Reinventing the Millennium

Fang Zhuo is thinking about the company's overall strategy in Silicon Valley and looking forward to the next development path.

Domestic friends are doing well, Penguin is still tenaciously promoting the mobileization of Ace, Alibaba has freed up its hands after solving the Alipay problem, Baidu is finally willing to work hard on maps other than search, Qingzi, Qingzi... probably not saved.

On September 10, Fang Zhuo was in the office reviewing the written opinions on the cloud business sent by Qi He and Wang Jian.

These two people came from different perspectives, but in the end they reached the same goal by different paths. Qi He talked about the future of Yike based on the development of Amazon, while Wang Jian used the development of technology to hope to open up a larger market.

"I should be convinced." Fang Zhuo told him as he played with the spider robot that technical director Xu Keden had just sent.

Xu Keden said "hmm", and when his boss looked over, he immediately added: "I don't understand this aspect anyway."

Fang Zhuo slapped Spider-Man angrily: "If you don't understand, you can learn. Aren't they just prospects like aPaaS, FaaS, dbPaaS, and adPaaS?"

Xu Keden knew that his boss always had a good memory, so he asked calmly: "Mr. Fang, please explain aPaaS in detail."

Fang Zhuo snorted: "These are to standardize the integration methods of applications, so that companies and developers in need can use them out of the box, so as to better digitize and automate them, so that they can use them in different applications." Migrate data between programs and systems, simplifying data sharing and collaboration to improve business efficiency.”

Xu Keden suspected that if he continued to ask, he would get more precise explanations. That's it, that's it. It was already better than many bosses.

He quickly said: "Okay, Mr. Fang, I will communicate with Dr. Wang and others more."

Fang Zhuo nodded, then looked at the Spider-Man in his hand, and frowned: "Why are they still studying this thing?"

When I was in the Shanghai office, I received the results of the Silicon Valley R\u0026D Center, which were elusive. I didn’t hear any sound afterward, so I thought it had stopped.

Xu Keden perked up and replied: "Mr. Fang, our spider robot is different."

Fang Zhuo glanced at Teacher Xu in confusion: "What's the difference?"

"The algorithm behind it has improved!" Xu Keden said seriously, "It's still different."

Fang Zhuo touched the Spider-Man in his hand and found it difficult to agree with this aesthetic, and asked: "So, what is it now?"

Xu Keden thought for a while: "It's a spider robot with an algorithm."

Fang Zhuo smiled and nodded. He was just here and there with me.

There was a knock on the office door and the secretary announced that former Microsoft CEO Ballmer had arrived.

Before Fang Zhuo accepted Gates' invitation to visit Microsoft, Ballmer, who had nothing to do, made an appointment to come to Yike to take a look at this company that has developed in the new century.

Fang Zhuo naturally wouldn't refuse this, as long as Ballmer didn't come to the office to rush to the tower.

A moment later, Ballmer strode into the office and said his first impression: "You are really free here. I see there are electric pedals in the corridor. Will your company do this again in the future?"

"Just don't interfere with other people's business." Fang Zhuo motioned Ballmer to take a seat and asked his secretary to pour him a cup of coffee.

Ballmer had just sat down when he saw the spider robot at Mr. Fang's hand and wondered, "What is this spider?"

"Bionic robot." Fang Zhuo replied.

Ballmer was quite puzzled: "Is this also a technology incubated internally by Yike? Is it quite scattered?"

Fang Zhuo waved his hand and said proudly: "Algorithm, algorithm, do you understand? What's important is the algorithm behind it. Forget it, otherwise you wouldn't be CEO."

Ballmer glanced at Mr. Fang and his robot with respect. Yi Ke still had something.

Xu Keden looked at this scene with respect. Mr. Fang, I can’t trouble you at all.

Seeing Ballmer's silence, Fang Zhuo decided not to mention that he would no longer be CEO, which was indeed a bit cruel.

Just as he was about to speak, something suddenly struck his mind. New CEO Nadella's previous responsibilities at Microsoft included the cloud business. The Microsoft board of directors selected him this time. In addition to their prediction of mobile priority, they must also value his experience in this area. and the future potential of cloud business.

It can be corroborated with Yike's cloud business.

For the sake of work, some cruelty is understandable.

"You are not the CEO. Now that Nadella is in charge, Microsoft will carry out organizational reforms while developing mobile and cloud businesses." Fang Zhuo said with certainty.

Ballmer couldn't help but praise: "Mr. Fang, although I have objections to your assessment that you are the best CEO, you are worthy of being one of the best. Indeed, this is what we discussed and may be more suitable for Microsoft's development." direction."

He thought for a moment and then said: "Nadella is confident that the cloud business will become the company's largest revenue business in the future."

Fang Zhuo was taken aback and commented: "This will be a big challenge. Will you give him enough time?"

Today's Microsoft, Windows-related business still accounts for the largest proportion.

"How can you support me now that I'm gone?" Ballmer laughed.

"It's time for you to leave, but if the feedback chain of the business is relatively long, the enthusiasm and support of shareholders and employees will be a problem." Fang Zhuo pointed out the problem.

Ballmer laughed angrily: "I don't have to leave if I don't want to!"

Fang Zhuo wondered: "What's the point?"

"Let's go, let's go, there's nothing good about your company!" Ballmer stood up to leave.

"Let's discuss each other. Come on, let's go. I'll take you to visit our R\u0026D center." Fang Zhuo stood up to persuade him to stay. He also wanted to hear the former CEO Ballmer's evaluation of the current CEO's decision-making.

He has felt Microsoft's determination to support the cloud business, but also wants to hear their judgment on competition in the current situation.

