Interviewing the Manager

Woke up in the afternoon.

The next day, Chen Yi came down from the third floor.

Qin Xiaoyu, who had received a mission last night to go out and buy EEG toys and customize titanium alloy parts, had not yet returned.

Xia Keke, who was tracking the store's data, handed Chen Yi a few contact numbers.

"Whose numbers are these?"

Chen Yi took them and glanced at them. "Regarding wholesale inquiries, reject all of them for now."

"These aren't inquiries, they're for the professional managers we're looking for. The headhunting company has responded. There are three suitable candidates who want to join Yifei. Boss, take a look and tell me when we can arrange to meet and interview them."

"When did headhunting companies become so efficient?" Chen Yi asked, surprised. "I don't remember paying extra."

Chen Yi had dealt with headhunting companies before. When the store was in trouble, he had tried to find core technical talents for turbofan model aircraft through a headhunting company. But unfortunately, the truly capable people didn't think much of Chen Yi's e-commerce workshop. Ordinary talents, on the other hand, lacked the technical skills to help solve the store's problems, which Chen Yi couldn't accept.

However, even though he hadn't found suitable talent, Chen Yi had learned about the operational model of headhunting companies from that experience. Generally, headhunters earned commissions. This commission was a percentage of the annual salary offered by the company for the recruitment. For Chen Yi's professional manager position, the offered annual salary was not very high in the industry, and unlike intensive enterprises that hired thousands of employees at once, the commission headhunters could get wouldn't be very substantial. Therefore, his order would only be matched randomly within the headhunting company and wouldn't involve many resources to actively search.

Now, within a day, the headhunter contacted by Xia Keke had responded, saying they had found three professional managers who met his requirements. This made Chen Yi suspect whether the headhunting company he had contacted before was fake.

"Boss, you don't know how popular our Yifei is right now. The first day we live-streamed a drone's sprint into space, the second day we live-streamed its assistance in capturing a drug dealer. Our drones are all over the internet now." Xia Keke said regretfully, "If it weren't for your insistence on not increasing the pre-sale of engines and not accepting wholesale orders from other merchants, with each engine selling for 28,999, our turnover would have already surpassed the ten billion mark. These candidates saw the popularity and technology of our Yifei and actively contacted headhunters to find us."

"Is that so?" Chen Yi's heart stirred, and the interface of the Spark program appeared before his eyes.

[Consciousness Wave: 2078136↑]

It had been about thirteen or fourteen hours since last night, and he had still collected nearly 200,000 consciousness waves. It seemed he was indeed very popular now.

"It's past two o'clock now. Contact these people and schedule meetings for today. Find a coffee shop nearby or something. One at four, one at five, and one at six. Let's do it quickly."

"Yes, I'll contact them right away."

With Chen Yi's approval, Xia Keke took out her phone and began scheduling appointments with the three candidates. A few minutes later, Xia Keke hung up and reported to Chen Yi, "Boss, they've agreed to the invitation. It's at the 'Xiangyue Coffee Shop' next to us."

"Okay, notify me when it's time."

Time passed.

It was 3:50 PM.

Chen Yi went to the Xiangyue Coffee Shop across the street and ordered two cups of coffee. After waiting for a few minutes, a middle-aged man in a formal suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and looking to be in his early forties, exuding an air of a business elite, entered the coffee shop. He looked around and then walked towards Chen Yi.

"Hello, Mr. Chen, sorry to keep you waiting," the middle-aged man said politely as he approached Chen Yi.

"It's alright, I just got here too," Chen Yi replied. He opened the information provided by the headhunter, scanned through the impressive resume, and finally looked at the name. "Mr. Zhang, I've been an entrepreneur for four years, and at most, I've had a few dozen employees, most of whom were workers. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call me a sole proprietor. I'm not very knowledgeable about company management and operations. Let's keep this meeting simple. I'll ask a few straightforward questions, what do you think?"

"No problem," Zhang De nodded.

"First question: What are your thoughts on Yifei? If you were to manage and plan Yifei's future development, how would you implement it?"

"I believe Yifei is a company with great popularity and technology. I came here today influenced by Yifei's strength and popularity."

If I were in charge of Yifei, I would plan to secure funding first, then expand production, and finally plan for an IPO.

In this regard, I have sufficient experience and funding channels.

The companies I previously worked for, Guangda and Xinghang, both completed their IPOs within three years, increasing their assets and market share by more than tenfold.

