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00:00So most people would say if you're a managing director at Goldman life can't be much better than that. Why did you choose to leave. My ex boss there said I can't believe you're joining a taxi company so far. What would you say you're most proud of having achieved as the president of D.D. for the company. I think I'm most proud that we are providing 10 billion trips a year in serving all different types of speed. Are you thinking of going public. We do have a specific IPO timetable. Let's put it that way. Would you fix your tie please. People wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed but it just saying this way . All right . I don't consider myself a journalist and nobody else. I consider myself a journalist. I began to take on the life of being an interviewer even though I have a day job running a private equity firm . How do you define leadership . What is it that makes somebody tick . One of my friends invested Uber a number of years ago. It was like three billion dollar market value. I said well he's going to lose all his money. No ride hailing company can be worth three billion dollars. In fact obviously Uber turned out to be worth staggering the larger sums of money. Now as a publicly traded company I had the same reaction when I heard about a company called Didi. It was a small Uber like company in China . And I didn't think it could catch on there but I was wrong again. Didi today is the largest single ride hailing company in the world. The person running that company is a young woman from China named Jean Liu. She rose up because of her intellect her hard work. And now she's the present. It's an incredible success story. She is one of the best known women business leaders in China an extremely intelligent articulate person who is clearly going to make this company even more successful as she continues to lead it . We're here with Jean You who is the president of Didi which is the largest mobile transportation company in China and one of the largest in the world. So when Didi was started in two thousand and twelve it wasn't the first or wasn't the only company that was doing this is that right. Yes. There were 30 players 30 30 doing exactly same thing . Did you have anything that was better than the other 29 or what were your advantage. Is that the other companies Emma Chandra . Yeah we worked really hard. We worked really hard. For example you know there are a lot of very strong competitors Ray. And when you know they're a big competition ahead we you know we sat down together and think about it was our strategy how can we provide better value. So we launched you know for proper business lines in three months let's say year 2015. So there were a lot of moments that we really worked very hard and tried to catch up. So there's another company in the early states called Uber. Yes. Which you're probably familiar with. Yes . So when Uber started it grew very quickly in the United States and in other parts of the world. And it also had a division in China. So in many places Uber said well we will roll over our competition. But in one country they weren't able to do that . And that's China. In China you ultimately came to a deal where in effect you merged but you became the parent company in fact . Uber is an investor in your company now. Is that right. Yes . Are you an investor now in Uber as well. Yes. OK. So small small investor in their company. But your company now has grown to the point where how many riders do you have a day on your main taxi hailing business. Right. We have hundreds of millions of users every month. Yeah. Hundreds of millions of users. You have more users every month than you. Yes. Yes . Is that right. Definitely . And today what are your other businesses. When talked about Uber first of all I have to say we are very thankful for the competition. It make us better and stronger. And when Uber first came to China you know their war chest is bigger was bigger than our market cap. Right. So because of a competition they help us to push ourselves to launch different product lines . So starting from taxi we launched a private cars in different and price and black premier you know and express fly. And then later we have a hitch which is a social carpooling product. And now we bikes and electric bikes. So. Right. We probably offer more than 10 services to our user base. So most Chinese companies that are technology leaders like Ali Baba 10 cent buy do have dominant positions in China. But so far they haven't taken dominant positions outside of China. Now you are taking positions outside of China and building your business outside . Have you been very successful outside of China so far . I wouldn't call. You know we are very successful. I think it's very encouraging. We see very encouraging result. We are in Brazil Mexico Columbia. We are in the Latin markets. And we are just entering into Australia market and Japan market. How do you have to change everything for the different markets a different quality issue up there bring to the table. How do you make your service better for each of these individual countries . I think we provide our service to the local people by combining two things. One is our global technology architecture and then local innovation. Right. So we tailor make products for different market products in Brazilian product in Japan very different. Unlike other companies they may do copy paste. We have one product in this days and you know cookie cutting for ordered markets. So it's a very different approach. So you mentioned some countries that you're in. You didn't mentioned you're