Building the initial Team

March 16th, early morning.

Lu Zhou returned to his room last night and spent the entire night working on filling in some program logic for the advertising alliance. It wasn't until early morning that Song Wenhui called him to go to Huite to sign the contract. Lu Zhou got up and rode his bicycle to Huite.

The main content of the contract was that Huite would contribute the right to use ten servers for Dream Grain for one year, holding 5% equity.

Lu Zhou, feeling somewhat listless, carefully read the corresponding terms of the contract. The contract was quite standard, without any surprises, so Lu Zhou directly signed it.

After several interactions, Lu Zhou initially thought that Song Wenhui was a boss with long-term vision, but now he considered him a good partner.

Lu Zhou listed, "Insightful, takes action, daring and willing to take risks, honest and doesn't fuss over trivial matters... If Dream Grain has a need for servers, we can completely rely on Huite. And if in the future I can bring Huite under the umbrella of my cloud computing technology, it would be even more perfect."

That's what Lu Zhou was thinking, but making it a reality wouldn't be easy. After all, Huite was a company with server assets worth nearly 30 million.

Soon, Lu Zhou arrived at Room 305 of the Bamboo Garden. However, he was surprised when he reached the entrance. Inside Room 305, it was overcrowded with about twenty people.

Fang Qiang noticed Lu Zhou and quickly came up to him. "Brother Lu, good morning. These are the sophomore and junior students who were interested and came under my call yesterday. They wanted to have a look first."

"Hello, senior!"

Seeing so many people, Lu Zhou couldn't help but feel moved. It seemed like choosing to start a business at Yixian University was a good decision.

As the leading university in the Guangnan region, Yixian University's computer science students generally had a solid foundation. With some training, they could quickly adapt to work.

Compared to some programmers with two or three years of experience, although training interns took time, the advantage was that they started with a blank slate, had simpler thinking than people in society, and had more enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.

Of course, the cost of hiring them would also be much lower.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and coughed. The juniors in Room 305 quickly quieted down, waiting for Lu Zhou to speak.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Lu Zhou, a member of the 2008 computer science class. It's great to meet you all."

A junior was about to clap, but Lu Zhou gestured for them to hold off and continued, "As for the specifics, I assume your senior Fang has already given you a general introduction. We currently need four interns, so there will inevitably be an interview and selection process."

"For those who don't pass the interview, don't be discouraged. The interview here doesn't rank applicants; it's just a matter of suitability. First and foremost, the most basic requirement is the ability to independently complete programming assignments. Having experience in ACM competitions is a plus. If you can't meet these requirements, you can leave now."

After hearing Lu Zhou's words, the surrounding juniors started whispering, but soon quieted down, surprising Lu Zhou.

Fang Qiang, on the other hand, looked embarrassed and leaned over to Lu Zhou's ear, saying, "Brother Lu, most of these guys are the reserve members of our ACM team or former team members."

Lu Zhou felt a bit embarrassed too and gave Fang Qiang a light smack, causing laughter to erupt around them.

But immediately,

Lu Zhou felt great. These juniors brought by Fang Qiang were definitely valuable.

Not to mention the results of Yixian University in the ACM competitions, just being able to become members of the computer science team meant they had passed the selection process during their freshman and sophomore years. They were among the outstanding students in the college.

Therefore, Lu Zhou changed his tone and made a joke. "Ahem, I didn't understand the situation earlier, and it made you all laugh. If the ACM team members can't complete the programming assignments, then I guess the other students would be crying in despair."

The juniors laughed, feeling that Lu Zhou had become much more approachable.

"So, although Dream Grain currently only needs four interns, if we need to expand in the future, we will give priority to the students who didn't get selected this time. I will announce the topic later and select the best candidates. You can wait a moment, and if you need to go back to your dormitory to prepare, you can come back in fifteen minutes."

Lu Zhou called Fang Qiang over and, after a little thought, gave him the topic to print out.

After fifteen minutes, each person received a copy of the topic.

The topic was related to the upcoming advertising alliance program and was a part of the business logic of the program.

Lu Zhou selected the CPI (Cost Per Install) advertising model in the advertising alliance as the application scenario.

"The juniors who need to answer the questions should address a few key points. First is the business logic for advertisers to place CPI (Cost Per Install) ads in the advertiser's backend. Next is the SDK logic for developer integration, and finally, the data format for SDK callbacks.

In fact, Lu Zhou chose a relatively open-ended topic, allowing the juniors to answer using text, diagrams, or any other form. What Lu Zhou wanted to see was how they could use dialectical analysis to find answers in an unfamiliar domain.

This is the essence of programming. Language and technology are just tools. As long as your thinking keeps up, there will always be a way to achieve it.

Half an hour later, Fang Qiang collected the twenty answer sheets.

Lu Zhou reviewed them one by one. Each answer had its unique aspects, making it difficult for him to decide.

However, since Dream Grain couldn't support so many people at the moment, he could only make a difficult choice. "Alright, I have read through your answer sheets, and I have made my selection. But before I announce the results, let me explain the question to you. Of course, this is not the only answer, it's just for reference."

Lu Zhou continued, "Firstly, regarding the logic of advertiser integration, most of you have addressed the key points. Advertisers place ads, involving the integration of payment, backend management of installation packages and ad materials, and other functional logic. This is a common practice in the industry and the logic used by most client management backends. However, the selected answers also included designing the database table structure and clarifying the role of data in several subsequent developer modules."

"As for the SDK logic for developers, those who have experience in Android development had a slight advantage. However, fundamentally, whether it's the SDK or the subsequent data callbacks, it follows the traditional client-server communication model. The integrated SDK collects user mobile device information from the developer's application and sends back the actual installation status to the server. So, whether you have experience in Android development or not is not the key. The key is to examine how well you can apply the client-server communication model flexibly."

Then, Lu Zhou cleared his throat, "Lastly, what surprised me the most is that two students mentioned a very crucial point, which goes beyond the question's actual intent and scenario. They suggested analyzing the data returned to the server and using conditions such as region, phone model, and age group to determine if the advertiser's ads are suitable for the specific developer. They further discussed how the SDK can modularize the ad program and perform additional communication based on the decision of the judgment results to replace with more suitable ads."

"In simple terms, if Developer A's application is mostly used by young female users, they would receive ads for cosmetics and fashion. And if Developer B's application is mostly used by young single male users, they would receive ads for dating apps..."

Hahaha, the surrounding juniors burst into laughter, but it was indeed true.

Lu Zhou's insightful explanation provided many with a better understanding of the entire question. They couldn't help but sigh at the gap between themselves and the seniors. After all, writing programs in an ivory tower is one thing, but commercial applications are another.

At the end of the explanation, Lu Zhou announced the four selected individuals. He assured the rest that they would be notified first for future hiring, and he had Fang Qiang record their phone numbers.

By now, in just one morning, Lu Zhou had assembled the initial team for Dream Grain."