Thế giới Alibaba của Jack Ma

by Porter Erisman, Đỗ Trí Vương (translator)

Tháng 9 năm 2014, một công ty Trung Quốc mà hầu hết người Mỹ chưa từng nghe nói tới đã tổ chức cuộc lên sàn niêm yết lần đầu (IPO) lớn nhất trong lịch sử – lớn hơn Google, Facebook và Twitter cộng lại. Alibaba, giờ đây là công ty thương mại điện tử lớn nhất thế giới, gần như thoát khỏi nhận biết của phương Tây suốt cả chục năm, trong khi đó xây dựng một cơ sở khách hàng lớn hơn gấp đôi quy mô cơ sở khách hàng của Amazon, và xử lý một lượng giao dịch thương mại điện tử khổng lồ ở Trung Quốc. Chuyện này đã xảy ra như thế nào? Và nó theo cùng với công cuộc cải cách ra sao?

Trong Thế giới Alibaba của Jack Ma, tác giả Porter Erisman, một trong những nhân sự người phương Tây đầu tiên làm việc cho Alibaba và là người dẫn dắt chiến lược marketing quốc tế của công ty này từ năm 2000 đến 2008, cho thấy Jack Ma một thầy giáo dạy tiếng Anh người Trung Quốc hai lần trượt đại học, từ vô danh nổi lên thành nhà sáng lập Alibaba và dẫn dắt công ty này từ giai đoạn khởi nghiệp chật vật gian khổ trở thành đấu thủ áp đảo lĩnh vực thương mại điện tử của thế giới. Ông chia sẻ những câu chuyện tan nát trong sự sụp đổ dotcom, đối mặt và đánh bại eBay và Google, thương lượng với các quan chức chính phủ khó lường, và chịu đựng những tư vấn sai lầm của chuyên gia nước ngoài, tất cả để xây dựng nên đế chế thống trị thương mại điện tử toàn cầu ngày nay. Và ông phân tích vai trò tiên phong của Alibaba trong cảnh quan kinh doanh toàn cầu mới - tập trung vào phương Đông thay vì phương Tây, những thị trường mới nổi thay vì những thị trường đã phát triển, và doanh nhân nhanh nhạy chứ không phải khổng lồ công nghiệp. Khi chúng ta đối mặt với tương lai gần này, câu chuyện về Alibaba - và những hậu duệ tất yếu phải có của nó - vừa có tính xây dựng lẫn những tinh hoa cốt lõi.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, China, Biography, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Asia

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Porter Erisman worked as a vice president at Alibaba Group from 2000-2008, joining the company just as it moved out of founder Jack Ma's apartment. He is the writer and director of Crocodile in the Yangtze: The Alibaba Story, an award-winning documentary about the rise of Alibaba and its famous founder. Erisman is also the bestselling author of Alibaba's World: How a Remarkable Chinese Company is Changing the Face of Global Business. Most recently, he is the author of Six Billion Shoppers: the Companies Winning the Global E-Commerce Boom. An expert on e-commerce in emerging markets, he has consulted to e-commerce companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America and has spoken at high-profile industry events in more than thirty countries.

Reviews

[Jonathan Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I see a lot of US companies sending professional managers to China. They are making their boss in the US happy, but not the Chinese customer."

Every tech giant needs a book, and this is the first book that seems to offer a reasonable picture of Alibaba. Unlike most tech-business-history books (Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World, Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo! and The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon), this book is written by somebody who was an employee at Alibaba rather than a journalist, which makes the book a much more enjoyable read. This gives Erisman the ability to reach beyond the narratives of disgruntled employees and mostly avoid the rumors and gossip that make it into most official accounts. Erisman also sidesteps an uncomfortable phenomenon whereby western authors whitewash their interactions with Chinese counterparts in order to maintain good relations after publishing (Such as On China).

Most interesting is background on the battle between Alibaba and Ebay, how Alibaba won the publicity war only to be beaten at its own game by Qihoo 360 in the domestic market. Also, having just finished Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!, this was a great counterpoint to the Yahoo perspective, showing Alibaba's worries about operating in the Chinese as a joint venture (who bought whom?), and ultimately failed attempts to rescue Yahoo! China.

