Interview with CEO Yu Hao： Anxiety and self-confidence behind 3.6 billion financing

For any enterprise, the most difficult thing is not how to live the present, but how to grasp the future.

Author | Xiao Man

Editor | Li Shuaifei

For any enterprise, the most difficult thing is not how to live the present, but how to grasp the future.

In October this year, Xunyi obtained 3.6 billion yuan in Series C financing-Yu Xunyi, which is 36 times more than the previous round; For the whole intelligent cleaning and even intelligent hardware industry, 3.6 billion is an eye-catching figure.

As soon as the financing news came out, it caused a lot of attention from the outside world.

Judging from the reaction of the outside world, the "focus" mainly focuses on two aspects. First, why is it chasing? Second, after the huge financing, how to pursue the future?

In the eyes of most people in the outside world, from the campus team to entrepreneurship, joining the Xiaomi ecological chain, and getting 3.6 billion financing in the C round of financing, the development of the pursuit seems to have maintained a smooth trend.

However, in the view of founder Yu Hao, the smooth sailing is just a representation. In an interview with Leifeng. com, Yu Hao described the entrepreneurial feeling with "pain" and "anxiety". In the "ideal palace" he built, any node breakthrough does not mean the end, but just the beginning. Beyond Dyson, so is getting high financing.

In the conversation, Yu Hao frequently mentioned "innovation" and "breakthrough". In his view, technological progress is an indispensable reserve for enterprise growth, and it is also an important dimension for him to consider enterprise development based on engineer thinking.

2021 happens to be the tenth anniversary of Yu Hao’s entrepreneurship. For entrepreneurs in every new era, the environment of the times has already branded the enterprise with a theme, and every startup company is bound to be a part of the times, riding the wind and waves in the tide of the times; The same is true for chasing.

The following is the conversation between Leifeng. com and Yu Hao:

one

3.6 billion Series C Financing: Release of Brand Potential Energy

Q: What does the C-round financing of 3.6 billion yuan mean for Xunyi?

A: This is the choice of enterprise strategy.

In the past, from Pre-A to B round of financing, it was less than 100 million yuan. In fact, all of them were old stock transactions, and there was no need to finance new shares. As a startup company, we have been responsible for our own profits and losses since the beginning of sales, and we haven’t spent much money, so the turn from Pre-A to B basically doesn’t involve money. In the last round, IDG mainly came in.

At present, Xunmo has its own profit model. Although the R&D investment is three times that of its peers, it can still support itself.

The recent C round of financing is because there is a good opportunity, that is, the brand.

To be a brand in the future, we need to reserve more ammunition.-Of course, in this round, Country Garden is actually industrial financing, and Xingyun can help chase and expand the Japanese market.

Now the outside world will indeed recognize us more and more, so this round of financing is indeed relatively fast. It only took more than a month for the C round of financing to start and complete, which is equivalent to completing a PE financing at the speed of VC.

I think this should be a reflection of the full release of potential energy.

2

"Entrepreneurship": Pain and anxiety coexist

Q: What kind of entrepreneurial process did you go through from Tsinghua University Sky Workshop to now?

A: Actually, the whole process is quite painful.

When I was in Tsinghua, I would do a lot of things, such as making unmanned aerial vehicles and three-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. At that time, I felt very powerful.

But soon, I found that I didn’t know the market before, and I didn’t know what consumers really wanted. Everything I did was for awards. However, in the next few years, I began to gradually perceive environmental changes, and felt that the most important thing was to do something grounded and marketable-this was the most important change.

Therefore, when starting a business later, two aspects were basically clarified: one is to find the real user needs and prevent the self-satisfied needs; The second is to suit yourself.

Q: Did you set up the pursuit after you came out of school?

A: no. From 2011 to 2013, I worked as a collaborative software company, but I started a little early and didn’t make any money. Later, I began to look at other markets.

I thought about being an electric car in 2013; Because when I was in Tsinghua before, probably in 2010, I led a team to do the auto-driving design. At that time, when I came out to see the direction, I chose the electric car first.

At that time, we went to car factories all over the world to find the feeling, including Tesla, and found that there were too many resources needed to build a car. At that time, the car was different from now. Today, it is not necessary to prove whether the new car can be built, but at that time, it is necessary to prove whether the track can be built.

We also considered making scooters, because four-wheelers need too many resources, and we thought about making two-wheelers a good vehicle.

Finally, we chose to land on the robot, because the robot technology is more complicated, but it is also more in line with our relative advantages.

Q: At first, I decided to start from the direction of sweeping robot. Why was the first product introduced a vacuum cleaner?

A: At the initial stage of research and development, the sweeper and the vacuum cleaner went hand in hand. Twenty people studied the sweeper and twenty people studied the vacuum cleaner, but the vacuum cleaner was commercialized earlier, and the high-speed motor took the lead in finding the differentiated advantage.

Q: Was the product landing smooth at first?

A: it’s very difficult.

