Silicon Valley Online's Preparations

The plane landed at San Francisco International Airport. As the cabin door opened, a dry, warm breeze carrying the scent of the ocean and the California sun rushed in, instantly invigorating the Nohara leader and his crew, who were used to the humid air of Tokyo.

In stark contrast to the density of Tokyo, everything here feels so open and spacious.

The group first checked into a hotel near the United States headquarters in Redfield.

After adjusting to the time difference for a day, the energetic team gathered in the lobby early the next morning.

Tom Kalinske, president of Sega United States, was already there.

"Takuya! You're finally here again!" Tom Kalinske gave Nakayama Takuya a warm hug right away, so strong that he almost lost his balance.

His signature loud voice made the entire development team stand up straight, somewhat awkwardly.

Nakayama Takuya was already used to the enthusiasm of United States. He smiled and pulled away, introducing, "Tom, this is Mr. Nohara, our software development team leader."

Tom Kalinske's gaze swept over Nohara and the others, his eyes showing no disdain but rather curiosity and respect. "Welcome to United States, everyone!"

After exchanging pleasantries, the group split into several cars and headed to "Silicon Valley Online," which was not far away.

The car eventually stopped in a brand-new business park.

In front of a two-story glass curtain wall building hangs a simple and clear sign – "Silicon Valley"

Online"8

While it may not be as grand as Sega of America Headquarters, this place is bright and clean, full of the simplicity and energy characteristic of a tech company.

The company isn't particularly large, but it's well-organized.

Dozens of workstations are ready, most of them are still empty, waiting for their owners to arrive.

The most eye-catching feature is the server room, which occupies an entire room.

Several tall server racks have been installed, but they are mostly empty, with only a few basic network devices flashing their indicator lights.

"This is where we begin." Nakayama Takuya's voice rang out in the quiet office as he opened his arms, as if embracing this space full of infinite possibilities.

"Executive Director, the setup here—" Team Leader Nohara walked into the server room, stroking the brand-new server racks, his voice trembling slightly, "Is even better than what we prepared in Tokyo!"

"This is Silicon Valley." Nakayama Takuya walked to his side, his gaze sweeping over the empty server racks. "Here, we can't afford any weaknesses. For hardware, we need the best. For talent, we need to recruit the most outstanding. And of course, most importantly, our software must be revolutionary!"

He turned around to face his core team from Japan, his smile gradually fading and his eyes becoming sharp.

"In Japan, we were stars on university campuses thanks to BBS. But here, we're nobody."

His words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly calming the previously excited crowd down.

"Look at these empty desks, look at these empty server racks."

Nakayama Takuya's voice wasn't loud, but it was full of penetrating power. "They're all waiting for us to fill them!"

After the tour, the group was led into a bright and spacious conference room, where excitement and a hint of bewilderment still lingered on everyone's faces.

The first thing to solve is the division of BBS sections.

The United States team had already conducted market research for this part of the work.

A young man Harry, a Stanford graduate, was standing in front of the projection screen, presenting his PowerPoint presentation in fluent speech.

According to our research, in 1991, the number of Internet users in the United States was still highly concentrated in academia.

Harry pressed the remote control, and a clear chart appeared on the screen.

"The user base is very clearly defined, mainly divided into four categories."

"First, university faculty, students, and researchers. This is the largest group, spread across major universities and research institutes throughout the United States, such as professors, students, and researchers at Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT."

"Secondly, professionals in specific industries. This mainly refers to the core strength of these tech companies in the Bay Area: computer scientists, engineers, and programmers."

"Third, government and research institution personnel. For example, employees of national laboratories and government-funded research institutions were among the earliest users of ARPANET."

Fourth, very early commercial users. They were few in number but had enormous influence. They were participants in early commercial networks like CERFnet and PSInet, and were Pioneer in the commercialization of the Internet.

Team Leader Nohara and the other Japan engineers listened intently, taking notes rapidly in their notebooks.

