69novels Chapter 159 Disassembly
Chapter 159 Disassembly
Chapter 159 Disassembly
Zhang Xiaolong's QQ Mail team actually has quite a few R&D personnel, but there are only two core experts like Liao Jun.
If Liao Jun and his key subordinates are indeed poached, it would be a significant blow to Zhang Xiaolong, who is currently working on the QQ Mail project.
Once the straightforward IM product is launched, it will inevitably be more difficult for Zhang Xiaolong to allocate manpower to copy it.
Originally, someone as straightforward as Geng Zhi never intended to use poaching tactics to slow down the opponent's future offensive.
The main problem is that Le Aimin from Tencent didn't know any martial ethics and actually came to try to poach Sun Xiaoguang, Hao Pengxiang, and Xu Youqing from Red Palm Studio, directly trying to undermine the studio!
This made the studio's behind-the-scenes boss, Geng Zhi, very unhappy!
Come and don't go indecent.
At this point, the interview has reached its climax.
Normally, if you want to poach someone, you basically have to appeal to them with [prospects + financial prospects + dreams], and that's what I do too.
But for a technical expert like Liao Jun, it would be easier to convince him if someone could also surpass him in technical skills.
In this respect, Geng Zhi achieved it.
Liao Jun's arrogant demeanor had been subdued by Geng Zhi's series of straightforward technical questions. At the very least, he no longer dared to underestimate Geng Zhi.
After casually showcasing his skills, Geng Zhi's next task was to discuss "dreams" and "financial prospects" with Liao Jun.
Seeing Liao Jun remain silent, Geng Zhi smiled and said, "Mr. Liao, are you worried that I'm lying to you by giving you authority to build a team and framework?"
"No, no, I absolutely trust President Geng and the character of a prominent figure in the industry," Liao Jun quickly shook his head.
"Oh, so you're worried that you're not charming enough to win over your colleague?" Geng Zhi asked again deliberately.
"Well—no, it's just that the department is very busy right now, and I'm worried that poaching a few people might affect the team's project progress. I'm sorry, Ailen."
"Don't worry, Mr. Liao. If a few people leaving can cause Tencent's projects to collapse, then it doesn't deserve to be called an industry giant. Even without Allen, Tencent will still function normally, won't it?"
His straightforward words left Liao Jun speechless for a moment.
But after thinking about it, he realized that it made sense, and finally nodded.
"That's right. There have been so many people who jumped ship from Tencent in recent years, such as Wang Haibing, the founder of Taomee.com; Huang Xiaotao, the co-founder of Digu.com; Chen Yingkui and Wang Xing, the founders of Maizuo.com; and Guo Xin, the founder of Yunzhihui.com."
Geng Zhi rattled off a list of more than a dozen high-profile entrepreneurs who had emerged from Tencent in the past two years, much to Liao Jun's surprise.
"Mr. Geng, you know far more about Tencent's employees than I do."
"Mr. Liao, this is a basic skill for a company founder, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to build Momo, right?" Geng Zhi naturally added another blow, "Besides, I'm almost 22 years old."
Liao Jun:
'
I'm 30 years old already!
Is Mr. Geng deliberately stabbing me in the back?
Liao Jun suddenly felt a lump in his throat, or rather, the feeling of suddenly swallowing a fly.
"Mr. Liao, in terms of seniority, education, and technical skills, Huang Xiaotao of Digu.com, Chen Yingkui of Maizuo.com, and Guo Xin of Yunzhihui are probably not as good as you, right? But look at their current net worth—"
General Manager Liao remained silent.
He knew that the next thing Geng Zhi wanted to say but didn't say was, "Let's see you again."
Seeing that the time was ripe, Geng Zhi pressed his advantage, saying with a very sincere expression, "President Liao, the reason they are so valuable is because they were unwilling to be ordinary, seized the great opportunity, and bravely jumped out of Tencent!"
"Mr. Liao, a wonderful opportunity is now before you. You must cherish it, lest you regret it later!"
"Mr. Liao, we've actually known you for a very long time. Whether it's your technical skills, character, or personal aspirations, you're exactly the kind of person we need!"
Liao Jun is also a straightforward programmer. How could he not be moved when he heard another straightforward programmer say these heartfelt words?
"President Geng—I—" He was touched and suddenly felt a little moved.
But while moved, Liao Jun also felt that this "wonderful opportunity" seemed to be missing something.
He thought about it for a long time before he suddenly realized where the difference lay—
Huang Xiaotao, Chen Yingkui, and Guo Xin are all co-founders of the new company, working for themselves. Liao Jun, on the other hand, is working for General Manager Geng—the difference in their positions is quite significant!