[Girish Mathrubootham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Lacked key insights and lessons learnt. Would have been great with insights from Jack himself.Still a decent book to understand doing business in China.

[Suraj Thakkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this book had more examples of how the engineering and sales team worked to take Alibaba where it is today. The author of the book was one of the senior managers at Alibaba working closely with Jack Ma and handling the PR work at Alibaba. He has described the Alibaba journey from a very high level mostly talking about the differences in chinese management style and the western management style . There are couple of chapters on the famous ebay vs Alibaba rivalry which i enjoyed. The initial 5-6 chapters are more about the author instead of Alibaba. The last 2 chapters where the author gives information about the rest of the businesses and websites which alibaba is involved in and the learnings from his overall journey are really inspiring.

PS: i finished this one as an audiobook and it was not bad :)

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about Alibaba, and its relationship with EBay, Yahoo and Google and the Chinese bureaucracy. Erisman provides an insider view and information about the world’s largest e-commerce site. From its start in Hong Kong to its present day dominance of the online China trade. Erisman went to work for Alibaba in its early days. Erisman was a Chinese speaking American public relation expert. Erisman tells the story of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and how he built the company into the giant it is today.

The book is well written and is written in an engaging style making it easy to read. The book is well researched and will probably find its way onto the book shelf of the average college business student. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. George Newbern did a good job narrating the book.

[Luana Lobão · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro que conta muitos aspectos sobre a cultura, erros e acertos do Alibaba. Desde a fundação, passando pelo IPO, até a atualização da visão. Jack Ma é um cara diferente, com uma cabeça e comportamentos fora da curva. Livro muito bom e muitas vezes inspirador.

[Abhinav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest and immensely readable account of the Alibaba success story.

3.5 to 4 stars. Recommended.

[Zak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a quick read. It gives a good overview of the Alibaba universe and its beginnings, but everything seems a bit "on the surface"...

[Ujjwala Singhania · Rating 4 out of 5]

With all the waves Alibaba has been creating in the last few years, and its historic IPO in 2014, I did not follow its stories closely. So, this book was my way to do a deep-dive into it from its early days, and learn how this mammoth has been created into what it is today.
This book is a fast-paced fun read, which I believe knowing about Jack Ma through its pages could not have been any other way. However, a couple of things the book completely missed out on is a) What about the other co-founders? It seemed like most of them were ghosts. The book does not talk about most of them, it does not tell about Jack Ma's relation with them or anything that could have made them real. b) This book does not present a balanced view of either Alibaba or Jack Ma. It is a case of hero-worship by the author, even though Porter was not in awe of Jack Ma.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

** Books 62 - 2019 **

Buku ini untuk menyelesaikan Tsundoku Books Challenge 2019

3,8 dari 5 bintang!

Astaga ini buku bisnis dan ekonomi yang bagus sekali untuk dibaca! Awalnya aku hanya iseng membelinya ketika promo di Google Play Books ternyata ketika dibaca makin kebelakangnya menarik ya mengikuti jejak fetusnya Alibaba dulu sampai sekarang! Akhirnya aku mengetahui kenapa orang-orang sangat mengagumi Jack Ma! Satu lagi aku juga menyukai terjemahannya yang enak dibaca. Kukira terjemahannya akan tidak seenak The Burning Maze ternyata buku ini tidak! Well done Noura Books!

Terimakasih Google Play Books!

[Hoai Thao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Đặt sách giấy tiếng Việt trên Tiki xong, đến khi nhận hàng mới nhớ ra là 2 năm trước lúc mới đi làm Sếp đã gửi bản PDF cho bảo đọc đi rồi. Cảm thấy tội lỗi nên phải ráng đọc xong trước khi hết năm 2017 :D
Đọc sách để thấy rất thân thuộc, gần gũi, để hiểu và trân trọng thêm ngành mình đang làm. Mình tin chắc rằng dù có coi đó là mục tiêu quan trọng nhất hay không, thì Alibaba & tất cả các công ty Thương mại điện tử đều tạo ra những giá trị lớn lao cho người tiêu dùng, mà dễ thấy nhất là Giá rẻ & Tiện lợi.
Đọc cũng để trăn trở rằng, dù công ty mình cũng đi theo những đường hướng của Alibaba, nhưng vẫn còn rất nhiều thứ thiêu thiếu. Thiếu ở đâu, sai ở đâu, bản thân phải cố gắng thêm thế nào...
Thích nhất câu nói của Jack Ma:
"Đừng thay đổi chỉ vì người ta nhìn bạn khác đi. Đừng thay đổi chỉ vì bạn có tiền trong túi. Bởi lẽ có những thứ không bao giờ thay đổi: những giấc mơ, lời hứa và giá trị của chúng ta."

[Deepthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

An oversimplified telling of Alibaba's story

[Igor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I just needed a 'light' reading compared to more dense books I am used to read.

Part of the Alibaba's and Jack Ma's history

[Saifuddin Salim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read, I would rate it more if there are more insight on how Alibaba came about. Despite that, Porter Erisman done a wonderful job, telling the story of his's Alibaba story, with a pretty balance of telling the bad and the good side of Alibaba. From what I can tell, I believe Porter does do gives a honest impression of such phenomenon and his relationship with Alibaba. Note: this book is centered more on Porter Erisman side of the story and not Jack Ma, I think is which better than he write a story centered around Jack Ma which he is not and end with bland impression. With this Porter was able express his feeling and emotion throughout the story, give a human empathy side of things. It like reading a life journal or a diary, get to experience the drama of the up and down of Porter Erisman journey with Alibaba. Some of the chapter is short damn (not even one page), hinting: the freedom of the structure of story which really compartment the events and story into solid chapter and paragraphing. One chapter that was pretty neat was the 'Alibaba and the Forty Lesson' chapter. It the book a some kind summary chapter right at the end of the book that not just summarize the whole book in a chapter but give headings to each lesson that can be learnt in each chapters of the book with clear emphasis. As such, I pretty enjoy this book but it lack ending and insight which wasn't a a concern for me as long it entertain m. I'm good

[SA Hoang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alibaba ra đời và trưởng thành sớm hơn độ tuổi của mình để nhận thức được về sự lớn mạnh của nó. Lần đầu tiên mình sử dụng dịch vụ của alibaba là vào năm 2014 với taobao, tmall alipay và cả đối thủ cạnh tranh jingdong. Mình chưa từng ý thức về tác động và thay đổi trong cuộc sống mà những công ty này mang lại, chỉ đơn giản là sử dụng dịch vụ của họ. Đọc hết cuốn sách này giúp mình lật lại thời gian từ mốc 1998 và điểm lại các sự kiện liên quan, đơn giản là hồi tưởng và nhận ra các công ty và chính sách của chính phủ Trung Quốc nghe tưởng xa xôi nhưng quả thật là ảnh hưởng trực tiếp tới cuộc sống của mình, tự thấy bản thân sao mà bị động hết sức.
Cảm ơn tác giả cuốn sách vì những kiến thức mà nó mang lại dù rằng chưa hẳn đã hoàn toàn là sự thực hay chỉ là thứ họ muốn cho mình thấy. Cảm ơn vì ngoài các Ceo đáng kính từ phương tây và Mỹ thì bây giờ mình đã có thể thêm Jack Ma vô trong tâm trí như 1 đại diện từ Trung Quốc trong thời hiện đại.

[Arefeh Yavary · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب صوتی شو گوش دادم
کتاب خوبیه نسبتا

و اینکه روحیه‌ی ملت‌های مختلف با هم فرق می‌کنه
و استدلال سیاست‌های اولیه‌شون جالبه

البته فاصله‌ی بین افسانه-روایت، برداشت و واقعیت رو نمی‌تونم تشخیص بدم توی این نوع کتاب‌ها

[Yeshwanth nag M · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Today is tough. Tomorrow is tougher. The day after tomorrow is beautiful. But most people die tomorrow night and don’t get the chance to see the sun rise the day after tomorrow." This quote characterises a former English school teacher turned entrepreneur - Jack Ma's simple yet powerful philosophy - Optimism. Porter Erisman gives us an insider glimpse of how a startup called Alibaba grew in 15 years, from 0 to a $220 Billion company , changing, rather creating the Chinese ecommerce market. Personally, I felt that the China of 15 years ago seem to be the India of today. Powerful insights as well as Jack Ma'isms from Erismans perspective, makes this an inspiring & a compelling read to all entrepreneurs.

[Sambasivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Ma has created a remarkable company in a short span of time. He is one of the most under rated global entrepreneurs today. An English teacher, who says that he cannot understand computers must have had a great native intelligence to have created such a formidable company that successfully shut down its competitor ebay in China, got into the big league after acquiring Yahoo of China and now one the way to becoming the most valuable company in the world. Beware Apple.

The author, who had worked in Jack's team gives a good insider view of the culture of the company. The forty lessons that he learned during his tenure with the company and provided at the end of the book are quite instructive.

An excellent book with practical learnings for one and all.

[Raph Kazidule · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book with an intention that the practical steps Alibaba took to be successful will be shared. (They were not). The book is more if a memoir of the author at Alibaba. The book is still interesting and not boring. The author argues that the Cina government had no influence in Alibaba's growth. While thay may be true the Alibaba might have succeeded because the Chinese government was a barrier to other international Bussinesses like eBay. Ofcourse the author does not highlight that. His version of the story is that David(alibaba) defeated goliath (ebay). Ebay's own version would be nice. All in all a good, fast read.

[Ankit Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Alibaba's (and its founder Jack Ma's) evolution from a company in an apartment to the behemoth it is today. Written by a former Vice President of the company in charge of its PR who went through the whole cycle.

Key management takeaways include the importance of cultural context in deciding business strategy, the importance of long term and visionary thinking, an insight into the tactical maneuvers- clean and dirty- that are a part and parcel of corporate battles and the tightrope walk it takes to navigate a tricky political and bureaucratic landscape in emerging markets.

[Garima Mamgain · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's ironic that I read a book on Jack Ma when Jack Ma would famously never read a book on any company to ensure he never lets their strategies seep in !!
That apart I loved the book. It's a fast read and full of insights on a company which I personally knew very little about. However, this isn't a neutral view - criticism of Jack Ma is almost missing in the book.
A must read for anyone intrigued by the Global Chinese firm.

[Arnab Padhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked the book for a little motivation and to know how Alibaba came into existence but Alas the book doesn't talk about that. It talks about how the author managed his stay in the company and at certain instances illustrates the ideologies of Jack Ma. The only notable feature of the book is "the forty points" or suggestions which the author donates to the reader. If you are looking Alibaba and its history right from its inception then this book won't give such insights.

[Sony Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

All about Alibaba's history and Jack Ma's vision, ambition and confidence. All the up's and down's of the company have also been portrayed as it is. Porter has presented all the facts and figures in a very nice and not at all boring way. Indeed the story of Alibaba is amazing as it rose from humble beginnings to the most valued company in the world.

[Lê Nga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nếu bạn không biết gì về Alibaba và muốn có một cái nhìn khái quát về nó, đây sẽ là cuốn sách thích hợp. Nhưng với niềm hy vọng là mình sẽ học được bài học gì đó, tôi nhận ra cuốn sách chưa sâu sắc tới vậy, nó mang tính tóm tắt và kể lại nhiều hơn là truyền kinh nghiệm. Hay do tôi chưa có những trải nghiệm của một quản lý cấp cao nên mới thế?

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the greatest business book I read but I learnt interesting things. Moreover, it changes my vision of Chinese related business. Porter's standpoint isn't ideal as he was an insider, personally growing simultaneously with the company, therefore introducing bias.

[Jingwei Shi · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books about Alibaba. It portrays Alibaba from an insider point of view. Many of the strengths and weaknesses of Alibaba were well explained. A definite must read for anyone who wants to learn more about Alibaba.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit simplistic, but still great at providing insights to Jack Ma - who is unapproachable to many non-Chinese. A fast read, but don't expect anything particularly deep or insightful.

[Amrith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account (more an overview than an in-depth book) of the Alibaba story. Makes for an interesting read.

[Bobby Punnen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you read this, you will feel every entrepreneur is followings Jack's school of thoughts. A must read

[Tommye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much of interest in this tale. Better to read executive summary or Wikipedia report. Wanted to learn more about Alibaba but this is a slow read. And not very interesting.