Michael Dell's Two-Billion-Dollar Dream

One afternoon in 1977, as his parents and two brothers fished in the Gulf of Mexico, 12-year-old Michael Dell sat on the beach, painstakingly putting together a trotline, a maze of ropes to which several fish hooks could be attached. "You're wasting your time," the rest of the family called to Michael, as they pulled in fish. "Grab a pole and join in the fun. "  

Michael kept working. It was dinnertime when he finished, and everyone else was ready to call it a day(收工;停止). Still, the youngster cast the trotline far into the water, anchoring it to a stick that he plunged deep in the sand.

 Over dinner his family teased young Michael about coming away empty-handed. But afterward Michael reeled in his trotline, and on the hooks were more fish than the others had caught all together!

 Michael Dell has always been fond of saying, "If you think you have a good idea, try it!" And today, at 29, he has discovered the power of another good idea that has helped him rise in just a few years from teen to tycoon. He has become the fourth-largest manufacturer of personal computers in America and the youngest man ever to head a Fortune 500 corporation(领导一个《财富》500强企业).

 Growing up in Houston, Michael and his two brothers were imbued by their parents with the desire to learn and the drive to work hard. Even so, stories about the middle boy began to be told early.

 Like the time a saleswoman came asking to speak to "Mr. Michael Dell" about his getting a high-school equivalency diploma. Moments later, eight-year-old Michael was explaining that he thought it might be a good idea to get high school out of the way.

 A few years later Michael had another good idea, to trade stamps by advertising in stamp magazines. With the $ 2000 profit he made, he bought his first personal computer. Then he took it apart to figure out how it worked.

 In high school Michael had a job selling subscriptions to the Houston Post. Newlyweds, so he figured(他这样分析认为), were the best prospects, so he hired friends to copy the names and addresses of recent recipients of marriage licenses. These he entered into his computer, then sent a personalized letter offering each couple a free two-week subscription.

 This time Dell made $18 000 and bought a BMW. The car salesman was flabbergasted when the 17-year-old paid cash. The next year Dell enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin. Like most freshmen, he needed to earn spending money. Just about everyone on campus was talking about personal computers. At the time, anyone who didn't have a PC wanted one, but dealers were selling them at a hefty markup. People wanted low-cost machines custom-made to their needs, and these were not readily available. Why should dealers get such a big markup for so little added value?(产品在经销商手中产生的附加增值微乎其微，他们有什么理由把价位定得那么高从中获取那么多的利益?) Dell wondered. Why not sell from the manufacturer directly to the end user? joozone.com