Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 246 Quiet Development

The next day.

At the municipal government building opposite People's Square, Chen Xuebing's well-prepared negotiation went more smoothly than expected.

Wu Ping's brief report made Vice Mayor Yan burst into laughter.

"Great! You've stepped forward at this crucial time to research DSP chips and are involved in the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program). We're very pleased with your confidence! Director Li, please include Spreadtrum in the first batch of key enterprises under the 'Focus on Zhangjiang' policy and provide a matching subsidy based on 20% of your R&D investment!"

After giving the order to the director of the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Vice Mayor Yan immediately instructed Zhang Minxuan, deputy director of the Municipal Education Commission: "Communicate with Jiaotong University to open their microelectronics laboratory and let Spreadtrum directly connect with the list of recommended mentors. Also, contact the laboratories at Fudan University. SMIC must cooperate with Spreadtrum to produce a chip verification report and a high-yield report to help them apply for the National High-Tech R&D Program! Xiao Wang, you handle this matter. Zhangjiang's chips must be at the forefront of the country!"

"In addition, the Education Commission will issue a notice to include the recruitment rate of key technology companies in Zhangjiang in the employment assessment indicators of several universities. The directors of the employment offices of each university are requested to report the signing progress daily, and we must do our best to keep this year's engineering graduates in Shanghai!"

"As for the Waigaoqiao Research Institute, the procedures are quite complicated. The special policies for the bonded zone need to be discussed with the Standing Committee. Moreover, the research center in Zhangjiang is already under construction. I think you can use it first. As for the import tax on the R&D equipment, it can be resolved within the authority of the municipal government. It can be reduced or exempted, or subsidized. We should focus on effectiveness first! As long as your technological R&D achieves further results, you will need to expand the R&D center. I will help you talk to the leaders about the land in Waigaoqiao!"

Director Li from the Science and Technology Commission hesitated for a moment before saying, "Leader Yan, the regulations for the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) stipulate that the project leader should not be older than 50. The chief scientist reported by Zhanxun is their CTO, Chen Datong, who is currently 51 years old."

Vice Mayor Yan waved his hand: "It's only a one-year age difference. Scientific research isn't like promoting cadres. We can just find a pretext to apply for an exemption from the Ministry of Science and Technology! What's the big deal?"

Wu Ping's smile grew wider as he listened, and he nodded repeatedly, giving Chen Xuebing a look that seemed to ask, "Isn't that awesome?"

Chen Xuebing remained silent throughout the entire event.

My head is buzzing.

His prepared scenario of "calling Chongqing's leader Huang, or even Anhui's leader, if Shanghai doesn't support him" completely failed.

This isn't negotiation; this is people coming to collect relief food!

The leadership openly demanded that SMIC and Fudan University's research lab help Spreadtrum "beautify" its report in order to apply for the National High-Tech R&D Program (NPMP)?

He underestimated Shanghai's competitive spirit.

They may have underestimated the shadow that Chen Jin's incident cast over Shanghai.

The vice mayor even brought over leaders from the Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Education Commission to meet with Wu Ping, and addressed all of Zhanxun's requests on the spot.

Upon closer examination, Spreadtrum's decision to apply for National High-Tech R&D Program (NTAP) certification for a new tri-mode product, develop the DSP chip fabricated by Chen Jin, and claim its intention to push towards higher generations, while also aggressively recruiting in Shanghai to retain tech talent, suggests a willingness to act as a vanguard and charge forward for Shanghai's technological prowess.

There's been a misunderstanding; the leader has really misunderstood.

Seeing Chen Xuebing standing silently in a daze beside him, Vice Mayor Yan took the initiative to ask with a smile, "Mr. Chen, thank you very much for your support of Spreadtrum! I heard that the development of DSP chips was your idea? Do you have any other ideas? Please feel free to share them!"

Mr. Chen was so overwhelmed by the government's enthusiasm that he almost choked on his words, and for a moment felt like he had stepped into Northeast China.

Any other thoughts?
You agreed too quickly, I haven't thought about it yet!

"Don't worry, if there are still problems with funding, once the support funds are approved, Shanghai Science and Technology Venture Capital can inject 5000 million yuan in convertible bonds! We can repay it in the form of equity or repurchase!"

Leader Yan sensed that investor Chen Xuebing had concerns about Spreadtrum and immediately expressed his determination to support Spreadtrum.

"No, no, Spreadtrum is going to follow a market-oriented path. Over-reliance on policy dividends will lead to insufficient risk resistance. We want to be a long-lived company."

