I. Grassroots Hero: The Youngest Entrepreneur at the Forum

While Deekseek has garnered global attention, the spotlight is currently shining brightest on Wang Xingxing of Unitree Robotics. Whether honored as a guest by NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang and Huawei's Ren Zhengfei or recently attending the highest-level private enterprise forum as the youngest participant, Wang Xingxing has made a lasting impression.

Looking back, he has served as a courier at the Winter Olympics, a security guard at the Asian Games, and even shined on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage multiple times. This post-90s entrepreneur is now emerging with a robot empire built from scratch.

However, misconceptions abound. Assuming Wang Xingxing is a renowned entrepreneur with a prestigious university background would be incorrect. In fact, this rising star of Unitree is more akin to a grassroots hero.

He earned his undergraduate degree from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and his graduate degree from Shanghai University, relatively modest credentials compared to other prominent entrepreneurs.

Initially, securing a mere 2 million yuan in angel investment was challenging with only a handful of team members. Relying on funding from dozens of shareholders, some investing just a few thousand yuan, Wang Xingxing's entrepreneurial journey began humbly.

Yet, this grassroots team achieved remarkable success.

According to GGII data, in 2023, Unitree Robotics surpassed Boston Dynamics to capture a 40.65% market share and a 69.75% sales share in the global quadruped robot market, ranking first in both categories.

So, what does this grassroots entrepreneur, Wang Xingxing, rely on for his ascent?

II. Childhood Dreams: Battling for the Top in Robotics

Among global entrepreneurs, it's difficult to find a startup story similar to Wang Xingxing's.

If one had to choose, perhaps there is a parallel between Musk, who builds rockets, and Wang Xingxing, who builds robots.

Since childhood, both have demonstrated extraordinary imagination and creativity. Musk has loved science fiction since he was young, reading titles like "The Harsh Moon" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which many of us have never even heard of.

When his cousin exclaimed that the moon was a million miles away, the ten-year-old Musk corrected him, stating it was 239,000 miles, depending on the lunar orbit.

Musk completed his father's two sets of encyclopedias early on, and the idea of using an ion thruster to power a rocket sparked his childhood fascination with human missions to Mars.

Of course, space wasn't Musk's only passion. At age 11, he participated in a basic language programming competition at a university in Johannesburg, winning a computer.

Surprisingly, Musk's performance was unanimously praised by the three reviewing professors, who believed he "must own a new computer." Musk's wish was granted, receiving an IBM PC/XT. Two years later, he created an electronic game called "Fuse" on this computer, earning a $500 manuscript fee.

Wang Xingxing's talent lies in his hands-on ability, specifically his mechanical design prowess.

As a kindergarten student in Yuyao, Zhejiang, Wang Xingxing drew a lifelike butterfly, attracting a crowd. His hands-on skills amazed everyone, despite never having learned to draw before.

At age 10, he first learned about various flying machines from Boston Dynamics on CCTV, broadening his horizons and deepening his interest in aircraft, robots, and related fields.

In junior high school, he began studying micro engines at home. By high school, he had mastered the art of making rechargeable batteries. In his freshman year of college, the 19-year-old Wang Xingxing built his first robot.

By 2015, Wang Xingxing's XDog robot was on par with works by MIT masters and doctoral students.

Wang Xingxing once summarized that his experience in building robots far surpasses others, stating, "After all, I have over 20 years of mechanical design experience."

Wang Xingxing and Musk shone brightly in their respective fields at a young age, illustrating the truth that familiarity breeds skill. Of course, the foundation of hands-on work is a capable mind.

III. Cost Control: Revolutionizing High-Tech Pricing

In terms of commercialization philosophy, Wang Xingxing and Musk share striking similarities.

In a sense, whether Musk was building rockets or Wang Xingxing was creating robots in 2016, they were both pioneering uncharted territories. These ventures were ahead of their time and niche, outlining a brutal entrepreneurial path: low costs and small-step trial and error were essential for survival.

Wang Xingxing became a veritable "lone warrior" in robotics, but fortunately, he was focused and deeply understood the art of saving money.

He once recalled using various scraps to make crafts due to limited pocket money as a child, stating, "So I'm very good at reducing costs."

This cost-saving awareness and talent were pivotal in his entrepreneurship. Wang Xingxing emphasized that cost has always been the KPI at Unitree Robotics, with the core goal of making money.

For instance, to achieve reasonable commercial profits, Wang Xingxing had to simplify the design (compromising aesthetics) when developing the first humanoid robot, H1.

He previously shared Unitree Robotics' cost reduction method with "LatePost," stating, "We must have a profound understanding of the entire production chain, process, and design." He added, "The most fundamental aspect is still design." For example, using cheaper materials and optimizing the structure can reduce production and mold costs.

In summary, innovative design and full-chain independent research and development are crucial for infinite cost reduction.

Guided by this philosophy, Unitree places great emphasis on vertical integration, handling nearly everything in-house.

