In the early stages of Xingyi TV, Wang Yi can also serve as CEO and decide how Xingyi TV operates and develops.
But in the future, there will be more and more businesses, and Wang Yi will not be able to take care of them all. He still has to train a professional CEO to be responsible for the development of Xingyi TV.
The same is true for other business units. The CEO and technical director are separated and each performs their own duties, complementing each other and developing healthily.
For example, regarding the construction progress and development of the Xingyi TV factory, Xu Mingyi had previously been in contact with Daocheng, and Wang Yi had no involvement at all.
As early as four months ago, Xu Mingyi calculated the estimated delivery time of the factory, recruited employees in advance, and conducted training.
Now that it has been officially delivered, those people have taken up their posts directly, which makes it a lot easier.
Wang Yi saw all this, and after examining it for a while, he found that Xu Mingyi was indeed a talent, so he made him the CEO of Xingyi TV.
Of course, the smooth development of Xingyi TV business is also related to Daocheng.
The island city already has Hisense TV, which is the largest TV industry base in China and a gathering place for TV-related practitioners.
Whether it is workshop workers or technicians, as well as TV suppliers, the industrial chain is very mature in the island city.
It can be said that the existence of Hisense has supported the TV industry cluster in the island city.
This is also the reason why Wang Yi placed Xingyi TV in the island city. By utilizing the existing industrial clusters, Xingyi TV can develop rapidly.
This is the industrial cluster effect.
If it were placed in Jeju, it would be over. There would be no television industry in Jeju, and the entire upstream and downstream industry chain would have to be built from scratch.
Similarly, the placement of Xingyi Smart Home Industrial Park in Daocheng was based on this consideration.
At present, the domestic electrical appliance industry is mainly concentrated in two major cities.
Beidao City, South Foshan!
The island city mainly sells large appliances such as refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines, with brands such as Haier, Hisense, and Aucma.
In Foshan, in addition to large appliances such as air conditioners and washing machines, there is also a small household appliance industry such as lighting. Not only Midea, but also Foshan Lighting, Galanz and other brands.
Developing corresponding industries in places where industrial clusters are mature will undoubtedly be much easier and the cost will be much lower.
On the contrary, if the cost is too high, the product will not be very competitive.
Just like new energy lidar, does Musk really think lidar is bad? Does Musk really think lidar is inferior to pure vision solutions?
of course not!
It was only because the cost of lidar in 2016 was too high that Tesla could not afford it, so it chose a cheap pure vision solution.
After many years, the cost of lidar has dropped sharply, but Tesla has gone too far in the purely visual field and has limited accumulation in the field of lidar. If it wants to switch to lidar, it will have to start from scratch, and it will be difficult to return!
If the cost of lidar is as cheap in 2016 as it will be five years later, Musk is afraid that the first-generation Tesla will have lidar as standard.
After all, purely visual solutions have many disadvantages, such as rainy days, foggy days, night and other harsh environments, which are all disasters for purely visual solutions.
LiDAR may cost more, but it is more secure.
Whether it is L4 or L2 autonomous driving, the most critical thing is safety!
Safety must be given top priority, and this alone determines that a purely visual solution is unreliable.
At the very least, it is a comprehensive solution of vision + lidar, or a full range of lidar.
Now that Xingyi TV has been successfully developed and will be mass-produced within a week, Wang Yi also has to prepare for the future.
Xingyi Automobile is the next big project and will take several years to prepare.
But many technologies have already begun to be developed.
At the end of April, Wang Yi set out to establish the Xingyi Automobile R&D department and began to recruit various talents to conduct comprehensive research and development from three-electric systems to complete vehicle solutions.
The driving solution of Xingyi Automobile is vision + lidar.
Of course, the initial stage can only be purely visual.
Without him, the current lidar is too expensive. Each one costs hundreds of thousands of yuan, which is more expensive than a car. It is simply unaffordable.
In the previous life, until 2016, a 16-line lidar cost 50,000 yuan, and a 64-line lidar cost 500,000 yuan.
The 16-line lidar has a detection range of only 100 meters, which is not enough. It needs at least 64 lines.
It's just that the 64-line lidar costs a whopping 500,000 yuan, and you have to queue up to buy it.
