Chapter 392 Friends (Two in One)

Four institutions.

Zhang Hongli is the Asia-Pacific general manager of Deutsche Bank.

Xu Kaiwei is the chief representative of Goldman Sachs in China.

Connor is the partner of DCM responsible for China business.

Xiong Xiaoge is a pure agent of IDG invited by Fang Zhuo.

Connor, who walked into the meeting room last, knew that Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank still maintained their investment interest, knew that the two companies had the same optimistic wait-and-see attitude as himself, and knew that Xiong Xiaoge represented IDG's strong entry.

Zhang Hongli and Xu Kaiwei each had forward-looking communication with Fang Zhuo, and they should not have exchanged what they had with each other. They knew Connor's investment interest in the project and Xiong Xiaoge represented IDG's strong entry.

Xiong Xiaoge knew the inclinations of the three institutions in the meeting room, knew what Fang Zhuo wanted, and knew that he represented Fang Zhuo's bluffing.

As for Fang Zhuo, he knew what his friends wanted and knew that these industry leaders needed external forces to push them before they could make up their minds.

After all, there was too much money to invest.

In the conference room, there were not only Zhang, Xu, Xiong, Fang, and Connor, but each company brought three or four team members, committed to providing professional opinions on finance, law, etc., and also collecting the latest information for research.

At 9:10 in the morning, with Connor's entry, the fourth investment meeting of the "Ice Drink Plan" began.

Before coming to this meeting, Connor called Zhang Hongli and Xu Kaiwei to listen to their attitudes, but these two calls did not get any useful responses, so he thought that this meeting would be more routine.

Because there was suddenly an IDG, Connor played a little trick when he arrived at Hang Lung Plaza, and timed himself to be the last to enter the conference room.

"Boss Xiong, why did you suddenly bring IDG here?"

Connor greeted Xiong Xiaoge happily. The other party attended the meeting for the first time in the name of a newly established foundation, which was basically a bonus. Unexpectedly, he changed his role not long after.

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said, "Because Mr. Fang's Yike is going to go public, I talked about this with IDG in the United States a few days ago, and by the way, we talked about "Ice Core", and then the United States showed great interest, so I came here."

Connor nodded, it was reasonable.

Fang Zhuo waited until the greetings in the conference room were over, and he tapped the table with his fingers, making two crisp sounds, and reported the progress of the project.

"We are conducting the second round of city inspections. The feedback from Chengdu is also good. The local government is very enthusiastic."

"Moreover, Chengdu's University of Electronic Science and Technology is basically ranked first or second in the field of integrated circuits, and can provide long-term talent output."

"But when it comes to talent, our project needs more mature engineers. This is not something that can be solved by a university. The entire mainland industry is extremely short of relevant talents."

Fang Zhuo looked down at the information: "At present, according to Qiu Ciyun's needs, we have contacted engineers in different positions in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, totaling 63. However, some of the targets have non-compete agreements, which is a bit tricky."

Zhang Hongli said: "Anyway, they jumped from abroad, this part should be easy to solve, just don't make it public."

Fang Zhuo glanced at several investment institutions, saw similar expressions on their faces, and nodded: "Well, it's no big deal to use it secretly. You can use the method of affiliating with colleges and universities to deal with it, but you can experience this risk yourself, don't accuse me of concealing the risk item."

Middle-level engineers are okay, but if the high-level talents poached suddenly have problems at a critical moment, it will definitely cause considerable losses.

Zhang Hongli smiled and said, "You have to do everything you can."

This is what Fang Zhuo said at the first investment meeting. Zhang Hongli understood it very well on behalf of Deutsche Bank.

Fang Zhuo said without comment, "Well, Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor is said to be suffering from heavy losses. I am considering whether I can buy people here in a package."

Buy people in a package?

The meeting room fell into thinking.

Fang Zhuo nodded lightly, "This may require some money. Qiu Ciyun and I will evaluate it later."

The domestic IC industry is really short of people. It is difficult to meet the demand by poaching people alone. Fang Zhuo can cooperate with domestic universities, but this is not something that can be solved in a short time.

Just talking about wafer factories, there are only a few in China, and the engineering team in the entire mainland is estimated to be only tens of thousands of people, which is a very small circle.

