There is such a Chinese, Bill Gates said: If he can complete the strategic transformation, there may be no Microsoft in the world!
The boss of the world's computer giant IBM was stunned by his power! The legendary CEO of Intel is just a junior in front of him! He also solved world-wide problems in the history of computer development, bringing computers from the scientific research field into the commercial field! But maybe it was this Chinese who ruined China's only chance to overtake in the world's computer field!
You may have never heard of this Chinese name, his name is Wang An!
But for such an awesome Chinese, he was rejected once when he first arrived in the United States. "IBM is the best company in the United States. This place is not suitable for you. You should try finding an auto repair shop." The 25-year-old has never suffered such humiliation.
Look at the past events of celebrities at home and abroad in ancient and modern times, and look for the historical legacy. Hello everyone, here is the list of world celebrities!
Wang An was born in Shanghai on February 7, 1920, and his ancestral home is Kunshan, Jiangsu. He was admitted to Jiaotong University at the age of 16, and studied radio equipment at the age of 20 to support the Anti-Japanese War. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he was obsessed with wireless communication technology and was sent to the United States to further his studies at Harvard University.
He grew up surrounded by praise until the IBM interviewer hit him with a stick.
Once China’s genius boy and America’s computer king, 25-year-old Wang An stepped off a mail ship from China in 1945! Set foot on the West Coast of the United States! At this time, no American would have thought that this gentle step would soon shock the entire American technology world!
After Wang An was successfully admitted to Harvard University! I got all A’s in my first semester classes! This shocked the professors at Harvard University! I thought: How could there be such a scary person? At this time, the young Wang An was naturally high-spirited. But what? Wang An, who achieved these results, still couldn't avoid suffering a major insult in his life! At the beginning of the second semester, in order to work and study, Wang An, who was proud of his talent, chose to interview with IBM, the largest computer company in the world at the time!
Unexpectedly, the IBM interviewer looked yellow and said disdainfully: IBM is the best company in the United States. You'd better go find a car repair shop and try it! Then he turned around and left!
This kind of discrimination made Wang An, who had never suffered such an insult, suddenly bewildered. Looking at the departing figure, his fingers started to tremble! After a few minutes of silence, Wang An left! At this time, he had only one goal in mind, which was to prove to the Americans that the Chinese were not only good at washing dishes and being waiters, but could also make great achievements in the field of science and technology! Perhaps it was because of this anger that Wang An began to conquer Harvard University! Through hard work, Wang An "earned" a high scholarship from Harvard, and obtained two master's and doctoral degrees in applied physics in just three years! Therefore, I was lucky enough to join the Harvard Computer Laboratory as a non-staff member!
At this time, he came to the side of Howard Aiken, the inventor of the world's first large-scale computer and the father of computers! But when Wang An came to the laboratory, reality poured cold water on him again! The other party only asked him to do some odd jobs. Wang An, who had always been arrogant and arrogant, didn't know where to put his hands. He decided in his heart: If others don't give him a chance, then I will fight for the chance myself!
At that time, Howard Aiken was troubled by the fact that the punch card machine used for computer storage weighed dozens of tons and could only be installed outside the computer. He hopes to miniaturize the computer by shrinking the storage system! At this time, Wang An, who was working nearby, felt that an opportunity had come! Suddenly an idea flashed in his head and he shouted: Hey, I understand! Finally, he based on the principle of magnetic field vibration! He successfully invented a magnetic core memory that could be installed in a computer. At that time, Wang An solved this world-wide problem within 20 days of joining the laboratory.
His invention changed the history of the computer industry. It greatly reduces the size of the computer and moves the computer from scientific research into commercial use.
Now Howard Aiken knew he had found a treasure! Thinking of the previous neglect, he quickly added benefits and increased his annual salary by US$5,400! At that time, the annual per capita income in the United States was only over 2,000 US dollars! And this time the choice of the genius Wang An was once again unexpected. He rejected the recruitment of Harvard masters. He needs a place where he can be more easily seen to show his talents! However, this also makes Harvard prides unable to understand! I think Wang An is either stingy or crazy!
In 1951, a high-spirited Wang An left Harvard with a total net worth of $600 in his pocket! It starts with a person, a table, a chair, a telephone and an invention in his mind in a damp and cramped basement at 296 Columbus Avenue in the United States! Wang An Laboratory was founded, and its product is a new type of memory! The magnetic core memories are sold for $4 each.
Although the starting conditions are very difficult, Wang An has already envisioned that the product will be popular after it is released! But this expectation was quickly dashed! After the product came out, the sales were not good. He found that the performance of the new product was very good, but it was also prone to instability! Between risk and stability, more people will choose the latter! The house was leaking and it rained all night. IBM, which had humiliated me for the first time in my life, came back to fix it again!
