Reinventing the Millennium

Flying from New York to Dallas, then to Austin, to Houston, then to Seattle…

This is probably the most enjoyable period of time for the "Qingzi" to travel in the blue sky.

This was probably the busiest time for Fang Zhuo.

As he flew, Yike, Bingxin and the headhunting company gradually adapted to the rhythm and divided into several small teams to make front-end or back-end arrangements, which greatly improved work efficiency.

However, even so, there were moments that made Fang Zhuo feel confused.

When he searched for photos in Washington, the company he had made an appointment with in advance was unable to keep the appointment. The company's office was sealed and the mess inside could be seen through the glass.

"It's too late. It's a pity that this is an insolvent company that has filed for bankruptcy? Xiao Liu, can't you get through on the phone? The sensor level of this company seems to be good."

Fang Zhuo and the others looked at each other in shock, not expecting to see such an unexpected scene.

Secretary Liu Zonghong has been responsible for a lot of work these days, liaising with the media, hooking up with friends and businessmen, meeting investors privately, provoking suppliers... he is getting better and better at it.

He looked through the phone and made several calls in a row and reported: "I couldn't get in touch with several of the people in charge, but I got through the phone calls of two employees. Their wages have not been paid for two months. The boss has probably run away."

Probably ran away.

Fang Zhuo shook his head regretfully. His flying speed was not as fast as the financial crisis.

Even if there are Yike and Bingxin, how many companies can they send warmth to?

He said sadly: "Let's go downstairs and have a cup of hot coffee first. Is it going to snow in Washington?"

Before you know it, after being busy all October, it has already entered November.

I heard that in order to cope with the global economic crisis, various countries are already formulating their own interest rate hike policies.

On November 1st, the weather in Washington was not very good.

A group of customers who had come from afar were caught off guard by the collapse of the target company while sitting in Starbucks.

"Change." Fang Zhuo was holding a coffee cup and saw Xiao Ao's campaign slogan on the opposite street outside the window, pointing it out to everyone.

This month will determine the final outcome, and Xiao Ao's voice is no longer the same as the previous two months.

Liu Zonghong knew the relationship between his boss and the company, and couldn't help but say: "Changes are really needed. The scope and depth of this economic crisis are unexpected."

When Deputy Technical Director Elder heard this, he said: "Even if he is elected, what changes can he make?"

“At the very least, he is willing to reform medical insurance.” Another employee, Smith, said, “Taking advantage of the economic crisis, we may be able to achieve a universal medical insurance system with lower cost and wider coverage.”

Elder disagrees with such optimistic assumptions.

A few people were drinking coffee and debating.

Fang Zhuo changed his mind and had no interest in participating. He was just thinking about an issue. The relationship between Geithner and Xiao Ao will always be rewarded afterwards, and the same goes for the Internet companies that played a role in this process.

There is a clear difference between McCain and Omar, who has actively used the emerging influence of the Internet.

"Mr. Fang, what do you think? Can the medical reform be successful?" Elder put down his coffee cup and sought his boss's opinion.

Fang Zhuo looked at their gazes and smiled slightly. Just when he was about to fool him, he saw two men in suits hurriedly walked into Starbucks. After looking around, they walked quickly towards him.

He was babbling and didn't answer the question.

First, the bodyguard came into play, and then Liu Zonghong stepped forward to verify his identity.

The pair are heads of Vision's mobile device sensor solutions business, Ryan and Hayden.

Similar to the target companies in this line, they are doing innovative research on 3D image sensors, which mainly use the time it takes for photons to propagate from the camera to the object or target, and then return to the sensor for image sensing.

According to their specific statement, their solution can reduce key components in the device, and the mid-term goal is to reduce power consumption, reduce size, and improve sensing reliability.

"Mr. Fang, our technology can be installed on mobile phones in the future, and it can make a difference in enhancing computational photography, face recognition and other fields." Haydn didn't drink a sip of coffee, trying to make every sentence meaningful.

"It's another technology research and development company that focuses on innovation. It's not clear whether it will be successful because it can't be commercialized in the short term. Mr. Haydn, am I understanding this right?" Fang Zhuo made a judgment.

In fact, you don’t need to understand it too carefully. Just listening to facial recognition and other foresights will tell you that it is not something that can be done in a short time.

