2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 741 Chris's Heart Fluttering (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

P.S.: Happy National Day, guys! Anyone got double the monthly tickets?
When the tech gurus got into a lively conversation, they seemed to lose themselves in the conversation.

Tan Jincheng had no choice but to act as a 'waiter', arranging for lunch and dinner to be delivered to his room.

Chris occasionally noticed Tan Jincheng bustling around, but he didn't say anything.

Hu Zhengnan knew exactly what could and couldn't be said. He would talk about what could be discussed properly, and dismiss what couldn't be discussed with a simple "company secret," leaving Chris itching to know more.

"Boss, do you think Chris will accept our invitation?"

In a hotel in Hawaii, Tan Jincheng and Hu Zhengnan sat by the window, gazing at the distant beach. Hu Zhengnan held a wine glass in his hand, while Tan Jincheng made himself a cup of coffee.

"Who knows? These kinds of people are independent individuals who work wherever they want, and they go wherever they feel like."

These brilliant individuals use any company as a stepping stone, and their relationships with company executives are either cooperative or mutually beneficial. Once the cooperation ends, they leave without hesitation, and you can't keep them even if you want to.

I remember reading a report in my past life about a chip guru in the US who could switch between arch-rivals like Intel, Qualcomm, and Nvidia without any problems.

If he feels that the Weilai Auto platform is suitable for him, then everything is negotiable; but if he feels that it is not suitable for him, then no amount of talking will help.

What they needed to do was showcase the concept and design style of Weilai Auto and see if the other party was interested.

Tan Jincheng was familiar with Chris's work, and his style was similar to that of Wei Lai. However, Tan Jincheng was more interested in Chris's fame, just like a company looking for a spokesperson. A well-known designer is more conducive to the promotion of the brand.

As for whether Chris's design style is suitable for Weilai Motors, it's not that important at the moment. Tan Jincheng remembers many models that haven't appeared yet, and if all else fails, they can just bring over all the models from Weilai Motors in their previous life.

The reason why Weilai has been criticized is largely due to its long-term losses, and another reason is the loose tongue of Li Bing and his wife, whose remarks on many occasions seem inappropriate, rather than the fact that their cars are not well-made or beautiful enough.

Another issue is his battery swapping policy, which is no less difficult to implement than JD.com's logistics business. It's like opening gas stations all over the country; the scale of the operation is simply too large.

From a consumer's perspective, if a car company's public image is one of constant losses and the possibility of bankruptcy, it will inevitably affect its sales.

New energy vehicle companies either need to have strong financial backing, like Xiaomi, which has the support of its mobile phone and internet supply chain businesses, so that no matter how much the car business loses money, consumers won't worry that it can't afford to lose.

Either they need to achieve profitability as quickly as possible, because only by making money can they dispel car owners' doubts. The fundamental reason why Tesla's stock price or sales performance was mediocre in the early stages was because it had been in a state of long-term losses.

Once the profitability issue was resolved, a qualitative leap was achieved. Factory Director Ma's business management philosophy was clearly much stronger than Li Bingqiang's.

As far as I remember, Tesla solved its profitability problem in 2014 or some other year, and then its stock price started to slowly take off?

"When are we going back? We can't just keep waiting here, can we?"

"What's wrong? Missing home?"

"Haha, I don't mind, but boss, your son changes every day. Don't you want to go back?"

"Haha, his mom will send me photos, so it's okay. But we'll be going back soon too. I'll talk to Chris again tomorrow. You get ready, we'll be going back to China the day after tomorrow."

It's time to go back. We've been away for almost half a month. Whether Chris agrees or not, it would be nice to see him once.

On the other side, Chris Thomas was also reflecting on today's meeting.

Throughout the entire trip, Tan Jincheng didn't interact much with him. On the beach, the two chatted about a few issues and appeared quite sincere. After returning to the hotel, he mainly communicated with Director Hu. Tan Jincheng didn't say much, but he listened patiently the whole time.

The two didn't discuss the issue of going to work in Weilai, but the entire conversation revolved around this topic.

The boss didn't say much or express anything throughout, but he kept trying to recruit him, which was a truly unique way of recruiting.

The design style of Weilai Auto is indeed very much to his liking, especially the ES6. He has thought of many ways to improve the ES6, such as making the lines smoother and improving the headlights, etc.