And there are only a few universities. For example, the University of Science and Technology of China has not even established a microelectronics college. Jiaotong University has just established a microelectronics college, but it has a liar as the dean.

The talent dilemma must be driven by the will of the upper level, rather than relying on one person or one company to solve it.

Take Singapore for example. The semiconductor industry is one of the two pillar industries of its electronics industry. In order to promote industrial clusters and improve the overall structure, the government has actively intervened and guided.

From planning and evaluation to water, electricity, land acquisition, to personnel recruitment, long-term financial planning, etc., there is a series of complete assistance, which makes Singapore the most successful country in the development of multinational companies in the semiconductor field.

Moreover, Singapore also deliberately promotes the localization of the semiconductor industry and has a fairly mature industrial chain environment.

Although the national conditions of China and Singapore are different, there are still many successful experiences that can be learned.

Fang Zhuo is willing to promote this reference and is willing to bring this reference action to the table as a bargaining chip. He does not need to consider the entire national industrial situation now, as long as he solves his own problems first.

"The recent public opinion about our project has been very good. I was interviewed by CCTV two days ago." He took a sip of tea and said, "I have talked to the leaders of the Ministry of Information Industry through my connections. When the project is completed, we should be able to get some favorable policies from above."

Fang Zhuo continued: "I will go to Beijing around the end of this month to have a face-to-face report and strive for it."

Several people digested the new news. Zhang Hongli's eyes flashed, Xu Kaiwei nodded slightly, and Connor was thoughtful.

At this time, Xiong Xiaoge spoke up: "In that case, we must at least make the investment framework before the end of the month. The better the policy we can get, the greater benefits we can reap in the future."

Connor pondered. He didn't think there was anything wrong with asking the leaders for policies. On the contrary, he was happy to see it happen.

Whether it was policies, state-owned assets, or the revitalization of industries, no matter what it was, as long as it could make money, it didn't matter.

He just felt that the time was a bit urgent. DCM wanted to expand its business in China. This time, it was basically certain that it would invest in SMIC. Bingxin was also optimistic about it. However, handling two large investments at the same time required various internal procedures to be confirmed.

Today is the 4th, and it will be about three weeks by the end of the month.

Connor coughed and prepared to express his opinion.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Hongli of Deutsche Bank across from him immediately said, "Yes, we should speed up the process. We have no problem. I can make the decision on this."

Connor closed his mouth and considered the wording.

Before the DCM partner could think of what to say, Xu Kaiwei of Goldman Sachs next to him also agreed, "Policies have to find the right time to avoid unexpected changes. We had a painful lesson in France before, and I have no problem here."

Hearing this, Connor felt that he might be a little conservative.

Xiong Xiaoge has a loud voice. He took a sip of water and laughed: "Hahaha, everyone is fine. Of course, we at IDG are fine too. Although I have only attended one meeting on behalf of IDG, I have confidence in Bingxin."

Connor thought about it and felt that he was a little conservative. He thought that the internal process could be accelerated.

The partner and senior vice president of DCM said immediately: "Well, our DCM process is simple. As long as the project is fine, there will be no problem in this regard."

After he said this, others drank tea and put away documents, and Fang Zhuo immediately moved on to the next topic.

"Then let me talk about the 10% of the option pool. Regarding this, I have to say that this is the bottom line. If Bingxin wants to have long-term development, it must have top talents to join."

Xu Kaiwei smiled and said, "Isn't Mr. Qiu top enough?"

"Mr. Qiu is a president, and the technology drive of the wafer factory needs a top technical director." Fang Zhuo said without hesitation, "For example, Hu Zhengming."

Qiu Ciyun can combine a group of engineers and a bunch of equipment to form production capacity, but it may not be easy to continue to let the process technology climb to a higher level.

For example, Hu Zhengming of TSMC not only knows more advanced technology, he can also continue to study and break through at this level.

The technology drive of the wafer factory is that once you have better technology, you can immediately defeat your competitors, which is an effect that even money cannot produce.

Xu Kaiwei was speechless. Hu Zhengming can indeed be a technical director, but there are probably not many such examples.

He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Connor. Investment institutions are in a trench at this time. His psychological price is 5%. He always feels that the 10% mentioned by Mr. Fang can be negotiated.

Connor did not say anything and looked at Zhang Hongli.