It was Wu Ping who stood up to refuse.

The refusal was very decisive.

If you give us the money directly, we'll accept it.

Convertible bonds? Are you kidding me?

Upon maturity, it can be converted into equity at the agreed price.

If the debt is converted to equity, Spreadtrum will indeed become a state-owned enterprise. Moreover, even if the debt is not converted to equity, this risk will still be reviewed for listing in the United States.

Seeing Wu Ping's swift refusal, Chen Xuebing realized something and frowned slightly.

But when Wu Ping looked over, it turned into a smile.

He stood up and said, “Leader Yan, I am moved by Shanghai’s support for high-tech enterprises. I also have a technology company under my control. I hope to cooperate with Shanghai if there is an opportunity.”

Leader Yan was surprised for a moment, then laughed: "Oh? It's BOE?"

Before Chen Xuebing arrived, Leader Yan had obviously reviewed his investment achievements; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so polite to Chen Xuebing.

However, Singularity Technology was not well-known and was not within the scope of what Leader Yan had considered.

"No, it's my own company."

Which company is that?

“It’s a mobile phone company, I won’t introduce it now.” Chen Xuebing smiled slightly: “However, in about six months, we will be holding a new product launch conference in Shanghai. I’ll give you a copy of our new product, please accept it and give me your feedback.”

Leader Yan laughed heartily.

"Hehe, great! Mr. Chen has excellent vision. The company you founded must be extraordinary. I'm waiting to see!"

Twenty minutes later, Chen Xuebing and Wu Ping came out of the government building.

"Thank Chen Jin!" Wu Ping chuckled.

He also knew that today's success was not due to Spreadtrum Communications.

Chen Xuebing shook his head with his hands behind his back, his face calm and composed.

Following Chen Jin's incident, the approval of major projects in the chip industry was suspended, all the large-scale semiconductor support projects led by the state disappeared, private capital withdrew, and investment in chip research and development became a matter of "not investing until there are concrete results," which greatly dampened the enthusiasm of related entrepreneurs.

Seeing Shanghai's extraordinary positive attitude today, he couldn't bring himself to smile.

"By the way, Singularity is going to go public in the future, right? You can't take on the convertible bonds in Shanghai, it will trigger the listing review," Wu Ping reminded him.

Chen Xuebing remained noncommittal, then asked, "What do you plan to do after the company goes public?"

Wu Ping's eyes lit up with eagerness: "I need to learn investment from you two, Mr. Chen! When I'm working on a project alone, I can only see so much. I want to invest in high-tech companies all over the world! Mr. Chen, you'll have to mentor me then. If you do a good job managing Spreadtrum, I'll hand it over to you!"

Chen Datong is a venture capitalist. In addition to Spreadtrum, he is also the founder of two other capital companies. Wu Ping was deeply influenced by him and also wanted to follow this path.

Now that Chen Xuebing, a prominent figure in the investment world, has joined the team, his confidence is even greater.

Chen Xuebing felt that Wu Ping was actually a very good product manager with a comprehensive approach, industry insight, and strong hands-on ability. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

He invests for the sake of technology, while Wu Ping does technology for the sake of investing.

But that’s fine.

Given time, as the team grows, Wu Ping's position and the shares he holds will be exactly what I need.

“Great! I’ve partnered with Mr. Lei from Kingsoft on a VC investment project. There are a lot of good projects, and I can take you along.”

Wu Ping's smile widened.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen! Let's work together to make Spreadtrum a success!"

Two days later, the large-scale recruitment began.

East China University of Science and Technology, Octagonal Pavilion Auditorium.

The venue, originally intended for 300 people, was crammed with over 500. Students were crowding the windowsills, and those in the back rows held up recording pens.

Ten HR professionals from Spreadtrum were seated on the stage, including academic evaluators transferred from BJ Research Institute and interviewers borrowed from Emerson.

"Bang bang bang!" The person in the middle tapped the microphone and shouted, "Students! Don't worry! This year we're recruiting 1200 hardware engineers and 200 software engineers! Everyone has a chance! We'll be arranging written tests in three rooms later, and there will be three more tests this afternoon!"

The audience erupted in cheers.

A mechanical engineering student nudged his classmate with his elbow.

“听见没？1400个！工科应届生4500，研究生起底5500！计算机研究生起底7000！我妈在国企干了20年才拿3000不到！”

A girl in the front row excitedly flipped through a brochure and exclaimed, "There are subsidies for working in border regions! You can save 60,000 to 70,000 yuan a year! In three years, you can make a down payment on a house in Shanghai!"

