Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Then the company will have no choice but to take out debt, Steve!"

Jobs' face instantly darkened. He hated it when people talked to him about money, especially when they threatened him with funding. In his view, great products were never made by saving money, but by investing and innovating regardless of cost.

The manager of Ross Fund smiled slightly, and the representative of Xiluo Company also leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief. They felt that Chen Dong, the largest shareholder, was on the same side as them.

A company's primary goal is to make a profit. As for innovation and creating groundbreaking products, those are just marketing gimmicks used to boost the stock price after the company and shareholders have made money.

Expecting these capitalists to invest in research and development regardless of cost is something only a naive fool like Steve Jobs would believe.

Jobs, seeing the smug smirks on the faces of the representatives from Ross Foundation and Silo Corporation, pressed his lips into a straight line, his eyes blazing with anger, and asked Chen Dong in a low voice, "So, Mr. Chen, you also think the M Computer project should be canceled?"

Chen Dong did not avoid Steve Jobs's sharp gaze. "Steve, whether or not to cancel the M computer project is not up to me. It depends on the current state of the company's operations."

The company's current funds can't support your money-burning approach. Your annual R&D budget is enough for IBM to develop three product lines. If you continue at this pace, Apple will go bankrupt before the M computer is even successful.

"If we don't have enough funds, then we'll raise more!" Steve Jobs' voice suddenly rose. "We're a technology company, not an investment bank. If a technology company has to be so careful with its R&D, then we shouldn't have started Apple in the first place!"

The two representatives from Roth Fund and Silo Corporation couldn't help but shake their heads and roll their eyes. The other directors present were also clearly dissatisfied with Jobs's speech. Sculley even rubbed his temples with a headache, his face full of helplessness.

Steve Jobs was notoriously stubborn. He acted like a tyrant when it came to projects he was in charge of, demanding that the company revolve around him. Every meeting was always a huge argument that ended in discord.

At this moment, Steve Jobs was still in a state of excitement. Chen Dong did not continue to speak to refute him, but waited until he calmed down a bit before saying, "Steve, I completely understand how you feel right now, and I also acknowledge your dedication to the project you are in charge of. I also hope that the company can achieve success in both projects at the same time."

"Then you should support me, Tony," Jobs said, leaning on the conference table. "I've already explained to Moni why I want to focus on developing the M computer, and I'm sure she's told you as well."

"Steve," Chen Dong said loudly, "you want to continue developing the M computer, but the prerequisite is that the company must survive and the shareholders' investments must yield returns. You say you want to continue raising funds, but what fund or investor would invest in a company whose sales are declining by 30% every quarter and whose internal products are in disarray and dragging each other down!"

Steve Jobs fell silent, crossing his arms in a show of resistance. Chen Dong's words had indeed revealed the difficulties Apple was facing in raising funds, and he had no way to refute them.

Chen Dong continued, "Steve, I'm not trying to deny the value of the M computer. On the contrary, I think you're on the right track. The future of personal computers will definitely be for the masses, inexpensive, and affordable for everyone."

"But the problem is, now is not the time for the widespread adoption of personal computers."

Steve Jobs, puzzled, pressed on, "Why do you say that?"

"Because the market isn't ready yet," Chen Dong said. "Consumers haven't developed the habit of buying personal computers. Neither the hardware nor the software is mature at all. In my eyes, there's no fundamental difference between an L-series computer and an M-series computer..."

"No, the difference is huge," Jobs hurriedly interrupted Chen Dong, and began to give Chen Dong and the directors present a long explanation of the differences between L computers and M computers.

But Chen Dong and the directors present didn't care at all about the differences between memory and hard drives that Steve Jobs mentioned; it was meaningless because the company was still experiencing declining sales at that moment.

"Steve," Sculley had to interrupt Jobs's rambling explanation, because the board members looked furious because of Jobs. Jobs stopped speaking, and the executive manager of Xiluo Corporation frowned and said, "Gentlemen, my suggestion is to choose one of the L and M computers to eliminate. The company should cut its losses in time!"

"agree!"

"Yes, we can't keep losing money; it's pointless!"

"I think we should cancel the M computer project," a board member said bluntly again in front of Jobs. "The company doesn't need to support so many researchers; we should streamline operations."

Jobs clenched his fists, about to explode, when Chen Dong tapped his fingers on the conference table, drawing everyone's attention. He then said loudly, "My suggestion is to suspend the further development of the L computer, focus all our efforts on the M computer, and, following Steve's ideas, promote the widespread adoption of personal computers."

"At the same time, we transferred the relevant personnel from the L computer project to the M computer project, and invested a limited amount in the subsequent development of the software. We will focus on volume to counter IBM's encirclement and suppression of us."

Many directors immediately shook their heads, puzzled as to why Chen Dong would cut off Apple's revenue lifeline, the L computer project. The company wasn't making money to begin with, and now he was cutting off a project that could make money. It seemed like he was even more stubborn and crazy than Steve Jobs.

"I'm very puzzled, Mr. Chen," the representative from the Ross Foundation began. "The L computer is the company's flagship product, while the M computer is such a cheap product that it has low sales volume and requires a large investment. Why focus on developing the M computer?"

"Have you ever heard the story of Tian Ji's horse race in China?" Seeing that they all shook their heads, Chen Dong gave them a simple explanation of the story. "Our L computer's competition with IBM in the enterprise computer market is like using our medium-sized horse to race against IBM's top-class horse. No matter how hard we whip the horse's rump, we can never catch up with IBM's top-class horse."

"So, Mr. Chen, you mean to use the M computer, this inferior horse, to compete with IBM?"

Chen Dong glanced at the eccentric executive manager of Xiluo Company and said with a smile, "You need to change your thinking. Since we can't outrun them on this track, why should we even try to keep up?"

"But Mr. Chen, as you said before, it's not the time for personal computers to become widespread yet, as neither the hardware nor the software is fully mature."