After roughly handling the accumulation of Daenerys Entertainment during this period, Simon set off for San Francisco on Wednesday, May 8 to handle an employee interview with the FusionTimes team and other work in the Bay Area.

After several months of continuous screening, the framework of the three companies, FusionTimes, SolarCity and SpaceX, has been basically completed.

Among them, FusionTimes and SolarCity are located in Silicon Valley, and SpaceX is located in Los Angeles.

SpaceX, the fastest-progressive one, has begun designing its first rocket.

FusionTimes is the most difficult. The team will stay in the Igrit Park in Mountain View in a short time. In the early stage, it will mainly engage in theoretical research. Only after the construction of FusionTimes' headquarters is completed will the actual construction of the nuclear fusion reactor be carried out.

As for SolarCity, among the three companies, this company that focuses on solar power generation seems to have the lowest technical content, and Simon attaches great importance to it at all. Because this company is the most promising project of the three companies to achieve sustainable commercial operation in a shorter cycle.

Speaking of which, SolarCity, which was once on the timeline, was actually a photovoltaic product distribution company established by Musk's cousin. Because it was too expensive to install a photovoltaic power generation system at one time, SolarCity has developed a brand new business model to rent and sell on behalf of others. First install solar power generation systems for users, and then charge fees in the form of electricity rent in the future. Moreover, the user's power generation system can also sell excess electricity through the form of networking.

In fact, the electricity cost of this business model is not cheaper than that of the general power grid. It only has the gimmick of clean energy and can indeed solve the electricity use problems of residents in some remote areas. Therefore, it has been successful and attracted a large number of followers to enter the market widely.

Simon intends to follow this business model, but his ambitions are far more than that.

Mountain View, Igret Park.

In a conference room at SolarCity's headquarters, FusionTimes interview was completed in the morning. After lunch, Simon rushed here and was discussing the specific plan of the company with the five-person core scientific research team of SolarCity.

The core scientific research team deals with the chief scientist system of many enterprises or research institutions.

Simon initially considered that all three companies adopted the chief scientist system, but after repeated consideration, he gave up.

One person has a short plan.

Moreover, although Simon is an elite, he still believes in the power of teamwork more. Therefore, all three companies have adopted the architectural strategy of core scientific research groups. Currently, the core scientific research groups of the three companies are all five, and they are not all top scientific researchers, including management-oriented personnel such as Emmanuel Brandt of FusionTimes.

Because the core positioning of the three companies is commercial companies, and they go for profit, this is also the fundamental reason why Simon once thought about it for a long time to determine that such companies can develop rapidly and long-term. Since it is a commercial company, it must pay attention to cost control and corporate management. Simon will not allow a group of scientists to squander their property madly, and everything must be controlled.

Therefore, after Emmanuel Brandt took the initiative to join, Simon quickly agreed and directly appointed the girl as the president of FusionTimes and a member of the core scientific research team. Compared with Simon, even though he had tried hard to read a lot of information, he was still considered a layman. Emmanuel, who has a doctorate in particle physics, is much more professional than him.

Moreover, what Simon values ​​more is Emmanuel's business thinking.

It is perfect for being both professional and skilled in enterprise management.

On SpaceX, Simon cultivated Elon Musk according to such talents. However, before that, Simon could not have waited for Musk to grow, so based on his memory, he attracted the former president of SpaceX, Gwen Shortville, from the original space-time president.

Still a woman.

Although she is a woman, Gwen Shortville, like Emmanuel Brandt, has high IQ and high education. Gwen Shortville, 33, has a double master's degree in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics from Northwestern University in the United States. He has also joined a NASA-affiliated aerospace company for eight years since 1988, with excellent work experience.

In history, Gwen Shortville joined SpaceX in 2002 and became Musk's right-hand man, mainly responsible for SpaceX's daily operations. If Musk's thinking philosophy guided SpaceX's corporate culture, then the one who truly transformed this thinking philosophy into reality is Gwen Shortville.

