On July 2nd, NIO Inc. founder Li Bin was invited by his alma mater, Peking University, to attend the undergraduate graduation ceremony for the Class of 2026 and deliver a speech as an alumni representative.
Li Bin stated that in the 30 years since his graduation, he has experienced six major troughs in his life and career. During his address, he focused on sharing three particularly memorable entrepreneurial journeys. Li Bin candidly expressed that to overcome difficulties, one must correctly attribute causes; the only way to find a way forward is to look inward.
The following is the full text of his speech:
Respected teachers, dear fellow students, and family members,
Good morning!
I am Li Bin, a graduate of the Class of 1996 from the Department of Sociology. Half a month ago, the university invited me to come and share some thoughts at this graduation ceremony. I felt deeply honored, but also hesitant. In today's era of social media with its multitude of conflicting opinions, speaking to so many outstanding young people about life actually comes with considerable pressure.
Ultimately, I convinced myself to come for two reasons. First, this year marks the 30th anniversary of my graduation, and I am truly honored to have this opportunity to express my gratitude to my alma mater. The longer the time since graduation, the more I appreciate the significance of my years at Yanyuan (Peking University's campus). The university's ethos of seeking truth and fostering innovation has gradually become internalized as my own personal standard. My studies in sociology also helped me begin to develop a foundational ability to think about society and business, guiding me forward during times of confusion in my life.
Second, having been an entrepreneur for thirty years and still being on that path, I don't really have much successful experience to share. However, I do have some insights from the low points in my life and career that I can share with my fellow juniors.
Since graduating, I have experienced six major troughs in my life and business—quite a few, I admit. Due to time constraints today, I can only share three of them.
The first low point was right after graduation.
In April 1996, just a few months before graduation, I started a company with two classmates from the same year. The company was called Antarctic Technology, one of China's earliest internet virtual hosting service providers. We even had a slogan at the time: "Join hands to traverse uncharted territory," because, like the Antarctic, it was a place no one had been.
Graduation arrived quickly. My two partners chose to go abroad for further studies, an opportunity that was very difficult to pass up at the time. I understood and respected their decision completely, and chose to shoulder the company alone. The office was in the Zhongguancun Hotel opposite the south gate of Peking University. I looked it up this morning, and that hotel is long gone now. I lived at the company, sleeping on the conference table every night after finishing work late. I still remember exactly what that conference table looked like because I had to roll up my bedding before colleagues arrived in the morning. It was a period of struggling for survival in entrepreneurship. In the end, this company did not succeed, just like its name—Antarctic, which sounds like "extremely difficult" in Chinese.
Looking back on this experience, I have never regretted it. Many choices in life may not yield the expected results, but they will undoubtedly help you grow. This experience earned me valuable "entrepreneurial credits." What it taught me was that when encountering difficulties, one should not be swayed by considerations of gain and loss, but should remain true to one's own heart and one's own choices.
The second low point I want to share occurred in 2010 when I was running Bitauto.
That New Year's Day, I wrote a letter to the board of directors titled "Six Mistakes Bitauto Has Made." On the surface, Bitauto's operations seemed fine at the time, but I couldn't deceive myself. I was becoming increasingly clear that the cross-media strategy Bitauto had pursued in the automotive industry over the previous few years was wrong. If we continued with wishful thinking and inertia, we would face a life-or-death challenge within two or three years.
We ultimately decided to spin off the traditional media business and focus on the core internet business. Accepting this reality was painful for me, as it meant abandoning a cross-media business layout that had taken several years and cost hundreds of millions to build. This low point made me realize that no matter what difficulties one encounters, one must have the courage to face one's own mistakes, be honest with oneself, and avoid self-deception.
The third low point I want to share happened in recent years.
2021 was a highlight period for NIO; our market capitalization once exceeded one hundred billion US dollars. Entering 2022, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. We entered a trough period that lasted over three years. Doubts were everywhere, dampening employee morale and shaking user confidence. During this low point, we constantly reminded ourselves that to emerge, we must look for reasons within ourselves. We recognized that NIO's困境 never stemmed from our investments in technology R&D, our battery swap and charging infrastructure, or our user service system. These are precisely the long-term competitive advantages we must坚持, and they represent the responsibility we should bear for立足 the forefront of industrial transformation and serving the high-quality development of China's intelligent electric vehicle industry. Our real problems were that our product experience failed to consistently lead the industry and that our operational efficiency struggled to cope with intense market competition.
After identifying the problems, we made resolute adjustments in product experience and operational management. Since the second half of last year, our main products have continued to sell well, the company has achieved profitability for two consecutive quarters, and we have entered a new stage of development. The experiences of these past few years have taught me that to overcome困境, one must correctly attribute causes. The only way to find a way out is to look inward.
These are the few insights I wanted to share. Dear fellow students, starting today, you are embarking on a new journey. Your future is filled with infinite possibilities, and the world will surely become a better place because of you. I sincerely wish you smooth roads ahead, and I hope that no matter what difficulties you encounter, you can remain true to your own hearts, be honest with yourselves, look inward, and move forward bravely!
Once again, congratulations to my fellow juniors on your academic achievements. Happy graduation! Thank you all!
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