Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 756 Two Internal Letters

When a couple can no longer make ends meet.

This marriage must end in divorce! A real man must get a divorce!
Otherwise, if one hesitates when a decision should be made, one will only suffer further chaos.

Unless they can be as harmonious and loving as the Ma couple, the conflicts between husband and wife will only escalate.

Sometimes, it's not about what you do, but about understanding what you should and shouldn't do.

Blindly taking action may backfire; it is better to observe and wait for developments.

Although Tencent has experienced the growing pains of transformation, its development remains steady; Li Keqiang chose to divorce, will Baidu be reborn from the ashes or fall into internal strife? Only Jack Ma is still blindly stumbling along the path of self-destruction.

The world finally began to race headlong in a direction that Chen Mo had never anticipated.

This time, Mrs. Ma is not an ordinary housewife, but a shareholder with a certain amount of equity.

Divorce is easy to talk about, but the division of equity and the allocation of various interests behind it are much more complicated matters.

However, since Brother Li dared to do this, he must have made certain preparations.

Now it's time to see what Brother Li has to do.

Back at the company, Chen Mo immediately instructed all departments to closely monitor Baidu's movements and required real-time reports.

He then set about drafting a belated internal letter.

Although Lu Qi has joined Bi'an, as chairman, Chen Mo needs to explain the strategic significance of this new executive to all employees.

Chen Mo's plan is to take advantage of Lu Qi's injury over the next few months to serve as a senior advisor and join Tianji Pavilion as a member, so as to understand the group's overall business and gradually integrate with the senior management team.

He will also continue to communicate with these senior executives and take things step by step.

Once he recovers, he will officially assume the role of CEO early next year, which will be a natural progression for both employees and management.

Perhaps inspired by his slightly tipsy state, Chen Mo's thoughts flowed freely, and he completed a letter of over a thousand words in just half an hour. After being reviewed by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, it required no revisions whatsoever.

The next moment, he sent the letter to all employees of the Beyond Group.

To all comrades on the other side:

I am honored to announce that Dr. Lu Qi has officially joined the Beyond Group as Vice President and Senior Strategic Advisor.

As a globally recognized outstanding manager in the technology industry, Dr. Lu Qi was once the highest-ranking Chinese executive in a major US technology company.

He has profound expertise in management practices, technological insights, and team leadership, and is also a leading expert in the field of artificial intelligence.

His joining will significantly enhance the overall strength of the other side!
Artificial intelligence has been identified by the group as the most important strategic direction for the next decade.

However, relying solely on our own closed-door approach has limitations. Therefore, to implement this strategy, we need to continuously attract world-class talent.

Dr. Lu Qi's joining will further ensure the smooth implementation of this strategy, helping Beyond establish a leading global position and become a world-class high-tech company that China can be proud of before the next big opportunity arrives, namely in the era of artificial intelligence.

Lu Qi graduated from Fudan University with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Computer Science, and then pursued a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. (Blah blah blah)
Comrades, the Beyond Group is currently at a critical stage of transition. It is easy to grow from a thousand to ten thousand people, but now the group has nearly one hundred thousand employees. How to avoid the problems of a large company has become a problem that we are about to face or have already faced.

Dr. Lu Qi's joining the company may bring valuable suggestions. With the precedents of Microsoft and BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), and the article on Alibaba's management system currently pinned to the top of the group's intranet, we can learn from these examples and achieve self-governance through the rule of law and the rule of man.

The present moment on the other side was hard-won, and Dr. Lu Qi will assist me in making the road ahead smooth, steady, and successful.

Let's join hands and work together to transform the other side from a leading domestic internet company into a global technology pioneer!

Finally, please join me in welcoming Dr. Lu Qi to the team!

We hope that he, like all of us, will contribute significantly to the bright future of the other side and of China!

Chen Mo, August 8, 2016

Just as Chen Mo finished sending the internal letter and began in-depth communication with the executives on the other side, a flight taking off from Beijing Capital International Airport was cutting through the night sky and speeding towards the other side of the ocean.

A week later, when Robin Li reappeared at Baidu headquarters, everyone could see from his bloodshot eyes and sunken eye sockets that he was physically and mentally exhausted.

However, this effort was not in vain. Through a series of meticulous equity operations, the leader successfully retained control of the company, which he cherished most.

As the founder of Baidu, Robin Li originally held about 16% of the common stock, but thanks to his carefully designed AB share structure (B shares have ten times the voting rights of A shares), he has always maintained a firm grip on more than 50% of the company's decision-making power.

This sudden marital breakdown has posed a serious challenge to this seemingly stable power structure.

During the recent period of intense negotiations, this tech giant has demonstrated remarkable strategic resolve.

In order to retain control of core assets, he made significant concessions in areas such as child custody and real estate division.

