Vol 4 Chapter 64: Mention something

Just like NEXTDOOR, the newly established Tesla also developed rapidly. Originally, it only rented one building with three or two big cats and kittens. Now it has rapidly expanded into a small park. Experts and employees from various countries have joined. Already close to 300 people.

This is a place more lively than NEXTDOOR and Google, because everything is a start-up, you can see a lot of people arguing in any place, sometimes even a group is arguing.

This is all caused by the five of them.

They set it down and everything starts from scratch, so there are too many possibilities for how to realize each function.

These people who have just joined Tesla, even though they still have doubts about the results of the five of them, they absolutely believe in Tesla's strength, especially Feng Yiping, who looks like a bad guy. the Lord.

As long as they are willing to keep investing, maybe this can be done?

In short, this job seems to be a job that can be done for a long time, and the start-up period of any company is the easiest time to be promoted. Therefore, these work by Martin Eberhard from the world Among the people dug from all over the place, there is a mind to show their best.

Responsible for a project or assisting in the implementation of a project, achievements and income will be very different.

Feng Yiping visited several places and was very satisfied. Regardless of whether these people have electric car dreams like themselves, at least for now, they are working very hard.

Feng Yiping hasn't formally made a photo here yet. Those guys who were discussing around the workbench, drawings, and writing boards occasionally raised their heads and saw a smiling Asian young man who seemed a bit familiar. , But I didn't bother it either. I thought it was an assistant of a Japanese expert watching the show.

A few days ago, Martin also dug a few Japanese people over. I have to admit that the Japanese are still good in interior design.

The beauty at the front desk of the main building knew the big boss, and said hello, Feng Yiping nodded, "Where is Martin, upstairs?"

"No," the beauty checked the records, "he is on the transmission project right now,"

Feng Yiping nodded and walked straight upstairs to the finance office, "Kevin, call out the expenditure these days,"

Kevin is the first Tesla employee besides their five founders. After being interviewed by the three founders, he is regarded as the most demanding among all employees.

"Okay Feng," he called up the relevant data and reminded, "because it is the start-up period, the expenditure on hardware and office is very high,"

Feng Yiping looked at the data and couldn't help but scratch his head. Not counting the wages of so many people. Now the equipment and experimental materials purchased every day are more than 200,000 US dollars. No wonder Martin and Mark couldn't keep going. , Such projects are indeed very expensive.

"Kevin, do you think we can appropriately reduce some expenditures without affecting the research and development work?"

Feng Yiping doesn't know much about automobile manufacturing, so he just wants to reduce expenditures. He really doesn't know where to start, but the financial personnel who deal with numbers all day have some opinions.

"First of all, I think we can make some useful attempts in the purchase of office equipment. Office furniture can be purchased second-hand. It does not affect the use, but the cost is much lower." Martin seems to be prepared. When Feng Yiping asked, he had an answer immediately.

This is a good idea, in line with my own temperament, "Anything else?"

"In order to improve work efficiency, each of the several office buildings currently has various workstations, such as CAD (computer-aided design), OA (office automation), etc. I feel that these relatively large investment equipment can be used in a centralized manner. It can also effectively reduce the procurement cost of our office equipment,"

It seems that when Musk drove Martin out of Tesla, his main crime was poor cost control. Looking at it now, Martin may really have such a problem. Start-up companies are not the time to be lavish.

"Very good, are there any more?" Feng Yiping took a pen and wrote down these two points.

"This," Kevin hesitated slightly.

"Kevin, to be honest, for a long period of time, the company will only have expenditures and no revenue. Every opinion of you is very important."

"Then I have one more point, just for reference," Kevin is also very positive, because he also wants to become the company's financial director.

"you said,"

"The biggest expenditure of the company now and in the future will still be employee salaries,"

Feng Yiping nodded. The wages of workers in the United States are not low, not to mention that many of the more than 300 people now bear the title of expert.

"I think that in some areas, we can make appropriate abolitions. For example, now that we have not solved even the most basic problems, we have hired a few interior experts. Is this necessary?"

Feng Yiping thought, really.

Although this time it was no longer a small mess in history, but the whole car can take a rudimentary form, and it will take a few years at the earliest. Now I have recruited several interior experts to raise it. necessary.

In the same way, some experts in other areas, such as body/styling design, and even car layout engineers and safety engineers, seem to be unnecessary now.

At least after the key and lowest-level technologies have been developed, we can follow up on them.

"Kevin, thank you for your opinion," Feng Yiping also patted him on the shoulder, "I think starting from this month, we can add an item to our financial statements, that is, some directions for us to reduce costs."

"Thank you Feng, I will definitely produce a rigorous report,"

He was very excited. Feng Yiping's words were equivalent to giving him part of the CFO rights.

…………

In the building responsible for the research and development of the transmission system, Feng Yiping found Martin, but the issues they discussed were too professional, and he really couldn't get in. "Martin," he had to say hello.

"Feng, when did you come?" Martin squeezed out of the circle happily.

"Just arrived, the work is going well, you have worked hard,"

"Oh, yes, working with so many professionals, for me, that is a kind of enjoyment," Martin looked excited.

"Martin, I put a memo in your office, mainly about cost control issues, you can look at it later," Feng Yiping led him along the small road between the buildings.

"I understand your desire to produce results as soon as possible. I am not as familiar with these aspects of work as you are. But Martin, is the launch of an ordinary oil-powered car. It can't be done in a short time, let alone our plan. All pure electric vehicles from scratch?"

"I think we should be prepared for long-term investment. At least the next three to five years will be a period of pure investment. During this period, we save money, which is equivalent to making a profit."

"The issue of cost is something we have to consider~www.wuxiaspot.com~ You don’t want our car to be finally released in the future, because the R&D cost will be amortized, and then the price will be so high that you can’t accept it. "

"We now have five founders in total. You are also a person who has successfully run a business. You should know more about the issues to be aware of than me."

The partner's trouble is not news anywhere.

Musk is a good genius, but he is by no means a good-tempered person, he is also a very strong person, and in terms of technology, he is at least better than Feng Yiping.

When Tesla's research on electric vehicles has gained some insight, he might not do what he did later.

Although this time, Feng Yiping has turned Tesla’s greatest technical hero, Straw, from an executive directly into the founder, but he feels that this is not enough. In order to avoid possible future conflicts, he still hopes People like Martin who also have technical expertise can stay in the company and support themselves.

"R&D, you must pay close attention to it, but the cost must also be effectively controlled, so that your work performance can be considered perfect, what do you think?"

There was a lot of people around, and they were discussing issues that Martin was very interested in. He wanted to join in now, but after hearing Feng Yiping's words, he suddenly woke up.

"Feng, thank you for your reminder," he said sincerely, "I am actually a person with a flawed personality. Mark knows this about me. How can I say it? When I determine a goal, I often think at all costs. Make it as soon as possible,"

"You are right. For a company like ours that needs to research and develop for at least five years, cost control is very important. I remember Feng and I will definitely pay attention. Now I will discuss this issue with relevant departments," he said. Hold Feng Yiping's hand and say, "Thank you, thank you!" (To be continued.)