Chapter 355 Li Xiaofan's Plan to Catch up with IBM and Nobel Prize in Physics Technology

Regarding the topic of West Lake in Hangzhou, Tim Draper and Tang Xinyi still have a lot in common, which has shortened the distance between them.

And because of his father's relationship, Tim Draper has a good impression of mainland China.

Talking about his recent trip to mainland China, he smiled and said: "Last month, I went to Beijing, China again with an American investment delegation. During the exchange, a leader of the Ministry of Finance in mainland China asked me how to better attract Foreign investment? My answer is very simple: we should ensure that the first batch of foreign investors can make money and can easily remit their profits, and serve as a demonstration..."

In his previous life, Li Xiaofan read a memoir written by Tim Draper, which mentioned mainland China in a large amount of space.

Shortly after Tim Draper returned from his visit to the mainland, China ushered in a period of rapid growth in which investment, consumption, and exports kept pace with each other.

Later, Tim Draper's third trip to China strengthened his confidence in investing in China. The book says that at that time, he and his partners drove from Shanghai to Hangzhou and saw rows of open-air concrete slopes outside the window. There were newly built factories and farmers' villas on both sides of the road. The farmers' villas all liked to have golden spires on their roofs. .

Tim Draper happily believes that mainland China is moving towards modernization, and that one-sidedness and poverty will no longer exist. Everyone wants to live a wealthy life like their neighbors. This is very similar to the social trend of "comparing wealth with neighbors" in the United States in the 1950s, except this time it is replaced by more than one billion Chinese.

At that time, Tim Draper was keenly aware that mainland China had huge potential in the future, so he began to slowly deploy business in mainland China.

In his previous life, when the US Internet bubble burst in 2001, Tim Draper suffered heavy losses. The share price of one of his funds, MeVC, fell to half of the IPO price.

But his subsequent layout in mainland China actually became his winning bargaining chip for a comeback in the future...

Li Xiaofan and the others chatted with Tim Draper for a while, then said goodbye and left.

Today is just a courtesy visit, we have a long time to come.

After leaving Menlo Park, Li Xiaofan and his party drove to Fremont, a bay area 60 kilometers away.

In the evening, Li Xiaofan made an appointment with Dr. Mao Siming, who works in the Seagate Head and Media R&D Center, to have dinner with him.

At a Chinese restaurant in Fremont that specializes in Cantonese cuisine, they met Dr. Mao Siming waiting inside.

"Director Li, long time no see. I saw your glorious image on TV last time. Congratulations on the successful IPO of Yahoo, the company you invested in!" Dr. Mao Siming extended his hands enthusiastically.

"Haha, thank you. Dr. Mao, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Ms. Tang Xinyi. She may spend more time in San Francisco to help me with some investment business here. This is Ms. Wang Danrong, our company's assistant in charge of investment business. …”

Everyone was seated, and after three drinks, Li Xiaofan said to Dr. Mao Siming;

"Dr. Mao, I have carefully read the two materials you sent me at the end of last year. Now that the Yahoo company I invested in has been successfully listed, I am about to launch the first venture capital fund in Singapore. Now, I finally have the energy and Funds are available to invest in your project!”

"Oh, Mr. Li, do you plan to invest in hard drives?" Dr. Mao Siming asked.

"No, let's put the hard drive issue aside for now. I would like to hire you to go to the Singapore Science Park to establish a magnetic sensing chip and media R&D center, and first develop products similar to those of the American NVE company..."

"Develop magnetic sensing chips and sensors first?" Dr. Mao Siming frowned.

"Yes, considering the legal non-compete clause, I imagine that we will start with magnetic sensor chips and sensor products at the Singapore Science Park. But the main focus of the new team led by you will be to research giant magnetoresistance GMR head technology! "

Dr. Mao Siming was surprised: "Director Li, do you also conduct research on giant magnetoresistance GMR technology?"

Looking at the global magnetic sensing technology, there are roughly four stages:

First generation: Hall Effect Hall effect.

Second generation: AMR (Anisotropic Magneto Resistance) anisotropic magnetoresistance sensing

Third generation: GMR (Giant Magneto Resistance) giant magnetoresistance sensor

Fourth generation: TMR (Tunneling Magneto Resistance) tunnel magnetoresistance sensor

Li Xiaofan smiled and said: "You must have heard about it. Besides, I read your two reports at the end of last year, so I know a little bit about it..."

In previous lives, the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Peter Gruenberg from the Jülich Helmholtz Research Center in Germany and Albert Fert from the University of Paris 11 in France. )professor.

Because these two winners independently conducted research on giant magnetoresistance GMR technology in the 1980s, they both won this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for their successive discoveries of the giant magnetoresistance GMR effect!

Since its discovery in the 1980s, the giant magnetoresistance GMR effect has immediately attracted great attention from business circles and academic circles in various countries. The giant magnetoresistance GMR effect has become one of the five hot spots in condensed matter physics.

Just the year before last, in 1994, the American company NVE first realized the industrialization of the giant magnetoresistance GMR effect and began selling giant magnetoresistance GMR sensors. The company was listed on Nasdaq in 2003.

In a previous life, Company 1 successfully applied the giant magnetoresistance GMR effect to computer hard drives and developed a giant magnetoresistance GMR effect magnetic head.

However, not long after IBM developed the giant magnetoresistance GMR effect magnetic head in the previous life, Dr. Mao Siming led the development of the third generation GMR (giant magnetoresistance magnetic head) and the fourth generation TMR (tunnel magnetoresistive magnetic head) at Seagate. The read head and sensor are known as the "father of magnetic heads" in the industry. He led the team to develop a number of "first technologies" in the industry, successfully helping Seagate replace IBM's market position in the industry!

In his previous life, it was precisely because of Dr. Mao Siming's strength that he was poached by Seagate's competitor Western Digital with a high salary to serve as the Vice President of R&D of Western Digital, which triggered a series of subsequent lawsuits...

Therefore, Li Xiaofan's current strategy is to first hire Dr. Mao Siming to establish a magnetic sensing chip and media R&D center in the Singapore Science Park, ostensibly to engage in the same sensor chip research as the American NVE company.

In fact, the real purpose is to develop the core component used in computer hard drives: giant magnetoresistance GMR effect heads, and strive to catch up with IBM! Seagate without Dr. Mao Siming can be ignored directly.

The advantage of setting up this R&D center in Singapore is that Singapore belongs to the Western camp and will not be so conspicuous. The West has two "Batum Organization" and "Wassenaar Agreement" that impose technological blockades on China. In the long run, Li Xiaofan has to consider this.

Once the research and development is successful, Li Xiaofan will consider locating the production base in mainland China...

Li Xiaofan continued: "Dr. Mao, my initial plan is for Singapore Yifan Investment Pte. Ltd. to cooperate with you personally to establish a joint venture company in the Singapore Science Park to engage in the research and development of magnetic sensor technology. The initial investment for this project is US$5 million. , you will personally own 20% of technology stocks. And after you start a business in Singapore, I guarantee that your income will not be lower than the current level of Seagate. What do you think?”