My 1999

After receiving 50 million Chinese Yuan from Xu Liang, DJI has upgraded its equipment.

The office was moved from the cramped warehouse of the Chegongmiao Magazine to the spacious and bright office building of Nanshan Science Park.

Nanshan Science Park has only been built for a few years, but it has already gathered the essence of the entire Pengcheng science and technology industry.

The companies settled in the park include Huawei, ZTE, Penguin, Great Wall, Shenzhou, Konka, etc.

DJI chose to settle here, in addition to enjoying certain policy support, it can also absorb talents nearby.

Nowadays, there is no major in drones, and DJI can only recruit some engineers with good basic skills from other technology companies, and everyone will re-learn and explore how to manufacture drones and flight control systems.

Li Zexiang and Wang Tao stood at the door of the company to welcome Xu Liang and his party.

Wang Tao was still the same, taciturn, and stood aside after greeting Xu Liang.

Li Zexiang was much more worldly-wise, and took Xu Liang to visit DJI's new office, introducing it while visiting.

After a round, they came to the company's meeting room.

"Mr. Xu, we just moved here, and we haven't had time to start a lot of work."

Xu Liang smiled and waved his hand.

"It's okay, it's already very efficient."

Li Zexiang and Wang Tao smiled.

This time they saw the power of Boss Xu.

They didn't have to show up at all.

Hongyan helped them get an office space of nearly 2,000 square meters in a 5A-level office building in Nanshan Science and Technology Park.

At the same time, Hongyan also transferred more than ten employees from Kunlun, Hongmeng, and Torch to join DJI in Pengcheng, and served as DJI's CFO, HR, legal affairs and other important positions.

The addition of these people quickly helped DJI build a corporate framework and improve various functional departments.

Various R\u0026D equipment and materials were also shipped from all over the world.

In just half a month, DJI went from a small workshop that was unknown to a decent start-up technology company.

Although Hongyan's people occupied most of the company's key positions.

But Xu Liang did not break his promise.

Wang Tao served as the company's CTO, freed from the mundane affairs he hated, freed up all his energy, led the team to engage in research and development, and came up with the first product as soon as possible.

Li Zexiang served as the company's CEO, responsible for the overall situation.

At the same time, he used his status and influence in the academic community to recruit some talents from Hong Kong Island, the mainland and overseas universities to join DJI to strengthen the company's R\u0026D capabilities.

"How is the recruitment work going?"

Li Zexiang: "I have called several of my graduate students. They all agreed to join DJI and will report here soon."

"Is there Zhu Xiaorui?" Wang Tao suddenly interrupted.

"Yes, she just got a doctorate degree from the Robotics Systems Center of the University of Utah in the United States. Harbin Institute of Technology is going to hire her as an associate professor at the Shenzhen Research Institute.

She is less than 30 years old, but she is actually leading a doctoral student, and she is a woman."

After sighing with pride, Li Zexiang continued.

"Mr. Xu, this girl has a deep attainment in the field of robotics. I want to hire her as DJI's chief scientist."

Wang Tao nodded in agreement.

"Senior Sister Zhu is a very outstanding person, even better than me."

Xu Liang has heard of Zhu Xiaorui, who is indeed a great female scientist.

In her previous life, she served as the chairman of the chapter and international affairs committee of the IEEE International Robotics and Automation Association. This position was the first time that a mainland scholar held it.

Then she also led the team to use a small unmanned helicopter to successfully realize the first flight test and aerial photography experiment of Mount Everest in China.

The most amazing thing is that as the person in charge, she developed a set of "intelligent pre-detection system for archaeological excavation sites".

This technology and application is called an epoch-making and revolutionary breakthrough in the field of archaeological technology, and won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.

What is the concept of this award?

If you win another award of the same level, you can enter the Academy of Engineering or the Academy of Sciences as an academician.

When he visited DJI in his previous life, he had listened to the other party's lecture.

A very powerful person.

In his previous life, it was Li Zexiang who recommended Zhu Xiaorui to join DJI, which had just started, and provided a great help to DJI's early technological development.

With such top talents willing to join, Xu Liang naturally had no reason to object.

"I've talked about the technical matters before.

You just need to check everything.

The people sent by the group headquarters are mainly to assist you."

After hearing this, Wang Tao and Li Zexiang were relieved.

Especially Wang Tao, he can let go of company equity, enterprise management and other things, but he keeps a close eye on R\u0026D and regards it as his ideal home.

Hongyan already controls 94% of DJI (5% for Wang Tao; 1% for Li Zexiang, which will be gradually increased to 3% according to DJI's development in the future).

At the same time, people were sent to take over all important positions in DJI except R\u0026D.

As long as there are no major problems in R\u0026D work, Xu Liang will not interfere too much.

This can be regarded as a tacit understanding reached between him and Wang Tao, each taking what they need.

Wang Tao developed the world's leading drone with the help of Hongyan and his capital strength, and Hongyan has a world-class brand.

"What do you think about the future development of DJI?"

