2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 718 First Encounter with Lei Jun (Part 2)

"Damn, it's good to be rich."

The 90-meter-tall Yingu Building faces south and is magnificent.

"Haha, you're not bad either. Don't always look at things from the past. Lao Lei is starting a business for the second time. It's perfectly normal for him to rent an office in a building like this."

"Yes, let's go in and take a look."

After all, he's someone who's been jokingly said to have a cold, hard 40 billion in his account, so even a newly established company can't be too stingy.

Xiaomi Technology was registered in March, and the official opening ceremony was on April 6. In early April, Lei Jun and his employees were personally setting up the company in preparation for the opening ceremony on April 6.

The PR articles circulating online in later generations, such as "14 people shared a bowl of millet porridge, decided on the company name, and then got to work," are just a way of putting it.

It's not that casual.

Looking at the resumes of the founding team, Xiaomi, which claims to implement a partnership system, had a number of co-founders who were all renowned elite talents.

Apart from one of Lei Jun's former subordinates at Kingsoft, the others are all executives from multinational corporations such as Motorola, Google, and Microsoft, and one of them is even the director of the Industrial Design Department at Beijing University.

Angel investors, marketing experts, mobile phone R&D experts, system engineers, industrial designers, supply chain specialists, IoT business experts—almost all the top talents in mobile phone design are recruited to their company.

It can be said that Xiaomi was not a small-scale operation from the very beginning, but rather a company with the ambition to make a big splash. Lei Jun had great ambitions from the very beginning of the company's founding.

With so many highly skilled individuals, it's impressive if you can persuade one or two to join, but to gather so many at once goes beyond mere persuasion. Without a detailed business plan, how could you possibly attract them all?

Because prior arrangements had been made and the new company had not yet opened, Lei Jun was currently busy working with everyone at the company. The office area was not very large, with a typical cubicle layout.

"Mr. Ding, Mr. Tan, welcome! Please excuse the slight mess."

"I apologize for the intrusion and for disturbing Mr. Lei's work."

Tan Jincheng smiled and shook hands with Lei Jun, looking him up and down. This internet mogul, who would be famous both now and more than a decade later, had many legends surrounding him.

Lei Jun, with his hair parted to the side and looking rather thick, wore a black leather jacket, jeans, and leather shoes. His attire seemed much more outdated than what Tan Jincheng had seen in the news in his previous life.

However, Lei Jun, who is not yet 40 years old, has taken a long break and looks to be in good spirits, appearing very young.

Tan Jincheng, on the other hand, seems to have matured a lot in the past two years. This is mainly because he has too much work, and when you have a lot of work, you tend to look older.

This is why people who don't need to work and are not short of money often look very young.

The cold, hard 40 billion yuan, the 'love-hate relationship' between the boss of Vancl, and the shocking price of Xiaomi's first generation at 1999 yuan, which directly wiped out the entire counterfeit phone market, and brands such as Samsung no longer dared to be arrogant.

Xiaomi is a peculiar company. It started with mobile phones as its main business, and every generation of its products has many flaws. In the early days, it was unable to solve the problem of overheating, and was jokingly called a "hand warmer". The Xiaomi 1 was a synonym for shoddy workmanship.

However, this company has a remarkable ability: whichever industry they enter, they can bring down the inflated prices, making technology less inaccessible.

For example, the once-popular electronic bracelets were priced at hundreds or thousands of yuan before Xiaomi entered the market, making them unattainable for most people. After Xiaomi entered the market, the price dropped to 79 yuan.

The same applies to other industries such as power banks, and even traditional companies like Bull sockets have been propelled to new heights by Xiaomi power strips.

If you don't want to be dragged down by him, you have to innovate.

There's a saying that goes, when you don't know anything about an electronic product and don't know how to choose one, and Xiaomi happens to have that product, then choosing them is definitely the right choice, at least they can save you from being ripped off.

Lowering prices is good for ordinary consumers, but not so good for business owners.

To some extent, the first company under Tan Jincheng to be impacted by Xiaomi was Dexian Electronics, whose mobile phone battery business still serves a significant portion of counterfeit mobile phone manufacturers.

In addition, the power bank business will also be greatly impacted after Xiaomi enters the market.

Ding Yangzhu claimed that Tan Jincheng only wanted to get to know Lei Jun under the pretext of business.

That makes sense. A company like Dexian Electronics with ample cash flow can't just stand by and watch Xiaomi kill it.

Even if we can't get shares, we have to secure Xiaomi's battery supplier business.

In addition, we also need to keep up with Xiaomi's pace in the power bank sector. This product is still quite profitable to some extent, and it doesn't require much technology.

