"Understood. I'm just doing so preliminary research and brushing up on things for myself." Takuya Nakayama stood up. "As for the organizational structure, I've already asked Hoshino to push forward with it. Once the proposal is ready, we'll bring it to the board for discussion."
After leaving the president's office, Takuya Nakayama let out a long sigh.
These past two months had been more monotonous than preparing for university entrance exams.
Every day consisted only of reading books, checking data, making phone calls to ask questions, and reporting back to the old man.
There were no neon-lit nights, no new ga launch events; even the new project proposals had all been handed over to Hisao Oguchi. On his desk, there were only endless tables and figures.
But he was very clear that this was the tempering he had to undergo to take the helm of Sega, this massive ship.
Only by thoroughly mastering these underlying business logics and financial rules could he remain invincible in future business wars.
Whether facing the relentless pressure from Sony or dealing with the impact of the Nasdaq storm, a healthy cash flow and a rigorous internal control system were the fundantal keys to Sega's survival.
He returned to his office, pulled out his chair and sat down, then reopened the book, "Modern Corporate Financial Managent."
While Takuya Nakayama was settling in and accumulating experience at Sega Headquarters, planning to improve the internal control standards of this massive machine, the computer industry on the other side of the ocean was facing a new storm.
August 1995. The sun on the US West Coast was as dazzling as ever.
In the cafes of Silicon Valley, young people were everywhere, talking about code and stocks.
The wealth-creation myth of Netscape's IPO was still stimulating the nerves of every programr.
The real giant had already begun to bare its fangs.
On August 16, Microsoft released an add-on software package called "Windows 95 Plus!" priced at $49.
Included within this add-on, which was less than 1MB in size, was a browser nad Internet Explorer 1.0.
Netscape's engineers took one look at this rudintary tool and dispersed with laughter.
This thing had to be purchased separately, its functionality was crude, and it even struggled to support the most basic table layouts.
In the face of the then-dominant Netscape browser, IE 1.0 didn't even count as a decent challenger.
Just eight days later, the situation changed dramatically.
August 24th.
At midnight, long lines ford in front of computer retail stores across the United States.
Consurs, wrapped in blankets and drinking hot coffee, waited patiently outside the stores.
They weren't queuing to buy a new sports car, nor were they waiting for concert tickets to see a rock star.
They were waiting for a system disc in a cardboard box.
Windows 95 was officially released.
Microsoft rented the lights of the Empire State Building, illuminating it in its iconic red, yellow, blue, and green colors.
They even bought the rights to the Rolling Stones' hit song "Start Up" to serve as the promotional the for the new operating system.
The sales figures shattered everyone's perception of the boundaries of what was possible.
On the first day of release, sales approached $720 million.
Within four days of hitting the market, shipnt volu exceeded 1 million copies.
This was more than just a software upgrade.
Compared to the previous Windows 3.1, the changes in Windows 95 were from the inside out.
It was no longer a graphical shell parasitic on the DOS system, but an independent and powerful operating system.
Geeks on tech forums were busy dissecting the new system.
Facing Netscape Navigator, which held a dominant market position at the ti, IE 1.0 didn't even count as a decent challenger.
Just eight days later, the situation changed dramatically.
It mixed 16-bit and 32-bit kernels and supported 32-bit applications natively.
Microsoft single-handedly ushered in the 32-bit era for mainstream PCs.
It blended 16-bit and 32-bit kernels and natively supported 32-bit applications.
The 32-bit era for mainstream PCs was ushered in by Microsoft itself.
What made ordinary users cheer even more was the "Plug and Play" technology.
In the past, installing a new sound card or network card required manually setting interrupt requests and mory addresses, sothing ordinary people simply couldn't handle.
Now, as long as the hardware driver was installed, the system could automatically recognize and configure the new hardware.
The user interface underwent a revolutionary reconstruction.
The "Start" nu and "Taskbar" made their debut.
All operations started from that small button in the bottom-left corner of the screen, intuitive and clear.
The introduction of the File Explorer put an end to the "8.3" naming convention of the DOS era, which was hostile to human users.
Support for file nas up to 255 characters long brought file managent back to common sense.
San Francisco, Silicon Valley Online headquarters.
Frank stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, watching passersby on the street below carrying Windows 95 boxes.
He turned back and pressed the speakerphone on his desk.
On the other end of the line was Takuya Nakayama in Tokyo.
Frank stood in front of the office's floor-to-ceiling window, watching the passersby on the street below carrying Windows 95 boxes.
He turned back and pressed the speakerphone button on his desk.
On the other end of the line was Takuya Nakayama in Tokyo.
"Boss, you really should have seen the line in front of Best Buy last night. People were going crazy." Frank added two sugar cubes to his coffee, "I just got a sales brief: one million copies in four days. It's selling faster than burgers."
"This was to be expected." The voice on the phone was calm, accompanied by the rustling of papers, "Has your technical departnt done compatibility tests on the new system?"
"Did them right away. Our client runs smoothly on Win 95; the 32-bit environnt significantly improves ga loading speeds. One thing worth noting," Frank pulled out a chair and sat down, "Microsoft has built in preliminary support for the Internet into the system. Configuring dial-up networking is much easier than before. This will greatly lower the barrier for ordinary people to get online."
"The more people online, the larger the user base for Silicon Valley Online." Takuya Nakayama paused for a mont, "What about that IE 1.0? Have you looked into it?"
Frank laughed: "We did, it's a complete ss.
Right now, it's only being sold in that $49 Plus pack; no one is going to shell out money for a piece of junk like that."
Frank laughed, "We studied it, and it's a complete ss. It's currently only sold in that $49 Plus package, and no one is going to pay for such a piece of junk. Over at Netscape, they don't take it seriously at all."
"Don't underestimate Bill Gates," Takuya Nakayama interrupted his laughter. "IE 1.0 is a half-finished product, that's true, but it validates Microsoft's determination to enter the browser market. Right now, it's sold separately, but once IE 2.0 or 3.0 cos out, Microsoft just needs to bundle it for free in the default installation package of Win95, and Netscape's paid business model will completely collapse."
It is worth noting that Microsoft built dial-up networking into Windows 95, a move viewed by many at the ti as an innovation for user convenience.
But from the perspective of industry competition, this was Bill Gates building a moat at the underlying level of the operating system.
Once users beca accustod to the network access thod provided by the system, bundling their own web applications subsequently beca a natural next step.
Netscape engineers mocked the crudeness of IE 1.0, yet they overlooked the monopolistic power of the distribution channel.
In the face of absolute channel dominance, technical superiority is often vulnerable and easily crushed.
Frank wiped the smile from his face.
He was a shrewd businessman and naturally understood what the dinsionality reduction attack of "free" against "paid" ant.
"Netscape's stock price is still climbing," Frank reported a figure, "Wall Street analysts are still hyping up this new era of the Internet."
"Execute the original plan. Identify the highs and sell off our Netscape shares in batches," Takuya Nakayama instructed. "Hold on tight to the cash we get in return. There's going to be an explosion in Internet users, and all sorts of startups will spring up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. With ample capital, we can pick the best prey during this wild growth phase."
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