Chapter 387 Investment Meeting (Two-in-One)

Fang Zhuo felt a little regretful about meeting Liang Mengsong.

This emotion was not because he did not meet his expectations. In fact, he did not set any goals for this meeting. It was just... seeing such an excellent technical leader sitting in front of him...

Fang Zhuo could more or less understand the joy of "the heroes of the world are within my grasp" as written in the book.

That must be an emotion from the heart.

However, a gentleman hides his ability and waits for the right time to act.

As long as you keep concerned and make preparations early, you can show your ability when the opportunity comes.

Besides, if you can't dig up apprentices, don't you still have a master?

Wait for the news from USTC.

On July 20, Shanghai held a global semiconductor industry conference, and many well-known manufacturers attended, involving IC design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, host manufacturers and other upstream and downstream industrial chains, with a great momentum.

In such a scene, Fang Zhuo, an outsider who was still in the planning stage, had no sense of existence. He just attended the meeting, listened and observed silently. However, Liang Mengsong of TSMC, whom he met during this meeting, was different and attracted much attention at home and abroad.

As an expert who led the team to defeat Intel head-on, his speech on the future technology outlook of semiconductors won unanimous applause.

The meeting was held for three days. Fang Zhuo attended the first day. In the next two days, Qiu Ciyun, who returned from Luzhou, led people to contact some foreign manufacturers in different fields more purposefully.

Although the project funds and project locations have not been completely determined, Qiu Ciyun, who left SMIC, burst out with more work enthusiasm, deservedly took over the project promotion work, and began to consider the purchase of equipment.

Unlike what Fang Zhuo thought, SMIC also purchased a lot of second-hand equipment at the beginning. What Qiu Ciyun has to do now is not only to find cost-effective equipment, but also to take into account the technical upgrade needs.

Fang Zhuo and Qiu Ciyun have discussed the development plan, and both believe that Luzhou's production line should be steady and solid, and should not blindly seek replication and expansion.

This is actually the strategy advocated by Qiu Ciyun at SMIC. In addition to agreeing with this expert partner who is currently the most reliable, Fang Zhuo also considers the possible impact of SMIC's suspected situation and whether there will be better partners.

However, no matter what the future holds, steady progress is the best choice at present.

After three days of meetings, Qiu Ciyun produced a long purchase list, but this is only part of what the production line needs.

On the day when the semiconductor industry conference closed, Fang Zhuo, who was still in the project fundraising period and had no sense of existence, was implicitly named.

Jiang Qili, vice president of Huahong, as a local semiconductor company in Shanghai, also took the stage to give a closing speech. He talked about a real problem that occurred in China, which was summarized as a title by local media.

—— "Is the salary increase of engineers under the blessing of capital conducive to the healthy development of the industry?"

This is a question from the vice president of Huahong.

Since Qiu Ciyun left, a total of 31 engineers and technicians from SMIC have chosen to follow, and 24 people were finally confirmed.

This is Qiu Ciyun's team and the technical backbone of SMIC.

However, this momentum is far less than Zhang Rujing's call in Taiwan. In addition to Zhang Rujing's own higher reputation, the three years of hard work in Shanghai are also an important factor that most people need to consider.

Many people have married and had children in Shanghai, and settled down. Under this circumstance, it is unrealistic to choose to follow Qiu Ciyun to do a project with an uncertain future.

However, although Qiu Ciyun only got 24 capable people, he had foreseen this and was not too disappointed.

What was not foreseen was... Fang Zhuo waved the money and quickly expanded this number to 92 people!

In other words, there were 68 engineers who were purely poached by Fang Zhuo, which was nearly 3 times the number of his own team!

Qiu Ciyun watched the team quickly fill up, and for a while he had only one feeling... Is this the style of the richest man in Shanghai? It turns out that this is what it feels like to be rich!

And these 68 people are from large domestic companies. Although they are not as talented as Zhang Rujing brought back, they are indeed among the best in China. Huahong, SMIC, and Huajing (acquired by China Resources) have all suffered greatly.

This wave of poaching and job-hopping was done through headhunters, and the salary and benefits should be kept confidential.

However, Qiu Ciyun was very curious and found an opportunity to ask a senior engineer from Huahong, and the answer he got was "starting with 2 times", that is, as long as people come, the salary will be doubled immediately, and there is still room for exploration according to different levels and standards.

It is no wonder that Huahong is anxious.

