Markkula was only thirty-three, but he had already retired after working at Fairchild and then Intel,
马库拉当时才33岁,但已经处于退休状态,之前他先后供职于仙童公司和英特尔,
where he made millions on his stock options when the chip maker went public.
后者上市之后,他凭着股票期权赚了几百万。
He was a cautious and shrewd man, with the precise moves of someone who had been a gymnast in high school,
他是个谨慎而又精明的人,作为髙中时期的体操运动员,每一步行动都力求精准,
and he excelled at figuring out pricing strategies, distribution networks, marketing, and finance.
同时他还精于定价策略、销售网络、市场营销以及财务。
Despite being slightly reserved, he had a flashy side when it came to enjoying his newly minted wealth.
在享受自己新赚来的财富时,尽管已经有所克制,但还是显得极尽奢华。
He built himself a house in Lake Tahoe and later an outsize mansion in the hills of Woodside.
他先是在太浩湖边给自己建了一座房子,之后又在伍德赛德的山区建了一座超大豪宅。
When he showed up for his first meeting at Jobs's garage, he was driving not a dark Mercedes like Valentine,
他第一次去乔布斯的车库与其会面时,没有像瓦伦丁那样开深色奔驰,
but a highly polished gold Corvette convertible.
而是开着一辆锃亮的金色克尔维特敞篷车。
"When I arrived at the garage,
”我到车库的时候,
Woz was at the workbench and immediately began showing off the Apple II," Markkula recalled.
沃兹就在工作台边,他立刻就开始展示Apple II,”马库拉回忆说,
"I looked past the fact that both guys needed a haircut and was amazed by what I saw on that workbench.
“我没有太关心他们两个的长头发,而是被桌上的东西吸引了。
You can always get a haircut."
头发什么时候都可以剪嘛。”
Jobs immediately liked Markkula.
乔布斯立刻就喜欢上了马库拉。
"He was short and he had been passed over for the top marketing job at Intel,
“他个子不髙,在英特尔的时候寻求晋升市场营销的最髙职位遭遇过失败,
which I suspect made him want to prove himself."
我觉得这些都让他很想要证明自己。”
He also struck Jobs as decent and fair.
他的正直和公正也给乔布斯留下了深刻的印象:
"You could tell that if he could screw you, he wouldn't.
“你可以看得出来,即便他有能力骗你,他也不会那么做。
He had a real moral sense to him." Wozniak was equally impressed.
他有很强的道德意识。”沃兹尼亚克也对他印象颇佳。
"I thought he was the nicest person ever," he recalled.
“我觉得他是世界上最好的人,”他说,
"Better still, he actually liked what we had!"
“更棒的是,他真的很喜欢我们的产品!”
Markkula proposed to Jobs that they write a business plan together.
马库拉向乔布斯提议一起撰写商业计划书。
"If it comes out well, I'll invest," Markkula said,
“如果计划出的结果很好,那我就投资,”马库拉说,
"and if not, you've got a few weeks of my time for free."
“如果不好的话,你也免费得到了我好几个星期的时间。”
Jobs began going to Markkula's house in the evenings,
乔布斯开始在晚上拜访马库拉家,
kicking around projections and talking through the night.
考虑各种方案,整夜整夜地谈话。
"We made a lot of assumptions, such as about how many houses would have a personal computer,
“我们作了很多设想,比如有多少家庭会拥有个人电脑,
and there were nights we were up until 4 a.m.," Jobs recalled.
好几个晚上我们都工作到凌晨4点。”乔布斯回忆说。
Markkula ended up writing most of the plan.
最终,大部分的计划书是由马库拉完成的。
"Steve would say, 'I will bring you this section next time,'
“史蒂夫会说,我下次把这一部分带给你,
but he usually didn't deliver on time,
但他一般都不能准时完成,
so I ended up doing it."
所以只好我来做。”