Building the Aigo Brand: An Interview with Chairman and Founder Feng Jun

Feng Jun is a spirited entrepreneur. The Chairman and Founder of consumer electronics giant Aigo Digital Technology Co. Ltd., started the company in 1992 with just RMB 220 borrowed from his mother (back then it was called Beijing Huaqi Information Digital Technology). Aigo had humble beginnings—it started by selling computer casings and keyboards to companies in Beijing’s Zhongguancun district. In the early years, Feng was both CEO and delivery boy, all rolled into one.

Bit by little bit, Feng built his company into a large consumer electronics giant. Today it manufactures everything from media players and USB cards, to digital cameras and mobile phones.

Feng has huge ambitions for Aigo: he wants the company to become the Sony or the Samsung of China. He has already taken the first steps towards taking Aigo global and plans to set up base in a few countries soon. He is also working to get the brand known globally—Aigo has sponsored McLaren’s Formula 1 team as well as Manchester United. Feng is also working to build intellectual property. While Aigo has created a sizeable patent portfolio, the company has also taken giants like Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard to court over patent infringement allegations.

In this freewheeling interview, Feng talks about the evolution of the company, his ambition for Aigo, the formation of Aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance (a consortium of Chinese companies that want to go global) and how companies can learn from the Olympics (Feng Jun, incidentally, was the torchbearer for the Beijing Olympics).