Chapter 103: The Fortunate Recluse

When they came knocking at the door, there was no way to avoid them.

Su Mu tentatively asked George, “Who is he?”

“Michael Dell, a student at the University of Texas at Austin Medical School. He recently dropped out and is now fully focused on selling computers,” George replied.

Su Mu didn’t know what to worry about and thought it was just a casual inquiry. “I just met him through a friend. He seems to have a good personality. Later, I’ll ask him more about how to sell computers; it might help your ‘business’,” George said, emphasizing the word ‘business.’

Su Mu and Li Ping’an were constantly thinking about how to sell computers, and George and Li Zhekai were already aware of this. Student entrepreneurship was common in America; there was no need for a fuss.

Well, here was another student who dropped out of college. It was only because opportunities in this era were so abundant that even Su Mu sometimes felt the urge to quit school. Everywhere he looked, there were vast untapped markets, and even with his mediocre sales skills, he managed to make a considerable amount of money in just two days.

No one wanted to miss an opportunity. Studying while doing business was one thing, but devoting oneself entirely to business was another. Education could always be resumed, but entrepreneurial opportunities, once missed, were gone for good.

The Penguin Company’s business hadn’t yet reached the point of forcing Su Mu to drop out, but it had certainly distracted him, preventing him from fully focusing on the SAT exam preparation.

Only then did Su Mu relax. From George’s words, he guessed that the guy named Dell was likely only in his late teens or early twenties. Those programming training class owners were willing to buy computers from him without any theft or deceit, so there was no need to worry.

“I understand, thank you,” Su Mu said as he went downstairs, his eyes falling on the unfamiliar young man sitting on the living room sofa—fair-skinned and plump, looking refined and harmless.

Considering the recent years when many introverted nerds found success, even Wall Street’s financial tycoons began paying attention to them, as if the era of the nerds’ resurgence had arrived, where a single startup could be worth tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Su Mu met Michael Dell, and Dell saw Su Mu. Dell stood up, extended his hand with a smile, and said, “Hello, I’m Michael Dell. You can call me Michael or Dell. I’ve already heard about your computer sales to training classes. Well done!”

Shaking hands with Dell, Su Mu wondered why he had come to see him. Politely, he replied, “Thanks, my little business isn’t much. I just work part-time during vacations to earn some pocket money.”

They didn’t know each other; George had introduced them.

After getting a little acquainted, Su Mu went to his room to shower, as he had a date that evening. Dell had just started an internship at IBM and had successfully wooed a receptionist who worked for one of his supervisors. Lately, he often stayed on the phone until late at night.

...

Outside, loud noises could be heard from the living room.

Dell curiously asked, “I saw people in the garage earlier. What are they doing?”

James seemed to have argued with Li Zhekai; it wasn’t the first time. Calmly, Su Mu said, “They’re developing a software program, office software—I don’t know the details.”

“Cool! Can I come take a look?”

“I advise you not to. Those two partners have been in a bad mood recently…”

From George, Su Mu had learned about the scale of this competitor’s business. In just over half a year, Dell had already earned over a million dollars. Initially, Su Mu thought he was a cool, sharp businessman, but now he seemed more like a chubby, naive homebody.

A few minutes ago, Su Mu had tentatively asked Dell how he expanded his market.

Dell replied that he advertised in the newspaper and reduced the computer’s profit margin by ten to fifteen percent, so customers would call him directly to buy.

With a look of certainty on his face, Dell’s business approach made Su Mu believe him. Reflecting on it, he realized that personal computers were not yet widely owned in Silicon Valley, let alone other parts of the United States.

Slightly lowering the price could indeed attract customers eager to try new things. Unlike Silicon Valley, where there were too many competitors fighting for customers, other regions had fewer suppliers.

Thinking about how he had barely scraped together over ten thousand dollars by bluffing, while Dell could sit at home and wait for customers to come knocking with money, Su Mu found it understandable. He also planned to try advertising in newspapers.

Pushing his glasses up, Dell decisively abandoned the idea of visiting and changed the subject. “Wow, coming to Silicon Valley, I realize how fast technology advances. Can you believe there are now solid-state drives with a capacity of 50 megabytes? That can store hundreds of files!”

“This trip to Silicon Valley was the right choice. Everyone here is starting businesses, even you and your roommates are launching startups in garages. I have to work harder. I’m going to buy a full-page ad in the newspaper. I’m leaving tomorrow—I’ve already bought my plane ticket.”

In this era, there weren’t many young people selling personal computers, which probably explained why Dell came looking for Su Mu.

It was easier for peers to find common ground. According to Dell, he was the only one in Houston selling computers alone, and there weren’t many computer advertisements in the Silicon Valley papers.

“Good luck,” Su Mu said. “I’m planning to bring a batch of personal computers back to Los Angeles and try advertising in newspapers. You have your Dell computers. The Penguin Company might soon establish a brand for me and my friends. Buying directly from IBM is too expensive; buying components on the market lowers costs.”

Dell sighed and stood up, grabbing his briefcase. Though freshly out of school, he wore a suit and tie, which looked odd on him. “I envy you. Your company is in Silicon Valley, but I have to pay shipping fees for components. My computer prices are higher. You develop in California, I develop in Texas. Let’s hope we can each capture the entire market of our states!”

The thought of dominating the market for an entire large state made Su Mu smile. He stood up and asked, “Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m going to a bar with George later. Too bad you’re not old enough—California’s drinking laws are much stricter than ours—so we won’t bring you. You have school tomorrow, right?”

“Tomorrow’s Thursday. Alright then, let’s keep in touch…”

They only had a brief chat on their first meeting.

Their markets were in different regions, so there was no conflict of interest. They merely discussed costs, pricing, and how business was going. Dell treated Su Mu like a kid, but he was only three years older.

Soon after George came downstairs, the two left in a car.

No matter what, Su Mu couldn’t have imagined that the Michael Dell he met tonight would become his greatest competitor in the computer retail industry in the future…