Model 3, which was launched in 2016, is priced at only 35,000 US dollars, which is more than 200,000 yuan. It is less expensive than half a 64-line lidar, so Tesla cannot afford it.
Even by 2019, the price of lidar will be 150,000-200,000.
However, in 2021, the price of lidar will reach 10,000 yuan.
In 2023, it dropped to three to four thousand.
More than a thousand in 2024...
When the price of lidar drops below 2,000, it will be fully popularized.
But right now, it's unrealistic, very unrealistic.
Wang Yi sighed, unless he develops it himself and then produces it on a large scale.
The reason why the price of lidar in previous generations has been unable to come down is not because the cost is really high, but because Velodyne has a unique brain circuit.
Lidar, like chips, has a scale effect.
To mass-produce 1,000 64-line laser radars, the diluted cost will be 200,000 per unit, and the selling price will be 500,000 per unit.
For mass production of 100,000 64-line laser radars, the diluted cost is only a few thousand yuan, and the selling price can be reduced to 10,000 yuan!
It's just a scale effect.
But Velodyne has a unique brain circuit. With so many customers queuing up to place orders, they not only do not increase production capacity, but also expand scale and seize the market.
On the contrary, we still produce slowly, sell slowly, and sell it at a high price.
In the previous life, from 2007 to 2019, a full 12 years, the total sales volume of Velodyne's lidar was only 30,000 units, but the revenue was as high as 500 million US dollars, and the average price of each unit was more than 100,000 yuan.
It wasn't until Hesai Technology, Sagitar and other domestic lidar companies broke out, turning the tables and driving down the price of lidar, that it gradually began to gain popularity.
However, in the previous life, Hesai Technology built a team in the United States in 2013, returned to China to found Hesai Technology in 2014, and only developed a 32-line laser radar in 2016.
Now that it has not been established and has no output, it is all in vain.
Wang Yi couldn't wait any longer and had no choice but to do it himself.
It just so happens that lidar is not only used in electric vehicles, but also in sweeping robots.
Of course, the lidar of sweeping robots is much lower-level and cheaper.
After all, a sweeping robot only costs a few thousand yuan, and it is unrealistic to equip it with a high-end laser radar that costs tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands.
In 2010, Neato launched the Neato XV-11, which was equipped with lidar, thus opening a new era of popularization of sweeping robots.
The lidar carried by Neato XV-11 was stripped of all unused structures and frantically emasculated, and the final cost was reduced to 200 RMB.
Similarly, if Xingyi Technology wants to develop a sweeping robot, it also needs to develop lidar.
First, I will make a low-end lidar to practice for the Xingyi sweeping robot. At the same time, I will run into the team and accumulate experience, and then I will make a high-end automotive lidar.
Undoubtedly just right.
Thinking of this, Wang Yi approached Jian Ziyan: "Ziyan, immediately recruit lidar research and development experts and experts, no matter the cost or funds. Set up the Xingyi Lidar Division to develop our own lidar!"
"What?" Jian Ziyan was startled.
Since becoming the steward of Xingyi Technology, Jian Ziyan has been learning to recharge every day.
Everyone has a good understanding of cutting-edge technologies in the field of science and technology, and naturally knows how deep the water of lidar is.
"Chairman, lidar technology is a high-end new technology. There are very few companies with core technology, and none in China. But for autonomous driving, it is a necessary foundation. It is appropriate for us to join now, but it is not easy to recruit people.
There are very few talents in related majors in China." Jian Ziyan sighed.
In 2012, lidar was indeed an emerging industry with very few talents.
But Wang Yi waved his hand: "It's easy to say, if you can't recruit at home, then go to the United States to recruit, go to the European Union. Go to MIT, Imperial College, Harvard, Stanford! As long as you have the strength, no matter how much money you spend,
You can dig them all back for me. In this emerging field, there are very few big names in the industry who are well-established in the field. I have to recruit the right Ph.D.s from Ivy League schools. There are also top domestic academics who have gone to the United States to study abroad. Anyone who can be poached will be hired by me.
Dig it back!"