Given Yifei's current popularity and the technology of its model aircraft engines, I believe this process can be completed in less than two years, with a market value no less than ten billion.

Zhang De spoke eloquently, his expression and tone filled with confidence.

Indeed, Zhang De was very capable, and his rich prior experience proved his words were not empty.

If it were anyone else, hearing this plan for an IPO within two years, they would likely be ecstatic and would have invited Zhang De back like a revered guest.

But for Chen Yi, neither funding nor an IPO was currently his priority.

In the tech industry, whoever has the superior technology holds the power.

With the system's seed program, technology is not a difficult issue; he held absolute power.

In this situation, giving up his shares for a temporary influx of cash would be a foolish act.

Even if he were to go public, Chen Yi would wait until later, spinning off a specific technology or business into a subsidiary for an IPO, rather than taking all of Yifei public.

Having made up his mind, after chatting for a while, Chen Yi tactfully expressed his opinion, politely asked Zhang De to leave, and suggested they cooperate again in the future.

He asked the waiter to take away the coffee from the opposite seat.

After waiting for a while, it was five o'clock.

Chen Yi ordered a cup of coffee for the person opposite, and the second professional manager arrived.

A good name.

Yang Qianxue.

Twenty-six years old, with a Master's degree in Business Administration.

A tall woman with a gentle face and a hint of competence in her demeanor. She sat down with an upright and proper posture.

Chen Yi glanced at Yang Qianxue, not showing any special courtesy just because she was beautiful.

He directly repeated the same questions he had asked Zhang De.

Compared to Zhang De's focus on funding and capital, Yang Qianxue's plan was more hardcore.

She wanted Yifei to shift from civilian use to exclusively military supply, while also stating she had good channels in the military industry.

In her previous roles, the projects she led had established good cooperative relationships with military enterprises.

With Yifei's current technology, as long as it passed security review, it would have no problem integrating into the military system.

Chen Yi thought carefully for a moment and politely declined Yang Qianxue's proposal.

The reason was simple.

Given Yifei's situation, joining the military system was indeed a good option.

But the military often meant secrecy.

He wanted to collect consciousness waves, and military secrecy would become a fatal problem.

"It's difficult for ordinary managers to have military channels. Could this be the military seeing Yifei's drone technology and extending a trial olive branch?"

Watching Yang Qianxue leave, Chen Yi recalled her capable demeanor and upright posture, and couldn't help but ponder.

The performance of the "two M" (military slang for drones) on the battlefield had already demonstrated the importance of drones.

Now he had developed a drone capable of reaching space, supersonic low-altitude flight, and a range of over a thousand kilometers.

It was normal for this to attract the attention of the military.

Chen Yi pondered for a while, and the third manager arrived for the interview.

He Yu.

Twenty-nine years old, with a Master's degree in Business Administration.

A beautiful woman with a graceful and imposing figure, yet slender where she should be, possessing a cool temperament and a strong CEO aura.

After graduating, she served as a supervisor in one company and was later promoted to regional director, achieving considerable success in both roles.

After inviting her to sit down, Chen Yi ordered a cup of coffee and then posed the same question, firmly taking control of the interview.

"Yifei's future development."

He Yu pondered for a moment, her expression lost in thought.

Clearly, compared to Zhang De's eloquent discourse and his complete reliance on a funding and IPO model, and Yang Qianxue's focus on the industrial chain and attempt to integrate Yifei into the military industry with her hardcore approach, He Yu's thoughtful expression seemed more serious and considered.

"Mr. Chen, I watched Yifei's livestreams these past few days.

I noticed that Yifei seems to have mastered a new material for manufacturing engines, as well as a brand new, top-tier turbofan engine technology that is supersonic and has powerful sustained flight capabilities.

Am I correct in my assumption?"

"That is correct."

Chen Yi didn't deny it.

Neither of these points required investigation; anyone with even a slight understanding of drone manufacturing could see it. There was no need to deny anything.

"Mr. Chen, these two technologies, combined with Yifei's social media accounts that have recently seen a surge in popularity..."

He Yu had already formulated her thoughts. Looking at Chen Yi with a confident expression, she replied, "I suggest we combine it with an 'Internet+Technology' company model and open up a new track in the drone field."

"Oh, tell me more."

Chen Yi's interest was piqued, and he gestured for He Yu to continue.