bookbashuk Chapter 38 The Data Speaks
Chapter 38 The Data Speaks
In early November, Su Chen sent an email to Shen Yumeng.
The title is "Hongyuan Intelligent 2016 Q3 Quarterly Report and Next Stage Plan".
This was not a formalistic report—but rather, Su Chen, for the first time, condensed all of Hongyuan's progress over the past three months into twelve pages from the perspective of an investor reviewing a report.
Part 1: Consumer Business.
Combined monthly sales of the F2 work version and the standard version increased from over 400 units in July to 1,800 units in October, representing a quarterly increase of more than three times. Monthly revenue rose from 1.3 million in July to 3.5 million in October, with monthly net profit of 900,000.
The ground sales team has expanded from eight to fifteen groups, covering ten provinces. The dealer network has signed contracts with twenty-seven dealers, and will begin contributing to growth starting in November.
Part Two: Plant Protection Services.
The technical cooperation with Xiangtian Agricultural Energy has been confirmed. The first prototype of the HY-AG agricultural drone completed its maiden flight in Hunan in mid-October, and its core indicators met the design goals. The next phase will be reliability testing and small-batch trial production, with the first batch of commercial deliveries expected in the first quarter of next year.
Part Three: Team Building.
The R&D team has expanded from two to six people. The three newly recruited flight control engineers and one algorithm engineer have been with the company for two months and are gradually taking over the daily iteration work. Flight control technology is transforming from "the founder's personal ability" to "organizational ability".
Part Four: Next Stage Planning
Consumer-grade – We are making every effort to achieve monthly sales of 2,000 units, with the key driving force being the launch of the dealer network.
Plant protection grade – complete reliability testing, obtain industry certification, and start small-batch trial production.
Technical reserves – F2 firmware 3.0 development completed, providing HY-AG with a mature heavy-load flight control solution.
Su Chen didn't wait long after sending the email. Two hours later, Shen Yumeng replied—not with an email, but with a phone call.
"President Su, I've finished reading the report."
She still speaks very fast.
"There are two things I'd like to tell you. First, the agricultural protection line is progressing faster than I expected, and the successful maiden flight of the prototype is very important to us—if we can launch a commercial product in the first quarter of next year, Hongyuan's valuation model will be completely different."
Su Chen didn't interrupt and waited for her to continue.
"Secondly, let me tell you something—we also have another drone company in our investment group, doing industrial inspection, located in Guangzhou. They are also looking for flight control suppliers. If Hongyuan's flight control platform strategy works out, it won't just be limited to plant protection in the future."
Su Chen's eyes twitched slightly.
Industrial inspection drones. This is another important vertical market for the drone industry outside of the consumer market, as he remembered from his previous life—power line inspection, bridge inspection, wind turbine blade inspection, and building facade scanning. The market size is larger and the profit margins are higher than those for agricultural drones.
However, industrial inspection has higher requirements for flight control than agricultural protection—it needs to fly accurately in complex electromagnetic environments, work in conjunction with various specialized sensors, and has higher reliability and safety requirements.
That's a story for later. Now is not the time to discuss industrial inspections—the first agricultural product hasn't even been sold yet.
"Thank you for the information, Mr. Shen. We can discuss the industrial inspection later. Our focus remains unchanged at this stage—to produce our agricultural protection products and stabilize sales of our consumer-grade products."
"I understand. However, Mr. Su, there's something I'd like to remind you of."
"explain."
"Hongyuan's current growth data and progress in plant protection will attract even more attention if reported by the media. Have you considered proactively engaging in media outreach?"
Su Chen thought for a moment.
All previous media exposure was passive – the reviews from Hardcore Innovation Network, the videos from Yuchen.com, Feige's reviews, and the spontaneous word-of-mouth from forum users – none of it was actively promoted by Su Chen.
But now Hongyuan has entered a new phase. The success of the agricultural prototype, the rapid growth of the consumer-grade model, and the completion of financing—all these factors combined make for a very newsworthy story.
The story of a small Shenzhen factory that was on the verge of collapse six months ago has now become a drone flight control technology company that spans both consumer and agricultural applications—this in itself is an eye-catching narrative.
"Okay. I'll think about how to do it."
Su Chen did not hire a public relations company.
He directly called Li Hao of Hardcore Innovation.
"Teacher Li, I have a unique story I'd like to share with you."
Li Hao was very interested. Ever since the exhibition's evaluation and the white paper incident, he had been constantly tracking and following Hongyuan.
