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The Geek Squad 奇客电脑

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Geek Squad’s free-wheeling founder is still contributing and casting his vision  奇客电脑倜傥不羁的创办人依然致力于贡献己力及塑造愿景

Robert Stephens recalls with precision the night he signed the deal that would put his sassy startup, Geek Squad, under the massive corporate umbrella of Best Buy. It was October 2002, and Stephens, then 33, was plotting the new heights to which he could take Geek Squad, the computer repair company he had started in college.

罗伯特．史蒂芬兹分毫不差地记得当年他签约的那一晚，这项交易将把其生气蓬勃的新创公司奇客电脑纳入百思买大型企业的保护伞下。时值二００二年十月，当时三十三岁的史蒂芬兹正在运筹帷幄，以期带领奇客电脑这家他在大学时代创立的电脑维修公司再创新高。

Since then, Geek Squad has grown from 60 employees and nearly $3 million in sales to the world’s largest tech-support operation with annual revenue of $ 1 billion to $1.5 billion, analysts say.

分析师表示，此后奇客电脑便从原本六十名员工和近三百万美元的销售额，逐步成长为全球最大的技术支持营运体，年营收达十亿至十五亿美元。

About 24,000 “agents” worldwide come to work each day dressed in white button-down shirts, black pants and clip-on ties. They still make house calls in iconic black-and-white “Geekmobiles,” and are set up in all of Best Buy’s 1,143 U.S. stores.

世界各地每天大约有两万四千名「干员」来上班，他们穿着白色的领尖钉钮衬衫（译注：领尖用钮扣固定在衣身上的衬衫）、黑色长裤和扣式领带（译注：预先打好的领带，穿戴时只需扣在衣领上）。他们依然开着该公司注册商标的黑白相间「奇客车」到府服务，而且在全美一千一百四十三家百思买分店中皆设有据点。

And the Geeks might be more important than ever to company’s future.

而这些奇客对于公司未来的重要性可能更胜以往。

“Geek Squad’s going to become a bigger and bigger component of their core strategy,” said analyst Mitch Kaiser. “Beyond driving sales, it increases customer satisfaction. Best Buy becomes the trusted adviser and the IT staff for the individual.”

「奇客电脑成了公司核心策略的一部分，而且重要性愈来愈大，」分析师米其．凯泽表示，」奇客除了推动刺激销售之外，还能提升顾客满意度，使百思买得以成为个别消费者相当信赖的顾问及信息科技人员。

The key to success  成功的关键

Crucial to the success of the quirky Geek Squad brand has been the remarkable harmony between Stephens, its free-wheeling creator, and the multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 company that brought him in.

略显古怪的奇客电脑品牌的成功关键，在于那位倜傥不羁的创办人史蒂芬兹与将他纳入旗下的百思买之间非比寻常的融洽关系，产值数十亿美元的百思买公司名列美国《财富杂志》五百大企业。

Corporate America is littered with chronicles of successful entrepreneurs who leave their posts within a year to 18 months of getting acquired. Some don’t mesh with the culture, or can’t stomach changes the parent company wants to make. Others get sidelined in budget meetings when they’d rather be inventing something. Stephens, who launched Geek Squad with $200 and a bicycle, studied the failed transitions, and vowed not to become another one of them.

放眼美国企业界，处处可见成功创业家在其公司被收购的一年至一年半内离职的纪录人。有些创业家离职的原因是因为和新公司文化格格不入，或是无法忍受母公司企图进行的改变；有些人则被排除于核心之外，只被安插参与预算会议，但他们却宁可从开创性的工作。以两百美元及一辆自行车成立奇客电脑的史蒂芬兹，曾研究过这些失败的转变过程，并誓言绝不加入失败者的行列。

“I was no longer the owner, and that was quite humbling,” he said. “I decided I wouldn’t be this know-it-all founder. My goal was to influence without authority. Learn and study.”

「我不再是老板了，而这点让我谦虚不少，」他说，「我决定不要当这种自以为无所不知的创办人。我的目标是不靠权威就能发挥影响力，要学习和研究。」

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geek [gik] n. (计算机)鬼才，(计算机)迷

squad [skwɑd] n. 小队，小组

precision [prɪˋsɪʒən] n. 清晰（性）；明确（性）

sassy [ˋsæsɪ] adj. 活泼的；漂亮的

corporate umbrella 企业保护伞 the use of a company name as a means of linking and bringing together various items under one name

button-down [ˋbʌtn͵daʊn] adj.（衬衫领子）有钮孔可扣在衬衫上的

clip-on [ˋklɪp͵ɑn] adj. 用夹子夹上去的

house call 上门服务; 出診 when someone comes to your home, usually to give treatment

set up 建立﹐设立﹐创立〔公司﹑机构等〕to establish in business by providing capital, equipment, or other backing

quirky [ˋkwɝkɪ] adj. 古怪的

acquire [əˋkwaɪr] v.【正式】购得; 得到; 收购〔尤指昂贵的或难以得到的东西〕merged by other company

mesh [mɛʃ] v. 紧密配合；互相协调

parent company 母公司 a company which controls other smaller companies

transition [trænˋzɪʃən] n. 转变，变迁；变革

humble [ˋhʌmb!] adj. 谦逊的；谦恭的

know-it-all [ˋnoɪt͵ɔl] adj.【口】假装或自称无所不知的

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Stephens once described Geek Squad as “a living comic book,” inspired by Star Wars and cop shows such as Dragnet. He put Geek Squad agents in that same light, as if to say: “Step away from the computer, ma’am. Geek Squad is here to help.”

