"Leek Growth Diary" (3)

Chapter 2: Entrusted with important tasks

The main model of Ello Inc is an electric tricycle. The appearance and performance belong to the fun car of the young line, not the high-end sedan of Telsa. On the first day of Taizhou's work, he devoted himself to researching only some product introductions and products of Ello Inc. Background information.

The market prospects described in Ello Inc's financing plan mentioned: "Except for Japan and South Korea, which have the highest GDP, many populous countries in Asia are faced with the problems of insufficient road infrastructure and limited choice of travel tools for citizens. For example, countries with better economic development. In Taiwan, not every city has built an urban MRT, so many citizens still use motorcycles to get around. The backward three-wheeled tuk tuk is also a common means of transportation. Motorcycles and tuk tuk cause serious pollution to urban air. The former is inconvenient to carry people and goods, and the latter has a simple design. Ello Inc's first product, Ello-Q, just replaces these backward options, Bringing more convenient and more environmentally friendly means of transportation to the public.”

Tai Zhou remembered the experience of traveling in Taiwan. Even the local girls ride motorcycles to work. It is really inconvenient to be exposed to the sun and rain, and too many motorcycles are used and parked on the road. The city looks messy and the air is filled for a while. Electric oil smell.

Taizhou has zero business experience, but he feels that the development direction of Ello Inc seems reasonable. Of course, the most important thing is the product itself. In the final analysis, it is still the sentence: "Why does Hong Kong really make electric vehicles? "

This question didn't linger in Tai Zhou's mind for too long, because Otis couldn't wait to work for less than a week, and asked him to meet Tristan, the founder of Ello Inc.

Otis drives a Telsa Model S and takes Space to Ello Inc's headquarters in Science Park. Taizhou sat in the co-pilot seat with his hands on his briefcase, not knowing if he should talk to his boss politely, or would it be more appropriate to keep silent?

"I read the electric vehicle analysis report you emailed me last night. Although there are no unique insights, the information is summarized in detail, which is good!" Otis took the initiative to open the chatter while carrying the car.

Otis's first assignment for Taizhou was to compile a report within three days to analyze Ello Inc's competitive advantages, market space and product differentiation in the electric vehicle market. No one in Hengyi's entire company understands the auto industry, and the company doesn't even have some basic analysis tools, such as a stock ticker and an account in an electronic news database. How can an analysis report be made based on a vague statement from Otis?

Tai Zhou had a flash of inspiration and remembered that his cousin Sten was an analyst in the securities industry. Although Tai Zhou did not invest in stocks, he had heard of well-known electric vehicle companies such as Telsa and BYD. From the analysis reports of these large companies, it should be possible to sort them out. Can you provide some industry information?

"Cousin, I have found a job! I am the special administrative assistant to the CEO of Hengyi Group." Taizhou sent a WhatsApp message to his cousin Sten.

"Wow, that's amazing! What a loud title." Sten replied in seconds, with an emoji of Leonardo opening champagne.

In front of acquaintances, Taizhou was too lazy to greet him, and immediately stated his intention: "Jianghu emergency, do you have some research reports or data on electric vehicles?"

"The company has a lot of these saliva reports. You send me an email address, and I will find a few copies for you immediately. Remember, please pay for food, I want to eat teppanyaki!"

Sure enough, within an hour, Sten emailed a large number of research reports, industry reports, and corporate annual reports to Taizhou. In addition to the most famous electric vehicle companies, there were also several US-listed electric vehicle companies in China. Cars, vans, camper vans, pickup trucks, and even tricycles, which are the main focus of Ello Inc, have everything; Sten also sent him some analysis articles on the electric vehicle industry chain, involving batteries, electronic controls, motors, chips, etc. Rich, more reading than a module.

Taizhou temporarily borrowed several news database accounts from Sara later, and finally solved the problem of data sources with his personal connections.

The analysis report Otis just praised was the result of Tai Zhou working hard in front of the computer for three days on this pile of data.

"What do you think of Ello Inc's prospects?" Otis asked him again.

"Scare, I'm just watching and learning. To be honest, I don't even have a license plate, so I'm qualified to comment on the company's prospects."

Otis said with a smile, "You don't need to know how to cook to make a food review, but it is necessary for a boy to get a license plate."

Tai Zhou obediently replied "Of course", but he was thinking, in the first week of work, I have already OT at home until two or three o'clock, so if I have time to learn how to drive?

While the two were chatting lightly, the car had pulled into the Tolo Harbour Highway and turned a few turns to the Science Park. Tai Zhou spent four years of college years in this area, how could he think that he was a working family and returned to the old place of Ma Liushui so quickly.

Like many tech start-ups, Ello Inc’s office is minimalist and childlike. The boss doesn’t have a separate room, and all employees work at shared desks with laptops. Tai Zhou took a look and saw that more than a dozen employees in the office were young people of his own age, all of whom were under the age of 30 and dressed casually.

At the far end of the office is the game cabinet, with table tennis, folding pianos and various models; on the other side, the multifunctional space is the only independent room in the entire office.

Taizhou probed to see that the multi-functional space was covered with a plastic floor commonly used in dance studios, with projectors and large screens, a few soybean bags on the ground, and a few rolled up yoga mats against the wall.

Tristan pushed open the door of the multi-functional space, "It's good for a meeting in this room, and it's good for a few people to do yoga together. I have a problem that I can't figure out and will come in to meditate. My goal this year is to practice backflips."

After visiting the office and drinking coffee, Tai Zhou has not heard the Ello Inc founder Tristan talk about electric cars, but Tai Zhou still has a good impression of him.

Tai Zhou had read the Ello Inc profile and knew that Tristan was only 27 years old this year, a typical post-90s youth. Tai Zhou liked that he had the aura of a smart man, but he didn't have the majesty or indifference that is often associated with an old and young identity. Standing with the staff, he is like a big brother leader, not a devil coach or off-the-ground class leader.

"Ello means "have a good day", which means "it" in Spanish. Our image is young, sunny, relaxed and free. "

"Our first product, Ello-Q, is a pure electric tricycle. On the basis of this success, we have four models in the research and development stage, named after R, S, T, and U, and the second Ello-R. , it will be a four-wheeled electric smart car." Finally getting to the point, Tristan enthusiastically introduced his brainchild to Tai Zhou.

The Ello-Q looks like a cute motorcycle with a roof. The wheels use a layout of two fronts and one rear. The two front wheels are responsible for driving and the rear wheels are responsible for steering. The width of the body is only 880 mm, which is only a tiny bit larger than a motorcycle. The front seat is the driver and the rear seat can carry a passenger. Although the compartment space is very narrow, at least you don’t have to endure the wind, rain and summer sun when driving the motorcycle. Dilemma.

Ello-Q uses an 8.5-horsepower electric motor, with a top speed of 80km/h, a battery charging time of three hours, and a mileage of 100km when fully charged. The narrow Ello-Q has a turning radius of only three meters. It is extremely flexible in small roads and is suitable for areas with frequent traffic jams and imperfect road configurations.

After listening to Bi Tristan's introduction, Tai Zhou had a clearer answer to the question "Can Hong Kong make electric vehicles?"

After years of exploration by Telsa, the technology of electric vehicles is quite mature. The electric vehicles that large venture capital funds will still invest in must have major breakthroughs in horsepower, power, load capacity or battery technology. Ello-Q has a cool appearance, but the horsepower and speed are at the low end. In theory, if Hong Kong people have sufficient funds and suitable talents, it is not impossible to produce this kind of electric car.

"What is the production cost of this car? How much is it going to sell?" Taizhou asked.

Tristan said: "Good question! The production of Ello-Q is still in the planning stage, because the company's funds are only enough to make a demonstration car, so the next step is to raise enough funds for mass production."

"There's always a price in mind, right?"

"Intentional price, cost price, production volume, sales channels, and interlocking, it is difficult to say for the time being."

"How do you plan to raise funds? Will you consider crowdfunding?"

"Crowdfunding is also a method."

"Then what about the production method? Build your own car factory, or outsource it?" Tristan asked him from a different angle, while Tai Zhou asked from a different angle. "

"The company will only focus on design and software, brand management and marketing, while the production is entrusted to others..."

At this time, Otis interjected and said: "The new generation of entrepreneurs are all about concept first, and then find a big consortium to invest in, make a big pie, and have a scale, and the next step will naturally be profitable."

"Hengyi invests in Ello Inc because its products are very suitable for Southeast Asian countries. Our business network in Southeast Asia can promote Ello Inc to show its strength in ASEAN countries. With Hengyi's properties and hotels, the two parties can complement each other. ”

Taizhou and Tristan nodded at the same time, thinking that Otis's words made sense.

"Of course, Tristan also said the key point: Ello Inc has technology, talents, and products, but it has no funds. Fortunately, Ello Inc is already a listed company, and our first job is to make good use of this financing platform to raise funds, so that Ello Inc will be funded as soon as possible. From a company with a market value of 500 million to a company with a market value of 5 billion!”

On the way back, Tai Zhou kept thinking about how low the price of Ello-Q should be to enter emerging markets such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and even India, and realize the grand plan of electric tricycles. Financing and production, if there are chickens, there are eggs, or if there are eggs, there are chickens...

"Did you notice what Tristan was wearing just now?"

"Scared? He... he was wearing a black Tee and jeans." Tai Zhou didn't understand why Otis asked this question. This dress is too ordinary, not commensurate with the identity of the founder of the Tristan technology company, and the black is oversized. The Tee made Tristan's already thin figure even weaker.

"You don't recognize the pattern on that Tee?"

Tai Zhou vaguely remembered that Tee had some white wavy patterns on it. What exactly do these patterns mean? F? password? Underworld cutout? Social ban?

When I was working part-time, I was most afraid of encountering such profound and nonsensical questions. Taizhou had no choice but to ask for it. "I remember that there are some white wavy patterns on the Tee, but I don't recognize the pattern."

"Joy Division, the album cover of Unknown Pleasures. Have you heard Joy Division?"

Joy Division, Tae Joo thinks he's heard the name, but he's not even sure he knows it's a band.

"I'm sorry, I haven't heard it before. I rarely listen to English songs."

"Needless to say sorry, this is a band from the '70s, and when their lead singer Ian Curtis died, you and Tristan were definitely not born. I just didn't think Tristan would listen to their songs and wear that dress. This kid is not easy. ”

Tai Zhou thought that there were also several songs by Leslie Cheung and Beyond in his playlist, and he was not born when Huang Jiaju died.

"Could it be that I just woke up too quickly and took my dad's clothes to wear? Uncle, are you thinking too much?" Taiju swallowed this sentence and continued to think about the prospects of Ello Inc and Ello-Q. . (to be continued)

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