Lei Jun: Dreaming of "The Sea of Stars"
This reporter? Ma Wenliang
On July 9, 2018, Xiaomi, founded by Lei Jun, was listed in Hong Kong, becoming the first listed company promoted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to "share different rights" and ranking among the top three IPOs of technology stocks in history. This time, the front of Xiaomi’s commemorative shirt reads: Good people will not be too bad luck; It says on the back: Fools are blessed with fools.
Lei Jun spoke at the scene. He said: "From the first day of birth, every inch of blood in Xiaomi is full of innovative blood. But real innovation is never easy. There is no innovation that does not require great efforts, no innovation that does not experience numerous setbacks, and no innovation that does not bear misunderstanding or even criticism. The more you understand this, the more grateful you will be. Grateful for all the understanding, trust, encouragement and support given to us! "
In Zhongguancun, the humble and courteous Lei Jun is recognized as an innovator and a subversive in the mobile phone industry. He is an entrepreneur, and Jinshan quick translation, painting king, drug tyrants and games are all closely related to him, and Jinshan WPS is the backbone of national software; He is an angel investor, UCweb,Voice, Lacarra, Vanke Eslite, the success of these companies all verify Lei Jun’s vision; He is also an entrepreneur, Joyo sold it, and then founded Xiaomi Technology. "It is either a must-win or a must-lose", and he wants to be a portrait.A great company.
With such a dream, Xiaomi appeared like this. Whether from its financing process or business model, its development process has created an incredible miracle: from 2010 to 2014, the valuation of Xiaomi soared from $250 million to $45 billion in just four years.
This is a company full of miracles. Since its birth, it has become a "subversive" in the mobile phone industry-this is also the most competitive industry in the world. A small company with more than a dozen people has achieved the first place in China and the third place in the world in two and a half years. At the same time, Xiaomi Company is the company with the fastest revenue exceeding 1 billion US dollars, and the company with the fastest revenue exceeding 10 billion US dollars-it took less than five years from its establishment to the revenue exceeding 10 billion US dollars.
Despite the pain in 2015-2016, Xiaomi successfully achieved a turnaround in 2017, achieving the goal of revenue exceeding 100 billion at the beginning of the year ahead of schedule. The revenue has exceeded 100 billion, and among the international technology giants, Apple has spent 20 years.It took 12 years, Google 9 years, and domestic technology company Ali 17 years.It took 17 years and Huawei 21 years-in fact, as early as the two sessions in 2014, Lei Jun set this goal. In four years, Xiaomi’s sales reached the 100 billion mark, and now it has finally achieved its wish.
"The martial arts in the world are quick and unbreakable", which is the secret of innovation of subversive.
The days we spent together with Jinshan
Lei Jun’s initial dream is to be an excellent programmer, which is closely related to his major in university. In 1987, Lei Jun was admitted to the Computer Department of Wuhan University. It took him only two years to complete the four-year college course. The PASCAL program written in his freshman year was already compiled into the freshman textbook when he was a sophomore. In-depth DOS programming and in-depth Windows programming compiled by him during his college years are also highly praised by programmers.
In the summer vacation of junior year in 1990, Lei Jun’s friend Wang Quanguo and another friend wanted to set up a company, and they invited him to join in, and put him in charge of technology and services, and the shares were divided equally among the four people. Lei Jun was quite confident in his technology and agreed almost without hesitation.
The company is named Sunsir (Tricolor), and I hope.Three primary colors create a colorful new world (6.620,0.06, 0.91%). The team seems to be strong. There are 14 people in the company at the most, and the business scope is quite wide, selling computers, making imitation Chinese cards, and even taking over typing and printing. In fact, there is little money in the company account, and even eating is a problem. Not long after, the company’s imitation of Hanka technology was stolen, and the other party made more at a time, and the price was cheaper than theirs. This product hardly earned any money.
The high entrepreneurial enthusiasm was killed by the cruel reality day by day, and Lei Jun began to think about a question: As a student, do I have the ability to start a business? After pondering for a long time, he proposed to break up.
