Cutting-edge technology: Starting with individual stealth equipment

Just as DeepBlue Technology was developing rapidly, Skyworth Technology suffered a financial crisis.

"Last year, the company's revenue declined by 62% year-on-year in the second half of the year, and net profit... suffered a loss of 4200 million yuan for the whole year." After the CFO finished reporting at the Skyworth Technology executive meeting, he chose to remain silent.

The conference room fell silent.

In 2009, Skyworth Technology had a net profit of 7000 million yuan, and it was profitable in the first half of 2010, earning a net profit of more than 5300 million yuan.

As a result, a huge loss occurred in the second half of the year, not only wiping out the profits made in the first half of the year, but also further expanding the annual profit loss to more than 4000 million yuan.

All of this happened after Lin Chuan left Skyworth.

At this moment, Qiu Zhanfeng's face looked extremely ugly.

Six months ago, they raised their glasses in celebration, talking about "clearing obstacles and moving forward with a light load." At that time, they were full of vigor and announced to everyone that Skyworth Technology was about to enter a period of rapid growth.

This report card is a real slap in the face.

Finally, Qiu Zhanfeng asked, "What about customer churn?"

The head of the marketing department replied, "By the beginning of this year, the churn rate of our core clients had reached 69%. After Changhui, three other major clients in South China also terminated their cooperation with us."

The reasons given by these customers who terminated their cooperation were basically the same: they did not trust Skyworth's current technical team.

"What about the tech team?" Qiu Zhanfeng asked again.

The newly recruited technical lead has an impressive resume, but his expression was not good at the moment.

"President Qiu... those core products Lin Chuan left behind..."

He hesitated, then said with a sigh, "Our team spent three months, but we still haven't fully grasped it. Some of the underlying algorithms and parameter settings lack any documentation or comments. We tried reverse engineering, but every change triggered a chain reaction, causing a significant drop in product stability."

"Currently, we can no longer upgrade these three core products; we can only maintain the existing versions."

At this rate, we can only hold on for another year at most before being completely overtaken by our competitors.

He finished speaking with a wry smile. He couldn't solve the problem, and he would lose face. He was already prepared to pack up his bucket and run away.

Qiu Zhanfeng closed his eyes. He suddenly remembered what Zhang Wei had said: "A company without core technology is nothing more than a pile of waste paper, even if you hold all the shares."

At the time, I didn't take it seriously at all, thinking that Zhang Wei was just saying that on purpose to stand up for Lin Chuan.

I only realized now that it was a prophecy.

"What about the financing?" Qiu Zhanfeng opened his eyes.

"The Series C funding round has been put on hold indefinitely, and all the investment institutions that had expressed interest have withdrawn. Last week, I personally met with a partner at Dingfeng Venture Capital, and he told me very directly that they would not invest a single penny unless Lin Chuan returned."

When those venture capital firms saw Skyworth Technology's current situation, they were so frightened that they packed up their buckets and ran away overnight.

Among the VC firms that had already invested in Skyworth Technology, Shenhong Venture Capital cashed out and withdrew with a 60% profit. The other two firms realized what was happening but couldn't escape either. There were no buyers for the equity transfer, and other investors weren't stupid either. Skyworth also lacked the ability to repurchase the shares, so they were essentially stuck with them.

At this moment, Qiu Zhanfeng truly settled in Bengbu.

Whether it's clients, VCs, or even the key technical personnel, they all keep mentioning Lin Chuan's name, which makes Qiu Zhanfeng feel incredibly awkward.

He slammed his hand on the table: "What do they mean? Does Skyworth Technology only recognize Lin Chuan?"

No one answered him; everyone present chose to remain silent.

But everyone's expressions told him the same answer: Yes, he only recognized Lin Chuan.

Even if you don't want to admit it, that's just how it is.

The meeting ended abruptly in silence.

Six months ago, Qiu Zhanfeng felt he had won big; he had the shares and control, and Lin Chuan had been kicked out.

Now he understands that he has lost completely.

Skyworth Technology without Lin Chuan is like a person whose spine has been removed; on the surface, it is still the same person, but in reality, it can no longer stand up.

By ousting Lin Chuan, Skyworth Technology has also ruined its future.

