In recent days, rumors about JiYue and myself have been rampant. I feel it is necessary to come out and clarify some truths. First of all, I have not run away. JiYue is my lifelong beloved career, how could I abandon it and run away? These days, I am proud that I can sit with my colleagues in the office during times of criticism and blame, accompanying everyone through the most confused and helpless moments; this is another life experience for me. I believe I am an upright person, and because I am upright, I have never feared being with employees and users, communicating face-to-face and solving any problems with them, regardless of the circumstances. Because I am upright, I can also face various rumors calmly. "Zhou Gong feared rumors for a day, distinguishing materials must wait for seven years." Time will eventually test everything and prove everything.
Some people say that at JiYue, I am just a professional manager, but I have always considered myself a true entrepreneur. When I joined JiYue, I invested my savings accumulated from working and my previous startup into it. During the most difficult days, I also took money out of my own pocket to ensure the rights of the employees who needed it most. If I considered myself just a professional manager, I would never have had such immense passion, tirelessly conducting 24-hour, non-stop 2000-kilometer intelligent driving tests. If I merely saw myself as a professional manager, I would never have sat in the car, risking the car and myself falling into the river to conduct floating bridge autonomous driving tests.
However, building cars requires a tremendous amount of funding. The era has given me the most precious opportunity. I am fortunate to have received support from China's top artificial intelligence company and the leading automobile manufacturing company. Without them, there would definitely be no car-making dream of mine. These two giants of the industry not only invested huge amounts of money into JiYue but also brought deep expertise in artificial intelligence and automotive manufacturing, allowing us to create two industry-leading new cars, 01 and 07, in a short time. Looking back, I am filled with gratitude towards fate, and I am grateful to all investors, including Baidu and Geely, especially Robin and Shu Fu, for guiding me onto such a wonderful path of car-making.
When the 07 was launched, I felt like the happiest person in the world. In my automotive career, I see the 01 as my son and the 07 as my daughter. With the 01 and 07, I have become a person with both sons and daughters. I also thank and appreciate all the JiYue colleagues, and I am grateful to all the suppliers. Everyone's wisdom and hard work have come together to create two products that make us proud and are loved by users. All the achievements JiYue has today are the results of the concerted efforts of all JiYue people, supported by our major shareholders, Baidu and Geely. Every JiYue person should feel proud of this. Our traces will surely be left in the history of the development of intelligent vehicles in China.
I sincerely thank everyone for their contributions once again.
I really want to sell these two models well. However, this may have laid the groundwork for JiYue's current predicament. As the CEO, I made many mistakes, and I feel deeply sorry for employees, owners, suppliers, and even shareholders.
Strategically, I did not do well. Financing should have been my most important responsibility, but I was too optimistic in the early stages and did not foresee the seriousness of the funding issue. During the brand development phase, my underestimation of the difficulty of building cars was also fatal. For example, the launch timing of the first model, ROBO-01 Moon Exploration Edition, was a significant mistake. Originally, it was an excellent opportunity, but due to my insufficient judgment of regulatory risks, the decision-making error not only wasted this good opportunity but also nearly caused the company to fold.
The issue of personnel is also a big lesson. In certain positions, I overlooked the true match between the role and talent. Many core business leaders do not possess sufficient industry experience, resulting in the team being unable to perform key tasks. In terms of marketing and organizational management, frequent personnel changes have caused internal friction within the company, wasting time and opportunities.
In terms of management style, I focused too much on details and micro-management, which suppressed the initiative and creativity of the team. Sometimes I ignored many colleagues' kind reminders and missed the best opportunities to correct some issues.
My obsession with marketing has also consumed too much of my energy. As the CEO, I should have focused my main energy on financing and strategic planning, but I once personally got involved in managing the marketing system, which diverted my attention and caused other important matters to be overlooked. All these mistakes stem from my lack of experience and limited understanding. As a first-time CEO, I wanted to do everything perfectly, but I overlooked my shortcomings. My lack of empathy, which can sometimes come off as domineering, has harmed my employees and partners.
I admit that as CEO, I have let everyone's trust down. But at the same time, through these profound reflections, I have learned many lessons that I will apply to the company's future development or my next entrepreneurial growth. The high tuition has allowed me to grow significantly. I need to focus more on strategic planning, improve hiring standards, strengthen organizational development, and, more importantly, have more trust and delegation towards the team. Although the current situation is difficult, I will gather my spirits, actively fulfill corporate social responsibilities, and handle relevant issues that employees, users, and suppliers are closely concerned about. If given the opportunity, I will also take on all responsibilities and do my best to make up for past mistakes and lead the company back on track.
The mistakes are all mine. But I sincerely ask everyone not to deny the evaluation of JiYue's innovation and product capabilities because of me. No matter what happens, I am proud of our products.
Striving is ingrained in the bones of JiYue people. Just last night, JiYue engineers were still working overnight to develop an offline version of the system, ensuring that even in the worst-case scenario of a complete network failure, JiYue owners can still use SIMO.
In the past three years, the company has gone from 0 to 1, from JiYue 01 to JiYue 07, and from sales of a few hundred to two to three thousand units. Looking back, JiYue has taken solid and dedicated steps in product design, research and development, and intelligent upgrades.
China's automotive industry needs outstanding original designs. Based on understanding and knowledge of AI technology, the JiYue team pioneered the design concept of AI cars. JiYue 01 and JiYue 07 are the only two models in China that have both won global design awards, including the iF, Good Design, and Red Dot Design Grand Slam.
Chinese consumers need a smarter and safer travel experience. SIMO's voice interaction and purely visual intelligent driving capabilities have gained widespread recognition from JiYue owners. JiYue has won first place multiple times in intelligent driving competitions, but compared to various first places, I care more about how many people JiYue's intelligent driving has helped, making their long-distance commuting easier.
In the past few days, my colleagues have shown me the blessings from users through the SIMO feedback channel.
"I really miss SIMO, thank you for the companionship, send it out."
"I really like SIMO and don’t want to let you go like this, send it out."
"JiYue, keep it up! The owners are waiting for you to get better, send it out."
"I met you on June 23, thank you for accompanying me on my daily 200-kilometer journey, taking four to five hours. You are like my family. Send it out."
Each blessing from JiYue owners brings me to tears again and again. I’m unwilling to accept this, and I really want to stand up for you again!
I will do everything I can to keep JiYue going, not to let down every comrade who has fought for this car, and not to let down every JiYue owner who loves and appreciates JiYue.
Online review: Building cars is much harder than issuing tokens, minting money, or trading cryptocurrencies!