in the United States. Are you prohibited from going into United States or. It's a very crowded market. OK so you're not likely to happen anytime soon. We hope. You know I think our philosophy is as long as we can do something differently. If we can bring some user value then we will consider if it's just you know same product only compete on pricing. We don't see the point. Now the United States and China have a trade dispute that has been going on for a while. Does that affect your business in one way or another. To be honest that doesn't really impact our business because we are you know we're supported by our local passengers and drivers. However you know I would think you know we have been benefited from trading and sharing over years. Right. And you know it is unfortunate to see this. And we of course we hope it can get resolved. So if I'm an American tourist and I want to use your service I'm in China. Is it easy to do . Do I have to speak Chinese to be doing a deal at all. We have a grade English version. Really. Yes we have a grading English version. And actually a lot of our. ISE colleagues are from overseas from different countries . Especially now we have a global business. Uber is now publicly traded and it's losing a fair amount of money every year. A billion dollars plus a year or something like that or more. Are you thinking of going public. And are you losing money or are you making money. Well we do have a specific IPO timetable has put it that way. And back to the Uber point. I'm sure it's temporary and they will go through it. Dara is very diligent CEO and very experienced for us. We think profitability is a natural result of the value you really create. And there are two things in China very different from the other market. First a rice year is cheaper than car ownership. So that's the huge value creation you provide to your users. And secondly in China we are going through a transition that people know. People search for better life quality better lives and people want to spend more money. The average age of your mindshare customers is what is it below 30 or 20 to 30 2013. Actually a lot of them are students from college or just you know McKinsey. Third year analyst. So people who are 50 60 or 70. They're not your target audience as much know that they are. Actually we we definitely want to you know make our technology more accessible to everyone. Yeah. Back to the question of your profitability . You are profitable on our core business. Your core business . Yes. We are one of the businesses that is not your core. I think you've spun it off as your automatic driving with the driverless China NASDAQ autonomous . So why did you spin it off and when do you think autonomous driving will actually be very common. Yeah actually you know I think it will take huge commitment for autonomous technology to mature technology wise and also commercialize. Right. So in a company who wants to succeed in that food need to be prepared to spend money and human resources into it . So we view you know we want to attract the top talent and make it independent. So people fear we want to join. This is a young company. And at the same time we also we are advantage of Europe because we run the large largest network. Right. For a geo fencing autonomous car to run is easy right. In California it could be much easier than in Beijing. So we have this huge amount of data. So that makes us fear. You know we are advantaged. How many years away before you actually really I think would be a long time. Long time means firefighters five to 10 years. You spun that off because it's not going to be that profitable one in the near future. I think it's we are still in the investment period. When you join the company had a market valuation of 500 million more or less is. Or less. Yes . So let's suppose I say I like what you've said. I'd like to invest in a 500 million dollar valuation. Could I do that today . Not really. No no . Through your background your father is well known in the business world in China. He was the founder of the no go. Yes . And did he say to you you need to go into some kind of computer related thing when you grow up. Not really. You did . No I really didn't put any pressure on you to get into the business side at all. Not at all. So you went to Peking University. Yes. And you majored in computer science. Yes . Yes. OK. So after you graduated and I let me ask you in Peking University is it like the United States where there are more men than women in computer science. We in our class there were 36 students 30 of them were men. OK so you graduated. Presumably you did well but then you decided to leave China to go to school in the United States. Harvard. Yes. I was that hard to get into. It was hard to get into. Right. So you went to Harvard and you got a master's in computer science. And did you find Harvard easier or harder than you thought it would be. Well I wouldn't say it's harder or easier. I think it's more interesting. And you know my key purpose to go abroad is to see the world and to meet different people. And it was totally rewarding. You know your English is by my view perfect. So not really. Pretty good. Where did you get this English at Harvard or did you get it in China. I think I probably get it in China . You know in China you know we started to learn English starting from elementary school. So if you have some good English teacher at school you actually get pretty okay. But I wouldn't come ISE English. Perfect. I think it's pretty good . I'm better than mine . So when you graduated from Harvard did you decide to go to a great Chinese firm like Goldman Sachs. Yes. Actually