Ma Huateng & Tencent: A Business and Life Biography: A Business and Life Biography

by Leng Hu

China's economic rise and influence has been one of the most significant developments in the global economy of recent times. A driving force behind this expansion has been the private entrepreneurs and companies of China, some of which have literally redefined the economic and business landscape, both inside and outside of China. Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) is one such entrepreneur. In 1998, he co-founded Tencent Inc, starting with the company's QQ instant messaging tool that became a huge hit in China. Under Ma's leadership, Tencent has moved into web portals, social networks, multi-player games and e-commerce, making the company today an Internet powerhouse and China's number one brand. Ma himself was hailed by Time magazine in 2014 as one of the world's most influential people. This book examines the rise of Ma and Tencent, known for their truly innovative thinking and approach to technology and business.

Genres: China, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2017

Reviews

[Aravena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salah satu judul dari seri biografi Mesin Uang Raksasa Pengusaha China yang diterbitkan Elex (*dua lagi tentang Jack Ma-Alibaba dan Ren Zhengfei-Huawei).

Ini buku yang lebih menekankan pada “peristiwanya, bukan manusianya”, atau pada Tencent alih-alih Ma Huateng. Informasi yang diberikan berpusat pada sejarah naik-turun Tencent dan strategi bisnis Ma. Mengenai Ma sendiri, hanya dibahas sekilas tentang masa kecilnya, gambaran umum kepribadiannya yang gila kerja, dan momen pertemuan dengan sang calon istri (“Halo halo ini siapa ya?” “Aku ayahnya penguin” “Kalau begitu aku ibunya penguin”).

Gaya penuturan bukunya kadang terasa seperti rangkaian artikel Wikipedia, tapi enak juga baca biografi yang tidak terlalu mengultuskan orang yang dijadikan topik ataupun menampilkan narasi yang itu-itu saja (*perjalanan dari zero ke hero, melawan cemoohan dan hinaan orang-orang, dll). Banyak informasi menarik seputar dunia bisnis Internet, berbagai masalah dan tantangan yang dihadapi Tencent, serta persaingan dengan raksasa global seperti Microsoft. Para pelaku bisnis ini harus terus berjibaku mencari inovasi baru—sebentar saja terlenan kesuksesan, akan segera terlindas oleh perubahan tren dan manuver kompetitor. Bisa saya bayangkan tekanan bekerja di industri ini, apalagi di perusahaan ultra-pragmatis macam Tencent yang rutin ‘merampingkan diri’ dengan mengeluarkan karyawan berkinerja terburuk.

Blak-blakan saja, pelajaran bisnis utama yang saya petik dari buku ini: jiplak habis-habisan ide orang lain, beri polesan, dan pasarkan dengan lebih baik. Dalam bisnis Internet yang terus bertransformasi dengan kecepatan mengerikan, tidak ada konsumen yang peduli siapa yang pertama kali memulai (*masih ingat Friendster?) dan tidak ada yang namanya kesetiaan pada merek. Konsumen Internet siap berpindah ke layanan mana pun yang lebih murah, aksesibel, dan terkini, segampang raja gonta-ganti permaisuri. Bisa dibilang praktik kagaktaumaluisme Tencent, yang terang-terangan menjiplak konsep sejumlah game online milik kompetitor, berandil besar atas jayanya perusahaan itu di medan perang yang brutal.

Sebagai bagian dari generasi Y (milenial) yang mengalami sendiri revolusi informasi, saya merasa sangat akrab dengan kronologi tren Internet yang diuraikan di sini. Sempat ada momen nostalgia mengenang masa-masa game online sebangsa Nexia dan Ragnarok Online, chatting via mIRC (lalu YM dan akhirnya WA), dan saat-saat memakai media sosial hanya untuk ngegaje bersama teman sekelas, hehe. Buku ini juga mengupas tren terbaru yang serba mobile (berikut femonena sosial ‘orang-orang yang terus memelototi layar ponsel walau bersama teman/keluarga’ serta ‘kebutuhan pamer dan mendapat gratifikasi instan berupa like’) dari kacamata pelaku bisnis.