It was a Sunday in winter, and everyone agreed that Lei Jun and Wang Quanguo would quit. They got a 286, a printer and a bunch of chips and left.
"It’s ridiculous to think about it now, like playing house." Lei Jun said that this entrepreneurial experience made me see the reality clearly-no big domestic enterprise was made by college students.
In 1991, he graduated from Leijun University. In November of that year, he met Qiu Bojun: "Qiu Bojun wore a black woolen coat with good texture that day, which made me feel shocked and felt like a country child standing in front of successful people." Qiu Bojun is a great success in writing programs. In Lei Jun’s eyes, Qiu Bojun is the best programmer in China and an idol. He thought, since Jinshan can create a Qiu Bojun, it will create a second and third one. The idea inspired him.
In January 1992, Lei Jun officially joined Jinshan Software, and Lei Jun spent three years developing Pangu, a component with rich WPS functions. Four years later, Lei Jun was listed as one of the "Top Ten IT Outstanding Young People in China". At that time, Li Yanhong was still studying in the United States, and Ma Huateng raised money everywhere to start his first company.
Lei Jun likes reading. He said that a book he read at the age of 18, Fire in Silicon Valley, was the source of his dream. The book tells the story of a group of people such as Jobs and Wozniak who founded Apple Computer Company and changed the world. "Jobs said that living is to change the world, because Americans think that they are the center of the world. I said that I started my business to serve the country through science and technology. Do you believe it?" This has also become the dream that Lei Jun pursued all his life. The seeds of "serving the country through science and technology" germinated until he met Qiu Bojun and made him realize that he could also serve the country through science and technology by abandoning politics and doing business. He began to believe in it.
In 1998, Lenovo injected capital, Jinshan reorganized and Qiu Bojun nominated, and the board of directors adopted Lei Jun as the general manager. At the same time, Tencent,、Companies such as Kingsoft were established one after another, and later developed into a "big shot" in the Internet field in China, while Lei Jun stuck to Kingsoft until October 2007, when Kingsoft was finally listed in Hong Kong, but its market value was only a fraction of that of a mainstream Internet listed company. Two months later, Lei Jun chose to leave.
When fate threw him at the crossroads, he finally had the courage to cross the rubicon. Lei Jun said that he didn’t get out of the trough until he was over 40 years old, and founded Xiaomi Technology with the belief that he must win or lose, so he realized the entrepreneurial feeling of "jumping off the cliff".
Subversive of the Internet "Millet Age"
"On April 6, 2010, several of us quietly founded Xiaomi Company in Yingu Building in the North Fourth Ring Road, drank a bowl of millet porridge together and started a difficult entrepreneurial journey."
At that time, Lei Jun was over 40 years old and was a veteran in the Internet field. "Liu Chuanzhi started his business at the age of 40, and Ren Zhengfei is 43. I think it’s no big deal if I start over at the age of 40."
People are great because of their dreams. He said that at the age of 18, he wanted to run a world-class enterprise. By the age of 40, he found that his goal was drifting away, so he tried again and admitted that he lost. I won’t be too scared to even try, and I will regret it when I am old.
At the beginning of his business, Lei Jun kept a low profile-first he set up a company quietly, and then he developed the MIUI system in the name of a third party, even though he didn’t say he was a real boss when recruiting. In the early years of Xiaomi’s establishment, no one was allowed to say that Xiaomi was founded by Lei Jun, nor did he issue a press release and refused to accept any interviews. Lei Jun’s idea is that all energy should be focused on making the products well.
"I highly agree with’ Avenue to Jane’. The simpler things are, the more difficult it is to do. We only made a mobile phone, and there is only one name, which is called "Xiaomi Mobile Phone". "
In the summer after starting a business for one year, Lei Jun stood alone in the center of the stage in the form of an Apple conference, finished a two-hour speech and officially launched Xiaomi mobile phone. At that time, the "Reebs" shouted by a crowd of "rice noodles" under the stage seemed to show the heavy innovative mission of the China entrepreneur who admired "Jobs".
