Chapter 331 The first product: AI chip! Chen Yansen: What is Xiaolu Bicycle? It’s called OFO!
Xucheng, Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, Office Building No. 9.
Chen Yansen showed Wu Shengyu around, from the conference room, tea room, office area, all the way to the office on the top floor, and then invited him to sit down and said softly:
"Mr. Wu, today is Saturday, and my colleagues in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are all on vacation. Otherwise, I can introduce Daniel and Zhou Chuangxi to you. I hope that the first product of the chip design department will be an AI chip for smart speakers."
The chip industry chain is extremely complex, from upstream design, manufacturing, packaging and testing to downstream applications, involving tens of thousands of core patents in the fields of chip IP, EDA software, manufacturing equipment and raw materials.
Even with Chen Yansen's ability, he cannot replicate all the design, production and raw material processes by himself.
He needed help and time, and did not attempt to achieve everything overnight.
Of course, mobile phone CPUs, GPUs and RF chips can all be developed simultaneously, but priorities must be considered.
It is best to start with the AI chip required for smart speakers. By simply improving the adaptability of the voice interaction engine and the chip, the performance and experience of the Alexa smart speaker can be further optimized.
Currently, the TI OMAP 3630 processor used in the Alexa smart speaker has problems with high response delay and high power consumption. It is also unable to run the full version of the acoustic model algorithm and lacks performance in noise reduction and echo cancellation.
In addition, it has a fatal flaw: it is too expensive!
Both LG P970 and HTC Tianxi phones are equipped with this chip, which is not specially designed for smart speaker products. The purchase price of a single chip is as high as 19 US dollars, which is also the main reason why the material cost of Alexa remains high.
A single chip accounts for one-third of the total cost.
"AI chip? Mr. Chen, do you mean to integrate NPU (embedded neural network processor) and DSP (digital signal processor) into the same chip?"
Wu Shengyu was experienced and quickly understood Chen Yansen's general idea.
"The chip architecture also needs to be adjusted to focus computing power on voice interaction tasks to improve the efficiency of voice recognition, natural language processing and voice generation functions. At the same time, an independent power management module is used to reduce energy consumption and extend the battery life of the speaker."
Chen Yansen nodded slightly and added.
As a general-purpose chip, the TI OMAP 3630 processor is simply unable to fully utilize the full power of the Alexa voice interaction engine technology.
A dedicated AI chip can integrate multiple modules such as CPU, NPU, DSP, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications, audio codec, etc., replacing the existing multi-chip combination design, which can reduce material costs by at least 50%.
In addition, Xiaomi is intensively developing its own intelligent voice interaction engine.
Once Orange Technology and Xiaomi join hands to popularize the concept of smart speakers, a large number of practitioners will join in.
By then, Orange Technology will be able to generate billions of US dollars in revenue each year just from its chip business.
"Okay, Mr. Chen, I understand." Wu Shengyu nodded in response.
Although he had never been involved in similar product design, he judged from experience that it would not be difficult.
“Drink tea!”
Chen Yansen pushed a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of Wu Shengyu, motioning him to help himself.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Wu Shengyu took the teacup, thanked him respectfully, and immediately changed his address. This action represented his recognition of Chen Yansen.
In just over ten minutes of communication, it is not difficult to see that this is a boss who understands technology.
Although the other party is young, he is not the kind of person who is greedy for quick success and reckless expansion. He did not target the mobile phone processor market right away, but chose the Alexa smart speaker, which has already achieved certain results, as his entry point.
On the one hand, it can achieve profitability as soon as possible, and on the other hand, it can avoid direct competition with Qualcomm and Broadcom too early.
"Then I'll call you Old Wu. Get settled in the next two days and report in on Monday."
Chen Yansen picked up the teacup, took a sip and said.
"Boss, my English name is Blake." After hearing the name 'Old Wu', Wu Shengyu felt familiar, but still full of resistance.
"Okay, Lao Wu, I'll go with you to the underground parking lot to choose a car, and then go to the front desk to get the key."
Chen Yansen responded, then stood up and said.
For chip engineers like Wu Shengyu, he had already asked the administrative department to rent a house for them in a high-end commercial district in the city center, and each person was also provided with a car worth about 500,000 yuan.
The job level is equal to that of a supervisor, and the remuneration is on par with that of a director or general manager.
What's more, Wu Shengyu worked for him to earn money, so he won once; he contributed a humanitarian salary to him every month, so he won a second time.
For Chen Yansen, his employees may make a small profit, but he will never lose.
