Chapter 1 — Destiny PPT version

Ten minutes before the interview, I accidentally showed a PPT disparaging the company on the big screen in the meeting room. The title has eight words. "Your Company is Only Three Steps Away from Bankruptcy." Below are sitting the founder, HR director, product manager, and finance director. And also boss Co Thua Nghien, who according to legend scolded seven product managers to run away within three months. Co Thua Nghien stared at the first page for ten seconds. Then he looked up at me: "Open the second page." The HR director used crazy eyes to signal me not to click. I get it. What she means is: Son, isn't life good? But Co Thua Nghien's eyes were even more terrifying. I closed my eyes and clicked to the second page. The title appeared. “Step One: Your Home Page Looks Like the Entrance to a Vegetable Market”…… “What is that thing you just showed on the screen?” My hand stopped on the mouse. The entire meeting room was so quiet that you could hear the sound of the air conditioning vents breathing. On a large screen, the first page of the PPT stays lit. White background with black text. Eight huge words. “Your Company is Only Three Steps Away from Bankruptcy” The font is the one I conveniently chose last night. Microsoft YaHei. Bold. Red border. It looks like an obituary posted on the company's door. My name is On Nhien. A new graduate student has extreme social anxiety. How outrageous? The cashier at the convenience store asks me if I need a bag, and I can get so nervous that I reply, “I love you too.” Stepping into an elevator with someone standing next to the button panel, I will pretend that I suddenly want to climb the stairs. Before sending a voice message, I had to record it seven times, then gave up the eighth time and switched to texting a single word "Yes". So when I sat in the interview meeting room of Tinh Lam Technology, facing five adults, three computers, a projector, and a boss who didn't look like he wanted to live but didn't want to let me live, I was about to crumble. Ms. HR was sitting on my left, her smile had been frozen on her face. Her name is Manh Vi. Just now he gently said to me: "Don't be nervous, our company's atmosphere is very comfortable." Now her expression proves it. She lied. The man sitting in the chair looked up at me. Co Thua Nghien. Founder of Tinh Lam Technology. The KPI grinder lives on in legends. Online reviews are very consistent. Bad temper. Eyes look poisonous. Scolding someone who doesn't have any bad words can make them go home and fix their will. He used his finger to tap lightly on the table top. "I ask you, what is this?" My throat was dry. "This... this is..." Product Manager Phuong Hao sat next to him and leaned back in his chair. "Manh Vi, is this the candidate you screened?" Manh Vi said in a low voice: "General Manager Phuong, maybe it was the wrong file." "Misscreened?" Phuong Hao laughed, "The interview was mistakenly broadcast as scolding the company about to go bankrupt? This child also has a strong desire to express, right?" I wanted to explain. Actually. My mouth was open. But there is no sound. Because this is worse than they imagined. This PPT version does not have to be downloaded from the internet. Nor is it haphazardly written. It's because I stayed up late last night. Although the title is a bit unethical, the content is very serious. I studied all of Tinh Lam Technology's public documents, user comments, one-star reviews on the app store, competitor data, and even product direction after their previous funding round. Finally draw a conclusion. Your company is only three steps away from bankruptcy. First step, no one uses the product. The second step is to use it and then test it. Third step, after installing, uninstall. Originally this was just for me to see for myself. I intend to use it

