madnovel Chapter 143 Qi Chu Qin Let Go
Chapter 143 Qi Chu Qin Let Go
Chapter 143 Qi Chu Qin Let Go (7k)
The air in Qi Chuqin's office seemed to freeze.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over the several doctoral students with their heads bowed, and said calmly, "Why did I hire him?"
"He's busy with his startup all day, does he have time for my project?"
"After he arrives, will he try to recruit all my graduate students to his company so they can work for him?"
He paused, his voice remaining calm: "Are you still going to do my research project?"
"In the end, will I, as his mentor, also have to work for his honesty?"
Qi Chuqin questioned him one after another, and the anger he had been holding in for so long finally burst out, making him feel a sense of relief.
To deal with these disobedient students, you have to use the stick first, then the carrot!
Wang Lei had initially wanted to offer a few words of explanation for Geng Zhi, but upon hearing the boss's last sentence, he immediately shut his mouth and dared not say another word. Those words were too harsh; he couldn't handle them.
Seeing that his boss's face remained calm and expressionless, Lü Sifeng felt increasingly uneasy.
If the boss flies into a rage, slams his fist on the table, and yells at people, then after he vents his anger, Junior Brother Geng will at most get a few scoldings, apologize, and explain himself, and perhaps the matter will be over.
After all, swearing means that emotions have been released.
But the boss's calm and expressionless face was the most frightening thing. It meant that the boss was truly furious at this moment; his grief was so profound that his heart was dead, hence his calm.
No, I still have to explain for Junior Brother Geng, even if I get scolded!
For Junior Brother Geng, and for myself.
Last time in Beijing, my junior brother even said he wanted me to be his own boss and go back to my old profession, as he wanted to invest. If we lose our brotherhood as fellow disciples, will our relationship fade over time?
If I can't get investment from my junior brother Geng, and if he doesn't guide me in starting a business, how can I be my own boss?
Thinking of this, Lü Sifeng's mind raced, recalling how his junior brother Geng had fabricated stories and fooled investors.
Those rhetoric, those logics, those skills to turn black into white—now is the time to put them to use.
After a silence of more than ten seconds, Lü Sifeng looked up at Qi Chuqin, took a deep breath, and began to explain cleverly.
"Professor Qi, actually, before my junior brother Geng started his second business, he specifically talked to me. He said he wanted to try to find the best application scenario for our Qi family's most professional LBS and map navigation technology, so that he could put his knowledge into practice."
Qi Chuqin's brow twitched almost imperceptibly, but Lü Sifeng didn't notice. He continued explaining, "My junior colleague previously worked as a matchmaker at Jiaotong University and wanted to use his experience to combine LBS with the dating and marriage field. Using technology to solve practical problems—isn't that exactly what our lab has always advocated?"
He paused, then changed the subject: "But Professor Qi, as you know, later, Junior Brother Geng was unfortunately kicked out and signed a non-compete agreement, which prevented him from working in the dating industry. That's why he chose to create this stranger social networking product, Momo APP."
In his explanation, Lü Sifeng deliberately added the scene of [Geng Zhi being kicked out], intending to try to garner some sympathy for Geng Zhi.
But to Qi Chuqin, it was a completely different story.
Only then did he realize that Geng Zhi's previous statement about "voluntarily cashing out and withdrawing his shares for the sake of his studies" was a lie; he had actually been kicked out of the company!
This guy!
Qi Chuqin's previously relieved mood was once again flared up with anger. While feeling sympathy for Geng Zhi, he also cursed him fiercely in his heart.
Lu Sifeng noticed the change in Qi Chuqin's expression, his brows furrowing and relaxing slightly. Thinking that his attempt to gain sympathy had worked, he was delighted and continued to explain, "Junior Brother Geng said that combining LBS with social networks can help study the relationship between human mobility patterns and social behavior. This is a cutting-edge field that is being explored both domestically and internationally."
He spoke more and more fluently, and his logic became clearer and clearer: "If we can eventually achieve millions or tens of millions of real daily active users and real-time data, it will be of great benefit to our Qi Family Army's academic research."
Upon hearing this, Wang Lei immediately chimed in, "Junior Brother Geng's idea is excellent. If we can truly use real-world data for research, it will be far more valuable than laboratory simulation data! The weight of those published papers will be completely different."
Qi Chuqin thought to himself: Just how much benefit has his integrity given you all to make you speak up for him?
I've never seen you guys this proactive when working on projects.
"Wang Lei is right, Professor Qi," Lü Sifeng chimed in. "This way, we can test some of our theories on Momo. I've been thinking about a problem related to location drift recently."
Lu Sifeng then listed out the real problems Momo is currently facing, such as inaccurate positioning, refresh delays, and abnormal data synchronization, in an attempt to resonate with his mentor and even guide him to join the discussion.
But Qi Chuqin's expression remained serious, and he did not respond.
In fact, he himself had already become aware of the location drift issue this morning when he was using the Momo app.
Positioning drift is a common problem in the industry, which is related to satellite signal reflection, poor satellite geometry, chip precision, atmospheric effects, etc.
It is related to many factors, such as scrambling by civilian GPS.
He had already come up with some optimization solutions:
At the algorithm level, Kalman filtering can be used to smooth data; AGPS-assisted positioning can speed up the initial positioning process; base station + GPS fusion positioning can improve indoor accuracy; GPS parameter optimization can reduce drift amplitude.
Lu Sifeng glanced at his mentor's eyes again, and seeing that his previous remarks still didn't seem to have much effect, he began to panic.
He gritted his teeth and continued making things up: "Furthermore, Junior Brother Geng also said that some of the patented technologies his company has applied for will be made available to our lab to provide real-world data for future students, helping them with their thesis writing. And I plan to cite them in my thesis as well—"
After Lu Sifeng finished speaking, his heart was pounding.
He didn't know if his junior colleague Geng was truly willing to open up some of the patents to the lab. But he still brought it up, at least to get Geng Zhi past the boss's hurdle first.
He felt that once Geng Zhi truly joined the sect, Qi Chuqin, being such a kind person, would definitely not kick him out again.
Qi Chuqin was quite satisfied at this moment, but he remained silent.
He wanted to see what his usually quiet eldest disciple could say.
Seeing that he had used every trick in the book, and the boss still didn't seem to have forgiven Junior Brother Geng, Lü Sifeng took a deep breath, steeled his resolve, and began to take the blame: "Professor Qi, Junior Brother Geng originally wanted to report to you, but I stopped him. I suggested that he not tell you yet, to avoid embarrassing himself. He could report to you after the results were in, so—"
Qi Chuqin's brows twitched slightly, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, his tone tinged with amusement: "Xiao Lü, it seems you've made quite a bit of progress working with Xiao Geng these past few days, and you've even learned a lot of his essential skills!"
Upon hearing this, Lü Sifeng assumed his boss was praising him, so he quickly waved his hand and became modest: "No, no, Professor Qi, in business, I've only learned one percent of what Junior Brother Geng has learned. I'm far from it, far from it."
"I mean in terms of persuasive skills," Qi Chuqin added unhurriedly.
Lü Sifeng:
Wang Lei and three other doctoral students:
Lu Sifeng suddenly felt a burning sensation on his face.
Qi Chuqin chuckled inwardly at Lü Sifeng's discomfitured expression, but maintained a serious demeanor on the surface.
He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and suddenly asked, "How much internship salary did Xiao Geng pay you?"
"Tell the truth!" he added immediately, his eyes piercing.
"He gave Haitang and Song Qing two raises."
This time, Lü Sifeng dared not make things up again and gave a serious and earnest report: "When she was at [Jiaotong University Matchmaker], Haitang's monthly salary was 1500 yuan at first, and later it increased to 3000 yuan. After she came to Momo, her daily salary increased to 450 yuan."
Upon hearing this, Qi Chuqin's face darkened noticeably.
