Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 145 Gradually Growing Stronger
The three busy days passed quickly.

Lu Weibing, the new president, is quite shrewd. He hadn't even settled in before he taught Chen Xuebing a lesson.

—"How to Be a CEO".

The next day, he poached a whole team of his former employees.

A squad, organized by the military, consists of 10 people.

Chen Xuebing and Lu Weibing each booked a separate office to work in.

Then, Chen Xuebing got busy.

……

"Chairman, Mr. Lu said that the office floors have been negotiated. Henggang Building has agreed to vacate all three floors for us as soon as possible. The monthly rent is 38,000 yuan, payable in full for six months, totaling 228,000 yuan. In addition, he said that he wants to set up an office in SEG Plaza to serve as our Huaqiangbei business unit. The monthly rent is 6000 yuan, payable in full for a year, totaling 72,000 yuan."

"Hmm... how much reserve does the company have in its books right now?"

“I just checked, it’s exactly 100 million. There’s still over 30 in the counter’s account that hasn’t been transferred over, and over 20 in accounts payable for goods.”

“Okay, call Huo Xiaowen and ask him to lend you 60 yuan. Make him write an IOU. Also, have Gou Hongyi go and talk to Section Chief Luo in the Investment Promotion Office. Our tax revenue is up now, and we'll be six months old soon. Ask him for any loan policies he can get. Take your business license, tax certificates, and bank statements to a few big banks and ask how much you can borrow. The company is expanding, so we need to keep more money in the account.”

"During the National Day holiday... is there no one in the government?"

“This is Shenzhen. I called and asked. There are people staying at the investment promotion office, including Section Chief Luo.”

"So... the money here can't be used, right? What about the 1.5 million shortfall for Changzheng Capital? The stock market was still fluctuating before the holiday, and if we still can't make money in October..."

“They’ve sent Liang Hui over there to make up the difference. He’s selling sand for 80,000 a day now. The payment for the Gonghe Village road project will arrive after the holiday, and the first phase of Taohuaxi also needs to report the volume. Adding the volume from Luo An and his son, the first phase has a progress of over 3 million, which is quite substantial. If we make up that 1.5 million next month, we might even be able to add another two or three million to come to Shenzhen. Without some money, would I dare to come to Shenzhen?”

"It's good that you planned ahead." Ren Ying rarely spoke sweetly.

Chen Xuebing looked up, a little surprised: "Wow, you've grown up recently, and your words are sweeter! Not bad, I'll give you a raise after the group's procedures are completed, and I'll set you up for position A8, 4000 yuan."

Ren Ying did not refuse this time.

"I mean it from the bottom of my heart, I want to learn from you."

……

"Chairman, today, General Manager Lu recruited the first batch of sales team members, 22 people. They are gathered downstairs and giving a speech, asking if you want to go."

"So fast."

"His team is quite efficient."

"Okay, I'll be down in a bit."

……

"Chairman."

"what happened again?"

"Mr. Lu said that the deal has been finalized with India. He said that he would test the waters with a small batch and that the first batch of goods could be shipped over within a week, via Yantian Port. The goods are worth 800,000 yuan, the freight is very low, the comprehensive tax rate is 15%, the subsidy is 17%, and the settlement is in US dollars. The total cost is 660,000 yuan, and the profit is 140,000 yuan. India will buy out the goods, but the payment may be slower. Even if everything goes smoothly, it will take more than 7 weeks."

"Payment upon delivery? It should have arrived in just over twenty days. Why does it take this long? Isn't international trade usually cash on delivery?"

"I asked, and it's uncertain whether OEM machines from Huaqiangbei will sell well there. It's the first transaction, so we need to give them time to verify."

"Okay, tell Mr. Lu that the payment cycle is too long and the RMB to USD exchange rate has been rising recently, so tell him to pay attention to the exchange rate fluctuations."

……

"Dong dong."

"Chairman."

On the morning of October 4th, the person knocking on the door was Lu Weibing.

"Enter."

Lu Weibing opened the door and came in with a stack of documents.

Exactly three days.

Chen Xuebing glanced at what Lu Weibing was holding and already knew what it was.

A report on spending money.

"Mr. Lu is quite efficient. You still have time to write a report in three days?"

Lu Weibing smiled and waved the documents in his hand: "The team is doing all the work. I just contacted some friends in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. I spend the rest of my time working on this."

