How was I deceived? A must-read for professionals who want to start a company

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How was I deceived? A must-read for professionals who want to start a company! Author: jacob1102 Source: **Forum It’s a true story that happened in 2004. That year, I worked for a paint manufacturing company; the job and salary were decent, and my wife and children were by my side, so I would say I was quite satisfied. But my peaceful life was quickly disrupted. That day, an old classmate whom I hadn’t seen in over a decade came to see me; let’s call him Old Wang here (not the scumbag Wang). Old Wang brought a sample with him. He said the market for this product is very promising, but the problem is that it cannot be produced. He said that after consulting many research institutions and experienced experts, he was still unable to find a solution. It was only a few days ago that I remembered I graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Nanjing University; it took three days of searching to find me. I accepted the sample, analyzed it, and told him that it could be developed. Lao Wang was overjoyed and urged me to start researching right away. A month later, I gave Lao Wang the research results on over a dozen pages; he didn’t come to see me for half a month after returning. I was puzzled; when I called him, he said that the minimum estimated investment for this project is 3 million, and he doesn’t have the money right now. That’s why I’m worried. I asked, how much do you have? He replied, “500,000.” I started researching again, and at my peak I went three nights in a row without sleeping. I found myself stuck in it; those working in technology have probably all experienced this. A week later, I called Old Wang and said I had a new process, and that equipment worth over a hundred thousand might be sufficient. Lao Wang asked me to prepare 10 kilograms of samples. It took me just a week to produce 10 kilograms of samples. However, they are not sure whether they can take the samples out for testing, as there are differences in technical specifications between my samples and their original samples. I spent 2 hours giving them a lecture on the principles of chemical engineering, and only then did they start to believe it; actually, they were a bit skeptical about my ability to do it. Later, Old Wang made the decision to try out the samples. Actually, their feelings are understandable, as failing the test requires compensation of over 100,000 yuan. The test results showed that everything was fine. Under such circumstances, Old Wang insisted that I quit my job and go back to start a company with him to produce this product. I thought about it for a few days; coincidentally, the company’s legal representative changed, and the new boss didn’t offer me a suitable position. I’ll go back and start a company with Old Wang by contributing technology as capital. This was the beginning of being deceived. To produce this product, a key material is required. After making numerous attempts to find it, I finally located an experienced colleague in the chemical industry in Shanghai; I call him Lao Zhu (not the same as ‘Zhu Tousan’. Lao Zhu guarantees the supply of this raw material. I, Lao Wang, and Lao Zhu signed a supply agreement in Shanghai. And that’s how the product was successfully launched on the market, it received positive feedback and generated substantial profits. Just as I was feeling a bit euphoric, things started to move in a direction I didn’t want, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Just after we had completed several successful transactions with Old Zhu, Old Wang discussed with me the possibility of lowering Old Zhu’s prices. I said you should go talk to him about this; in the first round of negotiations, Lao Wang wasn’t successful. I shouldn’t say too much about this; they are friends after all. But I have my own professional ethics and work principles, which don’t allow me to speak too much. Another month passed, and Old Wang’s orders for supplies increased batch by batch, far exceeding our actual usage needs; I couldn’t understand it. Lao Zhu can no longer afford to ignore this either; the contract requires him to ensure supply, otherwise it would be considered a breach of contract. At Lao Zhu’s suggestion, we went to Shanghai for further negotiations. Lao Zhu said, What you’re doing is too much for me to handle. Lao Wang said that our sales volume is high right now. After further negotiations, Lao Zhu guaranteed a monthly supply of no less than 20 tons, and Lao Wang agreed to pay a deposit of 50,000 yuan (the price for 20 tons is nearly 800,000 yuan), with deliveries of at least 5 tons each time the payment was made. After the agreement was signed, Lao Wang called Lao Zhu almost every day to urge him to deliver the goods. Right after the first batch of 20 tons was delivered by Lao Zhu, Lao Wang stopped pressing for the delivery to be carried out. Actually, the stock in our factory is enough to last for 2 months. Lao Wang gave me a work order: I must find a second raw material supplier across the country within 2 months and enter into substantive negotiations. From the company’s perspective, I know that Old Wang is right and his actions are reasonable. So, I had no choice but to start reaching out to various people. But I feel that something bad is about to happen. Sure enough, when we didn’t show up to pick up the goods, Lao Zhu lost patience and took the initiative to call Lao Wang. Old Wang replied that your price is too high; our engineer Liu has already found a new supplier who can offer the product for 3,000 yuan per ton less than yours. Lao Zhu became anxious and said we have a contract. Lao Wang said, “Yes, I won’t take more than 50,000 yuan.” ” Lao Zhu was on the verge of crying in frustration; he had borrowed 300,000 yuan for this goods. He called me. But what can I do? I can’t say anything. It has nothing to do with me; Lao Zhu accused me of cheating him. But I don’t know how to trick him. Later, he voluntarily offered Lao Wang 3,000 yuan per ton. Lao Wang symbolically pulled 2 tons of goods; after they were brought back, he called Lao Zhu and said that there were quality issues with the raw materials, and they needed to be replaced immediately, otherwise supply could not be guaranteed. Old Zhu had no choice but to find a vehicle to bring 2 tons of goods over at night. Once the goods are delivered, the payment is automatically held as a quality guarantee. It was only then that Lao Zhu realized something was wrong – the wind had changed direction. He hated me deeply in his heart, so he reported me to Old Wang, accusing me of asking for bribes from him. He wanted to stay by Old Wang’s side wholeheartedly; he believed that my presence would pose a serious threat to him. Lao Zhu once gave my wife a few samples for her to analyze, and also gave her 2,000 yuan. I joked, “2,000 yuan is a bit low as a commission.” ”Lao Zhu said he would show his appreciation once he made some money, so I just smiled and didn’t respond. Unexpectingly, Old Zhu, in panic, bit twice randomly, so he told Old Wang about this incident. Lao Wang immediately took the opportunity to delay the payment of my 200,000 yuan in settlement funds under various pretexts, using this to force me to withdraw my investment on my own. Because by this time, he had already achieved a complete victory! He has taken complete control of Lao Zhu! He’s afraid that Lao Zhu won’t supply him with goods and will raise the price for him! Now, Lao Wang has in his possession cash receipts totaling over 2 million yuan, written by Lao Zhu himself. These receipts did not have any taxes paid on them, and when the tax authorities discovered them, Lao Zhu died, as he was also the legal representative of a chemical technology company. It was Lao Wang who suggested not having an invoice, but Lao Zhu didn’t think of it. Cash transactions without an invoice cannot have any written record! ! Lao Wang was also afraid that my relationship with Lao Zhu might become too close, so undermining that relationship between me and Lao Zhu was one of his goals as well. Third, he took the opportunity to kick me aside, thus avoiding his biggest financial expense. This is about how me and Lao Zhu, two senior intellectuals, were deceived! The one thing Old Wang didn’t expect was that he thought I would simply go back to working as a laborer; he failed to realize that I would immediately start my own company and carry out technology transfers across the country, competing fiercely with him by offering raw materials at a cost 2,000 lower than his. The profit margin for this product is already quite low now. I have summed it up in one sentence: Fierce competition leads to a positive cycle! One last thing to emphasize: Lao Wang is not the king of assholes! Lao Zhu is not Pig Head Three’s pig! Thank them for teaching me so much.