Chapter 152 Big Fish Eat Small Fish
You have to know what 12,000 US dollars means. For a citizen of the United States, the annual salary is only 200 to 300 US dollars, and it is impossible to be more. Even if Kolbe Bradham has his own small workshop, Sheffield is now just a self-employed person with a little more income than ordinary people.
Theoretically, this amount of money was equivalent to Kolbe Bradham's income for ten years, if this beverage still existed ten years later. You should know that Coca-Cola was sold for $1,200 at the time. Sheffield felt that he had been very kind to the founder, not to mention that he had symbolically left him a 2% stake.
If it had been a few decades later, perhaps Kolbe Bradham could have had a face-to-face talk with Sheffield, but now, he asked the founder to get out after not paying him. This was already the greatest restraint he had maintained and fully demonstrated his kind side. The huge gap in financial resources left Kolbe Bradham with no choice.
"While retaining Xuancheng's special effects on stomach problems, the distribution still needs to be improved. What I mean is, keep the taste similar to Coca-Cola, but discard the useless ingredients." Sheffield said his thoughts to himself, then looked straight at Kolbe Bradham and asked softly, "Can you do it?"
"But, boss, this may reduce the effectiveness of the medicine for stomach problems." Kolbe Bradham hesitated for a moment and spoke hesitantly, wanting to show his unique expertise in the field of pharmacism.
Then he was greeted by a palm, which meant to shut him up. Sheffield chuckled and curled his lips, "You folk pharmacists are just fooling ordinary citizens. After a long time, even yourselves believe it. It is obvious that each of you is from the common people and does not even have a medical qualification. If the so-called beverage you make can cure diseases, then why did the Rockefeller family invest huge sums of money in the pharmaceutical industry? Are you idle?"
The scene at this time is like Qiang Xiong patting a check and scolding Golden Right Foot, preparing to pull the Shaolin Soccer Team over, which is actually almost the same. However, Sheffield appreciates Penguin's approach, being the single largest shareholder but not letting the founder go, leaving the original team to continue to expand the territory.
"Pepsi's new trademark will be mainly blue, and the packaging will be changed to glass bottles in the future. You definitely can't do that with your capital, so I'll take care of it." Sheffield talked about the micro-innovation he was going to carry out. Micro-innovation is something that all companies of all sizes in the future Republic have accumulated a little bit of. To put it simply, it is a little better than copycats, and some functions that increase comfort can be added without changing the basics.
It doesn't sound impressive, but it's better than a direct copycat. If the technology of cans hadn't been invented at that time, Sheffield would have bought the patent for cans, skipped the glass bottling process, and entered the developed capitalist society...
At night, Kolbe Bradham returned to the hotel and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in a mess and his heart in turmoil. On the one hand, his own business was taken away by someone, and on the other hand, he had money that he had never imagined before. He was in a complicated mood with mixed feelings.
"Kolbe, what's wrong?" Kolbe Bradham's wife came in with hot water. Seeing her husband just coming back, she seemed to be in a bad mood and asked softly, "Is it going wrong?"
"No, things are going well. It's just that the things I worked so hard for have now become someone else's. I still feel a little complicated. You may not understand this!" Kolbe Bradham forced a smile and said, "I don't know if my current thinking is right. I may not be able to accept the fact that I have seen my career go from nothing to being a bystander all of a sudden."
"In fact, there are so many beverages on the market. It's not easy to become a successful brand like Coca-Cola. Besides, didn't our new boss leave you shares? Your career has not left you." Kolbe Bradham's wife didn't know how to persuade her husband, so she could only say something nice. "Besides, you were very happy when you heard the acquisition amount just now. With this money, we can live a good life. You are still a shareholder and pharmacist of the new company. You haven't lost your career, right?"
"Yes!" Kolbe Bradham let out a long sigh and opened the package with emotion. Twelve thousand dollars in cash appeared in front of the couple. They became successful people overnight, and a wonderful life was waiting for them.
Kolbe Bradham comforted himself, look at who he is facing, who he is talking about? The new boss is also the heir of the Southern Company, and the person he is talking about is the Rockefeller family, the king of the oil industry. He should be proud to be a part of them. Since he can't beat them, he might as well join them.
