Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 225 How will Xiaomi rise after its top talent is snatched away?

When it comes to games, "WeChat Farm" has become a nationwide sensation. It's common to see people setting alarms at midnight to steal crops!
By focusing on real business, the nearly bankrupt Little Duck was quickly revitalized, its market share skyrocketed, and it may even return to the top three!

Such a figure is practically a business godfather, a business legend!
Wang Yufei never wants to miss an opportunity.

With so many successful blockbuster projects in hand, Wang Junshan is truly a legendary figure!
His new project is very likely to be another huge hit!
Moreover, he was directly appointed as the group's vice president and concurrently served as the CEO of the new business unit!

It would be abnormal not to be tempted!

Although he was also the vice president of Sina and the general manager of Sina Wireless.

But can Sina compare to Future Technology?
Can Sina Wireless compare to Wang Junshan's new business unit?
This is simply impossible!

Wang Yufei was very tempted, but his calm nature allowed him to suppress his excitement and ask in detail:
"Chairman Wang, is the new business unit similar to microblogs like Fanfou or Tencent Taotao?"

"Yes, and it's already finished and will be online soon."

Wang Junshan dropped another bombshell.

It was both a test and the end of Wang Yufei's last illusions about Sina Weibo!
If Sina Weibo has already been approved as a project.

"It's already finished, and it'll be online soon!" Wang Yufei exclaimed in disbelief.
"To be honest, some people within Sina have also suggested creating microblogs, and I'm very optimistic about it, but Lao Dong is still hesitant."

But now, similar products from Future Technology have already been developed and are about to be launched!
With the added traffic from WeChat and the full support of Future Technology, Sina's microblogging platform, even if it were to launch, would have a bleak future!

More importantly, Wang Junshan's unconventional and unorthodox methods always yielded unexpected and remarkably effective results.

Who knows what tricks Wang Junshan will pull this time with his microblogging!
In short, the future of Sina's microblogging platform is bleak.

“Come to Future Technology, and you’ll be the CEO of Weibo,” Wang Junshan said with a smile.

"Thank you for your trust, boss. If I were to be any more reserved, I would be being inconsiderate!"

Wang Yufei quickly expressed his opinion.

Hesitating for even a second longer would be disrespectful to his intelligence!

In terms of public relations, Future Tech's microblog has already been developed, while Sina's microblogging service is still in its infancy; there's simply no comparison.

Personally speaking, I am only the general manager of Sina's Infinite Business Division at Sina, mainly responsible for value-added services on the mobile end.

Even if Sina Weibo's business unit is established, it won't have much to do with me, let alone make me the CEO of Sina Weibo!

Very difficult!
He came to Future Technology and became the CEO of the Weibo Business Unit. His future is limitless!
Wang Yufei was worried that Wang Junshan would change his mind, and then he would have nowhere to cry.

He decisively replied, "Don't worry, boss, I will definitely do a good job on Weibo and live up to your expectations!"

"Welcome to Future Technology! Once you've finished dealing with things at Sina, I'll personally welcome you back!" Wang Junshan said with a smile.

Given the terms he offered, it would be hard for Wang Yufei not to be tempted!
Without Wang Yufei, Sina Weibo's future is uncertain.

It might not even be able to beat Tencent Weibo or NetEase Weibo.

What's more, there's now a Weibo account dedicated to future technologies.

This is why Wang Junshan was determined to bring Wang Yufei under his wing no matter what.

This guy is as important to Sina Weibo as Steve Jobs was to Apple!
In his previous life, Wang Yufei strongly advocated for a mobile-first approach and the development of mobile-based microblogging!
By digging up Wang Yufei's name, Sina Weibo might be heading in the wrong direction, still stuck in the mud on PCs.

Sina Weibo is nothing to worry about, and the other companies are not a big problem either.

With Wang Yufei joining the team, managing Future Technology's Weibo account is no longer a problem.

If Tao Cheng's ability is 30, then Wang Yufei's ability is 1000!

"However, Mr. Wang, I am currently the General Manager of Sina's Unlimited Business and the Vice President of Sina Group, and I have a non-compete agreement with him..."

Wang Yufei couldn't help but speak up: "Although I was in charge of the wireless business unit at Sina, mainly mobile value-added services, I was in charge of Weibo at Future Technology."

"Sina currently only has podcasts, not Weibo. Strictly speaking, there is no competition between the two, and therefore no non-compete agreement."

"But I'm afraid Sina might resort to desperate measures, making an example of me to warn others. They might sue me on grounds of unfair competition and leaking confidential information!"

Wang Junshan nodded: "Your concerns are valid. Especially given that Sina is also planning to launch a microblog, it would be easier for them to create conflict, suppress our microblog, gain traffic, and attract public attention to Sina Weibo!"

