2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 373 Annual Meeting in Progress

The group's overall young age structure brings the benefit of being full of vitality.

In a slightly ironic way, at least 80% of the people at Flash Group, including Tan Jincheng, were workaholics.

There's no way around it, they're all young people and they're short on money; plus, the company's benefits are pretty good, so the whole company seems full of enthusiasm.

However, there are also downsides. While young people will listen to Boss Tan on important company matters, they will unconsciously treat him as a peer when it comes to playful or casual matters.

For example, Zhou Ao often uses Boss Tan's fame for publicity and hype.

For example, this annual meeting.

The administration department insists that Boss Tan put on a show, preferably something entertaining to liven up the atmosphere.

"Go ahead and dance! There are only a few days left. If you don't rehearse well, it doesn't matter if I embarrass myself. Anyway, no matter what people say, you will embarrass yourselves and see how you have any shame then."

"Boss, how about we call it quits? This is a bit too embarrassing."

"It's too late. You're the one who asked me to appear on the show. Now you're saying it's over? Do you think I'd agree to that?"

"No, boss, Director Wang asked you to do a show, you can bring him along, but why do I have to do it too?" Zeng Jixiang said helplessly.

This show is truly too embarrassing; the boss is dragging everyone down with him to "lose face."

"Stop talking nonsense and get to practice. I'm telling you, if you do it properly, I'll dock your pay. It has to be funny."

As he spoke, Tan Jincheng also laughed.

It's just a bit of antics. We've lived through the era of the short video explosion, and we've watched plenty of those kinds of shows. You think you can mess with me?

Tan Jincheng could think of many entertainment programs for the annual meeting, and there were a few that were suitable for this era. One was Li Keqin's "Bodyguard" and the other was Li Zhenxian's unique fan dance.

Both can be performed in a parody style, but in terms of effect, the latter has a more obvious contrast and should be better.

However, after thinking about it, I think the former is more appropriate.

Right now, Tan Jincheng is forcing Administrative Director Wang Xingchi, his assistant Zeng Jixiang, and Zhang Xuhui, who is preparing to return to report on his work, to rehearse together.

Zeng Jixiang and Zhang Xuhui were tricked by Wang Xingchi; they had just returned from Shenzhen when this happened.

Also returning with them were Lü Ruifeng and the team that had gone to Shenzhen to discuss the acquisition. This year was the group's annual meeting, and those who had time would come back to reunite. Zhang Xupeng, who was far away in Wangjiang, also made a special trip back today.

In addition, Wang Qinghua, the CEO of Bafang Electric, also came. The annual meeting in Suzhou was held at a different time than at headquarters.

Sun Yuming from Tianjin also came back. I didn't invite him because he wouldn't be able to get there until the day of the annual meeting. Otherwise, I could have dragged him along to embarrass myself and have some fun.

"What do ordinary employees like at the annual meeting? Prizes and food and drinks are what they care about most. We have both of those. So what's the fun left? It's nothing more than watching the leaders embarrass themselves. Everyone is equal in terms of personality. Why can't I watch the leaders embarrass themselves? Is that what Lao Wang meant when he asked me to perform a show?"

Wang Xingchi was now on the verge of tears: "Boss, I really didn't mean that. I just asked you to do something, I wouldn't dare say I wanted you to embarrass yourself on stage."

That's what I said, but thinking about it, what the boss said seems to make some sense. Annual meetings often feel rigid, with leaders bragging and handing out some meaningless prizes, which is not fun at all.

Wang Xingchi's original plan was for the leaders and bosses to go on stage and sing a song or perform a skit to liven up the atmosphere, and that was also what he meant by "making a big deal out of nothing".

But I never expected the boss to go to such lengths.

The annual meetings of traditional companies are actually similar to Wang Xingchi's understanding; they are rather rigid. In this respect, traditional companies are indeed inferior to internet companies, whose annual meetings are much more vibrant and engaging.

The difference in corporate culture, coupled with the advantages of the platform, means that any news from internet companies that pay more attention to marketing will be broadcast to the public eye. Tan Jincheng is learning from them in this respect.

Spending money to give away big prizes, inviting celebrity guests, and having the boss personally perform on stage—Tencent and Ali had seen this many times in their previous lives, but in this day and age, Flash Group is a pioneer.

The two Jack Mas weren't big shots yet, and they hadn't started having their fun at the annual meeting.

Dong Ge, who loves to promote his self-made persona and always talks about a few eggs, is still in the early stages of his business. Two years after launching his self-operated website, their annual sales in 2006 reached 8000 million yuan.

That's roughly equivalent to the sales volume of FlashTech during its peak season, which is about a month's worth of sales.

While it's true that Dong Ge started with just a few eggs and that he built his empire from scratch, the domestic manufacturing industry has never lacked such figures. The electric vehicle industry alone has several such individuals, but they simply don't like to publicize it.

In terms of poverty and starting from scratch, Dong Ge might not be as good as Dong Jinggui. Born in a poor mountainous area, he joined the army after graduating from junior high school, mainly because he had no money. "Speaking of which, recently the internet has been full of discussions about the cars downstairs from us, and the media has even come to take pictures."