Even the Coca-Cola Company, which is a giant in front of him, is just a bigger ant in the eyes of others. What is there to be upset about?
Thinking of this, Kolbe Bradham began to talk about the wonderful life in the future with his wife who had always supported his career.
There are actually not many entrepreneurs who can stay firm in their hearts during the entrepreneurial process. Not to mention Kolbe Bradham, who is at the beginning of his career. Even the bigger entrepreneurs can't help but keep their enterprising spirit.
Not to mention the Vanderbilt family, who were already enjoying a European life and were currently living off their previous railroad, Carnegie, the later steel tycoon, also chose to cash out and leave, handing over his business to Morgan.
A hundred years later in the Republic, when the two Internet giants started, they also asked many successful people in China for financing, but no one was willing to invest. Lei Jun even rejected both of them, and Li Chaoren's son cashed out and left, and he regretted it in the days that followed.
Half a month later, after buying up all the Coca-Cola shares on the market, Sheffield formally invited Candler to Chicago for a meeting in the name of Rockefeller, and even stole an invitation from Edith Rockefeller for this purpose.
"They are obviously cute children, but why do the promotional videos look like ghosts? Can't we find some professional photographers?" Edith Rockefeller kept complaining while holding a Coca-Cola promotional poster.
Sheffield hesitated to speak. First of all, he had to say that Edith Rockefeller was right. This poster did indeed take a very strange picture of three children in sailor suits. In his previous life, he saw this historical propaganda photo on the Internet and was also shocked. But what can he do? The photography technology of this era is just like this.
There are very few people who can take photos that look better than themselves. Even Edith Rockefeller herself, although not a stunning beauty, can take mediocre photos of herself.
"Maybe it's due to cost considerations!" Sheffield snatched the eye-catching promotional photo, which had English on it, "We all love to drink Coca-Cola!" Combined with the weird face of the child, it was indeed uncomfortable.
Humph! Edith Rockefeller snorted, obviously still angry at Sheffield's behavior, because this coward had invited Candler with his own invitation.
"Isn't it because the Rockefeller family's reputation is better than mine? I'm a farmer, working in the south, so I'm naturally not well-known. If I use my name, I'm afraid people won't come. Your family is different. Who in the United States doesn't know the controller of the oil kingdom? You're more famous than a farmer like me! Besides, you've gained so much from me, it's nothing to spit it out now!" Seeing Edith Rockefeller's expression unchanged, Sheffield quickly said something nice, lowered his voice and said ambiguously, "At most, I'll work harder to serve you at night."
"You've taken advantage of me for nothing, pretending to be an ascetic!" Edith Rockefeller got the signal clearly, pretending to be indifferent, but a blush flashed across her cheeks.
This Rockefeller princess was actually just a woman with little knowledge. She actually got angry over the invitation. It seemed that her family had successfully made her a poor eater.
Coca-Cola is not comparable to the knockoff Pepsi. Don't underestimate the extra ten years of starting up, which can determine many things. Acquired Coca-Cola stocks on the market. Then sent an invitation in the name of Rockefeller.
As for Candler himself, he was actually very excited about the upcoming meeting, after all, it was an invitation from the Rockefeller family. But after meeting Sheffield, he became even more excited and quickly held Sheffield's hand tightly.
"Do you know me?" Sheffield asked in surprise. His guess was probably correct, the Rockefeller family was more famous.
"Mr. Sheffield, my factory is in Atlanta." Candler spoke enthusiastically, expressing his goodwill to the boy who was much younger than him, "The first branch factory is in Dallas!"
Dixie? Sheffield suddenly realized that he should not have sent out invitations in Edith Rockefeller's name. His family name was more effective than the Rockefeller family name in dealing with Southern citizens. Now he owed a favor to someone for nothing, and he had to pay it back tonight.
The early history of Coca-Cola was that it was constantly being sold, and Candler was just one of those passers-by. He was no more difficult to deal with than Kolbe Bradham, and he did not foresee the potential of Coca-Cola, and he was also ready to cash out. It was just that this day came a little earlier than he expected.
The big fish eat the small fish. Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller just started talking about mergers and acquisitions, and the rest was the assessment of the value of Coca-Cola. Considering its already large sales network, Coca-Cola's valuation was far higher than Pepsi.
(End of this chapter)
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