That day, when the despairing Wang An was lying on the table in a daze, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Wang An, who thought a customer was coming, suddenly stood up and rushed to the door. He stopped again, pulled his clothes first, and then nervously opened the door! It turned out to be a representative from IBM! IBM wants to buy the patent for this product from Wang An, offering $400,000! You know, the market price quoted by Wang An is almost 5 million US dollars! The initial insult was still vivid in my mind at this moment, and now it was clear that I was taking advantage of the situation! How will Wang An choose? Not selling? Entrepreneurship projects must die! In 1955, the genius Wang An still bowed his head to reality and obediently handed over his patent in exchange for US$400,000 in entrepreneurial funds! IBM walks away arrogantly again! Wang An, who was left trembling and with broken teeth, became the background of IBM's departure! But is it so easy to take advantage of genius?
IBM soon regretted this behavior! With 400,000 US dollars in hand, Wang An turned around and upgraded his laboratory into a company, focusing on research and development! He is busier than ever and doesn't even have time to wash his clothes! Just pick a relatively clean one among several shirts and wear it every time! With such efforts, Wang An's inventions have been launched one after another! Including paper hole recorders, automatic typewriters, radio typewriters, etc...
In 1964, the world's first commercial computer Lose was born in the hands of Chinese Wang An! Compact in size, easy to operate and powerful in function! It was a hit as soon as it came out! Sales that year exceeded one million US dollars, and in 1967 they reached 6.9 million US dollars! Facing such a hot market, should Wang An finally breathe a sigh of relief? Too bad he didn't! He is even more short of money!
At this time, Wang An only thinks about inventions and creations. There is no budget in the company. The heads of each department can spend as much money as they want! Uncontrolled investment in R&D made Wang An Company unable to make ends meet! The dark horse, who was looking at a prosperous situation, was staggering and might fall to his death at any time! In desperation, he could only go public to raise money. In the past, Wang An was determined not to go public in order to maintain control of the company. Now he can only issue stocks to raise money! But this time fate was finally willing to give Wang An a heavy reward!
In 1967, Wang An decided to issue US$2.5 million in shares to repay debts. He did not expect that this last resort would be wildly pursued by Wall Street.
When the company went public, the issue price of the stock was US$12.5. At the close of the day, it climbed to US$40.5, and 400,000 shares were snapped up. Overnight, Wang An's net worth increased by US$50 million, making him a super rich man!
In November 1971, Wang An launched the 1200 computer, which was a typewriter with search and editing functions and was much easier to use than the original IBM product.
It is said that Thomas Watson Jr., the chairman of IBM at the time, was so frightened that he fainted after hearing the news.
The 1200 computer made Watson very uneasy, and Wang An's next work made IBM panic. Based on the 1200 model, Wang An quickly launched a revolutionary product, the WPS processor.
Later, from the White House to enterprises, WPS fully took over IBM's territory. That year, Wang An's company's turnover exceeded US$100 million.
After dominating the U.S. office market, Wangan Computer began its global strategy and entered more than 100 countries and regions.
After that, Wang An Company continued to play good cards! Especially in 1973, Wang An's new 2200 word processor was launched and became popular throughout the United States! He brought word processors into the era of screens! Just like the mobile phone changed from buttons to touch screen!
At this time, there are still 2 years until Bill Gates founded Microsoft, and 3 years until Steve Jobs founded Apple!
At one time, IBM was the undisputed dominant player in this market, accounting for 80% of the market share! And now Wang An Company has become the largest word processing system supplier in the world! Moreover, at the Super Bowl, the largest sports event in the United States, Wang An Company directly advertised, "We are eating IBM"! ! ! ! Wang An paid back the grievances and insults he had suffered one by one with his own hands! Countless Americans cannot understand that these epoch-making products were actually made by a Chinese! Wang An finally fulfilled the vow he made when he left IBM!
In 1984, Wang An ushered in the peak of his wealth. In this year, he was listed in Forbes magazine, ranked fifth among the world's richest people, and became the richest Chinese in the world!
In the same year, across the ocean in China, 40-year-old Liu Chuanzhi just founded Lenovo in Zhongguancun! Cao Dewang just discovered the car glass business! 10-year-old Liu Qiangdong still dreams of becoming a village chief! Twenty-year-old Ma Yun has just been admitted to Hangzhou Normal University to enter the university!
Also in the same year, the American Electronics Association awarded Wang An the "Highest Honor Achievement Award in Electronics and Information Technology."
In 1986, Wang An defeated IBM and signed a super order of US$480 million from the US Air Force. This is the most glorious year in Wang An's life.