This is both similar to and completely different from their experience in Japan.

What they have in common is the elite nature of their user groups; what they differ is that behind each of these groups, there is a subtle undercurrent of capital and commerce.

After Harry finished speaking, the meeting room fell silent, and everyone looked at Nakayama Takuya, waiting for his decision.

Nakayama Takuya did not speak immediately. He walked to the huge whiteboard in the center of the conference room and picked up a black Harry pen.

"Harry, well done." He nodded approvingly, then his pen touched the whiteboard and wrote the word "Academia."

"Our approach is the same as in Japan; we'll start with our core user group." He turned to Nohara, the group leader, "Nohara- san, how do you think we should further subdivide the academic section?"

Team leader Nohara thought for a moment, then, drawing on Tokyo Tech's experience, said, "We can divide it by subject, such as physics, chemistry, etc."

computer Science"

"That's not enough, it's too rigid." Nakayama Takuya shook his head and circled "Computer Science." "In United States, if you only categorize by subject, nobody will come here."

Everyone was taken aback.

Nakayama Takuya's lips curled into a sly smile, "We need to stir up some controversy for them!"

dispute?

Even Tom Kalinske showed interest.

"We can use non-administrator personal accounts in the Computer Science section to start topics that are likely to spark discussion or even debate. For example—" Nakayama Takuya wrote a few words quickly on the whiteboard with swift, flowing strokes," "Editor"

The "Editor Wars" forum has two sub-forums: Vi and Emacs. Similarly, the "OSWars" forum is divided into Uni and VMS. Perhaps we could also add a "Windows" thread where everyone can freely vent their frustrations.

The hierarchy of disdain and debates among tech enthusiasts were the most primitive and vibrant source of traffic in the early days of the internet!

Instead of letting them discuss it scattered in various corners, why not start a topic directly on the main forum, then manually mark these posts as trending, creating an officially designated "arena" for them!

"Furthermore," Nakayama Takuya shifted his focus, adding a completely new category, "Industry."

He looked at Harry: "This is Silicon Valley. Academic discussions alone aren't enough; we also need business. By providing these high-level, high-net-worth users with a platform to exchange business opportunities, our BBS will, to a certain extent, become a never-ending business party."

"Let's start another 'Startups & VC' section!"

The moment this word was uttered, not only was Team Leader Nohara stunned, but even Harry from the United States side was taken aback.

"Isn't it a bit too early to call him executive director?" Team leader Nohara whispered a reminder.

"Good morning?" Nakayama Takuya smiled. "Nohara- san, what's the name of this land beneath your feet? It's United States, Silicon Valley! Here, a garage, two geniuses, and a crazy idea can create a future world-class company. We not only want to provide them with a forum for exchange, but also a runway for their dreams to take flight!"

"In this way, our BBS can naturally become a hub for venture capital. Doesn't that naturally increase our value?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone in the conference room hold their breath.

Tom Kalinske looked at Nakayama Takuya with an unusual glint in his eyes.

He originally thought it was just a matter of copying the successful Japan BBS model, but he never expected that Nakayama Takuya's ambitions went far beyond that.

He's not just building a forum; he's building an ecosystem!

Nakayama Takuya tossed aside Harry's pen, clapped his hands, and said, "The academic section will be responsible for attracting core users, and the industry section will be responsible for generating commercial value. Tom, what do you think?"

Tom Kalinske gave Takuya a thumbs-up without hesitation. "Your idea is fantastic! I completely agree with your plan!"

"OK! It's settled then! Team Leader Nohara, any issues with the technical deployment?"

"No problem!" Team Leader Nohara straightened his back, all his previous doubts vanished, replaced by soaring enthusiasm.

Seeing the team's high morale, Nakayama Takuya nodded in satisfaction.

So, in the following days, Silicon Valley Online became a high-speed engine.

Team leader Nohara and his Japan team quickly integrated with the local engineers led by Harry.

