Chapter Thirty Persuasion

  Carly Terry's mind kept echoing with the phone call she had just received until she got off work.

  A California-based gaming company called Mars Entertainment wants to hire her to head a new game publishing company, yes, as its CEO. This is an unprecedented challenge for her and also the opportunity she has been dreaming of.

  Although the current video game industry is not doing well, Carly Terry has heard of Mars Entertainment's name. In fact, any new company that can get close to $100 million in orders within a month with just one product will be widely known.

  Moreover, the game called "American Blocks" designed by this company has been popular in the United States, and Washington is no exception.

  In fact, in Carrie's heart, she had just ended a seven-year marriage with no children. She now has nothing, no ties, and no worries. She didn't mind leaving Washington for the West Coast to change jobs and clear her mind.

  But must I really leave the place where I have lived for seven years?

  Carly was uncertain, and she also thought that she had good prospects at AT&T, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the world's largest corporation, with over a million employees, and footprints in every state, an entity far beyond what any fledgling Silicon Valley company could compare to.

  She hesitated and walked to a telephone booth by the road, inserted coins, and dialed a familiar number.

  She was her best friend at ATT and also her supervisor in the office, who gave her a lot of guidance and encouragement when she first arrived at ATT.

  "Hello?"

  After three beeps, the phone connected, and a warm female voice came from the receiver.

  "Carole, it's me, Carly." Carly hesitated about whether to tell her good friend the truth, after all, she was planning to leave the company and Carole was her superior. But thinking that asking such an important question over the phone seemed too impolite, she changed her mind. She paused for a moment and said, "Can we go out for a cup of coffee? I have some private matters that I need your help with."

  The woman's voice on the other end of the phone almost hesitated and agreed. They made an appointment to meet at a location, half an hour later.

  This is a coffee shop called 'Forest' near the AT&T headquarters in Washington, with elegant decor.

  Carrie had only been inside for a few minutes when she saw her friend Carol Spurrier hurrying towards her through the window.

  Carol Spruell is a middle-aged woman in her early forties, who is very meticulous and strict in her actions but has a good heart and enjoys a good reputation among her colleagues.

  She was dressed in a black business suit, with an anxious expression on her face, and rushed into the coffee shop. As soon as she saw Carrie Teri's location, she quickly walked over.

  "What's wrong?" She hadn't even sat down, but her voice had already sounded out, her tone was anxious and concerned. She knew that Carrie had just divorced, she feared the other party would do something stupid, although she knew that with the other party's character, the possibility of doing something stupid wouldn't exceed one in ten thousand.

  "It's not what you think." Carly could only reveal a helpless expression, opening her mouth to explain, "There is a company that wants me to be their CEO."

  Carol's jaw dropped in surprise as she stared at Carly Terry, hardly able to believe that a company had already taken notice of her talent - after all, she was just an ordinary middle-level employee at ATT.

  "Which company is it? It can't be some small-time company, right?" Carol's face showed a worried expression, and she asked hastily.

  "It's a small company, but not an unknown one. It's the Martian Entertainment that made 'American Blocks', which you scolded last week." Carly Terry explained with a smile, Carol's son had just entered middle school and was caught by Carol skipping school to play games at the arcade last week, and it was this "American Blocks" game.

  "Is it them?" Carol's voice suddenly rose an octave, a look of distaste spreading across her face as she gazed at the company responsible for designing "American Blocks", the game that had enthralled her son.

  But her good friend was looking for her to offer advice, and she couldn't judge based on her own likes and dislikes.

  "They're a game company, and while their first game was great, that's all it is - one game. Carol, you know how bleak the outlook for video games is right now." Carol said thoughtfully to Carly Terry after considering it for a moment.

  After hearing her good friend's words, Carly Teri also fell into contemplation. In fact, this was also the main reason for her hesitation.

  Although she sensed from the heat of "American Block" that the future electronic game industry might have great potential, this was just her own speculation after all. At present, mainstream views, even those Wall Street investors, did not look favorably on the prospects of the electronic games industry in the future.

  However, the other party made a truly irresistible offer, hiring her as CEO and even offering partner treatment if her work satisfied them.

