Li Xiang: How Did a High School Dropout Lead Li Auto to Success?
A recently published in-depth profile by business columnist Li Si chronicles the unconventional journey of Li Xiang, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto Inc., from a high school dropout to the helm of one of China's most prominent electric vehicle manufacturers. The piece offers a detailed chronological account of Li’s three distinct entrepreneurial phases: the establishment of IT portal PCPOP, the rise and public listing of automotive vertical Auto Home, and the tumultuous yet successful creation of Li Auto.
The article provides a domestic perspective on the strategic thinking, leadership style, and pivotal decisions that have defined his career. It explores his early success in the dot-com era, his contentious but formative experience with corporate governance and capital markets at Auto Home, and his pragmatic, user-centric approach to product development at Li Auto, including his controversial early bet on range-extender technology. Amid fierce competition in China's EV market, understanding the founder's unique trajectory offers crucial insight into Li Auto's strategy and resilience.
Here is the full translation of the article:
Author: Li Si, Business Writer
PCPOP and Before: Branded a ‘Maniac’ by Rivals
Born in Shijiazhuang, the “rock and roll capital” of China, Li Xiang was fortunate enough to discover his passion in his first year of middle school: computers. In an era when personal computers were just becoming widespread and average monthly salaries rarely exceeded a thousand yuan, the price of a PC was beyond the means of the Li family’s working-class household. But Li Xiang proved through his actions that his love was genuine and not just a fleeting whim: from his first to his third year of middle school, he bought nearly every computer-related newspaper, magazine, and book available on the market.
This persistence eventually convinced his parents to spend a colossal 8,000 yuan to buy him a computer during his first year of high school, while also shouldering monthly internet fees of several hundred yuan. What his parents likely never imagined was how easy it would be to make money “online.” Having constantly studied computer books, Li discovered countless errors in printed newspapers and magazines when he put theory into practice—it seemed their editors had hardly used a computer themselves. So, Li began submitting his own “research findings” to media outlets. His very first article earned him a 500-yuan fee and was published in full.
By his second year of high school, Li had launched his own website called "Graphics Card Home" (显卡之家), dedicated to publishing his content, and it quickly became a leading site. No one would have imagined that a personal website, managed by a high school sophomore in his spare time, could rise to the top. The secret was waking up early. Li noticed that most people surfed the internet in the morning, so he started waking up at 5 a.m. every day to update his site. As a result, “my competitors called me a maniac. They kept cursing until their own websites vanished, but they never started waking up early like I did.”
Soon after, "Graphics Card Home" secured its first advertising deal worth 6,000 yuan. From then on, between advertising and writing fees, Li’s monthly income reached 20,000 yuan, nearly ten times his parents’ combined salaries. So when Li, a high school junior who had already earned 100,000 yuan, told his parents he wanted to start a business, he faced almost no resistance. It wasn't just that his parents were open-minded; I imagine most parents in that situation wouldn’t dare stand in his way, and might even have to console themselves: the boy is grown up and has his own ideas.
This was Li Xiang’s first pot of gold. While few of his peers owned a personal computer at the time, there were certainly others who did, which only highlights the difference between liking something and truly being passionate about it. This was critical for Li Xiang. On the long road of life, discovering and pursuing one’s passion is crucial for personal growth. Only true passion will drive you to invest your utmost energy, to spend the most time overcoming difficulties. This has nothing to do with diplomas or knowledge. To discover what you truly love, at any time and for anyone, should be considered a great fortune.
After deciding to become an entrepreneur, Li first brought Fan Zheng (now an independent director at Li Auto Inc.), who was still in university, onto his team. As the reputation of "Graphics Card Home" grew, Shao Zhen, who was based in Beijing, proactively invited Li to the capital to start a business. In 2000, "Graphics Card Home" was officially renamed PCPOP (泡泡网), expanding its business from graphics card reviews to all IT product categories. Li was responsible for content, Fan wrote the code, and Shao handled operations. By 2004, PCPOP’s annual revenue exceeded 20 million yuan, with a valuation of over 200 million. Li Xiang was 23 years old. His high school classmates, who had been more "excellent" students, were just graduating from university and entering the workforce.
The first thing that came to my mind when reading about Li Xiang's early entrepreneurial story was a line from the band Wan Qing's song "Kill the One from Shijiazhuang": “Ten thousand untethered horses gallop in his mind.” As a spirited young man in his prime, Li Xiang had gained a critical four-year head start over his peers in the PC internet era, a time we now know was an explosive gold rush. Fame, indeed, is best achieved early.