Initially, the Japan felt a bit of a culture shock at the "laid-back" style of their United States colleagues, who would go out for coffee together at 3 p. m. and write efficient code even with half-eaten pizzas on their tables.

But they soon discovered that these seemingly carefree guys, dressed in T-shirts and jeans, were incredibly creative and efficient when it came to solving technical problems.

The initial polite exchanges between the two teams quickly escalated into a heated debate, a mix of Japanese and English, with the whiteboard filled with architectural diagrams in two distinct yet perfectly integrated styles.

Meanwhile, a unique "ground promotion" campaign quietly unfolded throughout the Bay Area and at major Ivy League schools.

Young people from the Marketing Department, driving around like missionaries spreading seeds, plastered beautifully designed flyers all over Stanford's bulletin boards, Berkeley's student center, and even sneaked into the employee cafeterias of Apple and Sun Microsystems.

The flyer design is extremely selective.

The most striking one has the words "Vi or Emacs? END THE WAR" written in huge letters.

Below is a line of smaller text. "SiliconValleyOnlineBBS. Theultimate arena. Settleit"

"Once and for all." (Silicon Valley Online BBS, the ultimate arena, resolving all disputes in one go.)

Another flyer was even more direct. "OSWAR: UNIXvSVMSvSWINDOWS. Whoisthe..."

King?" (Operating System Wars: UNIX, VMS, or WINDOWS, Who is King?)

These flyers were like bombs dropped into a calm lake, immediately causing a huge uproar among geeks and students.

"Hey Mark, look at this! Someone's going to set up an online debate for the editor wars!" A Stanford student tore down a flyer and shouted excitedly to his companion.

"Are you crazy? Emacs is the best, is that even a question?" His companion gave him a disdainful look, but his body betrayed him as he leaned closer. "Wait, there's an FTP address below? We can download the client in advance?"

"I'm sure I'm right! I'll download it tonight! I'm going to show those Vi-using primitives what a real editor is!"

Similar conversations are constantly taking place in MIT labs and Caltech libraries.

These flyers made no mention of Sega or any games, only using a mysterious and futuristic name—"Silicon Valley Online."

At the very bottom of the flyer, the small FTP server address became the most popular focal point.

"Manager! Look at this! Our FTP server is about to crash!" Roy, the Marketing Department manager, walked in with a report.

Nakayama Takuya took the report; the log was filled with download records from IP addresses of major universities and technology companies across the United States.

In just two days, the FTP server specifically used to distribute BBS clients had already exceeded five thousand downloads.

This is just a warm-up before the official launch of the BBS!

"They haven't even seen what our BBS looks like, and they're already going crazy for it." Roy's voice was full of amazement. "Executive, your idea of 'starting a war' is absolutely brilliant! I bet our servers will experience a real 'war' on the day the BBS goes live!"

Nakayama Takuya smiled and placed the report on the table. Everything was going according to his plan.

The BBS client is neither large nor small; in this era of generally slow internet speeds, advance distribution is essential.

By generating buzz and raising user expectations in advance, he was doing exactly what he wanted.

He turned to Nohara and Harry, reminding them, "Remember to check your download history when you go online, so the server and bandwidth don't get overloaded."

Nohara and Harry both raised their hands and gave an "OK" sign.

The download logs from the FTP server, like a series of exciting reports, quickly spread throughout the "Silicon Valley Online" office, which still carried a slight smell of new renovations.

Everyone's enthusiasm for work immediately soared.

However, the next day, Team Leader Nohara looked at the server load logs displayed on the monitoring screen for the past half day, his brow furrowed. He quickly walked over to Nakayama Takuya and lowered his voice.

"Executive, this download surge has exceeded even our most ambitious estimates. If all these people log on simultaneously, our prepared servers and bandwidth could be overwhelmed in an instant."

His concerns were a heavy weight on the minds of all the technicians.

If not prepared properly, a good start can turn into a bad one.