  In other words, she is no longer a wage earner but truly working for herself.

  She thought it was impossible for her to become a CEO before she read the graduate school, she thought that position was very sacred, every decision had to decide the future of countless employees, and she felt completely unable to bear such a heavy responsibility.

  But when she was a graduate student, she had the good fortune to become classmates with many company presidents and CEOs, including some big companies she had heard of. Through interactions, she felt that some people's abilities and experiences were indeed much better than her own, but there were also many who were not as good as herself.

  So this gave Carly Fiorina an idea: why can those who are inferior to me be possible, but I am not?

  This problem was like a venomous snake tightly wrapped around her heart.

  In fact, she is also a passionate, dreamy and ambitious person who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. For business, she can boldly enter the "President Club" - an exclusive strip club that only exists in high society.

  She can even go on stage at a banquet, take off her stockings and shout loudly to those who look at her with strange eyes because she is a woman: Now we are the same.

  And she indeed has outstanding abilities and all the qualities necessary for success.

  Carly Thayer saw a different ambition in Mars Entertainment, a small company that had just released one game and after its success thought of establishing its own distribution network first, which is not a cost-effective thing to do. Building a nationwide distribution network may require all the money they earned this time to be invested, and it's still uncertain whether it will be enough.

  She likes this kind of enterprise that is full of ambition, ideals, pursuit and enterprising spirit, which makes her feel a strong vitality and an unstoppable life force.

  But in Carly's eyes, it was an old woman who walked unsteadily, with a rigid system and outdated structure. However, challenging these difficulties was also a very fulfilling thing for her. In fact, not long ago, she had done a great job and even received praise from the headquarters.

  On one hand, the future is unclear, it may be glorious or dull. On the other hand, there is a clear career path, and I may have the opportunity to reach the top of AT&T - CEO or President, but that's definitely not possible, because in AT&T's over 100-year history, there has never been a woman at the helm.

  Carly had trouble making her own decisions.

  Carol also found this point, emotionally, she did not want Carly to leave AT&T. In her mind, a small company on the West Coast was simply no match for AT&T with its glorious history. After all, AT&T is the oldest member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

  She thought for a moment, but couldn't think of any better excuse to convince her good friend, so she said straightforwardly: "If you really want to go, then you should talk to your future boss and see what he thinks. It will also let you know if he's worth working for."

  "That's right." Hearing Carol's words, Carly Terry also made up her mind that she must meet with the boss of Mars Entertainment to have a chat. If he could convince herself, then she would follow him to the West Coast; if not, then she would still be honest and stay at ATT.

  Jester received a notice from the headhunting company that Carly Terry wanted to meet with him to discuss the future of the publishing house he had mentioned.

  This made Jester somewhat overjoyed, but also gave rise to a worry that he might not be able to persuade this strong-willed and eloquent woman, who was only thirty years old and had just started her career, and was not yet the legendary CEO described by American Weekly as "steel-like".

  But Jester still has a deep impression of this woman, and he still remembers the anecdotes he learned when reading her autobiography "Brave Choice".

  When she was still a businessperson at AT&T, there was a time when she went to South Korea on business. Facing the strong liquor, socializing and flattery that male colleagues had to put up with, Carly handled it with ease. At first, the Korean staff who were slow in responding due to her gender later gave her high praise.

  Carrie recalled, "They changed almost all the adjectives, from 'pretty', 'beautiful' and 'elegant' to nothing at last..."

  Perhaps many people have not heard of Carly Tillery's name, but Carly Fiorina's name should be known to everyone - the only female CEO in the world's top 500 companies, selected by Fortune magazine three times as one of the fifty most powerful women in the world and twice ranked first.

  However, at that time she had just divorced her first husband and not yet married Frank Feuille, the later ATT vice president, so she hadn't yet taken on the surname of "Feuille" known to posterity, but instead resumed using her original surname - Terry. Her father was named Joseph Terry.

  All of this is what Jester learned about her from her autobiography "Brave Choices", which is Carly's profound analysis of her own life experiences over the past few decades. In other words, to a certain extent, Jester who has read her autobiography actually understands her inner self better than she does herself.

