Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

“What’s more, I think we should be more far-sighted. Shenhua’s cell phone business is not bad, but they are only influential in the local market.”

Chang You paused. “Boss Pei, what do you mean?”

“Our end goal has to be higher. As opposed to knocking Shenhua out of the market, we’d be better off acquiring Pineapple!” Chang You was immediately filled with respect. What was this feeling? It was the feeling of meeting a close friend who knew him inside out!

Chang You knew very well that this was a two-way choice. Boss Pei was considering whether to recruit him or not, while he was considering whether he could work under Boss Pei or not.

Chang You had always been used to speaking his mind. He never hid his feelings or beat about the bush. Thus, he often posted controversial arguments on his Weibo or expressed them in news conferences. That was how he got his nickname, ‘Big Mouth Chang’.

Many bosses of tech companies did not like him either. They thought he was a show-off who did not know how to do real work.

Even so, Chang You had never considered changing his style. He would only sneer at them inwardly. How could small fries predict the ambitions of the great?

He believed that he would meet a boss who truly understood him one day!

Now, Boss Pei had shown that his thinking was undoubtedly in line with Chan You’s by mentioning acquiring Pineapple.

What’s more, it seemed like Boss Pei was of an even higher tier!

That’s right. Why should we knock others out of the market? Wouldn’t acquisition be better?

As if in deep thought, Chang You nodded and said, “Brilliant idea, Boss Pei!”

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and asked, “What’s your working style?” Chang You immediately answered, “I’m an independent worker who likes to decide and act alone. I expect all my subordinates to follow my orders. I’m also a perfectionist, and I wouldn’t accept anything less than perfection.” Pei Qian nodded. “Good! That’s the way a leader should think. You shouldn’t be easily influenced by others. I’m on the same page as you!

“What kind of attitude do you have towards the looks of cell phones? Do you agree that we should make our cell phones look like Pineapple’s?”

Chang You decisively denied this. “We must not allow that! A cell phone’s looks are an important part of its branding. We cannot allow our cell phones to model after others’. The cell phones that we design must be unique!”

Pei Qian asked, “What do you think about cell phone prices, then? Should we sell cheap cell phones?”

After some thought, Chang You replied, “I think developing high-end models would truly display our tech company’s skills!” Once again, Pei Qian asked, “What are your thoughts about Shenhua being the representative of local cell phones?” Chang You proudly answered, “They’re doing well, but we will surpass them one day! Pei Qian could not help but hold up his thumb. “Very good! Those are my thoughts exactly!”

Pei Qian was extremely satisfied with Chang You. He perfectly matched Pei Qian’s expectations! Pei Qian already had a general plan as to what kind of cell phones to manufacture.

Up-and-coming cell phone brands would undoubtedly have the highest chance of success if they focused on their cell phones’ price-quality ratio. By minimizing profits, these brands could make their cell phones seem to have better price-quality ratios than that of other well-known manufacturers. That way, up-and-coming brands could dominate the mid- to low-end market.

In the next ten or so years, the local economy would keep developing. However, on the whole, some regions would develop faster than others. Naturally, people would continue to put a high emphasis on the price-quality ratio.

In other words, there would always be a market for good but cheap cell phones.

Since Pei Qian’s aim was to cause his cell phone business to fail, he had to do the exact opposite. He could not focus on the low- to mid-end market… or on the price-quality ratio of his cell phones.

He had to look decisively to the high-end market!

At the moment, only three brands dominated the local high-end market: Pineapple, MSC, and Shenhua. What’s more, Shenhua only dared to price its flagship model at around five thousand yuan.

Other companies that tried to fight for a market share in the high-end market ended up failing completely. One could tell from the above that the most reliable way to fail would be to try and enter the high-end market!

Chang You was obviously on the same page as Boss Pei as well!

Through this short conversation, Pei Qian also found out that Chang You was a little different from what he had imagined at first. Initially, Pei Qian had only thought that Chang You was one to aim too high. However, Pei Qian now knew that Chang You had a clear goal.

Wa.

What’s more, after observing Vice President Chang for some time, Pei Qian realized that he had other merits.

For instance… he did not take his competitors for fools. Instead, he objectively recognized and admitted Shenhua’s achievements.

Also, Vice-President Chang was very refined and courteous in reality. Although there was a hint of pride about him, he was not impossible to get along with. He did not look that stubborn or bossy.

However, these little flaws did not affect Pei Qian’s judgment of him.

No matter what, Chang You had set his mind on the high-end market. In other words, he was on the same page as Boss Pei and was very valuable!

Pei Qian was just about to shake Chang You’s hand to seal the deal… when he suddenly thought of a few more questions. At once, he shot away.

“If you don’t mind, can you briefly tell me what happened when you were at Hongcheng Technologies?” Pei Qian needed to clarify if it was Chang You or Hongcheng Technologies’ boss that was responsible for the huge company’s collapse.

