I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 114 Super Product Development Team

Unsurprisingly, all free antivirus software on the market is inferior to paid versions, including "Xiaobai Antivirus." Software experts on popular science programs even emphasized the simple truth that "you get what you pay for."

Zhang Da'an felt nothing; he simply approved 1.2 million yuan for Shen Tu to upgrade "Xiaobai Antivirus Software".

Yoshi~~
Shen Tu was thrilled when he saw the funds. If he got all the money, he could pay off his uncle's and parents' savings of many years.

Unfortunately, they can't be moved. The boss has over a hundred "cousins" from out of town, all preparing for spring military training.

There was still no intention to launch a counterattack, but Zhang Da'an inquired about the emerging industry development support group in Jiangning City, which was at a fairly high level, on par with Shazhou City.

The problem with Zhang Da'an, this outstanding entrepreneur, is this: I'm not optimistic about the anti-virus software industry, but I want to regain my reputation. I wonder if Jiangning Prefecture has any solutions.
It's hard to say about others, but Liu Yuanshan's former superior, Sima Cong, who used to be a "half the sky" in the Chengdong District but is now working as a "locomotive" in the labor and employment security unit, proposed expanding the scale of the city's science and technology industrial park at the city's New Year meeting regarding the support and development of science and technology enterprises.

Normally, his suggestion would be absurd, but it depends on the angle from which it's presented.

“Last year, when I was still in Chengdong District, I went with some colleagues to conduct research at a food factory in Shazhou City. The main purpose was to see the results of labor protection, which left a very deep impression on me.”

"This food factory has also been on the news, and some of you may have seen their product advertisements. It's that 'Little Champion QQ Candy' product, which is very popular and profitable."

"Last year, the basic salary of front-line workers in the workshop was as high as 1,800 yuan, which was quite astonishing. I was skeptical at the time, thinking that this was higher than that of foreign-funded factories, and much higher. So I went to take a look and did some research, and it was indeed the case. The overall tax-paying scale was much larger than that of factories of the same size. It was located near the bonded zone of Shazhou City, but it was not within the bonded zone's boundaries."

"But that's not what surprised me the most. The factory's emphasis on high-end talent is truly remarkable. They have a product development department, which has various PDTs, or product-development-teams. This PDT is very interesting; it's not just a department, but more like a command center that can mobilize all the resources of the company to serve a single goal. It reminds me of the 'battle production' we used to do, which also concentrated all our efforts to overcome challenges."

"Then, within each Product Development Team (PDT) under the Product Development Department, there will be product projects. As long as they are successfully launched, there will be product bonuses. It's not just a bonus for one or two people; there's a bonus pool, and even the sales team and public relations team can receive a bonus of 3.5%."

"The salary of R&D personnel is the highest level, the eleventh level, which is basically the same as the basic annual salary of 180,000 yuan for a first-level lecturer in their sister company, 'Zhang An Education'. The actual income they receive is far more than 180,000 yuan. From what I know, there is a researcher named Yuchi De who was originally an associate professor at Taihu Light Industry University, specializing in food development. He now drives an Audi A6."

"I'm saying all this not for any other reason than to wonder if our researchers in Jiangning could also enjoy similar treatment? Wouldn't that help us develop a better development strategy? There's a company called 'Zhang An Health' in the Chengdong District that's also doing research and development. I believe that as an affiliated company, its compensation and benefits are certainly not bad. Protecting the labor rights of researchers in enterprises is also an achievement of our work. So, shouldn't we take a longer-term view and not interfere too much with the setup of 'Zhang An Health's' research department? Since they already have a production department in the Chengdong District, if they subjectively want the research department to be located in the Chengdong District, then let them be."

"The establishment of one R&D department can drive the development of another. Take 'Zhang An Media' antivirus software, for example. I think we can provide them with some standard support measures to strengthen their confidence in technological development. Jiangning City has so many scientific and educational resources; it's time to explore them in depth. The increase in the compensation for high-end talent is like creating a pilot program. If we persist in this long-term, it will inevitably lead to improvements in the treatment of grassroots workers as well..."

Sima Cong's speech at the Spring Festival meeting was quite substantial; it's impossible to say that it was taken lightly or used as toilet paper.

However, it requires verification from multiple departments to confirm whether it is true or false.

No department doesn't want excellent performance.

So after the "Happy Lantern Festival", several departments held internal meetings to confirm that "Zhang An Food Factory" did indeed offer frontline workers a high base salary of 1,800 yuan per month.

Furthermore, I learned that this "1,800 yuan" had caused a conflict at an annual meeting of entrepreneurs in Shazhou City, which ended with the party that initiated the conflict suffering a complete defeat.

Zhang Da'an was the one on the defensive, launching a counterattack.

The news of 1,800 yuan was discussed and amplified a second time, and was even published in the provincial capital's newspapers. Many enterprises and institutions in Jiangning City verbally expressed their intention to learn from "Zhang An Food Factory," but whether they actually did so was another matter entirely.

Jiangning City doesn't require all enterprises in the city to actually do anything specific; as long as there's a response, that's enough. Once there's a response, there's public opinion, and once there's a foundation of public support, some things become much easier to handle.

For example, the city government previously wanted to take away Zhang An Health's R&D department, but now they have relented and graciously allowed Zhang An Health to set up its research department next to Xianlin Avenue, separated from Zhang An Health's production department by only a wall.

The land and buildings are readily available, but there's nothing inside; Zhang An Health has to purchase the equipment and other supplies himself.

But it's clearly not just that. Because of the existence of a "university town," Jiangning City hopes to leverage its scientific and educational resources, and thus has some ideas about "Zhang An Media's" "Xiaobai Killer Software."

Jiangning University, Jiangning Institute of Technology, Jiangning University of Science and Technology, Jiangning University of Chemical Technology, and other universities could collaborate on research projects. The specific form of such collaboration is yet to be determined, but since the news has been released, there must be some explanation.

Jiangning City's intention is simple: "Zhang An Media," as the investor, should focus on making good investments, developing good products, and promoting good products, while the city should act as a matchmaker and match some talent policies.

This talent policy has nothing to do with the province; it's purely an internal policy of Jiangning City.

It may not reach the level of a software industrial park, but if it can incubate a real antivirus software company, that would be quite a good thing.

In this matter, Jiangning City can help coordinate bandwidth costs and server rental fees, which can be jointly built using the platform of higher education institutions.

The convenience enjoyed by universities is hard for those who haven't experienced it to imagine. Some equipment that is embargoed at the international level can be obtained by universities through international scientific research cooperation, even if only a few pieces are available.

At the same time, prestigious universities can have the same level of international cooperation as a medium-sized prefecture-level city, and even more freedom.

However, universities cannot generate a continuous stream of profits, nor can they tax interpersonal relationships within the university. Financially, they are relatively dependent on government funding.

Coincidentally, "Zhang An Education" is currently a top "unicorn" in the domestic education industry. Therefore, the university research leaders who originally regarded "Zhang An Media's" "novice anti-virus software" as "naive and stupid" will now know that they can make an extra source of income, as long as their intelligence is not lacking.

This funding primarily comes from the school, then is allocated to relevant research projects, and the rest is irrelevant.

Where does the wealth come from?

First, there is the collaboration to jointly build private colleges and departments, also known as "third-tier colleges" in the public sphere, where tuition fees are usually tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan per year. Second, the project is included in the scope of school-enterprise cooperation. If the benefits are indeed good, it will also benefit the graduates of the college majors, enabling them to directly enter the workforce after graduation, which has a practical significance for the school's position in the high-end job market.

As for the widespread trend of giving bosses or professional managers an "MBA," that's really nothing special. The majority of the funding doesn't go to research grants. Aside from those in economics and management who might enjoy it, researchers or professors with research responsibilities don't really care.

This incident left Zhang Da'an completely bewildered, utterly unprepared.

"No, what do you mean by asking me to give an interview, make a statement, express my views, and then you'll strongly support my development in the software industry?"