Ultimately, through a carefully crafted legal agreement, the two parties reached a delicate balance: the ex-wife received substantial financial compensation, while he retained all voting rights crucial to the company's survival.

Although there are still complicated asset transfer procedures to be handled, this crisis, which could have affected Baidu, has finally come to a temporary end.

Li Yanhong continued to push forward firmly according to the previously formulated plan.

That night, the lights on the top floor of the Baidu building remained on all night once again.

The following morning, Hailong was hosting an internal meeting at the company themed "Exploring New Commercialization Paths for Search." "I've reviewed the commercialization proposals you all submitted. Several of them are quite good. You all know this year's KPIs; the revenue pressure is considerable, but we must rise to the challenge!"

Hailong's voice echoed in the conference room, "What does the search engine search for? It searches for data, for the aggregation and display of information. The technology involved is something that they can't catch up with in a year by piecing things together on the other side."

We have now stabilized the situation. With the information Baidu has accumulated over the past decade, as long as we proceed steadily, we still have a great chance.”

Just then, he inadvertently glanced at the email notification that popped up in the lower right corner of his computer, and the sender was clearly "robin".

He casually opened the email, and then the sound suddenly stopped.

Hello everyone:
First of all, I want to share something with everyone: I'm divorced!
Although many things are still being dealt with, this outcome will not change.

Today, I write this letter with a heavy yet resolute heart.

Having just finished reading the first few sentences, even though the sun was shining brightly outside the window, Hailong felt a sudden dizziness, as if struck by lightning.

His heart sank, and his palms instantly became sweaty.

Who understands this feeling? The meeting was going well, but then the master wanted to divide the family property. How could the servants who had already taken sides possibly have a good ending?

He couldn't care less about commercialization now; his immediate priority was surviving this workplace crisis. He knew all too well the importance and urgency of the matter.

Hailong slammed his laptop shut and said, "That's all for today, meeting adjourned!"

Watching Hailong's hasty departure, the executives in the conference room exchanged bewildered glances.

They had never seen their usually decisive and efficient leader show such a panicked expression.

Suddenly someone exclaimed, "Quick, check your email! Robin sent a message to everyone!" Everyone opened their emails upon hearing this.

Before long, some people's faces turned as ugly as Hailong's, looking like a group of panicked chameleons.

"As the founder, I must confront the detours I've taken over the past few years."

We were once the pride of China's internet industry, but we have repeatedly missed opportunities in the transformation to mobile internet.
We once relied on technology, but lost our way on the path of commercialization;
We have the best engineering culture, but we have gradually lost the fighting power we were once so proud of due to internal strife.

Therefore, we need to face the problem squarely and confront its root causes.

The fault of power struggles:
Over the past few years, the company has been plagued by internal factions and a long decision-making chain.

As the person in charge, I failed to stop this internal friction in time, which led to many correct decisions being distorted and deviated from their intended course during implementation.

The most typical example is the development of the mobile ecosystem. Despite recognizing the trend, progress has been slow due to various constraints.

The Tragedy of Short-Termism:

In pursuit of high financial figures, we have become overly reliant on quick-money businesses such as medical advertising.

The Wei Zexi incident last year served as a wake-up call, exposing a serious imbalance between commercial value and social responsibility.

The Phoenix Nest system, which should have been the culmination of technological innovation, has instead become a tool for short-sighted profiteering.

The pain of brain drain:

The once-proud "Whampoa Military Academy of the Internet" has faded.

Bureaucracy discourages those who actually get things done, and PPT culture has replaced code culture.

The departure of many technical talents in the past two years has kept me up at night.

For the reasons mentioned above, we need to turn the knife inward and carry out a radical overhaul!

First, there's the organizational restructuring and cultural reshaping strategy, focusing on "ALL IN AI" and adhering to long-termism (500 words omitted).
Classmates, last night I was on the top floor of the Baidu building, looking at the lights of thousands of homes, and I thought of the first line of code we wrote when we started the company in 2000, which was our original intention in creating Baidu.

We have experienced glory in the past, but in recent years, we have fallen into a trough because we went astray.

Baidu shouldn't be like this!
Today, I'm laying bare my entire past reputation here for everyone to witness.

All my future decisions will follow three principles: technological faith, user-centricity, and long-termism.

If anyone sees me wavering again, please confront me with this letter or splash me with water to wake me up.

However, I am confident that I will not give you such an opportunity.

Reform inevitably brings growing pains. Some businesses may be shut down, many colleagues may leave us, and we may face a short-term decline in performance.

But please remember: all of this is for a better Baidu in the future.

Without destruction, there can be no construction; we live in the face of death.

Please, gentlemen, come with me!

Li Yanhong

August 16, 2016, at Baidu Science and Technology Park.

(End of this chapter)