Chang You shook his head helplessly. “Ai, it seems inappropriate for me to discuss matters regarding my old employer now that I’ve left. I won’t go into much detail.

“I can only say that both of us had extremely different ideals.

“I had always thought that Hongcheng Technologies should aim for the high-end market. Yet, in reality, it always worked on low-end models. What’s more, it had a habit of lowering their prices and running promotions. Its cash flow had always been tight as a result.

“Hongcheng Technologies’ boss was… a bit of a spendthrift. That worsened the problem.

“Subsequently… there was a rupture in the capital chain. We couldn’t do anything to salvage the situation.

“Of course, I have to be honest. I had exceeded the budget for research and development of the project that I had been in charge of at the time. Yet, the results of the project had not been good enough. That contributed to the problems in our capital chain.”

Pei Qian nodded. “I understand!”

It looked like both Chang You and his boss had been responsible for the company’s failure; neither one of them could shift the blame to the other.

Hongcheng Technologies had always worked on low-end models. Pei Qian knew this.

Running promotions increased Hongcheng Technologies’ sales but did not improve its cash flow. That was probably what its boss meant when he said ‘Hongcheng Technologies had never really generated a profit’ in the interview.

In the end, Chang You insisted on working on high-end models and spent too much money on research and development, causing a rupture in the capital chain and the collapse of the entire company.

As for Hongcheng Technologies’ boss being a spendthrift…

Pei Qian thought that this was probably Chang You trying to shift the blame!

Even if the boss had been a spendthrift, how much money could he possibly have spent? How could he have affected a capital chain worth tens or hundreds of millions?

Still, Pei Qian was not mad that Chang You had tried to shift the blame. In this prosperous and enlightened age, Boss Pei had finally found a treacherous right-hand man for himself!

Seeing Boss Pei’s trusting smile, Chang You could not help but smile as well.

A confidante!

He had always felt troubled by what happened with Hongcheng Technologies. Hongcheng Technologies’s bankruptcy really had nothing much to do with him.

On the surface, he had been in charge of the products Hongcheng Technologies had been producing. However, the boss had been the one calling all the shots behind the scenes.

Chang You had made up his mind to try and enter the high-end market. Yet, his boss had remained hesitant, citing excuses like the lack of funds or the lack of manpower.

The boss ended up spending more than 120 million yuan on his ‘little hobby’, causing a rupture in Hongcheng Technologies’ capital chain and the ultimate collapse of the company.

Chang You had no other choice. The only reason this news was still kept under wraps was that he was loyal and righteous. He could not possibly badmouth his old employer; others would think that he was terribly petty.

Yet, for that reason, he became the scapegoat.

Naturally, everyone wondered why a perfectly good Hongcheng Technologies became insolvent shortly after Chang You was made Vice President. Since then, it was very difficult for Chang You to enter the cell phone business. Everyone, from other manufacturers to consumers, saw him as a slacker. No one believed him anymore!

Yet, Chang You felt a long-absent warmth and trust radiating from Boss Pei.

He could tell that Boss Pei meant every word that he said. Boss Pei was not lying to him. What’s more, he could not possibly have been faking that warm smile!

At that moment, Chang You decided that even if Boss Pei offered him a low salary and even if he would be working for a small cell phone manufacturer, he would stick with this company and never give up on it!

Chang You asked, “Boss Pei, can I ask how our first cell phone model would be priced?”

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, “Our first cell phone model would be priced… conservatively.”

Chang You felt slightly disappointed. After all, he really wanted to work on high-end cell phones.

However, on further thought, he realized that this was to be expected. After all, this was a newly-established games company. He could not expect it to bite off more than it could chew.

It was a logical plan. The first cell phone model would be stable, meant to test waters. Subsequently, they could try and enter the high-end market.

Since Boss Pei was a trusted confidante, Chang You was willing to tolerate this slight loss.

Chang You nodded. “Alright, I’ll make an exception for you this once!”

Pei Qian stared at him and said, “We have to try and fill in the gaps in the market when making products. Our first cell phone model has to be priced according to the existing gaps.”

After some thought, Chang You asked, “Are we going to price it below a thousand yuan or close to three thousand yuan?”

At the moment, low-end models were priced around two thousand yuan, and high-end models were priced from four to six thousand yuan.

Even the top Pineapple cell phone was currently priced at about seven thousand yuan.

Pei Qian shook his head and said, “Neither.” Chang You looked astonished. “Well… there aren’t any other gaps.” “There are,” replied Pei Qian, “There’s a gap above seven thousand yuan, right? We can create a model that’s priced at about eight thousand yuan. There’ll be no competitors!”

Chang You was dumbfounded.

For the first time, he felt like he had met someone more of a dreamer than himself.