He had already seen Tesla's announcement. Having worked in North America and Europe, he was somewhat familiar with Elon's style of doing things. He was known as a tech fanatic, rather extreme, and at the same time, he valued control of the company very much.

It's quite remarkable that Tan was able to acquire 9.57% of Tesla's shares in such a short time, and also sign a strategic cooperation agreement.

He wasn't entirely clear on the specifics of the cooperation agreement, but the announcement indicated that the collaboration between Wei Lai and Tesla mainly involved patent sharing, motor technology, intelligent driving, and other related areas.

It is certain that through this series of collaborations, WILAY Auto will be in a leading position in China's intelligent driving technology in the future.

Should I accept his invitation or not?

Chris was caught in a dilemma. He was in charge of designing the BMW i3, a sub-brand of the 'i' series at BMW. The design of this model had already been completed and it had entered various substantive testing phases.

Before the next project is approved, his work at BMW has essentially come to an end. Although there is still some work to be done, he can leave the company if he wants.

In addition to their team, the i3 design group also has other design members who can handle some follow-up work.

Should we reconsider?

During his vacation in Hawaii, Chris experienced insomnia for the first time.

The following day, Tan Jincheng met with Chris Thomas again. The two sat facing each other in a corner of the hotel lobby.

"Chris, you should know why I've come to see you today."

"How about it? Interested in joining Weilai Auto, taking on the challenge of the entire city's new energy vehicle market, and experiencing the passion of an emerging market?"

"Is the emerging market Tan mentioned your Chinese market?"

Chris smiled; he wasn't surprised by Tan Jincheng's straightforwardness.

"Yes, judging from the data, 2010 marked the second time we surpassed North America to become the world's largest automobile producer and seller. Chris, would you like to experience such a booming market firsthand?"

What can Wei Lai give me?

"Weilai can provide you with a more independent creative environment and greater autonomy. You and your team can lead the completion of subsequent iterations of the ES6 model, as well as other ES and ET series models. Let us design an electric vehicle that is no less than the Model S and let us change the aesthetics of automobiles together."

“If you are not used to living in China, you can stay in Europe. We will set up a branch office and a brand new studio in Europe. You only need to come to China when necessary to complete the development of the car models.”

"In addition, we can offer you and your team a much more generous compensation than BMW."

Chris nodded noncommittally, then asked, "And what about my obligations?"

"Chris should know that I have an internet company called Orange Technology. When Orange Technology was first established, my vision for it was to be small and beautiful."

"Of course, the smallness here is relative; its core is actually beauty."

"We also position our models under Weilai Auto in the same way. We don't have a large number of models like Volkswagen. We don't plan to develop too many brands and models in each category. Our goal is to make consumers feel refreshed every time we develop a new car."

"And your task and your team's task is to be responsible for this aspect; of course, your work will focus on new energy vehicles. When I was discussing cooperation with Elon, I said that Weilai is Tesla's partner and also Tesla's competitor."

"I hope that under your leadership, the new energy series of models can become an absolute competitor to the Maodou S, instead of being as unremarkable as the new energy vehicles on the market today."

Tan Jincheng did not hide the problems facing the so-called new energy vehicles in the domestic market, nor did he hide the fact that Weilai Auto is not as technologically advanced as Tesla is now, nor did he hide his determination to compete with Tesla in a full-scale manner.

In a pre-IPO interview, Musk said he wanted to make Tesla one of the greatest companies of the 21st century, so let's go head-to-head with him.

Healthy market competition is not necessarily a bad thing.

“Our vehicle development tasks will not be very heavy. I will not ask you to develop some models that are completely different from your design style, such as the Tank 300 series you saw yesterday. I will not entrust you with the leadership of such models.”

At this point, Tan Jincheng paused for a moment, then looked at Chris with a smile.

Chris couldn't help but laugh. Yesterday, when he saw the renderings of the Tank 300 series, he exclaimed that it was very beautiful, but Tan Jincheng also clearly stated that this was not his style, a point he acknowledged.

What surprised him most was that Hu, who was in charge of the explanation, actually said that the design inspiration for all the models before Wei came from the young founder in front of him, even though he was not a professional.

The Yuechi A1 and Tank 300 share a similar design language, but the Weilai ES6 is completely different from these models. How did someone who has not received professional and systematic training in design manage to do it?
Or is it that the young founder in front of us possesses an absolute aesthetic sense that is enviable?
"It's undeniable that, in terms of design language, Tesla's Roadster and Model S are currently the most beautiful electric cars in the world. How about it, are you interested in challenging Tesla's design language?"

