Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 119: Chapter 111: The Nascent R&D Team, Purchasing Director Candidate

”President Chen, generally speaking, to optimize the Android system into a more user-friendly mobile OS, you’ll need at least one system architect, four to six framework developers, six to eight application developers, two driver developers, two UI designers, and four to six people for testing and security architecture. You’d have to assemble an R&D team of about twenty people.”

Wang Teng took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and slowly explained.

”How long is the development cycle?”

Chen Yansen asked.

”Nine to twelve months,” Wang Teng replied.

”That’s too slow. If I give you sufficient funding and manpower, what’s the fastest you can get it done?”

Chen Yansen shook his head and pressed on.

”Three months, but we’d need to increase the team to sixty people. And even after the product launches, it will require repeated debugging and revisions.” Wang Teng was taken aback for a moment, but after collecting his thoughts, he gave a new number.

”Draw up a staffing plan. I’ll have HR assemble your team before your official start date.”

Chen Yansen said directly.

”President Chen, in that case, are we still making the FoxTao mobile app?” It finally dawned on Wang Teng that the man’s real goal was to build a phone.

”We’ll build the phone’s OS first. The app can wait. The current mobile devices and network environment aren’t yet sufficient to support FoxTao’s complete transition to mobile.”

Chen Yansen said calmly.

”President Chen, I understand. I’ll start as soon as possible,” Wang Teng said, having made up his mind.

”This area is mostly rural. Our off-campus hires usually rent apartments in the teacher’s block or private housing across from the East Gate. You can ask Xu Dan about it and get a place rented ahead of time.”

Chen Yansen clapped him on the shoulder, reminding him with a smile.

”Thank you, President Chen.” Wang Teng grinned, a newfound respect in his eyes. After all, he had accepted the offer; Chen Yansen was his boss now.

”It’s about time for lunch. Want to see how the food in the Xuyuan cafeteria is?” Chen Yansen suggested with a light laugh.

”I’d be happy to,” Wang Teng readily agreed. ’When the boss is treating, you have to go along, even if it’s just for a boxed meal.’

Chen Yansen called over Wang Zihao, and the three of them headed to the cafeteria together.

During the meal, the conversation between Chen Yansen and Wang Teng naturally drifted to OPPO, Xiaomi, and the development trends of the domestic mobile phone industry.

”Brother Sen, you’re planning to get into the mobile phone industry?” Wang Zihao asked in surprise after listening for a while.

”It’s still in the planning stages. Making phones isn’t that simple. Just keep it to yourself, and don’t go spreading it around the project team,” Chen Yansen said, looking at Wang Zihao.

Xiaomi’s R&D team had over 100 people, and with tech titans like Lin Bing and Li Wanqiang, it still took them more than four months to release the internal beta of MIUI.

Although Wang Teng had declared he could finish in three months, Chen Yansen didn’t hold out much hope. ’I’ll just consider it a personal goal he’s set for himself. We’ll make a preliminary version first and see how it turns out.’

”Badass!” Wang Zihao made a ”666” gesture with his hand.

After the meal, Wang Zihao took Wang Teng back to the Innovation Park. He first checked in with Xu Dan, then took him to look for a place to live.

In Brother Hao’s words, ”We both share the surname Wang, so of course I have to look out for you.”

In reality, Wang Zihao knew full well that Chen Yansen had interviewed many off-campus candidates, but he had only asked Wang Teng to join him for lunch. ’This shows he thinks very highly of him.’

’This Wang Teng will most likely be a core figure at FoxTao in the future. Better to get on his good side now.’

By the time Wang Zihao had helped Wang Teng find an apartment, the two were already as thick as thieves.

Once that was all taken care of, Wang Teng said his goodbyes, ready to head back to Dongguan to process his resignation.

Other than Xu Dan, no one else was aware of Chen Yansen’s moves. Using investor money to fund his own side project didn’t sound particularly ethical, but morality had very little hold on Chen Yansen.