Bukan berarti bahasannya 100% objektif dan komprehensif; bias penulis kepada Tencent dan Ma masih jelas terlihat, sementara kebijakan domestik China dan iklim Internet di sana yang insular hanya dibahas seadanya. Layaknya hakikat suatu biografi, buku ini tetap merupakan suatu produk pencitraan positif. Gaya penuturan maupun alih bahasanya juga rasanya bisa lebih baik. Ada sejumlah penggunaan kata yang jelas-jelas salah, atau kalimat kelewat ruwet semacam ini:

Sebaliknya, Ma memiliki apa yang mungkin terlihat, bagi pasar Internet, sebuah pemahaman yang samar mengenai teknis area bisnis tertentu yang akan dibangunnya, namun sebenarnya dia memiliki insting tajam, yang akan membantu Tencent mencapai tujuan.

Saya paham sih maksudnya (setelah dibaca 3x), tapi…. ya begitulah, haha. Ayo Elex, tingkatkan lagi kualitas suntingannya!

[Ver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a long book but it took me ages to finish. I'm not a big fan of Ma Huateng, I only heard about his application weechat and thought it would be interesting to learn about the Chinese reality of IT. Spoiler alert, it wasn't that interesting. It really was a biography, starting from his early life and describing in details what jobs he had and how he was developing his company and application. I repeat, in details. I must say it didn't change much that the setting was in China and it could have been any other country. I have enough of business biography for some time.

[Diego Pino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rate his book with 3 stars. Somehow I feel the book doesn't deserve it since sometimes it feels more like a benevolent press release note than a critical essay. I will try to justify why 3 stars.

First of all, I'd clarify I actually read the Portuguese edition of this book. I see many users mentioned they didn't like the book partly because the English translation seems to be terrible. This prompted me to buy the Portuguese edition (Brazilian Portuguese) of this book (it's also cheaper). I feel the Portuguese translation was good, so if you can read Portuguese without much trouble go for it.

There are not many books about Chinese tech corporations or about the history of their founders, at least not in languages other than Chinese. For anyone hungry for this kind knowledge, any book that can provide any insight might be highly appreciated. I consider this book this kind of book. If I compare it to other books I read about start-up companies going giant the book is lacking in many aspects. Books written by company founders are rich in details. They usually provide tons of information about the whys behind important decisions or bring up to the spotlight completely ignored facts. One book that comes to my mind in that regard is "Behind the Cloud'' by Marc Benioff (founder of SalesForce). When the book is written by an independent author the story is usually built through the testimonies of many different actors, like founders, employees, customers and even relatives. A book like this I can mention is "Boinas Verdes" (Green Berets), a book about Pyro Studios, creators of the video game Commandos. Leng Hu's book, however, doesn't either fall into any of these two categories.

The book chronicles how Tencent was founded. There's not much information about Ma Huateng's young life. There's a bit more about his life as a University student and young employee until he goes into founding Tencent, together with 3 former colleagues from University and one friend. The book follows, more or less, a chronological order, although many times it jumps forward a few years only to go back in time onto the next chapter. This makes the book hard to follow. It also makes it more difficult to understand the growth and evolution of Tencent over the years. Personally, I missed more insightful views and reflections about Tencent from the author. It feels like he was afraid of saying something wrong. Instead, there's a constant feeling of praise throughout the book. This makes the book uninteresting. Only my curiosity to learn more about Tencent kept me reading.

One positive aspect of the book is the big amount of figures and numbers it provides. I would also highlight the mentions of proper names, both individuals and companies, and context information about domestic and global markets.

In summary, while this book might not be on par with other similar books you have read, the fact that it is about a company about which there's not much information available in a language other than Chinese, makes this book an interesting read (if you like the topic).

[Dito Hafizh · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a long time I wonder how China can have such an outstanding technology industry like Tencent. As we already know, PUBG as the most popular online gaming now is one of products of Tencent. And not only that, Tencet is more than just a company which is identical as just social messaging apps. With its phenomenal product like QQ which has been connecting billions of people in China, now Tencent has revolutionized the Industry of Internet.