Considering this guy's penchant for dabbling in different fields, Tan Jincheng figured this seemingly serious foreigner was, in our terms, the introverted but actually quite adventurous type who enjoyed the thrill of challenges. After thinking it over last night, Tan Jincheng decided to try and persuade him this way, though he wasn't sure if it would work.

"Haha, Tan, you seem to have a high opinion of Tesla? As far as I know, your company's technology in power batteries is also quite good, right?"

Chris's perspective is quite novel: "Elon is a very interesting person. Tesla's technological innovation is refreshing. Such a company and its competitors are worthy of respect."

After a moment of thought, Chris replied, "Let me think about it. I can't give you an answer right now."

If he wants to leave, it won't just be him alone, but the whole team he'll be taking with him. He needs to go back and discuss this with them.

“Okay, no problem, I can wait for you. The doors of Weilai are always open to Chris and your team. In addition, Chris is welcome to visit China and Weilai Auto at any time.”

Chris's reply delighted Tan Jincheng. Inviting a top designer to join the team was not something that could be accomplished on the first try.

Moreover, the other party's project with BMW is not completely finished yet, so we need to give them some time to wrap things up.

The fact that he didn't refuse outright means that he's already considering joining Weilai Auto, or at least somewhat interested.

I didn't discuss specific compensation with them, nor did I ask how many members their team had; none of that mattered.

So far, it seems that this trip to Hawaii has been quite fruitful. Although Tan Jincheng couldn't understand much of the conversation between Chris and Hu Zhengnan yesterday, he could sense that the other party was serious.

Hu Zhengnan became more and more excited as he spoke, which shows that he absorbed some valuable insights during the exchange.

From this point of view alone, the airfare was well worth the money. In company-to-company communication, it's not necessarily the case that the other party would have this attitude. Foreigners are not incapable of doing routine things.

"Thanks, I'll consider it."

After hearing what Tan Jincheng said, Chris was actually a little tempted. If he were to join Weilai Auto, then going to Huaxia to investigate seemed like a good option.

As for sightseeing or anything like that, he wasn't in the mood for it.

After the 2008 Olympics, the image of the mysterious East in the eyes of Westerners has changed significantly, but some stereotypes have been around for a long time and cannot be changed so easily in just two years.

The automotive industry is now interacting with foreigners quite frequently. Many foreigners work and live in China for joint venture brands, and there are also more and more foreign faces in private independent brands like Weilai Auto.

Some industries have less contact with foreigners, and consequently, foreigners' impressions of us remain somewhat conservative.

"Alright, then I won't disturb your vacation any longer, Chris; trust me, you won't regret joining Weilai Auto, it's the perfect fit for you."

Having reached this point in the conversation, there was no need to continue the discussion, so Tan Jincheng decisively stood up.

This is his first time in Hawaii, and he hasn't had a chance to explore properly yet. Hu Zhengnan, on the other hand, went out shopping today, saying he wanted to buy some souvenirs to take back with him.

"Haha, Tan, you're really confident."

When Chris saw Tan Jincheng get up, he also got up to see him off.

"Of course, alright, you don't need to see me off. Continue to enjoy your vacation. I need to go back to my room to pack and prepare to return home."

The reason for such confidence is that the current European debt crisis has not yet been resolved. The US, which suffered heavy losses in the subprime crisis, is also waiting to reap the benefits all over the world, with Europe being the main target.

The economic environment in Europe has been getting worse and worse in recent years. You should know that the highest exchange rate of the euro to the yuan was set at 1:10, but now it is only 1:8.8.

The euro-to-dollar exchange rate fluctuated even more dramatically. At the beginning of the year, it was 1:1.438, but last month it fell to 1:1.2. This extreme volatility severely impacted the EU economy, which was already deeply troubled by the European debt crisis.

The Russian economy is what it is, so we can't cut much of it. And we're in a phase of rapid development right now, so we can't cut any more either. In that case, Europe will be the one to suffer.

In this economic climate, what future is there in staying in Europe? It's better to come and work here, earning a salary far exceeding your current income and enjoying superior treatment. Isn't that better than staying at BMW?

In recent years, BMW hasn't made any major moves, mainly just making a series of improvements to models like the 3 Series, 5 Series, and X1, and then selling them all over the world.

