Interview:Why Lei Jun Chose to Build a Car (#3)
more discussion
21. why named after Xiaomi car, has there been any thought of premiumization by way of name change.
“This is a key point of contention. There are many within the automotive industry that have gone premium through name changes/acquisitions. For example, Toyota had Lexus, Mercedes-Benz acquired Maybach, BMW acquired Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen acquired Porsche. At that time, there was a lot of debate, then my point is that Xiaomi Auto is a very important part of the Xiaomi ecology, to win together, to die together. We do this is to promote the millet brand high-end, globalization, if a different brand name, how to help millet? This decision itself can maximize business benefits. Xiaomi is essentially running a brand, running consumers’ trust in us. You know, there are a lot of people who buy SU7, they have not seen the real car, they have not test-driven it, they do not know where the store is, and they buy a hundreds of thousands of dollars of cars, what kind of trust is needed to realize. Some people say, this is not selling cars, this is simply selling cell phones. And there’s still a rush and a line to buy it. Ridiculous ……”
22.this part of the trust, is the user’s trust in millet, or from the trust of Lei Jun.
“Indeed, these 14 years down the line, millet and Lei Jun’s overlap is still quite high. (Brand and founder IP) in the future, I would hope that these two can be slowly separated. Because essentially, millet is still a multi-person stage. (Compared to the Apple myth and the deification of Steve Jobs), the advantage is that users don’t have such high expectations of me, and I also hope that I can’t do anything. Another thing is that Steve Jobs and I may be quite different in character, he is a very mean person, I may be willing to show weakness. I think showing weakness is the behavior of the strong. Of course, I have my moments, but not many. And I’ve gotten more honest since I’ve been working on cars. Cars are really complicated, I admit it.”
23.a huge number of professional diversity of the talent team, how is it formed?
“At the screening, the resume doesn’t matter anymore. I know better what kind of person I want. People may also think that we are the last train (talent also want to seize the opportunity) and I know that this thing to be done, the importance of organization, talent, process, system. This time can be successful, or reflects the millet strong organization and strong execution, the whole group also gave a lot of support, just rely on the automotive department 6000 people, can not handle such a complex thing. For example, if Apple builds a car, if it can’t get unreserved internal support, he (Apple) may still be worse than the start up (startups) outside. Big companies have big company limitations, and if you don’t enjoy the benefits of a big company first, you’re limited first…you get the picture. Large companies have heavy departmental walls and fierce internal struggles. That’s why it’s hard for big companies to do new business when they’re doing it all in bits and pieces. This situation is the same when put into the country.”
24.If you don’t do cars 3 years ago, Xiaomi may go for AI.
“You say to AI anxiety? No, we all in AI in 2016 (big hand wave) also invested in three or four thousand people, just speak less. Together with my own study of software, I should still have some knowledge of AI general knowledge. Although we gave up entering the main battlefield of big models, we have not invested a lot in big models, whether it is a big model, or an application, it is full coverage. This ensures that we are sensitive to the industry.”
25. a hypothetical, what would have happened if you had set up a car-making company independently in the first place?
“This is a key decision point, we decided that 100% of the millet group to do it themselves, in order to maximize the implementation of the full ecological strategy of the human car family, in order to maximize the convergence of the advantages of the millet group. If it was listed independently, it would not be easy to integrate with Xiaomi’s strategy. This is also the reason why large Western companies, rarely split. If it is spun off, the interests of the subsidiary’s management and the group will not be aligned. Why should the subsidiary company listen to the parent company’s strategy, will it pull the wool over the eyes? Coming back to the question of whether “overall strategy or local strategy is important” is a motivational issue. It is essentially a management issue. Don’t try to avoid the management problem with some easy way out. Go to face the problem, design a reasonable incentive system, so that everyone feels worthwhile for the cause of the fight. Domestic previously encountered difficulties, it is used to large companies to small, small companies spun off and listed, with the listing to motivate everyone, but on a bunch of what is the use of it, in turn, more and more chaotic.”
26.millet su 7 is the product of “the first battle is the final battle + long-term thinking”.
“These two attitudes are not contradictory. Long-term thinking is determined by the path: for example, the core technology to do it yourself, the platform to do it yourself, directly from the car. The first battle is the final battle is 10 times the pressure, this battle must be won. (It is a matter of faith, not short-sightedness)
I think let everyone surprised, I did not expect us to be so serious, come up on the hard work, really do the first battle is a decisive battle.”
27.their own summary of the image of Lei Jun’s personal IP in the public mind, more or less ashamed.
“It may be hardworking and sincere. I’m trying to avoid this situation (become the second deified Ma Yun), avoid being deified, but also willing to show fear, this will also make me more relaxed, people have a little shortcomings is not a bad thing. As for the annual speech, it was actually forced, because there are many, many rumors and misunderstandings about us. The annual speech is for Xiaomi fans, repeating: what kind of company is Xiaomi, what does it recognize, what does it revere, what does it pursue. We also analyze public opinion and what people want to hear, which is basically expressing values, but without turning you off. I think the success of su7 this time is also related to the speeches we have given for 4 years in a row. It’s hard to penetrate the user’s psychology if we just rely on our presentations. Unless our products can be as amazing as Apple’s back in the day, gotta admit, we’re still far from amazing.”
28. “we are unlucky in, everyone always take us with apple, huawei than” “once a reporter asked me, why you can not do better than apple. I said millet market value of 40 billion dollars, they 3 trillion. But where I have 1 trillion, I can be more amazing than him. But Apple’s awesome, can’t stop the light of millet. It doesn’t matter if there is a gap, it’s closer than the comparison. (Because I said I want to be a great company, invisible) in the coordinate system of great companies, the least great is us. 2014 15 years, we are in the center of the stage, but not now. Huawei is only at the center of the stage, we have a clear perception of ourselves. What makes us center stage is ① the degree of national recognition ② the leadership in the industry. During the time we weren’t at center stage, we were busy putting out fires and solving problems. It’s hard to manage a big company ~ (recalling Xiaomi’s bad luck in the first few years) but not being at the center of the stage doesn’t mean mediocrity. No matter what, you have to do something different, something interesting, which doesn’t require being at the center of the stage. And one has to reward one’s own achievements in life.
29. Lei Jun, is a spirit, similar to the title of the article forwarded by the circle of friends said.
“At least the people around me did not ask this. Friends evaluate me most is two voices. Either boast that I ‘labor model’, the other is to say that I have little joy in life. I think maybe I had a dream when I was a kid and I took it seriously, most people didn’t.”
Conclusion: The evaluation of “methodology master” given to Lei by journalist Li Xiang is based on Lei Jun’s multiple roles of “multiple entrepreneur + product manager + engineer”, as well as on multiple divisions of labor such as investment, coordination, management, execution and marketing. In short, this “methodology master” has more rich practical experience.
Lei Jun talked about “being named the god of marketing” when self-joking: “I might as well go to open a public relations company, advertising agency, moving lips can make money.” If you’re joking – Mr. Lei still underestimates himself, he should open a training, consulting company, at least an order of magnitude more money.
The complete video interview is more than 3 hours long, and the article will be summarized into this extracted version without changing the pace, order, expression and viewpoint of the original conversation. It’s informative and dense, and you can learn top-notch knowledge and ways of thinking from it, in short, it’s always new～.
