BYD's $152B founder story

Hey, it's Guy & Farzan,

Had my nephew and his mate over from Scotland this past week. Sydney is a very easy city to have guests when the sun’s out. It was lush.

Did a few happy hour drinks and took them to a rugby league game. Two Scottish lads watching Australian rugby league for the first time. Pure confusion mixed with pure joy.

Nothing like seeing your city through fresh eyes. Enjoy today's stories.

Reading time: 9.25 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 2 founder notes

 Founder story 1 

BYD and Wang Chuanfu: From Orphaned Carpenter's Son to $152B EV Empire

From rural hardship to global vision: How China's Confucianist values and one man's relentless vision built a company that challenges Tesla and transformed global electric mobility over 30 years.

The Journey
- Born in 1966 in poverty-stricken Anhui Province during China's Cultural Revolution
- Lost father at 13, mother at 16, raised by older brother and sister-in-law
- Studied Metallurgical Physical Chemistry at Central South University
- Started career at Beijing's top metals research institute in 1987
- Founded BYD in 1994 with cousin's loan of 2.5 million yuan

The Evolution of Vision
- 1994: Created budget battery manufacturer to compete with Japanese giants
- 1997: Became China's top battery producer with 150 million units
- 2003: Pivoted to automotive by acquiring failing Qinchuan Automobile
- 2009: Launched first pure electric vehicle, the E6
- 2020: Transformed into mask production during COVID-19, became world's largest producer
- 2023: Overtook Tesla in global EV sales volume

Overcoming Obstacles
- Started with zero automotive experience and no driver's license
- Stock crashed 2.7B Hong Kong dollars when entering car market
- Early "Flyer" model flopped, logo criticised for copying BMW
- Faced quality issues and dealer defections in 2009
- Navigated Western political resistance and security concerns
- Overcame "copycat" reputation to become innovation leader

Today's Impact
- $152 billion company valuation
- $107 billion in annual revenue (2024)
- 3+ million electric vehicles produced annually
- 72% market share in Brazil's EV market
- Global expansion across Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America
- Partnerships with Toyota, supplies batteries to Tesla

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Manual Labor Model: Used hands-on manufacturing instead of expensive automation
- Talent Acquisition: Hired world-class automotive designers for original vehicles Crisis
- Leadership: Refused layoffs during COVID, pivoted to essential manufacturing Global
- Expansion: Targeted emerging markets where "Build Your Dreams" resonated
- Technology Innovation: Developed revolutionary Blade Battery technology Political
- Relationships: Built factories in Brazil, Hungary, creating local jobs

Key Milestones
- Became world's largest battery manufacturer by 2003
- Warren Buffett invested $230 million through Berkshire Hathaway in 2008
- Survived automotive pivot and quality crisis in 2009-2010
- Achieved record growth from 427,000 to 3+ million vehicles (2020-2023)
- Established manufacturing presence across four continents
- Named CEO Stella Li as first Chinese woman to lead major automotive division

The Philosophy

"After work, we are all equal."

"What was said will be done." - When going public, honoured all verbal equity promises to early employees without contracts

Wang's leadership embodied Confucian values: respect for family, loyalty, humility, and duty. He ate with workers, lived alongside them, and ensured no one was abandoned during crises.

Real leadership isn't loud—it's consistent. Vision matters, but sacrifice matters more. Loyalty to your people builds loyalty to your brand. The future isn't inherited, it's built through discipline, education, and constant improvement.

Founder story 2

From never having baked to building a $250K bagel business.

How Jake transformed his passion project into Detroit's hidden gem in just three Years.

Jake went from complete career burnout to building Brazen Bagels - a hidden bagel shop inside a Dearborn auto dealership. Starting with zero baking experience and just $300 in his bank account, he taught himself through trial and error, motivated by making breakfast sandwiches for his wife Megan.

The numbers: 
- $130K first year
- $200K second year
- $250K projected for 2025.
- Rolls 30 dozen bagels daily starting at 4 AM, sells out almost every day.