Speaking of the X1, this peculiar model sells very well in China. At a price of over 30 yuan, it's really just buying the brand name.

"Okay, then I wish you a safe journey, Tan. I will let you know in advance if I make any decisions in the future."

"No problem, we can keep in touch by email; of course, it would be even better if you would like to download an internal communication software developed by our company. You can search for it on the App Store; it's called Tintin."

After saying that, Tan Jincheng brought up the Dingding interface on his phone and introduced it to Chris.

Since Orange Technology started developing mini-games, the Dingding project team has been simultaneously developing an iOS client. The officially launched iOS version has been updated several times, and the Android version is also under development and modification.

It's an internal office software, and there aren't many versions available, so its download numbers on the App Store are low. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a beta version for now.

A strange light flashed in Chris's eyes: "Oh? Weilai Auto is already capable of intelligent office work?"

"We can talk about smart office, but smartphone office is not yet ready for that. Currently, the price of smartphones in China is still too high, and many employees are reluctant to buy them."

There are actually some so-called smartphones among counterfeit phones, but the system is very unstable. Genuine Android phones are quite expensive, not to mention Apple, which won't be available in China for more than a month.

"Haha, I didn't expect your company's office philosophy to be so advanced. Okay, I'll download it and give it a try. It looks like a very interesting thing."

"No problem. If you're bored, Chris, you can also download some of the top-ranked games on the charts, like Fruit Ninja and Talking Tom, to relax. Those are also our company's products."

The shrewd and opportunistic Boss Tan never misses an opportunity to fleece you.

Most internet app developers start by developing iOS clients. Compared to Android, the iOS platform offers a more unified and stable development environment, and the development tools and languages ​​are also relatively consistent.

This undoubtedly reduces development time and difficulty.

Speaking of which, those well-known apps already have iOS clients under development, and the Weibo client is already quite stable. Tan Jincheng also created a secondary account and usually browses Weibo when he has nothing to do.

The person who has garnered the most attention is Zhang Yiming, who has officially founded ByteDance and is likely one of the first beta testers of Weibo. He usually posts on Weibo when he has nothing else to do.

Since August 2009, this guy has posted a lot of Weibo posts over the past year, quite frequently. His most recent post was on July 24, mainly sharing his experiences and insights from his entrepreneurial journey.

Of course, I also occasionally complain about things like the environment or Weibo bugs.

On Weibo, this guy is like a chatterbox, sometimes posting several times a day. It's quite interesting to secretly follow him, but Tan Jincheng's main purpose is to find investment opportunities between his words.

Given the existing knowledge, this window for publicly expressing one's thoughts and experiences is an excellent vantage point for observation.

This year is also a special year. According to Tan Jincheng, WX has already started preparing for the project, and MiTalk should also be launched this year. Lei Jun is a magical person.

He has a keen eye for the internet, but he missed out on both e-commerce and social media. Fate is forcing him to go into real business.

As for whether or not to use his premonition from his past life to help MiTalk defeat WX?

Forget it, let Lei Jun stick to playing with his phones and his Xiaomi supply chain. That would benefit ordinary consumers. Let's not jump into the internet trap.

What? A Xiaomi shareholder? Give me a break. Not to mention the intertwined shareholdings among internet companies, even the emerging electric vehicle companies will have cross-shareholdings. How can you possibly manage them all?
Back in his hotel room, Tan Jincheng quickly packed his luggage, preparing to return to China.

He had made an appointment with Chris in the morning and didn't plan to go out, so he asked Lai Yiu-fai to go out with Hu Cheng-nan for a stroll, partly to let his old partner who had always followed and protected him relax.

On the other hand, it was also to protect Hu Zhengnan. Since they hadn't returned yet, Tan Jincheng was too lazy to go out again.

After calling the front desk to order lunch, Tan Jincheng lay on the sofa and sent a message to Gu Qingqing.

The time difference between the Western 10th and Eastern 8th time zones is 18 hours. It was a little after 7 p.m. in Ningbo. Gu Qingqing was still working in her study, and Gu Yanning was also there.

Recently, TiMi Studio has poached several security engineers from 360. Gu Qingqing is currently looking at the resumes of these engineers, thinking about how to best arrange their roles.

"They're coming back? How did the talks go? Can they poach them?"

(End of this chapter)