Madeline
I tend to gravitate toward books about Asia, specifically China. I also gravitate toward business books. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built is about both. It was inspirational and it was informative. It gave me insight into Chinese politics and technology that I never previously had.
Learning English
In his early days, Ma never stepped a foot outside of China; however, today he speaks better English than most other Chinese businessman. How could this be? I personally think it was pretty genius. He would hang outside of hotels where English speaking foreigners would stay and offer tours of the city. As he spoke to the tourists he would consciously work on his English. He even made friends with tourists and kept in contact years after their trips and still keeps in contact with them today.
Ma’s First Venture: Starting the Internet in China
China’s whole introduction to the internet is all thanks to Ma. When he was overseas, he learned about the internet and also learned that there is nothing about China on the internet. He first started by creating English websites to draw tourists to places like hotels and sightseeing. But he also worked diligently to bring the internet to China, with their strict content laws and more.
Starting Alibaba
The initial purpose of Alibaba, although it was not named that, was to help entrepreneurs working in international markets sell their services and products. As many large enterprises around the world were, it was never intended to be the massive conglomerate it turned out to be. The house that Jack Ma built was originally a small house and later it turned into the massive estate it is today.
My Favorite Quote of Jack Ma
As someone who has been in the tech industry in a number of startups no quote makes more sense to me then: Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine. This is exactly why I live the startup lifestyle. It’s not fun. It’s definitely not easy. But if you come out the other side still okay, it’s a high like no other.
Alibaba Today
Now Alibaba is the most successful technology company in China. At the time of writing this the stock price is $277 with a market cap of over $750 billion. Jack Ma did not seek out to make a successful company but he is not only a successful business man but also a successful leader capable of anything.
Final Thoughts
I was moved by the ingenuity of Jack Ma. I see him as one of the greats. But in the US we know the names Jeff Bezos. We know Elon Musk. We know Bill Gates. And we know Steve Jobs. We don’t as much know Jack Ma which is a real shame. For anyone who is into the business side of technology, The House That Jack Ma Built is a must.