史蒂芬兹曾经把奇客电脑形容为「活生生的漫画书」，灵感取自《星际大战》和《警网》等警匪影集。他把奇客电脑的干员塑造成类似的形象，彷佛在说：「女士，请离开电脑，让奇客电脑来帮你」（译注：squad有特警队的意思）。

The idea caught on  点子广受欢迎

Soon Geek Squad was fixing computers for 3M, General Mills, Hollywood producers and rock stars. One of Stephens’ earliest customers was Frank Bennett, a successful venture capitalist who soon became a key adviser.

很快地，奇客电脑替3M公司、通用磨坊、好莱坞制片及摇滚巨星修理电脑。史蒂芬兹最早期的客户之一是法兰克．班内特，这位事业有成的创投业者很快便成为重要的顾问。

Bennett pushed the 20-something Stephens to get a business plan to go along with his brilliant idea.

班内特敦促当时二十几岁的史蒂芬兹拟定商业计划，好配合他的绝妙点子。

“I encourage him to keep talking to Best Buy, but not to be in a hurry,” Bennett said.

「我鼓励他持续跟百思买洽谈，但也不要操之过急。」班内特这么表示。

The courtship lasted for two years, staring in 2000 when Best Buy put a few Geek Squad agents in a Best Buy store in Minnesota.

这段招商期持续两年，始于二０００年，当时百思买把一些奇客电脑干员派驻在明尼苏达州的百思买分店。

Since its nationwide expansion in 2004, Geek Squad has contributed an ever-larger share of sales. What’s not measured is how many people buy their increasingly complicated electronics at Best Buy because Geek Squad is there when needed.

自从百思买在二００四年展开全国性的扩张之后，奇客电脑对于销售额的贡献便持续增加。至于没有纳入估算的部分则是，其中究竟有多少人是因为有奇客电脑人员随时待命，而选择在百思买购买日益复杂的电子产品。

Advancing technology equals opportunities  不断进步的科技等同于机会

Stephens believes 2010 kicks off a new era where boundaries in technology will continue to come down.

史蒂芬兹认为，二０一０年开启了一个新纪元，因为科技上一些原有的界线将持续瓦解。

“You’re going to have a high-speed, color, megapixel, GPS, geolocated, real-time, social search engine in your pocket that talks. And then it’s going to predict what you want. Then it’s going to say, ‘What are you going to do with all of this power?’”

「你口袋里将拥有一个高速、彩色画面、百万画素，具有全球定位系统功能、地理定位功能、实时联机而且还会讲话的社交搜索引擎。它将预测你想要的事物，然后会说：『有了所有这些功能之后，你接下来会怎么做呢？』」

That, he said, is where the Geek Squad comes in. “Our work’s not compete yet. With mobile phones alone, and TVs becoming like computers, Geek Squad is in its infancy.”

他表示，那就是奇客电脑大显身手之处了。「我们的工作尚未完成。光是在移动电话以及功能接近电脑的电视等层面，奇客电脑仍处于萌芽阶段。」

“I always said that as long as I feel I can contribute, as long as it’s fun and as long as the company is willing to listen, I’ll stay. And the answer to all there is still yes.”

「我总是说，只要自己觉得还能有所贡献，工作有趣，而公司也愿意聆听，我就会留下来，而至今这三个问题的答案依然是肯定的。」

−by Jackie Crosby

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light [laɪt] n.（对事物的）见解，观点 a particular perspective or aspect of a situation

venture capitalist 创投业者; 创业投资人 someone who provides money for investment in a new company, especially a risky one

come down 崩塌; (指价格、温度等)降低; 下降 decline, decrease; deteriorate

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free-wheeling [friˋhwilɪŋ] adj.【非正式】随心所欲的; 不考虑规章[后果]的 not limited by rules or accepted ways of doing something

drive [draɪv] v. 驱动; 推动 to provide the power to make something happen

be littered with 使充满[H][（+with）] to contain a lot of one particular thing

stomach [ˋstʌmək] v.（常用于否定句或疑问句）承受，忍受 to be able to accept an unpleasant idea or watch something unpleasant

sideline [ˋsaɪd͵laɪn] v. 把…排除在外; 使靠边; 不重视 to stop someone from taking an active and important part in something; remove from the center of activity or attention

courtship [ˋkortʃɪp] n. 追求期; 求爱(或恋爱)期 the early stages of a relationship during which two parties are overly attentive to one another for the purpose of winning a favor or establishing an alliance

kick off〔会议﹑事情等〕开始 to start something

in infancy 在初期; 在早期阶段 very new and still developing

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