救星佩罗

　　In late 1986 Jobs sent out a proposal to venture capital firms offering a 10% stake in NeXT for $3 million.

　　1986年底，乔布斯向风投公司发出了招股说明书，300万美元可购买NeXT公司10%的股份。

　　That put a valuation on the entire company of $30 million, a number that Jobs had pulled out of thin air.

　　也就是说整个公司的估值为3000万美元，这一数值是乔布斯凭空想出来的。

　　Less than $7 million had gone into the company thus far,

　　NeXT公司已经消耗了近700万美元，

　　and there was little to show for it other than a neat logo and some snazzy offices.

　　但这笔钱毫无成效，只体现在优雅的标识和时髦的办公室上。

　　It had no revenue or products, nor any on the horizon.

　　没有收入，没有产品，也没有即将发布产品实现营收的迹象。

　　Not surprisingly, the venture capitalists all passed on the offer to invest.

　　因此，毫不奇怪，风投公司都没有参与投资。

　　There was, however, one cowboy who was dazzled.

　　不过，倒是有一位颇具胆量的牛仔为NeXT公司神魂颠倒。

　　Ross Perot, the bantam Texan who had founded Electronic Data Systems, then sold it to General Motors for $2.4 billion,

　　罗斯·佩罗是个矮小精干的得克萨斯人，他创办了电子数据系统公司后以24亿美元的价格卖给了通用汽车公司。

　　happened to watch a PBS documentary, The Entrepreneurs, which had a segment on Jobs and NeXT in November 1986.

　　1986年11月，佩罗碰巧看到了美国公共广播公司的一部纪录片《创业者》，其中有一部分是关于乔布斯和NeXT公司的。

　　He instantly identified with Jobs and his gang, so much so that,

　　佩罗当下就很欣赏乔布斯及其团队，

　　as he watched them on television, he said,"I was finishing their sentences for them."

　　他边看电视边想，“我会帮助他们完成想法。”

　　It was a line eerily similar to one Sculley had often used.

　　这句话与斯卡利过去常说的话极其相似。

　　Perot called Jobs the next day and offered, "If you ever need an investor, call me."

　　次日，佩罗就打电话给乔布斯，提出，“如果你需要投资者，给我打电话。”