|
Introduction
1
. The firm “BDA” originated as BD Associates, the name derives from
the first initials of my Chinese partner in the venture, Dr. Bohai Zhang, and
my first name, Duncan. The chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, Jack
Wadsworth, and Theodore S. Liu, former head of the China investment
banking team, were instrumental in the launch of my venture, by giving me
a one-year retainer to set up shop in Beijing.
2
. A disclosure, although I’m no longer a shareholder, under the “friends
and family” program, Alibaba did allow me to purchase some shares in the
Alibaba.com IPO in Hong Kong in 2007 and in the Alibaba Group IPO in
New York in 2014.
Chapter One: The Iron Triangle
1
. Some caution should be exercised in assessing the final volume, given
that some goods might be returned for full refunds the next day by
customers—mostly for legitimate reasons, such as being damaged in
shipping or customers changing their minds—and the practice by some
merchants on the platform of inflating their own sales by hiring third parties
to boost their rankings (a phenomenon known as “brushing,” which is
discussed in Chapter 12).
2
. Originating as Bachelors’ Day in the early 1990s when single students
launched an “anti–Valentine’s Day,” the date 11/11 was chosen to
symbolize single people.
3
. For Alibaba’s “business-to-consumer” website www.tmall.com.
4
. A term copyrighted by Alibaba in 2012 to distinguish its own festival
from the earlier common name for the festival of “baresticks holiday”
(
guanggun jie),
chosen for the resemblance of 11/11 to two pairs of
chopsticks.
5
. In a TV interview with Emily Chang of Bloomberg West on Bloomberg
TV.
6
. The phrase echoes the Chinese saying “
wanneng de shangdi
,” which
describes an omnipotent God.
7
. The original meaning of the character “
tao
”—to pan for gold—had
fallen into obscurity.
8
. Tmall carries some inventory in selected categories such as Tmall
Supermarket.
9
. True to Jack’s passion for Chinese tradition, the name is an ancient term
for servants.
10
. The unfortunately named in English
ali wangwang
.
11
. First launched in 2008 as Taobao Mall, it later became tmall.com.
12
. Tmall also charges an annual fee.
13
. In fiscal year 2015.
14
. Offering a limited selection of items, mostly at entry-level prices.
15
. Groupon itself entered China in 2011, but quickly ran into trouble and failed
to gain traction.
16
. Translates as “Super Good Deal.”
17
. Twenty-eight square feet per capita in the United States, 16 in Germany, and
14 in the United Kingdom.
18
. In 2009.
19
. The list details marketplaces that reportedly “engage in and facilitate
substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.”
20
. Including hiring its former general counsel.
21
. Founded in Shenzhen in 1993 and sometimes described as the “FedEx of
China.”
22
. The word
cainiao
originates in Taiwan and literally means “green bird,” but
it also has a military connotation, meaning “rookie soldier.”
23
. Via 1,800 distribution centers and 97,000 delivery stations.
24
. The company itself is registered in Shenzhen.
25
. Shen, a close friend of Jack Ma, built his fortune in the China Yintai Group,
a mining, retail, and real estate concern that includes the sixty-six-story Yin
Tai tower in Beijing, which houses the city’s Park Hyatt hotel, where Shen
has regularly hosted Jack for social events. Shen also controls a Hong
Kong–listed retail subsidiary called InTime Department Stores, in which
Alibaba has invested $700 million.
26
. A local network of couriers in first-to third-tier cities, supplemented in less
dense, and underdeveloped areas by more than 20,000 “self pickup”
stations.
27
. A nationwide logistics network.
28
.
JD
is short for Jing Dong, with
Jing
the word for “capital,” as in
Beijing
,
and
Dong
the character for “East,” but also derived from the given name of
the company’s founder, Liu Qiangdong, known in English as Richard Liu.
Liu founded his company in 1998 as a disk drive company, then in 2004
launched a B2C website called 360buy.com, which he later rebranded
JD.com.
29
. 1.5 million square meters in total compared to Cainiao’s one million.
30
. For orders placed by 11
A.M
. and next day for orders placed by 11
P.M.
31
. $778 billion in the year to June 2014.
32
. A story explored in Chapter 11.
33
. In 2014 it generated 11 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in revenues.
34
. Managed by brokerage Tian Hong Asset Management, which Ant Financial
had recently purchased.
35
. Via Ant Financial.
36
. In 2013, Jack Ma teamed up with two other Mas (although they are
unrelated): Pony Ma, Jack’s friend and CEO of Alibaba rival Tencent, and
Ma Mingzhe, the chairman of Ping An Insurance. Together they launched
China’s first and largest online insurer, Zhong An, signing up more than
150 million customers within a year.
37
. The system checks the faces of prospective customers against police
databases, although this has led to delays in the service’s rollout due to
concerns by regulators.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