Because we chose VSLAM, this technology was originally difficult to develop. Although we do think that VSLAM vision is a long-term direction, it is really not easy to develop.

The other is the supply chain, sales, channels, etc. outside of technology development, which was only slightly better after joining the Xiaomi ecological chain at the end of 2017.

three

"Growth Opportunity": From Xiaomi Ecological Chain to Independent Brand

Q: What is the opportunity to join the Xiaomi ecological chain?

A: After we get the high-speed motor out. At that time, there was an acceleration camp in Barn College. Twelve teams were selected from hundreds of teams across the country to join, and then they were divided into classes to defend. We were the first, and then Xiaomi decided to invest in us.

In fact, when Xiaomi joined, he had already invested in another sweeping robot company, but he finally voted for us.

Q: What is the development process after joining the Xiaomi ecological chain?

A: It was difficult in the early days. At first, Xiaomi used more products from another company. However, when the other party’s inhalation power to Xiaomi is 110W, we will achieve 120 W; The battery life of the other product is half an hour, so we can do it for one hour, and then control the cost lower-the other party reported more than 800, and we reported more than 600.

As a result, in the Xiaomi ecological chain, for the first time, a company sold better than the Mijia brand’s own things. After the sales volume rose, Xiaomi slowly signed a contract with us. First the vacuum cleaner, then we saw that VSLAM did a good job and gave us the sweeper.

In the future, we may cut into other categories, some of which are still in the project stage and may be introduced to the market next year.

Q: What do you think of the impact of Xiaomi on its eco-chain enterprises?

A: Xiaomi has helped the growth of many enterprises in China, and it has also had a great impact on the manufacturing industry. First, it broke the original business pattern and was willing to help start-ups; The other is that George W. Milla raised the quality standards and design standards of the manufacturing industry.

From these two aspects, Xiaomi has played a catfish effect on the whole manufacturing industry, which in turn promoted the changes of traditional enterprises.

Q: What’s your thinking on building the brand "Zhui Mi"?

A: In the past, the market paid more attention to the parameters and performance of products. Although we made our own brands, many of them were actually "millet-like people".

Now we are going to a broader group, we will interact with users on Tik Tok, the products should be rich and interesting, and there should be scene demonstrations. We are doing this well.

Q: How does Xunyi formulate corresponding channel strategies according to market changes?

A: Channels will change every three to five years. Often, when channels change, it is an opportunity for new brands. What we encounter today is the opportunity for new categories to superimpose new channels.

There are three main strategies to pursue: one is to "fight the old with the new", make momentum in new channels, and then go to the old platform (cultivation); The second is to "hit the low with the high", which means that we must stand at the commanding heights of technology or price advantage; The last one is to "fight fast and slow down" and speed up the work of new things.

Q: Every company has different development routes, such as the "millet route", so what is the pursuit route?

A: We hope to follow the "Tesla route", that is, to open up, innovate and break through.

The initial breakthrough may be relatively simple, it is a breakthrough in parameters, and then it is a breakthrough in category definition. I hope to pursue companies like Tesla and Apple in the future.

four

"Transcendence" is only the beginning of the goal.

Q: From the external impression, Chasing set the Flag of "challenging Dyson" from the early stage of the venture. From the initial 100,000 rpm to the current 200,000 rpm, what kind of iterative process is in the middle? Why do you have to work so hard on the motor speed?

A: Let’s start with why we should make a motor. Simply put, the faster the motor speed, the greater the suction of the vacuum cleaner. For example, when we increase the motor speed from 20,000 rpm to 100,000 rpm, the suction force will increase by 25 times.

However, the basic principle of high-speed motor is different from that of traditional motor. It is a new thing of mechatronics, not an update iteration based on traditional motor.

When we first started doing it, only Dyson achieved 100,000 rpm, and the domestic one was basically 10,000 rpm to 20,000 rpm. We found that Dyson’s battery design, control and aerodynamics are all brand-new; To surpass them, we need to break through these things.

So we started with R&D and did motor research and development for two years, but later we found that there were still manufacturing process problems, so we spent another year looking for OEM manufacturing.

It was not until 2017 that we finished this process to achieve production. At that time, Xiaomi also voted for us, which was our first stage.

Q: How did you achieve transcendence afterwards?

A: The motor has been made, and the products have been sold on the line. In the second stage, we felt that we should set a higher goal and make a "moon landing plan", and we must work hard in the place where others are best at it. Later, we achieved 150,000 revolutions from 100,000 revolutions and then achieved 200,000 revolutions.

By 2020, we are thinking about entering the third stage, which is different from others. At this stage, we have made the heart and brain of the machine. The heart is a high-speed motor, and the brain is responsible for recognition and processing, thus expanding to all directions.

Q: What’s the next step in the search?

A: Not long ago, we started an exploratory project like robot dog, and we plan to make it into a service robot in the next decade. "Service robot" doesn’t mean to look like a person, but is based on sensor processing and has an execution structure.