Xiaomi is considered to be the most innovative product in China’s Internet industry. Its significance lies in that it is a product of pure Internet thinking, and it is a complete subversion and innovation in terms of business model, software and hardware, marketing methods, channel innovation and community construction. At this time, Lei Jun positioned himself as an "entrepreneur", and starting a business was like dancing on a cliff. This time, he put all his eggs in one basket.
Lei Jun in Xiaomi era was completely immersed in the happiness of a product manager, no longer in a suit and tie, but like most bosses on the Internet, he wore T-shirts and jeans to work, casual but full of energy. Li Wanqiang said that Xiaomi is the perfect embodiment of Lei Jun’s product spirit. The team saw 1 million photos after selecting the boot screen of Xiaomi. "The ultimate is to do what others can’t see, and do it very well." Lei Jun often tells stories with "Haidilao", saying that the products he made should exceed expectations.
Since the delivery on October 20, 2011, Xiaomi has achieved sales of 1 million units in less than three months. What is even more surprising is that on the day of delivery, 100,000 mobile phones were sold out in just three hours, and the sales myth of 200 million yuan was enough to make consumers look at Xiaomi, a rising star. However, the development of Xiaomi is not smooth all the way, and doubts and attacks have always followed. In May 2012, someone attacked Xiaomi for profiteering and spread the news of Xiaomi’s third financing in advance, which brought great resistance to Lei Jun..
At that time, Lei Jun held a press conference and responded to the questions one by one. He also made a cost table to calculate how much Xiaomi earned one by one. "Announcing our financing success in advance puts us in a dilemma-the reply is to lift the sedan chair, and if we don’t reply, we will be planted. We try our best to persuade investors to announce financing information."
Lei Jun said: "Xiaomi’s corporate philosophy is to try not to make enemies", which may be closely related to his personality.
Xiaomi model: a sample of Chinese innovation
Why can Xiaomi Company succeed quickly? Lei Jun explained: Everything starts from reality. What is the most fundamental change that the Internet has brought to this society? Symmetry, simply speaking, is the symmetry of information. The symmetry of power and the symmetry of resource distribution are all based on the pair of information. He said: from the perspective of information symmetry, marketing should be true, not excessive publicity, which will easily be seen through by users with tools such as internet search; How to really get consumers, we must make the products to the extreme; How to achieve the ultimate product, we must focus; Products will have a reputation if they achieve the ultimate; At the same time, with the rapid development of the Internet era and the rapid flow of information, any company has no secrets, and the survival of the fittest must be faster than all its competitors.
The marketing in Xiaomi has been achieved to the extreme by Lei Jun.. With powerful marketing, personalization of enterprises and products, a person and an enterprise can accumulate fans overnight. A large number of fans will be produced, and enterprises will be invincible. Who are the target fans targeted by Lei Jun? Young men in science and engineering between the ages of 18 and 33. These people are like Lei Jun when he was young. They are enthusiasts of smart phones and people who know mobile phones best. They play the role of opinion leaders in the surrounding crowd, which is quite influential, but at the same time, they are also the most difficult people to serve.
In order to conquer them, Lei Jun refined a seven-character formula: concentration, extreme, word of mouth and fast. Until now, Xiaomi is basically following this methodology. Focus and extreme, all for making good products. Because good products can speak for themselves.
For a time, the success of "Xiaomi Model" has become the object to be imitated by many traditional industries. In this sense, Xiaomi has also contributed to the "internet plus" that has swept the country in recent years.
So what is the core competitiveness of Xiaomi? Lei Jun thinks it is three points: First, he attaches great importance to innovation, products and research and development. "Xiaomi is a company with R&D background and technical team, so everyone is involved in the details of each product, and I am no exception. This may be very different from other consumer electronics companies."
Secondly, Xiaomi attaches great importance to "rice noodles", which is also the "mass line" that Lei Jun often says. "The most important thing about the Internet is the user’s thinking. The essence is the mass line. We must go deep into the masses, believe in the masses, rely on the masses, come from the masses, and go to the masses. Interactive marketing, I think it is essentially the mass line. As long as you understand the mass line, you will understand the user’s thinking. "
Thirdly, it is a unique business philosophy. "Xiaomi is an Internet company, and we attach great importance to operating with Internet technology and thinking. In terms of efficient operation, we have unique advantages. One of the reasons why millet products are cheap is that we can sell products from factories to users with great efficiency. We will continue to use the craftsmanship to make products, and use the Internet model to kill intermediate links so that everyone can enjoy high-quality technology products from China. "
The success of Xiaomi is also a sample of "Chinese-style innovation". Taking smart phones as Internet business, this unique "Xiaomi model" has also become an example for many companies around the world to learn and imitate.
Create an "Ecological Chain": Copy 100 Millets
"The’ millet model’ is a brand-new model in the world, which was initiated by us. We have also seen many peers learning from us, the trend of Xiaomi in this era. When Xiaomi’s mobile phone was successful, there were various opportunities, and we began to make an ecological chain. How can we do things well, and then we are efficient and customers buy them cheaply? This is the essence of the Xiaomi model. "
In order to demonstrate that "Xiaomi mode" can be learned and copied, Lei Jun launched an ecological chain plan: "We plan to support 100 enterprises to learn Xiaomi mode in five years and achieve success."
The concept of "Xiaomi Eco-chain" has been spoken by Lei Jun more than once, especially at a new Xiaomi product launch conference, the partners who showed Xiaomi Eco-chain became the opening link, and intelligent hardware products such as Xiaomi air purifier, mi band, ant HD camera and iHealth intelligent blood pressure monitor appeared one by one.
He let everyone know that Xiaomi not only has mobile phones, televisions and routers, but also has a large number of products produced by eco-chain enterprises. They constantly "spoil the game" in the field of intelligent hardware, trying to change people’s impression of domestic electronic products, not "good quality and low price" but "handicrafts".
Connect all smart devices with the mobile phone as the center. "In the initial stage, Xiaomi will promote the construction of the ecological chain by means of shareholding. After developing to a certain stage, Xiaomi’s ecological chain will be opened. Unite all people who can unite, whether it is a startup or a home appliance giant, Xiaomi is willing to be its partner. " Lei Jun said that 100 millet plants should be copied to change the manufacturing industry in China.
Xiaomi hopes to stir up these 100 industries, turn China enterprises into the most competitive enterprises in the world by means of the Internet, and make China the best business practice in these fields. At that time, China manufacturing became synonymous with China’s wisdom, rather than relying on low-cost labor, inferior quality and low price. China is on the cusp of "internet plus", and Xiaomi hopes to play his part.
The success of Xiaomi and "eco-chain enterprises" depends on strength, not "flickering". "In the past 30 years, since the reform and opening up, China has become a manufacturing power in the world by taking advantage of its population advantage and labor cost. After crossing the first threshold, it has attached great importance to education and science and technology, trained a large number of scientific and technological talents and encouraged scientific and technological innovation. In this context, scientific and technological innovation in all walks of life is getting better and better, and it ranks among the world in many fields. I think this is enough to prove the strength of China’s science and technology and the confidence of China’s future development. "
"Entrepreneurship is doing things that others have not done, doing things that others have done but have not done. A very good entrepreneur is often an eccentric and exaggerated person. He has the courage to challenge everything. I think this is a quality that needs to be encouraged. I encourage entrepreneurs to be able to challenge authority and subvert existing rules. This is a successful experience. " The development of Xiaomi Company is a vivid "China Story", which has won a shocking evaluation of China’s scientific and technological progress and innovation in the world.
Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s dream is "the sea of stars". He said that he would be a "craftsman" to promote the rise of domestic products. At the moment when China ushered in the best era of entrepreneurship, he hoped that more "millet" would carry forward the "craftsman spirit", create a touching "new domestic product", redefine "Made in China" and tell the "China story" of this era well.