"I'm just doing this for someone else. How about this, I'll kowtow to you, please give me face, okay?"

As the general manager of the education investment company, Qiu Jianmin lifted his coat and prepared to kowtow to Zhang Da'an.

"Get out of here, don't even try."

Zhang Da'an didn't hold it against Qiu Jianmin; the old man's current position was reserved for Uncle Zhang.

This situation can be considered as having reached another threshold of progress.

The highest level in Shazhou City is not the city proper, but the bonded zone; that's where the high-level configuration comes from.

Two job losses in one year for an education investment company is already quite alarming, but Sima Cong's approach to supporting the diversified development of high-tech industries is very convincing.

Whoever offers the best treatment to high-end talent is the one that leads the development of advanced culture.

"The strategy of 'revitalizing the nation through science and education' is a matter of strategic compliance." Zhang Da'an thought for a moment and asked, "What are the plans for using the site?"

There are three plans.

Without having to kowtow, Qiu Jianmin quickly picked up the teapot with a smile and poured tea for Zhang Da'an. After putting down the teapot, he said, "The first thing is definitely cooperation between the local government and the university. Whether it's the 'University Town' in the East District or the East District's own industrial land, a research center can be approved. As long as you are willing to set up the research unit, the rent will be waived for at least five years."

"Secondly, the land you've chosen can be acquired in interest-free installments. Under the existing high-tech industry support policies in Jiangning City, Chengdong District has some flexibility and can strive to develop it into a high-tech industrial park."

"And there's the third one... You mentioned before that you wanted to create a 'thousand-acre industrial park,' right? We can package it up and make it a signature project for the Chengdong District, calling it 'Jiangning City Chengdong District Zhang'an Industrial Park.' Then we can set up some thresholds for industrial categories to create certain connections, whether it's R&D or production. Jiangning City still has a lot of faith in your personal brand appeal."

Kind of interesting.

Zhang Da'an picked up the document again and looked at it. Shazhou City also wanted to invest a portion of the shares. There were quite a few people from the entire Jiangkou Province who had consulted Jiangning City. State-owned capital investment is based on potential.

With the core intellectual property rights of "Zhang An Education", "Zhang An Health" and "Zhang An Food", investing 1 billion or 2 billion yuan would be reasonable.

If people outside the province are unaware of the situation, how could those inside not be?
Furthermore, the publicity department is always ready, just waiting for an opportunity to help Zhang Da'an gain momentum.

Previously, during the heated debate over "video games entering schools," everyone was rather restrained. Now that it involves normal industrial development issues, it's time to lay our cards on the table and stop pretending. It's time to show the province's high-end firepower.

Zhang Da'an considered it and decided that it wasn't impossible, but some compensation would definitely be required.

With only policy support, he has little motivation now.

The development of antivirus software cannot generate profits in the personal consumer market. Profits come from government or enterprise users, which require long-term investment and cannot be achieved in a day or two.

But what kind of talent does he have at his disposal right now?

Shen Tu did arrive, but he didn't show any particularly brilliant ideas. However, there was one good thing: the programmers he recruited were all quite good at playing games, and they even made a lot of cheat codes to play all sorts of strange and unusual single-player games.

Anyway, I've heard on many computer forums that "IS-3" is recruiting, joined a new company called "Zhang An Media", and made the antivirus software that used to be sold in Bao'an City Electronic Market free and available on their official website.

With the addition of tanks such as "Sherman Lighter", "I am Panzer IV", and "Panzer III is pure trash", they have become quite popular on niche websites and forums.

Occasionally, people in the chat room would inquire about salaries.

Shen Tu, who was riding in the truck, didn't lie at all. He directly stated that his monthly salary was two thousand yuan, but it included food and accommodation, and he could also work part-time as a coach in a "computer training class".

There's not much pressure. The advantages are freedom and ease. You don't need to go to work on time. Just finish your work and the boss won't interfere.

As long as I don't die at work, everything is OK.

