On July 4, Beijing time, Wang Ye, the founder and CEO of Ninebot (689009.SH), a Chinese listed company known as the "first VIE+CDR stock" (those familiar with the capital market know what this means), was reported to have publicly accused a well-known company in the "Shunwei CEO Group" of malicious talent poaching, dubbed the "finger-cutting plan".

Here are the main contents of Wang Ye's speech in the "Shunwei CEO Group":

1. Opening reminder: CEOs and founders of Shunwei companies, please remind everyone to protect your key talents; 2. Accused company: a well-known company; 3. Finger-cutting plan: For several years, it has been targeting Ecovacs, Roborock, and Ninebot, poaching talents with several times higher salary. After poaching, they would use the first 3 months to steal technical and commercial secrets and then fire the poached talents; 4. Welcome to share: Welcome everyone to share the screenshot of my speech on WeChat Moments or send it to your executive team; 5. Special emphasis: No need to blur out names!

The "Shunwei CEO Group", as the name suggests, is a WeChat group for CEOs of some Xiaomi ecosystem companies. "Shunwei" refers to Shunwei Capital, which is linked to Xiaomi through Lei Jun.

Ninebot is best known for its Ninebot balancing scooters and electric vehicles. It has received investments from Shunwei and Xiaomi, which is why Wang Ye is in this "Shunwei CEO Group". Previously, Ninebot produced Xiaomi balancing scooters for Xiaomi.

In his speech, Wang Ye mentioned Ecovacs (603486.SH) and Roborock (referring to Roborock Technology, 688169.SH), both of which mainly focus on household robot vacuum cleaners.

In fact, both Ninebot and Roborock Technology have successively involved themselves in the mobility sector. Ninebot specializes in intelligent short-distance travel and robotic products, launching products such as balancing scooters, electric skateboards, electric vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, and delivery robots.

Roborock Technology's founder Jing Chang directly established Shanghai Luoke Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. in 2021, personally serving as the chairman to enter the car manufacturing industry and postpone the launch of Jishi Automobile. As you can see, both names contain the word "stone".

If Wang Ye, the founder of Ninebot, had also entered the car manufacturing industry like Jing Chang of Roborock Technology and witnessed the more intense "business wars", "public opinion wars", and "talent poaching wars" in this industry, perhaps he would not have made such a speech in the "Shunwei CEO Group".

By the way, when XPeng Motors launched its new car MONA M03 yesterday, the live broadcast room did not dare to open comments. Guess what the reason is, Wang Ye? Right, XPeng Motors once had two employees who were sued by their former employers Apple and Tesla for stealing secrets related to autonomous driving.

I wonder if Lei Jun is in the group. If he is and sees Wang Ye's speech, what would he think about Hu Zhengnan, the former president of Geely Research Institute, joining Shunwei Capital as an investment partner in September 2021? By the way, is Hu Zhengnan still serving as an investment partner at Shunwei Capital? What specific projects has he invested in?

Returning to the content of Wang Ye's accusation, it's actually quite simple. In the adult world, technical talents are also adults, and they should protect themselves.

As for being poached with several times higher salary and then fired within 3 months, which is even before the probation period, compensation is not required according to regulations. This issue naturally needs to be resolved and defended by the former employee, and does not require the former employer to protect.

If a company is found to have stolen technical and commercial secrets, please use legal weapons to protect the company's interests, rather than making speeches in groups. I also hope that Ninebot, as a listed company, can use legal weapons to safeguard the company's interests and shareholders' interests in the future.

For key talents who can be attracted by several times higher salary, I would like to share a fact from the automotive industry:

In September 2015, Ding Lei, the former vice president of SAIC Motor Corporation and general manager of SAIC-GM, joined LeEco Super Car as its co-founder, global vice chairman, and CEO of China and the Asia-Pacific region. In March 2016, Zhang Hailiang, another former vice president of SAIC Motor Corporation, joined LeEco and served as the president of LeEco Super Car (China) Co., Ltd. Subsequently, in March 2017, he succeeded Ding Lei as the global CEO of LeEco Super Car.

Jia Yueting did offer Ding Lei and Zhang Hailiang several times higher salary. However, everyone knows the rest of the story. Ding Lei and Zhang Hailiang did not hold onto their high salaries for long and later started their own car manufacturing businesses. Ding Lei founded HiPhi Motors, while Zhang Hailiang founded ENOVATE.

Business is like a battlefield, and every participant should abide by the rules.