"President Geng, Huang Xiaotao and the others have received a large number of shares in the new company, while I only received 0.5% — isn't that too little?" Liao Jun asked, mustering his courage.
"Mr. Liao, they have a large share because they were involved in the startup from the very beginning, and they invested real money and took on the risks. What about you?" Geng Zhi stared at Liao Jun.
"Uh—" Liao Jun was speechless again.
"To be honest, there's a graduate student on our team who has more equity than you. Why? Because he joined earlier, back when I started my last business."
Geng Zhi paused for a moment, then continued, "If President Liao waits for our next round of financing before joining, then you might not even get 0.1% of the equity."
2
The room fell silent immediately.
Looking back on his eight years of routine work at Tencent, and seeing his colleagues leave to take charge and skyrocket in value, Liao Jun's heart began to stir with ambition.
Although Geng Zhi didn't elaborate much on the new products he just introduced for overseas markets due to confidentiality reasons, one could see his high hopes and confidence in them.
He believes that Gengzhi's proactive approach of avoiding the behemoth QQ and choosing to go overseas to develop IM services was the right one.
Moreover, I happen to be an expert in the IM field, and the entrepreneurial direction is a perfect match for me. If the company can really get an unexpected amount of funding from international capital, the prospects are indeed very good.
The only thing I'm worried about now is the financial prospects.
He hadn't fully figured out whether the treatment Geng Zhigang offered him was a profit or a loss for him.
"Mr. Geng, you've offered me double the salary and a settling-in allowance, which is really good. But considering I still have a lot of stock options at Tencent, I've calculated it out—it doesn't seem like switching jobs is worthwhile."
Geng Zhi felt a tightness in his chest.
He believed that the treatment he gave Liao Jun was already quite good.
Geng Zhi thought to himself: Did I underestimate the generosity of penguins?
Liao Jun had stock options, something Geng Zhi had anticipated long ago.
Another reason he chose to poach talent at this time was the recent sharp drop in Tencent's stock price, which had fallen from a high of HK$170 at the beginning of the year to HK$133 at the moment, and was still declining.
The immediate trigger for the stock price plunge was that a few days earlier, Marponni sold 500 million Penguin shares at HK$102 each due to his involvement in financial derivatives.
This price was far below the market price, which immediately triggered market panic, and funds followed suit by selling off their holdings.
However, Tencent's online gaming business is facing problems such as industry saturation and intensified competition. The market is worried that its high-growth myth is unsustainable and its profitability is weakening, which has contributed to the continuous decline in its stock price.
In addition, at this time, Tencent's price-to-earnings ratio was as high as 40 times, far higher than the price-to-earnings ratios of other game companies which were below 10 times, indicating a lack of safety margin.
In addition, the large number of derivative instruments linked to the penguin's stock price may have tempted institutions to profit by shorting the underlying stock, further exacerbating the stock price decline.
The sharp drop in Tencent's stock price means that the value of Liao Jun's options has also plummeted.
He frowned slightly and quickly asked, "Mr. Liao, now that we've discussed this much, let's be frank. Tell me about your salary structure so we can review it together, shall we?"
Liao Jun nodded.
"Mr. Geng, my monthly salary is 32k, my performance is generally in the top 30%, I have a guaranteed 16 months' salary, and my annual pre-tax salary is 50k+. I can provide proof of my salary."
Geng Zhi nodded directly: "What about the options portion?"
"I have 9 unexercised options, of which 3 are vested and awaiting exercise, and 6 are not vested," Liao Jun stated truthfully.
Straightforward and clear-headed.
Liao Jun's 3 vested stock options can be exercised normally, and it has little to do with whether he leaves Tencent or not. The only downside might be that the stock price is currently low, so exercising the options would result in a slight loss.
The key lies in the 6 unvested options he holds.
"Mr. Liao, what is the strike price of your 6 unvested options?" Geng Zhi asked.
"These 6 options were divided into two batches. The first batch has 1 remaining, with an exercise price of HK$40.5. The second batch of 5 was obtained at the end of last year, with an exercise price of ————"
As Liao Jun finished speaking, a clear look of embarrassment appeared on his face.
Hearing that it was received at the end of last year, Geng Zhi was secretly pleased, but maintained a calm expression and quickly asked, "Mr. Liao, how much was it?"
"Yes—HKD 145.3," Liao Jun whispered.
Geng Zhi almost lost control of his facial expression, so he quickly suppressed his laughter and turned away to get the whiteboard to cover up his smile.
Once he had fully controlled his emotions, Geng Zhi turned to look at Liao Jun.
"Mr. Liao, you're a smart guy, let's analyze this together and quantify it."
Speaking frankly, he first checked the current stock price of Tencent in front of Liao Jun, which was HK$133.5, and then started writing on the whiteboard.