In the same year, Wangan Company reached its peak period, with annual revenue reaching US$3 billion. The company ranked 146th among the 500 largest companies in the United States, employing 31,500 employees around the world. Wang An himself is among the top ten richest people in the United States with a personal wealth of US$2 billion.
On July 4, he accepted the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" from President Reagan. The only Chinese who have won this medal are Wang An, architect I.M. Pei (won in 1993) and cellist Yo-Yo Ma (won in 2011). In October 1986, when our chief designer met Wang An at the Great Hall of the People, he held his hand and said appreciatively: "You are very famous in the United States, and now you have a big business. You have worked hard for this!".
He was selected into the American Inventors Hall of Fame as an inventor, sharing the honor with Thomas Edison; he landed on the rich list as a capitalist, and is as famous as century-old giants like Rockefeller.
From 1951 to 1986, Wang An continued to invent and innovate, launching more than 30 scientific and technological achievements. At the same time, he holds 10 doctorates awarded by 10 universities in the United States.
However, it flourished but declined. When he was prosperous, two changes occurred in the market: One change was the emergence of Apple. The second change was that Intel made a breakthrough and launched personal chips.
Also in the same year, the genius Wang An faced the unsolvable problem of his life. He was diagnosed with cancer! In the past, Wang An chose to be incompatible out of his obsession to "defeat IBM", which was equivalent to fighting the entire trend on his own. As a result, Wang An Computer was excluded from various networks. Because the era of PC has arrived.
However, the personal computers launched by Wang An Company were incompatible with IBM products in all aspects, while Microsoft, which was still in its infancy, sized up the situation and made both software and hardware compatible with IBM.
The crisis of Wang An Computer, which is not compatible with the industry, being marginalized by the market is also beginning to appear! ! It was this wrong step that gave Microsoft a chance to survive! Later, he met with Microsoft's Bill Gates and Intel's Andy Grove, hoping that they would leave IBM and join forces with him, but they both ended in failure.
Later, he made the mistake of insisting on family management, which completely sunk the giant ship of Wang An Computer.
Also in 1986, Wang An retired. The board of directors repeatedly persuaded him to appoint experienced professional managers, but Wang An ignored the opposition of his superiors and made his 36-year-old eldest son Wang Lie the president of the company, and arranged for his youngest son to be the president of Wang An Communication Company. This greatly disappointed the company, and many subordinates chose leave.
If Wang An can wake up at this time, then Wang An's company will definitely become clear. Unfortunately, he relied on nepotism and blindly let his eldest son succeed him. This second president was mediocre in talent and had no special skills. Not only could he not make up for past mistakes, but he also made the company worse and worse.
Less than two years after Wang Lie took over, Wang An Computer turned a profit into a loss, with losses as high as 424 million! In order to improve his financial situation, Wang Lie raised the software fee from US$1,000 to US$5,000, and also charged expensive technical consulting fees to downstream sales companies. Faint recruitment occurs frequently, and the company loses a large number of elite talents! Seeing that the company's plate collapsed in his son's hands, Wang An was dying at that time, and the company's leaders went to Wang An's home to force him to have his wife! Wang An, who had just finished the operation, looked at this scene! Tears oozed from the corners of my eyes! He painfully destroyed his own son with his own hands!
In 1990, Wang An passed away! ! ! ! (A legendary star fell like this!)
In 1992, two years after Wang An’s death, Wang An Company declared bankruptcy. From then on, there were no more Wang An and Wang An computers in the world!
In the year he died, Lenovo launched its first self-branded computer!
And 15 years later, Lenovo officially acquired Wang An’s lifelong rival, the IBM Personal Computer Division! This may be a kind of providence from somewhere!
As "Business Weekly" commented: "I rose alone, and I should fall alone."
Harvard Business School included his case in the textbook to study why he failed.
In May 1999, Wang An Company was announced to be acquired by Getronics NV, a Dutch computer services company, for US$2 billion.
The vast majority of public opinion in the United States regards Wang's succession issue as a "fatal injury" and deviates from the common approach of modern enterprises of "expert group control and hiring of talented people for management."
Receive information steadily and continuously. Sometimes if you miss an opportunity, you will miss an era. If you miss an era, it means you will be eliminated in the future. This is the key to the problem.
Bill Gates once said that if Wang An could complete his second strategic turn, there might not be Microsoft in the world, and he would not become a technology idol, but a teacher or a lawyer.
Hypotheses are just assumptions. The legend of a generation has come to an end.
Looking back at the life of the genius Wang An, he and the company he founded disappeared like a meteor in the sky of the world! ! Nowadays, China's computer IT industry is always facing the monopoly of the West! If Wang An, the genius of that year, could study and return to China, what would China's computer industry be like? Can it crush Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other American world giants?