[Applause]
when I started my business 1995 it was
very difficult I had an idea I invited a
24 of my friends in my apartment because
that year I went to see Otto first time
my first trip to the USA INSEAD - I
discovered internet and I think this
thing in the future may change the world
so I'm about the encounter with the
internet when you first saw I went to
the CRO and a friend of mine he had a
small office with like a four or five
computers I never touched computer in my
life before because computer was so
expensive to me and so complicated but
my friend said this is internet just to
type in whatever word you want to have
it no no too expensive I don't know
which one to do even now I don't know
how it computer works
they said Jack it's not a bomb just the
type of whatever so the first word I
typed aim was a beer bei beer I don't
drink I don't know why a type of beer I
found of American beer German beer
Japanese beer no China so I typed the
word China there's no information but
China so say hmm
what if we can make some China
information on the internet that people
know about China so that was the idea so
I came back to China and say I want to
resign from my school we were teacher I
was a teacher I've been teaching in the
university for six years so I said I
want to do it I invited 24 of my friends
to my apartment after two hours of
explain what I'm going to do Internet
and 23 of them say forget it you say
this thing never worked because there's
no such thing called internet in the
world you know nothing about a computer
so why you want to do this and only one
people he said Jack if you want to try
it just to trial it but if you're
something wrong just to come back
and after whole night thinking I say I
still want to do it because most of the
people they have a fancy ideas in the
evening but in the date when they wake
up in the evening on the morning they go
back to do the same job we have to do
something different so from there I
started my business following two
thousand US dollars from my relatives
and friends for balance to my trip I
call myself like a blind a man riding on
the back of blind tigers and those
people who are expert of riding horses
they all fall down and I'm still
surviving was at the beginning of
Alibaba that's the beginning of China
pages Alibaba was 1999 since 1995 a
study business I almost feel every
projects never survived so 1995 I got
ideas say if I china is going to join
WTO a lot of Chinese products is going
to sell across the board so if I can
make a site that can help Chinese
products selling outside and helping the
small business in the other country sell
to the other part of the world that was
the concepts of 1999
I said I'll leave up in my apartment you
had said to me before also that in your
mind 1 2 3 is customer yep employee and
share her shareholder yeah so when you
try to borrow that $2,000 you didn't
tell that person that he was number 3
well the $2,000 was from my my relatives
my parents and all the the all of
friends I got I got $2,000 but when I
raised my money for IPO even for the
when Alibaba I driven in the New York
Stock Exchange we raised the twenty
billion dollars I told the investors
we've been believing custom number one
in pride number to share whole number
three
and people say this is against our
America investor philosophy I remember
one of the investors said hey Jack you
know if I know you are shareholder three
I will not buy I would not have bought
your stocks that say sir please spell it
because I believe there are so much
money in the world there are too much
money in the world but I all we only
need the money who believed in our
vision and mission because I believe if
the customer happy in price are happy
the shareholders will be happy if you if
the shareholders happy may not
necessarily customer happy and may not
necessary employee will be happy when
you look how important has two things
trust and culture been well trust is the
most important thing as we discussed
this few minutes ago if people give me
when I had no money because when Alibaba
started eighteen founders in my
apartment I told everybody say put you
all your money savings on the table
leaving the money for full ten miles
food and room you know rent guess that
the money you have put on the table I
want to gather the money and nobody
should have borrow the money from
parents
nobody should borrow money from friends
because I don't want to make your
parents and friends bankrupt because
doing all the above up so eighteen
people we gathered fifty thousand US
dollars we studied Alibaba in my
apartment and those people actually none
of us has money but if somebody say I
give you 1 million US dollars and I give
you trust which one I would the truth I
choose those people who give me the
trust because it's the trust that make
make us be United
the truck I think 18 founders they
trusted me because they trusted me I
have to be very loyalty to them and lo
you to the mission that that we have I
think a lot of entrepreneurship know
that I hate people work for me
I want people work for the missions that
we agree together because you don't want
people work for me because people like
me where it looks where I look further
this guy the hanussen Wayne get closer
is so ugly everybody in the world the
same you should not get closer further
it's good so you think I'll Jack is
great but you know if you get closer