Qiu Zhanfeng returned to his office and read through the documents on his desk several times. Every number reminded him that the company's current situation was worse than he had imagined.

In addition to customer attrition and technological stagnation, they also face an even more critical problem: a cash flow crisis.

When Shenhong Venture Capital withdrew its investment, he misappropriated the company's cash flow to repurchase the shares and also used the shares as collateral to obtain a sum of money from financial institutions in advance.

They originally planned to fill the hole with Series C funding, but now that the funding is gone, the investors are so scared that they ran away overnight.

The hole is still there, and it's getting bigger.

At the current rate of cash burn, the funds in the account can only last for a maximum of four months.

Four months later, Skyworth Technology couldn't even pay salaries.

Given the current situation, there may only be one way to save Skyworth and achieve a phoenix-like rebirth: bring Lin Chuan back.

But Qiu Zhanfeng really didn't want to lower himself to beg Lin Chuan to come back; it would be too much of a slap in the face.

There's really no other way but to do this.

……

three days later.

At this moment, Lin Chuan is in the P2 laboratory of the "Plastic-Eating Bacteria" project team.

Zhao Funing was also there, reporting to the supervisor: "Cui Zhaohan and his team have collected a total of two hundred environmental samples over the past few days, and they are all in the laboratory now."

Lin Chuan nodded, looked at the environmental samples that had been collected, and casually extracted a small sample to observe under a microscope.

After a moment, Lin Chuan took out a USB drive and gave it to Zhao Funing.

Zhao Funing took it and asked curiously, "What is this?"

Lin Chuan replied, "I have compiled a theoretical plan for cultivating microbial strains. The project team can simply follow the plan."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Funing couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.

He immediately took the USB drive to a computer in the lab, connected it, and then opened it to read.

The information inside was a technical solution about "plastic-eating bacteria" that Lin Chuan copied from Gao Chaowei's library.

However, it is not a complete gene sequence, but a series of specific operational steps.

What vector to use, what restriction endonuclease to use, transformation conditions, selection markers, culture temperature, pH, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio...

After reviewing the documents, Zhao Funing looked up at Lin Chuan and asked curiously, "President Lin, did you handle all of this by yourself?"

I guess so.

"sharp."

Just then, Jiang Miaolan called, and Lin Chuan took out his phone to answer.

"What is it?"

Jiang Miaolan replied from the other end of the phone, "Qiu Zhanfeng is here. He says he has something important to discuss with you in person."

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Miaolan added, "It's most likely related to Skyworth. I heard that Skyworth has gone bankrupt, suffered severe customer loss, and is facing difficulties in financing. It's already in dire straits."

"I understand." After hanging up the phone, Lin Chuan looked at Zhao Funing: "I'll leave things here to you."

Zhao Funing nodded: "Okay."

Lin Chuan gave some instructions and then left the laboratory.

……

Company office building.

Seeing Jiang Miaolan approach, Lin Chuan immediately asked, "Where is she?"

Jiang Miaolan replied, "In the reception room."

He then headed towards the reception room. Hearing the noise, Qiu Zhanfeng turned around and saw Lin Chuan push open the door and walk in. He then looked Lin Chuan up and down.

After not seeing him for half a year, he noticed that Lin Chuan was in better spirits.

Seeing his former partner in this state, and thinking about his own imprisonment, he felt a pang of bitterness in comparison.

"Lin Chuan, it's been a long time."

Qiu Zhanfeng stood up and forced a smile.

Lin Chuan nodded, sat down opposite him, and went straight to the point: "What is it?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Zhanfeng was internally conflicted, but the reality of his situation forced him to humble himself. He then looked at the other person and said, "You've probably heard about Skyworth's situation; it's not good."

Lin Chuan picked up his water glass, took a sip, and said nothing.

"We've lost a large number of customers, our technical team can't keep up, and our funding has fallen through." Qiu Zhanfeng's voice grew increasingly bitter. "If things continue like this, it will be difficult to survive the first half of this year."

Lin Chuan put down his water glass and said calmly, "This seems to be all your business. I have nothing to do with Skyworth anymore."

Qiu Zhanfeng mentally prepared himself again, and then said, word by word, "I was wrong. We all deeply regret our decision. I apologize to you, and everyone at Skyworth hopes you can come back."

……