This article is from the public number: CV Intelligence (ID: CVAI2019) , author: Yu Yang Yang, editor: Zhang Lijuan, title figure from: vision China

The reasons for war point to one thing—survival. No wolf sex will survive.

As soon as Luo Chen was recruited into an AI unicorn, he was told that he might be laid off within this year. One fact that stung him even more was that he was just a freshman enrollment in the workplace this year.

The dismissal of the freshman—this kind of thing happened in front of Luo Chen.

Not long ago, an executive of a traditional security company joined this AI unicorn, responsible for coordinating the entire business line. The new officer took office with three fires: a group of low-performing employees were fired, including several freshmen who were recruited this year with Luo Chen.

It was optimized as soon as he joined the job. This was not the result he wanted. “A freshman who was fired after a few months of work, it is difficult to find a good way out after leaving.” He almost worked hard to stay. Life at work.

At two o’clock in the morning, Luo Chen modified a PRD in the corner of one of the company’s conference rooms. He had forgotten how many times he had modified it before, and did not know how many versions would be changed afterwards, just as he had forgotten, This is the first time he has worked overtime until late at night, and he has no way of knowing whether this situation will improve in the future.

“Woo–wow-wow-wow–” Before PRD was finished, a decoration sound suddenly came up from the building. The loud noise caused by the electric drill penetrating the wall made Luo Chen feel that his ears were going to be deaf. The tables and chairs shook with it, and at this moment he felt collapsed, and he thought about changing places. “80% of the company upstairs thought that decoration would disturb others’ work during the day, but not at night, but it didn’t know that the company downstairs was us?”

But there is no choice. There was nothing downstairs in the office at two in the morning, and the cafes and convenience stores had already been closed. Even if the non-stop electric drill rang upstairs upset him, his R & D team still worked overtime at the outdoor work station. They also Waiting to communicate with Luo Chen about the specific issues to improve the product.

Unlike the old Internet giants that habitually emphasize wolf competition and 996 overtime, under the infiltration of a friendly external environment, these companies founded by former scientists and programmers have formed a kind of order The working culture that young people aspire to today—mildness, freedom, respect for individuals, and result-oriented.

The relatively comfortable working environment, coupled with excellent salaries, has led to the accumulation of relevant talents in batches in the head AI company, so that external competitors are constantly digging for angles. Internet giants such as Huawei and Tencent have Keeping an eye on the person who is holding in the hands of the AI ​​unicorn.

Front vents became around 2015Chen ’s request is to be on call 24 hours a day. “One day at 12 o’clock the leader sent a message. I did n’t reply in time and was criticized the next day.”

10 o’clock at night is the peak time for Internet companies to work, but for Luo Chen, it is already the best situation to be able to get off work around 10 o’clock, he can at least have even his own time. When the project was in a hurry and the task was heavy, he often worked overtime until the middle of the night; the tight state of the 24-hour online made Luo Chen learn to coexist with anxiety.

But more worrying than the anxiety of being laid off-it’s useless to do so that you don’t know what to do.

When Xu Yanchu was working at the big Internet company where he works now, he had been offered by a business line with a strong ability to make money.

After joining the post, the position has changed.

He was assigned to the research department from the line of business. “The business department abandons what we do and does not make money, and can only stay in the research institute to burn money.” Xu Yan’s research institute has been making various possible AI landing attempts. Unfortunately, , They have so far failed to explore a sustainable commercialization path beyond security.

In the second year of work, Xu Yan has stopped working overtime. He described himself as seeing through, “Overtime work is really meaningless. Looking back, those things done overtime are useless and finished. Just throw it aside. “

In the business world, it only makes sense if technology can bring real landing value. I ca n’t find the meaning of this job, I ca n’t find a sense of existence, I ca n’t find my own value. Compared with the anxiety of accomplishment, the loss of lack of accomplishment makes young people who are supported in large companies like Xu Yan feel. More disturbed.

After 10 o’clock, some people have left the work station, and some have stayed, starting a self-revelry in the greenhouse-like grid room.


Floor, land, land

“Finding certainty in uncertainty can only be right, not wrong.”

Lin Liang’s worry is not unreasonable.

After years of capital and technology accumulation, AI companies have begun a full-scale battle this year. In this battle with others and themselves, only those who have worked hard to achieve results have meat to eat, otherwise they can only be optimized.

In the early days of the company’s development, Yin Qi, the founder of contempt, once told the media, “We have rich welfare support for employees in eating, drinking, and playing. I believe in a light management model and implement a flexible working system, as long as it is on workdays. It is only necessary to work for eight hours, no matter what time you go to work and when you leave work, you don’t need to check in. “

But as competition intensifies, such an overly mild company culture begins to fail, and the leadership is anxious.

A person familiar with the matter disclosed to CV Intelligence that at the beginning of this year, the Hangzhou business department was “one pot at a time” and a team of more than 100 people was dissolved in place. The source told CV Intelligence, “The team mainly does hardware assembly and does not make money. Last year’s revenue was even less than 10 million.”

In the beginning, the company chose to enter the security industry, which can be called a hardware-led industry. The software application will not be reflected in the specific hardware equipment. This also caused the dilemma of purely selling software without making money. “It is also sold to customers. Hardware can make up about 70% of the money, and software may only account for 30%.” An industry insider told CV Intelligence.

To this end, the company has spent a lot of energy and resources on hardware. A company that develops technology and has a strong reputation for software does hardware, which of course faces risks.

A person in the industry analyzed CV’s intelligence. Multiple choice questions similar to “should be hardware” should appear one after another in the process of landing. “There are many roads in front of you, you have to Go and tryFor such a company, making hardware is not necessarily the right choice, but it can only be verified after trying it. “

Choose, try, and verify. This is a problem facing all AI entrepreneurs today.

Xu Yan’s team changed several leaders. Some well-known academics in the academic world were invited. They left before they had time to make any achievements, and they just tossed back and forth. One year.

Holding a hammer to find a nail, hit a hammer here, hit a hammer there, smash it, the energy is exhausted, the nail has not been found yet, it is the situation that Xu Yan’s team has been in .

Recently, Xu Yan’s team is working on a new To C project. This time, they did not even put goals such as revenue and money on the agenda. Various attempts in the past have told them: Since AI has landed It is difficult to make money, then change the road, make C-end products, at least make the reputation out.

“I used to think that leaders are as omnipotent as middle school teachers. I learned after working for a long time. He didn’t know if this thing could be done. This direction is right. He is also tentative and uncertain. “

“This is a normal thing. There is no Daniel who can do everything without him. Daniel just has done something in the past, but it does not mean that he can do it in the future. “

Xu Yan has accepted this reality. On the whole, the technology of AI can really do a lot of things, but as a denominator, the value of the individual is difficult to reflect. Many times luck is more important than hard work. There are ten ways in the forest, and you haven’t taken one right, others have gone right as soon as you leave.

The process of innovation is so wild and rational. In traditional industries, technology is often in stock and stable. Only in such a situation can an expert exist. In a territory, he can do everything, without him.