unnecessarily I will be angry I were
happy I'm happy I got but when people
trusting you you that's the most
valuable things I think later when we
got a lot of that venture capitalists
invested us the thing they noticed is
that because my team trusts me and I
trust my teams so this is the truck the
other is about a culture I think the
knowledge base to period if you want to
have a smart people work for you the
smart people need to be managed by
culture not by rules and laws so in our
company we spend most of the time about
the culture and the base of the culture
is the crust so this is this is what we
believe
China has changed think back in 1995
when you in Seattle 1999 how has it
changed between 1999 when you started
Alibaba and today in 2017 well when I
went back to China 1995 was an idea of
Internet was very stirring China was not
connected to the Internet so I tried to
talk to a lot of my friends that what is
internet nobody they obviously never
work this thing never exists
um because the truth because nobody but
people even see jack is alive because he
is trying to steal money from people
telling us there is the Internet so when
I go to when I go to the China red
company registration office I said I
want to register company called pounds
of Hope Internet company the guy look at
me say this is the English dictionary
tell me there's no there's no word
called Internet why you want that
register company called the Internet so
I cannot register may a company name but
I in 1995 in laters that the August
China was connected to internet I was
number seven person connected in China
Internet in order to prove I was not
lying I invited my friend who is a TV
man take the TV camera they all stay in
my home and we they just try to take the
picture I died from a Haunter to
Shanghai Shanghai to America to connect
the Internet it took us three hours and
a half to download the first around the
page
at that time there is no nests kid
called the music
oh so ever I have to make like a hundred
stars to keep my journalist two friends
to stay and wait because to prove that
I'm not telling a lie so how big is
Alibaba today today from 99 and we have
18 founders 2 now we have a close to
60,000 people our selves called gmv last
year's over 550 billion US dollars and
it's just the beginning we will probably
go cross one trillion US dollars in
three years in three years or at least
2020 that's the no I would say ain't
three years is yet 2020 that's the 20
year anniversary of Alibaba um this is
think this thing does not happen in 18
days or 20 days when we started year
2003 when I launched the tower bound
team all was funny we got it seven
founders for Tamil a team oh I'll pop
out
I said everybody go home pick up a
fourth looking for for things that list
on the website so we we see who will
come to buy how much things with himself
so we keep we went home we can add a
find that everybody can now to find a
four things that in the home we can sell
because we're too poor so we gather 21
products we listed on a website we've
waited for three days nobody come to spy
and then the next week we got we start
to spy and sell ourselves
for the first week all the all the sales
was a man ourselves and then another
week later somebody's start to testing
sell for almost 30 days everything
people sell we all buy them so we have a
whole house of rubbish we bought on our
life try to making sure that so those
guys who sold were able to sell think oh
well this thing really can sell things
then more people start to come to sell
and then we serve better and that comes
so I'm there too now 550 billion dollars
market cap is what market cap Jo like 13
350 Vanessa miss 160 yeah Billy or
something yeah some people when they
think about getting on the internet and
trying to reach foreign markets whether
it's China or India or somewhere else
worried about counterfeiting they worry
about fake products under selling them
when they're not the real thing how do
you deal with that how do you reassure
them like any entrepreneur when you
start a business you start to worry and
people around you worry much more than
you do when I start a Li Baba my parents
worry my wife worry my friends were in
my teachers morning my students where
everybody wanted and they worry about a
lot of things the only thing that I
worry is that I should not disappoint
the people who believe in me and when we
study the Alibaba we have a lot of
things people work we know where we
study olivella say hey you know the
payment you have a trust people do not
believe in online they believe in
face-to-face meeting and government does
not support Internet nobody supported
e-commerce how could you do it I think
as the ancient premier if everything is
ready
[Music]
that does not need to you because
nothing's ready that needs
intrapreneurship
but counterfeit things of course there
are a lot at the beginning but you have
to fix it so in the past 15 years we
spent a lot of time because you have to
making sure the customer feels safe
happy the brand of you happy your
reputation is the reputation your
reputation is the best otherwise the
people say I fell on the site and my
things are copied and the GU stolen so
we using a lot of ways to do that today
more than a hundred thousand brands
partner with us and I think we are today
I assure all the SMEs here we are the
company online today the leader on empty
