And quite a successful first step it was. Shortly after his dissertation was published, a Japanese company bought a patent that Hsu had obtained based on his research and built a character recognition device with a price tag of 40 million yen. The product became a gold mine for the company, and the experience provided the initial motivation for Hsu to focus on "turning knowledge into profit."
這一炮相當成功，論文發表不久就被日本一家公司買下專利，做成自動讀圖系統機，叫價一台四千萬日幣，成為該公司的搖錢樹，也由此觸動了日後許文星「化知識為利潤」的創業動機。