Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 282 Pony is also starting one last business.

Lin Ran already had a preliminary guess in his mind.

You're not going to say, "I... I'm the best candidate," are you?

However, upon closer reflection, it's not a big problem. After all, the other party single-handedly transformed Tencent from a startup into a trillion-dollar empire with over 100,000 employees worldwide.

Of course, this number of employees includes outsourced employees, but it's still 100,000.

Doesn't outsourcing require management?
From investment and financing, capital operation to business management and business development, Pony is a top expert in every field.

Of course, we should make use of such resources. With top figures coming to us for help, what reason do we have to refuse?
Take investment and financing as an example. The other party has not only experienced financing, but has also invested in countless projects.

As for business development, Pony's mere presence is enough to attract a large number of entrepreneurs. In other words, Apollo Technology, located in Shanghai, can radiate throughout the Yangtze River Delta region. Therefore, if Pony is chosen as CEO, his personal experience alone would be enough to help Apollo Technology radiate throughout the Pearl River Delta region.

However, Lin Ran thought it was unlikely. After all, the other party was still the chairman and CEO of Tencent. How could he possibly become the CEO of Apollo Technology?
As for holding multiple positions, and since the other party is not oneself, one has almost unlimited energy.

“I’d like to volunteer myself; I think I’m the most suitable candidate,” Pony said without batting an eye, displaying immense confidence.

Lin Ran found it both unexpected and predictable. He asked, "Pony, are you joking or serious?"

Pony replied without hesitation, "Of course it's true. For me, life is really just about experiences."

I'm over fifty years old. Lei Jun was able to find the second half of his entrepreneurial journey and find one last entrepreneurial project. What about me?

No matter how many times I start a business in the internet field, it will be under the name of Tencent. People won't think I'm starting a business; they'll just think that Tencent has just added another project.

In the commercial space sector, I believe Apollo Technology has the potential to develop into a tech giant comparable to Tencent.

If Mr. Aldrin was able to set foot on the moon again at the age of ninety, why can't I embark on a new journey at the age of fifty?

Pony said earnestly that Aldrin's moon landing had clearly had a huge impact on him.

He was unwilling to retire from his position as the head of Tencent, and a new desire arose in his heart.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran said, "Pony, I have complete trust in you, but we need to clarify some issues before we can move forward with your appointment as CEO of Apollo Technology."

First, what about the status of Tencent's leader?

Pony said, "That's easy. Tencent is already a very mature and large company. It can operate very well without me. I will hand over all positions except for the chairman of the board. I will also appoint a representative to exercise the power on my behalf as the chairman of the board."

Furthermore, I expect to work for Apollo Technology for five to ten years. After I help you streamline the entire company, I will eventually return to Tencent and retire there.

So rest assured, Apollo Technology is absolutely your company, not mine. I simply hope to contribute to humanity's journey into space and be deeply involved in it.

Lin Ran waved his hand: "Pony, I'm not worried about that at all. Even if you work at Apollo Technology, it's still tied to me. If I don't even have this much confidence and have to worry about this, then I might as well quit and go back to teaching at Jiaotong University."

There are many things that make Lin Ran memorable to outsiders. If genius is the biggest label, then confidence is the second label. This is not only given by the Bilibili moon landing documentary, but also by Lin Ran himself when speaking to the outside world.

Unmatched confidence.

Pony replied knowingly, "Yes, I'm just making things clear beforehand."

Lin Ran then asked, "Because of our location in Shanghai, as you know, under the current circumstances, it's impossible for us to move to Shenzhen."

Pony replied without hesitation, "Of course I'll come to Shenhai. I have a private jet that I can travel between Shenhai and Pengcheng anytime on weekends, so you don't need to worry about that."

Lin Ran suddenly realized, "These big shots have risen to power over the years, they have everything they need, and geographical location is not a problem for them at all."

“Okay, then there’s equity investment, because if you become the CEO of Apollo Technology, your personal funds will be enough to meet all our financing needs in the short term.” Lin Ran didn’t finish his sentence.

Pony smiled wryly and said, "Mr. Lin, you don't really think we're qualified to invest, do you?"
To put it simply, after the moon landing, Apollo Technology and China's aerospace industry were essentially no different, especially since you were already under American control, so state-owned capital could invest even more recklessly.