That kind of black, how to describe it, is a black that is a mixture of surprise, joy, guilt, and anger.
Surprisingly, the salary offered by Gengzhi is really high, especially for a startup company!
My happiness stems purely from the high incomes of my students.
Feeling guilty, he realized that Xiao Geng was paying him such a high salary, while he was giving his students such a small stipend, and he felt a little embarrassed.
Getting angry makes you feel like you're exploiting students when you're not!
Lu Sifeng didn't notice the change in his boss's expression. He kept his head down and recalled carefully as he continued, "Song Qing's monthly salary increased from 1500 yuan to 4000 yuan, and now his daily wage is 500 yuan."
He finally raised his head, about to introduce his salary, but Qi Chuqin interrupted him with a dark face: "Alright, alright, no need to go into details."
Xiao Huang and Xiao Song already earn such high salaries, so Xiao Lü's must be even higher! No wonder everyone is scrambling to work for Xiao Geng and speak well of him!
If we let Xiao Lü continue, what if the other PhDs also go to Xiao Geng's place?
Thinking of this, Qi Chuqin glared fiercely at Wang Lei and the other four PhDs for no apparent reason, giving them a warning.
Qi Chuqin began to speak earnestly: "Xiao Lü, I am very pleased that you are able to apply what you have learned to commercial products and even earn some pocket money."
He then changed the subject: "However, for doctoral studies, academic research ability is even more important. You need to have a long-term vision and connect it with your personal career plan. The national-level projects you've been awarded can serve as a guarantee for your future —"
Qi Chuqin gave Lü Sifeng, Wang Lei, and the other three PhDs some pointers on the big picture, and concluded by saying, "Xiao Geng is a business prodigy, and the company is doing really well."
"Song Qing and Haitang are about to start their third year of graduate school. Starting a business with Xiao Geng will help them with their future campus recruitment. Moreover, they are already deeply involved. Letting them withdraw now would be detrimental to Xiao Geng's project, so I will no longer interfere with them."
Upon hearing this, Lü Sifeng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's from Tsinghua University, and he's only a first-year graduate student. His professors have a lot of projects, so theoretically he shouldn't be allowed to work for Xiao Geng."
But—let him choose for himself.
Lu Sifeng was taken aback when he heard this, thinking to himself: Tsinghua University didn't have Geng's internship!
Qi Chuqin stared at Lü Sifeng: "Xiao Lü, you're not far from graduating with your doctorate. Your teachers won't interfere with your future. Just think it through yourself."
"Okay, thank you, Professor Qi!" Lü Sifeng nodded hurriedly, feeling a sudden surge of emotion.
Qi Chuqin then turned to Wang Lei and the other three PhDs, and said in a deep voice, "Those who have already participated in Xiao Geng's project, let them be. But those of you who haven't participated yet, whether you're PhDs or Masters students, none of you are allowed to secretly get involved during your studies!"
"If I find out, the consequences will be severe, very severe! Do you understand?"
Wang Lei and others: "Understood!"
"Okay, starting next month, I'll increase your stipends as doctoral and master's students," Qi Chuqin said.
"Thank you, Professor Qi!"
"Also, I do have some solutions for positioning drift. Xiao Lü, ask Xiao Geng. If he's interested, you can invite him and Song Qing to come over and discuss it with me," Qi Chuqin concluded.
"Ah! Thank you, Professor Qi! I'll tell Junior Brother Geng right away!" Lü Sifeng was overjoyed.
Qi Chuqin didn't say anything more and waved for the others to leave.
After closing the office door, Qi Chuqin smiled slightly, then shook his head and muttered to himself: From now on, I will never recruit graduate students with entrepreneurial ideas again!
As they left Qi Chuqin's office, Wang Lei suddenly slapped Lü Sifeng on the shoulder: "Lü Bo, weren't you usually not good with words? How come you've suddenly become so clear-headed and have such a broad perspective!"
"Is there?" Lu Sifeng asked back.