it was almost accidental to join Goldman. I did summer interning Goldman as in research division as an I.T. engineer in New York and Hong Kong and Hong Kong come down. And and I thought it was fascinating what people are doing to her. I decided I want to apply it for a fulltime job. That's why I ended up in investment banking division in Hong Kong as well. Right. You went there after you graduated. You went to Hong Kong and you stayed there 12 years. Yes. And you became a managing director . Yes. So most people would say if you're a managing director at Goldman life can't be much better than that. And so you're on your way up to the very top. Why did you choose to leave . Yes a lot of people ask me that question especially when I resigned from Goldman. My ex boss there said I can believe you are joining a taxi company because you know when I first moved back to Beijing you know I always find myself struggling in the middle of the street with my three young children. I didn't have a license plate to drive in Beijing. You need to have your license plate. And it's hard to get. A lottery system. So and it's really hard to hear a taxi. And then I met D.D. at that time which was a very young company and a company which started in 2012. Yes 2012. I met a match Halloway the founder the year 2013. We ended it was one year old. And I wanted to make an investment you know at the beginning. I tried three times. I failed three investment on behalf of Goldman or your show. On behalf of Goldman. On behalf of gold. And I was in very good Goldman soldier. And each time he said we don't need your money or what. Yeah because there are lines of investors waiting outside in there faster. And you know the digital engines process from Goldman is actually quite strict. So I failed. I always wanted to build something. And this thing seems to me huge impact. Right. So I think why do I just join him. How big was the company in 2014 when you joined me. It was it was valued at around 500 million U.S. dollars and several hundred people. And the only product we had was the taxi hailing app . So that's when I joined you know a lot of my friends where my family advised me not because because in you know in China is very competitive. Right. And people think so much uncertainty . So what do you say to the people that advise you not to join now. Do you ever see them and say if I listen to you I'd still be a Goldman. You never say that. Well actually you know I hesitated. I hesitated to you know when I sat down with chow they say if you don't let me invest in you let me join you. He didn't back off which is surprise to me . And then you know I God hesitated when people advised me not to . So we went to Tibet together with a group of seven people. It was a soul searching trip. And after that I made up my mind . OK and what position do you join at chief operating officer. So you came from Goldman Sachs but at Goldman you were not managing hundreds and hundreds of people. So how could you be the chief operating officer . Although I didn't manage hundreds of hundreds of people but I did see a lot of business. I did talk to a lot of entrepreneurs an hour. So I think it's just in my genes. You know I want to build an organization that suits them. You know this generation . And who were the big investors in D.D. in the early days there . Actually there are a number of them. The strategic ones we have Tencent Alibaba also have Tim Cook Apple . We also have a lot of very well-known financial investors and most of the investors where they large institutional investors from the United States or from China or from all over the world . IBEX OK. It was pretty diverse. So when you joined the company had a market valuation of 500 million more or less was somewhere less. Yes. So let's suppose I say I like what you've said. I'd like to invest that 500 million dollar valuation . Could I do that today. Not really. No it even. You're so nice and friendly. We're running one of the biggest companies in China and one of the bigger companies in the world in terms of market value. So how do you keep that from going to your head . It's very challenging job. You know when I first joined this company I thought a technology company and now I know it's about people. It's about safety . So how do you get to work every day. Do you take one of your . Yes. Yes. Yes. Most of if you are you're taking one of your cars and you don't like the service. What do you say. Did they know who they know who you are . You know the other day you know we had this assignment that we have to drive as well. We have to test the driver experience . The other day hey you know I did with my colleague and we pick up this young guy and my colleague introduced to him. This is our president. And he went on to survey you some question. He didn't seem impressed at all. He said whatever you say why don't you give me some coupon if you want to survey me. So you know I guess I'm not a you know celebrity or if you will. Now you are now widely viewed as one of the most powerful women in business in China. Women in business around the world. And not just a prominent woman. You're a private executive. You're running one of the biggest companies in China and one of the bigger companies in the world in terms of market value. So how do you keep that from going to your head . Well good question actually. You know I think I really have a very tough job right. It's very challenging job. You know when I first joined this company I thought as a technology company and now I know it's about people. It's about safety. You know last year there were two terrible incidents happen on our platform. Two young