Netizen

Liu, who’d backed UCWeb, first heard Lei’s pitch over the phone, in a call that lasted from 9 at night to 9 in the morning. Liu recalls that Lei described a smartphone company that moved with the speed of an Internet startup, listening and responding to users, selling hardware at or near cost, and earning a profit on accessories and Internet services. Liu ended up supplying half of the initial $10 million in capital. The VC arm of Qualcomm kicked in a minority investment.

Xiaomi's Phones Have Conquered China. Now It's Aiming for the Rest of the World