Token Hu Yilin: Founder of Mavericks and Vice President of R&D.
Token, who once wrote "Thirteen years of life and thirteen years of design", now says that only 20% of his role is that of a designer.
Token often says "life is a crazy ride, all in or nothing". He believes that all the experiences that seemed particularly unreliable yesterday will eventually merge together to become what we are now. Own.
Q: Why is it called Token?
As a boy, I liked playing games when I was a child. The first word I recognized was the token printed on the game token, so I used it as my name. What’s funny is that someone asked me on WeChat last year, “Is Mavericks all in blockchain?”
Q: Briefly talk about your life experience?
When I was a child, my father and I stayed in the army for more than ten years, and we had finished junior high school. What was better was that I went to many places with my father, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Fujian. Then I felt that staying at home was boring, so I wanted to go out and have some adventures. I like to play with computers, so I went to Shanghai to work as a network administrator, and then started to learn design by myself, doing web design, graphic design, and animation...
I feel very lucky. Every time I enter an industry before it rises and explodes, purely It's because I like it, including making games, doing user experience, going to Microsoft, and going to Frog. Later, I started my own business and finally became a Maverick. Throughout the process, I was constantly learning what I wanted to do most.
Q: Why do you want to be a calf?
It was very simple back then. I was too tired riding a bicycle. I carried a notebook and a camera on my back in the summer. I was too sweaty to hold meetings at the company. Riding a motorcycle was too close and I had to wear a lot of clothes every time. equipment. Electric cars solved a key problem for me in personal travel, but they were too ugly back then.
When he started his business, he didn’t think about becoming a big company and changing the world. During the start-up period, he must have felt that he had this need. At the same time, many people also felt the same. He would first solve user problems, and then slowly develop the product. and make the brand bigger.
Q: Did you feel that you would succeed at that time?
Yesterday, a friend asked: "Do you think it will definitely succeed?" I said: "50." I have always believed that if you think something can be done, then it will definitely not be possible. You must not do it. Why are you the one who can make it happen? This is the first principle.
Second, if everyone thinks it is unreliable, then definitely don’t do it. Others may have already gone through many pitfalls. A truly good state is one that is controversial and uncertain, but is proven to be doable. You cannot lag behind the market, nor can you be ahead of the market. If you make something that is too advanced, users will not agree.
Q: Which personality trait of yours do you think has a huge impact on "being a Maverick"?
It is said that character determines destiny. I prefer to set a flag for myself. When I started working as a Maverick, I canceled my car driver's license. Unsuccessful, don’t drive!
Every time I set a goal for myself, I set one that is extremely unreliable, but I just have to get it done, because if I have low expectations for myself, I won’t be able to squeeze out my potential and really use my time. , when the state is forced to that point, you will burst out with many solutions that you never thought of before.
Q: As a designer, how did you first change your role to become a "founder"?
Because I have opened a design company before and also made a fashion brand of shoes and bags, I have already gone through a round of entrepreneurial process.
The brand team at that time was very small, about ten people, and you had to do everything on your behalf. Everyone in the team was a super generalist. It didn’t mean how well they could do something, they were all forced to do it, including financing and meeting with investors. The whole pattern and process.
Q: In the early days of starting a business, do you have to do all aspects of work including design, marketing, R&D, and business?
Yes, because when you start a business, you cannot expect to have a particularly large team at the beginning. In the early stage, you have to rely on past experience to imagine the situation you will face in the future. Many things like crowdfunding, offline It’s the first time for the store to do it.
Although I am relatively confident in the product, the actual effect delivered may not be the best, because there is no copy, and there is no one to refer to in the entire electric vehicle industry, so you have to do whatever you want. You have your own standards, and you need to do many things yourself.
Q: What are the most impressive emergencies in recent years?
I feel that when the company is in this state, small mistakes will continue to be made, just waiting for someone to make big mistakes. If there is a big threshold that I feel I can’t pass, this problem must be huge, because I am a particularly optimistic pessimist. I think of all the bad things first and then try to avoid them from happening.
Q: What is it like to be an internet celebrity? At this moment, do you feel a little swollen?
I don’t have any feelings. I was an Internet celebrity before I became Mavericks. I have done various commercials before, but in the end it was the product that was featured. In 2015 and 2016, at least 30% of my time was allocated to marketing activities, going everywhere to promote the company. Because the products were not diverse enough at the beginning, it was the most convenient and cheapest to bring the company’s founding team out to tell stories during the growth period. Yes, but now I prefer to let the product speak for itself.
Q: Is there anything you would like to say to our friends and businessmen who frequently “pay tribute” to us?
I used to be very "cynical", but later I found that I couldn't solve this problem. Thinking about it from another angle, before there was no Mavericks design language, those cars were uglier than they are now. It can be said that it can improve the basic aesthetics of the entire industry, which can be said to be a feasible reason for self-comfort.