TECH TITAN
Investment adviser Duncan Clark shares an engrossing account on one of the world’s most valuable technology companies and the man behind it, in his new book
ech tycoon bill gates once said: “in china, when you’re one in a million, there are 1,300 people just like you.” But not Jack Ma. The founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is one in a billion, or estimated 1.4 billion in China today. Ma was a disrupter even as the world was still grasping the concept of “disruptive innovation”. In 1999, the former English teacher with 17 other co-founders established Alibaba, a business-to-business online marketplace, followed by online retailer Taobao and online payment platform Alipay, among other businesses. Alibaba is the subject of a new book, Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by investment adviser Duncan Clark. An expert on China’s technology and consumer sectors, Clark was a consultant to Alibaba in its early days. With a background knowledge, access to new materials and exclusive interviews, Clark provides an insightful account into the company’s rise to become a global leader in online and mobile commerce. “While it’s a book about the company, it inevitably became a mini biography of Jack Ma because I don’t think you can understand Alibaba without Jack. He had such an impact beyond the field of technology, helping people discover products online and creating a self-image of the middle class in China,” explains Clark. One memorable anecdote was how Ma approached Australian youngster David Morley in his hometown of Hangzhou in China’s Zhejiang province in 1980 and asked to practise English. This was the first sign of Ma’s tenacity and had an impact on the setting up of Alibaba. Clark tells us more.
Are the Chinese the new disrupters today?
People still sometimes say X is the Y of China, but in some aspects, it’s the other way now. Alibaba just launched a music service and it has attracted people in the West. We’re also beginning to see it in the hardware, hipsters are seeing Chinese stuff as cool. It’s a two-way street with the majority still going into China, but in some areas, it’s coming out of China. And Alibaba is part of the trend.
Did Jack Ma’s lack of a tech background limit him in any way?
During the Taobao days, colleagues would show him the website and if he didn’t like or understand it, they’d have to work on it some more. That ability to be in the customer’s shoes is essential to his ethos: customers first, employees second, shareholders third. His deficiencies have become strengths. It’s difficult to stand out in China but he did it. His story resonates with many because they can relate to him.
What struck you about his friendship with the Morleys?
While David Morley was the pen pal, it was his father Ken who took interest in helping him. Jack was very friendly and helpful when the Morleys visited Hangzhou and they struck up a bond, which lasted the rest of Ken’s life. The irony was that Ken was a socialist, so it was a perfect example why it shouldn’t work. The fact that Ken had helped buy him an apartment made enough of a difference that Jack could take risks. This gave him the opportunity to be an entrepreneur.
Describe Jack Ma in three words.
We looked through every speech he’s ever given and there were a lot of consistencies. He’s always been ambitious and always talked about his goals. So consistent, ambitious and humble—but these are contradictions, right?
When writing the book, were you more focused on telling the story or doing a business analysis?
I started with a business analysis but had to cut it down by almost half. It’s a great story of this time in China with the emergence of these entrepreneurs. I’d say the most interesting is chapter 13, and there are 12 chapters in the book. It’s what’s happening next. The capitalism in Zhejiang is different from what we’ve seen before— it may be the purest form of capitalism there is.