"No three days of sunshine, no three feet of flat land, no three cents of silver." Guizhou, in many people's impression, seems to be a backward and barren land forever. The layered mountains have become a natural barrier to economic and cultural exchange, hindering Guizhou's economic and social development, leaving its per capita GDP perpetually at the bottom. However, from this vast expanse of mountains, two individuals have broken through the natural barriers and made their mark on the world. They are Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi: one at the helm of China's largest private enterprise (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.), and the other the creator of a Guizhou brand that sells well both at home and abroad—Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. On the surface, Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi's industries have no overlap, but they share a common 'Guizhou business spirit'—both have built formidable Chinese national enterprises through solid work. Moreover, their paths to success have many similarities. Below, we will discuss their backgrounds, entrepreneurial journeys, product management, market principles, capital operations, and interpersonal conduct. ● ● ● Ren Zhengfei vs. Tao Huabi: The King and Queen of Guizhou 1. Background: Both Experienced Poverty On October 25, 1944, Ren Zhengfei was born into a teacher's family in Zhenning County, Guizhou Province, as the eldest of seven children. The family was extremely poor; Ren often felt dizzy from hunger, and his greatest wish was to eat a white steamed bun. To make matters worse, his father was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and Ren once contemplated suicide. The hardships of life and mental torment shaped Ren's resilient and determined character. He once said, "I truly understand the meaning of 'survive'!" In January 1947, Tao Huabi (born Tao Chunmei) was born in a remote mountain village in Meitan County, Guizhou Province. Due to poverty, Tao never attended school a single day and shouldered family responsibilities early. She swung an eight-pound hammer, carried yellow mud, earning only 3 jiao for carrying 100 jin. Her frequent saying was: "Hard work and suffering won't kill you; as long as you're willing to work hard, nothing is impossible." For Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi, poverty was a teacher that taught them survival. Poverty brings pressure, but it also makes one's backbone harder than most, knowing poverty and then striving, unyielding. 2. Entrepreneurial Journey: Both Started Late and Overcame Adversity In 1987, Ren Zhengfei, new to business, was swindled out of over 2 million yuan by unscrupulous merchants, then dismissed by Shenzhen Nanyou Group, and fell into a situation where no company would hire him. At that time, his first wife had become a senior cadre at Nanyou Group, and their differences grew, eventually leading to divorce. His path forward was filled with confusion and darkness. But Ren did not sink into despair; instead, he chose a path of practical entrepreneurship. At age 44, he raised 21,000 yuan to establish 'Shenzhen Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.' In its early days, Huawei earned its first pot of gold by acting as an agent for a Hong Kong company's program-controlled switches, then decided to develop its own technology, and has been advancing rapidly ever since. Over 20 years later, Ren Zhengfei has appeared on the Forbes China Rich List, and Huawei has grown from a small workshop to a global giant. In 1989, Tao Huabi's husband passed away, leaving the family without its main source of income. At 42, she used half bricks and tarpaulin asbestos tiles to build a 'Cheap Restaurant' overnight, with just two small tables. It was during this period that she invented her fermented soybean chili sauce, giving it as a condiment to customers to attract business. As the sauce sold better, in July 1996, Tao borrowed two rooms from the Yunguan Village Committee in Nanming District to set up a food processing factory, specializing in chili condiments, named 'Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Sauce.' It has been popular at home and abroad for years, selling 1.3 million bottles daily, with sales reaching 4 billion yuan. She turned a bottle of chili sauce into a world-renowned brand. Tao Huabi and Ren Zhengfei both started their businesses in their 40s, with heavy family burdens, yet they dared to invest most of their savings into uncertain new ventures. Their boldness and courage are admirable. The difficulties of entrepreneurship did not defeat them either. At the time, Ren Zhengfei lived with his parents and siblings in a small room of about a dozen square meters in Shenzhen, surviving by picking vegetable leaves or buying dead fish. During Huawei's difficult periods, Ren suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and anxiety, and underwent two cancer surgeries. He often had nightmares and would wake up crying. In the early days of her business, Tao Huabi could only sleep two hours a day. The chili fumes made her eyes water, but she said, "If you treat the chili like an apple when cutting, it won't sting your eyes." After producing the product, Tao personally carried it to various food stores and canteens for trial sales. 'Hard work rejuvenates a nation; empty talk harms the country.' They both chose the slowest, heaviest, and most laborious mode of business, and it is this spirit of struggle that has changed the image of Chinese enterprises in the world, making Chinese products lead globally. They are the pride and role models of the Chinese people. 