Baby Formula Money

When a company purchases the patent development rights from an inventor and encounters technical difficulties during the technology transfer process, the company often seeks help from the inventor, since the inventor is most familiar with the patent.

Chairman Kuang's materials company has its own technical team. They digested and absorbed the first patented achievement of Shen Qi Team and produced a prototype.

During the technology transfer process, Chairman Kuang's technical team did not seek help from the inventors' team, which indicates that the technical team of this materials company is quite capable.

The problem Chairman Kuang is facing now is not a technical issue, but rather a problem with market sales.

Amorphous Materials, especially Metallic Plastic products, represent a blue ocean market in China, and those who are the first to try something new always have to bear certain risks.

"Chairman Kuang, based on our first patent, what specific products do you manufacture?"

Shen Qi couldn't offer much help with marketing and sales, as that wasn't his area of expertise, but he still wanted to learn more about the market.

"Non-functional automotive metal parts, such as interior and exterior metal trim strips, floor components for the lower body, and reinforcing ribs, can be replaced with Metallic Plastic because Metallic Plastic yet possess the strength of metal," Chairman Kuang said.

"Oh, that's quite a lot." Shen Qi knew a bit about cars. As a traditional gasoline-powered car manufacturer, apart from the engine and large body parts such as the four doors, two hoods, side panels, and roof which they made themselves, they ordered most of the other parts from suppliers.

China's passenger vehicle market exceeds 30 million vehicles per year, making it the world's largest automobile market. For each complete vehicle produced, the OEM has to order four tires, two rows of seats, at least six pieces of glass, a large number of trim strips and accessories, various wiring harnesses, and various functional components from more than a thousand suppliers. The automotive industry is a massive industry and a pillar industry of the country.

Becoming a parts supplier for vehicle manufacturers is a lucrative market, but of course, the competition is fierce.

The problem Chairman Kuang faces is that, because the Metallic Plastic automotive parts produced by his company are new concepts and new products, and although they have many excellent properties, the mainstream domestic car manufacturers simply do not consider their products.

Whether it's a joint venture or a domestic mainstream car brand, those that have survived to this day without collapsing all have very mature supplier support systems.

For Chairman Kuang's new company to break into the established supplier system and gain a share of the market with its new products, this is not an easy task.

"Let's wait a few more years and see. The trend of moving away from gasoline and lightweighting cars is inevitable, and our patents will have a market in the future," Shen Qi comforted Chairman Kuang, and also comforted himself.

"Volkswagen, Toyota, and several major domestic brands—these traditional automakers are very stubborn. I think I made the wrong choice initially. Doing business with traditional automakers is very difficult. We should engage in in-depth cooperation with emerging car manufacturers," Chairman Kuang said, sharing his thoughts.

A few years ago, a bunch of new car manufacturers emerged in the Chinese auto market. None of their bosses had experience in the automotive industry; they were almost all internet platform operators or IT tycoons.

Emerging electric vehicle manufacturers claim they will not produce gasoline-powered cars; they will only produce new energy vehicles similar to Tesla.

Emerging electric vehicle manufacturers give global presentations using PowerPoint slides to promote their car-making philosophies, but few actually open factories to manufacture the impressive new energy vehicles showcased in their presentations.

Whether manufacturing traditional gasoline-powered cars or new energy vehicles, there must be a production line. Therefore, new car manufacturers that only promote grand ideas are jokingly referred to as "PPT car manufacturers" by outsiders.

"These new car manufacturers don't even have a production line; I'm afraid they won't be able to make it work," Shen Qi said with some skepticism.

Chairman Kuang said, "Some new car manufacturers are reliable, such as Weihan Automobile. They established a new energy vehicle production line, mainly producing electric vehicles. But unfortunately, the boss of Weihan Automobile absconded, and the company's capital chain broke, facing bankruptcy."

The owner of Weihan Automobile originally worked in the electronics industry, then upgraded to e-commerce, and later entered the automotive industry, establishing Weihan Automobile and becoming a new force in car manufacturing.