「In the afternoon.」

Chen Yansen walked into Cao Dahua’s office and immediately rented the six startup rooms on the first floor.

”Are you really planning to make phones?” Cao Dahua asked, handing over the keys. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face; he wasn’t confident in Chen Yansen’s decision.

”Of course! I’ve already hired more than a dozen people. We’ll probably fill up these rooms by the end of the month.”

Chen Yansen took the keys but was in no hurry to leave. He plopped down in a chair and started brewing himself a pot of fresh tea.

”You’re hiring so many people from off-campus. To be honest, I’m not sure I can cover for you much longer.”

Cao Dahua pushed up his glasses, his expression troubled.

The six rooms downstairs could hold sixty to seventy workstations. Add that to the dozen or so off-campus hires on the second floor... if anything went wrong, he would definitely be the one to take the fall.

”Can Old Tang handle it?” Chen Yansen glanced at Cao Dahua. Seeing he wasn’t joking, his heart sank. ’It probably won’t be so easy to get the security office to issue access passes this time.’

”Doubtful,” Cao Dahua concluded.

”Don’t tell me I have to move everyone off-campus?” Chen Yansen was annoyed. The rent at the Innovation Park was practically zero. Renting an office building off-campus wasn’t about the cost; it was about the difficulty of monitoring and controlling the R&D progress.

”I’ll go talk to the chancellor tomorrow and do my best to make a case for you,” Cao Dahua replied after a moment’s thought.

”Hmph. If it really comes to that, I’ll just move the project to the nearby Science and Technology Park.”

Chen Yansen said with a shrug.

’If I move FoxTao, how is Tang Qingshan going to use me as his poster child for student entrepreneurship?’

’They’re counting on me to be the main attraction for the student entrepreneurship competition in mid-March.’

”Haha, you’ve really got the chancellor by the throat now,” Cao Dahua laughed, looking pleased with Chen Yansen’s misfortune-turned-advantage. ’Anyway, if Tang Qingshan approves this, and something goes wrong, I won’t be the only one taking the blame.’

”Next, I need to find a reliable procurement director for the supply side. That’s going to be much harder than finding R&D staff.”

Chen Yansen picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and sighed softly.

’In my opinion,’ Chen Yansen thought, ’it’s hard for anyone in procurement not to get greedy once they have access to resources. It’s just a question of how greedy they get.’

’Someone who’s highly capable and doesn’t take kickbacks? Is that person a saint?’

He wasn’t that idealistic. As long as they could get the job done, a little greed was acceptable. ’No point in demanding from others what I can’t even guarantee from myself.’

”I actually have some connections in that area,” Cao Dahua said, picking up his cup with a smug look.

”Are they reliable?”

Chen Yansen put down his teacup and pressed eagerly.

”The Vice President of Procurement at ’Big Pineapple’. He’s been grinding in the mobile phone industry for about a decade. When it comes to electronic component suppliers in the Southeast Region, he knows them all like the back of his hand...”

Cao Dahua explained slowly.

’Big Pineapple?’

’Isn’t that a knock-off phone brand?’

Chen Yansen mused to himself. ’With his connections, he can probably only pull together a low-end supply chain.’

’I want top-quality chips, screens, cameras, motherboards, and batteries. If I were just making knock-offs, I wouldn’t need to waste all this time and money developing a custom OS.’

”What’s with that look, kid? You think he’s not good enough? Fine, find someone yourself then.” Seeing Chen Yansen’s disdainful expression, Cao Dahua turned his head away and went quiet.

”Of course I trust anyone Teacher Cao recommends,” Chen Yansen said with a smile. ”Give me his contact info. I’ll have Xu Dan reach out for an initial chat.”

”That’s more like it. Old Zuo is a straight shooter and gets things done efficiently,” Cao Dahua commented earnestly.

”You’re in the internet circle. How do you know people in the mobile phone industry?” Chen Yansen asked, a curious and puzzled look on his face.