But it can be used as a technical reserve for investment in research and development.

Fang Zhuo's thoughts were not affected by the weather and moved quickly in his mind.

Haydn and Ryan looked at each other. They wanted to argue but couldn't. Their research was indeed not commercially available in the short term, but they both believed that there must be prospects in the future.

According to the original idea, as long as research continues, sensor solutions can be sold to large companies at a good price even if they cannot be made by themselves.

However, the economic crisis disrupted all plans.

Not to mention innovative companies like theirs, even well-known companies in the industry are on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that the two young men were speechless, Fang Zhuo asked proactively: "Then what do you want to do now? How did you know to come to me?"

"I heard that Kane Company is talking about acquisition today... One of their company's technical team leaders is my classmate in Boston." Ryan whispered, "I think our solution is no worse than Kane Company's."

He added: "At the very least, he will be no worse than Kane in the near future."

Fang Zhuo said calmly: "Cain Company has no future."

Ryan was speechless.

At this time, Haydn mustered up the courage to answer another question just asked by Mr. Fang: "We think our research is valuable, and it is valuable to a company like Yike that is at the forefront of the mobile phone industry. Maybe, Yike can Continue to deepen our solutions to make better front-facing cameras."

Fang Zhuo just listened to the key points, but in fact, what he values ​​​​is another feature - reducing key components.

Yike's first-generation Mars benefited from this. The reason why the front camera was able to be inserted was not only due to the expansion of the screen size, but also due to the advancement of industrial device levels.

For mobile devices such as mobile phones, the lower the power consumption at the same level, the better, and the fewer components, the better.

"We have been doing some research on front-facing cameras." Fang Zhuo replied, and then asked, "What is your selling price?"

Hayden's throat slid up and down and he quoted: "Five million dollars."

Fang Zhuo frowned and asked in his nose: "Huh?"

Haydn took a sudden breath and slashed himself: "3 million US dollars!"

Fang Zhuo sighed and said nothing.

Haydn and Ryan looked at each other and made it clear what they meant. It would be great if it can be sold!

He stretched out his right hand: "1 million, 1 million! Just 1 million!"

Fang Zhuo said gently: "We can't finalize the price now. After all, we just listen to what you say. So, we won't see anyone from Kane Company today. I will leave time to you to talk in detail about your views on 3D images." Sensor research.”

He glanced at Liu Zonghong.

Liu Zonghong immediately said: "Silicon Valley's technology department is ready for video connections."

This is the content prepared today. Recently, I have been evaluating and judging both offline and online simultaneously. I thought it would not be used.

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly and said, "Then wait until everyone finishes drinking their coffee."

The people in Yi Ke’s team haven’t finished drinking yet, and those in Ryan and Haydn haven’t moved yet.

"Haydn, you didn't call beforehand, how did you get here?" Fang Zhuo changed his cup of coffee and chatted with the two new entrepreneurs who were restless.

"I asked for the time, but there was no one when I arrived. I went downstairs and saw the car again. I thought I would give it a try, so I came in to look for it." Haydn took out his mobile phone at this time, "I am using Mars2!"

Fang Zhuo smiled and asked about his feelings about using the latest Mars and his logic behind purchasing this phone.

Haydn immediately talked endlessly, starting from last year's iPhone release, believing that touch screens and smartphones are bound to change the entire mobile phone industry, and sensor solutions will also put forward higher requirements.

He and Ryan both worked for large manufacturers before quitting their jobs to start their own businesses because of the emergence of the smartphone trend.

Fang Zhuo said with emotion: "It is really unlucky to run into a financial crisis when starting a business. Do you regret it?"

Haydn shook his head: "Follow your dreams and have no regrets. Besides, even if we encounter a financial crisis, haven't we found Yike?"

Fang Zhuo nodded: "Very good, you're all here. Do you still have any friends who have dreams? I just want to stay in Washington for two more days."

Haydn really nodded. He has known many companies of the same type since he started his business. A large number of them have died, and a small number are still surviving.

"Let's go, let's take a look at your image sensors first." Fang Zhuo stood up.

A group of people got up and walked out.

Within a few cups of coffee, snowflakes were already falling in Washington.