Key insight: "You never really know what you can do until you do it for yourself. I was not a baker when I decided to make bagels, but for months I didn't stop baking." Built the business on a $3,000 credit advance, sold his car to keep it running, and turned an unlikely location into Detroit's most unique bagel destination.

His philosophy: Focus on what you can control, creating something meaningful for the people you care about most.

Founder story 3

From Ministry to Marketing: How an ex-Pastor and a Product Manager built a $1.3M Product Marketing Consultancy through LinkedIn content,

The Journey

Anthony's Path:
- Started as English major wanting to be a high school teacher
- Switched to technical director role at church, fast-tracked degree completion
- Worked 11 years in professional ministry, became pastor at megachurch in Chicago
- Led teams of 75+ volunteers, launched dotChurch online service with 100 attendees
- Transitioned to sales role at software development agency in 2020
- Met cofounder Robert Kaminski at the same agency

Robert's Background (co-founder):
- Product manager and startup veteran
- Partnered with Anthony to create productized service offering
- Co-founded FletchPMM as independent consultancy

The Evolution of Vision
- 2020: "How can we create a more scalable, productized service?"
- 2021: "Let's help startups with positioning and homepage messaging"
- 2022: "We need our own brand separate from the parent agency"
- 2023: "Focus entirely on venture-backed companies' positioning challenges"
- 2024: "Become the go-to experts for startup homepage optimisation"

Overcoming Obstacles
- Cold outbound strategy generated calls but no customers due to unclear offer
- Built extensive video series with no distribution channel
- Struggled with brand confusion under parent company website
- Had to negotiate split from parent agency to create independent brand
- Learned to balance volume vs. premium pricing as expertise grew
- Managed transition from ministry salary to entrepreneurial income

Today's Impact
- $1.3M annual revenue
- 300+ venture-backed companies served
- 13-17 clients per month at $7,500-$10,000 per project
- 15,000 monthly website visitors
- Combined LinkedIn following: 110,885 followers
- 11-12 million people reached annually through content

Growth Strategies That Worked

LinkedIn Content Flywheel:
- Post 3-4 times weekly with "Super-Specific How" and "Spiky Opinions" content
- Open-source approach: give away insights for free, sell implementation
- Created $50 Notion database of LinkedIn content (generated $50K revenue)
- Built distinct visual style and frameworks shared publicly

Thought Leadership Strategy:
- Developed contrarian viewpoints on startup positioning
- Shared step-by-step processes and frameworks
- Made work publicly visible and shareable for credibility
- Leveraged podcasts, newsletters, webinars, and live events

Key Milestones
- Started with $3,000 pricing, gradually increased to $10,000
- Negotiated successful split from parent agency
- Built robust content creation and distribution system
- Achieved 95% inbound lead generation through LinkedIn
- Created systematic process refined through hundreds of client projects
- Maintained side music project with 110K monthly Spotify listeners

The Philosophy

"I love seeing things grow. Whether it was the church services I was a part of or music projects, I love leveraging content to help build audiences."

"Everyone's a clown... until they're not." - Michael Steinheiser

On Content Strategy: 
"The goal is to provide content that is so valuable that people would pay for it. We have adopted an open source approach to our expertise — give away the insights/approach for free, but sell the implementation."

On Business Focus: 
"Because we were so highly focused on a hyper-narrow offer and target segment, we became extremely referable... and our process was able to become so much more powerful and efficient from the hundreds of reps with companies in similar situations."

 Founder note from David Hieatt

Do things that don't scale.

Instead of making it easier to do business with you, make it harder.

My writing course comes with a 178 page workbook.
A PDF is easier.
But your doormat knows which one lands harder.

The course has to be done with a team of 9.
Harder.
Because you are accountable.
The course has a world class completion score.

Therefore, it gets results.

Nothing builds community like a thank you letter.
A meetup.
A club.
An event.

Easy don't build community.

 A founder note we loved

See you next week.

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See ya.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo