Mike Markkula

邁克馬庫(kù)拉

All of this required money. “The tooling of this plastic case was going to cost, like, $100,000,” Jobs said. “Just to get this whole thing into production was going to be, like, $200,000.” He went back to Nolan Bushnell, this time to get him to put in some money and take a minority equity stake. “He asked me if I would put $50,000 in and he would give me a third of the company,” said Bushnell. “I was so smart, I said no. It’s kind of fun to think about that, when I’m not crying.”

這一切都需要用錢(qián)?！八芰舷渥拥募庸ひㄙM(fèi)大概10萬(wàn)美元，”喬布斯說(shuō)，“實(shí)現(xiàn)量產(chǎn)需要差不多20萬(wàn)美元?！彼只厝フ抑Z蘭·布什內(nèi)爾，想讓他投資一筆錢(qián)，換取小部分股權(quán)。“他問(wèn)我能不能投人5萬(wàn)美元，他會(huì)把公司1/3的股權(quán)給我，”布什內(nèi)爾說(shuō)，“我當(dāng)時(shí)自認(rèn)為很聰明，拒絕了他?，F(xiàn)在想想這件事，覺(jué)得挺有意思的，當(dāng)然更多的是欲哭無(wú)淚的感覺(jué)?！?/span>

Bushnell suggested that Jobs try Don Valentine, a straight-shooting former marketing manager at National Semiconductor who had founded Sequoia Capital, a pioneering venture capital firm. Valentine arrived at the Jobses’ garage in a Mercedes wearing a blue suit, button-down shirt, and rep tie. His first impression was that Jobs looked and smelled odd. “Steve was trying to be the embodiment of the counterculture. He had a wispy beard, was very thin, and looked like Ho Chi Minh.”

布什內(nèi)爾建議喬布斯去找唐·瓦倫丁（DonValentine）試試。唐是個(gè)心直口快的人，曾在國(guó)家半導(dǎo)體公司任營(yíng)銷(xiāo)經(jīng)理，后來(lái)創(chuàng)辦了風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資界的先驅(qū)企業(yè)——紅杉資本。瓦倫丁開(kāi)著奔馳來(lái)到了喬布斯家的車(chē)庫(kù)，穿著藍(lán)色西裝和系領(lǐng)扣的襯衫，打著棱紋領(lǐng)帶。布什內(nèi)爾回憶說(shuō)，瓦倫丁后來(lái)給他打電話，半開(kāi)玩笑半嚴(yán)肅地問(wèn)：“你為什么要讓我去見(jiàn)那些連人類都算不上的怪胎？”瓦倫丁說(shuō)不記得是否說(shuō)過(guò)這樣的一句話了，但他承認(rèn)自己當(dāng)時(shí)覺(jué)得喬布斯的樣子和身上的氣味都很怪異?！澳菚r(shí)候史蒂夫努力要成為反主流文化的化身，”瓦倫丁回憶說(shuō)，“他留著一撮胡子，非常消痩，看上去就像胡志明。”

Valentine, however, did not become a preeminent Silicon Valley investor by relying on surface appearances. What bothered him more was that Jobs knew nothing about marketing and seemed content to peddle his product to individual stores one by one. “If you want me to finance you,” Valentine told him, “you need to have one person as a partner who understands marketing and distribution and can write a business plan.” Jobs tended to be either bristly or solicitous when older people offered him advice. With Valentine he was the latter. “Send me three suggestions,” he replied. Valentine did, Jobs met them, and he clicked with one of them, a man named Mike Markkula, who would end up playing a critical role at Apple for the next two decades.

當(dāng)然，如果僅僅以貌取人，瓦倫丁也不可能成為硅谷的頂尖投資者。讓他煩惱的是，喬布斯對(duì)市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)一竅不通,而且滿足于到各個(gè)電子商店挨家叫賣(mài)這種銷(xiāo)售模式。“如果你想要我給你投資的話，”瓦倫丁告訴他，“你必須找一個(gè)合作伙伴，這個(gè)人要了解銷(xiāo)售，還要能寫(xiě)商業(yè)計(jì)劃書(shū)。”當(dāng)有長(zhǎng)者給喬布斯建議的時(shí)候，他有時(shí)候會(huì)憤怒，有時(shí)候則又顯得很熱切，在瓦倫丁這兒，他表現(xiàn)出的是后者?！敖o我三個(gè)推薦人選吧?！彼貜?fù)說(shuō)。瓦倫丁照做了，喬布斯見(jiàn)了這三個(gè)人，并與其中一個(gè)一拍即合——這個(gè)人叫邁克·馬庫(kù)拉，他在蘋(píng)果公司未來(lái)20年的發(fā)展中，扮演了關(guān)鍵的角色。

Markkula was only thirty-three, but he had already retired after working at Fairchild and then Intel, where he made millions on his stock options when the chip maker went public. He was a cautious and shrewd man, with the precise moves of someone who had been a gymnast in high school, and he excelled at figuring out pricing strategies, distribution networks, marketing, and finance. Despite being slightly reserved, he had a flashy side when it came to enjoying his newly minted wealth. He built himself a house in Lake Tahoe and later an outsize mansion in the hills of Woodside. When he showed up for his first meeting at Jobs’s garage, he was driving not a dark Mercedes like Valentine, but a highly polished gold Corvette convertible. “When I arrived at the garage, Woz was at the workbench and immediately began showing off the Apple II,” Markkula recalled. “I looked past the fact that both guys needed a haircut and was amazed by what I saw on that workbench. You can always get a haircut.”

馬庫(kù)拉當(dāng)時(shí)才33歲，但已經(jīng)處于退休狀態(tài)，之前他先后供職于仙童公司和英特爾，后者上市之后，他憑著股票期權(quán)賺了幾百萬(wàn)。他是個(gè)謹(jǐn)慎而又精明的人，作為髙中時(shí)期的體操運(yùn)動(dòng)員，每一步行動(dòng)都力求精準(zhǔn)，同時(shí)他還精于定價(jià)策略、銷(xiāo)售網(wǎng)絡(luò)、市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)以及財(cái)務(wù)。在享受自己新賺來(lái)的財(cái)富時(shí)，盡管已經(jīng)有所克制，但還是顯得極盡奢華。他先是在太浩湖邊給自己建了一座房子，之后又在伍德賽德的山區(qū)建了一座超大豪宅。他第一次去喬布斯的車(chē)庫(kù)與其會(huì)面時(shí)，沒(méi)有像瓦倫丁那樣開(kāi)深色奔馳，而是開(kāi)著一輛锃亮的金色克爾維特（Corvette）敞篷車(chē)。“我到車(chē)庫(kù)的時(shí)候，沃茲就在工作臺(tái)邊，他立刻就開(kāi)始展示AppleII，”馬庫(kù)拉回憶說(shuō)，“我沒(méi)有太關(guān)心他們兩個(gè)的長(zhǎng)頭發(fā)，而是被桌上的東西吸引了。頭發(fā)什么時(shí)候都可以剪嘛?！?/span>

Jobs immediately liked Markkula. “He was short and he had been passed over for the top marketing job at Intel, which I suspect made him want to prove himself.” He also struck Jobs as decent and fair. “You could tell that if he could screw you, he wouldn’t. He had a real moral sense to him.” Wozniak was equally impressed. “I thought he was the nicest person ever,” he recalled. “Better still, he actually liked what we had!”

喬布斯立刻就喜歡上了馬庫(kù)拉。“他個(gè)子不髙，在英特爾的時(shí)候?qū)で髸x升市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)的最髙職位遭遇過(guò)失敗，我覺(jué)得這些都讓他很想要證明自己?！彼恼焙凸步o喬布斯留下了深刻的印象：“你可以看得出來(lái)，即便他有能力騙你，他也不會(huì)那么做。他有很強(qiáng)的道德意識(shí)?！蔽制澞醽喛艘矊?duì)他印象頗佳?！拔矣X(jué)得他是世界上最好的人，”他說(shuō)，“更棒的是，他真的很喜歡我們的產(chǎn)品！”

Markkula proposed to Jobs that they write a business plan together. “If it comes out well, I’ll invest,” Markkula said, “and if not, you’ve got a few weeks of my time for free.” Jobs began going to Markkula’s house in the evenings, kicking around projections and talking through the night. “We made a lot of assumptions, such as about how many houses would have a personal computer, and there were nights we were up until 4 a.m.,” Jobs recalled. Markkula ended up writing most of the plan. “Steve would say, ‘I will bring you this section next time,’ but he usually didn’t deliver on time, so I ended up doing it.”

馬庫(kù)拉向喬布斯提議一起撰寫(xiě)商業(yè)計(jì)劃書(shū)。“如果計(jì)劃出的結(jié)果很好，那我就投資，”馬庫(kù)拉說(shuō)，“如果不好的話，你也免費(fèi)得到了我好幾個(gè)星期的時(shí)間。”喬布斯開(kāi)始在晚上拜訪馬庫(kù)拉家，考慮各種方案，整夜整夜地談話?！拔覀冏髁撕芏嘣O(shè)想，比如有多少家庭會(huì)擁有個(gè)人電腦，好幾個(gè)晚上我們都工作到凌晨4點(diǎn)?！眴滩妓够貞浾f(shuō)。最終，大部分的計(jì)劃書(shū)是由馬庫(kù)拉完成的?！笆返俜驎?huì)說(shuō)，我下次把這一部分帶給你，但他一般都不能準(zhǔn)時(shí)完成，所以只好我來(lái)做。”