After finishing the transoceanic phone meeting with the Step-By-Step team across the Pacific, it was already past 7 PM. Chen Qing carefully reviewed today's work log and the meeting minutes to ensure nothing was missed. Only after confirming everything was in order did she signal to Lily Favell, who was serving as her assistant, to help organize the documents.
This took place in a regular cubicle in one corner of the first-floor employee office area at the Scalper headquarters.
Before Chen Qing's team took over, to save costs, the sixty-plus employees of Scalper were crammed into this unassuming two-story office building in Milpitas. The first floor served as the employee office area, while the second floor was primarily occupied by a lab with various expensive equipment. Up until that point, only CEO Bill O'Meara had his own private office.
As Chen Qing left the cubicle, another assistant, Kristina Rathom, signaled to her from the conference room door not far away, indicating that everyone had gathered.
Most of the regular Scalper employees had already clocked out, leaving only Chen Qing's core team and Bill O'Meara and other management members still waiting for her to convene the final summary meeting of the day.
Having woken up at 5 AM and worked tirelessly all day, it would be dishonest to say she wasn't tired. However, Chen Qing still felt mentally exhilarated.
She nodded at Kristina, picked up her coffee cup, and sipped while walking through the office area and into the conference room. Sitting near the door, she scanned the room and immediately started speaking. "I've already been in touch with the people in Mountain View. There's plenty of office space available over there, and we can move the entire company at any time. The hardware and software environment at the Egret Park is far superior to what we have here, which will greatly improve our work efficiency. Bill, you can go over tomorrow to choose a suitable site. That's one thing. Next, Eman, please give us an update on the company's financial situation."
Strictly speaking, the plot of land in Mountain View that Simon had acquired was referred to as the Egret Park, but only the section exclusive to Egret's headquarters truly bore that name. As development progressed, many additional office buildings were constructed in the area, intended for lease to companies surrounding Egret. Over time, the entire area came to be known as Egret Park.
Hearing Chen Qing's words, the former Scalper management present showed expectant expressions. Moving the company headquarters from the small corner of Milpitas to Mountain View signaled a step into the heart of Silicon Valley and further demonstrated the importance the Westeros System placed on Scalper.
However, Emanuel Brandt, who had just been appointed chairman of Scalper that day, didn't show much emotion. He began briefing the group on Scalper's financial status after a fresh review: with leftover funds from last year's IPO, the imminent $20 million loan, and some cash generated from operations, Scalper currently had about $33 million available.
This amount was double what Wan Yan Group in China had invested in VCD development.
Wan Yan Group officially launched its VCD products last year, but due to dismal sales, the company was struggling. Even though VCD sales had begun to climb this year, much of that success came from other companies entering the market.
Scalper had worked closely with Wan Yan during the VCD development process, but during Chen Qing's visit to China over the New Year holiday, she made a point to visit the company in Anhui. Her conclusion was that while Wan Yan Group had built up considerable technical expertise, their product management was a complete disaster. Moreover, with the company's ties to state-owned assets, Chen Qing was even more dissuaded from continuing the partnership. She didn't want her plans to be hampered by unnecessary complications.
In contrast, the Step-By-Step team, which had grown Subor to a $1 billion annual revenue company within just a few years, was exactly what Chen Qing needed.
In China at the time, market demand wasn't lacking, nor was product supply. What was truly missing was a capable team that could grow the market to its full potential.
As a result, the business history of China in the 1990s was often inseparable from the word "marketing." The self-made billionaires of the time were essentially all marketing masters. Many of them continued to pass on this business gene for years, the most typical example being the two dominant companies in blue and green. While other phone manufacturers tore each other apart over tiny market shares, the two companies maintained a Zen-like, steady approach to quietly making their fortunes.
The $33 million in funds was enough for Scalper to not only develop a new generation of video decoding chips but also comprehensively upgrade the current VCD technology.