”We were both trying to make it in Shencheng City, and we’re from the same hometown. We met at the chamber of commerce. What’s so strange about that?”

Cao Dahua spread his hands, explaining as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

”You’re wasting your talents here at Xucheng Academy. Why don’t you come over to FoxTao? I could make you a VP,” Chen Yansen teased.

”Don’t mess with me! I made a joke about it last time and you took it seriously? I wouldn’t trade this job of mine even if you offered me half the equity in FoxTao.”

Cao Dahua chuckled, bragging casually.

”Alright, I’m off then. This tea is pretty good. Let me borrow it for a couple of days.”

Without waiting for Cao Dahua’s reply, Chen Yansen grabbed the tea and headed for the door.

”You bastard! I just bought that tea! You freeload and then you steal!”

Cao Dahua yelled indignantly at Chen Yansen’s retreating back.

As if he hadn’t heard a thing, Chen Yansen quickened his pace and was gone in a flash.

Back in Room 206.

Chen Yansen tossed the phone number of the man Cao Dahua recommended to Xu Dan, telling her to make the initial contact and feel out his conditions for leaving his current job.

While the OS was being developed, the work of integrating the supply chain couldn’t stop either.

As for whether to build their own factory or find a contract manufacturer, that was a decision for when they had more capital.

Chen Yansen opened the data backend. It was only 4:30 PM, but the daily active user count had already reached 1.8 million. It looked like they could hit 2 million by the end of the month.

FoxTao’s growth couldn’t be rushed; its current pace already far exceeded Chen Yansen’s expectations.

As long as they continued to make steady progress and didn’t give Mogujie, Meili Shuo, or Taofenba a chance to rise, FoxTao would secure its position as the number one shopping guide platform by holding onto its four main pillars: Super Rebates, 9.9 Deals, Search, and Mall Rebates.

At that point, whether they were negotiating a complete sale or a round of financing, they would be able to maximize their selling price or valuation.

Before leaving for the day, Chen Yansen glanced over at Song Yuncheng. Seeing her still hunched over, revising a proposal, he gave a faint smile and headed downstairs.

She had been incredibly driven to make money lately, busy all day coordinating with channels on major B2C platforms or communicating with brands to implement marketing plans.

’Looking at the way she’s working herself to the bone,’ he thought, ’she must be determined to earn back double the tens of thousands she spent in Yanjing.’

Chen Yansen had just stepped out of the Innovation Park when his phone rang. It was Zhang Yifeng.

The issue was simple: a merchant account managed by Recruiter A had lapsed from the CRM database and was subsequently claimed by Recruiter B.

Now, when the merchant tried to register for a brand event through Recruiter A, they discovered the registration rights were held by Recruiter B. Recruiter A demanded the merchant back, but Recruiter B refused. If he and Yuan Wei hadn’t stepped in, the two would have come to blows.

”Cut the troublemaker’s commission by one percentage point this month. If it happens again, fire him.”

Chen Yansen said decisively after hearing the story.

These recruiters had made some easy money for two months and were already getting arrogant, not even respecting the ’database drop’ rules.

If he didn’t clamp down hard, there was no telling what kind of trouble they’d stir up next.

According to the rules, when a merchant is first entered into the CRM database, registration rights belong to the recruiter who entered them.

If the merchant doesn’t register for a brand event within 21 days, their account drops from the CRM and becomes a public lead that any recruiter can claim.

Therefore, the recruiter who started the fight didn’t have a leg to stand on.

”Understood, Brother Sen. I’ll handle it properly,” Zhang Yifeng promised.

Chen Yansen grunted in acknowledgment and continued toward the cafeteria. Just as he reached a fork in the road, he saw Song Yang holding hands with a long-haired girl, walking in the direction of the East Gate.

”So that kid actually started dating an upperclassman?”

Chen Yansen smiled and muttered to himself.