You Lin is the chairman of Maoren Group, founder of Maoren brand, founder of Meili City brand, member of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and vice chairman of the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce.
2023 Industry Innovator of the Year You Lin
Reason for the award
In 1998, he started from scratch and founded his own underwear brand in Wuhan. Through high-intensity R&D investment, he is committed to creating technological underwear products. In the past 25 years, the brand's global sales have exceeded 1 billion pieces, achieving a high growth of 70% for five consecutive years, becoming China's first tens of billions of technology underwear brand. Since starting his business, he has adhered to long-termism and embraced the changes of the times. He and the company he leads will continue to focus on the track of technological underwear for a long time and continue to innovate.
55-year-old You Lin is still tireless and full of passion. Running 6 to 8 kilometers every morning has become his daily habit. He also often goes to the gym for strength training in the evening. When he was interviewed by China News Weekly in the chairman's office of Maoren Fashion Industrial Park in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, he wore Wearing black-rimmed glasses, he also showed off his eight-pack abs.
He doesn't like playing cards or mahjong, nor does he like too much socializing. After work, his main activities are running and fitness. "Although I am already the grandfather of three grandchildren, my mental age is only 28 years old."
, a bald man with strong energy, has rich entrepreneurial experience in China's underwear field. As the chairman of Maoren Group, the "China's technology underwear giant", he is known in the industry as "Jobs of the clothing industry" and "the godfather of technology underwear".
In 2022, under his leadership, the cumulative global sales of MaoRen technology underwear single category exceeded 1 billion pieces, realizing the dream of going from a loss of 500 million to a network-wide GMV (gross merchandise transaction) of nearly 10 billion. MaoRen has also become China's The first tens-billion-level technology underwear brand. This number is expected to reach 12 billion in 2023. In the next 10 years, building Maoren Technology Underwear into a 100-billion-dollar brand has become his next goal.
competes with nearly 10,000 peers in the RMB 500 billion Chinese underwear market. Such a track excites him. His WeChat name is "Elvis" and his signature is "There are no absolutes in life, everything is possible." Starting from scratch when setting up a street vendor in his early years, he turned "impossible" into "possible".
From "eight high dangers" to tens of billions of brands
In 1968, You Lin was born in a small mountain village in Longhui, Hunan. In 1989, he took 3,000 yuan to Wuhan to start a business, set up a street stall on Hanzheng Street, and started a clothing wholesale business. During these seven years, he used his unique vision and courage to bet on the right products, and used his sales strategy of daring to tell the truth and make money by selling the package to attract wholesale customers, earning his first RMB 10 million in his life.
In 1998, in order to create a "loud brand of his own", You Lin rented a factory of more than 400 square meters in the Private Industrial Park of Wuhan Economic Development Zone, founded the Maoren brand, and entered the underwear market. The reason why he was named Cat Man is because "cats are full of spirituality, changeable and charming, very tough, and more importantly, they have 9 lives." When
started its business, it was because there were hundreds of millions of children in China, but there was no one that could make underwear suitable for them. Therefore, he wanted to make a high-quality children's brand underwear.
In August 1998, after the first batch of samples were produced, You Lin found some children to take promotional photos, including his son. To his surprise, when his son took off his underwear after taking the photo, the thread at the collar suddenly broke. You Lin feels that once such a product is launched, it will destroy the brand. He decided on the spot to rework everything. After a few months, the rework was completed, but the sales season was missed as a result. After encountering obstacles in his first trial, You Lin decided to adjust his thinking and move to the adult underwear market in order to first solve the livelihood problem of factory workers.
High-quality fabrics are a key factor in determining the quality of underwear. In the first year of his business, Maoren decided to use Xinjiang long-staple cotton. Since then, he has traveled to the United States, Japan, South Korea, Austria and other places to discuss cooperation with the world's top fabrics. So far, Catman has established cooperative relationships with Mitsubishi, Toray, and Itochu of Japan, DuPont of the United States, Hyosung of South Korea, Lenzing of Austria, etc.