counterfeit and IP protection because we
put we know there are three things these
things that would make our site die
three things that would be the cancer of
our business
counterfeit IP and cheating so a lot of
things to worry about doing business we
also worry about people cannot receive
money if you sell things nobody will if
you cannot receive the money you'll be
cheated so we're using a leap a we using
all the ways we do to try to making sure
that SME can easily sell easy receive
the money and custom services good when
you create a lot above it there were
three things you said about it I want to
talk about the comparison with Amazon
you said will be asset light you said
it'll be a platform not a retailer
difference from Amazon and you said will
play on the world stage why did you
decide to go that direction a
transactional company okay I think the
difference ms is a great company they
they did a fantastic job in obeying
America and the world but they are
ecommerce company we are not an
e-commerce company we help others to
become econ
we believe every cup every company can
be Amazon we try to empower the small
business a marketplace they can reach
their customers we try to empower the
companies with logistics so they can
deliver things quickly it's cost
effective we try to empower this
everything every small business when do
they do ecommerce they can easily
receive and the money and this is all
about and we know that we this company
was we made so much money in the past
eight years but we think this is all
because of small business and the money
we made we want to share that we want a
build of an infrastructure of Commerce
so going global is so important we
should help help not only Chinese
company we should help the global
company so today Alibaba come to America
we go we went we go to our CEO today is
in Europe we also have a lot of
colleagues Southeast Asia we think we
are not we are not globalized Alibaba we
are globally ecommerce we try to making
sure ecommerce infrastructure the
payment the marketplaces and the
logistic can making sure everybody today
can compete with Amazon Microsoft IBM
this is what we want you've also been
involved in you made some really
important acquisitions along the way
where do you see al abama going over the
next 10 years you're already in
Hollywood yep you're in the icon in the
cloud I mean you're doing things that
beyond the transactional basis of your
business
we doing business we go from
marketplaces to payment to logistic and
to clout not because we think there are
money there we believe if we're we do
the marketplaces if we don't have the
payment solutions
our customers cannot do it transactions
where the payment we know if we don't
have logistic we cannot do we cannot
they cannot finish the transactions and
when we have a lot of transactions we
say if we don't have a cloud computing
the cost of IT for our customers too
expensive so we do all these things not
because we think there's money there
because we know if we don't do there our
customer cannot finish their job that
their work our measuring is a helping
doing business easier so our company
must be amazing and vision driven why we
are on the hallway with them in the
entertainment because we think 10 20
years later we have to know one thing
the world and everybody no matter how
rich you are you want to be or how
successful you are how successful you
are the most important thing is happy
and healthy which called a double-a
chess strategy healthy and happy yeah so
now in this next 10 years we are very
confident about everything we are doing
our marketplaces ecommerce will keep on
growing our our financing will keep on
growing logistic keep on growing a cloud
computer will come growing and then when
we have that much money how can we have
the small business when they do business
their business are happier and healthier
so that's why so we do not think we are
company we think we are economy today a
lot raba is an economy alibaba's economy
arise of Argentina is an economy where
our gmv last year 550 billion dollars is
ranked almost like a Giunta nerd we are
ranking number 21 22 country a GDP wives
and in next 2-3 years will be go across
one trillion dollars and we hope in 20
years by year 2036 we will be the fifth
largest economy of the world that is
America China Europe Japan and there is
economy
we believe that economy there will be a
virtual economy that every small
business of the world can leverage the
economy they can sell their product
cross the world every consumer of every
country they can buy things for their
mobile phone or any advice all all of
the world
everything they place on the line within
72 hours they will receive it so this is
our vision of course Alibaba does not
own that economy we want to join the
force with all the partners to build
that economy so it's never crossed your
mind that maybe we should own a lot of
assets that we should have an inventory
that we should engage somehow beyond
what we do in terms of making things no
I think the whether we should have
inventory are not inventory depends on
whether our customer needed if our
customers say Jack you should a
beautiful warehouses would build
warehouses if the customers if our
partner does have the capability of
doing things that our business needed
we'd do it we do it not because as we do
it not because there are some money we
