"Yongluo, what are your current plans?
You are going back to China soon. Do you plan to continue studying at American University or stay at YSU? In other words, what are your future plans? "
Cao Yongluo's exchange at the Santa Barbara campus lasted for one academic year, which meant that after the first half of 1999, he would need to return to China.
During their year at the Santa Barbara campus, Cao Yongluo and Zhou Xin met about once every half a month.
It was already May. After the last exam, Cao Yongluo planned to return to China, so Zhou Xin asked him about his future plans.
Cao Yongluo was a little confused. He was a senior when he returned. The path his family had arranged for him before was to study abroad, and then either stay abroad or go to a central enterprise in the financial field.
In this era, families have their own way. In other words, until twenty years later, financial state-owned enterprise headquarters will receive better treatment than civil servants.
Civil servants who have been admitted to the ministry * committee on their own will be more comfortable if they are sent to local areas to hold positions of real power.
Not to mention that in 1999, those who entered financial enterprises could be promoted through the revolving door of state-owned enterprises and civil servants, and those who exited could obtain shares through the mixed state-owned enterprise reform.
In short, Yanjing people with family backgrounds have too many choices.
The rules of the Chinese system are very flexible. For example, state-owned enterprise cadres can be transferred to civil service positions. This is almost impossible for people without connections, but it is certain for those with connections.
But after coming to America and experiencing the entrepreneurial atmosphere in Silicon Valley, Cao Yongluo didn’t really want to take the path arranged for him by his family. He also wanted to start a business.
“Before, I had always listened to my family’s arrangements, but this time I came to California and after seeing the Internet, I had the idea of living for myself for the first time.
I kind of want to start my own business. "
Zhou Xin asked: "Isn't it great to hear that your family has arranged such a life without any pressure at all?
There are many difficulties in starting a business, but it seems like everything is smooth sailing for me.
But you need to know that entrepreneurs like me are in the minority, and entrepreneurial failure is the norm. "
From the bottom of his heart, Zhou Xin was eager for Cao Yongluo to work with him. After understanding Cao Yongluo's background, he knew how important it was to have such a relationship if he wanted to engage in manufacturing in China.
Why is the manufacturing industry more difficult than the Internet industry? Especially in the early days when the legal system was not sound enough.
Because the Internet industry is concentrated in first-tier cities, and the employees recruited are young people from all over the country, they have been atomized and are relatively easier to manage without organization.
To put it bluntly, there is no relationship, there will be no grouping, and it is easier to exploit.
Why is manufacturing so difficult? Not only because there are more regulatory authorities related to the manufacturing industry, but also because the people who managed the manufacturing industry in the early days of China used their neighbors as a bond and went to work somewhere together, so they had a strong sense of organization.
Management is much more difficult than in the Internet industry.
Therefore, the early private enterprises were mainly township enterprises, and the so-called "strong men" in the townships transformed into township entrepreneurs.
Later, the siphon effect of cities led to the decline of township enterprises.
The migrant worker population brought about by the siphon effect is very difficult to manage. (That’s it, you can’t go any further. This is one of the reasons why early-stage capital will not invest in manufacturing at all.)
At this time, it is not only necessary to have a strong enough relationship to deal with the regulatory authorities, but also a strong enough relationship to manage employees.
Cao Yongluo shook his head and said: "No one has a life without worries.
After coming to America, I got to know some of my classmates. To put it bluntly, power and money here are almost synonymous.
In other words, both money and power can be passed on to future generations.
It doesn't work for us. Our money can be inherited, but power can't.
Both my grandfather and my father are *-level events, which are extremely unlikely events.
So I chose to follow my family's arrangements, and I would work in a department and then retire. Even the main department would not be given to me until I was about to retire.
It is absolutely unacceptable for the higher-ups to have three generations of *-rated people in our family in a row.
Then my descendants will be reduced again, which means that the power will be continuously diluted over time.
But if I choose to start a business, it must be legal and reasonable.
Well, we have known each other for such a long time and you are not jealous of me. I can be more straightforward.
To put it bluntly, it’s okay even if it’s a little unreasonable.
But in terms of wealth, although wealth does not play such a big role in our society, it can be passed down to my descendants stably.
Of course, this is one of my considerations from this perspective.
From a larger perspective, when a company reaches a certain size, the amount of social resources it can leverage is actually equivalent to your level.
And this level is heritable. "
This is also the common thought of people like Cao Yongluo in this era, that is, money is more important than power.
Times determine thinking.
To put it bluntly, Zhou Xin was only in his twenties. He did not travel through time when he was forty or fifty years old. It was difficult for him to understand that the other party, who was only twenty years old, could have such mature thinking.
Zhou Xin originally thought that the other party would say that he wanted to start a business because he saw him starting a business in Silicon Valley and found it challenging and interesting. He did not want to live a conventional life.
Everyone's thinking is not on the same channel at all.
Before Zhou Xin founded Xinxin Technology, he met several so-called second-generation people during financing, but he felt that those people were far behind Cao Yongluo, who was only in his early twenties, in terms of speech and behavior.
“Okay, I completely understand your concerns, but what about immigrating to America?
After immigrating, the wealth from China was gradually transferred here? "
Cao Yongluo shook his head repeatedly, "Forget it, my grandfather has to break my legs."
When I came here to exchange, he repeatedly told me that he would never accept my immigration. If I dared, I would wait to sever ties with my family. "
After Zhou Xin got a general understanding, he asked him: "Have you ever thought about doing things with me?
But my entrepreneurship is in the real industry, not the Internet.
Our products are mainly sold to Europe and the United States, but the product manufacturing will be in China.
It is equivalent to you need to be responsible for the entire product manufacturing, and I am responsible for marketing.
This is a long-term plan and a very ambitious plan. We need to build a global consumer electronics brand.
Of course you need to prove your ability, and we will start with small things. "
Cao Yongluo is very curious. Currently, the only world-class consumer electronics brand in East Asia is Sony.
As a consumer electronics brand, Samsung is far from as well-known as it will be in later generations.
As for China, there are no world-class consumer electronics brands.
Of course, Cao Yongluo’s concept of consumer electronics is not clear enough.