Although six years ahead of schedule, 33-year-old Schottville is more at the golden age of one person in Simon's opinion.

Therefore, Gwen Shortville's appointment is similar to Emmanuel Brandt, the president of SpaceX and a member of the core scientific research team.

Since both companies are like this, SolarCity is just looking for complete information.

The person in charge is also a woman named Daniela Greenwater, 31 years old. Not only does she have a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from MIT, but also took the time to study for an MBA from Harvard University. Before Simon was recruited by SolarCity, this girl wearing glasses with brown short hair and short hair was planning to leave the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States and plans to start a business in Silicon Valley, and also plans to set up a photovoltaic product research and development company.

Faced with the opportunity given by Simon, Daniela Greenwater gave up on her own and chose to join SolarCity. She didn't expect to be recognized as the president of SolarCity. Therefore, she boldly tested whether a guy had other intentions for her. After all, although she was not a big beauty, Daniela's appearance and figure were still more than 70 points.

Simon said there was.

Daniela immediately felt relieved, and the man's words had to be heard in the opposite way.

All right.

"First of all, the first question is, who knows when the earliest history of photovoltaics can be traced back?"

In the conference room, Daniela Greenwater and others did not expect Simon to mention this issue.

Many people are quite disgusted with the beginning of many professional textbooks. However, several people did not disappoint Simon. One of them said: "In 1839, the French scientist Eimmond Becquerell, who was only 19 years old, first discovered the photovoltaic effect of silver chloride liquid and used it to make the first photovoltaic cell."

"Very good," Simon stood in front of a writing board in front of the conference room, wrote a '1839' number with a pen, and then wrote a '1996' number: "From the discovery of the photovoltaic effect in 1839, 157 years have passed in 1996. How do you feel?"

Several people looked at each other, and after a moment, Daniela Greenwater finally said: "157 years have been wasted."

Simon tapped the writing board with a fountain pen, nodded, and glanced at the other people: "So Dany is the president, and you are not."

The other three men and one woman couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly.

In fact, the employees of the three companies did not have much objection to the three women being the person in charge.

Because, except for a few consultant scientists, all other formal employees of the three companies are under 35 years old and are young, so there is not many seniority phenomenon in the R&D departments of large enterprises or government laboratories. Moreover, Simon also promised everyone that if the three people do not do well, they will be removed soon. Similarly, others will be promoted by him personally.

Simon ignored the rolling eyes of several people and continued: "In 157, alternating current, semiconductors, fossil energy, etc. have been widely used in our lives, but photovoltaic technology has been limited to a very small number of fields. In my opinion, this is actually a waste. The energy of human society comes from the sun fundamentally. We have always ignored this most direct and richest energy application, but continue to consume the fossil energy accumulated and transformed from billions of years on the earth. This is a very serious misguided path. I founded SolarCity in the hope that our application of energy can be back on track."

After hearing Simon's remarks, the few people at the conference table nodded slightly.

If they did not recognize this philosophy, they would not join the industry.

Simon paused a little and continued: "So, let's get to the point. After 157 years of accumulation, the mainstream photovoltaic materials that should be discovered have actually been discovered, and the same is true for related peripheral technologies. So, my request for everyone is definitely not to start over. Just like Isaac Newton's saying "Standing on the shoulders of giants", I hope you can stand on the technology accumulated by our predecessors for hundreds of years, and first carry out a comprehensive review and integration, and a global photovoltaic application and its peripheral technologies. I know what you are thinking. This is of course not easy for others, but it is not a problem for me, because I have enough capital to support you in this integration."

Everyone smiled, but they also understood that this was the truth.

To put it bluntly, the so-called integration is still technical integration.

Since it is technology, it must involve various patent issues. Whether it is direct acquisition or authorization, it requires a lot of financial support. At this stage, some people may have such financial strength, but considering the investment risks contained in it, few people will do this.

This is not a problem for Simon.

Even if you really have to spend billions of dollars to waste, a super rich man will not be hurt.

