[Chapter 881: Quietly Moving Forward]
"Hive? Tom, do you have any idea how massive this plan is? If it all comes together, it would be more outrageous than your boss's rocket propulsion company."
"Jeff, our boss often says, 'Oh no, I'm only left with money; what am I to do?'"
"Ha, okay, okay, I guess your boss really doesn't lack cash. I just didn't expect it to be to this extent."
"Well, you could view it as a performance art. If it's about investing, buying into Walmart and Costco would be the smart play, especially Walmart, which has no real competitors in the warehouse retail space."
Jeff Bezos was at a loss for words; believe it or not, William White might actually say something like that. To be fair, he was just in his thirties, not exactly youthful exuberance, but he did have a bit of an arrogant disposition.
"Alright, Tom, while this isn't helping me right now, it might come in handy down the line." In truth, Jeff Bezos had also thought about bringing this logistics company under his wing. Unfortunately, despite the good ideas, he didn't have that much cash flow.
William White was very clear that this venture was not particularly profitable. If Jeff wanted to invest, he was always welcome to join.
The billionaire was not into real estate; he was all about warehousing. When this piece of news broke, the Wall Street Journal found itself in a slightly awkward position.
At the editorial desk, they might have wondered about what property if he couldn't even see through this basic concept, what good would he be as the chief of a financial media outlet?
They knew it, but they had to carry on. After all, they had experts to take the fall, and that wasn't their concern. Furthermore, in the readers' and investors' eyes, a warehousing company was just a minor investment--not much to care about.
"Professor Owen, look, I plan to set up a main warehouse on both coasts. Then, I'll establish secondary warehouses in every state, and once we hit cities, there will be tertiary warehouses, followed by various satellite warehouses."
"William, are you planning to rebuild the American postal system?" Professor Owen Jacobs, having just snagged a couple of boxes of Cuban cigars, was quite pleased and didn't mind teasing William White a bit.
"Don't joke around. This logistics situation is giving me a headache. Right now, the postal service is barely holding on with our current sales. At 100% growth each year, in less than three years, their system could collapse."
William White had a pained expression; to him, it was hardly just 100%. Within three years, the group that frequently shopped online could very well surpass five million.
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated? Amazon is just getting started, and the shopping experience isn't that great. The book I ordered a week ago, I have no idea where it is now."
"So, if we can't enhance the shopping experience, more customers just become a headache. You see, every package has a barcode, and all packages will be sorted at the main warehouse. Every truck needs to be equipped with GPS; theoretically, you could check the location of your package online."
Professor Owen Jacobs was momentarily stunned; that idea was, indeed, pretty cool. If it could really be achieved, online shopping might just have its explosive phase.
"Still not reasonable. There's no 7-11 near my home; if I have to walk several blocks, I might as well go to a bookstore."
"Ten years, in ten years, the U.S. will have at least ten thousand 7-11s. Besides, if you don't need something immediately, can't you take another transportation method?"
"Good grief, what company would allow such GPS usage? At least a thousand vehicles, right?"
"Those things aren't the issue. GPS really isn't that complicated. Don't bring up thousands; even millions wouldn't matter. I'm tracking vehicle locations, not launching missiles--just simple triangulation."
"Fine, since you're set on this, we'll follow through. But I suggest teaming up with Westinghouse. We do the software, and they provide the automated warehousing facilities."
"Okay, sounds good. I have no manufacturing capability anyway."
"Great, I'll dispatch some people right away. By the way, here's the latest CDMA architecture, our capacity is ten times that of GSM."
"Yes, with this, our European partners are going to be in a world of hurt. This is the best news of the year, so the patent is all set, right?"
Owen Jacobs shot him a glare. "I'm Jacobs, not Tesla. If you don't have a patent, what's the point of building it?"
"Ha, you're killing me here."
"Heh, what's so funny? Spill it; I could use a laugh."
"Did you know that Motorola plans to launch communication satellites next year? Poor kids, if CDMA had this much bandwidth, their little toy could flop."
Owen Jacobs shrugged, indifferent; he never had high hopes for that Iridium project. Talking on the phone under the sun? What a foolish endeavor.
It would work for commercial purposes; launching a dozen satellites would suffice, but dozens or hundreds? Unless Tesla's rockets successfully launched, they might as well wait to crash and burn.
Communication satellites aren't pricey; the costly part is the launch fees and insurance expenses. A satellite has a lifespan of about ten years, good grief, just set up a launch base.
Of course, William White wasn't optimistic either, but his reasoning differed from Owen Jacobs. The Iridium project was excellent, vastly more convenient than setting up base stations everywhere.
Way too ahead of its time; technology wasn't mature enough. Right now, attendees had to sit outside to find satellites, but that wouldn't be necessary in the future. By the time an era of 6G rolled around, who knows what might happen?
Once the most crucial piece was arranged, the rest wasn't under his control. Naturally, kicking off so many projects at once would take time to complete.
"What's this? Planning to replace the U.S. Postal Service?"
"Cough, boss, seems like not exactly. But with such a big warehousing system, doesn't Walmart also have its limitations?"
The head of Morgan Stanley was overwhelmed; not knowing about the internet was one thing, but he didn't know how to use a computer either. Warehousing and convenience stores had so many varieties that it was truly an effort to reorganize.
"Andy, this doesn't add up. If he takes on Amazon's business, he's going to be bleeding cash."
"I had someone look into it. It doesn't make sense, boss. Could it be a smokescreen? Since it's named Hive, then where are the bees, and where's the prey?"
Since it didn't make sense, the only option was to take a long view. Judging by the current situation, it clearly didn't need funding at this time.
However, the old man was very certain that once the funding window opened, there would indeed be answers to these issues. If he couldn't explain himself, why would anyone want to invest?
"Andy, have those guys stopped striking yet?"
"They seem to have reached a deal with the union. The postal system's compensation is decent, and they have tax breaks and financial subsidies. Also, their union isn't that impressive, more like a bureaucratic institution."
"Ugh, that damned auto union. Is it still a solid block?"
"Chaotic, more chaotic than before. Still hoping for government to hike tariffs. But it seems Tesla hasn't been singled out for discussions."
"Sinful people need to be ground down by other sinful people; aren't they all that great? Throwing dead fish at someone else's newspaper?"
Andy could only dryly smile. Good luck trying to toss a dead fish at White Media. There's a good chance you'd end up as the dead fish by nightfall. And when it came to underhanded tactics, they might barely match up. Just look at Albert; he had already faced a total collapse.
Recommend a friend's new book: Players Starting as Tycoons.
*****
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