After the layoffs, I became a tech godfather

Chapter 35 Assistant in Place
Li Qingbo is the former regional general manager of the East China region of a new car-making force.

"This is some new car-making force, some what?" Looking at the information sent by Li Ling, Hao Cheng guessed which car company it was. It must be the one that is currently facing bankruptcy.

New energy vehicles are developing in full swing. By October 2024, the penetration rate of new energy has jumped to 10%, which means that for every 53 passenger cars sold, of them are new energy.

If it is a car company that is developing well, such as Ideal Leapmotor, or even the likes of Xpeng and NIO, the regional presidents are all in high spirits at this time and would never choose to leave.

Speaking of which, new energy vehicles, especially smart connected electric vehicles, in addition to their attributes as a means of transportation, are becoming more and more like an electronic terminal.

Including research related to intelligent driving (autonomous driving), the interconnection of cars, mobile phones, watches and other electronic devices, etc., are also making the car product more and more like an electronic terminal, thus becoming a part of 1+8+N.

"From this perspective, it does seem to be somewhat related."

Hao Cheng was driving a BYD Qin Plus. After closing the car door, he was muttering in his heart: This thing is a leader in the first half of the new energy era and the era of electrification, and it has beaten the Japanese cars that are known for their fuel efficiency to a pulp.

……

"Mr. Hao!" As soon as Hao Cheng came up, Li Ling followed him and introduced him very formally: "Mr. Li is already in the reception room. He came a while earlier."

"Yes," Hao Cheng nodded, and used Li Ling as an administrative assistant again. There was no other way, as the company didn't have anyone there yet, so he said, "Come in half an hour and get a glass of water."

"Okay." Li Ling agreed and immediately went back to her workstation to call Xiaosha. She had to ask what to do later. As a designer, what should she do? Fortunately, there was Xiaosha!
……

On the other side, Hao Cheng was already sitting opposite Li Qingbo and looking at him carefully. He was about forty years old, very capable, and like an elite.

Just as Hao Cheng thought, he was the long-term regional president of the new force that was rumored to be on the verge of collapse.

"The group is reducing its stores and merging regions. Our East China region will be merged with the Southeast region, and half of our sales channels will be streamlined."

Because this matter has already been implemented, people in the industry and even related consumers have received notifications. Li Qingbo also spoke frankly about the reasons for his resignation.

"Then why don't you choose to stay there and compete for the new regional president?" Hao Cheng asked:
"I think you are quite capable. Even though the OEM's product definition does have big problems, the market development is still going well. New energy vehicles are also a thriving industry right now, right?"

"It seems to be thriving, but in fact the overall situation has been determined." Li Qingbo shook his head:

“There are nearly 100 new energy vehicle companies registered in China. They either have deep pockets, strong sales, or strong backing. Otherwise, they will gradually be eliminated.

“To be honest, our investors have approached Yu Dong from Huawei and wanted to join Hongmeng Zhixing, but there is no chance anymore because he only does four realms. Other models cannot save us.

"There is no place for me in other leading companies. It is time for me to leave."

Li Qingbo seemed a little helpless, and then talked about the market connection and similarity between smart connected cars, smart terminals, and AI: "If I can switch from smart cars to smart terminals and robots, it is not considered a cross-industry move."

This is exactly what Hao Cheng thought. Nowadays, all technological things have to do with intelligence and artificial intelligence.

To put it bluntly, they are all artificial intelligence device terminals.

"Do you know our company and our products?" Hao Cheng asked, "If it were handed over to you, how would you come up with the logic for its commercial operation?"

"I didn't know about it at first." Li Qingbo said: "After the headhunting company contacted me, I found out that Fingers Quicksand is our product." "Speaking of this product, business logic can no longer use sales volume to evaluate it. If sales volume is the only concern, we don't even need to do anything and the sales volume will not be bad.

"From my perspective, the most important thing to do is to establish the brand, so as to avoid the situation where the product is very good and everyone is using it but the brand tone is not established, which will affect the subsequent development."

"Hmm." Hao Cheng didn't know whether he should agree with Li Qingbo's statement. He really didn't understand it.

Perhaps this should be the case from the perspective of ordinary brands, but this situation will never happen on our side.

As super projects are launched one after another, the brand tone will definitely rise, and you don’t even need to pay special attention to this.

Of course, Li Qingbo didn’t know about this situation, and it was impossible for him to know what the company would be like in the future.

……

"You know, I'm essentially a technician, an algorithm engineer."

After talking for a long time, Hao Cheng felt that Li Qingbo seemed competent. This was not a difficult job, and there was no performance evaluation. He just wanted a capable assistant:

“I am recruiting a general manager for a simple purpose, which is to handle some business issues on my behalf with authorization. In essence, he is my assistant.

“Of course, if you feel you have the capacity, you can also propose your ideas for the operation of the company’s subsequent products from the perspective of business model and business operation. As long as it is reasonable, you will be given the opportunity to try.

"Do you think you can accept such a job?"

"I have no problem!" Li Qingbo said without hesitation.

Although Baiju Technology is a startup company, he had already had an in-depth understanding of it before coming. Apart from other things, the product "Finger Quicksand" alone is enough for a business person to use for a lifetime.

As for what Hao Cheng said, being an assistant, assistant to the chairman (executive director), is almost the center of power in a company. It was only because Baiju Technology was a start-up and he discovered it early, otherwise such an opportunity would never have come to him.

"As for the treatment," Hao Cheng said, "except for the actual shares, everything else can be discussed. For example, performance commission, dividends, etc.

"The company is actually a startup now, and many systems are not yet in place. If you come over, you may be responsible for related work."

"Okay!" After thinking for a while, Li Qingbo nodded. There would be no shares, but dividends could be discussed, which was also fine. After all, the ultimate goal of everyone coming out was to make money.

Although there is no system now and only Hao Cheng's promise, he is optimistic about the company's prospects and believes that a company with such prospects will not just make empty promises.

"That's no problem. When can I start work?" Hao Cheng hoped that this time would not be too long, because he really didn't want to worry about business, especially business meetings with this person and that person.

"I have been resting for more than a month and can start work at any time," Li Qingbo stated.

"In that case, let's not wait, let's do it today." Li Qingbo's condition was exactly what Hao Cheng wanted, so he made the decision immediately and directly called out Xiaosha: "Xiaosha, Xiaosha, help me draw up a contract..."

(End of this chapter)