I guarantee that in the next round of fundraising, your funds will mainly come from state-owned enterprises, and the share allocated to private enterprises may not even reach 10%, and you'll have to sign all sorts of harsh agreements that prohibit transfers.

Lin Ran felt that he was blinded by his own perception, thinking that he had 100% control and could raise funds like an ordinary technology company.

Little did people know that aerospace has always been closely related to national defense, both in the past and now.

This field dictates that the autonomy you can gain is very limited.

“No problem then, Pony, welcome to the team.” Lin Ran extended his hand.

Their hands clasped together, and Pony felt a surge of pride, never expecting to have such an opportunity in his lifetime.

I have only two hobbies in my life: computers and astronomy. I spent the first fifty years of my life pursuing the former as a hobby, and I became the number one in China. Although ByteDance has shaken my foundation, I was at least the undisputed number one in the world for a period of time.

As for astronomy, he was surprised to find that in the second half of his life, he was able to meet a genius like Lin Ran and a company like Apollo Technology with a vision for the universe, and that he was able to turn another interest into a career.

Pony was already inwardly crying out: Oh, heavens, how have you been so kind to me?

"President Lin, I have already severely criticized Xu Fei internally and demoted her!"

How could someone as high-ranking as the CMO of Xiaomi Group have such a low level of vision!
Internally, we have always emphasized the importance of believing in the possibility of good things happening. China's moon landing is such a wonderful event, how could they possibly try to turn it into an advantage in negotiations just because a leading domestic technology company had an accident?
Before she came, I specifically emphasized that we would rather suffer some losses ourselves so that our competitors who are striving for their dreams can earn more, because you are exploring for humanity!

That's right, it was CEO Lei who arrived.

Mr. Lei has come to apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back.

Because of the accident that happened to the Apollo astronauts, the moon landing was postponed. And while negotiations were still in progress, Xu Fei thought of taking the opportunity to lower the price and cut the cooperation price again.

If you can't even go to the moon, what's the point of a joint licensing deal? We have to negotiate the price.

The company even offered 50 million to obtain an exclusive co-branding license from Apollo Technology.

This infuriated Li Xiaoman, who felt the other party's attitude changed too quickly. Subsequently, the cooperation agreement was finalized with Huawei, as Huawei seized the opportunity and immediately demanded an exorbitant price – a truly astronomical price. Huawei's annual management and sales expenses combined amount to 100 billion yuan. Generally, management and sales expenses are split 50/50, meaning sales expenses are around 50 billion yuan, including marketing costs.

They offered a staggering 20 billion over five years.

This cooperation is exclusive, meaning it is only licensed to Huawei.

In China, this is an astronomical price, but globally it's just okay, not particularly outrageous.

For example, Heineken's sponsorship of Real Madrid costs 6500 million euros a year, and this is not an exclusive sponsorship.

Following its successful moon landing, Huawei promptly launched the Mate X2, a lunar exploration edition that had been designed long ago.

This is their second foldable screen flagship, the Lunar Exploration Edition. Although it will take more than three months to arrive, Huawei's official online store only releases 10,000 units per day, with each unit priced 5,000 yuan higher than the regular version.

However, consumers flocked to these products, and scalpers on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace) were charging at least 2 yuan extra just for reselling them.

The so-called lunar exploration edition co-branded with Apollo has too many areas to explore.

This is why Mr. Lei personally came to visit.

The purpose is to reverse the downward trend.

The combination of rising star Apollo Technology and established giant Huawei, both of which are officially certified by America, with the former even holding the prestigious title of "the worst".

With the two combined, Xiaomi is under too much pressure.

Of course, the cooperation between Apollo Technology and Huawei is not limited to brand licensing, but also includes collaboration.

It's a very simple reason: as a company targeted by the US, Apollo Technology cannot use American products for almost all computer-related bases.

The office system can't use Windows, the computing card can't be bought from Nvidia, and the CPU can be bought from Intel, but I don't dare to buy it, what if you have a backdoor?
If I were to build my own data center, I wouldn't dare buy equipment from Cisco, IBM, or EMC.

