Tag Archives: Harvard Business School

CELLPHONES: Xiaomi Calls on Brazil, Hires from DST

Bottom line: Xiaomi’s hiring of a new CFO and entry to Brazil are its latest steps in a gradual transformation to a more western-style global company, in preparation for an IPO that is at least 2 years away.

Xiaomi to launch next week in Brazil

Stumbling smartphone sensation Xiaomi is back to doing what it knows best, namely making headlines with the latest moves in its global expansion and by hiring executives from other high-profile companies. In this case the smartphone high-flyer has just announced its formal plan to enter Brazil, putting it squarely in 3 of the 5 BRICS countries after India and China. The other move looks a bit scripted, and will see a top China executive from Russian high-tech investor Digital Sky Technologies (DST) join Xiaomi as CFO.

The latter piece of news looks slightly strange because DST is one of Xiaomi’s investors, and it would be unusual to do something hostile like stealing a top executive from one of your big backers. Instead, this looks more like a planned move that is relatively common in this kind of situation, which sees big investors supply executives to the companies they back in preparation for eventual IPOs. Read Full Post…