This is the second "multi-billion dollar tech start-up" non-fiction book I picked up from library, right after the Snapchat story.
By the time I started reading Alibaba's World I somehow came across a news that AliPay (owned by parent Ant Financial, which is held 33.3% stake by Alibaba) was about to go public (which ended up being deferred). This was said to be the "world's biggest IPO in history", with Ant Group set to raise $34B.
On a side note, as confusing as the relationships between all the subsidiaries and affiliates of Alibaba Group and Ant Financial may sound, maybe this group structure from SEC and pie chart from Bloomberg might help in some way:
Back to the story. As I always had vested interest in Media and Communication ever since my high school days, reading about what Porter did at Alibaba, and just the day-to-day life as a Head of International PR and Marketing in general was so informative and interesting. This is why I love non-fiction books. I can live vicariously through real people’s experience.
On the other hand, although I do not want to comment on someone else’s invaluable experience, but just in perspective of career, to me it seemed like CMOs don't get much involved in making strategic decisions. They do make decisions, but from what Porter was attempting to portray, the decisions he made were very niche, as in just for marketing and public relations. And it makes sense, as the job title states "PR and Marketing". But it was surprising to see how little he had time with the CEO or CFO (or in this case, Jack Ma).
But when Porter wrote about his encounters with Jack, it really seemed like Jack is a quirky, driven guy with a pure innocent heart. I don't know what Jack Ma is like in person, and Porter may have been biased (since he may need an approval from Jack to publish the book, like how he asked for approval for his film about Alibaba, Crocodile in the Yangtze). But personally, I always had respect for Jack Ma. Ever since I watched this "10 lessons to be successful" or some motivational video about Jack, I thought he gave some good tips. And had respect for him like how I have respect for Elon Musk. (Although Elon and Jack's recent debate really made me reconsider my thoughts on Jack).
But anyhow, if I had to pick one most memorable quote from the book, it would be as below:
“Just be yourself, Jack - it’s gotten you this far.” (p. 38)
Porter also brings insights into other C-Suite roles. For example, I always knew the acronym for COO (Chief Operating Officer), but I never truly understood what they exactly do. But after reading below quote it just clicked in my head:
With Jack constantly on the road speaking at conferences and media events, and no chief operating officer to manage the company’s day-to-day functioning, there was a leadership vacuum. (p. 44)
So overall, the book was very engaging (I enjoyed it from the very first page), and I understand why Alibaba’s World was selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of the "Best Business Books" of 2015.
Also, one common theme I found out throughout all successful tech start-up stories is that they:
first struggle with building revenue stream
but due to an increase in popularity of the product and user engagement
there is an escalation of offers from advertisers
which ultimately leads to higher market capitalisation and higher revenue.
Finally, these are some of the quotes that were worth noting down:
Beijing’s Internet industry had been built from the ground up by entrepreneurs from humble background with little business experience… However, Hong Kong’s “new economy’ seemed to be dominated by the sons and daughters of a handful established tycoons. As I walked around the room exchanging cards, people chattled less about the company’s vision or business models and more about why tycoon was backing it or how much money they’d just raised. (p. 29)
He explained that what would make AliPay different from eBay’s PayPal is that it would not provide direct payments between buyer and seller. Rather, it would be an escrow-based payment system, which would overcome the major barrier to e-commerce in China - lack of trust between buyer and seller. So, for example, after placing an order, a buyer would first send his money to an AliPay escrow account held by one of the banks. (p. 91)
Alibaba’s marketplace hosted tens of thousands of Chinese wholesalers who sold products that America’s consumers wanted. eBay’s PowerSellers were constantly looking for new products to offer to their customers. Theoretically the idea of “buy on Alibaba, sell on eBay” made sense. (p. 121)
… I don’t think we can do business with a partner who tries to sneak in such a big condition at the last minute. (p. 134)
Zhou Hongyi’s call for Yahoo! China employees to abandon ship was the first real sign that we might have been sold a lemon. (p. 140)
Now that China has the world’s second-largest box office, behind the US, film has become a lucrative business providing real returns. (p. 201)
“Alibaba survived because I know nothing about technology,” Jack would often say. Whenever Alibaba’s engineering team would prepare to introduce a new product, Jack would sit down for a sort of “Jack Ma dummy test.” If Jack couldn’t use it, he assumed the customer couldn’t understand it. The approach worked. By keeping our websites simple, we stayed close to our customers, many of whom were using the Internet for the first time. (p. 226)
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