Creating a Tech Empire - Chapter 6: Confronting the Company's Upper Management

Chen Fan? Is he also obsessed with money?

This was just a habit. Xiao Lingshan had dealt with so many junk emails that now, whenever she saw a new product application, she automatically labeled it as such.

Despite her initial reluctance, she clicked on the email. To her surprise, there was no content in the email, not even a greeting. It contained two attachments: one labeled “Product Simulation” and the other “Assembled Toy PowerPoint Presentation.” Quite intriguing.

She downloaded the attachments and first opened the PowerPoint presentation. Upon seeing the content, she felt it was quite professional. There were many technical terms she couldn’t understand. Moreover, there was an image of a yellow sports car assembled from individual bricks, which looked impressive. The content of the presentation was also very detailed.

But, was this a toy?

According to the instructions, each brick had to be assembled by hand until the entire model was complete. It emphasized the sense of accomplishment from building something from scratch, and it claimed that it could not only improve a child’s manual dexterity but also stimulate their imagination. Additionally, the assembled toy could become a collectible item to be displayed at home.

A serious expression appeared on Xiao Lingshan’s cute face for the first time. She then opened the attachment for the product simulation.

The moment she opened the simulation, she witnessed an incredibly shocking scene. The cool yellow sports car rotated slowly, with every detail meticulously rendered, from the patterns on the headlights to the tiny buttons inside the car, the flashing of the car’s lights, and the details on the tire rims. Each detail was portrayed as if it were showcasing a real car.

After completing a full rotation, the sports car astonishingly began to disassemble on its own. A total of 888 bricks scattered like flower petals, only to start reassembling one by one, starting from the first assembly part. The lifelike simulation animation during this process provided Xiao Lingshan with an unparalleled visual impact.

Don’t forget, this was 2002, a time when personal computers were not yet widespread. If you wanted to see this kind of 3D special effect, you had to wait for big Hollywood movies to showcase it.

Xiao Lingshan had seen the movie Titanic, and the visual impact it gave her at the time was intense, but it was nowhere near as shocking as what she was witnessing now.

How did he do it?

This was the question burning in her mind, and it rapidly spread, making her wish she could grab Chen Fan right now and ask him everything to satisfy her curiosity.

“Sister Lin, come over here quickly!” Suppressing her astonishment, Xiao Lingshan called out to Lin Zixun.

“Hmm? What’s going on?” Lin Zixun raised her head, looking puzzled.

“Come over! There’s an amazing new product proposal here.”

Lin Zixun’s eyes lit up, and she quickly got up and walked over.

She then saw the Mercedes-Benz Little Sprite assembled toy car’s simulation on the laptop screen. The process of assembling or disassembling was so cool that it was like witnessing the first time you saw a Transformer transform, with special effects so detailed, down to every component, that it created a top-notch visual experience when disassembling and reassembling the toy in an instant!

After the initial shock, the two of them carefully reviewed the PowerPoint presentation and explanatory demo documents prepared by Chen Fan.

“Whew!” Lin Zixun took a deep breath, and after some thought, she calmly said, “This guy must have spent a lot of time making this.”

Unlike Xiao Lingshan, she understood very well what it took to create such a detailed and delicate assembly toy.

According to the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation, this assembly toy sports car was composed of a total of 888 bricks. How many sets of injection molds would they need to produce? A hundred sets? Considering mass production later on, Lin Zixun knew that a hundred sets might not be nearly enough.

After all, if you wanted to market it, you couldn’t just have one model. You had to give consumers a range of choices, so there should be at least five different models as a minimum requirement.

This would mean more than a hundred sets of molds, even if many of the bricks were the same. These kinds of precise molds had to be manufactured to the highest standards; otherwise, the production of defective products would increase during mass production.

In addition to injection molds, there would be resin raw materials, injection molding machines, packaging assembly lines, and more to consider. And then there was the later stage of advertising and promotion. The initial investment would easily reach tens of millions.