You Lin said that these leading cooperative companies already enjoy a high reputation in the industry, but when introducing fabrics, Maoren will still strictly control aspects that are valued by customers such as sweat absorption, warmth retention, and skin-friendliness.An employee of
once believed that compared to many of its peers, Maoren's selection of fabrics is too strict. "Our fabrics are already very good, just about right." For this reason, You Lin was very angry, "What does it mean to be similar? Just tell me what makes cat people better than others. What we pursue is not to be similar to others."
's pursuit of high quality is rewarded by consumers' purchases. In 2004, Maoren achieved retail sales of 800 million, and its marketing methods were included in the MBA marketing textbook of Peking University. One comment in the case left a deep impression on You Lin - be independent and dare to be the first in the world.
After that, You Lin paid high salaries to some Japanese and Korean celebrities to endorse his products, and hired French and Korean designers, hoping to further expand the market. However, due to errors in talent selection, lack of strategic focus and other reasons, Maoren suffered losses of more than 200 million yuan from 2005 to 2009. After 2009, Maoren refocused on the underwear industry, enriched its product lines, and launched a large-store chain model.
A few years later, the rise of Internet e-commerce severely damaged Maoren's original agency model. You Lin recalled that from 2014 to 2017, Maoren experienced the "Eight High Crisis", which included high debt, high inventory, high receivables, high payables, high expenses, high losses, high litigation, and loan sharking. The loss once reached 500 million yuan.
"Many people say that the 'three highs' are very uncomfortable and the 'five highs' are not easy to live in, but I have experienced the 'eight highs'." This sentence became a topic often mentioned by You Lin. In order to alert employees, he also wrote "Eight High Crisis" on the company's cultural wall.
In order to reverse the "Eight High Crisis" situation, Maoren proposed the "Five Modernizations" construction, namely, the Internet of thinking (solve the thinking problem), the model platform (solve the model problem), and the amoeba of the organization (solve the employee motivation problem) , management digitization (solve digital-driven management issues), brand IP (solve consumer purchase choice issues).
Since 2017, Maoren has initiated digital transformation and shifted to an e-commerce-led asset-light platform model. Regarding this transformation, You Lin has a vivid metaphor: "The direction is always greater than the method. The proportion of online transactions in the clothing industry has reached 60%. Others have been bombed by the 'air force'. You are still playing swords and guns on land. Can you win?" ?"
In 2016, the GMV of Cat People's entire network was 500 million yuan. In 2022, the GMV of Cat People reached nearly 10 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 20 times in 6 years. In this year, the cumulative global sales of Cat People's technology underwear single category exceeded 10 billion pieces.
's great success in this transformation has also brought Maoren from "eight high dangers" to "five zero and one high" (zero liabilities, zero inventory, zero litigation, zero receivables, zero payables, high growth). You Lin said that as a business owner, it doesn’t matter how good you are when you are crazy, but whether you can rebound during the trough period. "Adversity makes people mature, and desperate situations make people awaken."
Technology Leadership
In 2022, Catman Group launched strategic consulting cooperation with a positioning company, and the professional positioning company helped Catman establish its strategic positioning as "technology leadership."
"Choose Catren for technological underwear, Catren has been specializing in technological underwear for 25 years" is the core advertising slogan of Catren. You Lin said that even when the development was at its most rapid, Mao Ren did not get involved in other industries. "Only by staying focused can we create high-quality products. It is easy to achieve nothing if we are half-hearted. We cannot engage in real estate today, stock trading tomorrow, and new energy the day after tomorrow." .
Maoren’s annual investment in R&D accounts for 5% to 8% of its annual revenue, which is 3 to 4 times the industry average. Every time Mao Ren launches a new product, You Lin will personally go on stage to promote the product. Liang Chunhua, co-founder of
Xinchao Media Group, who has known You Lin for many years, told China News Weekly that in the field of technology, Steve Jobs, Lei Jun and others often turn new product launch conferences into personal talk shows to introduce new products vividly. He found that You Lin also learned from this model and gave a technological and personal interpretation to the originally boring underwear industry. He laughed and called You Lin the "Youbus" of China's technological underwear industry.
