Vol 6 Chapter 846: 4 basic principles

1.5 billion dollars? This is the news that made Feng Yiping stunned.

It's not about the amount of money. Since they came to participate in the auction, of course they already have the highest price, 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, which is still very far from their price.

It's just that the high price of 1.5 billion US dollars was quoted so quickly?

The starting price they gave was 900 million U.S. dollars, and the minimum price increase for this first round of quotations was 5 million U.S. dollars. From the beginning, Intel increased by a full 600 million U.S. dollars.

He couldn't help shook his head. Judging from this intensity, it seemed that the highest price they had booked might not be able to hold.

"As soon as the first round ended, the alliance led by the patent insurance company RPX announced its withdrawal," Cummins continued.

Feng Yiping is not too surprised at this point, because it is a company co-founded by venture capital companies such as KPCB and Charles River. The style of RPX will of course be more like venture capital, that is, looking for a high price with the smallest price. Opportunity for return.

Such head-to-head bidding similar to auctions is not their style.

Moreover, in terms of strength, RPX and the other four groups, the alliance composed of Android and Microsoft Alliance, Apple, Intel, and Ericsson, BlackBerry, Sony, and Ian Xin, are not in the same order of magnitude.

Among them, the worst BlackBerry, last year's revenue was also more than 10 billion US dollars, but RPX's revenue did not exceed 100 million.

However, it is rumored that several domestic companies, including the two most important telecom equipment providers, Huawei and ZTE, are all members of this alliance. It seems that their efforts have unfortunately hit the rocks at the beginning.

But I believe that they are not unprepared for such a result. They knew that there was little hope, otherwise, they would not join the RPX alliance with their names hidden. If not, they could join hands or become a bidder alone.

The two of them, even if they are carried out individually, are much stronger than RPX.

"They found us and hope to join hands with us,"

"Oh," Feng Yiping is not surprised. It is estimated that several other RPX alliances that have just withdrawn have also been found.

"Microsoft is not interested in joining them," Cummins added.

What Feng Yiping thinks is that Cummins himself is not interested in this. The reason why he explained this is because he also knows that there are Chinese companies in this alliance.

"You can decide for yourself," he said.

Cummins is still thinking, does the boss mean anything else?

Feng Yiping said again, "It's the same principle that I told you before. This time, we must respect Microsoft's opinion as much as possible."

One of the reasons why he took the initiative to approach Ballmer and hoped to join forces was that Microsoft and Nortel had a very close relationship, and Nortel had obtained the status of a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that year.

This is Microsoft's highest rating for partners.

The two of them cooperated in the enterprise communication business a few years ago, and the results have been remarkable. For this reason, the two sides have also cross-licensed many patents.

In short, Microsoft is a very good old friend of Nortel.

Cummins is relieved now, the boss's words really mean nothing, "I understand Feng, then, look at our next offer..."

Feng Yiping interrupted him, "You don't need to ask for my opinion, you just need to negotiate,"

He said that he would not intervene, that is, he would not intervene.

As for why he didn't lead a domestic company this time, the main reason was that after analyzing the financial situation of the two companies, he knew that they had not prepared enough liquidity for this auction.

Huawei is better, its cash reserves are more than US$5 billion, while ZTE has only more than US$600 million...

If they bid for these patents at a high price, it will inevitably have an adverse effect on their operations, and they currently lack the means to realize the value-added and preserved patents.

"Okay Feng, I will come to the meeting right away,"

The first round of auction has ended because of Intel's pride, and the second round can only wait until tomorrow.

Lao Ma leaned over, "It's over there?"

"It's over, Intel seems to be anxious!"

"Looking at how easy you are, I know that this auction should be no problem," Lao Ma said.

"It's not necessarily true," Feng Yiping shook his head, "I have a hunch that this time the auction, maybe a satellite will be released."

Such a large group of local tyrants gathered together, and the start was so fierce, it is strange that the price can be low.

"But we must resolutely participate," Meyer also leaned over.

That is, under the current situation, as the initiator and core of the Open Mobile Alliance, Android certainly has to take an attitude on this matter.

"Yiping," Lao Ma saw that the highest person in charge of the US business had also come, and he had a small meeting, "Do you want to make a basic law for us?"

Meyer looked at the executives who were still in heated discussions, and he also had this question.

Of course, they all know that this is actually Feng Yiping preparing for his future retirement.