In addition, we are still looking for directions in various household and commercial products, such as range hoods.

Searching for the future plan includes several stages-achieving 10 billion in three years; 40 billion in five years; 200 billion in 10 years.We will continue to work towards this goal.

"10 billion in three years" means that we must continue to charge, and we must have evolutionary genes like Amazon and Apple, which is also the problem we will solve in the next 2-3 years.

"40 billion in five years" is an important process from the China market to the global market. This process is not to distribute goods to the sea, but to brand the sea, because China enterprises have mastered five capabilities at the same time: positive research and development, core technology, supply chain, sales and brand capabilities.

"200 billion in 10 years" is an enterprise that hopes to pursue the future and become an era. We have now positioned ourselves as a technology enterprise that keeps trying, so we have invested a lot of money in research and development.

five

Going out to sea and offline: from point to surface,

The process of breaking and connecting

Q: As mentioned earlier, the plan of "40 billion yuan in five years" is actually a process of a brand going out to sea and going global. The performance of going out to sea in recent years is very bright. In 2020, the sales increased by 390% year-on-year. How did this happen?

A: We went to sea mainly through three stages. In the first stage, we cooperated with distributors and they helped us out. The second stage is to cooperate with foreign local partners, and we began to make our own market; In the third stage, we mainly play tricks in some benchmark markets, such as Germany and France.

Q: Why start with European countries?

A: Because we still have the process of going out and learning, the feedback from Europe and South Korea is relatively direct, while that from the United States is relatively strict. Some brands started from Amazon, but this model is different from the pursuit. We need to extend the online and offline sales network, so we chose to start from Europe and then go to the United States.

Q: What about the Japanese and Korean markets?

A: We have entered the Korean market before, and we have a high acceptance of China technology.

The Japanese market is relatively difficult to enter, and doing offline in Japan requires a lot of trust endorsement, so we choose to cooperate with Xingyun Group. In the process of development, Xingyun Group used to help Japanese enterprises to enter China, but now it is the other way around, helping China enterprises to enter Japan-and we have thus established an investment relationship.

Q: In September this year, Xunmi opened its first offline store in Hangzhou. How do you plan to pursue offline channels?

A: I think,When offline in China, a closed loop of "small channels" is needed. Today is the era of channel fragmentation. It is necessary to break down the small channels one by one and then connect them. This is a process of breaking reconnection.

For the pursuit, we will find two or three cities to carry out offline layout, and then gradually spread it after finding the online and offline linkage mode-at present, we choose Hangzhou because it is a typical one in the new first-tier cities and will gradually spread it after the experiment.

Q: How big is the market space for sweeping robots in the future?

A：I think the penetration rate of sweeping robots is only 10%, and this market is still very large. Sweeping robots can mark the size of the washing machine market, and there is still 10 times space to be tapped.

six

In anxiety and growth, construct "two flywheels"

Q: What is the current situation of the company’s volume and R&D investment?

A: At present, there are more than 1,800 people in our company, 70% of whom are technicians, and the annual R&D investment accounts for 12%.

Q: From the initial 40-odd people to today’s 1,800-odd people, how did you and your team grow up with the pursuit?

A: On the one hand, I have a lot of self-reflection. I think self-reflection is very important. On the other hand, to benchmark the best people in the industry, to benchmark some start-ups and even cross-disciplinary people, these benchmarks have also brought great progress.

These can bring me some new ideas and thoughts. After thinking, I should interact with the team in time, and they will do practical exercises, and then there will be a feedback.

soWe have two flywheels, one is to study and think on my own; The other is that the team should interact with me, understand, implement and give feedback. It is not easy to understand. After understanding, disassemble, then implement and give feedback-only in this way can the two flywheels run and progress be made.

Q: What is your personal status today?

A: To be honest, until today, I am very anxious, but I have different anxiety points at different time points, but there are actually similarities.

I always hope that I can do something that has great changes to mankind like Ford and Edison. If I see this distance is far away, I will really be very anxious.

When we started our business a few years ago, we were thinking, "What is the first product? How to make the first product successful? " Today, we are thinking more about how to make the most advanced and unique products in the world, products that can affect more people and have a wider range of influence. This is the anxiety now.

Q: In your opinion, the growth of the pursuit is beyond its own strength and efforts. Is there a factor of the times?

A: The relationship between society and enterprises is not addition, but multiplication effect.

If there is no progress in social management, it is useless for enterprises to work 1000 times; Conversely, the social environment is fair to all participants, and it is useless for enterprises to have no strength and efforts.

So,Under the multiplication effect, the key is the matching of time and energy, as well as predicting what may happen in the future and making reserves in advance.

Q: What do you think of the relationship between enterprises and the times?

A: The birth of every enterprise is a brand of the times. Ten years ago, it solved the problem of universality of science and technology, but ten years later, it focused on the progress of science and technology in the industry and explored the future, so each enterprise has different factors of the times.

END

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