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James Cameron also said this word of mouth from fans, “If you set an almost unattainable goal, but eventually fail, your failure is still better than the success of others.” In Shu Chang’s entrepreneurial experience, I found that he also has the same outstanding quality as Zhan Shen, that is, he is very good at discovering and solving problems, and never use one problem to prevaricate another.
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Cameron, the director who made the movies “Terminator”, “Titanic” and “Avatar”, is a recognized devil in Hollywood and a tireless curiosity about the world. After the movie “Star Wars” was released in 1977, Cameron said that after watching it, it felt like being kicked behind the ass. He said that if you don’t do anything, the magical imagination will be taken by others.
When Shu Chang talked about Space X, I’m afraid it was also the feeling of thunderstorms above his head: “if we don’t do it, After five years, the market will be monopolized by Space X.”
This judgment is not unfounded. There are 3 models of Space X rockets: Falcon 1 has 1 engine; Falcon 9 has 9 engines; Falcon Heavy Core has 9 engines, with 1 booster tied to the left and right sides, each booster is also 9 Two engines are connected in parallel, a total of 27 engines… What are the benefits of doing this? Space X’s engine can achieve mass production. What are the benefits of mass production? Raw materials can be purchased in batches, automated production can be realized, performance can be stable, and it can be very cheap. In this way, Space X’s business model can be changed: in addition to selling rockets, it can also sell engines. “At that time, Space X could say to other rocket companies: how expensive the engine is, don’t do it, you buy mine! Just like the Intel in the computer, you can make a computer by Lenovo, you can make it by HP, but Sorry, you have to use Intel for your chips.”
The pattern of the industry makes Shu Chang a sense of urgency. I chose to start now because there is still an opportunity now: Space X currently costs 60 million US dollars per shot for the Falcon 9, which is similar to China’s Long March 3A rocket. The rocket carrying capacity is similar, and the price is similar. However, Shu Chang is very confident that Chinese private enterprises will be more than half cheaper than the national team. By introducing innovations in business models and service forms, private enterprises can take the lead in areas where the national team does not do anything.
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Why is it cheaper for private enterprises to do this? The national team is a product of a planned economy, and many things are scattered in different institutions. You make one set, and I make another set. For example, rockets need to be powered, and there are different systems, and each system has its own power cable. This is very inefficient. If only one set of cables is used, the weight will be saved. If you save 100 kg, what is the concept? US$20,000 per kilogram is the current launch price, and 100 kilograms is US$2 million. From this perspective, China’s private rockets are promising to compete with Space X.
“However, this is only for now. If we have not made anything in 5 years, the cost of Space X will fall. Space X’s valuation has reached 20 billion U.S. dollars, and every round of financing is billions of dollars. , It can do things that we cannot imagine. If the national team fails, the national team will lose their black hat. In contrast, Musk will have less such scruples, and will be more able to pursue technological progress and be more daring to take risks. ”
In 1962, Qian Xuesen wrote “An Introduction to Interstellar Voyage”. At that time, he predicted that based on current technology, humans could achieve interstellar voyage in the solar system within 20 to 30 years. However, after so many years, there is no progress. “It is completely technically feasible, why should we continue to wait?”
The sense of urgency and mission were mixed together, and Shu Chang made a decision. In June 2015, Shu Chang chose to resign on the second day of Legend Holdings’ listing, gave up millions of stocks, and established ” One Space CHINA”.