To put it simply, it's similar to the practice in rural areas a few years ago of installing a light bulb in front of a battery as an emergency power source during power outages.

"No, no, it's an honor for our company that you two have graced us with your presence."

Lei Bus was also looking Tan Jincheng up and down. He already knew from Lao Ding's phone call that this young man wanted to see him.

Old Ding didn't say the reason, but it should be related to the mobile phone business.

Speaking of Tan Jincheng's name, Lei Jun has frequently heard and seen it in various news reports over the past few years.

The most glorious year was 2008, when two listed companies were established within a year, and a large state-owned automobile enterprise was acquired, thus entering the automobile industry.

At that time, the reports about him were overwhelming.

"The meeting room is a bit small, but there's nothing we can do about it. Our entire office area is only 400 square meters, so we'll just have to make do."

It's really not big; it's a very small reception room with a few chairs around a small round table. If more people came, there probably wouldn't be enough room for everyone.

"These are very good conditions. How many startups can rent a 400-square-meter office in the heart of Beijing's CBD in one go? Mr. Tan's first office probably wasn't even 400 square meters, right?"

"Haha, that's definitely not true. Actually, my first company was a shell company, about the size of a studio apartment, much worse than this."

It seems that in the culture of this era, regardless of whether a family is rich or poor, starting a business always requires some hardship.

Take Zhang Yiming, for example. This guy clearly comes from a well-off family, and it wouldn't be a problem for him to get some money from his family to rent a proper office. But instead, he chose to live in a residential building and use a private house as his office.

In Tan Jincheng's view, he was just making things difficult for himself.

If he had that kind of family background, he certainly wouldn't have suffered so much when he first started his business.

"Mr. Tan, you didn't just come here for a visit, did you?"

After the little karaomis brought over the coffee, Leibusi couldn't wait to ask.

Tan Jincheng watched as Xiao Karami cautiously retreated, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

This is Xiao Kalami now, but the future is uncertain. As for Xiaomi's former 14th employee, as long as he perseveres, he will easily become a millionaire or even a billionaire in the future.

In what year did Xiaomi go public? Was it 2018 or some other year?
"Yes, Mr. Lei's company makes mobile phones. I'm just here to drum up some business."

Old Ding, standing to the side, picked up his coffee, curled his lip, and said, "What a fool you are. A mobile phone company that doesn't even have a penny to its name is worth you, a big boss, personally pulling in business for?"
"Oh? Mr. Tan is so optimistic about our company's mobile phone products?"

When Lei Jun started making mobile phones, the outside world was quite skeptical. They thought, "You're an internet guy going to make mobile phones? You have to understand that making mobile phones is no easier than making cars. It's a very complex industry chain."

Lao Ding's attitude actually represents the attitude of most people in the internet industry. Therefore, he believes that Tan Jincheng's willingness to leak inside information to him for introductions is definitely not just about attracting business.

"Of course, smartphones are the future trend. I wonder if Mr. Lei knows about the iOS apps that Orange Technology has developed? They're quite popular overseas."

I have no faith in you whatsoever. If I were truly a relic of this era, I wouldn't have a high opinion of you either.

Just like when Weilai was first established, many people were not optimistic about it.

"I have some understanding of it. I've even played some games like Fruit Ninja, which are quite fun. It's just a pity that the experience would be even better if the screen were a bit bigger."

"Indeed, these little games from your Orange are quite popular. I've played them too, and I heard that you were the one who came up with the design ideas?"

Old Ding chimed in, saying that their company's main business was actually games, and Orange Technology's approach to small games had given them a lot of inspiration—short development cycles, low costs, and quick results.

"At first, that was true. I was thinking about making money quickly, so I was looking for games that could be launched and operated faster. Now, I don't really care about that anymore."

Tan Jincheng had never been directly involved in the management of Orange Technology. From its establishment to financing and listing, it can be said that he had already completed his mission. Apart from providing some ideas on the general direction, he really didn't need to care about how the company was run anymore.

At most, it's just a matter of taking some detours, but as long as you remember to transform towards the mobile internet, and once WeChat comes out, you can connect Orange Products to the WeChat platform, and you'll basically be invincible.

"I wonder which operating system Xiaomi phones are based on? Microsoft or Android?"

"Based on the Android system, what are your thoughts, Mr. Tan?"

Tan Jincheng nodded: "Android is an open source system, and we are quite optimistic about it. Currently, many applications are being developed based on the Android system. In addition to hoping to get some business from Mr. Lei in the mobile phone battery business, I also thought about whether we could pre-install our Orange Products Club APP on Xiaomi phones?"

"Of course, we can pay for that."

The Xiaomi 1, based on the Android system and MIUI, was a phone that Tan Jincheng had bought in his previous life. In the early days of smartphones, the most popular thing to do with Android was to flash custom ROMs. However, when it comes to the system, Xiaomi's system was the smoothest.

The phone itself isn't great, but the operating system is really smooth to use. "Pre-installed apps?"

Lei Jun's eyes lit up, and Ding Yangzhu was stunned for a moment before doing the same.

"Yes, it's those apps under Orange that are pre-installed on Xiaomi phones. We can also create a co-branded product and collaborate with Orange Products. As far as I know, Xiaomi doesn't have a good distribution channel yet, right?"

Android applications are not particularly abundant at present, and pre-installed apps, which are disliked by consumers in later generations, are definitely a novelty in this day and age.

The emergence of certain things in a particular era is not necessarily a bad thing. These days, consumers haven't developed the habit of using their own apps, so pre-installing apps isn't so risky for them; on the contrary, it can solve a lot of problems for them.

For mobile phone manufacturers, especially newly established ones like Xiaomi, this is even better news.

Pre-installed apps are sufficient to offset a large portion of their R&D and manufacturing costs. As for development on Android and iOS systems, Orange Technology started several years ago.

"Haha, you're quick-witted! I think this can work. Mr. Lei, how about we pre-install it on our portal website? I'll arrange for people to speed up the development process right away, what do you say?"

Ding, the pig farmer, quickly realized that he didn't know how many Xiaomi phones he could sell, but his thinking was definitely correct.

Smartphones are the future trend, and these people certainly recognize this. Once the pre-installed user base is large enough, they can gain a significant first-mover advantage on mobile devices.

In the ever-changing internet age, speed is everything.

Now we can start negotiating with Samsung, HTC, Meizu, and other mobile phone manufacturers.

Today was worthwhile.

"Mr. Tan's idea is good. I didn't expect you to have such a high level of knowledge about smartphones. But why didn't Meizu phones come pre-installed with it before?"

"Haha, their first phone was developed based on the Microsoft system. We at Orange don't have that kind of development. If their next phone is based on Android, we'll talk to them about it."

"You don't have a positive outlook on Microsoft's mobile operating system?"

"I'm not optimistic. Mobile phones and computers are two different things. Orange never did any development work related to Microsoft systems in the first place."

To secure an investment share from Xiaomi, it's not as simple as just having money; you have to offer something in return. Although Lao Ding is here right now, there are some things that are better left unsaid.

However, there are some things that should be said, and only by making Lei Jun feel that he understands smartphones well can he possibly secure an investment share.

As for whether the other party will deny responsibility after taking some of your ideas or being inspired by them?

It doesn't matter. He makes his phones, I make my cars. Anyway, we're not in direct competition. It'll be more than 10 years before he starts making cars.

Even without their so-called creative ideas and inspirations, with such a complete team, Xiaomi 1 would still have succeeded.

With its Android system, Qualcomm processor, and a range of other hardware features, it was excellent for its time. Most importantly, its price of 1999 yuan was simply unbeatable.

At the same time, smartphones with similar hardware were selling for over 5000 yuan from Samsung, around 4000 yuan from HTC, and even 3000 yuan or more from domestic brands like ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad, and Lenovo.

That's a ridiculously low price.

"Well, even if they're not optimistic, surely there should be some development at all?"

Lei Jun hadn't expected Tan Jincheng to be so certain, but after thinking for a while, based on what he knew about Orange Technology, it seemed that they really didn't have any development in this area.

This left him momentarily speechless.

If a misjudgment is made and development has to be restarted, it would essentially mean giving up the entire Microsoft system market, as we simply cannot keep up with the pace of our competitors.

Internet companies don't operate this way.

Lunch was ordered from a nearby hotel, and we ate with the staff who stayed behind. It was clear that these relatively unknown newcomers were still a bit green.

The 13 people who first followed Lei Jun can be divided into two categories: several well-known co-founders in the industry, and the newcomers who are now relatively unknown. They were actually the first batch of real employees of Xiaomi.

Including Tan Jincheng and Ding Yangzhu, there were exactly nine people. Since the meeting room couldn't accommodate everyone, they moved to their meeting room to eat.

"It's a bit small, please don't mind."

Lei Jun was somewhat embarrassed. His conversation with Tan Jincheng had given him a lot of inspiration in marketing. No wonder he was a business manager who was known as a marketing expert.

For example, his idea of ​​"the first mobile phone for young people" is very interesting.