At the moment, Scalper was the only company capable of producing the crucial video decoding chip that served as the "heart" of VCD products, enjoying an absolute monopoly. Other key components, such as laser reading heads, could be produced by manufacturers in Japan, Korea, and Europe, offering plenty of alternatives. Therefore, as long as Scalper upgraded the video decoding chip and developed a complete VCD solution, they could effectively prevent other companies from catching up in the short term. Scalper would then have the final say in the profit distribution of the VCD industry.
To avoid provoking a collective backlash from established manufacturers, Chen Qing also planned to procure components such as laser reading heads from companies like Sony and Philips, integrating these as standard parts for Scalper. Since these companies didn't hold a monopoly, they would have no choice but to compromise with Scalper to secure more market share.
Although the VCD industry was being treated by her boss as a way to make quick money, the plan was to execute it as such. However, given Scalper's dominance in the field, they could still stake a claim in the upcoming DVD era.
Video decoding chips would be just as essential for DVDs.
After Emanuel Brandt finished his financial report, Chen Qing continued discussing detailed plans with the team.
Having decided to abandon Wan Yan, Chen Qing now made Step-By-Step her key partner for the next stage.
Scalper would collaborate closely with Step-By-Step, launching its first VCD product in China over the next three months based on the current video decoding chip technology. This would allow Step-By-Step to familiarize itself with the product and conduct initial market cultivation.
Simultaneously, Scalper would begin building a VCD component factory in China, focusing on producing laser reading head systems. Video decoding and disc reading were the two core, most profitable aspects of VCD production. By the time Scalper's complete machine solution was ready by the end of the year, the factory would be fully operational.
At that point, Scalper would supply core components, which were almost like semi-finished products, to any Chinese manufacturer looking to enter the VCD market.
Of course, they'd also offer complete solutions.
Even companies like Sony and Philips would need Scalper's approval to join the VCD supply chain and would have to make significant concessions.
It was inevitable that competitors would eventually attempt to bypass Scalper's monopoly on video decoding chips by developing similar products. But these rivals would already be two years behind. By the time even giants like Sony caught up, VCDs would likely be nearing obsolescence.
The meeting lasted for over an hour.
Afterward, Chen Qing invited everyone to dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was already late at night on the West Coast of the US.
A very sociable woman, Chen Qing had recently grown quite familiar with several of the Westeros System's core figures in Silicon Valley and had even become good friends with two women from the C and D circles. During Scalper's acquisition investigation, Claire had been particularly helpful.
This time, knowing that Claire managed all of Simon's properties in the area, Chen Qing had no reservations about asking if she could borrow a place to stay.
Claire didn't refuse and quickly made arrangements.
The location was an estate on Portola Valley, adjacent to Woodside, occupying an entire hilltop. The three-story stone-built, castle-like country house was almost absurdly large.
After visiting Claire's home in Atherton, Chen Qing couldn't help but find it almost simple in comparison to the current estate.
Unable to resist, she called Claire to ask if it was appropriate. Claire's response was casual, saying it was fine. Their boss liked to let the women around him stay in his houses to give the place some life. She even joked that as long as Chen Qing didn't bring any men in, she could do whatever she wanted.
Chen Qing didn't think it was much of a joke.
However, if men were off-limits, women should be fine.
Unable to suppress a little vanity, Chen Qing invited two women from her team, Emanuel Brandt and Carla Hills, to join her in staying at the estate.
Two black Bentleys drove through the gates of the Portola Valley estate.
With no men around, there was no security at the gate, but none of them were concerned.
The estate's security system was directly connected to the Westeros family's security center in San Francisco and the nearby police station. If anyone tried to break in, both parties would be alerted immediately, and someone would arrive within five minutes. The estate's video surveillance system, covering every corner, would capture all the intruder's information.
Eight women got out of the cars and entered the villa.
The lights flickered on.
In the spacious hall, the sharp click of high heels echoed on the wooden floor.
Even though they had already spent one night here, Carla Hills looked around with a sense of awe and longing in her eyes. The six-foot-tall, red-haired Emanuel Brandt couldn't help but declare, "One day, I'm definitely going to buy a house like this
."
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