  Jester immediately called Carly Terry, he had never seen a young photo of Carly Terry, what he saw was all after her 50s, but he could still feel that temperament from her neat golden short hair, firm and confident eyes, and determined face like a knife cut.

  She was beautiful when she was young, but I dare not say whether she is beautiful or not. However, her temperament must be exceptional and stand out from the crowd.

  Juster also believes that a woman with a good temperament will never be ugly.

  From the phone, Carrie's voice didn't sound like her usual strong and resolute personality, it was soft and comfortable, just like an old friend chatting, giving a sense of closeness.

  After hanging up the phone, Jester immediately booked a direct flight from Los Angeles to Washington on Pan American Airlines. The earliest one was at 4:30 tomorrow morning. Then Jester silently calculated that it would take about five hours from Los Angeles to the East Coast, and he could arrive just before noon.

  If nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to meet Carly Terrey, which also makes Jester a little more at ease. After booking his ticket, he will drive to Los Angeles immediately and think carefully about how to persuade Carly Terrey on the way.

  This wasn't an easy thing in Jester's memory unless Carly Teri decided otherwise, there was no precedent for her being persuaded.

  Compared to Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman was much easier to convince. Her work at Bain Consulting wasn't very satisfying for her, it wasn't a job she particularly enjoyed. If her husband hadn't been doing an internship at Stanford University in California, she wouldn't have followed him to the state and left behind the marketing job at Procter & Gamble that she loved.

  So when Jester approached her, explained his intentions and was willing to pay her twice what she made at Bain Consulting, and let her continue doing the marketing work she loved, she agreed almost without hesitation.

  It's also thanks to Mars Entertainment and "American Blocks" popularity in California, as the most eye-catching new company in California this year, and still doing what everyone looked down on - electronic game development, yet getting a whole 100 million dollars' worth of orders in just over a month, which is enough to make them a household name.

  Margaret Whitman, a Harvard graduate and future eBay CEO, had also heard rumors about the company, including that its owner was also the creator of the popular American game and was just a 19-year-old student at UC.

  It was actually the confidence that J?ger portrayed about the future of video games when he met with Margarete that moved her to agree to join.

  Margaret is now just a twenty-six-year-old young man, who has also experienced the rise, prosperity and decline of Atari, witnessed the emergence of countless new companies in Silicon Valley, and countless people may have made millions with just an idea.

  She thought, why can't I? My education is no lower than anyone else's, and my ability is no worse than anyone else's. Maybe this time it's an opportunity.

  When Jester met Carly Terry at a coffee shop in Washington with two panda eyes, the other almost burst out laughing.

  When she saw Jester for the first time, a hint of surprise still flashed in Carly's deep gray pupils, although she had previously learned that the founder of Mars Entertainment was very young, but she still didn't expect him to be so young.

  Almost as big as her brother.

  Although Jester's stature was tall and powerful, his slightly immature face had already deeply betrayed him.

  "Didn't you sleep well yesterday?" Carlie Terry asked Jester with a cup of coffee, and then asked with some concern.

  This reminded Jester of his sister, Carly Terry, who wasn't particularly beautiful, but she had a rare and sharp temperament among women, like a precious sword. She just sat there, involuntarily attracting people's attention.

  Including Jester.

  "I rushed to catch the plane early this morning." Jester, facing Carly Terry, who inherited her father's talent as a lawyer and was particularly skilled in language, always showed a bit of awkwardness, but was brought into the other person's rhythm by just one simple sentence.

  Actually, Jester hadn't thought of a good way to persuade Carly Terry's words, the more he understood her, the more he felt that she wasn't someone who could be swayed by others' opinions.

  Neither of them got into the main topic of this meeting at first, just chatting about some trivial matters. Jester had heard rumors that Carly Terry was sharp-tongued before, but it turned out to be completely different when they actually talked.

  Carly Terrey's gift for language seems to always make the other person feel like a close friend, and Jester also becomes less reserved under her lead, even occasionally telling two joke segments to liven up the atmosphere.

  While Carly Thayer was observing Jester, Jester was also thinking about how to persuade the other party. However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't think of any suitable words that he could use to convince her. The woman in front of him seemed to be able to see through everything he had to say. Since she was willing to meet with him, it meant that she also sensed the potential of the e-sports industry; otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to meet him at all.