"Yes, if the other party applies for an injunction to prevent me from performing my duties as CEO during the trial, it would paralyze Weibo's business without a leader, resulting in huge losses."

Wang Yufei spoke up.

Wang Junshan strongly agreed.

Sina is likely to do this in order to gain traffic and attention.

The best marketing is the kind that exploits others' misfortunes.

In the simplest case, if Wang Junshan's Weibo were launched in March and Sina Weibo were launched in August, he could easily use the lawsuit against Weibo CEO Wang Yufei to ignite Sina Weibo!

This is an absolutely once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stage an accident!
If Wang Junshan were the CEO of Sina Weibo, he would do the same!
There is no doubt about this.

If they can't sue for unfair competition, they'll sue for leaking secrets and apply for an injunction, leaving Weibo leaderless.

Sina Weibo can not only gain the most attention through this, but also become an instant hit.

It could also leave Wang Junshan's Weibo account without a CEO, leaving it in a leaderless predicament.

Sina Weibo, on the other hand, can thrive and seize the opportunity to grow big!
"This matter must be handled with great care."

Wang Junshan's expression was solemn: "Here's the plan: you'll first join the Future Technology Investment Department, and then serve as a senior advisor to the Weibo Business Unit as an investor. After three months, when it's safe to do so, you can become the president of the Weibo Business Unit!"

Wang Yufei's eyes lit up: "This is a great idea! This way, Sina won't be able to cause any trouble or create a spectacle!"

The next day, Wang Yufei submitted his resignation.

Sina Chairman Cao was quite surprised by this:

"Yufei, you were already the general manager of the Infinite Business Division and the vice president of the group. You could say you had a bright future ahead of you. Why did you suddenly resign?"

"Is there anything you're not satisfied with?"

Wang Yufei has performed outstandingly since joining Sina in 2000.

Chairman Cao highly values ​​and regards Wang Yufei's talent.

It was precisely because of this that Wang Yufei rose through the ranks, becoming the vice president of Sina in just ten years!

Wang Yufei sighed: "Chairman, I am very grateful for your kindness in recognizing my talent, and I have no complaints whatsoever."

"I've been feeling a bit tired and lost lately, unsure of what to do next. I'm planning to take a break."

"so……"

Chairman Cao's expression turned very ugly, naturally knowing that this was a very standard answer.

This is a common practice when high-level executives leave their positions.

But they weren't telling the truth either!

"So, do you have anywhere to go next?"

In response to Chairman Cao's probing, Wang Yufei smiled and said:
"Don't worry, Chairman, I won't be involved in the business related to the Unlimited Business Division. Next, I might consider going into the investment field."

"Investment?" Chairman Cao breathed a sigh of relief.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Sina's business and will certainly not have any impact.

But some people didn't believe it.

Wang Yufei had anticipated this: "The times are developing faster and faster. To be honest, I can hardly understand the current development. So I plan to change my perspective, from being a participant to an observer, and from operation and management to investment. Perhaps I can make different discoveries and gain different benefits."

"Maybe I can see the big trends in the internet and find my own direction." "I see." Chairman Cao nodded, pondered for a moment, and then smiled:

"Hehe, since you've already made up your mind, there's no point in trying to persuade you. I can only wish you good luck."

"Thank you for your understanding, Chairman!"

Wang Yufei bowed to Chairman Cao, ending his ten-year career at Sina.

Watching Wang Yufei leave, another vice president, Qi Junteng, couldn't help but speak up:
"Chairman, do you really believe he's going to make investments?"

"Investment?" Chairman Cao laughed: "Investment my ass! This guy's got too big for his britches; he's planning to start his own business!"

"So that's how it is. A golden carp is no ordinary fish; it transforms into a dragon once it encounters wind and clouds! Don't let this kid actually succeed!" Qi Junteng joked.

Chairman Cao shook his head: "Successfully? Haha, starting a business is never that easy, especially during a financial crisis. You're really bold!"

"Yeah, he dared to quit his job during the financial crisis. I don't know whether to say he's brave or reckless!"

Chairman Cao didn't care: "It doesn't matter, as long as his business doesn't conflict with Sina's business, let him do whatever he wants. However, we can keep an eye on his future development."

“Okay, I’ll arrange it!” Qi Junteng replied.

To his surprise, Wang Yufei did not immediately begin any new major moves after leaving the company.

Instead, they went to the airport the next day and flew directly to the Maldives!

"That's true. After ten years of working and always being busy, I finally have some time to relax. If I were in your shoes, I would also go on vacation and take a gap year!"

Qi Junteng laughed and said, "But without Wang Yufei as a formidable rival, my future is even brighter!"

