Visage was invited to attend the celebration banquet hosted by Page Pictures, and he came alone, not bringing Wardi, Goldfinger, or others.
His purpose for this trip was to have an open and honest conversation with Kyle.
After all, every day, ICQ's market share was being encroached upon by other similar chat software.
ICQ's situation was not optimistic!
"Hi, Kyle."
When Visage greeted Kyle, Kyle was drinking and chatting with Katzenberg, the head of DreamWorks Animation.
"Uh, it's Visage. Let me introduce you, this is Mr. Jeffrey Katzenberg from DreamWorks Animation, a highly respected senior in our Hollywood industry," Kyle introduced.
Immediately, Katzenberg and Visage shook hands.
They were all billionaires and leading figures in their respective fields, so feigning sincerity and playing along naturally came easily to them.
"Kyle, I'd like to talk to you, do you have time?" Visage asked.
"Of course!"
Kyle nodded, then looked at Katzenberg and apologized, "Jeffrey, I'll be over there for a moment. We'll chat properly later."
"Alright, go ahead, I don't need you to entertain me," Katzenberg didn't mind.
Of course, his not minding was his business. Kyle immediately called over his Page Pictures president, Mr. Bill, and asked him to entertain Katzenberg.
This would certainly not be impolite!
They were all prominent figures in Hollywood; what mattered was face.
"Waiter, over here."
Under a large banyan tree in a certain part of the manor, the two sat down. Kyle called a waiter and was surprised to find that the person who came was Amy Adams, who would later become a famous Hollywood actress.
"Mr. Page, what can I get for you?" Amy asked softly.
"Two glasses of Valderon red wine, please!"
"Alright, please wait a moment."
After Amy left, Kyle turned his gaze to Visage.
"Visage, actually, I've also wanted to have a good talk with you for a long time. You know, ever since I divested from ICQ in July last year, I think we've only met once in New York. That was for the Super Bowl advertising solicitation, and our meeting was not only unpleasant but also involved quite a few arguments. Hmm, at the ICQ third-anniversary reception a few days ago, we didn't even exchange a single word. I haven't said anything wrong, have I?" Kyle said, tapping the table.
"No, you haven't."
Visage admitted frankly, "You're absolutely right. You know, I'm a bit jealous of you."
Jealous?
"Haha, what are you jealous of me for? My good looks?" Kyle chuckled.
"Not that."
Visage laughed, "What I'm jealous of is your vision. In 1996, Silicon Valley hosted the second Internet Summit. During the three-day exchange summit, we didn't know each other, but after the summit, we coincidentally met."
"Are you trying to say it was a coincidence?" Kyle teased.
Visage shook his head, "Back then, when I attended the exchange summit, I was so full of vigor, convinced that ICQ would carve out a niche and achieve great development amidst the Internet boom, but I lacked startup capital! But... you appeared!"
"I'll always remember that evening, that coffee shop!"
"I believe it was God's guidance, that God brought us together!"
God?
Oh, give me a break!
If you weren't the founder of ICQ, why would I bother with you?
Kyle rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Visage continued, "Since then, we applied for ICQ's global patent and founded ICQ Company. We even placed an advertisement in your company's movie 'Juno,' which made ICQ an instant hit upon its launch. I remember that day, we both got drunk!"
"Do you know?"
"On that day, I recognized that you would be my lifelong benefactor, an important contributor to ICQ's continued development."
"And as it turned out, I... was right!"
"The subsequent launch of multi-language versions of ICQ, emoji packs, member functions... all demonstrated your unique vision. Your foresight is ahead of everyone else's!"
This string of compliments indeed made Kyle feel very comfortable.
Who doesn't love flattery?
"But didn't you later conspire with Wardi to target me? You almost completely drove me out of the board of directors, and in the end, you succeeded! My positions as Chief Creative Officer and Executive Director were successively revoked, and I eventually withdrew my shares in disgrace."
Kyle scoffed, "Isn't all of this exactly what you wanted?!"
"..."
At this moment, Visage was extremely embarrassed.
Don't judge by words, but by actions!
The facts proved that Kyle had done nothing wrong to ICQ, nothing wrong to Visage. Instead, it was Visage and his management team who constantly targeted Kyle.
Seriously, how could Kyle not be angry?
Furthermore, Kyle himself wasn't someone with a good temper. Now, he was merely mocking him a bit; not yelling at him was already a blessing.
"Mr. Page, Mr. Visage, here is your wine."
Just as the awkward atmosphere spread, Amy Adams, still working as a waitress, walked over with a tray holding two glasses of red wine.
"Thank you, charming lady," Kyle said with a smile after taking the wine.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Page."
To receive praise from "Hollywood mogul" Kyle was naturally an exciting thing for Amy Adams, who was determined to enter Hollywood.
"What's your name?" Kyle asked.
"Amy, Amy Adams!" Amy replied seriously.
Kyle nodded and said, "I'll remember you. If you're interested in becoming an actress, you can leave your phone number with my assistant, Alexander. Maybe I'll give you a chance."
Leave a number?
Become an actress?
A chance?
Boom!!!
At this moment, Amy Adams' mind felt as if it had been swept by a Category 12 hurricane, her heart surging, unable to calm down for a long time.
Who in Hollywood didn't know that Page Pictures was best at discovering new actors?
Joaquin, Theron, Scarlett... which one of them didn't get linked with Page Pictures and then became famous across America?!
How could she, Amy Adams, a waitress and a Hollywood extra, not be excited to get such an opportunity now?
"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Page!"
Amy excitedly thanked Kyle repeatedly.
Casting couch?
Heh heh!
Kyle really didn't have that many thoughts at this moment.
Promoting a future famous Hollywood actress and making her famous through Page Pictures, wasn't that also a very proud thing to do?
Amy Adams left, but her appearance indeed eased the awkward atmosphere between Kyle and Visage.
"Kyle, are you really not planning to return to ICQ?"
Visage said in a deep voice, "If you're willing to return to ICQ, I can strongly recommend you to become CEO, and I can sell you a portion of my shares at a low price."
"Alas~~"
Kyle could feel Visage's determination, but he still shook his head and said, "I won't go back, but if you really want to save ICQ from its crisis, I can give you a suggestion."
"Tell me," Visage said expectantly.
"Cut off a limb to save the body, abandon most of the overseas markets and some subsidiary industries, fully consolidate the North American market, and concentrate all forces to win the battle against Microsoft MSN!" Kyle suggested.
Abandon most of the overseas markets?
Give up some subsidiary industries?
Visage was shocked and said, "Wouldn't that ruin ICQ's stock price?!"
Kyle nodded, "Exactly, it might even delist, but only then will ICQ have a glimmer of hope. Otherwise, it's undoubtedly slowly waiting to die!"
Competing with a behemoth like Microsoft in the instant messaging market, without consolidating all forces and spreading the net so wide, how could you win?
To gain, you must give. If you don't give up something, how can you win the future?
In this regard, Amazon's Bezos did an excellent job; he only fully expanded into overseas markets after defeating most of the online shopping malls in America.
Visage left, dazed and confused.
Kyle looked at Visage's retreating figure and sighed, "Who would have thought that in just a few years, the instant messaging giant ICQ would be worth less than 30 million US dollars?"