But Leng Hu has described Mu Huateng not only as businessman, but his past as an optimistic programmer who graduated from Shengzhen University. Although Pony Ma had a dream to learn about Astronomy, he just casually chose another dream which has unlimited possibilities in the future. Yes, Pony Ma chose Computer Science. His dedication in the field of Computer Science is already proved with his thesis about market of stocks. He successfully made the app and be sold as the evidence of his dedication in computer.

After graduated, Ma is not just actually absorbed in social messaging. He worked in Industry which focus in developing techonology of paging for about 5 years. And suddenly after a bubble of internet, ICQ has come into China. The application which are made by Israel people who just seek to maximize the communication between them, had been a signal to Ma how social messaging will revolutionized the world of communication. Ma saw the potential in it, even after AOL has take an acquisition of ICQ.

Then, the Kingdom of Penguin has appeared. Ma and his 4 old friends were so dedicated to build a symbol of culture in China, based on Internet. The first ones are QQ and WeChat which already connected billions people in China. And already developed many additional features to attract and optimize the connection between people. There are dating online, virtual shopping, gaming online, and many more which the Kingdom has produced to the people in China and Worldwide.

But the steps is not always smooth. As Tencent is labeled as a copycat company, the company has already come as face to face to the law with many competitors. The competitors is disturbed by their copied idea to Tencent. But Ma thought more than that. Ma thought that Tencent has always copied and then "innovated". Yes, they made another same products and features, but they build those products much more practical than their competitor. And yes, the people loves their products so much.

Finally I thought individually that this book lacks something emotional inside it. The book is really technical to the people outside business or leader-like. Lacking something to motivate ordinary person who just want to know why Pony Ma become the man whom we know right now. More than that, this book is really detail to tell the readers about the story of Kingdom of Penguin

[Kristofer Thajeb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ma Huateng & Tencent told the biography of Ma Huateng in his time of building Tencent until it turned into a China empire. This book told his childhood life along with his journey with his friends in developing Tencent. Not to mention, he also met lots of conflicts and obstacles in his way, from competitors to courts. This book was kind of hard to read. However, I’ve learned that building and developing a business wasn’t simple and easy. You had to grind hard and face the obstacles coming your way. Friends and colleagues were also important here as they were able to criticize and build you into a better person. This book taught me the value of building a business and how hard it is to build a business.

[Noppol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok for a timeline summary of how Ma built his Tencent empire. Not so much insight into how he built it though.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this book. It lacks details and the format of the book leaves a lot to be desired. Don't waste your money.

[ThongNid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asian management style.

[Pawin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of the founder of Tencent !

[Jakob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoped for more of Ma Huateng's thoughtprocess and how he is. But the book was pretty good, and easy to read.

[Steve Hoang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremerly China, extremerly Tencent!

[JC Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book (Ma Huateng and Tecent) gives a glimpse into the massive empire that the media shy Pony ma has built and gives some insights into the history and how he thinks. Honestly the book is not very well written as often the translation is too direct and doesn’t provide enough context and details into how Pony Ma thinks and how he has struggled. Often the stories or sentences end abruptly without further building more knowledge about Tencent. I believe this is also related to how much information is available about Tencent and Pony Ma, but also how some internet books that are translated from Chinese have similar similarities in terms of writing style and how the stories build up. A good comparison would be the book about Richard Liu, founder of JD.com which sometimes feel like the stories end abruptly . If I was to compare this to other biographies like Nike or Starbucks founder, I believe those stories are more colorful and gives readers a flavor of how the founders created world class companies and how they struggled and grew along the way.

However with so little English literature and information available outside about Tencent and it’s empire, I do believe it is still worth reading for anyone who wants to better understand about Chinese internet economy.

[Alex Kopelevich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written book

I read this book because it was the only one I could find on Ma Huateng and Tencent. I would say it is very badly written and quite disappointing read with a couple of bright spots here and there.