Chapter 76 Get In, President Su
Su Yuanshan almost laughed out loud. Among the three founders of 3DFX, the only one he clearly remembered was Scott — the man who not only co-founded the company but also later announced its bankruptcy. A man who truly saw things through from beginning to end.
Seeing Su Yuanshan's expression, Xi Xiaoding asked curiously, "I thought you were planning to collaborate with SGI. Are you planning to poach talent instead?"
"Yeah!" Su Yuanshan took a deep breath, ready to ask Xi Xiaoding to help him make contact, but then paused and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Senior Brother, how fast can you poach Scott and his colleagues?" Su Yuanshan asked with a smile.
Without hesitation, Xi Xiaoding nodded: "Shouldn't be hard. I've heard Scott mention that his new boss seems intent on pushing him into audio work."
Hearing Xi Xiaoding respond so casually, Su Yuanshan breathed a sigh of relief. For a long time, he had held a somewhat stereotypical view of Xi Xiaoding — thinking of him as the aloof, textbook-case genius type who was too proud and naive for worldly matters. So much so that he had intentionally limited Xi Xiaoding's responsibilities to purely technical tasks when founding Xinghai in Silicon Valley — even assigning two assistants to help him manage daily affairs.
It seemed he had been wrong. If Xi Xiaoding really were the type to live in isolation with no social skills, how could they have gotten along so well all this time?
"Once we have them, let's put them straight to work on display chips," Su Yuanshan continued. "Sony will definitely approach us for collaboration. The more prepared we are, the stronger our bargaining position will be. Once the collaboration is secured, we can start working on full-fledged graphics cards."
"No problem," Xi Xiaoding agreed. "Besides, in Silicon Valley, job-hopping is nothing. We've already had a few people leave Xinghai this past half year — although I suspect some of them were commercial spies."
Su Yuanshan burst out laughing.
Ever since coming to Silicon Valley, Xi Xiaoding, as the technical director of Yuanchip's EDA project, hadn't touched a single line of source code — precisely to guard against corporate espionage.
Carly showed up earlier than Su Yuanshan had anticipated. When Su Yuanshan first invited her, she hadn't asked for specifics about the cordless phone project — perhaps out of caution — and merely speculated. She was curious to see what kind of new product Yuanchip would unveil at the exhibition.
But once the cordless phone specifications and technical documents reached Silicon Valley, Carly immediately realized she needed to act fast.
No one knew better than her, after spending over a decade at AT&T, just how transformative the cordless phone market could be. And no one was better suited to promote Yuanchip's product than her — or so she firmly believed.
...
Inside a café, Su Yuanshan signed his name on an employment contract with a flourish, using a steel-nibbed fountain pen.
"Ms. Carly, when it comes to the telephone industry, you are far more professional than any of us. So, the entire cordless phone division will be yours to build and manage. I won't interfere," Su Yuanshan said as he dried the ink, pushed the contract and pen toward Carly, and smiled. "But I'm curious — why are you insisting on building a factory? My original plan was only to license IP."
Carly held the pen thoughtfully for a few seconds before answering: "You know about the seven Baby Bells that were spun off from AT&T, right?"
"Yes," Su Yuanshan nodded.
"Over all these years, only the Baby Bells that controlled both technology and market access have done well. The others... not so much," Carly said as she quickly signed her name. "Plus, cordless phones will have a long-term market. If you can dominate more than half the market, you can treat it like a pension fund."
Su Yuanshan was left speechless but didn't argue. After all, not everyone could foresee the upcoming explosion of the mobile phone market and the mobile internet revolution that would soon propel the Third Industrial Revolution to new heights.
Besides, Carly wasn't entirely wrong. Landline telephones still had a significant market in the West. Unlike in China, where mobile phones would soon leapfrog over landlines altogether, here the wired phone would remain a household staple for a long time.
Of course, that also meant the money would come in much more slowly.
Carly looked up, her eyes full of sincerity: "Also, owning physical products is a necessary step for a company to grow into a major corporation. Licensing might be easier and more profitable in the short term, but from a government perspective, it doesn't carry as much weight — unless your technology is truly revolutionary, like Yuanchip's EDA."
Su Yuanshan thought about it, then smiled and nodded, acknowledging her point.
"So, I'll work hard to promote EDA in the universities here," Carly continued, pausing slightly. "But without a Silicon Valley base, it may not go as smoothly as we hope. Still, as long as Yuanchip maintains its technical advantage, everything will be fine... after all, science knows no borders."
"I agree with the first half of that sentence," Su Yuanshan said with a chuckle.
Carly blinked, then laughed gently.
After the exhibition ended, Carly officially took office. She spent one day familiarizing herself with Xinghai's organizational structure and by the next day had already submitted a hiring plan. Once Yang Yiwen arranged recruitment efforts, Carly immediately started dragging Qin Si all over town for negotiations, showing everyone just how fast and aggressive she could be.
Su Yuanshan, true to his word, stayed completely out of her way. Carly, for her part, respected the existing arrangements — even expressing strong support for the newly established display chip team led by Scott and the others that Xi Xiaoding had poached.
After all, Su Yuanshan wasn't just any businessman. Carly knew she had to trust his vision while also proving her own capabilities.
...
Five days later, at the provincial airport.
Dragging his suitcase behind him, Su Yuanshan stepped out of the terminal and immediately spotted Chen Jing standing at the entrance, looking relaxed in a light yellow tracksuit, jeans, and sneakers.
Today she looked casual and fresh, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail — not the carefully styled updo she had worn before. She looked every bit like a vibrant college student, full of youthful energy.
"You came to pick me up? Where's Uncle Zhang?"
As Su Yuanshan walked toward the parking lot, Chen Jing veered off toward a shiny new car — a brand-new Mercedes W140, the famous "Tiger Head Benz."
"Over here," Chen Jing said, jingling the car keys.
Su Yuanshan stared at the brand-new Mercedes, stunned: "You drove it over?"
"I had your uncle buy it," Chen Jing said, tossing her hair as she opened the driver's door. "It's the first W140 in the provincial capital — had to pull a lot of strings to get it. A big company like Yuanchip with no company car, and the boss rides a bicycle to work? When the Japanese come over, what, are you planning to have them take a taxi?"
Su Yuanshan was half laughing, half crying: "But wouldn't buying a Mercedes irritate the Japanese? Wouldn't it be better to get a Japanese car?"
"That's exactly the point," Chen Jing said, rolling down the window and flashing him a beautiful sideways glance. "Let them know — we don't intend to cater to them."
"Get in, President Su."
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