As the prospect of AOL's IPO approached, Henry recognized the urgency to act swiftly. Nicholas Group is now burning cash at an alarming rate; the funds raised through Netscape are dwindling. Aside from the domain management company and the West German Publishing House, which provide annual dividends to Henry, the remainder of his enterprises are consuming resources!
Henry felt the financial pressure mounting, which left him feeling stretched thin.
At present, Cisco has unfurled its power and annihilated 13 small-to-medium-sized networking equipment firms across the United States at an expense of $740 million! Citibank and Morgan Bank extended $1 billion in loans to Cisco; they are racing forward and will not relent until they fully dominate! Cisco must acquire any company that benefits them and consume all perceived threats!
Cisco's aggressive actions astonished the nation, leaving even Sequoia Capital stunned. In contrast to Cisco's pace, other companies appear sluggish and static.
Henry believes that unless a company adapts quickly, it may as well be acquired by Cisco!
Capital is a game of chess!
Feeling that the pace of progress was too slow, Henry knew that the quickest path to scaling technology and operations lay in strategic acquisitions!
Citibank and Morgan Bank have clear motivations for supporting Cisco's endeavors. Firstly, Cisco is performing exceptionally well with great potential; secondly, Cisco anticipates an IPO by year-end, and its underwriters are none other than these two banks! The more successful Cisco's IPO, the greater rewards await Citibank and Morgan Bank! Cisco's series of acquisitions appeal directly to Wall Street and investors alike. With the stock performance they predict on the listing day, who knows how high the shares might soar!
Additionally, Cisco is not indiscriminately acquiring companies but rather executing targeted acquisitions—companies with technology that will enhance Cisco's functionality! Thus, such strategic acquisitions are worthwhile and commendable undertakings!
Typically, Sequoia Capital would be intensely involved in Cisco's IPO activities. However, Henry's dissatisfaction with Sequoia Capital has grown—a sentiment mirrored throughout Cisco's management!
Sequoia Capital's vigorous support of the company has significantly undermined Cisco's interests!
As the controlling shareholder of Cisco, Henry made the decision to sever ties with Sequoia Capital—an idea supported by John Chambers and the rest of the team!
Sequoia Capital now occupies a rather awkward position within Cisco; they have become more of a formality. Although they maintain a place on the board, their opinions carry little weight with the company's management.
Ford Brook barely graces Cisco with his presence and becomes irate upon arrival!
Currently, Cisco's negative equity ratio stands at an alarming -37%. However, this negative figure poses no genuine concern; countless successful companies operate whilst holding large debts.
Cisco doesn't require Henry's assistance or capital injection; it is self-sustaining and can apply pressure on its competitors!
Nevertheless, the four corporations—Pixar Animation Studios, Noah's Ark, Isearch, and Nicholas Group—are all spending significantly!
Pixar Animation Studios recently produced a short computer-animated film titled "Red's Dream," which won both the Computer Composite Image Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the prestigious Golden Nikas Award at Austria's Prix Ars Electronica Film Festival. Though Henry celebrated this achievement, it didn't compare to their forthcoming innovation.
Pixar's proprietary program RenderMan neared completion. This computer image rendering framework is essential for creating high-end animated productions, so it holds immense potential for the high-end film and special effects industries!
This groundbreaking effects technology is of monumental importance to Pixar! Henry took this matter seriously, even launching a special effects company akin to Industrial Light & Magic! He was merely waiting for the render program to be finished.
Henry continued to devote time to Isearch. After refinements, the web crawler had vastly improved and secured a patent. The next challenge was analyzing and processing the indexed webpage information, at which point Henry introduced the concept of webpage ranking. It's crucial to assess the quality of webpages returned to users when searching the Internet!
Henry gauged the crowds with resolute authority, declaring, "Thus, we need a ranking algorithm that evaluates these sites' significance so we may furnish users with the highest quality information!"
"My hypothesis is this: since each webpage contains hyperlinks to others, we can treat these links as votes for the websites they reference. Consequently, the more votes a linked website possesses, the higher its rank! It should be noted, however, that numerous spam websites exist on the Internet. Thus, should we not initialize high ratings for notable websites with high traffic? Those, I propose, should cast more votes than their lesser counterparts."
Henry concluded. His calm demeanor concealed the brilliance of what would become Google's famed PageRank system—making this not plagiarism, but an original concept that simply sidesteps the definition of a search engine...
Upon hearing Henry's summary, the audience, including Bill Joyce and Luke Stowe, showered him with admiration, claiming him a genius, although they were eager to step back and allow Henry to lead!
"CEO, what shall we label this ranking algorithm?" Luke Stowe asked eagerly.
"PageRank," Henry replied nonchalantly. Now not only is he the Chairman of Isearch, but he also serves as CEO! With so many enterprises under his belt, his dedication to Isearch reflects his lofty ambitions!
As Henry relished the accolades, he elaborated, "Since users typically input titles and keywords in searches, after combining those, we'll employ PageRank to enhance the search results and elevate the ranking of relevant webpages! This way, we can maximize the quality and relevancy of the information users receive!"
"CEO, we understand!" everyone affirmed in unison!
Following this, Henry assigned tasks. His employees comprised top-tier Stanford students—along with the expertise of dual geniuses Bill Joyce and Luke Stowe—ensuring a smooth project rollout. Writing code is not overly complex, but developing a program enhanced by an exceptional algorithm is a challenge!
In this early stage, the Internet's data demands cannot compare to where it will eventually lead, meaning that even with a limited dataset, satisfying the current market requirements would suffice!
By October, Isearch's search engine was finally complete. After testing, its response time proved excellent, quickly returning accurate results within two seconds! The product was ready for launch, though Henry insisted they continue refining, particularly focusing on enhancing the algorithm. With under 20,000 websites and fewer than a million users, information volume remains relatively minor. If Isearch can achieve two-second response times now, one can only imagine how superior its performance could become!
With Isearch's search engine sufficiently established, all businesses affiliated with Henry would employ this tool, tailoring bespoke search functionalities for Nicholas Group's website, Netscape browser, Global Online, IMDB, Cisco's corporate site, and Noah's Ark's official webpage!
On November 1st, a sensation erupted across the United States!
Henry's websites had integrated a search box where users could input content, click "Isearch," and promptly receive the information they required!
This innovative feature demonstrated unparalleled practicality and significantly enhanced traffic for Global Online, nearly overwhelming its server capacity! Other affiliated websites also experienced traffic surges, notably amplified by the addition of a search box within the Netscape browser. That same day, stock prices soared, climbing effortlessly past the $6 billion market value mark!