Chen Xuebing listened with some emotion; this was the first time he had encountered someone with such high efficiency among his subordinates.

It's still during the National Day holiday, only three days, but the marketing, administration, finance, office space, foreign trade, and factory planning departments are all more than halfway through their establishment and implementation. They should be able to start operating around the end of the National Day holiday.

Mr. Lu has been staying in his office almost the entire time, working on documents. However, the ten-person administrative team he recruited is busy from morning till night.

Chen Xuebing had already seen his outstanding coordination skills.

"Let me see."

Chen Xuebing took the materials and read only two pages before Lu Weibing began to speak without notes, following his reading pace.

"The entire plan involves an investment of approximately 140 million yuan, of which 75 million yuan is for advertising on CCTV and celebrity endorsements. The research and development period is controlled within 8 months, and production will be achieved before July next year."

“You need to prepare at least half of that before production starts, 7000 million. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“The initial investment is not high. Before November, I plan to improve my profitability.”

"You set up the Taobao channels, so I don't know much about them. But I've looked into it these past few days. I can optimize the departmental system and the order taking and shipping process so that everyone can do their job properly, making things easier for everyone and improving efficiency. Also, regarding the financial system, could we change the channel for using personal online accounts?"

Chen Xuebing shook his head: "I've wanted to switch for a long time. Taobao and Alipay don't have dedicated channels for businesses now. The company's financial card format is incorrect, so I can't even bind it. However, their platform is currently being optimized. I'll take some time to talk to Taobao's operations team about it."

Lu Weibing's eyes lit up: "You know someone in Taobao's management?"

"Yes, I can get in touch with them."

"Then... since we're shipping from overseas, could we use their overseas merchant information...?"

"That's their lifeline; they won't give it to them."

Chen Xuebing flatly refused.

After thinking for a moment, he said slowly:

“What belongs to others will always belong to others. I make mobile phones so that I can create my own Taobao, Alipay, and even other things. You are the president of a technology company, and the online business will be established in this company in the future. I think there are some things that I should discuss with you in advance.”

Lu Weibing's expression turned serious: "Please speak."

"Mobile phones will be the future network carrier. Currently, countries around the world are developing 3G, and our country is also developing the TD-SCDMA standard developed by Datang Telecom. I believe you are familiar with it."

"Yeah. I know."

"Why are our mobile phones developing towards a high-end, intelligent route? It's to take the lead in occupying the mobile network channel and prepare for the future development of the mobile network era. Just like the Symbian system and the mobile QQ software that comes with some new feature phones this year, when the smartphone era arrives, it will be more refined and its usage will completely surpass that of computers. Reading, news, shopping, online games, many things can be done through mobile phones. In the era of mobile software, we need to seize the initiative, seize the platform, and then seize customers. This is the key to our future profitability. Feature phones can't do these things, understand?"

“Huh…”

Lu Weibing gasped as he listened.

He stood there for a long time, his eyes gradually widening, his expression a mixture of surprise and frustration.

"Chairman, why didn't you tell me about something this important sooner?! All my work these past two days has been for nothing!"

Chen Xuebing grinned, leaned back in his chair, and said with a somewhat inexplicable smile, "How could I tell you about something this big if you didn't first show me your capabilities?"

"I."

"you."

"This issue."

"Hey…"

Lu Weibing uttered a few broken sounds, gradually sensing the unfathomable depth of this chairman, then sighed and gave a bitter smile.

"You're right."

"Hmm..." Chen Xuebing exhaled through his nose, shook the documents in his hand, and said leisurely, "This matter can't be completed in just two or three days. I suggest you first learn about mobile software. Whether you become the president of the entire company or the president of the mobile business group, this is crucial. However, these three days of work won't be in vain. Doing this is like organizing your thoughts, which will make your future plans more mature. Leave the documents here, I will look at them carefully. I will discuss the marketing part with you after I finish reading it."

Lu Weibing took half a minute to process this information, then nodded. "I understand."

Chen Xuebing flipped through the documents in his hand again.

"Your Plan 2 needs to include a different brand. Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Tsk." Lu Weibing clicked his tongue. "The name 'Dao' is too solemn. You've already gone into the high-end market. My plan is to create a younger brand, targeting the mid-to-low-end market with high cost-performance. The name can be more relaxed, like an animal, plant, or fruit."

Chen Xuebing laughed: "The word 'Dao' (道) doesn't necessarily mean it's not young. It has many uses, and I believe it will become the biggest meme of the next 20 years. But your idea is also right. I've thought of a name for you: 'Popcorn' phone. In the future, our phone packaging can also be made into a bucket shape, just like a bucket of popcorn. What do you think?"

"Popcorn." Lu Weibing's eyes brightened. "Not bad...this is good, and the idea is good too! Chairman, you've really hit the nail on the head this time! How did you come up with this?"

Chen Xuebing laughed and waved his hand: "You can make up your own story about the brand inspiration, as long as it's shareable."

Actually, his first thought was Xiaomi.

But... copying is one thing, but there's no need to copy the name too.

However, as he searched online for the name, a joke came to mind.

Rice's mother is a flower, because of peanuts; Rice's father is a butterfly, because butterflies love flowers; Rice's maternal grandmother is a magic pen, because a magic pen can create flowers; Rice's maternal grandfather is popcorn, because he has held both rice and flowers.

Popcorn, hehe…

Lu Weibing also found some inspiration from this name, making a fist with one hand and punching it into the palm of the other.

"I'll look into that! By the way, about the technical staff you asked me to connect with Emerson Headhunters for, they said the last two people will report to the company this afternoon, and the rest will be here after the holiday. So far, there are a total of ten people: circuit engineers, UI designers, chip designers, and capacitive touchscreen engineers, which are not easy to find. They contacted a capacitive touchscreen manufacturer called Zhongchu Electronics, which is in Shenzhen. Should we contact them?"

Chen Xuebing scratched the back of his head and smiled:

"I'm not trying to make capacitive screens. We can just find a big manufacturer to make them. It's just that there are no commercial cases of capacitive screen technology being used in mobile phones right now. We need a team of people who understand capacitive screens to work with the manufacturers to meet our requirements and better implement them in our mobile phones."

"I understand. What specific requirements are you looking for? Could you tell me? I know some international manufacturers, so just tell me and I'll take care of it."

"Yes...that's how it is," Chen Xuebing said slowly.

While capacitive touchscreens haven't been commercially used in mobile phones, it's not due to technical issues. The main problem is that the two major smartphone camps, Palm and PPC, still use stylus-based operating systems. These systems are outdated, and capacitive touch offers no advantage over them, plus they're expensive.

“Our interface had to be designed specifically to take advantage of the interactive features of capacitive screens, so I found a UI designer. In addition, we also had to use the multi-touch technology that Bell Labs developed 20 years ago.”

"My idea is to find a manufacturer that has mastered this technology and produces capacitive screens to work with for production. During this process, there will definitely need to be a team that understands capacitive screens to connect the manufacturer and our mobile phone interface design team. The software and hardware will work together perfectly to maximize the benefits of the technology. I will explain the specific requirements to the interface design team."

These past few days, Chen Xuebing has been busy in his office, learning a great deal, researching materials, and piecing together concrete ideas.

"Oh..." Lu Weibing nodded: "What if the manufacturer sends a team to the site for on-site coordination? Would that work?"

Chen Xuebing leaned back.

"Then they need to have enough patience. Their people must be present throughout the entire R&D process to ensure efficiency."

“Okay, I’ll handle it,” Lu Weibing readily agreed.

"Okay, give it a try. Once all the technicians arrive, tell them we'll have dinner together tonight."

"Okay... By the way, I have a senior colleague who just returned to China. He's a big name in the chip industry and now runs a company in the US. He has an assistant who wants to come back and develop his career here, and he's planning to recommend him to me. Shall we invite them over for a meal?"

"Oh?" Chen Xuebing became interested: "How loud was it? What's it called?"

"Zhang Hao."

“Zhang… Hao?” Chen Xuebing’s expression froze for a moment.

"Which Zhang Hao?"

……

Shennan Middle Road, Shanghai Hotel.

Many people say that Shenzhen has no history because it was only changed from Bao'an County to SZ City in 1979, and only became a sub-provincial city in 81.

This Shanghai Hotel, which opened in 85 and was recently renovated, is a part of Shenzhen's history.

The bus stop outside the hotel is named after it, and nearly 30 bus routes bring millions of business people to and from places like Window of the World, Happy Valley, Splendid China, Ethnic Culture Village, Wildlife Park, as well as trade venues such as Huaqiang, SEG, airport, train station, and border crossings every day.

Chen Xuebing solemnly chose this place to eat. Although most of the technicians came from various companies in Shenzhen, he still introduced the city of Shenzhen to the 11 technicians as a local, because this would be a project that would stand the test of time.

In his mind, this "Heavenly Way" system project team would become the Whampoa Military Academy for future management talents of Singularity Technology.

Technology companies must adopt a strategy of managing technical talent with technical talent.

During the meal, after Chen Xuebing and Lu Weibing each introduced themselves with a glass of wine, they raised their glasses to introduce themselves while looking out at the dazzling night view of downtown Shenzhen.

"My name is Zhang Hongbin! I do front-end design! I've also studied some architecture design. Actually, I studied materials science in college. Diodes are a fascinating field, and I'm interested in everything related to them. I believe that if we can maximize the application of diodes, our country's scientific strength can take a big leap forward. By deeply understanding their characteristics, we can simplify our thinking and gain inspiration during the design process."

"My name is Huang Xiaohai! I... am also a front-end designer! I specialize in RTL and am proficient in Verilog. I am Teacher Zhang's assistant!"

"Um... I'm Liu Song. I didn't study semiconductors. After graduating from university, I taught myself programming and EDA. I mainly do backend verification and simulation. I worked in ZTE's IC design department for four years and in ZTE Microelectronics in Shenzhen for a year and a half. I hope everyone will take good care of me."

“ZTE Microelectronics? Your company just released a WCDMA baseband processing chipset this year, right? Were you involved? Are you familiar with the communication protocol?” Xu Wenfeng asked.

Mobile phone SOC chips integrate baseband chips, and architects are the creators of the chip's soul, at the top of the food chain, and incredibly powerful figures.

They are familiar with various communication protocols, and at the beginning of chip development, they determine the direction and which parts of the protocol can be implemented in software and which parts need to be implemented in hardware.

Those present were not complete novices who had just graduated; they all had at least two years of work experience. During the introductions, they were all paying attention to their teammates' strengths.

“I participated, I have some knowledge of bus protocols, and I have experience with two-nanometer-level TO (transferring to external factory production) and Bring-up (testing after tape-out). I am also quite familiar with the advanced processes and companies currently available in China.”

Many people gave a thumbs up when Liu Song, who looked young, said this.

That person has quite a bit of work experience.

"Hey, when we work together in the future, don't be modest about your skills, you have to speak up!" Lu Weibing said with a smile.

"hehe."

A slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing glasses came out of the restroom wiping his hands and looked at Huang Xiaohai, who had just spoken and looked a little green.

"Wei Bing is right, Xiao Hai. You should talk about what you're good at so your teammates know, so that everyone can cooperate better."

He smiled and sat down, while everyone else fell silent.

Great God.

A true master.

Even the arrogant Dr. Zhang Hongbin had to admit this.

Chen Xuebing looked at Zhang Hao with a very complicated expression.

Zhang Hao, male, born in 1967, holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University. He went to the United States for further studies in 1991 and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995. He then worked for internationally renowned companies such as Intel, Motorola, and Cisco, and participated in the design and development of many large-scale integrated circuit products. He also supervised a number of master's and doctoral students at Stanford University. Dr. Zhang Hao has achieved remarkable results in the field of microelectromechanical filter chips and has obtained 7 US patents.

He is also a top-tier chip architect.

Its footprints are found everywhere in the famous "tourist attractions" of chip development history.

In 2001, he co-founded a high-performance network processor research and development company called "NetLogic Microsystems," where he served as vice president and chief technology officer. Last year, the company's global sales reached $4800 million.

These were the things Lu Weibing told him.

But Chen Xuebing knew not only Zhang Hao's present, but also his future.

Zhang Hao later resigned and returned to China to start his own company. He also served as a professor at a domestic university, contributing to the domestic chip industry.

Chen Xuebing doesn't quite remember what company he started or what university he taught at, but if he stays in China, he will most likely earn the title of "Father of the XX Chip Field".

But later events interrupted his path of serving his country.

In 2015, Zhang Hao was invited to the United States to attend a technology conference, where he was entrapped and detained in the United States for nine years.

Because of the Huawei incident, Zhang Hao's information became popular for a while, and Chen Xuebing from his previous life also learned about and paid attention to his news.

As soon as the man returned to his seat, Chen Xuebing's attention immediately focused on him.

They've already infiltrated his lair; if we don't dig them out, it's practically a death sentence!

He laughed with great interest:

"Dr. Zhang, what are your specialties? Could you tell us about them?"

(End of this chapter)