This attracted many people who disliked trouble to come to "Zhang An Media" to see what was going on. The main reason was that Shazhou City was too small, and emerging industries like software development were destined to have no upper limit.

Theoretically, that's true, but Shen Tu is indeed an honest person. He commented on a blog: "I think our company has potential. First of all, I only chatted with the boss for a few minutes, and a few days later I was on the train to work. No nonsense, we agreed on the price, and that's it. The boss is more reliable than me. Secondly, guys, this blog, the one I'm using now, is free! Damn, it's not like nobody used to have personal blogs, but they couldn't afford it, right? Do you know how much my boss makes a year? This thing can definitely take off. Also, I saw someone the other day, you know who? People from 'Glass Shards' came to discuss the next step of cooperation for the 'Zhang An Cup'. Damn, isn't this just taking off? An international cooperation project! If I ever change jobs in the future, I'll at least have worked on a big project."

Shen Tu spoke his mind, and the netizens who were "surfing the internet" together also came to their senses.

Right, personal blogs used to be doomed because they couldn't afford to burn money, but things are different now, there's potential.

Unfortunately, Shen Tu also admitted that when he discussed this matter with his boss, his boss rejected it outright, which hurt Shen Tu greatly, making him feel that his boss did not understand technology or future development.

Subsequently, after the 1.2 million yuan funding was approved, Shen Tu immediately admitted that he did not understand management and had limited knowledge. He believed that the boss must have been farsighted and had seen new models and directions that he could not see.

Because of internal and external troubles, Zhang Da'an first registered a "Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd." and then migrated the computer-related business content of "Zhang An Media" to "Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd."

A new "super product development team" was built around the "free antivirus software" project, and personnel were borrowed from the public relations and legal departments to liaise with Shazhou City and Jiangning City.

During the process of building the framework of this "super product development team", Zhang Da'an discovered that Shen Tu was actually a graduate of Luzhou Jiaotong University.

Zhang Da'an was very happy and told Shen Tu to find alumni, especially those majoring in computer-related fields, so that they could work together if they had something to do and scam each other if they had money.

Shen Tu's enthusiasm stemmed from a simple reason: while he was indeed upgrading and developing "free antivirus software," the underlying purpose of this new version of "Xiaobai Antivirus" was to attract users, build a community, and ultimately engage in social networking.

Previously, Zhang Da'an dared to think but couldn't do it; he lacked the ability and couldn't accomplish anything.

Things are different now. Many factors of production can be obtained for free in the short term. If you don't dare to take advantage of these, what's the point of playing around?

So ever since the framework of the "Super Product Development Team" was established, "IS-3" has disappeared from the forum. This matter must be kept secret, otherwise it will be targeted in advance by its counterparts in Beijing and Bao'an, or directly interfered with.

The project was split into several sub-projects, with some ambiguity applied to the security software and social software aspects.

The headquarters of the "Super Product Development Team" was located at the Mazhou branch of Xindongwei Port Middle School. Shen Tu had always been puzzled as to why they did this. Finally, one day when he came to wait for the boss to sign and stamp the documents, he couldn't help but ask Zhang Da'an: "Boss, this is too troublesome. I have to cross the Yangtze River Bridge to make a trip. If it weren't for email, I would be exhausted if I did this every day. Why don't you just work in Shazhou?"

"Because I took the university entrance exam in Ma Chau this year."

"Huh? Ah? College entrance exam?"

"I said I wanted to be a three-time top scorer in the college entrance examination, how can I not prepare seriously for the exam?"

"..."

Shen Tu then remembered that his boss was actually an exceptionally talented top scorer in both the arts and sciences in the college entrance examination, and planned to continue his extraordinary achievements to become an unprecedented three-time top scorer in the college entrance examination.

"Boss, are you sure about that?"

"It's covered."

"..."

"I've been the top scorer in the college entrance examination for three consecutive years, so I don't need to do any advertising anymore. After all, I'm the highest mountain in the college entrance examination world, and the best candidate in history."

"..."

The GOAT of the college entrance exam world, he retired after winning three consecutive championships, becoming a living legend.

(End of this chapter)