Wang Yike remembered that the three founders of laser radar giant Hesai Technology in the previous life were the three top students who studied abroad in the United States.
In fact, there are two types of returnees from elite schools.
The first category is liberal arts, ordinary undergraduate schools. Through grades and other methods, you can get an offer from an Ivy League school and study majors such as business administration, art, philosophy, etc.
Most of them are water masters, also known as water turtles. Most of them have no ability, and their gold content is not as good as the top two in China, or even as good as one.
This kind of people come back with a gold plate, have a background in their family, and have arranged a path to directly enter some good units.
But if you have no background and no path, it will be difficult to find a job, and it may not even be as useful as a domestic undergraduate degree.
The other type is those who have a master's degree or doctorate in science and engineering. Their undergraduate degree is from a top school in the country, and then they go to an Ivy League school to study for a master's or doctoral degree, and their research is also in the most advanced fields.
This category is very powerful. If you are already a top student and have learned the most cutting-edge technologies, your future will be bright. It is only a matter of time before you become a calf or a master.
This is the case for the three founders of Hesai Technology.
The same was true for Li Yan, the old director of Baidu back then.
Wang Yi suddenly had an idea: "Ziyan, let's set up a Spark Project to recruit outstanding students in cutting-edge majors from top universities around the world."
"Especially those who go to study abroad in China, bring back whatever they can."
"There are also native-born foreign students who are easy to fool when they have just graduated. Anyone who can be fooled back will be fooled back by me!"
"Salary is not an issue. High salary, house, and imperial household registration are all easy to talk about!"
"If Xingyi Technology wants to develop, it cannot do without talents."
"As long as the opponent is strong enough and has enough output, it won't be a problem."
"Okay!" Jian Ziyan nodded repeatedly, understanding that Wang Yi's ambition was even greater.
In the past, we only recruited domestic talents and overseas big names.
Now it's better, even the non-big talents overseas are not being spared, and even the top students from overseas famous schools who have just graduated are being recruited back!
This is not poaching, this is purchasing!
Wang Yixiao said: "It is easy and low-cost to recruit them when they have just graduated and have not yet produced significant output. Once they start a business, have their own company, or join an international giant, and have produced output, they will be hired again."
, that would be difficult and the cost would be frighteningly high.”
Just like the three founders of Hesai Technology, they are just recent Ph.D. graduates from Stanford and other schools with no significant achievements. Wang Yi gave them 500,000 a year and they were willing to join the company.
But when they establish Hesai Technology and produce output, they will not be tempted by 50 million, let alone 500,000.
Timing is important.
Wang Yi continued: "As for the name of the recruitment, let's change it. Instead of calling it R&D engineer, let's change it to reserve R&D manager!"
"Reserve R&D manager?" Jian Ziyan was startled, then smiled: "Chairman, you can play. Although they have the same position and the same job, they are all R&D engineers, but the reserve R&D manager is much taller and more senior.
It is easy for them to have the illusion that they can become R&D managers. Similar to... management trainees?"
"Yes, that's the trick." Wang Yi smiled.
When they were looking for jobs in their previous lives, many of them went to become management trainees in Fortune 500 companies, thinking they could become managers of Fortune 500 companies.
Unexpectedly, the work he was doing was at the lowest level, which is euphemistically called bottom-level training and training.
The result is that they have been trained and never managed.
I didn't become a manager until I resigned.
Of course, there are also examples, such as a rare management trainee who has extraordinary abilities and has network resources or strong connections behind him. It is much easier for such a person to become a manager.
As for other people, if their abilities are not outstanding and their relationships are not strong, it will be difficult.
Even if you have outstanding abilities and don't have a strong relationship, it won't work.
Wang Yi changed the topic: "But it is really possible for our reserve R&D managers to become managers. Just tell them directly that Xingyi Technology only looks at performance and R&D results. Once there are outstanding R&D results or contributions, they will be promoted to R&D managers immediately.
.If the R&D manager achieves outstanding results again, he will be promoted to R&D director!”
"In Xingyi Technology, we only look at strength, not relationships."
"If you have a good project, you can also contact Xingyi Technology and join the Spark Plan. As long as the project is good, Xingyi Technology will invest strategically and provide all-round R&D support and resource support to help incubate its results."
