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No Retreat
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No Retreat

Fan Haitao

3.4781 learners

"No Retreat" chronicles the relentless rise of Xiaomi and its visionary founder Lei Jun, from his college days inspired by *Fire in the Valley* to building one of the world’s most disruptive tech giants. Follow Lei’s journey: leaving a stable job to co-found Kingsoft, transitioning to angel investing after Kingsoft’s IPO, then spotting a gap in China’s mobile market to launch Xiaomi in 2010. The book dives into gritty details—assembling a star team of ex-Microsoft, Google, and Motorola engineers, breaking through supply chain barriers with bold moves like signing unread contracts with Qualcomm, and revolutionizing smartphone pricing with the 1999-yuan Xiaomi 1. It also covers Xiaomi’s 2014 peak, the crippling 2016 supply chain and product crises, Lei’s "second startup" to rebuild the company, and the strategic pivot to AIoT and global expansion. Highlighting Xiaomi’s radical 5% hardware profit cap and mission to democratize technology, this book offers a front-row seat to how a scrappy startup redefined China’s tech industry and challenged global players.

XiaomiLei JunAIoTSupply Chain ManagementIron Triad Business Model
Scenario

Lamian Noodle Startup Talk

In 2009, Lei Jun stopped a Sequoia Capital manager on the street, invited him to eat Lanzhou lamian at a small noodle restaurant, and the two talked about Xiaomi's early founding plan over cheap noodles.

PartnershipStartup StoryEarly Stage
No Retreat · Chapter 1
Scenario

Lei Jun Apologizes To Samsung

In 2016, a Xiaomi supply chain manager offended Samsung senior executives, and Samsung cut off AMOLED screen supply. Lei Jun flew to South Korea many times to apologize in person, spent several months to recover the cooperation.

RelationshipCrisis ManagementSupply Chain
No Retreat · Chapter 5
Golden Sentence

Time Is Xiaomi's Friend

Lei Jun encouraged the team at Xiaomi's lowest point: stick to the right thing, don't chase short term profit, time will prove all your efforts are worthy.

MindsetCrisisPerseverance
No Retreat · Chapter 5
Concept

Commercial Efficiency Revolution

Lei Jun's core idea to cut unnecessary intermediate operation and transaction costs, remove excessive brand premium, and deliver products at much more reasonable prices to ordinary consumers.

InnovationRetailEfficiency
No Retreat · Chapter 1
Scenario

Lei Jun Sticks to Xiaomi Goal

Lei Jun talked to a core engineer 17 times to find people sharing the same vision. He refused a top marketing expert who could make huge short term profit, to keep Xiaomi's high cost performance promise.

goal managementLeadershipStartup
Soft Skills · Chapter 3
Scenario

Lei Jun Visits Sharp During Quake

In 2011, when Japan suffered 9 magnitude earthquake, Lei Jun and his 2 partners still flew to Sharp Osaka headquarters, their sincerity finally won the top screen supply contract for startup Xiaomi.

NegotiationCredibilitySupply Chain
No Retreat · Chapter 2
Scenario

Shunwei Capital Boosts Ecosystem

Shunwei Capital, founded by Lei Jun, operates independently as a professional investment institution. It has invested in more than 100 smart hardware startups, and all the projects form strong synergy to support Xiaomi's IoT ecosystem.

InvestmentecosystemSynergy
No Retreat · Chapter 3
Golden Sentence

Trend Is Stronger Than Individual

Lei Jun's famous quote: Standing at the wind gap, even a pig can fly. Following the industry trend is far more important than blind hard work for entrepreneurs.

GrowthInsightStartup
No Retreat · Chapter 1
Insight

Seize Trend Before Others

Lei Jun believes entrepreneurs should never fight against the industry trend. He foresaw the mobile internet boom 3 years before founding Xiaomi, and reserved enough resources to catch the wave.

StrategyStartupTrend
No Retreat · Chapter 1
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