"I want to sign up!"

Tongji University, in front of Ruian Building.

Spreadtrum recruited here last year, and many people heard that the salary and benefits were quite good. The temporary booth for collecting resumes was packed with people.

A top computer science student handed over a thick stack of certificates: "These are my ACM award certificates and patent certificates for my personal inventions."

The HR listened and placed his resume on the empty left side of the table.

On the right side of the table, there was a large pile of other people's resumes.

The person in the back row immediately protested: "Examiner! Why is his resume displayed separately? Didn't you say you wouldn't make exceptions?"

The HR person didn't say anything, but silently made a note of the person.

That's too naive; they still think they're living in an ivory tower.

One student at the front of the line, with a shrewd expression, chuckled and tucked his resume among a large pile of resumes on the right, hiding it. Then he whispered to the HR person with a smile:

"Examiner, I heard that last year, you even had to accept those who failed?"

The HR sneered: "Last year is last year. Now half of the resumes are GPA 3.5+ (the standardized GPA system in universities). Take them out. Those who failed courses won't pass. Even if I let you in for the written test, you won't pass."

The male student's face darkened: "My grades in my major are pretty good, it's just..."

The HR person didn't bother to listen to his reasons and waved his hand, saying, "Go ahead, go ahead, try it if you want."

"Hey!" He beamed with joy, wishing he could kiss the HR person. He ran out of the crowd and jumped up excitedly, shouting "Yahoo!"

Two hours later.

He came out with a miserable look on his face and slammed the pen in his hand into the trash can next to him.

"Holy crap! What is this?! A hand-drawn CMOS reverse camera layout?! That's insane!"

Jiaotong University, Remembering the Source of Water BBS.

Hot Post: Huawei vs. Spreadtrum

The original poster asked: "Huawei is offering 4500 RMB for base station work. It's a large company with good career prospects. Spreadtrum is offering 7000 RMB for chip development. The position is relatively stable. I'm good at both magic and martial arts. Which one should I choose?" (Attached is a row of certificate photos)
I originally wanted to experience Versailles, but instead, I was met with a barrage of mockery from the second floor.

"You should just keep dreaming. The situation for microelectronics at Jiaotong University is so bad this year, smart people would have lined up this morning. I'm back now that you've posted this. I've already passed the initial test for communication at Spreadtrum, and they've already filled all their chip engineer positions."

OP: "Damn it! You said you'd be hiring for two days?" "Didn't you read the brochure? The two-day job was for screw-driving."

"Hahaha"

"Hey upstairs, keep laughing for me! My written exam is coming up soon! I can't keep laughing!"

"+10086 upstairs!"

Spreadtrum's headquarters was bustling with activity, both upstairs and downstairs.

"Mr. He! Our external recruitment starts this afternoon! Have you decided on the location for the recruitment and training? We can't possibly have everyone come to our headquarters for training, can we?"

"It's all settled! A foreign company in the science park is withdrawing its investment, and a building has become vacant, which we can borrow! It's on Gaosi Road, not far from us. They're cleaning it now, and it'll be ready to use tomorrow!"

"Xiao Wu! I've discussed it with the chairman, and we're going to hire 20 more people for IC development. Those with experience in chip fabrication will be given priority."

"Okay, Mr. Fan."

"Kevin, take the increased budget to President Rong for review, and give this document to Ms. Goto for a look."

"it is good!"

Hearing the noise outside, Chen Xuebing smiled and picked up his teacup.

The three people he brought with him all got their own offices and officially started working, but he himself didn't have one and could only drink tea and look at his computer in a conference room.

They found a unique tranquility.

However, he was not in a relaxed mood.

Losing money everywhere.

Yesterday, Lin Bin called, saying that TSMC's wafer fabrication failed because Marvell's design was flawed and they refused to take responsibility. Marvell was hurling insults and was preparing to engage in a war of words with TSMC.

With 3000 million yuan gone, Chen Xuebing still had to mediate the dispute. At this critical juncture, the progress could not be delayed. He could only arrange to withdraw the 2.7 million yuan profit from Southwest Securities and immediately transfer another 3200 million yuan to Marvell. Of this, 3000 million yuan was for the second tape-out fee, and 200 million yuan was Marvell's service fee, asking them to make minor changes to the design to save face for TSMC's explanation.

After Lin Bin made a phone call to communicate between the two parties, he replied that TSMC was very satisfied and hoped to cooperate with Singulato in the long term. Marvell also expressed its appreciation for Singulato's decisiveness and said that it could make modifications.