According to the statement that he retired at the age of 35, it was not a few years.

"I didn't even think about formulating something as lofty as the Basic Law. I just hope that a few basic principles can be laid down," Feng Yiping said while also looking at the executives who were still discussing vigorously.

He is still working, so the general direction is that even Lao Ma and the others don't have to worry about it, but after he retires, Lao Ma and them must consider more issues. Therefore, it is very necessary to establish a rule.

…………

After a brief lunch, the meeting resumed at two o’clock in the afternoon. Feng Yiping saw that there was still some meaning, and some executives who seemed to regard this meeting as a rare party said, "I believe everyone has summed up. A lot of experience, I guess you still have a lot of experience and thoughts."

Indeed, use the mentality of a winner to analyze why a high-tech company that was as bullish as Microsoft back then went bankrupt. This is what everyone likes to do.

"But because of time, the collective discussion has come to an end, and also because of time," he said with a smile, "after all, we still have to leave free time for everyone in the afternoon and evening."

The atmosphere suddenly relaxed.

Such extra vacations always make people happy-even if they are given a vacation, some people can't take time off.

"Colleagues who wish to share their views with everyone, suggest that they express their views in our management system,"

The current discussions are of course not enough, but some key issues are that even if the discussions are very thorough, it must be difficult to get the results Feng Yiping wants.

To a certain extent, the interests of executives are opposed to the interests of shareholders who are mainly represented by him.

He only hopes that everyone can fully realize that an executive who only cares about his own interests is harmful to the company and his own interests.

In the end, the governance system related to executives will be beneficial to capital—that is, he has the final say.

"Here, I want to tell you about my four points. First of all, that is, users, users, users!"

"The most important and core task of any of our companies is to meet user needs and improve user experience."

"At any time, we cannot deviate from our users,"

"Nortel’s failure strongly illustrates this point. We see that whether they are developing 40G transmission per second or 80G transmission optical fiber, the main reason is not excessively relying on technology, but because it is an excessive deviation from user needs. decision making,"

Lao Ma was carefully stroking the meaning of Feng Yiping's words, which was very different from his opinion, but he also felt that Feng Yiping's summary should be more reasonable.

Whether it is a 40G or 80G product, it is correct, and the fault lies in it, which deviates from the needs of users.

When the company develops smoothly and funds are sufficient, it is a good decision to develop these technologies as a reserve. However, when the company's development is in a crisis, invest huge sums of money to develop new technologies that these users need. From the perspective of an outsider, it is a bewildered decision to get the support of users to restore the decline.

"Article two, we must strictly control our debt ratio,"

Ma knows that this will be mentioned.

"Before 2000, Nortel's annual revenue was as high as 30 billion U.S. dollars. Even if inflation is not taken into account, this is a very high amount. Then why did they fail to recover after adding 4 billion U.S. dollars of unsalable goods? ?"

"The debt ratio is too high~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The capital chain is too tight, which is the main factor leading to this result,"

"I agree with Buffett’s view that if it’s not because of illness, etc., it’s best not to borrow money. I personally want to do this. Even if borrowing business can bring us more income, I still tend to rely on my own. Capital development, even letting capital idle,"

"Because of various reasons, the company suffered huge losses. We have a certain probability of encountering such a thing. At that time, the level of debt ratio determines that we will be like Nortel, a century-old foundation, and it will be destroyed. Go ahead with a heavy load for a while, waiting for the opportunity in the coming year,"

What he said is really not surprising to everyone here, because he has always done his best to do this, and he can not borrow money without borrowing.

"Of course, considering that many of our companies will be listed in the future, if they don't have debt, investors will definitely not agree."

If the debt-to-asset ratio of a listed company is close to zero, investors will be very annoyed. When the capital profit rate is higher than the debt cost, such as interest, investors will hope that the higher the debt ratio, the better.

Because that means companies can create more profits, and they will get higher returns.

"So, we allow debt, but to be safe, we should draw an insurmountable red line," he paused, adding to his tone, "I think our debt-to-asset ratio should not be higher than 30%."

Lao Ma watched everyone talk again, and said to his heart, "You still accept it. I have discussed with him many times, but he didn't let up on this point.

He looked at Meyer, and he believed that even Meyer could hardly change this.

The old horse who has failed many times on the road to entrepreneurship also agrees with it.