Foreign media published an article on February 25th, 1 1 This year, Alibaba went public in Hong Kong, and the financing amount exceeded1500 million US dollars. The company's market value exceeded 26 billion US dollars in one fell swoop, making it a dazzling star in the capital market. Ma Yun, the 43-year-old CEO, also ranks among billionaires. Ma Yun taught himself English and became a member of the Internet tide in the 1990s. Today, Alibaba, which he founded, has become the largest B2B website in China, and many European and American companies purchase through Alibaba. In the first half of 2007 alone, Alibaba's revenue reached $6543.8+$290 million and its net profit was $39 million. Not only that, Alibaba also entered the search field, and established a joint venture with Yahoo. Its Taobao also surpassed its competitor Yi Bei and became the main online auction website in China. How did Ma Yun do all this? Let's hear his story:
An extraordinary teenager
At the age of 12, I became interested in learning English. Every morning, rain or shine, I will ride my bike for 40 minutes and go to a small hotel near the West Lake in Hangzhou to learn English. This study lasted for 8 years. At that time, China was gradually opening to the outside world, and many foreign tourists came to Hangzhou for sightseeing. I often give them a free tour guide, show them around and practice English at the same time. These eight years of study have profoundly changed me. The knowledge brought by foreign tourists is quite different from what I learned from teachers and books. I began to have a more global vision than most people.
Another thing that fundamentally changed me happened in 1979. I met a family from Australia. There are two children in this family. We played together for three days and later became pen pals. 1985, they invited me to go to Australia in summer vacation, so I went in July and stayed for 3 1 day. Before I went abroad, I thought China was the richest and happiest country in the world. When I arrived in Australia, I found that my previous thoughts were not correct.
suffer repeated setbacks
I took the college entrance examination three times before I was admitted to Hangzhou Normal University, which was the worst university in Hangzhou at that time. In college, I had the honor of being the president of the student union, and later became the president of the student union of Hangzhou College. But at that time, my future was basically defined by middle school English teachers. When I graduated, I became the only university teacher among more than 500 graduates. My salary is RMB 100~ 120 per month, which is equivalent to USD 12~ 15.
During my five-year teaching career, I have always dreamed of working in a company, such as a restaurant or other places. I just want to do something. From 65438 to 0992, the business environment began to improve. I applied for many jobs, but no one wanted me. I once applied for the position of secretary to the general manager of KFC, but I was rejected.
Then at 1995, I went to Seattle to translate for a trade delegation. A friend showed me the internet for the first time there. We searched for the word "beer" on Yahoo, and didn't find any information about China. We decided to create a website and registered the name "China Yellow Pages".
I borrowed 2000 dollars to start this company. At that time, I knew nothing about personal computers and email, and I didn't even touch the keyboard. That's why I call myself a blind man riding a blind horse. We competed with China Telecom for about a year, and the general manager of China Telecom expressed his willingness to invest $6,543,800+0,850 in our joint venture. I have never seen so much money. Unfortunately, China Telecom has five seats on the company's board of directors, while my company has only two seats. They rejected every event we raised, just like ants and elephants, and there was no chance at all. I decided to quit my job and go it alone. At that time, I got a job invitation from Beijing to manage a government agency aimed at promoting e-commerce.
Entrepreneurial dream
My dream is to set up my own e-commerce company. 1999, I called 18 people to have a meeting in my apartment. I told them what I thought. Two hours later, everyone began to pay. We pooled $60,000, which was the first pot of gold to create Alibaba. I want to build a global enterprise, so I chose a global name. Alibaba is easy to spell, and the story of "open sesame" in Arabian Nights is well-known and easy to remember.
At that time, Alibaba was basically a "three noes" enterprise without funds, technology and planning, but we finally survived. We spent every penny very carefully, and the company office was chosen in my apartment. 1999 was funded by Goldman Sachs and invested by Softbank in 2000, and the company began to expand.
We got where we are because I believe in one thing: global vision, local can win. We design our own business model, and we mainly focus on how to help small and medium-sized enterprises make money. We never copy the American business model like many Internet entrepreneurs in China. We pay attention to product quality, and we must achieve "click to get". If you can't get it, it's rubbish.
I said Alibaba made 100 1 mistakes. We're expanding too fast. After the internet bubble burst, we had to lay off employees. By 2002, our cash will only last 18 months. Many users of Alibaba's website are using this service for free, and we don't know how to make a profit. So we developed a product to connect exporters in China with buyers in the United States. This business model has saved us. By the end of 2002, we had achieved a net profit of $65,438+0 and finally crossed the break-even point. Since then, the company's operating performance has improved every year, and now Alibaba's profitability has been quite strong.
Enlightenment and prospect
One lesson I learned in those dark days is that you must keep the value, innovation and vision of the team. As long as you don't give up, you still have a chance When your strength is still small, you must be very focused and live by your brain instead of your strength.
Listing is a milestone for Alibaba, and the timing of listing is right. Our B2B company has a solid foundation, a healthy market environment and strong company management. Alibaba's successful listing in Hong Kong proves that mainland enterprises can also get the favor of investors and high-level valuation in Hong Kong.
My plan is to build an e-commerce ecosystem so that consumers and enterprises can conduct all transactions online. We also cooperated with Yahoo to enter the field of search services and launched online auction and payment services. I hope to create 1 10,000 jobs, change the social and economic environment in China, and make China the largest Internet market in the world.
I am a more orthodox person. What I value is that in my life, I can do something that affects many people and the development of China. When I realized my ideal, I thought I was relaxed and happy, and I had a good result. (Liu Jizhong)