Technical Director Xu Keden and others accompanied the boss and Ballmer to explain some of the technologies in Yike's Silicon Valley R\u0026D Center from time to time. Since Yike has gathered a lot of diverse teams since 2008, Yike has been doing a lot of work since last year. The thing is selective streamlining.

After Ballmer listened for a while, he felt that Yike had invested a lot in IC design, and the server chip architecture involved now also required long-term investment.

He took what he said before and asked Mr. Fang: "You are studying Arm-based servers. It seems that it will take a long time to see the benefits, and you may not even see them. How did you give the time plan?"

"Our team was originally acquired in Austin. I personally flew people there that time, and I personally promised Porter that I would continue to conduct research and development in this area." Fang Zhuo told about the Yike team The origin is a US$23 million acquisition in 2008.

Before the financial crisis, the team's valuation was still $80 million, which was a miss.

From 2008 to 2011, as Yike's revenue increased, the original investment commitments have been implemented, and the team has been absorbing new blood.

Fang Zhuo smiled and said: "It is not easy for us at Yike to do some research. If we break our promise again, it will be even more difficult to build a brand. What's more, this is a relatively suitable research and development direction."

Ballmer nodded slightly and said with emotion: "Yike's business and R\u0026D are gradually becoming fuller. Not only are they fuller, but they are also connected with each other. The IC design was successful on mobile phones first, and the team below has a server architecture. The next step is to link it with your cloud business."

He mused: "You Yike has a home field advantage in the Chinese market, but it will be more difficult in the US market in the future. Amazon's investment and development are very fast, I'm afraid it is a difficult competitor to compete with, and Google's investment in this area is also obvious. It’s stepped up.”

Amazon is first, followed by Google and Microsoft. They are all researching the cloud business, but the resources invested are limited. Now, Microsoft is betting on the future in this area.

Fang Zhuo did not deny the connection within Yike, nor did he say anything. Instead, some competitive strategy ideas flashed in his mind.

As Ballmer said, it will be difficult for Yike to compete in the US market. First, there are Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Second, there are geopolitical factors.

Third, Yike, which made its fortune from hardware, may also have a disadvantage in acquiring large customers at the beginning.

In this case……

Fang Zhuo thought of his friends in China, Ma Chen, who was also recently shortlisted for the top ten CEOs in China. Alibaba's B2B business makes it easy to do business in the world, and its focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Based on Yike's situation, there are leaders and giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft in the U.S. market, and there are also stronger political risks, so it would be better to focus on Europe.

There are no big Internet companies in Europe, and Amazon's efforts are not as strong as those in the United States. The small and medium-sized enterprises here are suitable for Yike's initial attempts to accumulate experience in solving problems and continuously invest in research and development.

It can also be considered as rural areas surrounding cities in this field.

After accepting the company's internal suggestions, Fang Zhuo quickly launched a competitive strategy plan.

Ballmer spoke for a while, but didn't hear Mr. Fang's response. He turned his head and said, "Mr. Fang? Mr. Fang?"

"Well, I'm considering competition based on Yike's situation." Fang Zhuo took a breath and said bluntly.

Ballmer looked at Mr. Fang and smiled: "I heard that Yike is going to build a data center in Houston?"

"So you're not worried about Yike's competition at all, right?" Fang Zhuo heard Ballmer suddenly mention this and immediately understood the intention behind it.

Ballmer smiled and said: "I am a bystander now. There are not many players in this field, but now we are working hard to open up the entire market. As for the future, I can only say that we are confident in lobbying for large orders." ."

What is a big order?

Billions, billions, even tens of billions of dollars.

This is the prospect of this field. The future transformation of the databases of government agencies alone is a big piece of fat.

Ballmer doesn't think Yike can compete in such a field. Just one reason for rejection is enough. Similarly, he is optimistic about Yike's efforts in the Chinese market.

Fang Zhuo smiled, mentally calculating the size of the sinking market.

If Houston wants to build a data center, Yike should also provide similar role positioning in Germany and France. If the cloud business is separated, perhaps development will be smoother.

In any case, Yike can make this market more volumeful. Well, in turn, it also puts forward higher requirements for IC design, which is further related to the development of ice cores.

Fang Zhuo kept thinking in his mind, planning to hold a general office meeting to discuss future development after he had more detailed data support. Giants like Microsoft were betting on the cloud business, and Yike should be more active. Do this piece.

As Ballmer's visit came to an end, he mentioned the progress of purchasing the team.

"If there is no problem, I will own the '76ers' team next month, and we can compete together in the NBA in the future."

Fang Zhuo laughed: "Our Rockets need to rebuild, and your team is not very good. We can see if we can complement each other."

Ballmer glanced at Mr. Fang and asked, "Are you violating the rules now?"

"You're not the team owner yet." Fang Zhuo replied, and out of the corner of his eye he caught Liu Zonghong pointing to his cell phone.

He chatted with Ballmer for a few more words, and then went to the side to ask about the situation, but it was Kong Yu who called, and the target of the investigation was Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

More importantly, Olympus has changed.

CEO Woodford issued an open letter in Tokyo, Japan, calling for the collective resignation of the board of directors and senior executives, which seemed to push the conflict to an unavoidable point.

Calculating the chips currently in control and capable of causing an impact, Toshiba, Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Kobe Steel, Akebono Brake, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, plus Olympus, which is about to self-destruct, there are only 8 companies.

Will it be a little less?

Fang Zhuo thought about the situation and was not sure whether these eight companies could blackmail them into more fraud. He hoped that Woodford could spend more time with Olympus.

Unfortunately, when the conflict reaches an acute point, it is difficult to endure it any longer.

Just two days later, Olympus held a board meeting and voted to remove Woodford from his position as CEO. (End of chapter)