The hundreds of thousands of employees of companies such as Yunsu Express, Orange Mobile Phone Factory, and Kuapao are like power banks, and are the source of energy for his gradual growth.
Okay, Lao Wu?
Wu Shengyu's mouth twitched. Seeing that he could not change Chen Yansen, he had to give up. He followed the new boss and took the elevator to the underground parking lot.
As soon as I stepped in, a row of cars of different colors, models and brands came into view.
Audi A6L, BMW 520Li, Lexus CT200h, BMW X1, and even seven or eight Chevrolet Camaros.
"They are not good cars. When you are promoted to chief scientist, the company will replace them with a 2 million yuan car for you."
Chen Yansen said seriously.
A 2 million RMB car? Wu Shengyu couldn't help but smile bitterly. Qualcomm didn't have such a generous benefit. Besides, can a 2 million RMB car be called a car? Five minutes later, he picked a BMW X1, took the house key handed to him by Chen Yansen, and drove to the city.
After dealing with Wu Shengyu, Chen Yansen returned to the office.
When he took out his mobile phone, a friend verification message popped up. The avatar was a long-haired girl wearing a motorcycle suit. She was about 27 or 28 years old. She was not very pretty, but she had a more heroic and confident temperament than her peers.
Hu Weiyi? Chen Yansen looked at the self-introduction in the application box, raised his eyebrows, and immediately recognized the other party's identity.
The founder of Mobike! But it is 2012, more than two years before Mobike was launched.
Besides, Hu Weiyi's entry into the shared bicycle field was purely a coincidence.
As the CEO of Geek Car magazine, she met Li Bin, the CEO of Yiche.com, when she was helping smart bike designer Chen Tengjiao to make connections and look for angel investors. However, Li Bin refused to invest in the smart bike project.
He said frankly that he wanted to do shared bicycles, and he had even thought of a name for the product: Mobike.
It is the transliteration of Mobike, which is a fusion of mobile and bike, meaning mobile bicycle.
Chen Yansen thought again and realized that under his influence, even Cheng Wei created Didi Bike, so it was not surprising that Hu Weiyi entered the shared bicycle field in advance.
Then he clicked the agree button.
The other side.
Hu Weiyi, who was far away in Hangzhou, was staring at her phone all the time. When she found that Chen Yansen had accepted her friend request, she immediately picked up the phone and greeted him carefully:
"Hello, Mr. Chen. I apologize for bothering you. Regarding the shared bike project, I have prepared a business plan. Can I send it to you first? If it is inconvenient for you to read it, I can introduce it to you over the phone."
Hu Weiyi has a very humble attitude. Her "Geek Car" is just a small vertical magazine whose revenue depends entirely on car brand recharges. It is completely incomparable with Internet giants like Chen Yansen.
She didn't dare to just throw a document over there, as that would be a sign of extremely low emotional intelligence.
In order not to waste Chen Yansen's time, the first message she sent was straightforward and concise, giving the impression of a subordinate reporting to his boss.
This is a smart woman!
Chen Yansen took a look at the text message and said with certainty.
Generally speaking, communicating over the phone would be more efficient, but he has the gift of photographic memory, so of course reading documents is faster.
"Send it to me first."
Hu Weiyi's heart skipped a beat when she saw Chen Yansen's reply, thinking that he was just responding perfunctorily because he had no interest in the shared bike project.
Although she felt disappointed, she did not dare to show it. She could only follow Chen Yansen's topic to ask for his email address and send him the business plan of "Xiaolu Bicycle".
At that time, she didn't know Li Bin yet, so naturally she had no way of knowing the product concept of Mobike.
Half a month ago, she went on a business trip to Yanjing and discovered the existence of Didi Bike at the subway entrance. With her keen business sense, she immediately realized the market potential and commercial value of this shared bicycle APP.
So, as soon as she returned to Hangzhou, she started the "Little Deer Bike" project.
Hu Weiyi knew that the cost of a bicycle was around 200-300 yuan. With the funds she had on hand, she could only purchase a few hundred at most. The rest of the money would be used to develop an APP and hire operation and maintenance and dispatching personnel.
Therefore, seeking angel financing becomes the only way out.
Cheng Weixing, who was doing very well in the online car-hailing market, came into her sight. The two were alumni of Zhejiang University, and relying on this relationship, she was able to get Chen Yansen's personal contact information.
This is the importance of going to college, and going to a good college! For example, the reason why Zhang Xuhao's Ele.me was able to obtain the A round of financing was inseparable from the support of the Jiaotong University alumni circle, because Zhu Xiaohu of Jinsha Venture Capital is also a Jiaotong University graduate.