He did want to treat the two to a meal at a hotel, but neither Tan Jincheng nor Ding Yangzhu wanted to go out. They were public figures now, and if they appeared together at a hotel in a place like Zhongguan Village, they might attract a bunch of reporters.

"It doesn't matter what we eat, this food is pretty good, is your usual diet this good?"

"Haha, no, it's just that President Ding and President Tan came over. We usually eat fast food."

"Zhongguancun is not cheap. Did Boss Lei pay for your working meals?"

Lei Jun smiled and pointed at Tan Jincheng without saying much. The work meals of Internet companies have always been a topic of discussion, but Xiaomi doesn't have that kind of grand and impressive cafeteria now.

"Please sit down and eat, don't be shy."

Ding Yangzhu, who once held the title of the richest man in China, possesses a natural air about him. Among those present, he actually holds the highest status in the business world, and his name is well-known to the young people.

However, what intrigued them the most was Tan Jincheng. This young tycoon chatted and laughed with his boss and the owner of the pig farm, joking with his boss, and exuding an equally powerful aura.

At the same time, they were also a little curious about what these two people were doing at their company, since their company currently had nothing.

The weather in Beijing is still a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings. The only woman in the office was wearing a short blue down jacket. She was the one who ordered the coffee and the takeout.

With her bangs, she was secretly observing Tan Jincheng.

"What are you looking at, Xiao Guan? Isn't President Tan very handsome? But it's no use looking, he's already married. By the way, President Tan's wife is about to give birth, right?"

The girl who was teased by Lei Jun immediately blushed and lowered her head.

As the only woman present, how could her act of secretly observing Tan Jincheng go unnoticed?

She was indeed very curious about Tan Jincheng. Tan Jincheng, who started from scratch, was an idol for many young people. In addition, the gossip between him and his wife was a love story that many girls longed for.

This legendary figure was sitting right across from her, chatting fluently with his boss and the former richest man in China.

"Haha, there are still a few months left. It's obvious that Mr. Lei has a good relationship with his colleagues."

"Haha, Xiao Guan just graduated with a master's degree this year. She's one or two years younger than you, Mr. Tan. She interned at Kingsoft before, so Lin Bing asked her to come and have an interview."

Lin Bing is Lei Jun's most important partner, and was formerly the Vice President of Google's Engineering Institute and Global Technical Director.

Many people believe that the founding team members of a great company are usually very talented, but this is not the case. Xiaomi's partnership system, which has attracted seven or eight well-known figures, is already considered a high-profile startup.

They're all well-known figures; which startup can afford that kind of cost? Besides, there always needs to be people to do the work, and highly educated recent graduates like these are the best choice—cheap, easy to use, and obedient.

Zhu Chongba started with a bowl, and his entrepreneurial team later became famous, but most of them were just peasants at the beginning of their business.

The founding teams of Ali, Tencent, and Flashpoint were all like that.

"By the way, we have an opening ceremony on April 6th. Will President Ding and President Tan still be in Beijing then? If they are, would you like to come and take a look?"

Old Ding smiled and put down his chopsticks, saying, "I'm afraid I'm not free. My business trip was already over, but I heard that Xiao Tan came to the capital, so I changed my ticket. I have to go back to Guangzhou this afternoon."

Lei Jun nodded and then looked at Tan Jincheng.

"I'll be staying in the capital for a few more days. If I have time then, I'll come over. But don't worry, Mr. Lei, the gift will definitely arrive even if I can't be there in person."

Hu Zhengnan will arrive tomorrow, and Tan Jincheng will take him to meet with Yu Liguo. However, it is definitely impossible for him to stay in the capital for several more days. Tan Jincheng wants to find another opportunity to have a deep conversation with Lei Jun.

It's not convenient for Lao Ding to be here today.

They need to find a way to get some investment. Lei Jun is acting as an angel investor in Xiaomi Technology, but Tan Jincheng is not very clear about Xiaomi's current equity structure.

In Tan Jincheng's view, the so-called partnership system is just a nicer way of putting it. In any private enterprise around the world, the founder is always the actual controller. Xiaomi is, in the end, still Lei Jun's Xiaomi.

I just don't know what his attitude would be if I brought up investing with him.

As for Ding Yangzhu, Lei Busi was curious about the reasons why Tan Jincheng needed to stay in the capital for a week.

Especially Ding Yangzhu, Tan Jincheng used the news of Weilai Automobile Research Institute to exchange for the opportunity to introduce Lao Lei. Logically speaking, should he be setting up Weilai Automobile Research Institute in Beicang at this time?

Find a leader? That shouldn't take more than a week.

(End of this chapter)