Millet 4 years 60 billion behind the 10 entrepreneurial experience

Millet finally out of the book! "Participatory sense: Millet Word-of-mouth Marketing Internal handbook", Lei handwritten preface, Millet co-founder Li Vanchang, uncover Millet 4 years 60 billion miracle behind the idea, method and case. The most authoritative, thorough and comprehensive works on millet so far. Millet 4 years 60 billion behind, in addition to Lei speak of the huge market, reliable team and spend more than three points of experience, small series according to the contents of the book to organize the following 10 millet entrepreneurial experience, to share with you.

First, the pioneering step: to solve what kind of pain point?

The first step in starting a business is to determine what the product is and what kind of pain point to address.

The prerequisite for the success of a pioneering product is to scratch one's itch first. If you can not really satisfied, how to impress users? Real in the industry can be subversive, the ultimate company is often the same. Before long we Shun Fung Courier founder Wei Chat, he said, 20 years ago began to do express, but also because the express industry service is not satisfied, then simply according to their own ideas to do a better.

MIUI as the first product of millet, has three nodes is very important. These nodes are "stories and topics" of word-of-mouth communication.

"Fast" is the first word of mouth node, use more fluent. We started with the deep customization of Android phone system, when MIUI mainly do brush machine ROM. On the surface, the user is using the mobile phone hardware, but in fact most of the control experience, in essence, from the software. At that time, a lot of brush machine software are individuals and small teams do, they do not have enough strength or sustained energy to really do the bottom of the optimization. Let's grab the "quick" and optimize the animation frame speed of the entire desktop, from 30 frames per second to 40 frames to 60 frames, let the fingertips slide in the screen there is silky smooth feeling, optimize the main user pain points, the phone call, text messaging module optimization experience better, faster, such as to send text messages to common contacts, the general system to 3~5 step, We only need two steps.

"Good-looking" is the second word of mouth node. At that time, the original interface of Android was ugly compared to Apple. We first optimize the program to make the system faster, about three or four months after the start to do "good-looking." A year later, the theme of MIUI has reached the point of programmable, if you have some programming ability, the theme can do a variety of things. Miui in the theme of the mobile phone product design, on openness and depth, the entire Android system we are doing the most outstanding.

"Open" is the third word of mouth node, we allow users to recompile custom MIUI system. What kind of development does this bring? Openness has involved many foreign users who have published their own English, Spanish and Portuguese versions of MIUI. This open strategy attracts a lot of foreign enthusiasts to the deep spread of MIUI, foreign Word-of-mouth has in turn affected the domestic market spread, similar to export.

Second, the company name, domain name, can not take the dry

Start the second step will think about the company name, domain name, brand declaration and mascot, and so on, these brand start work, we spent a lot of time, I said half joking, we can not lose at the starting line. The first month of the birth of millet, the founding team discussed at least hundreds of names, such as Red Star, Thousand Odd, Andong, Hyun Tak, and so on. These alternative names look back, some are interesting, some are very curious. For example, we want to take the "heart" of the head, even painted on paper on the Rhino mascot sketches, or, for example, "Xuan de" the name came from the first discussion of the teahouse in the box name.

We almost set a name is "Red Star", it has a good recognition, and "Red Star sparkling" color feeling passionate and positive energy. The original top-level domain owner has even quoted us, but because the "Red Star" in the wine is a well-known trademark, has special protection, even in the technical category of industrial and commercial registration will be blocked.

Finally we chose "millet". Millet is one of the grains, moist nourishing, people familiar with, appear cordial and peaceful. The name of Millet is very familiar, when I went to the industrial and commercial registration, there are people asked whether we are a new agricultural technology company.

Experience tells us, registered companies try not to call "xx times", "xx wireless", because these common names also need to add auxiliary words. From the determination of the establishment of the company, we decided to go all out to the "Millet technology" registered, while ensuring that the domain name down, if not take it off.

2014, Millet officially began to enter the international market. To this end we do not hesitate to buy a new international domain name "mi.com". We spent hundreds of thousands of yuan on "xiaomi.com", and this time we pulled out 3.6 million dollars of real money. The advantage is that "mi.com" is more suitable for international promotion, and it is easier to spread the concept of "Mobile Internet" globally.

Third, the most important factor in entrepreneurial success: looking for someone

Entrepreneurship is actually a high-risk choice, we see the success of the start-up companies behind a large. Many of today's very successful enterprises, had been through escape. For example, Alibaba, Ma Yun led the team 1995 to do the Chinese Yellow pages, failed! Then 1997 to do the online Chinese commodity trading market, the embryonic form of Alibaba, or failed! Alibaba today's business empire, we see Taobao, Alipay and Cat and other star products, in fact, the most valuable is behind the team, especially Ma Yun and his 18 co-founder.

In the first year of millet set up, Ray always spent most of the time to do is to find someone!

It took the most time to build a hardware team. Because we started with a few founders from the internet industry, do not know the hardware and the hardware is not enough network. Before I first met Dr. Zhou Guanping, the co-founder of the hardware, we've been talking to a couple of candidates for two months, and it's been slow, and some people have been looking for a "broker" to talk to us about conditions, not only for high options but also for welfare benefits that are better than today's big companies, and we talked until the wee hours, the Lin (co-founder , President, and I feel like I'm going to crash.

To do things less, to do the first

"To do explosive products" is a product strategy. Product planning stage to have the courage to do only one, to do is to do this category of the market first. The product line does not focus hard to form the scale effect, the resource is too dispersed can cause the participation feeling to be difficult to unfold.