The general manager of the brand center of Maoren Group told China News Weekly that Chinese people are very reserved and have a strong need for underwear, but they rarely express it. Therefore, during research and development, Maoren always focuses on subtle points, whether the skin comfort is sufficient and whether the safety indicators are high, and demonstrates the development direction of the product from various possibilities.When
Maoren started its business, it jointly developed new technological fabrics with textile technology giants such as the United States, Austria, and Japan. On the road of research and development, Maoren has also made great efforts to learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's strengths. For example, Lycra cotton is very comfortable, but many consumers report that it loses elasticity and warmth after being worn for a long time. In order to solve this pain point, the Catman R&D team compared self-developed fabrics with Lycra cotton and found that Catman fabric has better thermal insulation effect, but its breathability and comfort are not as good as Lycra cotton. Therefore, Catman "married" its independently developed knitting technology with Lycra cotton to improve its warmth retention while maintaining the advantages of Lycra cotton. This fabric technology was later widely used in Catman's home clothes and thermal underwear. .
Catman has many innovative technologies. For example, when developing honeycomb cup underwear, the R&D team used liquid foaming technology from automobile manufacturing to replace the traditional compression mold cup production technology. During the research and development process, in order to find the most suitable liquid sponge ratio, the Maoren R&D team went through hundreds of foam raw material debugging and thousands of adjustments to the mold. The final mold cup weighs only 12.8 grams, and its air permeability is 5 times that of the national standard.
Maoren is also one of the first brands to use zero-carbon modal cotton, and through self-developed weaving and dyeing technology, it has solved the problem of traditional polyester being easy to fade. In 2023, it joined forces with Virginie, the world's leading underwear manufacturer, to launch the Honeycomb Technology Bra.
Judging from some data, Maoren’s technology products are indeed popular among consumers. In 2020, Cat People cooperated with the Chinese Antarctic Scientific Expedition Team. The scientific expedition team members arrived at the North and South Pole wearing Cat People's "light burning clothes". This thermal jacket uses technical fibers jointly developed by Cat and Japan's Mitsubishi, which has heat storage and heating effects and a skin feel comparable to cashmere. Since then, "Qing Ran Yi" sold 100,000 units in 3 minutes on a live broadcast platform.
In 2023, You Lin proposed the development strategy of "technology is not limited to internal, but dreams are fully upgraded". To this end, he invested 1 billion yuan in start-up capital to incubate the "Meili City" project and create "China's No. 1 high-tech apparel brand."
"At present, in the domestic market, underwear only accounts for 8% of the clothing category, and clothing accounts for 92%. Under this ratio, our technological underwear can become the first tens-billion-level technological underwear brand, and the future market of technological apparel will be even more Big." You Lin said.
You Lin told the R&D team that Catman’s ability to win the favor of consumers ultimately relies on quality and technology itself. Therefore, we must insist on achieving the ultimate product quality, and make them "reluctant to let go after touching it, reluctant to put it on and take it off."
"I am a person with a good face. When my products are worn by others, they really like and are moved. This sense of accomplishment is incomparable to no amount of money." You Lin said.
"I don't want to retire when I am 85 years old."
You Lin loves sports. As long as he does not encounter extreme weather, he runs 6 to 8 kilometers every day. He also goes to the company's gym for additional training 3 to 4 days a week. At least 45 minutes at a time.
One day in 2017, he carried a bag containing 6 breads, 4 apples, and 6 bottles of water. He left home at around 6 a.m. and ran a marathon alone. "I was 49 years old at the time and didn't want to accept the reality that I was about to turn 50. I told myself through running that I was still a young man full of energy."