Even after the intervention of administrative relations, Fang Zhuo slowed down his actions, but Jiang Qili, vice president of Huahong, was still upset, so he made a speech at the closing ceremony and denounced the bad behavior.

Qiu Ciyun heard the content on the spot, but he didn't react at the time. It was not until the next day when he was reminded by someone and saw the report that he suddenly felt "Oh, right, I'm not from SMIC, I'm the one being criticized."

Because he had to participate in the meeting of the investment institution, he did not return to Luzhou immediately, so he talked about this matter with Fang Zhuo by the way.

Fang Zhuo was a little surprised: "What's wrong?"

"The industry evaluation may not be very... not very good." Qiu Ciyun worked with Fang Zhuo for the first time and spoke cautiously, "Huahong has a strong relationship."

"We and Huahong are competitors." Fang Zhuo smiled, "How should we interpret this? Will the remarks of a vice president of Huahong affect our equipment purchases or what?"

He continued, "Don't over-interpret. Whether the relationship is strong or not is not the point here. Just treat it as an ordinary peer opinion attack. Don't worry, I'll let others handle this matter."

Qiu Ciyun was a little curious about what Mr. Fang's response would be.

Soon, Sina.com published an editorial written by its chief writer Xu Changlun.

——"Why can't semiconductor companies with state-owned background succeed at this stage?"

Why?

There are many complex factors here.

One of the important factors is that the strong state-owned background will make it difficult to purchase equipment from abroad.

But it's not just that. Enterprises dominated by state-owned capital habitually have both the drawbacks of planned economy and the shortcomings of market economy, plus some identity recognition issues at the personnel level...

So, this attempt led by state-owned capital can be said to have failed.

So, what should be done?

According to an interview with Mr. Fang, who was reluctant to reveal his name in the semiconductor industry, by Sina's chief writer Xu Changlun, "We need both policy guidance and active development of industrial supporting facilities. We need to improve the industrial development environment and have an international vision and market-oriented operations."

The editorial not only quoted this sentence, but also Mr. Fang's evaluation of domestic enterprises, "Let's talk about Shanghai's Huahong. It's ridiculous. It relies on domestic support and tries to get genuine technical help from foreign capital. Is this possible?"

"Huahong's joint venture with Japan's NEC, I won't ask anything else, how many patented technologies has it had in recent years?"

"First the joint venture, then the introduction, then production, and finally the production is backward. You, a person who wants to revitalize your own country's industry, give the right to speak to foreign companies. It's so naive and cute."

Mr. Fang's criticism was merciless.

Unlike Huahong, which was reported by Shanghai's main paper media, Sina.com, a leader in the portal industry that represents the development of the Internet era, has many extraordinary netizens visiting.

This editorial from Sina made some people feel sad and some people sweat.

In fact, Fang Zhuo's words were not particularly harsh, he just stated some facts, but these facts themselves are thought-provoking.

The full name of Huahong in Shanghai is Huahong NEC, which is one of the joint ventures between Huahong and Japan's NEC. It has introduced production lines, but the Japanese side has strict control over patent technology.

It is said that Huahong has cooperated with NEC for nearly ten years. The number of patents of Shanghai Huahong NEC is 0, and the number of patents of Beijing Huahong NEC is also 0. Only Shougang NEC has 4 patents.

Such a situation was not directly written in the editorial. The chief writer Xu Changlun just put the situation of the company named by Mr. Fang in the notes.

Qiu Ciyun saw this response posted on Sina almost immediately, and silently guessed how Huahong's leaders felt after seeing this content. There are probably only two words-embarrassment.

The editorial was eloquent, and Sina.com also had comments from netizens who led the entire network.

Because Sina.com itself marked the exposure position on the web page, this editorial caused a great response.

As for the news Qiu Ciyun heard from his friends, let’s not talk about other companies for now. Huahong was in a mess. The vice president who gave a speech at the industry conference was surrounded by reporters from several media outlets, who wanted him to give a tit-for-tat response.

However, how could Vice President Jiang Qili respond?

He could also find Zheng Danrui through connections, but this would not help. Huahong NEC could not confidently explain the patented technology that Fang Zhuo questioned.

Jiang Qili regretted it. He regretted it when he saw the Sina editorial.

Anyway, Huahong’s people had been poached, and Fang Zhuo had slowed down his actions. Why should he do this?

Jiang Qili’s regret made him stop providing ammunition for the media to report. He avoided the media for two days and chose to deal with the matter coldly. However, the industry had another topic of "Huahong making a fool of itself".