Fang Zhuo sat in the car and considered various arrangements for acquisitions, poaching, and technical reserves after Washington. The most important thing was that he might have to show up when necessary, and the less important thing was just to keep paying attention to the team.

During the financial crisis, work is never done.

The snow in Washington is getting heavier and heavier, and it has affected the takeoff and landing of private planes in one afternoon.

Fang Zhuo had a quick discussion with Vision Company and initially settled on an acquisition of US$800,000, which was regarded as a small technical reserve study.

The snow conditions affect the itinerary, but since we can’t walk, we should meet more local friends who have dreams, use money to support their dreams, and let Yike achieve life.

As the saying goes:

Buy horses in the east market and rob them by force; buy saddles and saddles in the west market and coax and deceive them.

Who has a dream to buy a bridle in Nanshi? I still have money to buy a long whip in Beishi.

…

The financial crisis is sweeping the world.

This makes life difficult for all walks of life, and China's semiconductor industry is no exception.

Just in July, industry exchanges discussed the prospects for development, believing that although DRAM has been falling continuously for the past year and a half, the recent performance of every other major product category has been excellent, and strong growth will inevitably occur in the second half of the year.

Several senior industry insiders are very optimistic about next year's prospects - semiconductor production capacity is in short supply, product prices are rising, and the global semiconductor market will grow by at least 10% next year, which will mark the return of the glorious days that the industry is looking forward to.

Unfortunately, in just two months, the full impact of Lehman's bankruptcy ruthlessly shattered the inertial expectations of practitioners, and the entire industry gradually became tragic.

Products were sold off, there was a stampede in the spot market, prices collapsed, and manufacturers' cash costs were deeply penetrated.

Not only the global industry, including the Chinese market, is expected to grow next year, but it will be considered good if it does not go backwards for three years.

Under such a critical situation, the wave of work stoppages and bankruptcies took the lead in attacking small and medium-sized manufacturers in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta.

As the chairman of Long Test Company, Xu Hongli went from being anxious and anxious to collapse and numbness. He was already preparing to close the semiconductor packaging and testing factory, sell off the equipment, go bankrupt and change careers.

On November 3, Xu Hongli sat in his office blankly. He received phone calls from the bank and employees one after another. He felt deeply that he was powerless and unable to return to the earth.

Ring ring ring.

The office phone rang again.

Xu Hongli wanted to pretend that no one was there, but he still picked up the phone at the last moment.

"Hello, are you Director Xu from Long Test? I am Liu Yangyang, the secretary-general of the Ice Core Wafer Manufacturing Service Alliance." The phone call came from a female voice, "Tomorrow afternoon, the service alliance will have a meeting in Pingjiang. Can you come? Participate?"

Xu Hongli was suddenly excited. Bingxin's service alliance was famous in the industry! I heard there has been a lot of action lately, but we are a small factory and not a member of the alliance, so why do we have a phone?

His heart suddenly became eager, but he was worried about gain and loss. After being stunned for several seconds, he asked: "I am Xu Hongli, what kind of meeting is over in Pingjiang?"

"Our industry has been greatly affected. We have been considering and visiting for two months and believe that under this situation, we must integrate resources. You know, Changdian, right?" Liu Yangyang said bluntly, "Let's see if we can get a loan." I will acquire your factory as a branch factory, but there may be a requirement to relocate to Luzhou, see if you can accept it."

Xu Hongli said hurriedly: "I can accept it, I can accept it!"

"The docking is more complicated and there will be a series of evaluations. However, we hope to concentrate resources and solve some thorny problems." Liu Yangyang flipped through the information sheet in his hand, "Oh, the long-term test situation is not good, right? Just hold on, hold on, hold on.”

Although Xu Hongli knew that he shouldn't say such words at this time, he still mustered up the courage: "I'll sell my car as long as I can."

"I don't know. At least wait until we make an evaluation. After the evaluation, I can probably buy your car back first." Liu Yangyang said calmly.

Xu Hongli felt the black humor of the other party. He took a breath and adjusted his mentality: "Okay, Mr. Liu, I will definitely be there tomorrow and attend the Pingjiang meeting. I will pay everyone's salary today."

Liu Yangyang said "hmm", hung up the phone, and continued to notify the manufacturers on the list for the Pingjiang Conference on Domestic Semiconductors.