Chapter 106 turn enemies into friends

It is very intriguing to see two old stories about Bill Gates. RealNetworks of the United States once filed a lawsuit in the United States Federal Court, accusing Bill Gates' Microsoft of violating the antitrust law and demanding compensation of one billion US dollars.But before the lawsuit was over, Glasser, CEO of RealNetworks, called Bill Gates, hoping to get Microsoft's technical support so that his music files could be played on the network and portable devices.Everyone thought that Bill Gates would definitely reject him, but unexpectedly, Bill Gates showed a surprising welcome to his proposal. He said through a Microsoft spokesman that if the other party really wants to integrate the software , he would be very interested in cooperating.

Microsoft and Apple have been known to have been rivals since the 1980s, when Jobs and Bill Gates battled fiercely for control of the fledgling market for personal computers.By the mid-'90s, Microsoft had a clear lead, capturing about 90 percent of the market, while Apple struggled.But to everyone's surprise, in 1997, Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple, pulling Apple back from the brink of bankruptcy. In 2000, Microsoft launched Office2001 for Apple.Since then, Microsoft and Apple have truly achieved a win-win situation, and their partnership has entered a new era. It is definitely not a coincidence that two things that ordinary people cannot understand happened to Bill Gates, the richest man in the world.Bill Gates' success stems from many factors, including his grasp of business opportunities and his genius design ability, but it also includes his attitude towards his enemies.

In the face of the enemy, one must be unyielding, grit one's teeth, go head-on, and never back down-this seems to be the consensus.But the wise Bill Gates chose another way: stand by the enemy's side and turn the enemy into his friend. First, when you decide to defeat the enemy, the enemy also wants to defeat you.Since he can become your enemy, he must be on the same level as you and difficult to deal with.Taking a step back, even if you finally defeat him after going through all kinds of hardships, who can guarantee that one day he won't make a comeback?At that time, you have to raise your spirits and actively prepare for the battle.

Therefore, the best way is not to defeat him, but to stand beside the enemy in a friendly manner like Bill Gates did, and turn him into his friend to achieve a win-win situation. There is also such a thing that people talk about in the history of business: On the dining tables of many families in the West, it is customary to put crystal glass goblets and fine porcelain produced by the American "Crystal Cup" company and "Fine Porcelain" company at the same time. Tableware, they are all high-end brand-name tableware.In the past, the two companies had a bad relationship because they were competitors.But later they negotiated and decided to jointly market. The "Crystal Cup" company took advantage of the reputation of fine porcelain tableware in the Japanese market to sell its products into Japan and other countries through joint sales; while the "fine porcelain" company took advantage of the 50% sales of "Crystal Cup" products in the United States, Fine porcelain tableware has occupied the tables of American families and restaurants.As a result, the joint promotion made the two sides complement each other, and the sales of both companies increased significantly.

This reminds me of the story of John Lennon. In 1957, then unknown John Lennon met 15-year-old Paul McCartney at a small gig.After the performance, Paul criticized John for singing incorrectly and playing the guitar badly, and John was very unconvinced.So Paul played a beautiful piece of guitar with his left hand, showing John his genius, and he surprised John by remembering all the lyrics.John thought that instead of making this kid his future enemy, he might as well invite him into the regiment now.On this day, the most successful music partner of the twentieth century was born. John and Paul joined hands to form the "Beatles" band.This band later became popular all over the world and became the most far-reaching band in history.

The smart Lennon has more vision than Bill Gates: Before the enemy becomes an enemy, step forward quickly, stand by his side, and turn him into your friend.