do it because it is necessary do your
competitors primarily come from China
Henson the others I think who you see as
your competitor who does that though
competitor I don't know
I don't know yeah you know we have
competed with Chancellor here we
competed with Amazon there we competed
but to me I think it's to only next to
30 years Internet is good ecommerce you
don't change the water so it's like a
I've been saying this to my team
thinking when we were in the apartment
when we need apartment I say guys in
next 10 years or in in the future
Alibaba will be the top ten websites of
the world and my founders look at the
missive what is temp number 10 name
today we're reading like a 500 million
something at the back like you have to
believe it and then I told the team that
Internet is like ten thousand meters
running raising we just to finish the
first 100 meters yet do not I think the
people knees beside you is a competitor
running for another three thousand
meters there you know who is a
competitor we are good today we may not
be good if we lose our home if we lose
our vision you lose your culture if we
lose our culture and team we're nothing
most of the company that was so good
when Netscape was so good we never
thought it would disappear Yahoo was
good we never felt like it today so
don't believe you'll be good all the
time be paranoid yeah what was that Andy
Grove said yeah only the paranoid
survive so I think I think it's all
aesthetic SD up entrepreneurs do not I
think your neighbor Tommy is a
competitor I think look at the thing
that the the thing you do is do not a
focus your eyes on the competitor as you
are too small to focus yourself on your
neighbor competitive focus your
customers make your customer happy it's
important most of the big companies when
they talk they talk about competitors I
think I might suggest you one day giving
you guys when you go become a bigger
when it comes to China
most of the American companies Internet
companies filled in China one of the
reasons is that they spend too much time
on making their boss happy rather than
their custom happy they spend too much
time on competing not long term strategy
so as the entry preneur the always
number one number one priority is
customer and employee what's your role
at the company you've given up the CEO
position to Michael Evans you are still
the face of Alibaba
you're travelling the globe all the time
preaching the Alibaba story you are the
visionary you're the one who thinks
about where Alibaba might be i define
your role today I have three things to
do when I retire from CEO position I
told my CEO and teams I promise when I
much Chanin I'm learning I'm still
learning to get Chanin I thought it
would become a channel where companies
big I should have more free time to play
golf on the beaches but I find oh my god
I fly 870 hours in the air last year and
this year 1000 hours in the year three
things the first thing I would do is I
will making sure our company them is
amazing driven company mission mission
and a vision driven company we have to
making sure the whole company believing
we are building an economy that can
empower every small business young
people women they can easily do business
through internet this is number one so
I'm talking to everybody everybody in
the company I meet I remember there is a
guy called daily Wong tell us early days
when I came to America talk about
internet about a valley mission of
Valley vision of the company this guy
sitting there he was working for fortune
500 he said Jack is a crazy guy how
could you you know a company has no
business model no money and talk about
the mission vision of our valley I say
dimming come to my company so I came to
China spend three days in my company
when they he leave he said Jack I found
your crazy now I found 100 crazy guys
your company they all talk and seem like
a you a company if you have a one and
you're crazy guys we do not think we are
crazy we think the other world are crazy
so this is this is very very important
and also I think the first for the first
of three years of Alibaba
we had a no revenue no business model
and I told the King forget about the
money revenue today if you want the
alarm company the only thing to think
about is customers the best revenue for
our first three well two years the best
revenue is what is the email of thanks
that's the best revenue if the customer
send your email say you are great I was
so happy early days when I went to a
small restaurant people will pay my bill
with a small notice a jack thank you
very much
I know you don't know do not a make
money but we made a lot of money through
your website no I like that even now
today I had a lot of customers they they
pay me something you know it's not a
bribery but just there's a boy is in the
hotel they opened all for me say Jack
thank you so much my wife makes more
money than they only are on your site so
this is the best and I want to keep this
culture in a company keep on going so
second things culture
the people and the third is build up a
healthy environment for all the bubbles
so Jack Ma doesn't worry about a damn
thing oh I have a lot of things to worry
about so what do you worry about I worry
about the company we have a big vision
but we may disappear in 3 4 years
because you're disrupted by something
you can't imagine today we do because
there the world the change is so fast I