The Auto Home Era: Battling Foreign Capital, Betrayed by Old Friends
After leading PCPOP to become the third-largest player in the IT review industry, Li Xiang, the high school non-graduate, pivoted to a new industry—automotive reviews—and started another venture. While the outcome was once again successful, the process was anything but easy.
Li had several considerations when choosing the auto review sector: 1) It was similar to PCPOP, focusing on reviews; 2) The industry was not yet saturated, and competition was not fierce; 3) The Chinese auto market was on the cusp of high-speed growth. It must be said that this thinking is remarkably similar to Lei Jun's calculations 20 years later when he decided to enter automobile manufacturing: 1) The "internet can build anything" philosophy; 2) The industry was not yet saturated, and competition was not fierce; 3) The new energy vehicle market was on the cusp of high-speed growth.
Correctly identifying the trend was a key decision Li Xiang got right. In 2005, after leaving PCPOP, he founded the "Auto Home" (汽车之家) forum. By 2006, Auto Home's user base surpassed its rival Xcar, becoming the largest automotive community in China. In 2007, investor Xue Manzi invested $1 million in Auto Home and recommended a great talent to Li: Qin Zhi, an "elite" graduate of Beijing No. 4 High School, Tsinghua University, the University of Iowa, and Harvard Business School, who would thereafter manage Auto Home. Our high school non-graduate Li Xiang was about to witness what true "professionalism" meant.
Upon taking office, Qin Zhi established an independent sales team, rapidly generating tens of millions in revenue. He also secured promotional spots on nearly all major internet navigation portals in China at low prices, boosting Auto Home's daily page views to 20 million and making it the industry leader overnight. He also helped establish a scientific management system for the company. In Li Xiang's words: "Qin Zhi's arrival showed me what higher-level management truly was."
In 2008, the global financial crisis caused a sharp decline in auto media revenues. Qin and Li scrambled to secure investment. After a series of maneuvers, Telstra Corporation Limited agreed to invest, becoming Auto Home's controlling shareholder. During this period, an internal conflict erupted: co-founder Shao Zhen and other junior shareholders convened a board meeting to propose the removal of Li Xiang, Fan Zheng, and Qin Zhi. Xue Manzi furiously denounced their actions as a mutiny at the meeting. Ultimately, Shao Zhen and his group departed, founding "Truck Home" (卡车之家) the following year. Li Xiang was 27 at the time. He would later recall this episode as a "lifelong pain."
By 2012, Telstra's stake in Auto Home had reached 71.5%, while Li Xiang and Qin Zhi's combined stake was less than 10%. The major shareholder and the founding team clashed constantly over business philosophy. (Here, I can almost see the power struggle that would have ensued between Alibaba and Yahoo had Jack Ma not spun off Alipay at that critical moment.)
In 2013, Auto Home Inc. (汽车之家) went public in the U.S., and its stock price soared. Telstra prepared to sell its stake and exit. Li Xiang and Qin Zhi’s bid to buy back the shares failed, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (中国平安保险（集团）股份有限公司) became the new majority shareholder. In a 2014 interview for the program President Online, the host specifically asked Li about corporate control. After a moment of silence, Li replied, "If I can't control it, I'll leave. I'm not that emotionally attached to many things."
In 2015, Li Xiang stepped down as President of Auto Home. From age 23 to 33, he had spent a decade building a new venture into a national leader and a U.S.-listed company, achieving personal financial freedom in the process. More importantly were the lessons learned along the way: choosing the automotive sector and succeeding showed him the power of industry trends and the potential of the auto market; the equity battle with Telstra taught him the nature of capital; the addition of an elite executive like Qin Zhi showed him the value of talent; the split with his initial partner Shao Zhen taught him that "all good things must come to an end"; and another success gave him the second most important element for an entrepreneur besides money: self-confidence. Besides, he was only 33, still so young.
On June 30, 2015, the day after resigning from Auto Home, "CHJ Automotive" (车和家) was founded.
The Li Auto Era: Made Many Mistakes, but Got More Right
Li Xiang has stated on many occasions, "The founding of Li Auto began with a strategic failure." This strategic failure refers to the SEV—CHJ Automotive's first product, a "low-speed electric vehicle" priced at 40,000 yuan, with a curb weight of 350 kg, seating for 1-2 people, a range of 100 km, and a top speed under 45 km/h. Or, to put it another way, a rather refined "old man's joy" vehicle.
