Paranoia, Ambition, and a Pair of AI Glasses: The Raw Fuel of Elite Product Managers | A Conversation with Li Auto SVP Haoyu Fan

🚥 I've always believed that AI won't truly enter daily life until it arrives on a new form factor. And AI glasses may be the most strategically underrated among them.

So, a month after Li Auto released its AI glasses Livis and sparked widespread discussion, this week's "Crossing" features Fan Haoyu, Li Auto's Senior Vice President.

Haoyu's background and temperament are remarkably unique — he's a rare veteran product manager who, twenty years into his career, still embodies the "hands in the dirt" spirit. He brings both industrial design sensibility and an engineer's obsessive need to get to the bottom of things. More importantly, he's a perfectionist who still believes "products should have soul" even when the industry has become cutthroat.

So this episode goes far beyond a pair of glasses:

On Li Auto's AI strategy: Why did Li Auto choose glasses over pendants or earbuds? Has Li Auto discussed making robots? Why is Li Auto building its own models and OS? How were 36 grams and 18-hour battery life achieved? Why are glasses a critical component of the "continent" in the AI era?

On product methodology: As an executive managing thousands, he still emphasizes "hands in the dirt." From the "6211" time-allocation framework (how should product managers spend their time?) to "product managers aren't gods — they're the ones who beg gods to do the work for them," this is a masterclass in product management.

On people and products: What is a product manager's ambition? It's wanting to "change the world" when everyone else says "good enough." Fan Haoyu quotes Camus: "In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."

If you're a founder or product manager focused on AI hardware, or if you're going through the pain and confusion of building something, the discussion of "obsession, ambition, and summer" in this episode might give you a renewed sense of purpose.

🎬 Our video podcast is here! Now live on @Koji Yang Yuancheng's channels on WeChat Video, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, YouTube, and other platforms.

📒 The transcript will be published on the @CrossingCrossing WeChat official account.

🟢 01:05 Rapid-fire Q&A: Age, alma mater, MBTI and zodiac sign, introduction to Li Auto Livis AI glasses

🟢 01:54 A product manager's "proud moment"

A great product doesn't have to ship — but it must have truly existed. His proudest product isn't the Li ONE or MEGA, but an app that never launched. The L9 was phenomenal: a great product doesn't just solve problems, it makes people "smile with recognition."

🟢 05:08 CES 2026 and the AI glasses explosion

Why do virtually all global AI glasses companies come from China? The industry is blooming in every direction: translation, display, teleprompter, sports — each carving its own niche. When looking at competitors' spec sheets, real pride comes from "we took a completely different path." Li Auto's glasses at 36 grams, the lightest in the industry; using an MCU chip, unlike anyone else. The real watershed isn't form factor — it's the underlying architectural choice.

🟢 08:19 The North Star metric for AI glasses

"We wanted to bring Li Tongxue — the assistant people love in their cars — out into the world, to become a companion that's always there." Two metrics matter most: single-session wear time and intelligent voice interaction frequency. In-car Li Tongxue sees 18–20 conversations daily; in glasses, it's 40–50 — users are truly conversing, not just asking questions. Three high-frequency scenarios.

🟢 13:13 Making glasses at a car company: overcoming resistance or natural progression?

How does a product that "seems unrelated" gain traction internally? Began thinking about it in early 2024, had a prototype by mid-year — validating the core value of "always on." The turning point: when the car-control experience truly worked, all skepticism vanished instantly. The car comes to talk to you. Bottom-up meets top-down: driven by team passion, but also strategic mission.

🟢 23:49 A "counter-mainstream" technical path

Why not use Qualcomm's AR chip, but instead a watch MCU? Deep hardware-software integration is the only way to achieve light weight, speed, and long battery life simultaneously. Dual-RTOS architecture, trading for extreme power efficiency and response speed. Willingness to invest in底层软件 is the industry's highest barrier. When an organization already has OS, power management, imaging, and acoustics capabilities, innovation is simply a "capability migration."

🟢 29:40 The "hands in the dirt" product manager

Real authority is built in the dirtiest, most granular places. Personally involved in IMU, stabilization, bitrate, ISP, pre/post-processing tradeoffs. Haoyu with "hands in the dirt," reviewing code line by line with chip, algorithm, and imaging teams. "Better to delay than ship something we don't believe in." Not commanding, but igniting the team to turn impossible into deliverable.

🟢 30:22 The product manager's 6211 time allocation

Product work is fundamentally state management. 60%: focused execution, entering flow. 20%: proactive communication, building connections across levels and disciplines. 10%: reflective judgment — is fear or desire driving this? 10%: actually playing, maintaining creative energy. At higher levels, 60 and 20 swap: 60% building trust, 20% hands-on pushing forward.

🟢 34:18 Three elements of a good product manager

See it, learn fast, can't let go. Observation: noticing details others miss. Learning: rapidly building understanding across disciplines. Obsession and ambition: refusing to accept the world as it is.

🟢 41:17 What does AI mean for product managers?

AI isn't the answer — it's just a sharper knife. The essence hasn't changed: still observation and learning. What truly matters to understand: data, model architecture, and evaluation. Seeing the model's "winding, irregular boundary" is how you know how to use it.

🟢 51:42 Every tradeoff serves one goal

Not more features, but wanting to wear it every day. Architecture, microphones, battery, weight — every step is subtraction. Setting strict boundaries for the product, rather than following the crowd. High availability is the prerequisite for all innovation.

🟢 01:06:20 Will Li Auto make...?

Will Li Auto make an AI phone? Will Li Auto make embodied robots? Will Li Auto make AI earbuds / necklaces?

🟢 01:08:48 An island or a continent: the worldview of future tech giants

"It depends on how you understand this world." In the AI era, the world is more like a fast-flowing ocean than fragmented markets. Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi became giants not through many products, but by building entire "continents." Once users enter a continent, they live within it — naturally exclusive. Services and applications are the coastline connecting to the ocean; islands without continental support are easily submerged. Li Auto's self-assessment is remarkably restrained: for now, we've just barely emerged above water as an island. AI glasses are the first landmass extending from this island: 15% non-car-owner purchases are the first outline of a continent appearing. The ultimate goal isn't another hardware device, but enabling users to enter this continent at low cost, anytime, anywhere.

🟢 01:15:56 Ten "I am" sentences

I am a fairly artsy person, hoping to make something fun. I am a router — twenty cables plug in, one signal goes out (a generalist connecting user experience, technology, and supply chain). I am a fox, not a hedgehog — curious about interesting things, not planning to explain the world with one or two big ideas. I am someone who loves going into the mountains, grew up in the Qinling mountains since childhood, going into the mountains feels like coming home. ... (The remaining six are even better — listen to the podcast).

🟢 01:18:23 Let's move forward together

"It's precisely because of this era's tragedy that truly epic stories can be born." We carry the temperament of compassion, miracle-making, and refusal to compromise, wielding the best weapon of this era. "Each of us is shaping our own story, becoming part of this China story."

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🚦 "Crossing" is Steve Jobs' metaphor for Apple — standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is transforming every industry. We seek out, interview, and bring together a new generation of AI founders and active participants in the AI era. Together with them, we explore and embrace new changes, new possibilities.

👦🏻 Host Koji: I founded Crossing, launched AI Hacker House — a community space for the new generation of AI founders — and serve as Venture Partner at ZhenFund. I believe technology, especially AI, is the greatest value-creation opportunity of our generation. Koji on Jike, Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: I co-founded Crossing, previously worked at a dollar-denominated VC, and spent five years as a Silicon Valley correspondent, tracking technology development and business stories. Feel free to reach out and chat. Ronghui on Jike