"In terms of cash, you earn 50 yuan a year at Tencent. But if you switch to Mingfan Technology, including a 20 yuan relocation fee, you can earn 120 million yuan in your first year, which is 70 yuan more than at Tencent, right?"
Liao Jun nodded.
Geng Zhi continued, "Okay, let's look at the exercise options. We'll leave the 3 vested options for now; you can exercise them directly."
"Of the 6 vesting options, based on the current shareholding, the pre-tax profit for the first batch of 1 shares is (133.5—
40.5)*1 shares = HK$93.3. "
"The pre-tax profit of the second batch of 5 shares—your exercise price was HK$145.3, but now you can only sell it for HK$133.5, which is negative—you certainly won't exercise the option, right? This part is worth 0 yuan."
Liao Jun's face looked very grim.
"So, all things considered, the value of Mr. Liao's forfeited Penguin options is only HK$93.3, right?" Geng Zhi asked earnestly.
"President Geng is right—" Liao Jun pursed his lips.
"Okay, let's look at the value of the 0.5% stock option you received in Mingfan Technology." Geng Zhi continued writing on the whiteboard as he spoke, "Mingfan Technology's Series A valuation was $3000 million USD. Considering the current growth rate, the current valuation is $5000 million USD. Not high, right?"
Although Liao Jun didn't quite understand valuation logic, he intuitively felt that he was right.
He nodded and did not object.
"Okay, then our Series B funding round is coming soon, and it's a sure thing that our post-investment valuation will exceed $1.5 million. Let's estimate it for you based on the minimum of $1.5 million."
As he spoke frankly, he continued writing the formula on the whiteboard: "1.5 million * 0.5% = 75 US dollars, which is about 585 million Hong Kong dollars, right?"
'
Liao Jun nodded again.
"Even if Alum Technology is immature, not yet listed, and has poor liquidity, if we discount the value of your options by 3%, it would still be 585 * 0.3 = HK$175.5 million, which is more than Penguin's HK$93.3, right?"
Liao Jun nodded again.
Geng Zhi laughed: "Okay, then the conclusion is obvious. You don't hold more Penguin options than you do with Mingfan Technology. Moreover, Penguin's growth has reached its ceiling. Mr. Liao, how much more do you think Penguin's stock price can rise?"
Before Liao Jun could answer, Geng Zhi preemptively replied, "It won't rise much! Tencent faces fierce competition from NetEase and Shanda in the gaming sector, and market expectations for its high growth have significantly decreased, as evidenced by the recent continuous decline in its stock price. It would be good if it could even rise back to HK$145.3, wouldn't it?"
Liao Jun didn't know much about the stock market, but seeing that Boss Geng spoke so logically, he figured it couldn't be too far off, so he didn't refute him.
"That's right. At Mingfan Technology, you'll earn at least 50 yuan more in salary every year, that's a real sum. Moreover, Mingfan Technology is still experiencing high growth, and the company's valuation could potentially reach 10 billion or even 30 billion US dollars in the future. What do you think, Mr. Liao?"
"Don't keep asking me, I don't know about this either," Liao Jun muttered to himself.
"What General Manager Geng said is probably right." Liao Jun had no choice but to agree.
Geng Zhi nodded in satisfaction; he needed Liao Jun's personal approval.
From a psychological perspective, when the other party is uncertain, getting them to verbally agree with your point of view can subtly strengthen their sense of agreement.
In the following time, Geng Zhi talked to Liao Jun in detail about the company's future plans, the culture of not working overtime, the educational conditions and settlement policies in Shanghai, and so on.
15 minute later.
"Mr. Geng, may I go to your office first?" Liao Jun asked.
Upon hearing this, Geng Zhi's heart skipped a beat. He tactfully pulled out his phone from his pocket and pretended to take a serious look at it.
"Mr. Liao, please wait a moment while I reply to a QQ message."
20 seconds later.
"Mr. Liao, our office explicitly opposes unnecessary overtime, so there's not a single employee upstairs right now except for the secretary."
.
"It's alright, Mr. Geng. I'm just going to check out the office environment, not to see the people," Liao Jun quickly replied.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the office of Mingfan Technology.
Upon receiving Geng Zhi's message, the company secretary, Lü Siyu, immediately clapped her hands and shouted to the R&D team members of the new project, "Everyone, turn off your monitors right now, come with me out of the office, and let's go downstairs to move some things! Hurry!"
The R&D team members who were working overtime looked at each other, but still quickly got up and followed Lü Siyu downstairs from the other side of the corridor.
After seeing Liao Jun off, Geng Zhi immediately dialed Shen Nanpeng's number.