2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 449 Face-to-Face Interview
"Setting a tone for this year? It's a bit too early, it's only August. But if we're talking about a tone, 'acceleration' would be a more suitable description for this year's Flash."

The word "acceleration" seems to be the most accurate way to describe this year's Flash or Tan Jincheng.

Riding on last year's momentum, Flash has launched many new projects and made many investments this year. There are three major projects, but there are also quite a few smaller industries surrounding these three major projects.

After receiving so many official honors last year, Tan Jincheng has come to a deep understanding of why some companies can expand and grow rapidly in just a few years.

Because these identities are so useful; it's like someone acknowledges you.

The most useful award is definitely the Annual Economic Figure. These days, CCTV has a very high level of authority, and the award itself is quite prestigious. Since its inception, those who have been listed have been very influential figures from all walks of life.

Even looking back for a long time, most of these figures have stood the test of time.

Compared to these people, Tan Jincheng, who was mixed in with them, was more like a slacker. Looking at the whole of 2006, Flashcar could be considered a rising star in terms of scale, but it certainly did not deserve the title of Economic Person of the Year.

Since he was adopted, it's normal for him to be similar to a hoodlum.

However, Flash's development this year also deserves the title of emerging economic figure. When Pony Ma received this title in 04, he was only a little famous and even had a headache because of the order cuts from China Mobile and the inability to support the business.

However, after the transformation began in the second half of 05, Tencent developed at a rapid pace. At least Tan Jincheng's company did not have the trouble of having its orders cut. It was already good enough that he did not cut orders from others.

Its development speed after winning the award is no less than that of Tencent. The layout of various businesses is progressing in an orderly manner. Overall, although the award was won by luck, at least so far, Flash has deserved this honor.

Local governments actually value this title quite a bit, especially for real economy enterprises. Tan Jincheng has used this title a lot wherever he invests. With this title, many things are indeed much more convenient for Flash.

Halfway through his journey, Tan Jincheng had visited many provinces. After arriving in Tianjin, he received an interview invitation from CCTV, which served as a summary of his work over the past six months.

This interview is part of the authoritative "Face to Face" program, a highly authoritative interview series. It will be broadcast on various platforms, including the news channel, finance channel, Chinese international channel, and legal channel, depending on the category.

It will also be broadcast on CCTV's online platform, which has a very high influence. This is the highest-level news interview that Tan Jincheng has accepted so far.

Although he had given important interviews when he won the award before, he wasn't the main focus then, unlike this exclusive interview.

Although it was a pre-recorded program, the questions were very pointed. These days, the impartiality of authoritative media doesn't diminish just because you're a celebrity. While face-to-face interviews that emphasize authority may also pursue timeliness of news or try to capitalize on trending topics, they are more ruthless in their approach.

To be honest, Tan Jincheng was a little nervous. In this kind of high-end interview, what you say will be amplified infinitely. Even if you stick to the script, it's not uncommon for the host to improvise on the spot.

The uncrowned king was vividly portrayed on a prestigious CCTV program.

"From the establishment of Jinpeng Trading to the current Shanchi Group, in just a few years, Mr. Tan has achieved what many people cannot reach in a lifetime. Could you share with us your original intention for starting a business and your plans for the future?"

"The initial motivation for starting a business was actually quite simple. Because of my own mistake, I was unable to go to university. In order to stop my parents from worrying and to make my life more comfortable in the future, I had the idea of ​​starting a business. To put it simply, it was to make money."

"It's a very common sentiment. For the sake of our parents and our own future, wanting to earn more money is the initial thought of everyone, including myself," the host joked at the opportune moment.

Making money is the mainstream in this era, but it's not like it was 10 years later when everyone dared to openly say, "I want to make money, I need to make money."

At the beginning of the century, ordinary people were still quite shy about talking about money openly, which was related to our traditional cultural values ​​and education. In such an important interview, Tan Jincheng frankly admitted that his original intention for starting a business was to make money, which surprised the host.

He has interviewed many well-known entrepreneurs and celebrities, and their views on money are rather cryptic. They prefer to talk about lofty topics and avoid discussing money whenever possible.

Young people really do have different ideas; they dare to think and act, and they also dare to speak.

"As for future plans, I'm not short of money right now, so it's understandable that I think about things more. In the future, I hope that Flash Group can become a national enterprise, a company that contributes to society and is valuable." "I hope that when I retire, people will think of Flash Group as a good company that has made many cost-effective products that benefit the people and helped many people, rather than saying how rich Mr. Tan of Flash Group is."