"Yes, Lu Bo, your eloquent speech just now really surprised us!" said another PhD, Zhou Zedong.
"Well, that's probably because I've been hanging out with Junior Brother Geng for so long." Lu Sifeng's lips unconsciously curled up.
"Lu Bo, I'm also a little tempted. I also want to improve," Wang Lei suddenly remarked.
Upon hearing this, Lü Sifeng pondered for a moment before reacting and comforting him, "Wang Bo, Junior Brother Geng's project may not be suitable for you."
-
Besides, if you really want to join, you can go after graduation anyway.
Wang Lei sighed and changed the subject: "By the way, why did the boss just conclude that Tsinghua University graduates also work for Junior Brother Geng?"
""
"I don't know either, I guessed it." Lü Sifeng shook his head.
"Although Tsinghua has been coming to the lab often lately, he always has dark circles under his eyes. Could it be that Tsinghua is really working for someone else, but not for Junior Brother Geng?" Zhou Zedong guessed.
"Or perhaps, like Junior Brother Geng, he's starting his own business?"
The science and technology innovation park outside the Jiaotong University campus.
Zhang Qinghua and Wang Yuan discussed Ele.me's business as they walked toward the restroom.
As Zhang Qinghua approached the bathroom door, he saw a familiar figure. Suddenly, he squatted down and pretended to tie his shoelaces.
"Your shoelaces aren't undone, what are you doing tying them like that?" Wang Yuan looked at Zhang Qinghua, who was half-tying his shoelaces, with a speechless expression.
"Shh!" Zhang Qinghua quickly gestured.
Wang Yuan suddenly understood, and only after the person in front of him entered the office did he ask, "Do you know that person?"
-
"He's my senior, Song Qing! I can't let him know I'm working for Ele.me. I've been keeping it a secret from everyone in the lab."
"Oh. So he's interning here?" Wang Yuan asked.
"Oh yeah, could it be that Gengzhi's company is here too?" Zhang Qinghua asked, puzzled. "But isn't their company in the startup park on campus?"
"Ah? This is Boss Geng's company, hahaha, what a coincidence, I'll go take a look." Wang Yuan said, and was about to go over there to explore.
Zhang Qinghua immediately pulled Wang Yuan aside: "How about we rent an office in another industrial park? At least in a different office building."
"What are you talking about? We spent so long finding this great place, and we've already paid the rent. Besides, it's next to Boss Geng's company, so we can have more opportunities to interact in the future. It's great! Brother Hao will definitely like it too."
"But----"
"But what? They're starting a business, and so are you. There's nothing to be afraid of when you meet!"
That makes sense.
In the CEO's office at Mingfan Technology.
After listening to Ma Tongtong's report on risk control, Geng Zhi adopted her suggestion to build a risk control system.
Since Momo's functions were very simple at the time, and the amount of user information collected in compliance with regulations was limited, the two quickly developed a draft of a risk control system version 1.0.
That is, the severity of risk is judged based on certain user behaviors, and the user risk level is divided into four levels: L0, L1, L2, and L3.
After Ma Tongtong left the office, Geng Zhi checked the location data of [Yanzi Li San] through the backend.
After careful investigation and comparison, he discovered that [Yanzi Li San] used the Momo APP mostly at the address of NetEase's Beijing branch.
Based on my honest judgment, [Yanzi Li San] is most likely Tang Yan, and he is probably experiencing the product features of the Momo APP.
So Gengzhi used his Momo account to try adding [Yanzi Li San] as a friend.
30 seconds later, the friend request was accepted.
After a moment's hesitation, Geng Zhi anonymously sent a message to [Yanzi Li San], who was 1000 kilometers away: "Have you thought it through?"
After sending the message, I stared straight at my phone screen, waiting for the other party's reply.
1 minute later.
The other party replied with a message: "I've revised the article's logic for you. Take a look at the results. If you need it, message me on QQ and I'll send you the document."