3. Product Management: Both Win with Technical Capability Ren Zhengfei, a former soldier, has a stronger patriotic spirit than most. While selling equipment, he saw that almost all communication equipment used domestically was imported, leaving no place for national enterprises. He realized that 'technology is the foundation of an enterprise' and resolutely decided to develop his own research and development, to promote 'Made in China.' Huawei's R&D expenditure over the past decade has reached 190 billion yuan, ranking in the top 10 globally among non-military enterprises. Huawei now holds 30,000 patents, 40% of which are from international standards organizations or European and American patents. It has left other domestic manufacturers far behind, surpassing even Apple in market share and sales. More impressively, Apple now pays Huawei hundreds of millions of dollars in patent fees annually. Lao Gan Ma's core competitiveness also lies in its superior technology: there are countless chili sauce makers in China, but Lao Gan Ma stands alone, selling globally. Once, national researchers tried to replicate the sauce, adding nutritional ingredients, but the taste never matched. When asked the secret, Tao Huabi said, "I have no education, so I focus on technology. With technology, you can do well anywhere. When I sold rice tofu, mine could be stir-fried; when I made chili condiments, they always had a unique taste." The national standard for oil-based chili sauce is based on Lao Gan Ma's standard. Today, in product development, Tao Huabi remains the company's 'technical director.' To maintain her keen sense of taste and smell, she has insisted for years on not drinking tea or beverages. Now, Lao Gan Ma continues to innovate, drawing on Guizhou's local 'spicy condiment' resources, with new products like fermented bean curd, spicy vegetables, and spicy sauce emerging. In this increasingly noisy era, the craftsmanship spirit shown by Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi is commendable. Their achievements today prove that only by returning to the essence of business can enterprises have a long-term future! As both have said, 'Never fool Chinese consumers.' 4. Capital Operations: Both Insist on Not Listing, Not Raising Money, and Earning Foreign Money for Chinese People As successful representatives, Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi share the same philosophy: not to list, and to firmly follow their own path. Regarding the reason for not listing, Ren Zhengfei said that Huawei needs investment in technology, strategy, and new markets, which will not create value in the short term, and capital and shareholders seeking profit naturally cannot accept that. More importantly, if capital markets bring easier and more money than doing business, Huawei employees would become rich, fear hardship, and be close to collapse. Moreover, Huawei is an enterprise that never ventures into real estate. In Ren's view, financial people can earn huge wealth through number games, while those who roll up their sleeves and work hard earn only meager wages—this is the most unreasonable thing in the world. So he resolutely prevents Huawei from listing, instead distributing 98.6% of equity to employees, keeping only 1.4% for himself. This distribution ensures that every penny Huawei earns belongs to everyone. Tao Huabi put it more bluntly: "I absolutely will not list; once listed, I might lose everything. Listing is cheating people out of their money. If you have money, take it; if you raise money, call them to invest, and then when they take the money away, I'll be left to pay the debts. I won't do that." Lao Gan Ma has repeatedly rejected listing proposals from local governments, and institutions interested in investing have also been turned away. A Guizhou government official lamented that negotiating with Lao Gan Ma about financing and diversification is harder than negotiating with foreign investors. Lao Gan Ma's confidence largely stems from the company's billions in cash flow. From the early days of buying glass bottles in small amounts for tens of yuan, to today's daily sales of over 10 million yuan, Lao Gan Ma insists on cash transactions, even when purchasing chili peppers from farmers. Tao Huabi once said, "I never owe anyone a penny, and no one can owe me a penny." Therefore, Lao Gan Ma's accounts are exceptionally simple. Not being swayed by the so-called internet 'trends,' adhering to principles without compromise, and not fooling consumers and investors with real money—this traditional concept of integrity contrasts sharply with the current culture of listing, prompting deep thought. 5. Market Principles: Both Focus on Their Core Business Article 1 of the 'Huawei Basic Law' states: "To make Huawei a world-class equipment supplier, we will never enter the information service industry. Through market pressure without dependence, the internal mechanism will remain activated." Huawei sticks to the strategic industry of communication equipment supply, not only to maintain high operational pressure but also to lay the foundation for strategic alliances. In the monopolistic communications operation industry, one can gain a small share in one region, but operators in other regions will close the entry channel. Ren Zhengfei knows human weaknesses well and protects Huawei's long-term strategic interests. "Do what you are capable of." This is a principle Tao Huabi has mentioned many times in public interviews. Lao Gan Ma has never ventured into other industries, maintaining a cautious and clear-headed attitude. In Tao's view: "I do my own business, not cross industries, and I do it well, big, specialized, and refined. No matter how fast money comes, I can't be greedy." Many companies collapse not because of too few opportunities, but because of too many opportunities and choices. Too many traps disguised as opportunities lead many companies astray. Only those particularly calm strategists can avoid being led by impulse and fanaticism. Chinese enterprises have limited strategic resources, and strategic mistakes will lose the most precious strategic resources. Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi clearly understand this. 6. Interpersonal Conduct: Both Remain Low-Key and Humble Ren Zhengfei is resolute and stubborn at work, but very low-key in life. He does not accept media interviews, nor does he attend official or social events. When others say he is a leading figure in the industry, he often says, "Actually, we are an insignificant company. Compared to China's trillion-dollar annual exports, Huawei's sales to the US are only $1 billion a year." Despite his status and position, Ren still treats himself as an ordinary person. At 72, he still queues for taxis, diligently serving the enterprise. The bigger the business, the calmer his mindset. To this day, Ren's office still has a simple bed, a tradition from the early days of entrepreneurship. Similarly, interviewing Tao Huabi is quite difficult. Most news about Lao Gan Ma today comes from reports years ago. It's not that reporters haven't tried to corner her, but whenever a reporter approaches, she either stays silent or simply 'runs away.' Even as chairman, the company's office director Wang Haifeng said that the old lady has no personal hobbies, lives a life so simple it's hard to believe, and devotes all her thoughts to the company's development, even sleeping at the factory at night. Tao Huabi said, "If I don't hear the clinking of bottles and jars, I can't sleep well." To this day, Tao still keeps the stone mill and iron basin from her days selling rice tofu. In Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi, we see a sense of gratitude and equanimity that many Chinese entrepreneurs lack. For them, the spirit of continuous hard work must never be abandoned. ● ● ● The Rise of Guizhou Businessmen Era Has Arrived As the leaders of Guizhou businessmen, with Ren Zhengfei and Tao Huabi's entrepreneurial stories becoming widely known, the outside world has begun to pay attention to the low-key and pragmatic Guizhou businessmen. The history of Guizhou businessmen can be traced back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Shen Wansan, exiled to the mountainous Guizhou, engaged in caravan trade, breaking through the barriers of mountains to connect Guizhou with outside markets. He laid the foundation for Anshun's commerce and had a significant impact on the development of trade in central Guizhou. Later generations call him the 'ancestor of Guizhou businessmen.' Comparing Shen Wansan, Ren Zhengfei, and Tao Huabi, one can find that self-reliance, equal emphasis on righteousness and profit, global trade, and connecting the world are the common business ideals of these three outstanding Guizhou businessmen, and also the value orientation of Guizhou businessmen. 'Rich as a country' Shen Wansan Because of this mountain-like, solid and resolute gene, the Guizhou business spirit has withstood the test of objective conditions and time, giving birth to a group of outstanding entrepreneurs from Guizhou or developing in Guizhou, such as Ren Zhengfei, Tao Huabi, Liu Xiaosong, Chen Qingzhong, Zhang Zhiting, Jiang Wei, Xiao Chunhong, Luo Yuping, who have risen locally, nationally, and globally. In addition to inheritance, the Guizhou business spirit is also innovating in development, producing outstanding figures in the internet industry. Zhou Yuan, the founder of Zhihu, is a native of Guizhou. Today's Guizhou has long broken the prejudice against it, with economic growth ranking among the top in the country, possessing the comprehensive strength to catch up, and is becoming one of China's most attractive investment hotspots. In June 2015, Huawei signed a strategic agreement with Guiyang City for a cloud data center, cooperating in data center construction, big data, and smart city operations. In September of the same year, Huawei invested 5 billion yuan in Honghai's Guizhou panel factory, a new 6th-generation LTPS panel plant. As a national key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization, Lao Gan Ma is also expanding new bases, establishing 280,000 mu of pollution-free chili bases in 7 counties across Guizhou, forming an industrial chain from the field to the global market, solving employment for 8 million Guizhou farmers. In fact, not only Huawei and Lao Gan Ma, but also big names like Ma Yun, Ma Huateng, and Liu Qiangdong have long laid out plans in Guizhou. Alibaba is developing rural e-commerce in Guizhou; JD.com's 'Asia One' logistics center has officially started operations in Guiyang; Tencent's remote medical care has also settled in Guizhou, initiating the 'Guizhou model' of internet + medical care. Currently, the development of Guizhou businessmen is very rapid. Among more than 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, more than 20 provinces have established Guizhou chambers of commerce. In addition, Hong Kong and Macau have also established Guizhou chambers of commerce. At least 7 countries and regions overseas have established Guizhou chambers of commerce. We have reason to believe that, given time, Guizhou businessmen will become an important force on the Chinese and even global economic stage! Source: Kuaidao Sanxia (ID: iyqkpd) -END- The best learning platform for FMCG distributors in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operations | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new sales | 015 Internet, brands | 016 Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]