The selling price for this product could be considered between one hundred to one hundred fifty yuan, which already placed it in the mid-to-high-end toy category. They would need to sell at least a hundred thousand sets to recoup the cost.

The risk is too high.

That was the issue Lin Zixun considered in such a short time. To be honest, she didn’t have the audacity to take on such a huge risk.

She knew better than anyone else about the current situation at Shenglin Technology.

Years of consecutive losses had already depleted the company’s foundation. The aging equipment needed investment for replacement, employee benefits needed to catch up, and the transition of technical personnel was underway. At this point, if they made such a big move, and if it succeeded, it would be fine. However, if it failed, the large cash investment upfront without timely returns could make the situation even worse.

“Sister Lin! What are you still thinking about? We must secure this product! I have a feeling that this product will sell like hotcakes!” Xiao Lingshan saw Lin Zixun’s contemplative expression and couldn’t help but feel puzzled. What was there to think about?

“It’s not as simple as you think. How about this, we’ll have a high-level meeting in half an hour. Go inform them, and also bring this product designer to join the meeting.”

“Okay.” Xiao Lingshan nodded and, sensing Lin Zixun’s deep concern, left the office to give her some space.

After Xiao Lingshan left, Lin Zixun hesitated for a moment before making a phone call.

Half an hour later, in the company’s large conference room, the highest-ranking leaders from various departments had all arrived. Most of them were between 40 and 50 years old. However, Chen Fan’s presence seemed somewhat out of place among them. He didn’t seem to care and casually found a seat.

All eyes, intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Chen Fan, filled with curiosity.

Chen Zhuan, who is commonly called as Expert Chen, in particular, frowned at Chen Fan and scolded him, displeased. “Hey, do you know where is this? This is the company’s top-level conference room, the place for the company’s high ranked personnel, not a place where a low level intern can spend his break; a meeting is about to start, get out.”

On the other hand, the head of the design department, Gong Qiusheng, knew that Chen Fan had been called here by the CEO, but he didn’t step in. He just closed his eyes, pretending to rest.

He was also a bit unhappy. This Chen Fan had even neglected to copy him on the new product proposal email. He only found out about it when the CEO’s assistant called for the meeting. With Chen Zhuan giving Chen Fan a talking to, he saw it as an opportunity to teach him a lesson, and he was happy to let it happen.

“Mister Chen. mind your manner, you keep talking about internships and all that. What era is this? Still clinging to feudal thoughts and the whole hierarchy nonsense? Are you the one who paid my salary? If not, just keep silent and stop making a scene.”

Chen Fan didn’t even hesitate and retorted directly. Feeling Chen Zuan to be annoying, the very first thing that he did after arriving was to scold him.

Does it not cross his mind that perhaps, there is a good reason as to why an intern like him is in this room

“You!” Chen Zhuan’s face turned red in anger.

“Gosh, does the term respect mean nothing to the current generation? Are they all as disrespectful as you?” Just at that moment, Production Department’s Director Xue, calmly spoke.

At this moment, giving Chen Zhuan a little favor was a profitable deal. As for offending Chen Fan? There is nothing for him to lose by offending him.

“Heh, you old folks are all like this, you lack the talent to grow, so you use your seniority to suppress those who are better than you.”

Chen Fan understood very well. If everything went smoothly in this meeting today, he could grow without being hindered by the older employee of the Shenglin Company. If it didn’t go well, then that’s too bad, but there was no time to waste; he had to leave the company and find investors.

So, naturally, he wouldn’t play ass licking games with these old folk who can do nothing but bark at each other or toward those weaker than them all day.

“Chen Fan!” Design Department’s Director Gong couldn’t pretend not to have seen it anymore, or else he would also offend someone.

“Director Gong, continue with your sleep, your presence is unneeded here, I’ll wake you up when the meeting is over.”