The Media's Hype

Early the next morning, the hotel waiter delivered the day's major newspapers.

Tom spread several newspapers out on the coffee table.

The Los Angeles Times had run a photo of Silicon Valley Online ringing the bell as its front-page lead.

Frank and Tom stood right in the center, beaming brightly.

The headline was printed in huge type: California Miracle: Full Speed Down the Internet Fast Lane.

Frank read out a passage from the article.

"Silicon Valley Online's successful listing marks the Internet industry's official step from the conceptual exploration stage into the era of commercial monetization. This young company born in Redwood City has used virtual social networks and an innovative fee model to show Wall Street the limitless potential of the new economy. Its closing price of $17.13 is the highest praise for California's spirit of innovation."

"Pretty well written," Tom said, lifting his coffee cup. "Even the detail about us borrowing Sega's servers got packaged into an upgraded version of a Silicon Valley startup legend. The media these days just loves this kind of comeback story."

Donald opened The Wall Street Journal.

"The commentary here leans more toward the capital side. They analyzed Silicon Valley Online's user growth curve and contribution value per user. Their conclusion is that the traditional P/E valuation model no longer applies to Internet companies. As long as the user base is growing, temporary losses can be accepted by the market. And besides, you're still profitable."

Nakayama Takuya sat across from them, leafing through a stack of faxes.

They were briefings Sega's Japan headquarters had faxed over overnight.

"The American media is talking about the American dream, while the Japanese media is whipping up national pride." Nakayama Takuya pushed the faxes into the center of the coffee table.

On photocopies from several mainstream Japanese