"It's a great idea, but it's also very difficult, isn't it?"

"It is indeed difficult, and success is not guaranteed. Perhaps one day my company will encounter a crisis and fail to achieve this goal, but looking back, I will have no regrets as long as I have tried my best."

"Then I wish Mr. Tan all the best in achieving his dreams on his path of hard work. Also, we didn't hear Mr. Tan mention Orange Technology, which is under your company. Does that mean Orange Technology has a different definition?"

Here it comes, here it comes, this is going to be interesting. This is a special interview focusing on a specific person, so it's not just about the Flash Group. It also covers Tan Jincheng's family, life, love life, and all the businesses under its umbrella.

It all depends on what the host wants to ask. For example, the question we just discussed was in the interview outline. It was actually asking about Flash Group's future plans, but since Tan Jincheng didn't mention Orange Technology, the host improvised.

This is a trap! When we were going over the draft, we told Tan Jincheng that the question was about Flash Group, and now they've set a trap for him.

"Orange Technology? Orange Technology is an internet company, with a different nature and positioning. Our Flash Group has several thousand employees, and Orange Technology can't reach that scale. But who can predict the future?"

"Does the existence of internet companies mean that Mr. Tan will cash out and exit after the company goes public? As you just said, who can predict the future?"

Tan Jincheng only reacted slightly to the impromptu remark, or perhaps he felt it wasn't sharp enough, so the host started improvising again. This is indeed the typical tactic of most internet companies; this is basically how major shareholders cash out after listing.

Look at Pony Ma, he's cashed out quite a bit in the last two years.

"Cash out? Not at all. As I just said, I'm not short of money right now, and I'm not particularly materialistic. What I mean by uncertainty is that I'm unsure what kind of company Orange Technology will become in the future. After all, I'm just an investor in Orange Technology. The actual development direction of Orange Technology is my girlfriend Gu Qingqing's business."

"Is this what you mean by uncertainty?" The host was clearly taken aback.

This was improvisation; he had considered all of Tan Jincheng's possible responses, but he never expected that this guy would shamelessly shift the blame directly.

"That's right. Orange Technology is just an internet company that I invested in. I don't hold any position there. What does the company's development have to do with me?"

The host was somewhat speechless. This is truly shameless. Everyone knows that you make all the major decisions for Orange Technology, and you even personally participated in game development. If it weren't for your reputation, would investment institutions have invested?
However, the conversation clearly couldn't continue at this point. The boss, a dignified figure, refused to admit fault and shift the blame, leaving him with no options.

Theoretically speaking, this is indeed the case. Tan Jincheng did not actually hold any position at Orange Technology; he was simply playing the role of an investor.

However, this topic was difficult to steer the conversation away from, and it even gave him a pause. But the host was quick to react and found the clue in other remarks. Didn't Tan Jincheng just say that he didn't have much of a pursuit of material life?

This has become quite a topic of discussion. Recently, Flash Group has bought a lot of cars and occasionally takes one to the company, which has become a topic of discussion on the Internet and among its peers. Among them are quite a few luxury cars.

You drive a Maybach yourself, and your company has recently been buying a lot of luxury cars. You're telling me you don't have much of a pursuit of material things? Surely you didn't buy all those luxury cars as gifts for senior executives? Besides, even if you did, isn't that still a form of pursuing material things?
"Mr. Tan said he doesn't care much about material things, so how do you explain the luxury cars your company has recently bought?"

"Oh, those are for testing our Jinshidai power battery project. To make good car batteries, we first need to have a certain understanding of cars. I myself have been learning about cars recently, which is why I bought so many cars."

Although Tan Jincheng can't ride a two-wheeled electric vehicle, he knows a little about it theoretically. Apart from the more in-depth technical issues he doesn't understand, he can still say a few words about two-wheeled vehicles, such as mold design.

However, when it comes to cars, the knowledge required is much more profound. As the owner of a car company, how can you not know anything about cars?
Besides testing battery performance, as mentioned earlier, many of these cars will be disassembled for technicians to learn about different car models, and Tan Jincheng himself will also need to learn from them.

You can't expect to become a race car driver, but you should at least have a fairly comprehensive understanding of most car models.

Does Flash Motors have any plans to make cars?

(End of this chapter)