worry a lot
you know the artificial intelligence may
take a lot of jobs away and I worry
about if we do not have moved fast
enough a lot of if we do not innovative
if not if we do not spend enough time
and giving simple easy product
application technology for small
business
most of some other business cannot
survive in this 10 years if the small
business cannot survive we cannot
survive and so what a small business
need to survive today I would say next
10 20 years
the small business no matter where you
are if you do not try to globalize your
business through internet you may not
have a business opportunity it's not
like it oh you know I I can I do local
local business in the future is going to
be more and more competitive think about
how can you sell products across the
board your products your chocolate
people your village already know about
the tongue your vision but the people in
China they never know they love these
things so think about how can you sell
your products cross the ball this is I
think can face yeah I mean you have you
gave a speech in which you talked about
the warning and warning for decades of
pain unless you recognize the coming
advent of artificial intelligence robots
yet the whole range of things that could
challenge yeah how you had been doing
business in the past yeah
you also have mentioned retirement yep
Jack Ma at what at 50 something yep
thinking about retirement yeah I'm
preparing cos I tell you that you've
been preparing since you were 40 yeah
think about retirement I'm leaving
University
I was served two years old and my
president of my universe said Jack one
day you want to come back any time
you're welcome
I said president I would not come back
in ten years so I thought when I'm 40 I
can go back to teach but when I'm 40 oh
my god
life was so tough so tough my company
almost in big trouble so I say I should
I'll leave and then I say when I'm 45 I
should retire when I'm 45 it cannot stop
it and then I start to prepare say it
was a jack you are the next Bill Gates
I say I cannot compete with compute
gates but I can compete with the Bill
Gates who can retire earlier and I can
compete with the game who can empower
the most small business so your 2012 I
retire from the CEO and I have my own
goal that I'll retire from chairman
someday and I'ma be preparing that
thing's year's 2012 the thing is I don't
want to die in my office I want to die
on the beaches how much time use
wait no wait how much time you spend on
the beaches now I don't have time spent
on the BT that's why I always dream one
day I want the beaches because remember
when we were young nobody give us a
chance now we're big we should give
young people a chance young people do
much better job than we do this is what
I think
and I think the world can be great
chemist prosperous without to you when
you die people cry for three days or
maybe less than three days they forget
you so beautiful system for your team it
strikes healing chance for them it's it
strikes me in tonight and since I've
known you that part of you is always a
teacher I mean you're teaching tonight
you're telling about my experiences and
what you can learn from the journey I
have taken you know the idea of sharing
experiences is part of teaching for you
yes I am I was trying to be a teacher
and I benefit because I do not know
anything about technology computing I
still puzzle about what is soft how that
they can work and I do not know about
can you know accounting marketing I know
very little about that but the thing I
learned from a being teacher that you a
teacher always want his students to be
more successful and better than you are
so this is I learned to be a good CEO
when I hide people I always want to hide
those people who are smarter than I am
and I today I give a lot of advice to my
colleagues when they hide people there's
one judge look at the young man if you
think he will be a boss who will be my
boss in five years
hi him do not a thing do not find people
who will follow you all the time so I
took you as a teacher you want to use
this student become a banker that's the
scientist is a mayor you don't want this
this doing a bankrupt that is the jail
you know so this is the way that I
benefit and then when I become a seal
I call myself chief Education Officer
and I love to talk a lot to share
because when I
as a teacher you may not know a lot of
things the only things you learn are you
sure
people may not like the way I talk and
I'm not my job is not to make people
happy
my job is to make people think this is
the way we did if it is helpful for you
take it if it's not a happy for you just
to forget it
well this is I love to be with this VP
the entrepreneurs because you guys
reminds me that eighteen past 18 tops
the years that we've got and I believe
one thing I to give my advice to all of
you as an entrepreneur
today it's very difficult and tomorrow
is even more difficult but the day of
tomorrow is very beautiful most people
die to more evening you have to work
hard you have to learn you have to rely
on your team and that's my business I
like to be a teacher I was going to ask
you about legacy but I'm not going to
ask you about legacy because I think you
just summed it up yourself it's very
pleasure to be here with you
dagmar thank you thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
you
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