"What story?"
"Our prototype agricultural drone completed its maiden flight in Hunan last month. We've expanded from a small company that only makes consumer-grade aerial photography drones into the agricultural plant protection field. And our approach isn't starting from scratch—we're transferring core flight control technology from consumer-grade drones to agricultural scenarios, collaborating with a Hunan-based company that has over ten years of experience in agricultural machinery."
Li Hao remained silent for two seconds.
"Mr. Su, I'm very interested in this story. But I'd like to ask—how would you like us to write it?"
"It's not a product draft," Su Chen said. "It's a story about 'how a small company survives in the cracks between giants using technological barriers.' Technology is the core, but the story itself is more important than the technology. You're in charge; write it however you like. I won't be reviewing it."
Li Hao agreed.
A week later, he arrived at Hongyuan's factory with a photographer.
I filmed the production line, the technical department, and a scene of Su Chen and Zhang Lei discussing algorithms in front of a monitor. I also filmed Su Chen's office—a small room of less than ten square meters, with a small-scale model of an F2 and a HY-AG on the table.
Li Hao conducted an interview with Su Chen that lasted nearly an hour.
He asked very directly.
"Mr. Su, you're twenty-three years old this year. Just six months ago, you were the one who took over a small, dying factory. Now your company has secured tens of millions in funding, monthly sales are about to exceed two thousand units, and you're also starting to develop agricultural drones. How far do you think Hongyuan can go?"
Su Chen did not avoid the question.
"Our core is not drones—it's flight control. Drones are merely the carriers of flight control technology. Today we install flight control on aerial photography drones, tomorrow on agricultural drones, and the day after tomorrow on inspection drones, logistics drones, or any scenario requiring precise flight control. Hongyuan's ultimate goal is not to be a drone company, but a flight control technology platform company."
Li Hao's eyes brightened.
"Flight control technology platform company." He repeated the word.
"Yes. Flight control is the brain of a drone. Whoever controls the brain controls the entire ecosystem. Currently, there are only a handful of companies in the entire industry that can produce good flight control for low- to mid-range drones, and even fewer that can cover both consumer and agricultural applications. That's exactly what we want to do."
Li Hao took notes in his notebook for a long time.
Two weeks later, Hardcore Innovation published a long article.
The title is "From 1.2 million to 2,000 units: A small drone factory in Shenzhen breaks through in six months".
The article begins with Su Chen inheriting a dying small factory six months ago, then moves on to the crisis and desperate counterattack after the Zhao Guoqiang incident, the research and development of F2 and the innovation of the ground promotion model, the six-square-meter booth at the exhibition and the white paper incident, and the financing and the maiden flight of the prototype agricultural drone.
The full text exceeds eight thousand words and includes numerous pictures and data charts.
The ending paragraph was screenshotted and shared by many people:
"Su Chen said that Hongyuan's core is not drones, but flight control. Drones are just a carrier of flight control technology. Today it is installed on aerial photography drones, tomorrow on agricultural drones, and the day after tomorrow it may be installed in any scenario that requires precise flight control. This company, which is only six months old, aims to become a flight control technology platform company."
This article has caused quite a stir in the drone industry.
The article garnered over 50,000 views on the day it was published.
It was reprinted by multiple tech media outlets and financial self-media, including 36Kr, Huxiu, and Pencil News.
The comments section is no longer just about "this drone flies steadily"—it's starting to discuss "whether this company's business model is viable."
"The idea of a flight control platform is very interesting. If it can truly cover both consumer and agricultural applications, this company's growth potential is far greater than that of a pure aerial photography drone manufacturer."
"Six months ago, we only had 1.2 million yuan in cash; now we're selling nearly 2,000 units a month. This growth rate is terrifying."
"Su Chen is only twenty-three years old? Seriously?"
"Note one detail—their flight control system is entirely self-developed, not a purchased off-the-shelf solution. This is extremely rare among small and medium-sized drone companies."
Su Chen didn't pay much attention to these comments when he saw them.
He was more concerned about something else—on the third day after the article was published, he received three emails from different investment institutions.
All of them express investment intentions.
Su Chen didn't reply to a single letter.
Now is not the time to raise funds. The ten million from the Series A funding round hasn't even been spent yet, and the company's sales revenue is already sufficient to cover daily operations. Raising funds at this stage would simply dilute equity.
Moreover, every percentage point of dilution erodes the safety margin of the system gain halo.
This bottom line must never be crossed.