????魯梅爾特：晚餐的時候朱迪跟我講起這個，我就告訴她，我在1985年寫過一篇關于軟件盜版的研究論文。對于某些類型的軟件，有人盜版也許更好，因為那樣會建立起用戶群，從而培育來自公司的需求。公司不會用盜版軟件……我在1981年建議某家公司免費贈送他們開發的數據庫軟件，結果那家公司的CFO看著我說：“天啦，這個軟件售價700美元。要送出1萬份，你看我們會損失多少錢。”就得和這種目光短淺的想法做斗爭。

????你可以去做毒品販子和剃須刀廠家的咨詢顧問了。

????魯梅爾特：他們（精于此道），并不需要咨詢。CFO們倒是可以聽聽我的建議。

????克萊爾：我又想起我和父親探討過的一個想法。我的第四本書叫《墮落天使之城》（ City of Fallen Angels），出書的時候我們（在出版公司）召開營銷會議。他們對實體書的銷量不斷下滑不無擔心。我說：“我們試試新想法，在書中增加一些在電子書里無法得到的東西。”我們在封底附上了一封信，由書中的一個角色寫給另一個角色。看起來就像真的信件，而且還有蠟印，可供粉絲收藏。而在Kindle（亞馬遜的電子書——譯注）上就無法找到這樣可以拿在手中的實物。

????后來呢？

????克萊爾：我們【在邦諾書店（Barnes & Noble）】進行嘗試，獲得了巨大成功。他們追加了訂單，結果還是一售而空……我正好應邀在邦諾的董事會會議上演講。邦諾的CEO對我說：“你知道嗎，你們在《墮天使之城》上的營銷戰略真精彩。大獲成功之后，我們還要求其他作者跟進。我們把這個叫做《墮落天使之城》策略。”

????理查德會在電影里客串嗎？

????克萊爾：不會，但電影里確實有一個邪惡老爸的角色。

????魯梅爾特：我寧愿自己拍電影。其實我已經開始一個計劃，想和CEO討論戰略問題，錄制采訪視頻。

????克萊爾：我特別要求讓我的貓咪出鏡。

????RUMELT: I told Judy over lunch when she mentioned this that I wrote a research paper back in 1985 about software piracy and how for certain kinds of software it's probably better to let people steal it because it builds the user base, which then creates corporate demand. Corporations aren't going to steal it…The CFO of one company I advised in 1981 to give away copies of a database program looked at me and said, "Jeez, we're going to sell this for $700 times 10,000. Look how much we would lose." That's the kind of myopic logic you're fighting.

????You could be advisor to drug dealers and razor-blade manufacturers.

????RUMELT: They don't need that advice. It's CFOs who do.

????CLARE: I'm thinking of another thing that I also ran by my dad. When my fourth book came out, which was called City of Fallen Angels, we were having our marketing meeting [at the publisher]. And they were saying they were concerned about dwindling print sales for all books. And I said, "Let's something experimental—put something in the books you can't get in ebooks. In the back of the book we'll affix a letter written by one of the characters to another character. It'll look like a letter, with a little wax seal, a thing fans will want to collect. And as an analogue object you can hold in your hand, it's something you can't pull out of a Kindle.

????So?

????CLARE: We tried it [at Barnes & Noble]. It was hugely successful. They had to reorder. Eventually they ran out of them… I was just at the board of directors meeting for Barnes & Noble (BKS) as a speaker. The CEO said to me, "You know, that thing you guys did for City of Fallen Angels was a brilliant piece of strategy. It was so successful for us that we've now gone and asked dozens of other authors to do the same thing. We call it City of Fallen Angels treatment."

????Will Richard have a cameo in the movie?

????CLARE: No, but there is an evil dad in the movie.

????RUMELT: I'd rather have my own film. I'm actually beginning a project of trying to video CEOs about certain strategy issues.

????CLARE: I have asked specifically that they include my cat.