If there were any other way, who the hell would need their satisfaction and praise?

Although he may have been mentally prepared for the failure caused by the low yield of 65nm, TSMC did not want to take any responsibility. Singularity was made a fool of. Chen Xuebing was a little frustrated, but he could only silently remember this debt.

After receiving 270 million yuan from Southwest Securities, the group had to gradually disburse 200 million yuan to Spreadtrum and 32 million yuan to Marvell, leaving only 60 million yuan. It also had to face a 120 million yuan support loan to bond-bearing companies, and was about to run into a deficit. Chen Xuebing could only order the review process for the support funds to be delayed as much as possible to maintain the group's cash flow and hold on until June, when a fund dividend would be arranged.

The computer desktop is currently displaying today's market situation:
On Wednesday, May 24, 2006, the Shanghai Composite Index reached a high of 1634.59 and a low of 1562.39, closing at 1562 points, down 2.83%.

Today, a fierce battle between bullish and bearish sentiment ensued, with the price breaking through the lower support level.

Changzheng Capital liquidated its positions at a high level a few days ago, with its holdings at around half. Today, it lost more than 1000 million yuan and has entered a wait-and-see period.

The market is not very stable before August. The tentative strategy is to buy on dips and hold the position firmly.

There may still be losses in the short term, but we can only try to stabilize the situation.

Of the first and second funds, only 3.26 million belonged to him, and even with the group's cash, it was less than 3.9 million, but there was a five-year loan of 7.5 million and annual interest of 4200 million.

Of course, he was confident that he could recover the loan and interest using the more than 30 billion yuan in corporate bonds, but it might take a long time and he would have to put in a lot of money upfront.

The email interface displays information about Datang Telecom compiled by Ren Ying.

△On May 22, a post titled "Datang TD: A Strategic Mistake" appeared on Tianya and received over 500,000 views.

It was deleted yesterday.

Its technical director, Ma Bin, published an article on his blog yesterday entitled "Five Major Technological Breakthroughs of TD".

△Furthermore, Datang has not made any other response, leading to speculation that it is related to Zhen Caiji, who was recently transferred from the Planning Department of China Mobile to become the president of Datang Telecom Science and Technology Research Institute. I asked General Manager Kan to use his connections to verify this information with a manager within Datang: Zhen Caiji's appointment may be to succeed Zhou Huan, who will retire next year as chairman, and he has raised a debate over policy direction.
The current president, Tang Ruan, advocates a patent licensing model.

Zhencaiji is pursuing full-industry chain expansion, attempting to dominate the chip, equipment, and terminal markets through capital operations.

President Tang Ru'an is a confidant of Zhou Huan and is very dissatisfied with the newly appointed Zhen Caiji. The two sides are currently engaged in serious internal strife and may not have time to attend to external matters.

△ Recent technological advancements in Datang's business:

In December 2004, Datang Mobile demonstrated the TD video telephony service.

In January 2005, Datang independently developed its first TD data terminal, which demonstrated 384K services.

In July 2005, Datang announced the large-scale network deployment.

In October 2005, Datang announced that TD-SCDMA had achieved HSDPA (actually a technological breakthrough by Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications).

In January 2006, a live demonstration of the TD/GSM dual-mode terminal solution was conducted in Shanghai.

In April 2006, TD/GSM terminals were launched (using Spreadtrum chips).

In the same month, it announced the independent development of an Arena mobile operating system.

△Funding support received: From 2004 to early 2006, a total of RMB 2 million in special support funds were received, along with three loans from the China Development Bank totaling RMB 8 million. Shanghai Bell invested RMB 1.5 million to acquire a 3% stake, and another RMB 1 million was invested in TD research and development.

Chen Xuebing sighed deeply as he watched.

They received 12.5 billion yuan in two years, but the key technological outputs were all developed by other members of the TD Alliance.

They haven't even managed to develop a smart physical antenna yet, and they're already working on a mobile phone operating system.

From 2007 to 2012, during the years of fierce competition among mobile phone operating systems, in addition to the seven original smart systems Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows, web OS, and bada, Nokia also created MEEGO, Alibaba made one, Samsung made one, and several domestic companies also produced one, but all of them ultimately failed due to the lack of an ecosystem.

Chen Xuebing was a big fan of flashing ROMs back then, and he tried many different operating systems, having heard of their names to varying degrees.

As for the Arena from Datang, which started so early, he had never even heard of its name.

He was certain that this system wasn't in the firmware library at that time.

Another invention of skipping stones.

At this juncture, instead of properly studying the technological foundation of TD, we're getting into internal strife and trying to expand across the entire industry chain.

Relying on them is a waste of time.

That's good. It seems we don't need to arrange any more reports to provoke them, lest they become internally united and turn into obstacles.

This is a perfect opportunity for Spreadtrum to quietly develop.

A figure walked past the door, lingered in front of the frosted glass door, then came back and knocked on the door.

"Chairman."

It was Zou Jiasheng's voice.

"Come in," Chen Xuebing said. After Zou Jiasheng entered and approached, he added, "Don't call me Chairman at Zhanxun, just call me General Manager Chen."

"Yes, Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen, when will the investment funds arrive? Chairman Wu just asked me that."

"It's a business transaction, the money will definitely arrive this week."

Business-to-business transactions are only available from Monday to Friday. If the funds arrive this week, it means within Friday.

After Chen Xuebing finished speaking, he looked up at him and asked, "How have you been feeling these past two days?"

Zou Jiasheng thought for a moment and said, "I used to work in ZTE's PHS department, and later I worked at Konka making mobile phones. I understand both mobile phone hardware and software. If you don't understand something, it's like being in a completely different world. Their communication protocol is not something you can understand just by learning it a few times. I'm still learning about it."

This answer showed that he "knows what he knows" and also expressed that he "is trying to learn," which satisfied Chen Xuebing.

"You don't need to understand everything, just know the role of some key technologies. You need to figure out which direction to focus your efforts. Spreadtrum is still weak, so we must concentrate our attention on technology research and development, but we cannot back down because of difficulties. In the next year, you just need to grasp this point. Spreadtrum is a big gamble for us. If we win on key technologies, we will win everything. If we lose, we will only retain Huaqiangbei, and the technology base will be taken over by Singularity."

Chen Xuebing's attitude towards Zhanxun was full of hope, but he had many realistic plans in mind.

If Spreadtrum doesn't achieve any major breakthroughs within a year, its 3G strategy will be considered a failure, and its value will plummet.

Why not let Singularity, which has complete control of the company, take over the 4G deployment? Why work for someone else?

Knowing Chen Xuebing's idea, Zou Jiasheng took a deep breath: "It's going to be a tough battle. This year, everyone will probably be working non-stop. I'll prepare cigarettes, alcohol, and tea for them to boost morale."

Chen Xuebing nodded in agreement: "Add some bonuses and overtime pay as well. Hope is the seasoning, and we should add plenty of that."

“Understood.” Zou Jiasheng smiled. “I plan to persuade some small shareholders who hold technology shares to buy back some of their shares and distribute incentive shares to outstanding new members. All shares held by employees who leave the company in the future will be bought back.”

"That's a great idea! Let's do it."

Chen Xuebing had already asked Goto Miki to draft the relevant documents and was preparing to communicate with Wu Ping to buy back some shares from some major shareholders for incentive purposes, but when Zou Jiasheng said it, he still expressed a hint of surprise and affirmation.

If the same idea comes from a subordinate, he is willing to give them some time and space to work on it.

"And one more thing," Zou Jiasheng's smile turned sly, "Fudan University's campus recruitment doesn't start until tomorrow. Dean Wang of the School of Microelectronics is in charge of contacting us. Do you want to go in person?"

Chen Xuebing was taken aback: "What am I supposed to do there?"

"I heard your girlfriend is at Fudan University? We're going to have a meeting, and the dean and a university leader will be there. You could ask them to give you some consideration."

Zou Jiasheng chuckled, practically telling him to go and show off.

Xin Mengzhen and Yang Qingyue have both visited the company, and many long-term employees know them. He also arrived early and has heard some of their stories.

This time, each of the four major universities is recruiting hundreds of people. President Chen holds the power of life and death. Once he makes an appearance, it will definitely make his girlfriend proud.

"Heh." Chen Xuebing's face fell.

I'm doing serious business and you're telling me this?
"Stop thinking about me and focus on the company. We brought you here to make a name for yourselves, so try to avoid any reports about me in future Spreadtrum news."

Chen Xuebing had also spoken to Qi Dian about this matter.

He can become famous, but he should try to appear in the financial investment field and not get too involved in domestic technological development.

These developments are merely his "investment successes".

His contributions are known to some leaders, but the American consortium does not welcome a Mr. Chen who is both politically correct and professionally competent.

"By the way, reserve fifty recruitment slots for me. I need to go back to Chongqing tomorrow. Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications needs to recruit a group of people to facilitate technical negotiations."

(End of this chapter)