Isn't Huawei the only alternative here?
Huawei, having been rained on, can provide you with an umbrella in times like these.

It is precisely because of this cooperation that Huawei invested a whopping 20 billion yuan, most of which will eventually flow back to them.

It's worth mentioning that large companies are very slow in making payments; it's not like the money will come in immediately after the contract is signed.

Moreover, the local banks in Shenhai granted Apollo Technology a credit line of 10 billion yuan because Apollo Technology only needs that much given its current situation, not because the banks can only provide that much.

There are subtle differences between credit lines and loans, which I won't go into detail here.

With just the contracts with Huawei, securing a 100 billion yuan credit line would be absolutely no problem.

Listening to Lei Zong's speech and looking at his sincere eyes, Lin Ran was momentarily dazed, thinking to himself that anyone who could become a big shot must be a master at bluffing.

"Yes, we do share many similarities with Xiaomi in terms of business philosophy."

"For example, we need to bring down the price of space travel so that everyone can enjoy the fun it brings, and try to reduce the price of a trip to the space station to 100,000 yuan," Lin Ran joked.

Lei's eyes lit up: "I knew we hit it off immediately. I shouldn't have let Xu Fei come to talk to you before; I should have come to talk to you myself."

Although there is a significant age difference between us, we share many similar views on technological development, and I feel like I've met a close friend despite the age gap.

A moment later, Mr. Lei added, "Hey, Mr. Lin, Jiaotong University is really blessed to have you. Jiaotong University has been incredibly popular on social media lately. The college entrance exam is coming up soon, and I've seen people online saying that because of you, Jiaotong University's cutoff score has increased by 20 points."

"It would be great if you graduated from Jiangcheng University, then I could call you my junior."

Lin Ran laughed and said, "President Lei, that's a real pity. I also thought about applying to Jiang University back then, but unfortunately Jiang University is not very strong in the aerospace field, so I didn't apply and missed the chance to be a classmate of President Lei."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the real purpose of the visit was revealed. Lei Jun stated frankly, "I am here today for two reasons. Firstly, on behalf of Xiaomi Group, I would like to express our apologies to your company, as my personal actions have led to a minor misunderstanding between us. Secondly, I hope to reach a cooperation agreement with your company."

Lin Ran said with a wry smile, "We have already signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Huawei. Even if I wanted to cooperate with Xiaomi, we couldn't afford the penalty for breach of contract."

He thought Lei would say something like, "I'll pay the penalty for breach of contract," but things didn't turn out the way he expected.

Lei reminded him, "Of course I know that, but who said we can only cooperate with Apollo Technology?"

"But I still have you, don't I? That's what I think; we can work together."

He explained carefully, "President Lin, think about it. Apollo Technology can no longer cooperate with Xiaomi, but we can find you to be our spokesperson and launch a Lin Ran-signed edition phone. I've already thought about it. In the future, our Xiaomi cars can also launch a Lin Ran-signed edition."

There is no legal risk involved, and the money is given to you directly, not deposited into the company account.

Our Xiaomi car project was a great attempt and a great exploration, while your personal leadership of the lunar landing project and your own journey to the moon were even greater achievements in human history. The two will undoubtedly create a very positive synergy.

He's a real talent, an absolute marketing genius. No wonder everyone in the industries Xiaomi has ventured into praises Lei Jun's marketing abilities.

"They can quickly come up with ways to avoid this, and even come up with a top-notch marketing concept like Lin Ran's signature. No wonder it's Xiaomi," Lin Ran thought to himself.

If Huawei can create a lunar exploration edition, I'll create a Lin Ran autographed edition. The lunar exploration elements in your former are designed by yourselves, while the lunar exploration elements in my latter are given by the character of Lin Ran. It's still unknown whose lunar exploration elements are richer.

Furthermore, Huawei's lunar exploration version has limited production capacity, and the molds and other components need to be remade, which takes time.

As for the Lin Ran autographed edition, once authorized, it can simply be engraved on the metal frame, thus eliminating the time lag.

When the time comes, we'll add some personalized elements to the Lin Ran Signature Edition of Xiaomi Auto.

After Lin Ran figured it out, he looked at President Lei with admiration.

　One more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)