With a smirk, Geng Zhi sent Tang Yan the message "Thank you" via QQ without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, Tang Yan sent a Word document.
Geng Zhi clicked on the article and read it carefully, and was quite surprised.
Tang Yan only skimmed through the manuscript of the 10,000-word article once that day, yet he remembered so many details.
Moreover, although his revised article was much shorter, it was indeed better than the original in terms of its emotional impact.
"As expected of the deputy editor-in-chief who understands user psychology," Geng Zhi couldn't help but praise, and then dialed Tang Yan's number.
[Straightforward]: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Tang."
[Tang Yan]: "Can you send me the original manuscript of your article now?"
Without further hesitation, Geng Zhi sent the original manuscript of the 10,000-word article directly via QQ.
[Straightforward]: "Mr. Tang, what's your decision regarding joining us?"
[Tang Yan]: "Momo's product experience is good, but I need to observe it for another week or two. If Momo performs as expected, we'll be allies. If it doesn't, we'll just be competitors."
[Straightforward]: "Okay, it's a deal."
1:55 PM.
Lu Siyu convened a high-level strategic meeting of Momo, bringing together executives including Yang Mingxia, Shu Beibei, Lu Sifeng, Song Qing, Zou Lu, Ma Tongtong, and Wang Feifei. Niu Baoguo attended as an observer.
The conference table was covered with various snacks and fruits.
Before Geng Zhi even arrived, the meeting room was already buzzing with activity. A dozen or so people were joking around, bragging, and eating, creating a very cheerful atmosphere.
"The boss is here!" Yang Mingxia called out.
In the conference room, apart from the newly arrived customer service manager, Du Yixuan, who seemed a little reserved, everyone else remained at ease.
After Geng Zhi entered, he casually found a seat and sat down, then signaled to the host, Shu Beibei, that the meeting should begin.
The meeting officially began.
"The meeting consists of two parts. The first part is a project debriefing meeting," Shu Beibei said. "First, the product manager will share the data dashboard."
Ma Tongtong projected her computer screen onto her face and began sharing: "As of 10 minutes ago, our number of registered users has exceeded 6001, and the target achievement rate has exceeded 70%."
"Among them, active users ————"
"Chat sessions initiated by more than 4000 users, of which more than 10 users participated, are ————"
"For social products, the average day-two retention rate is around 40%, but Momo's is close to 65%, which is already at the top level —"
Ma Tongtong presented and shared the reports in the PPT.
After explaining the data dashboard, she went on to review the product features and project progress.
Following that, Shu Beibei reviewed the offline channels, dividing them into college students, white-collar workers, and nightlife groups, and summarized the advantages and disadvantages of the on-the-ground promotion process.
Next came Yang Mingxia's online channel debriefing, Lü Sifeng and Zou Lu's technical debriefing, and Du Yujiao's user feedback debriefing as the temporary customer service manager.
After each person finished presenting a module, many other people would actively participate in the discussion and express their opinions.
When [Jiaotong University Matchmaker] was first established, Geng Zhi once told the team: [Failure is not the mother of success, but reflection is].
This concept has gradually become ingrained in the team.
-
The entire debriefing process included summarizing successful experiences as well as lessons learned from failures. There was praise and criticism, but all of it was focused on the issues, not the individuals, and was all aimed at generating [success].
During the team's debriefing, Geng Zhi simply listened without saying a word.
Finally, Shu Beibei looked at Geng Zhi: "Boss, why don't you give your summary too?"
Upon hearing this, Geng Zhi stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room, and slowly began to speak: "Before Momo was launched, including when I was discussing financing with investors in Beijing, I appeared very confident, but in reality, I was quite nervous."
"Stranger social networking is a new field, and we can almost be said to be the pioneers, or at least one of the pioneers, in the domestic industry."
""
"But everyone surprised me. We reached 6000 users in just 6 days, which was something I never expected."
Geng Zhi's tone immediately softened.