Taking the 2015 XDog as an example, while the motor was purchased, the motor driver was designed by Wang Xingxing himself.

After establishing Unitree Robotics, Wang Xingxing independently developed the motor for the first robot and the lithium battery pack for the 2017 robot. Since then, Unitree has independently researched and developed everything possible, including wireless communication and vision modules.

As a result of these industrial integrations, Wang Xingxing minimized robot costs.

Coincidentally, Musk's approach to building rockets is similar.

It can be argued that SpaceX's entire development history is a "cheap manufacturing" speed race personally led by Musk.

Why pursue low costs? The reason is pragmatic. This highly capital-intensive, long-term project can only be sustained through the cheapest manufacturing methods.

There's no easy way around it, and Musk's strategy involves replacing all expensive components.

For example, a rocket hatch bolt costs $1,500 on the market, but Musk asked engineers to modify and replace it with a bathroom latch, costing just $30.

Initially, the air cooling system for Falcon 9's payload bay cost up to $3 million, so Musk asked engineers to buy a $600 commercial air conditioning unit, modify the pump, and use it on the rocket.

Moreover, to fully implement low-cost manufacturing, Musk invented the "idiocy index": the ratio of total part costs to raw material costs. The higher the index, the more uneconomical it is, deemed "idiotic" by Musk.

Using this metric, Musk and his engineers overhauled the Raptor engine, targeting the 20 parts with the highest idiocy index, reducing costs from $2 million to $200,000!

In a sense, the SpaceX built by Musk seems like child's play rather than a high-tech innovation.

But ultimately, SpaceX, with its "grassroots team" creative spirit, revolutionized the entire aerospace cost structure.

Unitree Robotics and SpaceX's cost-saving methods are strikingly similar, rooted in the "First Principles" jointly adhered to by Wang Xingxing and Musk. Here, it's based on the most basic physics principles to trace the source of innovative design and achieve extreme cost manufacturing.

In 2023, Unitree Robotics launched its first general-purpose humanoid robot, the Unitree H1.

In May 2024, Unitree Robotics released the mass production version of the humanoid robot G1. This robot can not only perform multiple high-difficulty dynamic actions but also has a vast joint motion space, enabling it to simulate human hands for precise object manipulation.

For such a high-tech product, Wang Xingxing's starting price is only 99,000 yuan, bringing the price of global bipedal humanoid robots below 100,000 yuan for the first time.

IV. Genius and Solitary Courage: A 20 Billion Yuan Unitree is Just the Beginning

But genius also has a solitary side.

Wang Xingxing once revealed to the media, "When I was young, I sometimes felt a bit clever, but under the education system that only values grades, I didn't receive the attention and evaluation I deserved, or even felt suppressed."

Due to poor English, an unsatisfactory college entrance exam, and failing to gain admission to Zhejiang University for graduate studies, Wang Xingxing often felt that "the world doesn't give me many opportunities."

Perhaps it's because "genius is overshadowed," or perhaps it's because "wise men prefer solitude," Wang Xingxing often "likes to eat alone," preferring solitude and contemplation over gaining energy from social interactions.

Media reports also show that this once "overshadowed" genius prefers hardcore scientific books like "The Feynman Lectures on Physics" over books about people.

Compared to Wang Xingxing's modest demeanor, Musk is more extreme. He has been labeled melancholic, autistic, and lacking empathy by many relatives and friends.

Musk once explained the "lacking empathy" label, stating, "I focus on the matter, not the person. The important thing is finding a perfect feedback loop, absorbing opinions, and making improvements." He then changed the subject, saying, "Physics doesn't care if you're uncomfortable; it only cares if the rocket can fly into space."

The similarity between Wang Xingxing and Musk also lies in their transcendental preference for the letter "X."

In March 1999, Musk named his first financial services company X.com. Since then, X has been Musk's preferred naming choice for people and things, including his son's name (X), SpaceX, and Xai.

During his master's studies, based on his understanding of foreign literature, Wang Xingxing pioneered the development of the XDog, a fully degree-of-freedom high-performance quadruped robot driven by low-cost outer rotor brushless motors.

In Wang Xingxing's view, X symbolizes mystery. Whether it's Wang Xingxing's humanoid robots or Musk's space rocket plans, they are all mysterious technological forces.

Now, this mysterious force is captivating the public and investors' attention.

According to Tianyancha, Unitree Robotics has undergone a total of nine funding rounds. Except for the 2 million yuan angel round in 2017, financing amounts after the B round are typically in the hundreds of millions of yuan.

Recently, news of the transfer of "old shares of Unitree" has spread rapidly, sparking a rush among domestic and foreign investors eager to seize one of the few available opportunities. Based on this simple estimation, Unitree Robotics' valuation may soar from 8 billion yuan in the C round to 20 billion yuan.

But this is just the beginning. The reason Unitree Robotics is stirring up the market lies in its infinitely high potential.