Hong Kong Island Chronicles: From Electrical Appliances King to Business Legend

The soft light shone on the long table in the conference room, and the air was still filled with the lingering aroma of coffee and the tension that had not yet dissipated.

But when Li Jiagang and Sato Ichiro walked in side by side, their steps were unhurried, and they were chatting and laughing, as if they had reached some kind of consensus.

The tension in the meeting room gradually dissipated.

Seeing this, the crowd exchanged glances and silenced their whispers, their eyes all turning to the two men who had sat down again.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sato Ichiro said, his eyes sweeping across the room, his voice steady and powerful, a rare sharpness flashing in his eyes, "from this moment on, Mr. Li and his Legend Electric Appliances will become an important strategic partner of Takashimaya."

The meeting moved into a discussion of proposed solutions.

Ichiro Sato made the final decision.

This left the management team, who had originally opposed the sale of Lijiagang products at Takashimaya, completely bewildered.

They wanted to speak up in rebuttal, but when they saw Sato Ichiro's resolute attitude, they all stopped themselves from saying anything.

At this moment, Li Jiagang smiled slightly, stood up, and continued, "I know you all still have doubts. After all, it's understandable that a new company from Hong Kong, established only a few months ago, might lack confidence in our products. But please remember, technological innovation cannot be limited by ideas, nor is it defined by time."

"Mr. Li, I don't agree with your statement." At this moment, a member of the Takashimaya management stepped forward to refute Li Jiagang.

Li Jiagang showed no dissatisfaction and nodded to him: "I'd like to hear more details."

"It took Toshiba five years to perfect its rice cooker, Panasonic eight years to bring air conditioners into every household, and Sanyo ten years to transition from black and white to color TVs."

"I believe that all technologies require a long period of time to mature and accumulate experience in order to create better and more stable products."

"It is by no means a casual remark that technological innovation is not limited by thought, much less defined by time."

"Do you think that companies like Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony, and Sanyo have inferior technology?"

"Or do you believe your company's technology far surpasses that of the three companies I just mentioned?"

This manager's language was sharp, and his questions were full of traps.

Not only was Li Jiagang frowning, but even Sato Ichiro looked unwell.

But Ichiro Sato did not speak up to stop it.

The conference room was completely silent.

Suppressed murmurs then arose.

Everyone kept glancing at Li Jiagang, wanting to see how he would handle these problems.

Li Jiagang stood still, his expression calm and his movements unhurried.

The air in the conference room seemed to have been sucked out, but he remained unperturbed, as calm as an old dog.

"You're right." He finally spoke, his voice not loud, but like a thunderclap breaking the silence, "Toshiba took five years, Panasonic took eight years, and Sanyo took ten years. They did indeed spend a long time perfecting their products."

"But have you ever thought about this..." He raised his eyes, his gaze sharp, "WD Semiconductor in the United States, LG in South Korea, Samsung, and so many others—these companies all entered the field of electrical and electronic products in the 70s, starting from scratch. Why were they able to become industry benchmarks in just a few years?"

"Did they just get lucky?"

"Of course not. How can extensive knowledge be defined by time?"

"Undeniably, the passage of time and the accumulation of experience can make innovation more valuable."

"But these cannot definitively prove that knowledge can be innovated in the short term."

"Our company's washing machines are the best example. I believe that all major washing machine manufacturers around the world are constantly innovating, right?"

"Then why couldn't they develop it, while my company was able to successfully develop it?"

"I'm not saying this to show off, but to tell everyone that the power of knowledge and technological innovation is truly beyond the imagination of the mind."

"Perhaps in a few years, ten years, twenty years, or even decades from now, people will be able to take out future products at any time and place and communicate with relatives, friends, and partners thousands of miles away."

Do you believe me when I say that?

"More than a hundred years ago, when Bell developed the first telephone, how many leading experts and business leaders did not believe it?"

"But what happened next?"

"It has become one of the inventions that led the major reforms of the era and is recognized globally as one of the great inventions that promoted scientific and technological progress."

"How do you explain this?"

Li Jiagang's explanation left everyone speechless, even Sato Ichiro and his uncle nodded in agreement.

Li Yongsen, in particular, showed great satisfaction towards his nephew during the meeting.

"Clap clap clap clap!!!"

Sato Ichiro then clapped first, and a moment later, everyone in the conference room joined in.

Even though he had just refuted the management of Lijiagang, he was now powerless to refute them.

Sato Ichiro's voice slowly rang out.

She smiled very gently: "Mr. Li, you really remind me of me when I was young and starting my own business."

"You're very good." He then stood up and extended his hand to Li Jiagang: "Takashimaya is willing to sign an exclusive general agency agreement with your company."

Sato Ichiro's words moved Li Jiagang's secretary and Li Yongsen.

At the same time, Li Jiagang did not expect Sato Ichiro to be so straightforward. He didn't even discuss the profit-sharing terms and just said he wanted to become the general agent.

This was truly unexpected for him.

However, this shows that he values ​​the future potential of his company.

He extended his hand and shook hands with Ichiro Sato: "Cooperation, we really need to cooperate," Li Jiagang's tone changed, "but it's not a general agency cooperation, but a joint venture to build a company, a factory, production, operation, and sales, a comprehensive cooperation."

This was also a spur-of-the-moment idea for Li Jiagang. Since Sato Ichiro thought highly of him, why not take the opportunity to increase his investment and use Takashimaya's platform to build his own business in Japan?

Given his status, he could set up and operate his own factory here, but it was impossible for him to grow big and strong and avoid being bullied by other competitors. Therefore, he needed Sato's protection.

He wanted to leverage Takashimaya's influence to completely open up the Japanese market. In this way, his joint venture would no longer need to go through any procedures, pay extra taxes, or expand the market for any products it produced; they could simply be put on the shelves and sold directly.

It can avoid a lot of trouble.

At the same time, Japan was the world's second-largest economy at that time, with strong consumer spending power, making it a lucrative target. Naturally, Li Jiagang wanted to establish a stable presence there.

This is why Li Jiagang proposed to establish a joint venture with Takashimaya for comprehensive cooperation.

"Mr. Li, are you planning to jointly establish a company?" Sato Ichiro looked at him in surprise. He really hadn't thought about this kind of cooperation.

"That's right," Li Jiagang replied firmly, "Your company has channels and platforms, while I have technology and talent. A collaboration would definitely be mutually beneficial."

Ichiro Sato was still thinking.

"It seems Mr. Li has a lot of confidence in his R&D team," Sato Ichiro said, his eyes fixed on Li Jiagang as if trying to see into his heart. "How about this, you tell me the detailed plan for the joint venture first."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiagang felt a surge of excitement, but he concealed it well. "OK."

I got the proposal from the secretary.

Actually, he didn't have any plan at all; the idea of ​​establishing a comprehensive cooperation through joint venture was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. He proposed this method to test Sato Ichiro's bottom line. If it failed, it wouldn't matter; he could simply proceed with the original plan.

Since Ichiro Sato hadn't expected him to have this idea, he had no choice but to present his plan to change the previously prepared "sales company" cooperation proposal to a "joint venture".

"Your company will hold the controlling stake in the joint venture, and will serve as its legal representative and chairman."

Upon hearing Li Jiagang's plan that the joint venture would be controlled by them, Sato Ichiro's eyes lit up with excitement.

The same goes for his people.

Can…….

Li Jiagang's next words shattered their illusions.

The main conditions for cooperation are as follows.

"First, the company's management rights belong to us. Of course, your company also has decision-making power, management rights, and operational rights. Unless there are major crises or financial crises in the company's operation and management, your company cannot directly interfere with the company's highest decision-making authority."

"Secondly, regarding the initial equity distribution, your company will hold 51% and we will hold 49%. We can establish the company wholly owned, while your company will be responsible for providing the labor and handling all the procedures for establishing the company. The costs of building the factory and facilities will be covered by our equity contributions."

"Third, regarding the company's equity distribution, regardless of whether it is listed, how it is financed, or through stock issuance or splits, we are guaranteed to be the second largest shareholder for five years. We will also have the right of first refusal to repurchase shares. Of course, even if we hold a larger share, the company's main control will still belong to your company; we will not directly control the company."

"Fourth, we will provide the core technology, but this does not include sharing. Your company cannot interfere with, influence, participate in, or otherwise seize our core technology. At the same time, your company must provide Takashimaya's sales channels."

"fifth:……"

"tenth:."

Li Jiagang will state the conditions that are favorable to him and can protect him in one go.

His conditions made everyone on Sato Ichiro's side look troubled.

Although he has control of the company, he lacks ultimate management authority, making him essentially a lone commander, which is his biggest challenge.

As for the other conditions, he didn't have any problems with them, which made it difficult for Sato to make a decision for the time being; he needed to consider them.