In front of the writing board, Simon continued: "Of course, the integration I mentioned is not just the integration of pure photovoltaic products. I hope you will build a complete industrial closed loop from photovoltaic material production to final waste treatment. For many people, the biggest selling point of photovoltaic products is clean energy, which can reduce pollution caused by fossil fuels. However, everyone actually understands that in depth, this statement is a scam, because photovoltaic materials will not only consume a lot of energy from production, but also start to cause various pollutions. Photovoltaic waste, as well as battery product waste used to store energy, causes more serious pollution. Since we want to promote photovoltaic products in the name of environmental protection, then I hope we can really achieve the greatest reputation, not just a gimmick. At least, we must achieve the ultimate harmless treatment of photovoltaic waste and scrap batteries."

Simon said, while writing various keywords on the writing board: "After completing the first step of technical sorting and integration, I ask you to carry out deeper research and development on the basis of existing technology, while integrating a photovoltaic product operation plan that can be carried out in actual commercial operations. Remember, what I need is an optimization plan between cost and efficiency, which is also your future efforts. If someone uses expensive photovoltaic materials with satellites that are more expensive than gold, I will fire you directly. Of course, this plan also involves a complete industrial chain from material production to waste treatment. I have discussed with you the previous strategy of SolarCity's rental and sale, which is a very easy to imitate business model. However, as long as you can optimize the cost to the extreme and form a complete industrial chain at the same time, it will be difficult for other followers to pose a threat to SolarCity in the future."

Starting from 2pm, Simon stayed at SolarCity headquarters for two hours, discussing all aspects of the issue with several core members of the company, and did not leave until fourpm.

Then rushed to the vicinity of a small town called Morgan Villa in south of San Jose.

FusionTimes has purchased 50 hectares of land here and just reached an agreement with surrounding residents a few days ago to establish FusionTimes' headquarters here.

In fact, some people initially proposed to set FusionTimes' headquarters in Livermore, in the eastern part of the Bay Area, near the Livermore National Laboratory under the U.S. Department of Energy.

After all, if you want to study controlled nuclear fusion technology, even private companies need to obtain permission and supervision from government departments. In this regard, the Westeros system has been authorized by the federal government and has reached some technical cooperation agreements. If FusionTimes is located in Livermore, it can more conveniently communicate with the Livermore National Laboratory team, which is also conducting controlled nuclear fusion research.

Simon directly chose to refuse.

Because Simon hopes to build a company with the spirit of Silicon Valley. Whether it is FusionTimes and SolarCity in the Bay Area, or SpaceX in Los Angeles, Simon hopes that the teams of the three companies can be as enterprising and innovative as Silicon Valley companies.

In comparison, it is almost the government department's Livermore National Laboratory. Simon certainly does not deny the technical background of these national laboratories. However, the rigid system and idle style of these laboratories also doom them to find it difficult for them to make great technological breakthroughs.

In my memory, there are always people who compare the scientific research institutions in China and the West, and then they are heartbroken about the loss of top domestic scientific researchers.

Actually they are all the same.

Otherwise, the new moon landing program in the United States would not rely on private companies like SpaceX.

But relatively speaking, there are various large private enterprises or commercial research institutions in the West that accept top scientific researchers from all over the world, giving them enough space to play, just like SpaceX. Even twenty years later, China has not formed such a soil because of its shallow foundation.

All in all, Simon doesn't want FusionTimes' team to be infected with the government habits of Livermore National Laboratory.

Of course, you have to be far away.

The plot Simon purchased near Morgan Villa is only more than 20 kilometers away from the center of San Jose, and is basically within the Silicon Valley. In fact, Simon also wants to be more core, but the areas involved in FusionTimes are sensitive after all, and it is not easy to purchase 50 hectares of land in the core area of ​​Silicon Valley at one time.

Located between the valleys south of San Jose, Morgan Villa happens to be a compromise.

After seeing FusionTimes' location selection and communicating with the architectural design team, after the day's work, Simon stayed in the Bay Area overnight, set off again the next day, and flew to New York.
Chapter completed!