"Okay, Chairman, I'll make arrangements right away." Jian Ziyan quickly agreed.
She knows very well that today's Spark Project by Wang Yiti is likely to become a highlight in the development history of Xingyi Technology.
There is no way. Chip R&D is a mature industry that has existed for so many years. The key is to recruit R&D experts and calfs.
Even if you have a Ph.D. from Stanford, you can only start as a soldier and keep learning.
But automotive-grade lidar is different. It has only been a new industry for a few years and is very new.
There are not many big names in the entire industry, or they are all in the same company, Velodyne. Wang Yi can't dig them out, so he can only recruit powerful doctors from famous universities and train them from scratch.
Fortunately, in this new field, Velodyne does not have much technical reserves and its patent wall is not thick.
Velodyne's current main focus is on mechanical lidar, which has a rotating structure inside. Although one laser can cover 360 degrees, the cost is high, the volume is large, and the existence of the rotating mechanism leads to a short lifespan.
It is already so expensive, has a short lifespan, breaks easily, and is not suitable for automobile use.
Semi-solid lidar is the future.
More importantly, in the field of semi-solid lidar, Velodyne does not have much patent reserves.
In the previous life, it was not until 2016 that Velodyne began to develop semi-solid lidar.
Now, if Wang Yi follows suit and develops mechanical lidar, he will definitely infringe on Velodyne's patent and will be sued.
Hesai Technology was sued before it was listed on the market. It was terrible and suffered heavy losses.
Wang Yi has been directly developing the next generation semi-solid lidar since 2012, so he can avoid Velodyne's patents to the greatest extent!
And overtaking in corners, it beats Velodyne in terms of technology and cost!
By then, when Velodyne realized that semi-solid lidar was the future, it wanted to turn around and develop semi-solid. At that time, the entire field of semi-solid lidar was filled with Xingyi Technology's patents, so Xingyi Technology sued Velodyne.
Charge protection fees to Velodyne.
Of course, semi-solid-state lidar also has some disadvantages, and all-solid-state lidar is the ultimate solution.
However, all-solid-state lidar also has major technical drawbacks, such as low power, low density, and short detection range. It cannot be used as a main detection radar and is mainly used to fill blind spots on both sides.
The advantage of semi-solid laser radar is that it has a long detection range, but its vertical field of view is usually not large, and it is insufficient in blind area monitoring.
Therefore, the perfect solution after more than ten years is pure solid-state blind-filling lidar paired with long-range semi-solid state lidar.
The combination of the two complements each other's shortcomings and is perfect.
Wang Yi's R&D strategy is naturally to abandon the backward mechanical type, directly develop semi-solid state, and simultaneously develop full solid state.
Isn’t it just money?
Wang Yi is willing to give up flowers.
Velodyne's current R&D team has 200 people, so Wang Yi just spent money to recruit 500 people.
There are 300 people working on semi-solid state and 200 people working on full solid state. The two teams are advancing simultaneously.
Why are there more semi-solid people?
Naturally, semi-solid is simpler and easier to produce.
First produce semi-solid state, put it into mass production and achieve profitability, and then focus on full solid state.
Moreover, semi-solid state can be used alone, but full solid state is immature.
Wang Yi clarified the strategic plan: "Ziyan, Spark Project and lidar R&D personnel, recruit as soon as possible. We also recruit semiconductor R&D elites, AI algorithm elites, etc., all at home and abroad!"
"yes!"
After arranging this matter, Wang Yi was about to return to Lin Shu's house when he suddenly stepped back: "By the way, Ziyan, are you recruiting some more people to do short video operations?"
"Short video? What is that?" Jian Ziyan was stunned.
Wang Yi came to his senses. Kuaishou has not yet transformed, and the concept of short videos has not yet appeared.
"Short video is a new social platform that is opposite to the long video platform." Wang Yi said:
"For example, Xingyi Video is a typical long video platform, and the videos on it are each very long. Short videos are just the opposite. For example, if you go to climb the Great Wall and record it for tens of seconds on your Xingyi mobile phone, or
A short video of a few minutes is uploaded to the Internet and shared. This is a short video."
"I understand, it's similar to a short video in Moments."
"Yes, that is also a type of short video." Wang Yixiao said:
"In the future, the pace of life will become faster and faster. Many people will not have the patience to watch those long videos. On the contrary, short videos are a good choice. Watch it for a few seconds, then watch it if you like it. If you don't like it, scroll up and continue watching the next one.
."
Jian Ziyan became interested: "It sounds very interesting, and it's a completely new field. It doesn't exist either in China or abroad."
"That's right, our Xingyi Technology will be the world's first short video company. In this way, the long video will have Xingyi Video, and the short video will be called... Douyin! It will be made into a subsidiary and a brand new S-level business.
Let’s start our A-level business. Recruit people as soon as possible.”
In the previous life, before June 2015, short videos were not very popular. Even after three years of service, Kuaishou only had 100 million users.
But in eight months from June 2015 to February 2016, Kuaishou’s users grew to 300 million!
Similarly, in the next three years, the short videos produced by Wang Yi are not likely to become popular all at once, so they will still be treated as A-level business.
Chatting, which is an instant hit, is an S-level business.
When 4G becomes popular in 2015 and speeds are increased and charges are reduced, short videos will become completely popular.
Before this, 3G network speed could only support 480P short videos, but the traffic was too expensive, so short videos were only suitable for viewing in a wifi environment.
Of course, Wang Yi also has plan B, such as Xingshen Card and Xiaoshen Card’s Xingyi series, which provide free data to promote the development of Douyin.
This year's Xingshen Card Xingyi system has 10G data flow with no speed limit, which is not enough for short videos, but it's fine.
Next year, China Mobile and China Telecom will also launch similar packages, which can roll up the Star God Card 2013 to 20 G with no speed limit.
Starting with 4G in 2014, 3G unlimited speed directional traffic packages can be rolled up to 40G.
By then, it will be enough.
Wang Yi cooperated with China Unicom because China Unicom's 3G was the fastest and easiest to use, several times that of China Mobile's 3G. China Unicom had few users and had a lot of room for negotiation.
If it cooperates with China Mobile, Wang Yi will not have enough say.
What's more, mobile 3G is too slow and even 480P lags.
And with enough directional traffic and 3G network speed, Wang Yi’s Douyin may become popular faster and earlier than Kuaishou in his previous life.
At that time, it will be difficult for our friends and businessmen to follow us.
The simplest thing is that in 2014, the number of Xingyi mobile phones exceeded 300 million, and all of them had built-in Douyin, which means there are 300 million users!
It’s hard for friends and businessmen to pursue you!
"Okay, Chairman, I'll make arrangements right away!" Jian Ziyan responded and started a new busy schedule.
Wang Yi called Wu Shuang and went straight to Lin Shu's house.
We are recruiting people now, registering the company and trademark, and we will be able to form a team next month.
As for the development of the Douyin app, Wang Yi also handed it over to the Meiyou R&D department in Jeju.
That’s right, Wang Yi handed over the development of all confidential apps to Jeju veterans.
These people all started making the Meiyou APP, and Wang Yi personally brought it out. They use it smoothly and with confidence.
There is no way, Kuaishou will transform into short videos in November, Wang Yi can only start in June and launch in August!
Wang Yi doesn’t want to find Kuaishou instead of Xingyi Technology when he searches for the originator of short videos in the future.
As for whether ByteDance will enter the short video industry again after many years?
Wang Yi doesn't care, but it's unlikely.
After all, Xingyi Technology is not a fast player. Kuaishou had a four-year head start, but it couldn’t beat Byte.
However, Xingyi Technology's four-year head start will make ByteDance completely despair and even dare not enter the market!
As for the way to promote Douyin, we still use Changchao push, Xingyi Video, Meiyou APP push, and Xingyi mobile phone built-in push.
In the following days, Jian Ziyan arranged Wang Yi's instructions one by one.
The director of the Human Resources Department of Xingyi Technology Group personally flew the team to the United States and the European Union to start the implementation of the Spark Plan.
As Wang Yi said, poaching big names is expensive and difficult.
But it is much easier and cheaper to recruit top talents who have just graduated from Ivy League schools.
Chapter completed!