Under the leadership of You Lin, fitness has become part of the company's culture. The employee's body fat, weight and other physical indicators are written into the KPI, which is linked to 10% of the employee's performance salary. If employees improve in relevant indicators or rank high in the number of sit-ups, push-ups, etc., You Lin will also give them red envelopes. "A healthy body is more important to the company's management. If they can't manage their own bodies well, how can they manage the team well?" In addition to loving sports,
is also willing to share his personal experiences with young entrepreneurs.
In July 2023, Wang Yongjun, the founder of Laogao E-commerce Circle, invited You Lin to attend the E-commerce Development and Innovation Conference in Hangzhou and deliver a speech. You Lin shared the ups and downs of Maoren’s entrepreneurial history, business philosophy, thoughts on the future, etc.
“You Lin is not a theoretical scholar with a professional background, but he is definitely a practical private enterprise owner.Everything he said was learned after spending a lot of money and time, and is very inspiring to young entrepreneurs. " Wang Yongjun told "China News Weekly".
Wang Yongjun said that during the speech, You Lin also showed off his eight-pack abs, which attracted a lot of screams. "The average age of the e-commerce bosses in the audience is only more than 30 years old. You Lin At 55 years old, with a successful career, he is still so hard-working, diligent and self-disciplined, which in itself is an encouragement to young people.” When
gave his speech, he often mentioned the importance of decentralization. In addition to the company’s budget, review and other major matters Except for his signature, he will fully authorize other aspects to the vice president. The vice president can take charge of the implementation of some specific strategies of the company. "Delegating power does not mean giving up. When vice presidents gain more authority, it also means responsibility." bigger. Therefore, it will also be more serious. "
According to the 2018 "my country Private Enterprise Development Report" blue book compiled by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the average life cycle of China's private enterprises is only 2.9 years, 60% of private enterprises go bankrupt within 5 years, and 85% die within 10 years. You Lin He said that Maoren's lifespan has exceeded that of most private enterprises. Maoren's employees have grown from more than 20 people at the beginning to more than 1,000 now. The average age of employees is only about 30 years old, and they are still full of vigor and vitality.
He said, During the development process of MaoRen, it is also constantly adjusting its development direction and correcting deviations. However, MaoRen aims to be a brand respected by the industry, society and consumers, with the vision of making products and services that move users, and to "let the world The mission of "everyone can enjoy good underwear with high quality and low price" has never changed. "This mission is the great origin of Mao Ren and it will not change in the future. "
Cat People's sense of mission is also reflected in their sense of social responsibility. On December 18, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurred in Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province. Against the background of severe cold winter, warm materials have become the most scarce materials for the affected people and rescue workers. . The next day, Maoren Group donated 20 million yuan in thermal insulation materials to Jishishan County through the Hubei Charity Federation. You Lin said that he was very worried after seeing the news of the earthquake, and hoped that these materials could help the affected compatriots get through the disaster as soon as possible. Cold winter.
You Lin said that he is a person who likes to create miracles. When he proposed to build tens of billions of cat people, no one believed it, but he achieved it. Now, he has put forward a more ambitious goal, hoping that in the next ten years, cat people Technology underwear can reach sales of 100 billion, becoming the world's number one.
He said that China's underwear market has not been truly integrated, such as socks, bras, pajamas and other underwear industries, each with thousands of companies, basically annual sales of several thousand Ten thousand and over 100 million yuan are rare. "China now has an underwear market of 500 billion yuan. If cat people account for 20% of it, the goal of 100 billion yuan can be achieved.
He firmly believes that "there are no bad industries, only bad companies; there are no bad times, only backward thinking." People with lofty ideals are always full of passion, and hitting 100 billion GMV is not a dream."
You Lin believes, "In the next 25 years, we hope to become an industry leader with more than 100 billion, a leading brand in the global fashion industry, and a trillion-dollar GMV. Great company with market capitalization. I will be 80 years old by then, but I don’t want to retire even when I am 85. I want to treat my current work as a sacred mission and a lifelong career. "
Published in the 1123rd issue of "China News Weekly" magazine on January 1, 2024
Magazine title: "Elvis Presley's Hundred Billion Ambition in the Forest"
Reporter: Zhou Qunfeng
