Some talented CEOs have mastered difficult foreign languages. Lei Jun, the CEO of the most valuable startup in the world, Xiaomi, is not one of those CEOs.
The video of Jun’s Xiaomi presentation in India, which he mistakes as China in the beginning, has been making the rounds on the internet for his incredibly bad English. He also repeatedly asks the crowd if they are OK — what is he really trying to ask?
Since the video went viral, Xiaomi’s president, Lin Bin, has defended his business partner’s English skills in the Wall Street Journal:
“Everyone thinks it’s pretty funny … But from this event, what I see is the evidence of a Chinese entrepreneur founding and building a company and getting stronger.
“To be able to stand on the stage and self-confidently say, ‘Are you OK?’ shows the entrepreneur’s confidence.”
In the end, we have to hand it to Jun — at least he’s got balls to address a foreign audience with poor speaking skills. While his English may need some practice, as the founder of the most valuable startup in the world, he’s definitely doing “OK.”
