Lei Jun Story: Three Key Transformations of a Tech Giant (Full Speech on Xiaomi EV’s Strategic Push)

Want to understand the “Lei Jun Story” and how Lei Jun drove Xiaomi’s key growth? Today, we first bring you the wonderful content focusing on Lei Jun’s “three self-reinventions” and Xiaomi’s original intention of building cars, to see how he drove transformation with courage and defined Xiaomi’s future. This article is an essence version of Lei Jun’s 2021 speech Fight for Xiaomi Auto, and the full text of the speech can be downloaded at the end of the article.

On March 30, 2021, Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, made a monumental announcement: Xiaomi is entering the smart electric vehicle industry. This is the story behind that decision, in his own words.

Not long ago, I went for a run with the writer Xu Zhiyuan in Beijing’s Olympic Forest Park. We come from very different worlds, but we found common ground that morning.

I was curious why he switched from computer science to becoming a writer. He was curious about the many transformations in my own career.

This curiosity lies at the heart of the Lei Jun story.

My Personal “Software Updates”

My career has been defined by several major transformations. In tech terms, it’s like I’ve “flashed the ROM” on my life a few times.

The First Update: From Programmer to Manager
At 28, I was at Kingsoft, deeply in love with programming. I thought I’d code forever. In 1998, the founder, Mr. Qiu Bojun, asked me to be CEO. I resisted at first. But then, a colleague accidentally formatted my hard drive—and the backup drive. All my code was gone. With no path back, I fully committed to being CEO. I was forced to learn management, marketing, and sales. It set me on a completely new path.

The Second Update: From Executive to Angel Investor
I left Kingsoft in 2007 to become a full-time angel investor. This decision was shaped by my experience with Joyo.com, an e-commerce company I founded in 2000. We built it into a leading site, but in 2004, we couldn’t raise enough funding and had to sell it to Amazon. That experience taught me how hard it is to build a company. I wanted to help other entrepreneurs, so I became one of China’s first angel investors.

The Third Update: From Internet to Hardware
In 2016, Xiaomi hit a rough patch. Our smartphone business was struggling. I had to personally take over the phone hardware team. It was a huge challenge. I became a hardware engineer, learning on the job and leading the team. After five years of intense study, our hardware capabilities soared. Our phone sales returned to the global top three.

The Lesson: Embrace the Pivot
Each pivot required completely new knowledge. Past success meant little. All I could rely on was a fearless heart and the will to learn. These transformations were painful, but they made me who I am today. This willingness to relentlessly reinvent himself is the core of the Lei Jun story.

The Decision to Build a Car

The past 75 days have been another journey of transformation. My interest in EVs started 8 years ago after I met Elon Musk twice and became a Tesla owner. Then, on January 15 of this year, our board asked us to seriously research the EV industry. Honestly, my first reaction was hesitation.

We began our research. Many friends encouraged us: “You understand hardware and internet. You should do it.” Others warned us: “It’s a complex industry, requires billions in investment, and takes years. You’re outsiders. You’re too late.”

The debate kept me up at night. When we started making phones, we had nothing. Our competitors were giants. Today, Xiaomi is a Fortune 500 company. We are so much stronger. Our only real fear was a question of courage: Did we still have the same heart we had a decade ago?

Our Fans Gave Us Courage

Our fans, our “Mi Fans,” gave me the final push. Last year, we held a New Year’s wish event. One fan, “Carrefour Pirate,” dreamed of traveling China in an RV outfitted with Xiaomi smart home products. We are helping make his dream a reality.

Before the Spring Festival, at a fan dinner, I received a powerful gift. A fan named Wu Xiangyu presented me with a book containing his shopping receipts from Xiaomi over six years. What moved me wasn’t the money. It was his words: “I always believe in Xiaomi. This is my record of growing up with Xiaomi.” He said: “If Xiaomi makes a car, I will definitely buy it.”

We ran a poll on Weibo before the launch. Over 95% of voters supported us making a car. Why do people believe we can succeed? Because they trust us to make a great car that people will love. They believe in our smart ecosystem and our global community of fans.

We understand the risks. But Xiaomi is ready. We have a 10,000+ person R&D team, a thriving top-3 smartphone business, the world’s leading smart ecosystem, and a war chest of $16 billion in cash reserves.

After 85 industry visits, conversations with 200+ auto experts, and several board meetings, we made the biggest decision in Xiaomi’s history.

Xiaomi will officially launch a smart electric vehicle business.

We will invest $10 billion over the next decade, with an initial commitment of $1.5 billion.

From personal devices to smart homes and offices, and now to smart mobility, we will use technology to create a fully connected, smart life for our users.

I dream of seeing Xiaomi smart EVs on every road in the world.

I believe we can make our users’ lives better, everywhere, through technology. That is our mission.

I will lead this team myself. This is my last major startup project.

I am fully aware of what this means. I am willing to bet all my reputation to fight for Xiaomi Auto. I am prepared to give this everything I have for the next 5 to 10 years.

People ask if I feel pressure. From this moment on, I don’t care about pressure. I only care about building a great car for our fans.

If you are willing to wait, we will give it our all.

Soon, it will be Xiaomi’s 11th birthday. This journey has taught me the true meaning of growth.

What does “Eternal Renewal” mean? My answer is this:

It is unwavering belief and optimism. It is a spirit of constant innovation and vibrant hope. It is a magnificent journey we all share, pushing the world forward.

This is Xiaomi. This is our shared dream: to always have the courage to charge forward, into a future of endless possibility.

Sources and References:

The primary source of information for this article on Lei Jun story is his personal experiences as recounted in his book Xiaomi’s Entrepreneurial Philosophy (China CITIC Press, 2022). As an officially authorized work by the founder, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of Xiaomi’s business philosophy and details his three decades of practical experience in internet strategy, product vision, management, and entrepreneurship.

To explore more about Lei Jun’s journey, leadership, and influential speeches, visit our in-depth section: Lei Jun Biography.

Lei Jun story: Why build Xiaomi EV? The full text of the speech is as follows: