Xiaomi, once the world’s most highly valued technology start-up, has conceded that it grew too rapidly and has pledged to rein¹ in its pace — even as it targets Rmb100bn ($14.5bn) in revenues this year.

曾经是全球估值最高科技初创企业的小米(Xiaomi)如今承认它发展得过快了，并承诺放慢步伐，即便它今年的收入目标仍然是1000亿元人民币（合145亿美元）。

Lei Jun, chief executive, on Thursday joined his opposite number at fellow tech upstart LeEco in engaging in a spot of hubris² following rollercoaster rides of bold ambition and heady growth. His comments came barely two months after Jia Yueting, who heads up LeEco, released his reflections on his year of “fire and ice” and referred to “big company disease”.

在经历了过山车式雄心勃勃的高速增长后，小米首席执行官雷军周四和科技初创企业乐视(LeEco)首席执行官贾跃亭一样表现得有点狂妄。在他做上述表态两个月前，贾跃亭发布了对自己过去“冰火两重天”一年的反思，并谈到了“大公司病”。

Xiaomi, which makes products ranging from smartphones to smart rice cookers, typifies the breeds’ almost Icarus-like trajectory³. It was valued at $45bn in a late 2014 fundraising, exceeding Uber’s then-$40bn, but then missed its 2015 handset shipment targets as smaller rivals grabbed market share.

生产从智能手机到智能电饭煲等系列产品的小米，代表了这些企业近乎伊卡洛斯式的轨迹（伊卡洛斯为希腊神话人物，因飞得过高，蜡翼被太阳融化而坠海身亡——译者注）。小米在2014年末一轮融资中估值450亿美元，超过了优步(Uber)当时400亿美元的估值，但之后，随着较小规模的竞争对手抢走市场份额，它未能实现2015年的手机出货目标。

“A few years ago, we rushed too fast, achieving a miracle in the history of modern business growth, but we also overspent a portion of our growth,” Mr Lei wrote in a memo⁴ posted on his WeChat account and on Facebook. “We must slow down and earnestly learn from our mistakes. Prevention is better than having to fix things later.”

雷军在上传至微信(WeChat)和Facebook的一份备忘录中写道：“前几年我们冲得太快，创造了现代商业史上的成长奇迹，但也提前透支了一部分成长性。所以，我们必须放慢脚步、认真补课，而且早补要比晚补好，文火慢补要比急火猛药好。”

Xiaomi started out selling online-only, a strategy quickly copied by its rivals, before moving into physical stores selling a range of its goods. It now has 54 of its Mi Home stores.

小米开始只在线上销售，这一战略很快被其竞争对手模仿，后来小米开始设立实体店销售其一系列产品。它现在有54家“小米之家”店铺。

The Chinese company is also banking⁵ on India, where revenues exceeded $1bn last year and where it doubled sales of smartphones from 3m to about 6.5m. Xiaomi touted⁶ the numbers as evidence that it “truly became an international company”.

小米还对印度市场寄予厚望。去年小米在印度的收入超过10亿美元，智能手机销量从300万部增至大约650万部。小米宣称，这些数据表明它“真正成为了一家国际化公司”。

However, analysts⁷ are less convinced Xiaomi can regain⁸ its ranking on the global smartphone league tables, where it trails fast-climbing local rivals like Shenzhen-based Huawei as well as Oppo and Vivo. Suppliers too suggest that Xiaomi has some way to go, saying the company is less present at buying and other discussions than in previous years.

然而，分析师不太确信小米能否夺回其在全球智能手机排行榜上的排名——它如今的排名落后于总部位于深圳的华为(Huawei)、以及Oppo和Vivo等排名快速攀升的国内竞争对手。供应商也表示，小米还得努力，小米参与采购和其他谈判比往年少了。

Mr Lei’s comments echoed a heart-bearing memo in November from Mr Jia declaring that “LeEco’s pace has been too fast” and slashing⁹ his own annual salary to Rmb1.

雷军的话让人想起去年11月贾跃亭的一封真诚的内部信，贾跃亭在信中称，“LeEco节奏过快”，并将自己的年薪降至1元人民币。

Like Mr Lei, he pointed¹⁰ to supply chain problems among other issues. “We were blindfolded¹¹, simultaneously¹² burning money in the pursuit of expansion while our globalisation strategy stretched us too thin,” he wrote.

与雷军一样，他提到了供应链问题以及其他问题。他写道：“我们蒙眼狂奔、烧钱追求规模扩张同时，全球化战线一下子拉得过长。”

“I have spent more than Rmb100bn of my own funds, but directly guiding and financially supporting LeEco individually is not enough?.?.?.?our capital structure is irrational¹³, and the scale of external financing cannot meet the rapid amplification¹⁴ of our financial needs,” Mr Jia added.

贾跃亭补充称：“一方面乐视汽车前期投入巨大，陆续花掉100多亿的自有资金，直接导致我个人对LeEco的资金支持不足……另一方面我们的融资能力不强，方式单一、资本结构不合理，外部融资规模难以满足快速放大的资金需求。”

LeEco has moved on from consumer electronics to entertainment and even driverless cars at a rapid clip.

乐视已从消费电子快速转向娱乐、甚至无人驾驶汽车领域。

In the process, it has triggered questions about its debt levels and graphically¹⁵ illustrated¹⁶ the cost of touting¹⁷ its achievements prematurely¹⁸: one of its prototype electric cars was involved in a crash during its drive from Los Angeles to a San Francisco press conference in October.

在这个过程中，乐视引发了人们对其债务水平的质疑，并生动地展示了过早宣传其成就的代价：它的一辆原型电动车去年10月在从洛杉矶运往旧金山参加发布会的途中遭遇事故。

For its part, Xiaomi is still setting its sights high. In addition to identifying big targets it found time to buy into a less-than-core asset: the operator of online astrology and horoscope information platform Constellation¹⁹ Goddess Culture Communications.

就小米而言，该公司定的目标仍然很高。除了制定了大目标以外，它还抽时间投资不那么核心的资产：在线星座和占星信息平台运营商星座女神文化传媒(Constellation Goddess Culture Communications)。