He is the industry leader in consumer UAVs, with 70% of the global market. He is the world's first UAV billionaire with a fortune of $28 billion. Starting from scratch, DJI innovation, which he founded in his dorm room, is quietly leading the global UAV revolution.
Wang Tao
To some extent, "DJI innovation" is undoubtedly a microcosm of the process of exploring the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry from low-end to high-end and from manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing during the 40 years of reform and opening up.
From the initial 20 or so people to the current 12,000 people; from warehouse business to 17 offices in 7 countries, we have sales network in more than 100 countries. In 11 years, it has completed the journey of sales volume from 0 RMB to 18 billion RMB, and become a unicorn that occupies 70% market share of global consumer UAV
Wang Tao used to have two roles in DJI, CEO and CTO.
But between the CEO and CTO, Wang Tao chose to do the CTO favorite
Get dozens of multiple-choice questions right and you're done
In 2010, DJI learned from the agents in New Zealand that some individual enthusiasts put the system on the multi-rotor aircraft, but the market of multi-rotor UAV products found that there was not a perfect product. At this time, Wang Tao helped DJI make an important choice -- to jump out of the comfort zone of aircraft model products, to commercial use of finished aircraft into the development of multi-rotor UAV.
With mature technology built up over the past few years, DJI was able to produce finished products within months of the decision, quickly capturing 70 per cent of the market. The plane took off.
This is an important moment in the development of DJI. The key to making the right choice, of course, is Wang Tao.
Start a business like a hard ball
In hard ball: how politics works, Chris Matthews uses the term to describe the pragmatic, aggressive approach politicians take to power and achievement.
The same applies to Wang Tao. It is not an easy competitor to deal with in competition with its peers
In January 2013, DJI "Jingling" UAV officially entered the mass consumer market.
Before "Jingling", DJI's main products were targeted at the professional aerial photography market, which was difficult to operate and relatively expensive.
Wang Tao quickly realized that it may not be able to have an advantage in the field of professional competition, launched the "Jingling" of the original intention is to prevent competitors launched a price war.
The move expanded the market for consumer UAVs, and soon the entry-level "Jingling" outsold other DJI professional-grade devices and became a star product.
The world is catching up with a Chinese company
He works more than 80 hours a week and has a single bed next to his desk. On the door of his office are two lines of Chinese characters -- "with brain only" and "without emotion".
His success is a rare case in the history of science and technology.
The success of a company that has gone from being a hobbyist to a mainstream audience and still dominates the market in the process is rare in the history of the technology industry.
DJI's next challenge is to develop an industrial-grade UAV product.
Conclusion
DJI may be the first Chinese company to lead the industry. It is this dominance that has led to some media comparisons between DJI and apple -- but Wang Tao does not seem to care much about such praise.
The Wall Street journal called DJI "the first Chinese company to become a pioneer in a major global consumer technology product segment."