  Carly Tefft finally started this topic.

  "So, young chairman, I'm curious to know, the headhunting company must have provided you with many lists, and most of them are probably much more brilliant than me. So why did you choose me, a woman who is neither famous nor experienced?" Carrie Tyler's voice was soft and pleasant, with a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

  "Can I say that you're young?" Jester, of course, couldn't tell the truth. I'm from a later era and know how outstanding your abilities are and how brilliant your future will be. He could only think briefly and try to make his words as convincing as possible without too many loopholes.

  "In fact, among those lists, your age is the second youngest. I don't like working with people who are half-buried in the ground. I think a young company should have a youthful spirit, especially since we're doing something that's not well-liked by others - electronic games. Without an 'I'll die before you do' attitude, it's impossible to succeed."

  As he spoke, Jester raised his eyes to Carlie Terry and slightly shrugged his shoulders, saying in an extremely serious tone: "Maybe my words will make you angry, but actually, if you were a few years older, maybe I wouldn't have looked for you."

  After hearing Jester's words, Carly Terry's eyes didn't show any signs of anger, but instead looked at Jester with a strange expression. She smiled and then asked her second question: "So, I don't think you just appointed me as the CEO of your publishing company because of my age, did you? Why not go find that one person who is even younger than me?"

  Jester smiled slightly, after the first question, he also regained some confidence, constantly organizing his words in his mind: "Actually, that one who is younger than you has already agreed to come to this shell company - because I haven't registered yet, just like you, she's a woman, graduated from Harvard Business School, and when she was at P&G, her marketing performance was excellent. As for why I chose you as the CEO of my new company, it's because your work performance at AT&T was extremely outstanding not long ago."

  A recent work experience, especially when leading a department, was outstanding and her department became the star team of the entire group. This is indeed one of the proudest moments in Carly Terrell's career, but also because during this period she ended her seven-year marriage with her husband, making her reluctant to look back on this experience.

  This marriage also gave her an epiphany: a woman, especially one who is strong-willed and never dares to admit defeat, always striving to be the best, should either not get married or find a husband who surpasses herself in every aspect; otherwise, what awaits her can only be deception, betrayal, pain, and tears.

  At this point, Carly Tillery's eyes dimmed for a moment, flashing by.

  "So, the last question, why did you want to find me, a woman eleven years older than you, to be a CEO? You know I'm a woman, and in the US, there are hundreds of large companies, but none of them have a female CEO." This time, Carly Thayer's eyes lost their smile, her face was expressionless, Jester looked at her face as if he was looking at a piece of steel.

  Jester knew this issue would decide whether the other party would agree to join forces or not.

  But he also didn't know how to answer, and still couldn't speak the truth: because you are currently the most suitable candidate I can find, I know your future will be outstanding, you will become a high-level vice president of AT&T, you will become the CEO of HP, you will... Because this is fundamentally impossible to convince the other person.

  He thought of Carly Terrell's autobiography, "Tough Choices".

  He recalled what Carrie had mentioned herself, why she married her second husband. She said it was because of a sentence he said at the time that moved her heart.

  Of course, this is not some romantic love story and Carly Terrell was no shallow little girl.

  Jester took a deep breath, looked up at the future legendary CEO he wanted to get, and said seriously: "Before I came to see you, I was uncertain, but after seeing you, I am more certain than ever about my previous choice. Ms. Carly Terry, you were born to manage a company, not lead a small group - this should not be your battlefield, it's too small, and you can't show off your talents at all. If you're willing, the CEO position of my new company is waiting for you."

  Jester clearly remembered that Carly Teri said in her autobiography: "When Frank said this, I couldn't help but laugh and say it was impossible, but I was convinced in my heart that it was possible. It was as if I fell in love with him at that moment, because he believed in my ability so much, before that, no one had ever believed in my ability like that..."

  Then Jester suddenly saw a smile on Carly Teri's not-so-beautiful face.

  She stood up and stretched out one hand towards Jester.

  "It was a pleasure working with you."

  Jester also stood up and shook hands with Carly Thayer.

  "It was a pleasure working with you."