Deer bike?
Chen Yansen had a strange look on his face, and he realized in his heart that it seemed that Hu Weiyi had not yet hooked up with Li Bin.
Thinking of this, he took the initiative to send a voice invitation to the other party.
Seeing this, Hu Weiyi's heart began to panic and her breathing became rapid. She took a few deep breaths, licked her lips, and then pressed the answer button.
"Hello, Mr. Chen." Hu Weiyi smiled and greeted him.
"How much money do you want?" Chen Yansen asked directly.
"Two million." Hu Weiyi blurted out without thinking much.
Hearing this, Chen Yansen smiled and said, "For 2 million, you used Cheng Weixing's connections? Are you looking down on the CEO of Kuaidi Dache, or are you looking down on Senlian Capital?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, that's not what I meant. I just think that in the early stages of shared bikes, they don't need too much operating capital."
Hu Weiyi smiled and explained immediately.
"How much equity can you get for 2 million?" Chen Yansen asked again.
"20%." Hu Weiyi reported a number carefully.
"Can the valuation reach 10 million based on a business plan alone?" Chen Yansen asked with a smile.
Actually it is possible, but score people.
A year ago, the Pinbei APP was valued at 2 billion US dollars before it was completed; Zhang Yiming's ByteDance was valued at tens of millions without even a decent business plan; Cheng Wei's Didi Bike was also valued at 50 million before it was launched on the market.
As long as you are strong enough, everything will be fine.
However, Hu Weiyi's resume is mainly in the media industry, which is not convincing enough.
"What is Mr. Chen's desired price?" Hu Weiyi frowned slightly and asked tentatively.
"I'll give you 50 million, and you'll be in charge of the project. I'll release 1% of the equity every year, up to 3%."
Chen Yansen said lightly.
The implication was that the position of project leader and up to 3% of the equity would be exchanged for Hu Weiyi's "indenture".
Hu Weiyi was stunned after hearing this. She didn't expect this to be the result.
Working for Chen Yansen?
As soon as this thought came into her mind, Hu Weiyi was moved.
Senlian Capital has more than a dozen holding subsidiaries, and its leading well-known companies include Orange Technology, Pinbei, Jinri Technology, Orange Pay, Kuaipao, Kuaidi Dache, and AutoNavi Maps. The valuation of each company will not be less than 1 billion US dollars.
Although the shareholding ratio is small, the value is higher! It is said that Liao Wei, CEO of Yunsu Express, only holds 2% of the shares, but according to the company's valuation, this part of the shares is worth at least several billion yuan.
Hu Weiyi's face lit up with joy, but after thinking for a while, she still said, "Mr. Chen, but I came to you for investment."
"Didn't I give you money? Not only did I invest in your project, I also invested in you as a person." Chen Yansen said with a chuckle.
Entrepreneurs turn into workers in seconds!
Hu Weiyi wanted to get on board the big ship of Senlian Capital, but didn't want to lose control of the project, so she was hesitant for a while.
"The timing of investing and accepting investment is critical. Yoyo Taxi missed the investment from Penguin and Huaxin, and when it was crushed, it didn't even make a splash. Didi Bike has been online for a month, but you are not the only one eyeing it."
Chen Yansen spoke slowly, with a hint of indifference in his words.
Once capital sets its sights on this piece of cake, shared bicycle software will pop up like mushrooms after a rain.
In his memory, in addition to Mobike and OFO, there are dozens of similar products such as Hello, Xiaolan, Yonganxing, Xiaoming, Xiaobai, Shiguang, Wukong and 9M.
There are many candidates, and Hu Weiyi and Xiaolu Bicycle are not his first choices.
"Mr. Chen, I've thought about it and agree with your proposal." Hu Weiyi understood what Chen Yansen meant. If they missed this opportunity, it would be extremely difficult to communicate again.
You only get one chance, if you don't seize it, it's gone.
"The name of Deer Bike isn't very interesting, let's change it," said Chen Yansen.
"Boss, do you have any suggestions?" Hu Weiyi changed the subject quickly.
"OFO is simple and easy to remember. From the graphic of the words, it looks like a bicycle." Chen Yansen said in a flat tone.
The shared bicycle race is destined to be a big melee.
However, this product can also become a part of Amap's O2O strategy. Although the profit margin is not large, it also has certain ecological value.
Taking into account the humanitarian cause, there is no loss. At worst, we can find a "sucker" to take over in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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