知名企业,如何发家?是有心栽花花才开,还是无心插柳柳成荫?抑或是日积月累,小小蝌蚪变青蛙?下面将奉上一些知名企业的发家小趣闻,读过之后,别忘了,每个前世的丑小鸭都可以变成今生的白天鹅,至于能否华丽大变身,就看你对时代的认识和对行情的把握啦!
Everybody loves corporations. From AIG2) to BP3) to Halliburton4), the public's trust in these monolithic5) legal entities designed to shield6) its members from liability7) is at an all time high8). In honor of our ongoing corporate love fest, we've put together a list of six bizarre, yet true, corporate origin stories.
人人都爱大公司。不管是美国国际集团、英国石油,还是美国哈里伯顿,这些庞大的法人实体使成员免担责任,所以公众对它们空前地信任。鉴于人们对公司的热爱持续不减,我们收集了六大知名企业怪异却又真实的“出身”趣闻。
Coca-Cola—Prohibition
可口可乐——禁酒令
Fulton County Georgia became a dry9) county in 1886. This posed quite the dilemma for John Pemberton, who had been selling a kick-ass10) cocaine and wine mixture called "Pemberton's French Wine Coca" at his drug store. Necessity being the mother of invention, Pemberton was forced to develop a non-alcoholic version of his drink, and the forerunner to what we know as Coca-Cola was born.
1886年,美国佐治亚州富尔顿县发布了禁酒令,这让约翰·彭伯顿相当为难,因为他一直在自己的药店里出售一种强劲的可卡因和酒的混合物,名为“彭伯顿法国可卡酒”。需求是发明的动力,万般万奈的彭伯顿不得不研发了一种不含酒精的可卡饮料,由此诞生了我们熟知的可口可乐的前身。
Luckily for Coke fans, Pemberton decided to sell the rights to his product to various business men, including Asa Griggs Candler11). Candler eventually consolidated his control of the product, and was responsible for the company's franchise12) production model in which the Coca-Cola syrup concentrate is sold to bottlers for final production. This decentralized production process allowed the product to spread around the world and become the cultural icon as it is today.
可乐粉丝们很幸运,因为彭伯顿决定将这个产品权卖给不同的商人,其中便有(可口可乐的创始人)阿萨·格里格斯·坎德勒。坎德勒最终巩固了他对该产品的控制权,并创立了特许生产模式,将可口可乐浓缩糖浆卖给装瓶公司生产成品。这种分散式生产流程使可口可乐遍及世界各地,成为如今的文化象征。
FedEx—Blackjack13)
联邦快递——21点
During the early days of FedEx (Federal Express), founder Frederick Smith found himself running short14) on cash for the company payroll15). Caught between a rock and a hard place16), Smith flew to Vegas and bet his company's future on the blackjack tables. Luckily for his employees, Smith won and quickly wired $27,000 back to meet the payroll demands. The company went on to become one of the largest freight17) haulers18) in the world, with close to 300,000 employees and billions in assets.
联邦快递发展初期,创始人弗雷德里克·史密斯发现自己没钱支付员工薪水。左右为难之际,他飞到拉斯维加斯,将公司的前途压在了21点的牌桌上。他的员工们很幸运,史密斯赌赢了,并且很快电汇了2.7万美元以支付他们的薪水。该公司后来发展成世界上最大的货运商之一,拥有将近三十万名员工和数十亿资产。
Levi Strauss & Co.19) —The Gold Rush and Copper Rivets
李维·施特劳斯公司——淘金热与铜铆钉
It's often said that while not many people got rich off the California Gold Rush20), many people became wealthy from selling supplies to the miners. This type of success is often attributed to21) blue-jeans icon Levi Strauss, although it's not altogether accurate.
据说在加利福尼亚淘金热中发财的人并不多,反而有许多人因向淘金者兜售生活用品而致富。人们常常认为牛仔裤业界的象征人物李维·施特劳斯就是这一类成功致富的代表,尽管这一说法并不完全准确。
While it's true that Strauss sold products to miners, he arrived in San Francisco well after the peak of the Gold Rush. His real success had more to do with copper than gold. Patenting22) a process he developed with a Reno tailor named Jacob Davis, Strauss began selling "waist overalls" (later known as jeans) fitted with copper rivets23) at the points of strain such as pocket corners and the button fly. The more durable product was a hit with workers in the west, and Strauss' investment in copper soon had him seeing gold.
虽然施特劳斯的确向矿工出售过产品,但他是在淘金热高潮期过后才到的旧金山。他真正的成功与铜(而非金子)更为相关。施特劳斯把自己与里诺市的裁缝雅各布·戴维斯研制的一项工艺申请了专利,之后便开始出售齐腰工装裤(后来称为牛仔裤),裤子的口袋角和纽扣遮盖等受力大的地方都钉上了铜铆钉。这种更为耐穿的产品深受西部工人欢迎,施特劳斯在“铜”上的投资很快让他看到了“金子”。
Berkshire Hathaway24)—Fabric and Finance
伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司——纺织与金融
Best known as an investment vehicle for financial wizard Warren Buffett25), Berkshire Hathaway has made billions by using the money of insurance policyholders26) to invest in the stock market and acquire other companies.
伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司因作为金融奇才沃伦·巴菲特的投资媒介而广为人知,它将保险客户的钱用于投资股票市场和收购其他公司,以此获利数十亿。
But the company's origins can be found not in finance, but rather in fabric. The company traces its roots to a textile manufacturer founded in 1839. With the general decline of the US textile industry after WWI, the company began focusing on investments to stay afloat27). Buffet took over in 1962, and by 1967 he had solidified the company's role in the world of finance.
但该公司并不是靠金融发家,而是靠生产纺织品。公司的前身是一家成立于1839年的纺织厂。随着一战后美国纺织业普遍衰落,公司开始将重点放在投资上以避免陷入经济危机。1962年巴菲特接手了该公司,到1967年他已经巩固了该公司在金融界的地位。
Nokia—From Paper to Paperless
诺基亚——从造纸到无纸
The Finnish Telecom giant Nokia is known for its cellphones. But considering the company has been around since 1865, it clearly started off28) as something else.
芬兰电信巨头诺基亚因手机而闻名,但它成立于1865年,所以很明显它一开始是做其他行业的。
The first Nokia century began with Fredrik Idestam's paper mill29) on the banks of the Nokianvirta river. Between 1865 and 1967, the company would have become a major industrial force, but it took a merger with a cable company and a rubber firm to set the new Nokia Corporation on the path to electronics.
诺基亚的第一个百年开始于弗雷德里克·伊德斯坦在诺基亚河岸(编者注:Nokianvirta;当地的一条河流,“诺基亚”的名字便由此而来)建立的造纸厂。从1865年到1967年,该公司本可成为造纸业的中流砥柱,但它却与一家电缆公司和一家橡胶公司合并,合并后的新诺基亚公司踏上了生产电子产品之路。
eBay —The Broken Laser Pointer
eBay ——坏掉的激光笔
Computer programmer Pierre Omidyar started a personal website in 1995. A subsection of the site was used for online auctions30). When something actually sold (a broken laser pointer), Omidyar was so shocked that he reached out to the buyer to see if it was legitimate and to make sure he knew the item was broken. The buyer famously31) inexplicably32) replied, "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers," and eBay was born.
1995年,计算机编程员皮埃尔·奥米迪亚建立了一个个人网站,网站的一小部分用于在线拍卖。当的确有物品(一根坏掉的激光笔)卖出时,奥米迪亚震惊了,他联系买家,想看看这种行为是否合法以及买家是否知道所购商品是坏的。买家的回答让人极为费解:“我专门收藏坏掉的激光笔。” eBay便由此诞生。
1. bizarre [bI5zB:(r)] adj. 异乎寻常的;怪诞的
2. AIG: American International Group Inc.,美国国际集团(世界保险和金融服务的领导者,也是全球首屈一指的国际性保险服务机构)
3. BP: British Petroleum,英国石油公司(世界上最大的石油和石化集团公司之一)
4. Halliburton: 美国哈里伯顿公司(世界上主要的能源服务公司之一)
5. monolithic [7mCnEu5lIWIk] adj. 坚如磐石的;庞大的
6. shield [Fi:ld] vt. 保护;保卫
7. liability [7laIE5bIlEtI] n. 责任
8. all time high: 空前最高纪录
9. dry [draI] adj. <口> 禁酒的;无酒的
10. kick-ass [5kIkAs] adj. <美俚> 强大的
11. Asa Griggs Candler: 阿萨·格里格斯·坎德勒(可口可乐公司的创始人)
12. franchise [5frAntFaIz] n. (公司或制造商给予的在某一地区经营业务的)特许经销权
13. blackjack [5blAkdVAk] n. 【牌】21点
14. run short: 缺少
15. payroll [5peIrEul] n. 工薪总额,发放工资额(指一定时期的应计或应付工资)
16. between a rock and a hard place: <美口> 左右为难,进退两难
17. freight [freIt] n. 货运
18. hauler [5hC:lE(r)] n. (公路)运输行
19. Levi Strauss & Co.: 李维·斯特劳斯公司(Levis,著名的牛仔裤品牌)
20. the California Gold Rush: 加利福尼亚淘金热(1848〜1855),开始于1848年1月24日,当时詹姆斯·W·马歇尔在加利福尼亚州萨克拉曼多的磨坊发现了金子。1855年,加州的金矿业发生了变化,“淘金时代”至此结束。
21. attribute to: 认为⋯⋯属于
22. patent [5peItEnt] vt. 得到(发明等)对专利(或特许状)
23. copper rivet: 紫铜铆钉;铜铆钉
24. Berkshire Hathaway: 伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司(美国保险公司)
25. Warren Buffett: 沃伦·巴菲特,全球著名投资商,公认的股神,被誉为当代最成功的投资者。
26. policyholder [5pClEsI7hEuldE(r)] n. 投保人,保险客户
27. afloat [E5flEut] adj. 无经济困难的
28. start off: 开始
29. paper mill: 造纸厂
30. auction [5C:kFEn] n. 拍卖
31. famously [5feImEslI] adv. 非常,十分
32. inexplicably [In5eksplIkEblI] adv. 无法说明地;费解地,莫名其妙地