"Senior Brother Song Qing and Zou Lu stayed up for three consecutive nights before the launch. Just for the Momo logo, I rejected Ji Liufang's design draft more than 40 times. Niu Baoguo was almost chased and beaten up by the two of them at the bar —"
"Without the sincere efforts of each and every one of you, Momo would not have achieved what it has today."
As he spoke, Geng Zhi looked at the people in the room and called out the name of everyone in the room, his voice beginning to choke up.
He wasn't sure if he was genuinely moved or just pretending. He took a deep breath: "So, please allow me to say first—thank you."
After speaking frankly, he bent down and bowed to everyone.
The office fell silent. Not only were the eyes of several girls, including Shu Beibei and Yang Mingxia, red, but even Niu Baoguo and Song Qing couldn't help but wipe their eyes.
"Come on, let's all give ourselves a round of applause!" Lu Siyu suggested, breaking free from the emotional atmosphere.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The room erupted in enthusiastic applause; everyone clapped vigorously, for the team and for themselves.
As the noise subsided, Geng Zhi gestured to Niu Baoguo and Du Yujiao to pour everyone a small half-cup of cola.
He picked up his Coke: "We're not here for a debriefing, we're here to celebrate. Come on, let's have a toast first."
Everyone laughed and raised their glasses.
"The first toast is to all of you for your hard work!"
Everyone drank a cup, and Niu Baoguo and Du Yujiao added a small cup for everyone.
"The second toast is to our 6000 users and 2000+ daily active users!"
Everyone drank another small cup.
By the third cup, after everyone's cups were filled with Coke, Geng Zhi spoke again, his voice rising in intensity: "This third cup is for our goal of reaching 100 million users by the end of the month, and for the company's valuation of 3000 million US dollars! Does everyone have confidence?"
"have!"
"Let's do it!"
With the team atmosphere already in place, host Shu Beibei announced the start of the second part of the meeting: the promotion plan.
Geng Zhi started casting the screen.
"Everyone, I'm going to now announce the promotion plan for the whole year."
As he spoke, he turned to the first page of the PPT.
"Momo promotion generally follows three principles: [trigger point + word-of-mouth viral growth + channel rotation]."
"We divide the year into three phases. The first phase is the initiation period, from March 16th to March 31st. Our goal is to achieve the first surge and reach the milestone of 1 million users."
He turned the page with a straightforward attitude.
「具体来说，我们在3月15日、3月16日会有两个大的营销活动，3月18日会有一场产品发布会，均已在正常筹备。」
"At the same time, we will use a series of operational methods, including grassroots Weibo accounts, Weibo topic operations, app stores, public relations articles, and seed programs, with a total budget of 80 yuan."
Geng Zhi paused slightly before continuing, "The second phase is the word-of-mouth viral growth period, from April to June. Our goal is to leverage social relationships to achieve user growth, take the lead, and stay ahead of the pack, making it unattainable for others."
"In addition to the promotion channels in the first phase, we have added referral referrals, matchmaking/interest matching, on-campus promotions, and interest groups/"
Community events and offline meetups — total budget of 300 million.
hiss-!
Upon hearing about the 300 million yuan promotion fee, everyone present except for Lü Siyu and Lü Sifeng was visibly surprised.
Geng Zhi didn't explain much and continued, "The third stage is the expansion period, from July to December. Our goal is to penetrate from first-tier cities to second- and third-tier cities."
The third phase of marketing methods is broader, including pre-installation by mobile phone manufacturers, Google Play Store, brand collaborations, peripheral products, regional forums, Tencent Ads, and so on. But Geng Zhi didn't mention it because it's still too far away.
He spoke frankly about the overall promotion strategy, without mentioning any details.
"Our goal is to reach 500 million users by the end of the year." For some reason, Geng Zhi set an extremely low target.
"Of course, all of the above is based on the premise that our competitors do not pose a threat to us." Geng Zhi added at the end, "If a major competitor emerges, all of the above may be overturned."
"Boss, who are our competitors?" asked Du Yixuan, the new customer service manager.
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