because greedy speculators only want to make profits when the company's shares go public or change hands, it doesn't matter to them how long-term viability of the company is. Therefore, the goals of investors and entrepreneurs may be different, which will inevitably lead to some degree of conflict.
A newly established company will allocate its total capital into many shares according to a certain price per share. The agreement between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists is only the beginning of a series of future transactions. The first transaction is only the first round of financing. When the new company is young and needs more funds, the second round of negotiations begins. The new company requires to sell more shares at different prices (usually higher than the original price), and there may be a third and fourth round. Subsequent rounds of negotiations may still be aimed at the first round of venture capitalists, or there may be other newly joined venture capitalists. Because venture capitalists have mastered the funds, the new company is unable to negotiate with them, so it is not difficult to understand why entrepreneurs have complicated feelings for these investors.
After 1980, Apple Computer Company has developed into a worldwide company, with factories in Singapore, Ireland and Texas besides its headquarters in Silicon Valley. By 1983, Apple has 3,500 employees. It takes a lot of workers to assemble silicon chips on printed circuit boards, so Apple entrusts it to an assembly company, such as GTC in San Jose. 1976, Jobs entered the General Technology Company and signed a paper contract with Richard Olson, the general manager. Since then, General Technologies has started processing Apple's circuit boards. At that time, they had only 30 workers and could only install 100 circuit boards a day.
By 1983, General Technologies had 450 workers, most of whom were women, including blacks, Hispanics or other ethnic minorities. Starting from the lowest salary, they learn to insert chips with pins into circuit boards. This kind of work is boring and there is no chance of promotion. Every worker must sign the checklist after completing a circuit board, and then send the circuit board to test and correct every mistake. So the "guts" of another Apple computer were sent out of the factory. A circuit board may be sent to Apple's Singapore assembly plant, where the plastic case, keyboard and other components are assembled on an aluminum plate. There are only ten screws from beginning to end, which is a masterpiece carefully designed by Wozniak in 1976. By the beginning of 1983, China workers in Singapore, together with Irish, Texan and Silicon Valley workers, had assembled about 750,000 Apple computers, about 30% of which were sold outside the United States.
As long as you count suppliers, assembly plants, computer retail stores and, of course, users of Apple computers, you know that Apple will never decline.
1983 At the beginning, Jobs declared that Apple had created 300 millionaires. Jobs is certainly one of them. During the period of 1983, Jobs' rights and interests in Apple were worth $284 million. According to Forbes magazine (1982), among the top 400 richest people in the United States, 28-year-old Jobs is the youngest, which is not bad for a young man who started a company from a garage.
Jobs was rich and famous. On February 1982, Jobs appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Although he has bought a mansion in elegant Los Gatos, he is still wearing a familiar denim work shirt in the cover photo. Although he already owns a Mercedes-Benz car, he still likes riding a motorcycle to work.
Jobs said that when he was young, he thought that one person could not change the whole world because it was too big, too complicated and too powerful. But the recent experience of Apple Computer made him a little complacent. "You can poke on one side of the earth, but the society on the other side will have an impact." Jobs said. For many entrepreneurs, this influence is really one of the most attractive stimuli in life.
Once a person has tasted this sense of power to control the future, it is difficult to stop. 1983, Jobs presented an Apple computer to 10400 primary and secondary schools, many of which were worth tens of millions of dollars. However, due to tax cuts, Apple "only" spent 1 10,000 dollars. Jobs said that if he could persuade the federal government to give him tax exemption, he would send a computer to every school in the United States.
Jobs's speech is full of authoritative metaphors. For example, "Fast Semiconductor Company is like a mature dandelion", Jobs said. "You blow on it, and the seeds of the company will be scattered with the wind." In an interview, someone asked about the competition of Japanese microcomputers. "Their first wave came ashore like dead fish, and the second wave came this spring," Jobs said. "They will still go ashore like dead fish." For Jobs, the two main problems faced by Japanese computer companies are software and distribution networks, which are of course Apple's special advantages.
Why are Jobs and Wozniak so successful? Of course, most of them are lucky, and their growth in Silicon Valley is somewhat helpful. Wozniak is really a computer genius. Jobs' vitality enabled their microcomputer to establish a company, but other than that, I don't see anything special about the wealth of these two young people. Nowadays, fairy tales and the press make them look superhuman, but some people don't think so. Jobs and Wozniak are just two young people who happened to bump into the golden cave.
Apple's story contains the main factors of Silicon Valley's success story: entrepreneurial spirit and venture capital, but the involvement of venture capital is undoubtedly one of the important reasons for Apple's rapid rise.
Apple's successful entrepreneurial story is always talked about. Apple computer is always a symbol of perfection and Excellence, and venture capital always favors those who always pursue Excellence and create perfection.
1. The pioneering spirit represents the enterprisin