Before the interview to organize your thoughts, remind yourself that if you are asked "What do you think about our company's products", try to speak a little more like a normal person. As a result, I'm too stressed. When I opened the folder, I clicked on it by mistake. Afterward. It's on. I bowed my head and searched for the escape key. My fingers trembled as if they had just been frozen in the refrigerator. Co Thua Nghien suddenly spoke up. "Don't turn it off." My movements stiffened. Phuong Hao was also stunned. Co Thua Nghien looked at the big screen. "Second page." I suspected I heard wrong. "Huh?" He raised his eyes. "I said, second page." I swallowed my saliva. "General Manager Co, this is not an official interview document, I can explain..." "You've explained it very clearly." He pointed at the screen, "Your company is only three steps away from bankruptcy." Someone in the meeting room took a deep breath. I saw the financial director bow his head to drink water, the rim of the glass shaking slightly. Phuong Hao's face darkened as if he had just been informed that his year-end bonus had been changed to a company souvenir. Manh Vi used his crazy eyes to signal me not to press. I get it. What she means is: Son, isn't life good? But Co Thua Nghien's eyes were even more terrifying. What I mean is: Click. I closed my eyes. Click to the second page. The title appeared. “Step One: Your Home Page Looks Like the Entrance to a Vegetable Market” Phuong Hao's face turned green on the spot. Co Thua Nghien stared at the screen for two seconds. Then he said: "Say it." I wanted to disappear on the spot. Not an exaggeration. If the floor of the meeting room suddenly cracks open, underneath are eighteen levels of hell, I will ask in advance if there can be a job application procedure. The text on the big screen was so bright it was blinding. “Step One: Your Home Page Looks Like the Entrance to a Vegetable Market” Below were three pictures. Screenshot of Tinh Lam APP home page. Screenshot of a competitor's homepage. And a diagram drawn by myself. On the diagram I also pasted a meme of an aunt selling fish at the vegetable market. This is not the point. The point is that next to me I wrote a caption: "Within three seconds after users open the app, they will have the illusion of having their sleeves pulled by eight stall owners at the same time." Phuong Hao stood up. "What do you mean?" I unconsciously shrank my neck. "I... I don't scold people." "This is not even scolding people?" "I scolded the interface." "Who made the interface?" "……" Done. This sentence has a trap. I looked at Phuong Hao. He looked at me. Everyone in the meeting room looked at us. I only had one thought in my mind: This company's interview process is really short. As soon as he entered, he was publicly executed. Co Thua Nghien tapped on the table top. "Phuong Hao, sit down." Phuong Hao did not sit. "General Director Co, an undergraduate student, holding a few screenshots said that our homepage looks like a vegetable market, isn't this a myth?" Co Thua Nghien looked at him. "Then explain, why the number of daily activities on the homepage has decreased for six consecutive weeks." Phuong Hao choked. I was also choked up. It's not. You guys are arguing within the company, can you please stop sandwiching me in the middle? I'm just an unlucky person who got it on the wrong screen. When Phuong Hao sat down again, the chair leg scraped the floor and made a sound. So bright that my scalp felt tight. Co Thua Nghien turned to me. “Continue.” My finger pressed against the mouse. My palms were sweaty. "Yes, can I continue?" "I can't." "Is it time for me to apologize now?" "No time." "Then can I have a sip of water first?" Manh Vi immediately pushed the paper cup to me. That expression was like giving the last meal to a death row prisoner. I took a sip. Warm water. Useless. I'm still scared. But the screen was hanging there. Five people were sitting here. Eyes

Co Thua Nghien was like a knife on my neck. I could only open my mouth. "The problem with your homepage is that it's not informative." The voice was as small as a mosquito. Co Thua Nghien frowned. "Didn't hear it." I took a deep breath. "It's not a lot of information." This time it's a bit louder. "It's all the information competing for the number one position." I opened the screenshot. "The new user walks in, the first thing they see is the newbie gift package, the membership window, time-limited activities, community entrance, livestream suggestions, AI assistant, and a weather card that appears for some reason. Here." The financial director raised his head. "I suggested the weather card." My hands shook. "Quite... quite practical." Phuong Hao smiled coldly. "Didn't you say it was a vegetable market just now?" I closed my mouth. Co Thua Nghien said: "Don't change your words." I looked at the screen. Things from last night while analyzing gradually appeared in my mind. Like an old computer being forced to boot. The cooling fan whirred. “The problem is, you guys want users to do too many things.” “The home page is not a warehouse.” “It should be like an airport sign, telling people where to go.” “But right now it's like you put eighteen speakers at the airport gate, each one shouting that it's the most important.”The meeting room was quiet. Phuong Hao's hand stopped on the laptop. Manh Vi's eyes looked at me from "you run quickly" to "what did you just say". Co Thua Nghien leaned back in his chair. "Next page." I clicked. The title of the third page appeared. “Step Two: You See the User as a Relative, Urging You to Get Married” Phuong Hao closed his eyes. The CFO spits out water. Co Thua Nghien looked at me. "This is also said." I finally understand what it means to ride a tiger and make it difficult to get off. The tiger not only won't let you down. The tiger also forces you to flip the PPT. Below the third page is a user link I compiled. Register. Log in. Link phone number. Fill in occupation. Choose interests. Turn on positioning. Turn on notification permissions. Watch ads to get points. Complete the beginner mission. Continuous attendance. Follow the official account. The whole process goes down, the user has not even started using the product, and has been investigated by the company half a lifetime ago. I pointed to the process diagram. "A new user opening Tinh Lam for the first time, has to click at least thirteen times to access the core functions." The CFO was stunned. "Thirteen times?" I nodded. "This is the most favorable situation." Manh Vi couldn't help but ask: "What if it's not favorable?" "Privacy agreement will be turned on." "And then what?" "Newbie gift package will be turned on." "And then?" "Notification permission will be turned on." "What about?" more?”“If the user refuses, a second confirmation will be enabled.”Phuong Hao interrupted me.“This is industry practice.”I looked at him.“It is also industry practice for users to uninstall.”When this sentence popped out, I was also bewildered. What did I say? I just turned the product manager back on? I? On Nhien? On Nhien, when asked at the milk tea shop "with little ice or regular ice", could he have said "anything"? Phuong Hao's face turned from blue to black. Co Thua Nghien said nothing. But the way he looked at me changed. It's like discovering an unscrambled lottery ticket in the trash. Not sure if I won the prize or not. But worth a try. Phuong Hao said coldly: "Do you know why we need this information? Because the proposal is accurate." "The proposal can be left later." "What about access rights?" "Activate on demand." "Users do not grant permissions, what kind of service do we provide?"