Zhang Hongli said with approval: "That makes sense. 10% is fine."

Connor was stunned, and Xu Kaiwei was stunned.

Xiong Xiaoge was a little unsure of the situation, so he chose to stabilize his superficial identity first: "We can talk about it again. The value of 10% is indeed very high. The salary and benefits can be increased. After all, options still need time to be cashed in. Salary is the most direct."

Fang Zhuo glanced at Lao Xiong unhappily, and his tone became a little cold: "You people don't understand the importance of technology at all. I said 20%, you objected, okay, 15%, 12%, now it's 10%, and you still want to reduce it? Do you want to make it a project or mess with my mentality?"

The young president became more and more angry as he spoke, He said to Xiong Xiaoge: "If IDG is not willing, then there is no need to be here today. President Xiong, I said, this is the bottom line! If you IDG can't negotiate, don't negotiate!"

Xiong Xiaoge: "..."

Liao Yu, the project director who came with Xiong Xiaoge, was quite dissatisfied with "the master humiliated the minister and died", and said: "President Fang, are you a little too much? Isn't this how project negotiations are done? What's there to lose your temper about?"

Fang Zhuo said without even looking at him: "You have the right to speak? Who are you?"

Liao Yu blushed and stood up.

Fang Zhuo then looked at Liao Yu who stood up and frowned: "Get out."

Liao Yu regretted it the moment he stood up. At this time, he felt the different eyes in the meeting room and didn't know what to do for a while.

Xiong Xiaoge said: "President Liao, go outside and smoke a cigarette."

Liao Yu walked out of the meeting room without saying a word.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was a little frozen.

Fang Zhuo emphasized his bottom line through his attitude towards IDG. Xiong Xiaoge of IDG seemed willing to continue negotiating for 10%, while Zhang Hongli of Deutsche Bank had already expressed his position.

The remaining two Goldman Sachs investors, Xu Kaiwei and DCM Connor, were silently pondering the option pool that had been discussed four times.

This number was reduced to 10%, which means that it is worth $110 million at this stage, and once the ice core develops well, the value will be further increased.

This is basically equivalent to adding an investment institution for nothing, which is really too much.

Xu Kaiwei thought about it and thought that this was much better than adding two investment institutions before.

He still felt that the 10% option pool was a bit high, but looking at the persistence of the young president...

If an investor does not believe in the vision of the project leader, what else should he invest in?

Xu Kaiwei broke the silence and slowly said: "Mr. Fang said that we don't understand technology, as if Mr. Fang is already an expert."

Connor was delighted and felt that Goldman Sachs was being sarcastic, so he was ready to help him smooth things over.

Xu Kaiwei continued, "However, even if Mr. Fang is not an expert in the traditional sense, through this period of contact, I also believe in Mr. Fang's judgment. Reducing from 20% to 10% is enough. I just hope there will be more experts like Hu Zhengming."

Connor exhaled, first suppressing and then praising, what is this Goldman Sachs doing?

Xu Kaiwei finally asked, "Is there any hope that Hu Zhengming will really join Bingxin?"

"Whether he joins or not, as long as he comes to USTC, it can play a role." Fang Zhuo said this first, and then said, "Except for equity, I don't know how to attract an absolute expert at TSMC and a doctoral supervisor and professor at the University of California. If you have a method, I am happy to implement it."

In terms of reputation, he is world-renowned and has been immersed in the semiconductor industry for decades.

In terms of work, he has just defeated Intel head-on with his own doctoral students.

In terms of money, he has long achieved personal wealth freedom.

At present, Fang Zhuo can only let USTC give more reputation and Bingxin give more money in the hope of impressing this technical authority.

Even so, Fang Zhuo does not have the initiative - he can give anything, is it precious? No, the question is whether he is willing to take it.

It is gratifying that Hu Zhengming is willing to accept the invitation of USTC for academic exchange, which proves that it is still effective to some extent.

Connor listened to these words and tasted them. They do make sense.

He was somewhat convinced, not only by Fang Zhuo's tough attitude, but also by the statements of his peers, and even more convinced by the inability to come up with a better method.

Keep it simple, make complicated things simpler, they have the technology, that's it.

"Well, we DCM agree in principle to this option pool."

Connor gave the final statement.

Fang Zhuo's face softened a little, this is a good friend.