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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

Xiaomi Takes No.1 In India Market

In 2017, Xiaomi took 25% market share of India smartphone market and became the top brand. Its high cost performance strategy and cooperation with local e-commerce Flipkart helped it beat Samsung and other old rivals.

emerging marketGlobal SuccessLocal Operation
No Retreat · Chapter 4
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
Scenario

Orange Friday Update Mode

Xiaomi's early MIUI team launched new system updates every Friday. Users submitted feedback and voted for new functions on Tuesday, which made the iteration speed far faster than any traditional Android brand.

User EngagementMIUIAgile Dev
No Retreat · Chapter 2
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

Three-leg Business Strategy

Xiaomi's core business model that combines high-quality hardware, optimized software, and internet value-added services. The three parts support each other to form a closed loop of user growth and profit.

XiaomiStartupBusiness Model
No Retreat · Chapter 2
Concept

7-word Operation Principle

Xiaomi's early core working rule: focus on core products, pursue extreme quality, value user reputation, and iterate fast, which helped the team stand out in fierce competition.

ProductOperationTeam Management
No Retreat · Chapter 2
Insight

User Co-creation Boosts Product

Letting users participate in product iteration is far better than closed-door R&D. Xiaomi invited 100 core phone fans to test and give feedback for MIUI, got real demands directly and cultivated loyal early users.

CommunityProduct Devuser operation
No Retreat · Chapter 2
Method

Scale Offline Retail Fast

1. Standardize store opening process to cut construction cycle; 2. Adopt full direct supply mode to remove all middlemen; 3. Connect online and offline user data to improve conversion.

RetailChannelXiaomi Home
No Retreat · Chapter 6
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

Xiaomi 1 Breaks Price Barrier

In 2011, Xiaomi 1 launched with top flagship configuration but only sold at 1999 USD, half the price of similar products. The first batch sold out in 90 seconds and shocked the whole smartphone industry.

Product LaunchPricingSmartphone
No Retreat · Chapter 3
Scenario

Xiaomi MIX Saves The Company

At Xiaomi's lowest point in 2016, the team launched the world's first full-screen phone Xiaomi MIX, which won global design awards. It reversed public bad impression and rebuilt internal team confidence successfully.

InnovationTurnaroundBrand
No Retreat · Chapter 5
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
Scenario

Millet Congee Founding Day

Xiaomi's founding team gathered at the small 807 office in Yingu Building, cooked a pot of millet congee to eat together, and officially announced the establishment of the company, named Xiaomi right after this meal.

TeamStartupCompany Founding
No Retreat · Chapter 2
Golden Sentence

Make Products That Touch Hearts

Xiaomi's core value: we make moving products with sincere and reasonable prices, never chase excessive high profit at the cost of user experience.

ValueProductBrand
No Retreat · Chapter 6
Golden Sentence

Tech Equality For All People

Xiaomi's long term vision: make high quality technology products affordable for every ordinary person, let everyone enjoy the convenience brought by technological progress.

TechVisionInclusiveness
No Retreat · Chapter 7
Concept

Xiaomi IoT Ecosystem

Xiaomi's unique incubation model: invest in professional hardware startups, output brand, supply chain and user resources, do not seek full control, and quickly build a connected smart product matrix.

InvestmentHardwareIoT
No Retreat · Chapter 3
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