"Good!"

The lanterns are on.

Wang Junshan arrived at another secluded club.

I met with Dr. Zhou Ping, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile Devices Business Unit at Motorola.

With Jia Zong joining Weibo and Wang Junshan formulating strategic plans, there are no problems with its future development.

However, mobile phone research and development remains a major challenge.

In fact, the most difficult part of developing a mobile phone is not the formal research and development stage.

Instead, it involved building the R&D team from scratch and integrating the subsequent supply chain.

It will take several months!
For example, Future Technology started poaching talent three months ago and began building its R&D team.

We now have 50 engineers, which is quite a large team. If we're developing MTK clone phones, that's enough.

However, we are still far from developing a future operating system for smartphones, and many areas are still incomplete.

In particular, we are short 50 senior engineers, especially those with cutting-edge expertise.

However, if we can poach Zhou Ping, the vice president of Motorola, we can bring over a team of more than fifty senior engineers from Motorola.

This directly surpasses the results of Future Technology's three months of hard work in poaching talent!

That's right. The number of people Future Technology recruited in three months was less than the number Zhou Ping brought in in one go, and the quality was incomparable.

If you have a professional team of 100 people, you can develop a prototype of a new generation of smartphones in 6 months.

But this is just the beginning.

Further verification and integration of the entire supply chain are still needed!

This takes a lot of time.

For large manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola, verification, supply chain integration, and finding a contract manufacturer can be completed in just two months.

But for the future of mobile phones, it's simply unrealistic for a new company.

The supply chain alone cannot be streamlined.

Instead, it might take eight months to complete.

Eight months later, the supply chain was sorted out. The subsequent mass production and ramp-up depended on the supply chain integration and control capabilities, and whether there would be any disruptions. This would take several more months.

This is why it is extremely difficult for small businesses to develop mobile phones.

3个月组建团队，6-9个月研发出样机，6-9个月验证+供应链整合+寻找代工，3-6个月产能爬坡。

It takes 18-24 months from start to finish to make a single mobile phone and have it hit the market and sell well!

But this pace is too slow; it could completely drag many companies down.

For example, when Luo Yonghao's Smartisan was selling well in the early stages, he didn't have enough control over the supply chain and quality control, so the supply couldn't meet the demand.

Later, production capacity increased, market influence faded, products became outdated, and competitors' next-generation products arrived, making it difficult to sell.

Ultimately, this led to insufficient income to cover expenses, a break in funding, and bankruptcy.

Even Wang Junshan had to go through such a long process to make smartphones.

The most difficult and crucial part is the initial R&D team setup and the third-stage supply chain!

The R&D team directly determines the overall quality and market competitiveness of a mobile phone.

The supply chain directly determines the sales volume and success or failure of mobile phones!

No matter how good a mobile phone is, it's useless if the supply chain and production capacity can't keep up.

If the phone manufacturer were to produce all of these things themselves in the future, it would be too much trouble, taking at least a year and a half from start to finish, and the phone wouldn't be available until June of next year.

But with Zhou Ping, everything can be accelerated.

In the simplest case, Zhou Ping brought in the Motorola team, and the R&D team was immediately complete. What used to take 9 months to produce a prototype could now be done in just 6 months.

With Zhou Ping in charge of the supply chain, leveraging his connections and influence as Vice President of Motorola and General Manager of the Global Mobility Business Unit, the supply chain and contract manufacturers could be quickly secured.

All things considered, saving six months is not a problem.

The future phone, which was originally scheduled to be launched in the middle of next year, could be launched at the beginning of next year, or even at the end of this year!

This is the key to finding the right person.

In its previous life, Xiaomi phones were able to get off to a fast start and take off thanks to Zhou Ping.

Motorola takes 18-24 months to develop a single generation of mobile phones, while Xiaomi's first generation only took 13 months!

It was also Zhou Ping who led Xiaomi to become a big and strong company.

It was thanks to Zhou Ping that Xiaomi, which was just starting out, was able to surpass Meizu's years of accumulated experience in the supply chain!

It wasn't until the Snapdragon 810 overheated and the Xiaomi Note Pro failed to break into the high-end market that Lei Jun stepped in and quickly removed him from the core decision-making team, leaving him with only the nominal title of Chief Scientist.

But Xiaomi's rapid rise, success and glory in the first four years were all closely related to Zhou Ping!

And Zhou Ping is also the key to the rapid rise of mobile phones in the future!

As for how Xiaomi phones will rise to prominence and develop without Zhou Ping?
Then it has nothing to do with Wang Junshan.

As long as we keep an eye on the future mobile phone R&D team, we can prevent them from being poached by Lei Jun.

(End of this chapter)