girls got killed. It was devastating . Right. And for all of the senior executive either 25 year olds . Right. You know we sat together and think to ourselves what's the next step. Right. This is much more challenging than Uber came in her when other competition come was the driver was the death because of the driver did something wrong as the driver . Yeah the driver was a criminal. So how do you screen those kind of people in the future after so after that. Now we launched more than 40 product features about safety facial recognition right around sharing. So itinerary sharing. So there are 40 of them. But the challenge part is not about how committed we can be for safety. Is there a lot of dilemmas that I can ask our data scientist for an answer to is a social problem. For example you know one dilemma we face is do we allow drivers to reject drunk passengers because there are a lot of internal conflict from drunk passengers tend to assault drivers. Right . So drivers complain to us. Hundreds of them complain to us daily saying can we reach back to this drunk passenger. Do we allow it or not. What do you do. We put up a nationwide consultation forum and we ask people's feedback. Eighty percent of them thinks we shoot is surprise to us because our original concern was if we let that happen then what if something bad happened to the drunk passenger. Right. So what do we do. Not encourage a strong passenger to ride by themselves. They need to be accompanied by a sober friend. You make sure your drivers are not drunk. Oh that's very easy. That's very easy . Breathalyzer what do you do. How do you make sure. Yeah. We have this SDK on other drivers cell phones. So if they drive dangerously speed driving you know heartbreak hard turn we tested immediately. Right. And before he gets you know he pickup order we would do facial recognition and their phone costs if we see anything you know random. So in the United States there's a lot of discussion about whether women are allowed to get senior positions in companies and very few Fortune 500 companies actually or have CEOs as women. Is it easier in China for a woman to be a CEO of a company or harder. Well I think you can always be a CEO or a president but most time you you're not likable. Right. Cause I think there is do a glass ceiling in everywhere. But I think in China it's already a very encouraging working environment. For example in D.D. we have D.D. Women's Network we launched four years ago. You know the key point is to encourage women to plan their career for next 30 years. Like David you know when you were young you must have planned your career for the next 30 years. But it's a is a challenge for young girls. Say what I want to do for my next 30 years because they always feel they're likely to pause when they have kids when they get married you know. So we want to make sure you know our employees view they're empowered. And you know that's why we encourage a lot of you know working from home . Right. We encourage a lot of culture. I like that young mom can work from home one day a week. So just as soon as you have three young kids you work from home one day a week. I can't do that. I can do that. I can't do that. But my kids are really big. They're 10 and 9. So are they impressed with your job . Do they know how powerful you are in the business world or . They don't really know. They know. They know. But you know they don't think me as powerful as. Mom I always have a lot of problems because I do go back home and discuss with them you know my work issues and you know in my view you know the younger generation Generation Z right. They have more access to information than we do. So I think they have very independent views now. So we talk a lot. So for many women in China and elsewhere but surely in China you're a role model. So how do you fulfil that role. Do you speak to a lot of women's groups . You tell women that they should do X Y and Z to advance. How do you take on that responsibility. Well first of all I think we're all learning and growing. I wouldn't consider myself as a role model that I would consider myself as someone who would love to share my own life experience because you know I have also experienced the ups and downs personally and professionally . So I think the best way is to share your life's story without really telling people what to do. Right. His people will get inspired anyways. Now your father's a very prominent person in the Chinese business world and the global business world . Lenovo is a company that he basically built. Does he give you advice on what to do or he doesn't at this point. You know one of the one pieces of advice I got and benefit me from my whole life was he always said life is supposed to be hard. Right . And you know when we had our car and we had the incidents a lot of times is . You know it's frustrating if you helpless and hopeless like what happened last year. And you know I always remember my father tell me life is supposed to be hard right. So I think that make me more resilient and stronger. So so far what would you say you're most proud of having achieved as the president of D.D. . Well for the company I think I'm most proud that we are providing 10 billion trips a year in serving all different types of need. And we are creating income for more than tens of millions of drivers. Personally what makes me few you know proud is we have built a team with resilience and commitment and people fear. This is the right thing to do .

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The David Rubenstein Show: Didi President Jean Liu (Video)

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