Zhang Xuhui changed the subject, trying to shirk his responsibilities.

He spent more than a month in Shenzhen. He never expected that when he finally came back, he would be caught up with this job. Apart from the new employees of the new factory, almost all the employees of FlashTech, as Tan Jincheng's earliest assistant, knew him.

In the early stages of his business, Tan Jincheng made almost every decision himself. As his assistant, Zhang Xuhui was responsible for relaying information. He knew many people, from management to ordinary factory workers.

Wang Xingchi, understanding the implied meaning, also chimed in: "Discussion is a good thing. The boss spent so much money just to let everyone have a discussion."

FlashDrive has become someone else's company on the internet, and the buzz surrounding it is partly due to the company's own publicity department. The budget for this year's annual meeting was 1200 million yuan, including hiring celebrities to perform live.

In 2007, the prices for commercial performances by celebrities were relatively reasonable. For someone as popular as Chris Lee, the price was only around 500,000 to 600,000 yuan per performance, while top-tier celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as Jay Chou, generally charged around 700,000 to 1 million yuan.

For artists like Phoenix Legend, 10 yuan is enough, while for some online singers, tens of thousands of yuan is enough, which is really cheap and affordable.

More than a decade later, the bubble in commercial performances had grown enormous. Want to hire Phoenix Legend for 10 yuan? You might not even be able to get an imitator.

Tan Jincheng could tell that these people wanted to slack off.

Indeed, it was somewhat awkward for several grown men to be locked up on the rooftop learning to dance. He waved his hand, telling Wang Xingchi to go and do his own thing, while Tan Jincheng wanted to hear Zhang Xuhui's report on the acquisition of Dexian Electronics.

Wang Xingchi finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly ran away.

Compared to Zeng Jixiang and Zhang Xuhui, who had just returned, he really had a lot more to do.

With two days left until the annual meeting starts on February 11th, we need to double-check the venue to avoid any mishaps. We also need to keep an eye on the accommodation arrangements for the invited performers.

The dealer conference invited Chris Lee and Liu Yifei. Chris Lee was unavailable this time, but Jay Chou was available. The three spokespeople took turns supporting Flashcar's activities, which was quite impressive.

Besides, the guest performers were mostly online singers, including Phoenix Legend, which is a good value for money company. Flash is a young company, and online singers may not be as popular in a company with an older average age.

But for the factory workers at Flashpoint, it's just right, as their main focus is on something unconventional.

Jay Chou has only released a few Chinese-style songs in recent years, which has changed the public's impression of him. Otherwise, he would still be classified as non-mainstream.

As for Liu Yifei, Tan Jincheng did invite her, but he neither said he would come nor he wouldn't, his attitude was ambiguous. This girl hasn't had much work lately. After her long talk with Tan Jincheng last time, her words, which were half-threatening and half-reminder, did remind Tan Jincheng.

Although I still firmly believe that she is born to be famous, I am always afraid that something unexpected might happen, after all, she has never endorsed any electric vehicle products in her previous life.

Tan Jincheng also used some of Flash's resources with the Olympic Organizing Committee to get her the title of Olympic Smile Ambassador and suggested that she participate in more public welfare activities.

Did this guy have some kind of animal-loving spirit in his past life? Anyway, for celebrities, genuine charity work, no matter what they do, will bring them benefits.
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"What did Dexian Electronics say?"

If we were to pinpoint the core business of Flash Group in the future, it wouldn't be two-wheeled electric vehicles or four-wheeled electric vehicles, but rather the lithium battery sector.

The lithium battery sector serves as a bridge connecting existing and future businesses. Just like BYD, whether it's hybrid or pure electric vehicles, its self-developed batteries give it a significant competitive advantage.

BYD also started by making mobile phone batteries, and Flash Motors' current development plan is similar to BYD's, except that it has added a two-wheeled electric vehicle business.

Whether Dexian Electronics can be successfully acquired is currently a key factor for Hangxin New Energy to enter the commercial market.

"It's very difficult to negotiate. The other party is doing quite well in the 3C field and has figured out certain routines. So when we first went to talk about the acquisition, we were almost kicked out," Zhang Xuhui said with a wry smile.

Tan Jincheng also laughed; it was indeed quite good that he hadn't been beaten.

Although things are much better than in the last century, many business people still retain their old rough-and-tumble style, and they still have quite a few truly unscrupulous tricks up their sleeves.

"Thanks to Chief Engineer Lü having acquaintances and connections over there, we were able to sit down and talk later."

Zhang Xuhui's report continued, and it wasn't just because of Chief Engineer Lü's connections; Tan Jincheng sent Zeng Jixiang over to contact Kuang Ping.

As an investor, Kuang Ping actually had a wider network of contacts. In addition, Tan Jincheng also contacted Zhang Yunsong, the investment manager who had come to Orange Technology to discuss cooperation, and asked them for help.

Tencent's headquarters are in Shenzhen, and they have a lot of influence there. Asking them to act as intermediaries to acquire an electronics factory would be much simpler.

On the surface, Tan Jincheng did not show up, but in fact he did a lot of work behind the scenes.

(End of this chapter)