Qiu Ciyun was in Shanghai and witnessed the whole process of the incident. He was quite stunned.

On July 27, the "Ice Drink Project" held an investment meeting, attended by Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, DCM Huaxia, Luzhou State Investment, Yike Group, MIGA Private Equity Fund, Huaxia Entrepreneurs Industrial Investment Foundation and project team representatives.

Qiu Ciyun arrived at the Yike conference room of Hang Lung 23 early. He was excited about this meeting to promote fund raising.

Soon, Qiu Ciyun met Fang Zhuo and asked about the public opinion response.

"Oh, it's no big deal." Fang Zhuo didn't care. "Huahong's people are uncomfortable. Those who think they are close to power are arrogant. It's just poaching two people. What's the excitement?"

Qiu Ciyun then remembered that the initiator was the person in front of him who made an effort to poach people.

"Speaking of this, Mr. Qiu, there is a lack of talent in this area in China, and it is not something that can be recruited simply with money. Headhunters have found a problem. Engineers with higher levels have to consider many factors, and family has a great impact."

"Please make a list for me, which talents our project needs more, and I will have people contact foreign countries to supplement the staff."

Fang Zhuo is very concerned about the combat effectiveness of the team, which requires both technical leaders and backbone forces.

"Will our employment cost be a bit high?" Qiu Ciyun asked cautiously.

Fang Zhuo waved his hand: "Mr. Qiu, don't think about this kind of thing, just like the public opinion of Huahong, you leave it to me, I will find people, you use people, and we have a clear division of labor."

Qiu Ciyun didn't know what to say, so he could only shake the hand of the young president in front of him. The more he looked at him, the more reliable he was.

Huahong's public opinion is just a small matter in his mind, just like what Fang Zhuo said. If Qiu Ciyun hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have talked about it again. On the contrary, today's investment meeting made him more or less nervous.

Semiconductors are indeed a combination of capital and technology. The total amount of this first round of financing is targeted at 1 billion US dollars, and the target is also a top international institution.

Fang Zhuo has never handled such a large amount of financing.

A little nervous, a little fresh, and a little... inexplicable confidence.

Especially, when he was sitting in the conference room and saw Xiong Xiaoge pushing the door in, seeing his bear face, his confidence was suddenly stronger.

"Mr. Zhang, Mr. Connor, Mr. Qiu." Xiong Xiaoge greeted the people who had already arrived in a familiar manner, and finally shook hands with Fang Zhuo, "Mr. Fang, you are still as charming as ever, and your Sina is really capable of doing things."

He smiled and said, "Mr. Fang, you tried so hard to get Sina in the first place, you didn't come here just for this, did you?"

"The role of chief editor has nothing to do with the president." Fang Zhuo shook his hand vigorously and said enthusiastically, "Old Xiong, when I saw you today, I felt that our project would definitely succeed. After all, you, Old Xiong, have never failed with me."

Xiong Xiaoge was a little confused, but it didn't stop him from casually counterattacking: "What are you talking about? It's obviously you, Mr. Fang, who has never failed with me. I still admire Mr. Fang very much."

Xiong Xiaoge came to the meeting this time, and he was in a relatively relaxed mood, because he came here on behalf of the China Entrepreneurs Industrial Investment Foundation. In a sense, he was just a shill.

IDG China participated in the "Ice Drink Plan" in disguise by participating in the shares of Huaqi Investment, which basically gave Fang Zhuo a face.

Therefore, Xiong Xiaoge can sit on the sidelines today and see what exactly caused several institutions to follow suit.

At nine o'clock in the morning, people from various institutions arrived.

Fang Zhuo did not speak first, but handed the opening to Qiu Ciyun, the former senior vice president of SMIC, and asked this technical expert to introduce the industry situation and project prospects to everyone.

Only by letting such an expert speak in this way can people be convinced.

After Qiu Ciyun finished his speech full of work passion, Fang Zhuo spoke as the project initiator and the largest investor.

He smiled and said: "Some people here know, some people don't know, my origin with semiconductors comes from a Shanghai chip incident some time ago, so I have some sudden understanding of the industry."

"Such a project is fresh and challenging for me."

"It is also interesting for me to use 'Hanxin' as the opening of the project origin."

Yes, using Hanxin, a historical scam, as the opening of the semiconductor industry is extremely strange even for Fang Zhuo.