This stemmed from Li's decision at the project's inception. In his vision for the future auto market, two paths seemed viable: either 2-seater SEVs for short-distance convenience and cost savings, or range-extended SUVs for long-distance, spacious, anxiety-free travel. One of these, he believed, was bound to take off. After weighing his options, he chose the former, the SEV. He was betting that China's micro-EV market would become standardized. But this proved to be a failed strategy, as even today, the micro-EV market has not achieved the kind of standardization Li envisioned.
In 2018, after three years of "waiting," Li Xiang axed the SEV project. CHJ Automotive was renamed Li Auto Inc. (理想汽车) and shifted its entire focus to developing range-extended SUVs. At this point, the company was in a perilous situation: the three years spent on the SEV project were effectively wasted; to ensure smooth production, Li Auto had spent 650 million yuan to acquire a production license from Lifan and build its own factory; cash on hand was dwindling, and capital markets were watching from the sidelines, with most believing that "range-extender is a backward technology" and favoring the "pure-electric route."
What was to be done? Two critical decisions saved both Li Xiang and Li Auto.
First, because Li Xiang had become well-known in entrepreneurial circles early on, his personal network began to pay dividends. A $530 million Series C investment led by Wang Xing of Meituan (美团) solved Li Auto's cash flow problems. Second, because his great success came relatively late—having led Auto Home to its IPO in 2013 while enduring the trials of frequent conflicts between the "majority shareholder and the founding team"—Li Xiang was not as generous with equity this time around as he had been when Auto Home faced difficulties. By the time Li Auto went public on the Nasdaq in 2020, Li Xiang's voting rights exceeded 70%. Even in the most dangerous moments, he never lost his say in the company. Ensuring a single voice within the company is crucial during the critical entrepreneurial phase.
In 2018, with capital secured, Li Auto quickly unveiled its first model, the mid-to-large SUV, the Li ONE. Deliveries to users began a year later. It should be noted that the Li Auto of this era was a world away from the dominant force of 2023 with its hundred-billion-yuan revenue and ten-billion-yuan profit. In the eyes of most at the time, the Li ONE was a rather backward product, a "hasty product" cobbled together amid a capital shortage. But in fact, the Li ONE was the result of conclusions Li Xiang had drawn from years of big data at Auto Home. A certain segment of users had a pain point that no existing vehicle (at that time) could solve: they didn't just need a car, but a mobile home. This home needed the "three essential items": a sofa, a refrigerator, and a television. For a father driving the family, the best way to keep his wife and child peacefully occupied was to give them "each their own big screen." For family use cases, it wasn't just about "specs alone."
Comparing the three new energy players, "NIO, Xpeng, and Li": the most "idealistic," NIO, chose battery swapping; the most "technological," Xpeng, opted for high-voltage fast charging; and the most "pragmatic," Li Auto, chose range-extenders. As it turns out, the most pragmatic one is having the easiest time today. Some even argue that since the launch of the Li L-series, the company's profitability seems to validate the advantages of range-extenders over pure EVs, and might even lead to further doubts about the quality of Li Auto's future pure-electric vehicles.
I agree with this view. Li Auto's success should be seen more as a victory for "user-centricity." Range-extender or pure-electric was never the focal point, the passion, or the baggage in Li Xiang's mind. It was more of a "beautiful misunderstanding." At that point in 2018, Li Auto's "family-as-a-home" concept simply needed a stable, reliable, low-barrier, and quick-to-market "new energy" solution. It just so happened that range-extender was the available option.
On one hand, Li Auto's vehicle philosophy is one of absolute "user-centricity." On the other hand, its ambiguity and lack of conviction regarding a specific technological path also contributed, to some extent, to the "pure-electric misjudgment" with the MEGA in early 2024. Li Xiang hasn't completely mastered user psychology and the market.
But over the years, Li has accumulated his fair share of misjudgments and mistakes. So, while many things went wrong, what matters is getting more things right. After realizing the MEGA was not working, he immediately countered with the Li L6 to stabilize the situation. Times are a bit tough, but they are still much better off than the other two.
The year 2024 marks another decade for Li Xiang. This 43-year-old middle-aged entrepreneur remains as spirited and sharp-eyed as he was at 23. But it is also clear that his moves have evolved to become far more cunning. He has developed a profound awareness of crisis, and when it comes to user value, market dynamics, and industry strategy, Li Xiang has long since formed his own deep understanding. His early fame, extensive experience, and late-stage major success ensure that the entrepreneurs competing against him, most of whom are older, never dare to see him as a young man. And who would dare underestimate someone you can't fully comprehend?