Because the matter was not finalized before, Xu Liang had not discussed this topic in depth with the two. Now that DJI has joined Hongyan and his command, he is eager for this drone company to grow rapidly.

"We will focus on developing our own flight control system..."

Wang Tao thought for a while and added: "We can also assemble a few machines and sell them to make some money."

Li Zexiang did not speak, because he knew that his student's proposal was a bit too petty.

With Xu Liang's ambition, how could he look down on such a small business?

Xu Liang smiled.

Wang Tao's thinking is still at the stage of handicraft workshop.

This is how DJI developed in the past. It assembled drones like assembling computers, and then sold them to make a profit, relying on this money to support the research and development plan of the flight control system.

The aircraft assembled by DJI are not sold at a low price, selling to state-owned enterprises for 200,000 yuan each, but after the product was demonstrated to the leaders, it was shelved, or the product was taken home by the leaders for their sons to play with.

The sales volume is very limited, and it is difficult to become a large company.

In addition, Wang Tao was young and lacked skills and experience, so the team soon fell apart, and someone secretly sold the company's design drawings.

Even worse, competitors bought the drawings, bribed DJI's internal employees, and used DJI's equipment to test products...

The reason why DJI was able to survive in the early days had a lot to do with Wang Tao's obsession to get things done, and also had a lot to do with Li Zexiang's repeated help.

Xu Liang turned his eyes to Li Zexiang, he wanted to hear the opinions of this market-oriented scientist.

The latter also noticed his eyes.

Wang Tao is the chief technology officer, and he only needs to focus on product development.

But as the CEO of DJI, the company's strategic development plan is his business.

"Mr. Xu, I think DJI's goal is to produce consumer-grade drones that ordinary people can afford.

According to this development strategy, we must first solve the following problems.

First, cost.

A drone on the market now costs hundreds of thousands or even thousands of yuan.

It is a very niche product, and only those who really like model airplanes and have a certain financial strength can afford it.

If drones are to be introduced to the market on a large scale.

The manufacturing cost must be reduced to at least one-fifth of the current level, or even one-tenth.

Second, the supply chain.

During this period, I have studied the drone market.

I found that there is no The whole machine sales company is all about players DIYing themselves, or buying DIY products from others.

The lack of a mature supply chain not only affects the product quality, but also raises the price.

In short, the cost is too high, resulting in too high a selling price.

As a result, the sales volume is very low, and naturally there will be no supply chain manufacturers specializing in the production and supply of various parts for drones.

If we can give the supply chain manufacturers ten or a hundred times the order.

There will be people who will be interested in this business, thereby achieving the effect of reducing the cost of parts.

When the cost of parts is reduced, the selling price will naturally be reduced, thereby achieving the purpose of increasing sales. "

After listening to this analysis, Xu Liang smiled and nodded.

The scale effect reduces marginal costs.

"The analysis is very good. But only good products are not enough.

DJI is still a toy for enthusiasts, or the use scenarios are still limited, which is the key to sales. "

Xu Liang folded his hands and looked at the two with a smile, wanting to see if they could come up with a solution.

Wang Tao and Li Zexiang looked thoughtful, expanding the use scenarios? How to expand?

Got it!

Wang Tao suddenly said: "Mr. Xu, does it count if we install bombs on the plane?

We can try to sell drones to... the Middle East."

Li Zexiang's mouth twitched. He didn't realize that his student had this idea before?

Xu Liang smiled.

DJI drones, Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory, and Jingjiang Gas Tanks are all well-known arms giants in the Middle East.

From bombers, rocket launchers, to mortars, the people of the Middle East have fully exerted their war wisdom, and various magic modified weapons have emerged in an endless stream.

However, this certainly cannot be directly "sold" to the military, and DJI has not yet become famous, so it may not be popular in the Middle East.

The most important thing is the cost. Cheapness is the main reason why the Middle Eastern friends are interested in Chinese arms.

"What are you thinking? Installing bombs, now is a harmonious society, I think you want to go in and step on the sewing machine." Li Zexiang said.

Wang Tao pursed his lips and said: "We only sell planes, how to modify them is other people's business."

"Then how to open up the Middle East market?"

Li Zexiang's topic directly confused Wang Tao.

"Send you to the Middle East to sell?"

Wang Tao shook his head fiercely, "I won't go. Don't we have Amazon and No. 1 Store? We use e-commerce channels."

Li Zexiang was stunned for a moment, it seemed feasible.

Xu Liang interrupted with a smile.

"Military sales are indeed good, but the market is too narrow.

The consumer electronics companies with amazing market value in the global market are basically civilian.

So if you want DJI to succeed, the civilian consumer electronics market is the key."

Li Zexiang nodded slightly.

"Mr. Xu, how about we sell drones to primary and secondary schools?

Schools can use them to run some interest classes."

"In the final analysis, it's still for fun, and there is no expansion of new usage scenarios.

I mean, in addition to controlling drones to fly in the sky for fun, give drones some new functions." Xu Liang said.

Li Zexiang frowned and thought for a moment.

"How about spreading pesticides?

Compared to agricultural aircraft, drones can be more compact and flexible, can fly at low altitudes, can hover, and can spread pesticides more accurately."

Xu Liang suddenly admired the professor in front of him. No wonder he could be a boss. His mind is very flexible.

Googol Technology, founded by Li Zexiang, is a leading brand of domestic motion control systems.

Serving the B-end market, customers include microelectronics, robots, CNC machine tools, electronic processing and many other industries. I heard in my previous life that they were about to go public.

"Your idea is good. If drones can reach a new level in performance, they can indeed be applied to agricultural production.

But drones at this stage certainly cannot meet this requirement."

Looking at the master and apprentice, Xu Liang continued with a smile.

"If we want to segment the use scenarios and machine performance of drones.

We can call drones serving the B-end market industrial drones, or industry-level drones."

Li Zexiang and Wang Tao heard this concept for the first time and immediately became interested.

"Not only in agriculture, but also in other use scenarios, such as power, oil and gas inspection, firefighting, emergency search and rescue, police law enforcement, etc., drones can be used.

It's just that we have to add different modules to drones for the wrong industries and use scenarios.

For example, for emergency search and rescue and police law enforcement, we need to add a loudspeaker and searchlight;

For agricultural use, we need to add a box for pesticides and a sprayer;

For power, oil and gas inspection, we need to match detectors and sensors..."

Wang Tao and Li Zexiang listened with great interest, and suddenly realized that the drone market is huge and there are so many commercial markets that can be expanded.

Especially Wang Tao, he had never thought about how to make money through drones before, just for fun!

He now understands why Xu Liang insisted on making drones and planned to acquire DJI, a small workshop.

This is indeed a new industry with amazing development potential.

Li Zexiang feels differently. He has always advocated that universities turn things in the laboratory into commercial products and feed back scientific research through market-oriented profits.

In this regard, American universities are ahead of the world.

After hearing Xu Liang talk about so many business models, he felt that this big boss must have thought about it for a long time to have so many wonderful ideas.

Why acquire DJI?

Mostly because of the future market prospects of drones.

"Mr. Xu, do you mean that DJI will mainly make industrial drones in the future?

Expand and serve all walks of life?"

"No, industrial drones are just like what we wanted to make drones into arms before. The application market is limited and can't provide too much imagination.

So DJI's future should still be in the consumer field and serve the C-end market."

"If the consumer market wants to open up, the current drone functions are far from enough. There must be more real value and solve some pain points."

Xu Liang looked at the two and said slowly: "Mobile phones solve the problem of inconvenient communication, so the global sales of mobile phones can reach 1 billion units."

"If we add a camera to the drone..."

This sentence is like a revelation, and Wang Tao and Li Zexiang's eyes light up instantly.

"Use drones to achieve high-altitude photography?" Li Zexiang said subconsciously.

"High-altitude and low-altitude shooting are all fine. It can be called aerial photography, a new angle of shooting that can take photos that are different from all current cameras, and can also record videos." Xu Liang said.

It is not necessarily true that drones are in great demand. They are never as in demand as mobile phones and computers.

Even if a camera is added, it is still a hobby, not a necessity.

However, compared with simply flying for fun, the multiple functions of taking photos and recording videos can increase the appeal ten or a hundred times more than it is now.

Li Zexiang and Wang Tao are both smart people who can see through this point.

Wang Tao's face is full of excitement.

"Fly over mountains, rivers, and canyons, and you can overlook the mountains and rivers from the ground."

Li Zexiang: "This kind of aerial photography is very useful for outdoor tourism.

In some terrains that are difficult for human beings to climb, drones can replace people to take pictures, and they can change angles to shoot, putting the most beautiful side of nature into the camera..."

As he spoke, a picture automatically emerged in Li Zexiang's mind.

A drone soars over the top of the snow-capped mountains, constantly changing angles, turning the towering peaks covered in snow into photos or a shocking video...

For anyone who likes to travel, such a device cannot be rejected.

Wang Tao gave Xu Liang a thumbs up, his face full of admiration.

"Mr. Xu, you are still amazing."

Drone equipped with a camera, just based on this point, the drone market will be completely changed.

Subverting tradition, ushering in innovation, redefining an industry.

Xu Liang smiled and said: "DJI will definitely redefine drones!"

Li Zexiang said with emotion: "Your idea is worth one billion US dollars, no more and no less.

Especially abroad, foreigners generally like outdoor travel, adventure, taking pictures, and all kinds of black technology products.

If DJI can make an integrated aerial photography product, they will definitely be sent to the altar!"

Xu Liang smiled and nodded.

Aerial photography drones are not actually the first to be invented by DJI. It is the foreign enthusiasts who have opened their minds and modified GoPro sports cameras to be mounted on drones, thus forming a trend and becoming the industry standard.

DJI has become the industry leader only because it has achieved excellence in cost, design, control and other aspects.