Not long ago, the owner of Weihan Automobile was found to have financial problems. He couldn't even take care of his wife and children and fled to the United States.

"So?" Shen Qi asked.

Chairman Kuang: "Therefore, I plan to propose to the family the acquisition of Weihan Automobile Company."

Shen Qi asked in surprise, "So, in order to find buyers for your car parts, you simply acquired a car company yourself?"

Chairman Kuang laughed and said, "It's better to rely on yourself than on others."

"It's good to be rich." Shen Qi had to admit it. Even acquiring a car company that was about to go bankrupt would cost at least a billion yuan. Setting up a car factory wasn't difficult; the difficulty lay in obtaining the necessary permits. Weihan Automobile Company had the permits, so the cost of acquiring them wouldn't be low. It could be a billion, tens of billions, or even hundreds of billions, depending on how the two parties negotiated.

"No, not at all. I'm very optimistic about new energy vehicles. Many European countries have already completely banned the sale of gasoline-powered cars, and China will do the same. That's for sure. The government has already released a plan to completely ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars during the 16th Five-Year Plan period. So new energy vehicles are the future, and traditional gasoline-powered cars will eventually be phased out. I'm taking this opportunity to enter the new energy vehicle industry and follow the trend of the times." It turns out that Chairman Kuang's spending tens of millions to buy patents was just a trial run; his ultimate goal was the huge new energy vehicle market.

"If we're making electric vehicles, the internal combustion engine is no longer important. The drive system of an electric vehicle consists of Three Electrics: battery, motor, and electronic control. If we're making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles or other types of new energy vehicles, further research is needed." Shen Qi suddenly realized that batteries, hydrogen fuel, and other types of new energy drive systems were very relevant to his major. Condensed Matter Physics and chemistry—isn't that exactly what he studies?

"Academician Shen, can we maintain a long-term cooperative relationship?" Chairman Kuang asked sincerely.

Shen Qi smiled and said, "Haven't we been working together all along?"

"Thank you, it's a pleasure doing business with you." Chairman Kuang shook hands with Shen Qi.

This meeting with Chairman Kuang was still meaningful. At least Shen Qi felt at ease knowing that Chairman Kuang was a pragmatist, not a pure businessman who engaged in speculation.

The 40 million yuan for the second patent and the milk powder funding quickly arrived. Shen Qi followed the usual procedure, paying 20 million yuan to Yanda University, and the university returned 10 million yuan to the FASTER Project Team as supplementary research funding.

The remaining 20 million was distributed within the FASTER Project Team by Shen Qi according to the merit-based reward system.

Within a year, with two patents, several millionaires emerged from the FASTER Project Team.

Tang Yuan plans to buy a second house in his hometown, a third-tier city. He doesn't plan to buy a house in the capital anytime soon, since he has school staff housing and will live there for now.

Yang Ding Tian had saved some money, and his family gave him several million more, urging Yang Ding Tian to buy a house in the capital and get married as soon as possible.

Other members of the FASTER Project Team also received substantial rewards, and now none of the physics researchers in the FASTER Project Team are willing to do theoretical research anymore.

Working with Academician Shen on applications and collaborating with well-funded companies allows for rapid results and financial gains.

If you produce research results, it counts as a research achievement, the university will allocate housing, and you can also buy houses outside for investment.

Publishing articles in PRL and Today's Physics enhances reputation and significantly improves visibility within the industry.

With fame and fortune within reach and constant enjoyment, who would willingly endure loneliness, spending their days on tedious theoretical research, earning a meager but barely sustenant salary?

Shen Qi received over 7 million yuan this time, and he felt that he deserved one-third of the transfer fee because of his contribution.

Becoming a father brings a sense of urgency to new dads; having plenty of money is never a bad thing, so they save every penny they can.

Shen Qi had noticed this as well. Some of his researchers had bought cars and houses in the short term, while others were still earning a fixed salary with no extra income.

We're all PhDs, but the material gap is widening. Don't those PhDs doing pure theoretical research have any thoughts about this?

They definitely have ideas; this is where Shen Qi's management skills will be tested.