Product strategy, product structure must be "burst." Do hundreds of lines of products, but also with the user interaction, you do not have the energy. I saw a few days ago to do nearly 30 years of traditional home appliance manufacturers, he said your opinion is very good, but we have hundreds of products, how to do? How do we comb through so many opinions? I asked him, "Why are you doing hundreds of?" "

The product is millet is the simplest and most fundamental logic, if we do not "burst" products, is unable to let users scream, so that users have a sense of participation. "Explosion" is not only to do fine, many times we all want to do fine, but the boutique is likely that everyone will want to do more than 10, this is wrong. Can only do one paragraph, can only do two? One or two section of the explosion can be.

V. Put the interests on the table

Ray always make Millet is a dream-driven, is that he wants to be a great enough company, a big enough thing. So at this time, from partners to our core staff, has given sufficient benefits to guarantee, authorization and respect.

I've seen a lot of companies, and he just told you that there are options, and it's time to come to the market to tell you what your options are. But Ray always with our partners, the core staff came in to understand, put a lot of things on the table. Today, the competition for talent is so fierce that there is not enough interest to drive it.

Six, the best person: a reliable engineer Top 100

Staff recruitment, our approach is to use the best people. I have always thought that research and development itself is very creative, if people do not relax, or not smart enough, it is difficult to do well. You have to find the best people, a good engineer is not the top 10, is the top 100. Therefore, in the core engineers above, we must at all costs to find, do not want to lazy only to cultivate the method of college students to do. The best person has a strong driving force, you just put him into his favorite things, let his own play mentality, he can really do something to impress himself, in order to impress others. So you see a lot of our engineers today, and he's playing along with innovation. So find the best person and give him something he likes and excels at.

Seven, entrepreneurial mentality is love, continue to inspire the love of the team

First, let employees become fans. Every time a millet employee enters a job, can be led to an engineering machine, to be used as a daily host, and secondly, to allow employees to become users of friends, each millet employees can apply for a few F code (f code, Friend code, friend invitation code, the first purchase in the Millet online qualification), to friends and relatives, Let them also use it, and finally, make friends with users.

For the use of their products, many traditional enterprises are rabbits do not eat Waterloo. In millet, we even joked that "let the mother-in-law also use their own products."

Second, "to KPI." There is really no KPI inside the millet. But without KPIs, that doesn't mean our company has no goals. How does millet decompose this target? We are not the KPI to the staff, we are partners in charge of KPI. But we set the KPI to say, are set a order of magnitude, for example this year to sell 40 million units, will not go to the agreement if you finish a, B, C gear, I will give you a what kind of reward. Our sales team set 40 million this year, suddenly 50 million, and then immediately put out a sum of money for everyone to go to the Maldives vacation? We won't do such a thing. At the time of the KPI, in fact, more is to judge a company's growth of the ladder, I went to which ladder, because we have this information to calculate clearly after, to allocate scheduling resources.

Millet is more concerned with the process than the result. The result is natural, as long as the employee completes the process.

Eight, the general direction is clear, occasionally deviate or deceleration are not afraid

We have a long-term, medium-term and short term definition of the product requirements internally. Long-term development direction Ray always communicates with the team every 1-2 months, and the medium and short term is basically in the interaction with the user, fragmentation occurs, and this process will in turn revise the long-term goals we set.

Millet engineers, 2~3, make up a group that gives them autonomy, and in exchange with users, 30% of the projects are defined themselves. It did happen in the past, with users around an engineer every day, and then developed a feature that didn't seem much needed. But our entire project is updated weekly, the iteration is very fast, the wrong plan does not matter, after two weeks to correct.

Nine, to do things to the extreme, driving their own crazy

How to achieve the ultimate product? Don't be superstitious or superstitious. The so-called master or inspiration just pointed out the right direction, actually just started! The ultimate product behind is a great investment, are thoroughly tempered and changed out. The back of the cool is hard!

Many users first opened the box of Millet mobile phone is very stunning, extremely simple and has a high quality sense! They will keep the box as a storage box.

In fact, it's just such a box. The entire design team lasted 6 months, after more than 30 version of the structure modification, hundreds of proofing, made more than 10,000 samples, the final only millet mobile phone box to the commendable process and quality. General manufacturers to do a box is usually the cost of 2~3 yuan, and millet packaging costs nearly 10 yuan, but I think this investment is very worthwhile.

Ten, let staff have a sense of participation, achievement

1. Sense of participation

Millet Service quality of continuous improvement, it is from the front-line staff in the specific work of a bit of advice. In order to continue to promote this improvement, we decided to develop a product, this is the Millet service system "drip system."

Bit system specifically developed the mobile phone-side of the app, our service system employees can be in the drip system to put forward their own suggestions. Everyone can see the advice of others, comment on it, grade it, and praise it. Good advice, do not have to go through any meetings, directly through the drip system submitted, as long as the operating group has more than 3 people praise agree, it means that the proposal has been adopted and will be in the actual work to promote implementation.

Bit system fully mobilized our service system front-line staff's work enthusiasm. Once the proposal is adopted, it will be sent to the rice rabbit, accessories and other reward staff. They deeply feel that the growth of millet service work is derived from the accumulation of their every bit of wisdom.

2. Sense of achievement

We let the staff and users through the forum 0 distance contact, do a good function to get users praise, the team is naturally very happy; When a product manager and engineer is responsible for the function of users spit out or even lambaste, do not have to meet without mobilization, they naturally will work overtime, fully to improve.

We set up a "Popcorn Award" in-house, and the user's vote on the new feature produced the best project of the week and then rewarded the employee. The prize is a bucket of popcorn and a sense of honor known as the Great God.