Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 26 Long-Distance New Energy
The weather wasn't great today; the industrial area of ​​Longgang in Shenzhen was shrouded in a layer of gray fog.

"Fine, fine! If you want to withdraw your investment, go ahead and do so. I can make the battery all by myself!"

At the end of the corridor on the third floor of Yuantu New Energy Technology Company, Xu Mingyuan suddenly pushed open the office door and roared, his tie hanging crookedly around his neck and his white shirt cuffs stained with a few coffee stains.

Ten minutes ago, he had just finished arguing with two of his fellow alumni partners, and now they had stormed out.

He stood behind the second-floor window, watching his two partners walk away without looking back. Finally, he pulled out a crumpled cigarette case, leaned against the window, and lit it. The flame flickered twice in the wind before settling down.

Just as the long-awaited nicotine entered his lungs, the walkie-talkie in the security room, used to contact Xu Mingyuan, suddenly rang.

"Mr. Xu! Someone's looking for you at the door. It's the person who came to discuss renting the lab a few days ago!"

Xu Mingyuan's fingers trembled, and cigarette ash fell in a flurry onto the gleaming tips of his leather shoes.

He squinted at the glass door at the end of the corridor, recalling the young man in blue overalls from three days ago.

At the time, the other party said that they were from Huabei Qiangchengzi Technology and wanted to rent a laboratory to conduct research and development on new types of batteries.

At the time, he was struggling with the equipment maintenance costs for the lab the following month. Faced with the other party's sincere request, and the fact that they even brought up Professor Lin, a lithium battery expert from Shenzhen University, to endorse the project, he casually replied, "Bring detailed information to discuss." Unexpectedly, they actually came.

The elevator doors opened with a "ding," he stubbed out his cigarette, wiped his fingers on his pants, and headed towards the company's front desk to greet customers.

Two people were standing outside the glass door. The young man with a buzz cut was dangling a blade of grass in his mouth. When he saw Xu come out, he immediately put on a big smile: "Mr. Xu! You've finally come down. Our General Manager Chen has brought the documents!"

The young man named Chen Mo stepped forward and handed over a blue folder: "President Xu! This is our Orange Technology's gaseous lithium battery process data. I'd like to talk to you about the laboratory rental."

Xu Mingyuan took the folder and his fingertips touched the words "A Novel Production Process Path for Gaseous Lithium-ion Batteries" on the cover.

He glanced at Chen Mo's hopeful eyes and confident face.

I suddenly remembered myself at twenty-five, filled with hope and confidence, holding a letter of recommendation from a teacher, interning at Bell Labs, the most prestigious lab in North America.
Hmm. To be a test-tube doctor.

This is also why Xu Mingyuan wanted to return to China to start his own business.

"Let's talk in the conference room!" As he turned around, Zhao Tiezhu could vaguely smell the cigarette on him.

As the group passed through the office area, the core R&D members of the solid-state battery team suddenly started busily working on something.

The young man facing the door in the office area suddenly shut down the stock chart on his computer, but knocked over his thermos, and brown tea seeped into the keyboard.

He frantically grabbed a tissue, which just happened to reveal the cover of "How to Optimize Your Resume" in the drawer.

Ignoring the chaos behind him, Xu Mingyuan opened the conference room door.

"Please come in!"

The fluorescent lights in the conference room were buzzing. Xu Mingyuan loosened his tie and glanced through the battery information that Chen Mo had sent. His eyes fell on the bold words "Gaseous Lithium Battery" on the cover.

Xu Mingyuan raised an eyebrow: "Gaseous lithium battery?"

He flipped to the next page and glanced at it.

“Supercritical carbon dioxide simulation”.

"Molecular dynamics model".

Looking at these keywords, Xu Mingyuan suddenly burst out laughing.

He had just read a similar hypothesis in a Nature sub-journal last week; even commercially viable solid-state lithium batteries are generally considered to be twenty years away from industrialization. This gaseous lithium battery?

That's utter nonsense; it's completely baseless and has no cutting-edge foundation whatsoever.

Being half a step ahead makes you a genius; being a full step ahead makes everyone think you're crazy.

Is this so-called Orange Technology workshop planning to use this gimmick to scam venture capitalists?
The sound of trucks rolling over speed bumps at the factory gate could be heard outside the window; it was the company being forced to take on low-end battery manufacturing business in order to maintain its cash flow.

Xu Mingyuan touched the business card left by the real estate agent selling the house in his pocket, and suddenly smiled.

"Let's get this straight! If you damage the lab equipment, you'll have to pay for it at cost."

Upon hearing that the other party had agreed to rent the battery lab, Chen Mo smiled faintly and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the conference table.

"Don't worry, Mr. Xu, if the equipment is damaged, I, Chen Mo, will not renege on my debt!"

Back then, Chen Mo had been working part-time in his mentor's lab at Shenzhen University for four years, so he was very familiar with the battery lab equipment.

Xu Mingyuan smiled and said, "That's good."

"Mr. Chen! Let's talk about the rent!"

Now, Xu Mingyuan has even sold his house to buy back the shares held by the two withdrawing partners. Even a small amount is still something!

At this moment, Zhao Tiezhu chimed in, waving the USB drive in his hand.

"Mr. Xu! Our Mr. Chen has already drafted the lease agreement. It's based on the common market price for application-type battery lab use, at 680 yuan per day. Mr. Chen has even listed the damage clauses on three separate pages, which are more detailed than those from a notary office!"

Chen Mo glanced at Zhao Tiezhu discreetly. The young man smiled and raised an eyebrow, signaling Chen Mo to cooperate and remain silent.

"President Xu! Our President Chen is really generous!" Zhao Tiezhu suddenly leaned closer to Xu Mingyuan: "We'll rent for at least a week, and even if it's less than a week, it'll be charged as a week!"

The market rental price for an applied battery laboratory in Shenzhen is 680 yuan per day.

To be honest, Xu Mingyuan didn't know whether the price was expensive or cheap, but Zhao Tiezhu insisted that it was the market price, and Xu Mingyuan, who came from a technical background, took it seriously.

Hmm! Zhao Tiezhu, that sly fellow, cleverly shifted the concept, referring to the market price of "usage" rather than the market price of renting.

Based on the market price for renting an application-oriented battery R&D lab, it would cost at least 1000 yuan a day!

Zhao Tiezhu also saved Chen Mo a considerable amount of rent.

Of course, the main reason is that Xu Mingyuan is too lazy to care now. Even after the laboratory is sealed off, the minimum maintenance of the equipment still costs money.

Since the lab will need maintenance even if it's empty, we might as well make it useful and help offset some of the maintenance costs for the company!

Xu Mingyuan is one of the three shareholders of Yuantu New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and also the company's main technical leader.

Earlier this year, Fengtian Company launched a prototype of a sulfide solid-state battery, which attracted global attention.

China has also begun pilot projects for the industrialization of new energy vehicles. In 2010, the "Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles" project was launched, promoting the demonstration operation of new energy vehicles in 10 cities, including Shenzhen, and initiating market-oriented exploration.

The state has launched the "863 Program," investing over 20 billion yuan in the next two years to support collaborative research and development between industry, academia, and research institutions to overcome core technological bottlenecks.

Taking advantage of this trend, Xu Mingyuan declined his mentor Richard Harding's invitation to stay at Ropeway Institute of Technology and returned to Shenzhen to found Yuantu New Energy Technology Company with two alumni.

(End of this chapter)